frock friday!

 

 **if you have a photo you'd like to submit for frock friday, please email it to bierbaur@hotmail.com with "frock friday" in the subject line!**

new frocks!!

I sort of skipped fall and jumped right into Christmas!!  But before that, here are some new frocks that I made for a show I'm doing in Eureka, IL in November. 

 

From left to right,

Lime & Berry; Patchwork Pink

Big Flower & Berry; Meadow Floral

 

I found a super cute fabric for the holidays from Michael Miller and his Ta Dot Berry coordinated with it so well!

Lil Man wanted in on the picture taking!

I'll have limited quantities & sizes of all the dresses pictured on the 11th.  Once I get more details about the show's venue, I'll share them for ya!  

hornet pride

Each student in my school gets a "Hornet Pride" t-shirt at the beginning of the year to wear on designated days.  Now that Lil Miss is in school, she gets one too.  But thinking the way I do, I ordered an extra, two sizes too big....cause t-shirts are boring...and this is much cuter!!!

I love it!!!  The only thing I would change {and it's not something I can even change} is the position of the graphic....but since I can't change that - I love it!!!

I plan on making some more, so I'll try to put together a tutorial then.  :)



frock

My cousin ordered matching Easter dresses for her girls and I had just enough fabric left to make a size 6 Frock for my Etsy Shop!

africa

Mama Made It is going global!

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon {this website} that sends pillowcase dresses to little girls in Africa! I loved the idea and immediately went to my fabric stash to see what I could come up with. I had enough fabric for 8 dresses in sizes small & medium!

I explained the project to Lil Miss who was confused at first but excited that we were making dresses for little girls who might not have many dresses to wear. She wanted to help me pack the dresses up to send off.

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A customer of mine bought a dress last week - to send to Africa also! She sponsers a child through World Vision.

Can you picture little girls running around parts of Africa with Frocks on?! Love it!!

new fabric

I got some new fabrics a few weeks ago at Peddler's Way. I just now got around to making a Frock with some of them! Can't wait to get my hands on the rest!!

a frock and a new toy

When I started making the Frock for All Season dresses, I learned how to make bias tape. You can buy bias tape also, but it generally only comes in certain colors. By making it yourself, you have the freedom to use whatever fabric you want!

Bias tape is not hard to make at all! For the arm holes of the Frocks, for example, you cut a strip of fabric {on the bias} measuring 2" by 24". Fold the strip in half longways, so it's 1" tall by 24" and press with an iron. Open the strip up and fold each long end in, towards the middle. Then press again - and you have a length of bias tape! (Then you fold it in half around the unfinished edge of the arm holes, pin and sew, if you were wondering!}

After reading {this blog post} I was determined to get a Bias Tape Maker! Like I said, it's not hard to make.....however.......I tend to burn the tips of my fingers with the iron often b/c my nails are short and the fabric is only 2" tall! And, if I'm making more than one Frock, I could be at my ironing board for quite some time! So I made a trip to Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon and bought myself this little beauty...

I can not say how much faster this is than manually making bias tape! I made bias tape for eight sets of armholes in minutes!! I would highly recommend {this machine} and if you use the 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby, it's really a great deal! The only place cheaper than HobLob+coupon was ebay for a used machine!

I had a custom order for two Team Spirit Frocks in Minnesota Vikings fabric....

Super cute!!

{team spirit}

Here's a Frock for All Seasons made for a friend from Iowa!

{team spirit}

My dad is a big Bears fan and has influenced my kiddos into being fans as well...even though they've never watched a game! Anyway, Sundays {or Mondays} have become Bears days and Lil Miss was in need of a girly frock for the occasion!

A Frock for All Seasons

I have grown to love pillowcase dresses over the last six months or so when I realized a dress I bought Lil Miss last spring fit her as a shirt/tunic this spring! I held a little photo shoot to showcase how these frocks can be worn all year 'round!

{click photo to enlarge}

Winter - add jeans, boots and a long sleeved tee to keep your lil one warm & toasty!

Spring - add a cropped cardigan and you're lil one is ready for warmer weather!

Summer - no need to add a thing, super cute as is!!

Fall - add leggings, a short sleeved tee and a cute hat to fall into cooler weather!

I want to send a shout-out to my super cute models! They were sooo good and definitely did a fantastic job showing off their frocks!! Love these little ladies!!

Summer Pillowcase Dresses!

I had an order for two pillowcase dresses and luckily, I was able to get them done during the kiddos' nap time!!

Size 0-12 months

Main fabric - Paisley Floral

Trim - Candy Pink

Size 5T

Main fabric - Gerbera Fruit & Floral

Trim - Pomegranate Pink

Both dresses were made using Froglegs & Ponytails' pattern!

Easter Trio

As I mentioned in {this post}, I fell in love with the Nuovo Dot fabric a few months ago! I bought a ton, as well as a super dainty cream eyelet that was on clearance. I made lil miss a pillowcase dress and my two SIL's said they'd like one for their little girls! That was easier said than done since their girls are 4 months & 4 weeks old!

Fortunately for me, the {Froglegs and Ponytails} patter I have has a 16-18" doll size, as a 0-12 month size! So here are all three dresses, sizes ranging from 4T to itty bitty!!I can't wait to see this little girls in their dresses!!

Pillowcase Trio

I'm back! I was itching to sew again after a week off! A co-worker's daughter ordered three pillowcase dresses and I LOVE how spring-ish they are! Now if only Central Illinois weather would be a little more spring-like!!

Enchanted Forest Butterfly Size 4T

Silly Spunky Dot Size 6 Jungle Flower Size 7/8

On Spring Break, I visited the cutest little shop that sold handmade pillowcase tops for women....I have that pattern and I'm anxious to try it out now!!

Superbowl, what?!

I do not have an athletic bone in my body...never have and probably never will! So when my husband decided to take lil man to a friend's house to watch the game, I was relieved!! What to do with lil miss??! Make a dress, of course! I thought this would be a great time to try out my new pattern! I recently ordered the Amelia and Caroline dress patterns from Froglegs & Ponytails. I hadn't tried a pillowcase dress before this point because sometimes they can look really homemade. I have bought a couple from etsy.com that have been decent. I have seen many that just look cheap. I was searching etsy one day and stumbled upon Froglegs & Ponytails' shop and I really, really liked the construction of her pillowcase dresses! I like that she has you make bias tape from the fabric of your dress for the underarm seam. I like that there is a definite underarm cut-out. I like that she has you use your trim fabric for the neck-tie closure. I also love that she has an adult shirt version!!!

So on this Superbowl Sunday, I made the "Caroline" version. I used the Nuovo Dot fabric from this post {because I love it the more I look at it} and for my trim fabric, I used a cream eyelet fabric....LOVE!! I did not use the eyelet fabric for the tie closure, but a coordinating ribbon instead. I didn't think the eyelet was a good choice for the tie.

Here's the finished product....

I'm thinking about making these for my nieces for Easter. I think this will be lil miss's Easter dress for sure! I love how dainty it is! And if you've ever met my lil miss, dainty is not an adjective you'd use to describe her!! ;)

I made another dress yesterday, based off of a tutorial found on I am Momma - Hear Me Roar

Instead of using old t-shirt strips, I used coordinating jersey knit strips. I am pretty pleased with the outcome. If I were to do it again, I would make the strips even longer as they go down to give the dress a little more shape. {Lil miss can't do narrow!} I made each strip 1" longer than the one before it, but I think I'd do at least 1.5" or 2" next time. Over all, I like the dress!

I like that she can wear it this summer as a tank dress & can wear it now with a long-sleeved tee under it and leggings!!
By the way....Old Navy has their tanks on sale right now for $5!!! My friend and I went on Friday and stocked up! She has asked me to make 4 tank panel dresses for her daughter and I have tons of plans for the tanks I bought!!