This is the second part of sharing my results for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. 

This dress is inspired by the wonderful Craftiness is Not Optional's dress she made for Sew Ready to Play.  I was planning on making Lily a fall themed dress for her annual birthday dress, but I hadn't found the right fabric yet.  When I saw CINO's dress - I knew that was it - it was the perfect acorn fabric (Anthology Fabrics - Acorns in Aqua).  I loved the acorn pockets too.  So I borrowed a lot of the ideas of the dress but tried to put my own spin on it.

The pattern is another Oliver + S dress, this being the Ice Cream Dress. I wanted a dress with an accent fabric at the hem and yoke.  I needed the yoke to be simple, and one piece, because I didn't want to break up the faux bois wood print (Joel Dewberry - Woodgrain in Chocolate) with a seam line.  I had made an Ice Cream dress for Lily back when she was one and realized this pattern would work wonderfully.  No, I didn't use one of my own patterns; I am a firm believer "if it's not broken don't try to fix it" and this was perfect.  The cut, the fabric, everything.  It would make a perfect everyday dress that she would get more wear out of then a fancy party dress.

Modifcations to this dress pattern were slight. The ric-rac inserted at the bottom hem for a playful touch and also to make it a little more of a "party dress" for her 3rd birthday.  And of course, the acorn pockets inspired by CINO's pockets.  I did however do mine slightly differently. I will explain incase anyone else will also like to make similar pockets:

I used wool for the cap and faux-suede for the acorn, and assembled them alltogether differently.  I cut out the faux suede acorn and then carefully ironed up the sides a quarter inch all around.  I then cut two wool cap shapes, sandwiched the suede acorn shape between  and then sewed them together, and adding the grid pattern (I wish I had remembered to insert the stem of the acorn, but deadlines and hurrying and all...).  I sewed all around the faux-suede acorn to keep the pressed edges down so it would be easier to sew the pockets.  In hindsight - this would have been easier to do before I sewed on the cap.  Then I sewed the pockets to the dress.

 All in all, I love this dress and I think it is going to be a staple in Lily's wardrobe.  Hopefully it's not going to be weird to wear acorns in February, because Lily loves this dress and I don't see myself limiting it only to be worn in fall!

I am a bit behind sharing the results of my Kids Clothes Week Challenge.  Part of it was how busy I was, getting ready for Lily's 3rd Birthday which happened to fall in the middle of KCWC.  The other part was trying to find a nice sunny day in order to take photographs.  Yesterday was a delightfully sunny and warm day (70!  One of the last warm days of fall, I bet).  So without further ado - here's what I made!

This is the third time I have made this dress - the Oliver + S Tea Party Dress.  I really love the flippy little shape of the skirt, especially after I made modifications to it.  The first time I sewed this dress the skirt was too long and the flare just didn't look right.  The torso was to long, the flare too low, something wasn't quite right.  The second time I did the dress I took about a couple inches out where the skirt met the bodice and it looked much better.  But as I was sewing it - the fabric was a paler white cotton and much too see-through.  So I sewed a second skirt - as a lining - but made it a touch longer in the torso, ending up with the layered skirt you see above.  I love layered skirts.  Not only does it give me one more fabric choice, but also allows me to create a wonderfully lined skirt without any seams showing, inside and out.

The fabrics are Echino "Green Scene" that I have been hoarding for probably five years, planning on making a dress for myself out of.  And I did cut one out for myself a couple weeks ago, but then got side tracked with other projects.  I saw the left over bits and decided Lily needed a dress made from it too.  There was only enough of the patterned sections to make two center panels front and back, and a little bit of leftover solid green sections to make the sides.  The teal solids are Kona Cottons (couldn't tell you the shades, I have forgotten).

Ignore the wrinkles across the front.  I really should have smoothed it out before I took a picture!  Ah well.  It was hard enough trying to get a good picture of Lily.  She's at the stage where she either will not smile at all and looks very serious, or will "smile" but it's really a forced grimace - a baring of teeth, or is just a wiggle monster and a blur.  The fun of a toddler!

I have been accepted to the December No Coast sale!  I am so excited.  It's one of my favorite sales of the year.  So many wonderful people - both vendors and potential buyers.  I have been working behind the scenes on coming up with new clothing patterns, and potentially expanding my size ranges.  I also hope to offer more toy gift options beyond the elephants. 

Robots for sure.  Maybe birdies?  Possibly something fuzzier?  We'll see!

I filled the Etsy store with many wonderful items, so please go check it out.  It a great way to get my items between craft sales.  Many of my favorites are in there and I will add more items when I can.

 I am also toying around with an Etsy exclusive too...

Doesn't our booth look cute? We had just finished setting it up and surviving a little bit of rain (you know, just to complicate set up!).  I was pleased with how we managed to fit two business in our booth.  Crabtree Studio AND Stardust Stitches Stardust Stitches is Jessica's new business - you know Jessica - of Plushroom Soup fame? Yep - that one!  And her new business is in addition to Plushroom and features lots of handmade lovelies such as slippers/house shoes and therapy pillows and they're great so go check them out here.

I was selling some of my favorites - the jointed elephants.  I love making these so very much!  They take a long time, and require a lot of careful work, but the finished product is so sturdy and well made.  I have talked to people who have bought my first elephants from that very first NoCoast I did (over 5 years? was that 2006 or 2007?) and they are still going strong - even being passed down from one kid to the next.  That makes me so happy!

I also debuted all the new children's clothing. Reversible dresses! Super fun pants!  And skirts with built in shorts!  I love how clothing really lets me play with just the right color and pattern combinations.  I enjoy the plush animals - but I am such a stickler for more "traditional" colored animals that I don't make any pink floral ones with grey polka dots!  (I know I could, I know.  But I'm obsessive and weird like that, let's just roll with it, shall we?)  Clothing, however, I feel free to make all kind of playful and fun combinations.  Later this week I will highlight some of my favorites - but if you can't wait - feel free to check out some of the clothing in the store.

And here I am in the booth!  And before you ask - no - I did not make my dress.  I meant to make a dress for No Coast, but as time ticked down, I thought my time would be better spent on making inventory rather then something for myself.  Cobbler's children and all, none for myself.  Speaking of which - every dress and elephant - Lily would get so excited - for Lily?  And I'd say no, for No Coast.  I think at the end she thought No Coast was a person that got all the wonderful things I was making!  For those that are going to ask - the dress is from here.

And here's Jessica.  Isn't she deliciously vintage?  Looking good girl!  I should note - both of these pictures of us was BEFORE we melted away.  It was so miserably hot and steamy.  We only survived by drinking lots of water, and generous doses of icecream sold in the airconditioned cafe in the Nature Center.

Speaking of which!  Wow, guys, the park is awesome!  It's such a wonderful gem - if you are near Minneapolis - you need to go check it out.  Silverwood Park.  Lots of nice trails that run around the lake and grounds.  Great sculpture along the trails too, making it the perfect combination of nature and art.

However, with the heat I didn't really get to explore it very much, so I will come back once this heatwave is over.  The fellow vendors were great too - I love our next door neighbors Oh Dier and had to buy one of their adorable wooden robots. I hope to buy a few of their wooden signs in the future too.  And it wouldn't be No Coast without getting a fresh supply of handmade Minnesota wrapping paper from Local Produce.

So to quickly recap - the vendors were amazing, the park was wonderful, the heat was horrible, but our booth was cute and we met a lot of wonderful new people! If someone could promise we'd have nicer weather, I'd do it all over in a second!

I will be back in the craft fair circuit!  Specifically, Crabtree Studio will be at the Summer NoCoast.  It will be Sunday, July 22nd from 11am to 6pm at Silverwood Park near NE Minneapolis.  I hope we will have great weather because it's going to be outside!  I will be sharing a booth with Jessica Pucket (of Plushroom Soup fame) however she will be launching a new venture called Stardust Stitches.  She will be making lovely little things, but I'm keeping that under wraps till she announces what that will be (don't worry - all the zany plush will be back for December's NoCoast!).

I think the show should be really nice - there are some great vendors, many new to me and NoCoast, that I am looking forward to meeting, and some old friends that I can't wait to see again.  I am so excited!.  And now I am off to sew.