Sewing for baby round 3

I've sewn a variety of things over the years, but I've never done a baby romper. I can make something just from looking at a picture and I normally don't use a pattern except for my products in the shop. With this romper I did draft a pattern for the top and then just winged it on the bottom and did my best to follow this sunsuit tutorial. I had some difficulty with the shirring--since I've never shirred before, but it got done and I can't wait for baby to wear it!

Speaking of which, I'm 38 weeks and 3 days today and had an OB appointment today. It looks like she is just super comfy in there. I am barely a fingertip dilated. Apparently all the braxton  hicks contractions I've been having for weeks that I actually have to breathe through have meant nothing. Looks like we are in it for the long haul. I don't mind really, I'm just surprised that despite that and being on my feet all day and carrying Mariam that I haven't progressed much. Well she'll be here when she'll be here.

Have a great weekend!

Sewing for baby round 2

Over the past two weeks I've made some time to sew some more adorable things for the baby. It's so fun being able to make things for the new baby. I can't wait till she can use them! Also, 3 products in this assortment will be hitting the shop within the next 2 months.

Have a great weekend!

The weekend {Sewing & Kids}

After a hellacious week with the girls, Saturday was a Godsend. My husband had a playdate scheduled with Layla and Mariam and a new friend of his that has two kids, so he took them around 10:00 am. I thought they'd be back within 2 hours but they just stopped by to pick up their swimsuits and headed back out. I literally got like the whole day to myself and it was heaven. I did some work and I sewed a maternity top for myself. I felt like making a ruffled maternity tube top out of knit fabric I had and I think it turned out pretty good for my first time. I didn't sew the bottom yet but just tucked it in for the pictures. I'll finish it this week.

Sunday, I took Layla and Serena to the library and then we did some grocery shopping. Afterwards I made lunch at home and then I decided to head back out with H and the girls to pick up something from Home Depot for his guitar. Late afternoon the girls had fun playing with their dollhouse (that we are fixing up) and we had family movie night. 

It was a good weekend and I'm hoping this week is better than last week. This is the last week before Serena starts school and Layla starts Pre-K. I'm also looking to put Mariam in a Mother's Day out program for a few hours a week. I think a change of pace might be good for her--and for all of us.

Have a great Monday.

Our weekend

This weekend was nice. Relaxing and tiring all at the same time. Saturday I spent some time sewing for the home. I made throw pillows for the master bedroom and cloth napkins. Originally the cloth napkins fabric was going to be made for baby bibs, but I just wasn't feeling the print for that after all. I love the way the pillows came out but I wish I would have made them a little bit bigger. I'm currently revamping the master bedroom even though we are in this condo temporarily. I'll be sure to post pictures once I'm done with it. 

Later that day we all went grocery shopping, had dinner and then homemade banana split sundaes. So good! Much better than store bought. 

Sunday I thought the weather was going to be cooler because it had been raining the past few days and the temperature said 85 degrees, so I thought it would be a good idea to check out the Miami zoo. Boy was I wrong about the weather. I'm pretty sure yesterday was the hottest day of the year! We were sweating like crazy. Nevertheless we explored for about 4 hours but didn't get to see everything. After a while we couldn't take the heat anymore and the girls were getting restless. I had been getting a ton of braxton hicks contractions throughout the day, but they calmed down later. My oldest isn't picture because she was spending the weekend with family. We plan on going back to see the rest of the zoo with her once it's fall and the weather is cooler.

Sewing for baby.

This weekend I finally had time to sew for myself (or baby that is). I've never made a diaper cover or baby bonnet before but I think they came out pretty good. The diaper cover took a lot longer than I thought it would to make, but even H loved them and thought they were adorable. I can't wait to have more time to sew more things for all my girls. 

Mommy & Me

I swear I must be certifiable to speed up instead of slow down during pregnancy. I always do this to myself but I guess I thrive on chaos. It's been a busy few days thus far and I'm happy to announce that the first few items of my upcoming maternity accessory line are in pre-production! I'm so excited about it and a little scared. Manufacturing a product is not cheap and there will be some financial hurdles I'll be coming across in the next 2 months, but if there's a will there is a way. 

I also want to announce that a limited amount of mommy and me tulle skirts will be hitting the shop next week! I first made myself one back in December and a friend suggested I make more but then so much happened. We moved, found out I was pregnant and then had horrible nausea for 2 and a half months...all while juggling my family and the business. So much going on, but very excited about growing the FHJ brand.

Here are a few sneak peaks. Layla is modeling the toddler version of the tulle skirt.

Have a great Wednesday and be sure to follow my shop on Facebook or Instagram to keep up with the latest!

Life lately..

I can't say a whole lot of things other than the usual bibs and babies is going on right now, but it's still a lot to keep me busy and not leave much room for anything else. Something that's a little different is having to chauffeur Serena around a lot more due to school activities. She's a lot more involved with activities this year which is great. The downside is strapping two babies in and out of car seats constantly, but it is what it is. This morning I totally dropped Serena off at school in my robe. Yeah, I mean I didn't have to get off the car, but still. I went to sleep after midnight last night after spending a good 3 hours, organizing and cutting out fabric and responding to emails. 

I'm in the midst of putting together a wholesale order for an online boutique in Australia and I've got about 7 days to do it--on top of my regular orders. Good news and all.--love a good wholesale order, but I had a momentary "Oh no" moment this morning. A lady I had hired to assist with sewing can no longer help. Another lady I know for back-up has too much of a busy schedule, so what did I do? I called up 1-800-mom and asked the woman who taught me how to sew in the first place to see if she could take time out of her busy schedule and help her daughter. Thankfully she'll be coming this weekend to help me knock them out. However, it looks like I'm back to the drawing board on finding someone again, which sets me back. It's been in the works to release my first few children's wear pieces this spring and then followed by maternity.

It'll happen eventually--and it scares me. It scares me because I'm not going to pretend I know what I'm doing as far as having a clothing line, but then again, I didn't really know what I was doing when I started the business. All I knew is I wanted to create beautiful things. I have a few things I've sketched on paper and one skirt that's been done since last month. Almost every other day, I look at the skirt and sigh because I can't wait for everything else to come together and it's just sitting there. In due time, God willing everything will come together. For now I'm trying to live in the moment with my family and not get too caught up with everything I feel I need to accomplish.

Pumpkin baby bump, festivals, and decorating

I've got this bad kink in my neck from sleeping wrong a few days ago...and I'm tired, but it was a good weekend. Lot's of family time and lot's of sewing. Saturday we headed to a local festival where they had children's activities and a petting zoo. It was incredibly hot outside and the sun was beating down like nobody's business, so we really didn't stay long. Right after that we headed to my in laws since they lived 5 minutes away from the festival.

 

Feeling in the Halloween spirit, I wore a t-shirt that said "lil pumpkin on the way" to the festival. It got quite the attention and I had people stop and ask me where I got it. It was actually given to me by a friend 2 years ago but it's from Cafepress.

 

 

Sunday was spent doing some quick Halloween decorating, and H handled Layla most of the day so I could focus on sewing uninterrupted. So I thought...I got a lot accomplished but not as much as I wanted too.

 

Hope everyone else had a good weekend.



babylegs!

I've been meaning to post these little baby leg warmers I made a couple months ago, but I completely forgot about them. I love sewing and making little things, but latley I just haven't had the motivation with the first trimester sickness. Hopefully I'll get more energy soon because I have alot of projects I need to tackle.



Aren't they cute?!

If you've seen my post on Layla's nursery you'll realize that I just love pink, tan and white together.

Oh btw, I finally picked a theme for Layla's birthday party next month. It's "April showers bring May flowers". I've got some awesome ideas and bought some supplies yesterday at Micheal's. I can't wait for it to all come together.