Roo Romper Pattern Review

The Roo Romper by Too Sweet Patterns has been on my list of patterns to purchase since it was released. I love a seamless loose romper. I purchased the pattern on August 29th for Kiddies Carnival here in Brooklyn that was on the following day. I had complete faith in this pattern because I've purchased the Tulip Pinafore from Too Sweets before and I've been searching the interweb (don't you just love that word) for this exact style. 

I have no clue where she gets such sass and hip action from. No clue!!

The sizing of this pattern was on point. I cut a size 2T for my 2 year old. The length and fit was perfect. The only tiny change I made was instead of using the same knit fabric that I used for the body, I chose regular bias tape. The directions were short and sweet just like my two girls. :-)

The turban headband is my own pattern that I made a few months ago!

Freshly-Picked Moccasins Review

I had the great honor of reviewing one of my favorite baby products...Freshly-Picked moccasins!!

I've been following this company on Instagram for a while now and fell in love with these little leather shoes. While watching television one day, I saw them on ABC's Shark Tank and my jaw nearly dropped. It was as if seeing a family friend or relative. I felt like I knew the owner, Susan Petersen, because I was so familiar with her story. When it came time for me to pick which color I wanted I literally stared at my computer for more than an hour trying to decide. The colors are just delicious (especially the new assortments of neon colors that were recently released). I finally chose ebony. I decided to stick with black because I wasn't sure if I would make an outfit for a boy or girls to match.

I was inspired to make my first boy's outfit and boy oh boy am I proud (pun intended)!

I made shorts using the kid shorts pattern from Dana Made It. I drafted my own back pockets to give it a bit of detail. Click here to see my post on it. I made the hat using Lippy Brands basic beanie pattern with a minor edit using the black bias tape detail.

So here's the skinny on the moccs. They're simply adorable. They came packaged in a white drawstring pouch with the Freshly-Picked logo on the front. Upon taking them out I immediately recognized the smell of genuine leather. The moccs looked exactly as the photo on their website. When trying the shoes on my model, I was having a little difficulty getting them on because I was nervous about popping the elastic but it held up just fine. I am very happy with them.

Freshly-Picked has allowed me to do a giveaway on my Instagram account @its_chaiche which should be happening in July. More info coming soon.

First Boy Shorts

Boy clothes has been on my list of things to make for a long time. The problem is that I lacked the motivation since I only have girls. A few months ago my cousin gave birth to the cutest little baby boy and I instantly fell in love with him. He's chunky in all the right places and still has that baby smell that everyone loves.

I found this lovely black and white fabric at a local fabric store and had to have it. If they still had more of it I'd definitely purchase the bolt.  

I used Kid Shorts PDF Pattern from Dana Made It. The directions are on her blog, which I love, because it allows you to check out the instruction BEFORE you make your purchase. The directions and patterns are supurb and very easy to understand. 

I made a few additions to the back of the shorts. These shorts are far from perfect but my next pair will surely be better because I understand where my mistakes are and how to fix them. I drafted my own faux pockets (which are placed higher than I would like). I added some yellow top stitching and faux button holes to jazz it up a smidget.  

To add a pop of color I placed a little strip of yellow bias tape along the side seam. It's actually a little longer than I thought so I'll be opening that seam a bit and making it shorter. Overall I actually like these shorts a lot. I can't wait till I see my cousin to put in on and take lots of photos. 

I had the great opportunity to review moccasins from the lovely company Freshly-Picked. I decided to use these shorts to match with a pair I was sent and put together my first boy's outfit grid!

The Caroline Party Dress Pattern Review

I decided to try The Caroline Party Dress by Mouse House Creations for my girls Easter dresses. I chose this pattern because I loved the many options that were available. I don't dress the girls the same but I try to have their clothes coordinate in small ways. I had such trouble trying to decide on the color scheme (story of my life) that I ordered the fabric online way too late. The delivery date is set for the day AFTER Easter. Shame on me. I decided to just use some fabric that I had in my stash, trying not to spend a dime.

For the first dress I went with no collar, fully lined underskirt, waist piping, bias trim, inseam side pockets (favorite feature) and a chiffon button flower. I used the ruffle chiffon flower tutorial by The Mother Huddle as a guide but made a few changes like instead of hot glue I used my sewing machine.  

I took BEAUTIFUL pics under a tree and had someone shake the tree just a bit so petals can fall while I snap pictures. Unfortunately the camera settings were changed by accident and I didn't stop to admire the pictures as I usually do, so when I got home they were super overexposed. The photo above was one of them that I Photoshoped the heck out of to get it to look half decent. :(

For the second dress I decided to keep it simple and make it fully lined with a peter pan collar. I also added a silver ribbon with a big bow in the back.

How stinking cute is that collar? I'm not usually a peter pan collar kinda girl but it has grown on me. She wore this dress with a short white sweater. Of course I don't have any pictures of it because...... well you just read why... :(

As for my review of the Caroline Party Dress......I LOVE IT. The direction were on point. For the dress with the collar I stuck to the directions word for word. I usually stay away from zippers and this pattern uses an invisible zipper which made me almost pee my pants BUT it wasn't bad at all. I'm now a fan of the zipper and I'm not quite sure why it always made me so nervous. Everything was perfect...even the final length of the dress. I have plans on making more dresses with this pattern. I'll use the fabric that I planned originally for Easter.

The fabric used on theses dresses were gray distressed twill from Fabric.com. That fabric now is out of stock.
The first picture is a size 5T.
The second is a size 2T.

Pretty Fitness

Here is my gift to you.... a free 30 day challenge calendar! 

I made this for myself because I'm doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred!!!!!! I wanted a pretty calendar. Pretty motivates me.  If you are doing any challenges then download it, copy it, print it, share it and most importantly....use it! It will fit on a 8.5 x 11 paper (just print landscape) so you can use your home printer. If you want to make it extra pretty use a textured paper and put it in a frame without the glass so you can still write on it. I think it helps if every step during your fitness journey is pretty.

Enjoy and good luck.

The origin of the pink highlighter

I've tried blogging in the past and I failed. The reason they failed was because of a foolish commitment I made with myself to write something new everyday for people whom I imagined were going to read it. I decided what shape my blog should take based off of the blogs of others. This time I will write when necessary for myself and my children and be as organic/ free as possible.

The idea and name of this blog came to me a few hours before writing this post. It has been a long night of researching, without a minute of sleep -- something I'm sure to regret by midday -- about the books The Secret, Write It Down Make It Happen, The Four Agreements and The Alchemist. It was during this search that I decided to attempt to improve my life by following the advice located within these books such as, "thoughts become things" and "write it down, make it happen".

I downloaded The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho onto my iPad and began reading. Just a few pages in, I realized I began using the highlighter feature like a bored child with a marker... more than half of the page was now pink!  Normally I would go back and remove the highlight from some of the words so the page didn't look so colored but the man was preaching and every word was necessary (which is one of the four agreements - be deliberate with your words). This is when I realized the importance/problem with the highlighter...

After highlighting what I believe is important things, it is not very often that I return to the book to read the highlighted passages. Once the book is complete, it goes on my bookshelf and technically becomes a part of the furniture. I want to use this blog to highlight the important things in my life and in order to do so I must keep returning which will allow me many chances to reread all that I deemed "highlight-able" in my life.