Red White And Blue Flag Skirt

 Hey guys! Sorry its been so long since I have posted on of these its been a little... well crazy. A couple weeks ago we had to put our dog down. It was really hard on our family, plus trying to keep up with my friend's crazy scheduled so we can spend some time together before they go back to Africa, keeping up with the yard work and gardens, and we have out of town family visiting. So it's been a little hectic. :) But I'm looking forward to some fun tomorrow!

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends. I love the 4th of July! From the food to the fireworks to just spending time with my family. I love it! So today I'm wearing a skirt I made (Check out my post about it here) in red white and blue (I told you I loved it), a black tank, a black vest, silver flip flops, red white & blue star earrings, Cowboy hat necklace, red, white & blue scarf (flag pattern). When it gets to Red, White and Blue I can be very serious... LOL!

Shirt: Walmart

Vest: Ross Store

Flip Flops: Ross

Skirt: I made

Accessories: Scarf: Walmart

Jewelry: Necklace: I made Earrings: Walmart

Kara Rose Skirt Pattern In Different Prints

Kara Rose Skirt in Pink and Brown Stretch Knit

 I designed this skirt last year. Actually, its was originally to go with the swimsuit I was making but I really loved the lines on it so I decided to make a few skirts out of the pattern. It's perfect for church or just to wear during the week depending on what you pair it with.

Kara Rose Skirt in Brown, Cream and Orange Stretch Knit

 

Kara Rose Skirt in Red, White and Blue Cotton 

It Suits Me -

Summer is here and that means pools are finally open. Yay! So what do you wear to go swimming? With all the choices out there (and a lot of them pretty skimpy) it can be hard to find something that meets your modesty standards and your price range. In my family anything that shows off, your stomach is absolutely unacceptable. I'm always so annoyed to find all the cute red & white striped or American flag swimsuits don't meet our families standard (really why don't they make once piece swimsuits out of that fabric?)  :(.  Well anyway here are some of the swimsuits that meet our standards (note these might not meet everyone's standards but these are acceptable in our home).

~Bathing Beauties~

My sister Brianna is wearing a black & White Polka-dot one piece swimsuit. I think we got it at K-mart. While I am wearing my absolutely favorite (rivaling with an adorable black & white polka-dot one I used to have but accidentally got briers in retrieving a ball that had been bounced out of the pool) swimsuit. It's a navy blue almost dark purple with a white sash, I got it at Target a few years ago. The fun sailor hats we got at Walmart to go with the beach theme birthday party we were having.  I love wearing them with this swimsuit because it reminds me of an old fashion sailor suit and my dad was in the Navy, so it just kind of fits. 

I made this one last year because my sister wanted a new swimsuit but couldn't find one she liked so I decided to try my hand at making my own, I started one for me too but haven't finished it yet. I really love how they turned out! 

~To Cover Up Or Not To Cover Up? That Is The Question.~

If you still are more comfortable out of the pool with a  swimsuit cover on, this is super easy and in my opinion really cute. 

The black skirt is actually a swimsuit cover up that is supposed to be a dress (but I like it better as a skirt) we got at Ross last summer. 

The white shirt is a long sleeve button up I found in my grandma's closet (when I was little she would pretty much only wear this kind of shirt so she has a ton). You could probably find one at a Ross or department store. I rolled the sleeves up and knotted the front. The hat was in my mom's closet and I have no idea where she got it, probably Walmart. And I'm not wearing shoes in the photo but a simple pair of flip-flops would do nicely to get you where you're going.

James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you

Beautiful Costume Inspiration

We went to the Renaissance Fair last weekend and had a great time! If you want to see some more photos we took click here. Lots of people asked if they could take a picture of the four of us together. This year Aubrey was a princess, Brianna a pirate, and Anna and I were Fairies. Which means a lot of glitter was used in the process of getting ready. We weren't even ready by the time we had to go so most of the glitter/makeup went on in the car (don't worry the back seat isn't covered in glitter).  The little children that are there at the festival love fairies and they just gasp when they see us.  They always turn to their parent and say, "Look, a fairy!".  It is so sweet.  We wanted to bring little colored stones to pass out to them as fairy stones but we forgot them in the mayhem that was us getting to the car in a timely manner (ha ha, right dad?)  

Aubrey looked absolutely stunning in this dress! The only problem was her shoe broke while there so I kept having to fix it. So I called her Cinderella for the rest of day. I french braided her hair around her head and bobby pinned it in place (I'll post a tutorial on how to do it soon). It held really well through out the day and look beautiful. Right before we left I sprayed it with glitter so it sparkled in the sun. Everyone there thought she had her hair done in one of the professional hair braiding shops there.  

Dress: We bought at the Renaissance Fair last year

Tank: I have no idea, Africa some place.

Jewelry: Earrings: World Market 

Shoes: I think we got them at Target a really really long time ago?

Accessories: Ribbon Belt: Hobby Lobby  

I adore this dress on Anna! She looked amazing!!!! I pulled the top part of her hair back into a pony-tail leaving her bangs out, and then braided small pieces of hair in the back and let them hang down her back. I put a hair dagger (or if you want to get technical it's a letter opener but why ruin all the fun, right?) through the pony-tale scrunchy to hold it in place. Right before we had to get in the car we sprayed her hair and dress with glitter. Lots of people loved her hair.

Over Dress: My mom made

White shirt: Bought a few years ago at the Renaissance Festival.

Green Skirt: Thrift Store

Shoes: Hers

Jewelery: Necklace: A gift Ring: from Africa

Accessories: Wings: My mom made Hair Dagger: Hobby Lobby

Brianna looks beautiful in this pirate outfit! I think I parted her hair in four pieces and braided each piece separately and then pulled it back into a pony-tail. Then I took a leather strap and cris-crossed it around her hair all the way down securing it with a scrunchy.  A lot of people really love the blue shirt she was wearing! It really popped her eye color out.

Brown Shirt: Thrift Store

Blue Shirt: Renaissance Fair

Skirt: Thrift Store

Boots: Co-op

Jewelry: Bracelet: Burkes Earrings: Burkes Necklace: I made

Accessories: Belt: Hobby Lobby Dagger: Renaissance Fair Bag: Hobby Lobby Bow: Renaissance Fair

Surprisingly the metal on my shirt didn't burn my skin off (just turned it green. LOL!) but this costume was really fun! All I did with my hair is have my mom put it in sponge curlers the night before while my hair was slightly damp and then in the morning I just put it in a side pony-tail.  And of course I had my sister spray glitter on my hair and skin (Let's just say she had way to much fun with a spray can of glitter. I could swear I heard her laughing)

Shirt: I made the chain-mail one link at a time (and it took a really long time and gave me some horribly sore fingers) and my mom made the fabric part (which may I say takes a lot less time then hooking metal circles together)

Skirt: My mom made

Boots: Walmart

Jewelry: Bracelet: A gift Necklace: I made Earrings: A gift Crown: Renaissance Fair

Accessories: Sticker: World Market Ears: Renaissance Fair Wings: My mom made Vambrace (the brown things on my arms): I made

Stitches & Thimbles #2

My mom and I actually drafted the pattern for this skirt and I absolute love this it. It is so comfortable!  (we call the style a Mary-Margret Skirt). Its a simple circle skirt but we designed it to be able to either have a zipper or elastic waist band. 

I cut my pattern out and pinned it right side out.

 

I am using french seams on this skirt so it (Here is a link on how to do it)

This what it looked like after I sewed it.

I trimmed the seam 

Flipped so wrong sides are showing.

.

I ironed the seam.

Sewed the seam again.

This is what it looked like after. Then I added an elastic waist band hemmed the bottom.

This is what it looked like finished. To see more pictures of this skirt visit Modest Monday #12. 

This skirt is the same pattern just with a zipper instead of elastic. To view more photos of this skirt visit 

Modest Monday #13

Stitches & Thimbles #1

This seam is a little harder but it is much stronger and gives you a cleaner finish. To start off after you cut out your garment you want to pin the wrong sides or your fabric (soon to be garment) together. In other words, you want the side of your fabric  you want to show is on the outside. With your needle in the center position stitch your fabric with the fabric running along the right-hand side of your presser foot.  Stitch.

Sew with the fabric against the edge or the foot on your sewing --

Trim your fabric so that it is a little less than half of what it is now. (Get as close as you can to the seam without cutting it)

Flip it so the seam is on the inside and the edge looks like this. Pin if necessary to hold it in place.

Iron Seam.

Sew the seam again with the edge again on the right side of the presser foot like this.

It should look something like this.

And you're done!

See Stitches and Thimbles #2 by clicking photo below