The Rilo Dress

i found this on pinterest last week and saved it for later.  i printed out the instructions and template and they'd been sitting on my coffee table along with some fabric i thought would be cute.

and then sunday evening hit and i felt like trying it out.

you guys, it's the easiest, cutest thing ever.

i didn't have elastic, so i pleated the top a little bit.  i made my own binding, which is what took the longest.  i think the whole thing from ironing to finished product maaaaybe took an hour.  so i made two!

for the one below, i just need to make some bias tape and attach to the armpits to tie at the shoulders.

i remember my mom making dresses for me and my sister.  it was torture seeing an almost finished dress in her sewing room.  if i'd have seen the bottom dress in her sewing room?  i would have told her i didn't need the ties and it wouldn't fall off and it looked done to me!  and then i probably would have worn it three days in a row.

Little Pirate Diaper Bag

i reeeeally enjoyed making this bag!  i told my friend i would make her a diaper bag and asked her what colors she wanted.  colors.  that's all i wanted and i'd figure out the rest.  she told me she wanted a pirate bag!  i nodded and smiled.  inside i thought, this is crazy.  where do i even find pirate fabric?!

that's when i discovered how rad amazon is.  and online fabric shops.  

i found this tutorial long before i had the idea for this bag.  i knew the next messenger bag i was going to make, i wanted to use this tutorial.  

i used a lot of fusible fleece left over from making a yoga bag.  

since the layers were so thick, i didn't want to have to pull everything Right Side Out and then stitch around again.  i decided to use (gasp!) store bought binding.  it actually worked out pretty well!

the strap... i actually stole from another messenger bag i had.  one of those bags they give away at conferences.  BUT i found this nifty site and i'm definitely going to use it soon.

the bag is a hit!  it's back in my shop for some more pockets on the outside.  i insisted.  mama didn't want to give it up, i basically had to wrestle her for it back :)  it's a good thing her baby is cute.

the rest of this post is heavy with pictures.  enjoy!