Sewing Outfits for Family Pictures

     I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to write a post! My family was focusing our time and energy into finishing out basement, getting our house ready to go on the market, and getting ready to go see my family In Washington! Now after getting home and moving into the basement, my little girl thinks its super fun to push the blue button on the computer which shuts everything down. I rarely get the opportunity to sit here anymore.  JUST SO YOU KNOW, I'M GOING TO BOMBARD YOU WITH PICTURES!! :)

         My friend Jenni Merritt  took our family pictures and they turned out AMAZING!!! I love them!  I went to High School in Friday Harbor, WA and that is where my parents still live today, so when we went back home for a visit, I am happy that we took them on the island. It brings a little extra piece of me and my heart into our home. 

     I have to say that Jenni is such a good person and so genuine. As a photographer, these qualities are a MUST for me, because it made me feel comfortable and it was easy to just be myself.  She made me feel beautiful! On the day of the pictures, I had plenty of time to get us dressed and ready, but my hair was not it's typical self.  I don't know if it was the water, humidity or just a bad hair day (just my luck) but I curled and curled and curled it and it would just fall out.  the same with the girls.  My friend even gave me a lesson on doing straightener curls and I was unable to make it look so nice and effortless like she does.  Needless to say, we showed up late, I was frazzled and my husband was frustrated with me because as usual it became a "bigger deal than it needed to be." I wanted things to be perfect and to have beautiful pictures. I was .... pretty stressed. yikes! After two min with Jenni, I wasn't stressed anymore. :) 

    For pictures I wanted our clothes to coordinate, but not be super matchy matchy. I looked at places like www.sparkleinpink.com and loved what I saw, but it just wasn't us.  the froo froo would be cute, but would be worn once and never again and then I wouldn't know what to have us wear.  I wanted grey, aqua/mint and pink.  One day I found fabric I fell in love with, and like ALWAYS, it was impossible to find.  It is an out of production fabric that I ended up tracking down from three different places.  However the headache was, it turned out perfect and just to my expectations. 

I used these two fabrics below from the Dotties Sweet Shop line (P & B Textiles) and my other fabrics were found from my favorite fabric store on etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/handmadeisheartmade 

I'm a little bias, but I think my girls are ADORABLE!!!! for Carli's dress on the left, I used Little Lizard King's dress pattern Brooke. I added a belt around the waist that ties in the back.  I sewed it into the side seam so there was no slipping and adjusting needed.  it turned out perfect. 

for the flower on the waistband, I used small circles and folded them and then machine stitched them down to a fabric circle. I repeated for the middle color and then hand stitched the dark pink in the middle. Similar tutorial found here: http://myblondeambitions.blogspot.com/2010/03/fabric-flower-tutorial.html

Something I did differently here is I stitched a row of velcro down to the waistband and also to the back of the flower so that when washed I could remove it.

I do wish It was a tad bit longer so it would fit her longer and not show her diaper to the world, but I was on a huge time crunch for these and she was taking a nap when i decided i'd cut the length for the dress.  oops.  she can still wear it in the future with pants or jeans though.

For Keira's dress, I used one of my favorite patterns: https://www.etsy.com/listing/78394035/sewing-pattern-reverse-knot-dress-pdf?ref=related-0

I love the chevron straps and the blue ruffle on the bottom!!! it turned out darling.






don't you just love her nails?! She did! :)

        Now, if you are wondering where I got those PERFECT necklaces, I got KITS for them from BunnyNuts on etsy.  buying made necklaces can cost around $22.00 each and I was NOT going to do that.  This way was totally cake and they love them!!! Cami, owner of BunnyNuts,  is so awesome to work with and is VERY helpful!!! I plan on going back again and again! 

This project was just fun for me!!! I love the result and am happy that my pictures reflect my sewing and how the girls typically dress... even the crazy hair!!! :) 

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE?! :) 

I have to tell you, I am not a very fashionable girl.... I would LOVE to be, but I would need a team of experts to take me shopping. Typically i'm a T-shirt and jeans girl.  For pictures though I wanted to feel feminine and fun.  I bought my skirt from 3BrunetttesBoutique  and my necklace I got there too.  

Again, Jenni did amazing especially because she was rolling in the dirt joking with the girls about being stinky like boys! They both were being cranky and you would NEVER know it from the pictures. 

I really loved getting to kiss my husband.  With the short time we get together on a regular basis and needy children, time to just... kiss is few and far between. She almost had to go get a hose to get us to stop. lol!!! 

And my all time favorite picture is right here!!!!