I am NOT a Blogger...

I try - I really do. But this is one thing that I fail miserably at.

We are currently redoing our crafty space and things have kinda been put on hold. However, we are having a big BLOWOUT sale Superbowl Weekend. There are some changes coming to the Island and we are going to MOVE out some fabric by making some cute outfits for the little monkeys in your life and selling them at BLOWOUT prices!  In the meantime you can stop over and check out the Etsy store which is already on sale!

Mamma is sewing again!

It's been awhile - But I have got my sewing mojo back! I think the long winter got to me. So finally today I whipped out two patterns I've had on my want to sew list (even had the pattern printed out!)

So today I showcase the "Sporty Girl Knit Hoodie Dress" and the Jocole "Ruffle Leggings"

Looking over the Deck

No picture for this child is without the goofy faces....

But Alas - I got her to stand still & SMILE! 

A hoodie close up...

Not bad for my first ruffle leggins! 

My favorite picture of them all! 

Time for a little THROWBACK THURSDAY!

I have been sewing since 2004. Not many people knew I sewed.  I kept it under wraps. I saw all the really cool appliqued overalls and knew I wanted some for my daughter (who was 3 at the time) After talking with some gals I knew, I decided I can do this! I had one class of Home Ec. in 8th grade. (made a white stuffed puppy)

The perfect opportunity came when I learned my daughter was going to the pumpkin farm. I was going to make fall themed overalls!

TA DA! MY VERY FIRST ITEM I SEWED! (Store bought overalls) 

I went on to do a matching pair for her & her new little sister! 

SISTERS!

I went on to make them lots of outfits that 1st year!

I did Valentine's day ....

and Easter....

and some just because....

And I ended the year with Matching Christmas Dresses ....

(Store bought hats) 

And we're DONE!

Way back - probably a few years ago, My older daughters & I talked. We thought it would be really cute to see the two of them compete with a tap duo (in dance) They are both AWESOME Tappers (I'm their mom I have to say that ;) ) We also talked about Mom (me) making their costumes. I mindlessly agreed - Because in my mind - I had ideas. Sometimes those ideas are just that and there they sit - forever.

However - this year became - THE YEAR. I wasn't ready - well I kinda was. But at the same time I was petrified of the thought of making them.  What if I couldn't? What if they looked AWFUL!? These were the days I was my own worst enemy.

I even went as far as to see if I could find them a costume. But everything I found was cheesy and boring. We wanted FUN and a little more "Grown-up". Therefore, it fell back on MOM to come up with something. Easier said than done.

I had ideas. I sketched (HAHA - IF only you knew how back I draw) I tossed ideas and plans out at them. Most of the time I got blank stares back. When they did respond - they were like energizer bunnies.

We decided on Plan A. Peasant tops (cropped) and booty shorts. The younger of the two requested ruffles. OK great - Ruffles it is.

I ordered fabric - Purple for one & red for the other - they are "Dueling Tappers" so we wanted a "Coordinating Difference"

While I waited - I changed my mind on the top. If you scroll down - I already blogged about it. SO we'll just keep it to the pants here. ...

When the fabric came - I figured NO SWEAT! I have made dance shorts before - they fit great and are easy! And that's when it all started to fall apart. :(

Option 1: FAIL: When ordering the fabric I picked out a different one than I initially got a sample for. OOPS - It was thinner. I did pair one and they were too small. Scrapped that and made a bigger pair. Well - These pulled in oh not so nice ways. That was the end of that. MY daughters started being worried that they would have nothing or it would look awful.  That's when we went to option #2

Option #2 - FAIL! We decided to buy some jean shorts (Found a matching pair on clearance for $5 each - I thought WHAT A DEAL! ) Ordered and within the week they were here. YAY!
Or NOT. Tried them on and they were HUGE! I know the girls are tiny (well not really but these days it sure felt like it) Well seeing how I had ordered the smallest size initially for the youngest and they fit the oldest - there was no choice but to return them.

OPTION #3 - Buy denim and make them myself. Seeing how my girls are not "normal" sized for anything - this was my last option. I feared for how many times I'd have to remake them to get them "just right"
I chose to use the "AVA JEANS" from Pattern Emporium. I've had this pattern for awhile and honestly I have a bunch of "pant" patterns- but for some reason - this one called to me. The designer had recently put together a blog post about how to make them shorts -so I was well on my way.

Normally I would just pick a size and go - but seeing as I had enough fabric to make 3 pair (the two I needed and room for 1 boo boo) I decided to measure my girls first -and i am SO GLAD I did! The sizing was way off from what I would have guessed - but with the measurement charts in the front of the pattern I was bale to correctly choose a size! While I read through the instructions to make them shorts - I decided to wait til I tried them on my girls before cutting them to "short" length. I made them "knee length" and we went from there (I took off 3-4 inches on each)  and wal la! Option #3 was a success!

UP next is the girls DANCING in them - we need to watch for any kind of flaw so we can address it before we get to competition.

SO here is a fun preview of them - we have some "accessorizing" to work on yet (and we have "ideas" there) but I am super excited for them this year!

The girls being goofy - I have no luck these days getting serious pictures. But that's what makes life fun! 

and just to show off the shorts and the fabric accents we used! 

Another Cold January day!

It's been a bow making kinda week here. If you've been over on our facebook page you've seen this past weekend we had a grab box sale! I LOVE these! I love being able to put a bunch of bows in to someones hands. Most of the time these seem to go to a one time shopper. That makes me sad. :(  But I know we have an awesome bow product and even if they never purchase again - Maybe someone else will see MvI bows in their little girls hair and will find us!

Over on our Etsy page, we have our END OF YEAR sale. Yup - I know its January. SO hurry over and check out what we got! It's the LAST 1/2 off sale we'll be doing for awhile. I believe our products are normally priced very reasonable. I'm just in a "clean out mode" and really want to get some new things in the shop!

So what's in store for 2014 at Monkeyville Island?
MORE BOWS! You will see more bows listed on Etsy. Our goal is to grow that aspect of our shop.  You will also see new sewn items (as always they will be OOAK!)

Don't forget to stick around the blog this year and follow us as we grow!

A Pattern Mash-up

In my promise to blog more - today I bring a pattern mash up that I did to create the look I and my daughters were going for.

My daughters have been dancing for years. Well - 9 years and 7 years each. They starting competing at 9 & 7.   Last year we talking about the two of them doing a tap duo together. They are both really good tappers and they love it. In our discussions we had decided to compete with it in the 2014-2015 season. Mainly to give me a chance to learn to work with dance fabrics a bit more and because at the time they were already in quite a few competition dances.  Well things changed and we decided to just go for it this year.

Our research and discussions with people led us to Spandex World for our Plaid fabrics. That was the easy part. We decided that the girls would each wear a different colorway to add more to their duo.

The next part proved to be a bit more difficult. I am not a pattern drafter (for the most part). If I HAVE to, I will and have drafted a piece to work as I wanted.  However this time I was working with fabrics that were $15 a yard and there was not a lot of room for error.

I received the fabrics on Friday and thought I'd get started right away. (just in case it didn't work) I still didn't have a plan. The end result..... Success!!! For the most part. Still had some tweaking - but I was ready to go cut into the good stuff.

In the end it all worked out and my girls LOVE their new tops. I still have some finishing due to the fabric not being 4 way stretch - but that's ok.

So here's what we did.

We used the SisBoom Sophie and sized down a few sizes. I cut it shorted to give us a cropped top look and added a band around the bottom. I used the cuff sleeve version but sized the cuffs down one size smaller than the arm I used. I also did not cut the opening into the decorative style. Once sewn together I just cut a small slit straight down the middle (about 2 inches - I should have done about 1 inch) Then for the collar I used the Carla C - Scientific Seamstress Bowling shirt collar. Here instead of sizing down I had to size up. On the red shirt I used the 7/8 and then for the purple shirt I used the 7/8 enlarged 105%.

In the end the girls are happy & so am I! Now to put the rest of the costume together!

Excuse the messy hair and goofy faces. This is what I get when I
"pose" them late at night! 

Sitting in a deep Freeze...

Brrrrr......

  It is sooooo cold out there! I bet a lot of you are sitting in temps way below normal.  I myself don't want to leave my house! I do have a puppy who needs to go out though. Charlotte "Charlie" is a Chihuahua, poodle, Shitzu mix. A tiny little 6 pounderish puppy full of love. She LOVE the snow so to make her stay in is tough - so we need to take quick trips out. (like SUPER QUICK!) I needed her to have a sweater to keep her warm.

I went on a search - I looked & looked for one and couldn't find one I liked anywhere - until in one of my Facebook groups someone posted a pattern by Stitchwerx Designs. I fell in love with it RIGHT AWAY!
Affordable and fashionable! Finished my dinner & went to work on making one for Charlie. I chose to do the turtleneck version so I could pull it up & keep her head & ears as warm as possible in the cold.

My daughters picked out the fabric & supervised the construction. With clear instructions this sweater went together quick! I think I maybe spent 20 minutes on it. The best part - Charlie LOVES it. She doesn't fight to get it off - she sits to let me put it on!

This pattern is a WIN WIN!

 

Charlie modeling...

The neck pulled up.

and the cutest puppy on the planet! 

I'm such a bad blogger.....

I always come back here and say I'm going to be a better blogger - but lets face it - I'm bad - really bad. I try, but life just gets going and I forget to come back and share. So this year I'm not going to make promises about how much I'll be here or how much I'm going to share. But I will promise to try.

Until then - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SUMMER RECAP

This summer saw a lot of growth at the Island in terms of patterns! We have found some amazing PDF designers and have begun to grow our "stash" of patterns. However, as that stash grew - less time was spent actually SEWING them.  LOL! 

So, the eldest on the Island pointed out that maybe  I should take time and SEW something from those patterns I have begun to hoard. (however if they are all digital no one can see my hording right?) 

I thought today would be a good day to take a break and recap some of the patterns sewn over the summer.......

VFT Josephine

Funktional threads Knit UPcycles

Wonderfully Made 4 You One shoulder Dress

Tumble & Twirl Shorts (so much cheaper to make our own for dance)

Aivilo Charlotte Pleated Skirt

Can't leave the little man out - Peak a boo Pattern Shop Classic Chinos

I had so much fun stepping out and doing new things! I did more - but as I realize now I didn't photograph them! And there are all the items that have been loaded into the Etsy shop and all the customs that are off at their new home! 

WOW! So I knew I had neglected my blog, but I really had no idea that I had totally ABANDONED it!! I am really going to try and revitalize it and I hope to have some help. I plan on having the eldest Monkey guest post here & there to keep you all updated on what is going on around the island. She is learning about blogging at school and she's a good writer so I told her she can help out here and blog for me. 

So in the next few days we will have a bunch of new posts so you can see what we've been up to here and where we are going! 

Welcome to May!

OK , I'll admit it - I am not a very good Blog writer. I try, but really - I'd rather take the time to create something than write about creating it. But I'm going to get better - promise!

The last few months have seen the Island grow in wonderful ways. We have added new offerings and grown in fans. In the coming months I hope to continue that trend. We have had giveaway weekend and freebie Fridays and "Grab boxes" of bows & hair accessories.  Who knows whats to come - my mind is in overdrive 1/2 the time and even I am not sure which way we are going next.

I can tell you that when the Island has 100 Fans (likes etc) over on Facebook, we will be having another fun "giveaway weekend"  Those that joined in back for our "Super Saturday & Sunday" had lots of fun and most went away with something new.  Other than that we are gearing up for a few "in person" sales - so you may not see us again til June ;-)

Welcome to 2012!

We are kicking off 2012 with a BOW GIVEAWAY!

13~ 3" bows! Completely FREE! all you have to do is check out the Facebook page to find where to enter and stop back here to see if you won on Jan 14th!

Happy New Year!

OK, So I know it's really not the new year yet, but I am gearing up for it!

I have been thinking and planning for months about things I want to do & offer this year. In no particular order....

~Grow my facebook page
~Have a steady flow of orders/work (While this year was my best by far - I want to grow it and even it out more. It seamed to come in bunches)
~Make time to work on non orders (So often I find myself only doing things when I have orders - to grow I need to work more consistently)
~take one day a week to blog (it will allow me to share what I've done to where we are going or what is up)
~Have giveaways. I'm not sure yet how often I will do them but I do know I am starting the year off with one! It will have to do with bows & will be up on Facebook on Saturday 12-31-11.

So that's where I am these days.  I have spent this past week cleaning up my space and am so excited to get moving into 2012! Stay with me and we can ride the boat together, Who knows what sights we'll see!

Ever have 1000 things running through your head & you don't which way to go? That's me this time of year. There are all these things I WANT to get done. But there are not enough child free hours in a day to get them all done. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my monkeys. But sometimes them wanting to "help" is a little more than I can take and slows me down a ton.

My projects this time of year are broken down into groups. Things I need to do as "child free" as possible. (This would include putting clips on bows or finishing them, Korkers & anything that requires detail or alot of thinking. LOL!)

Things I can do @ work. The nice thing about owning you're own business is you can kinda set your own rules. Hubby has been saying for years I should just take it with me to work. This year I listened and it's slow going - but I'm managing. So while there isn't alot I can take with me, I can do basic bows or some of my finishing work there. Whatever I take I just have to be able to do quick and set down in a moments notice.

Then there is the things I can do with multiple monkeys hanging out & being loud. This is where most of things fall. I try to do all the cutting of things while they are engrossed in TV or playing so that the basic sewing can be done even if one or more are underfoot. 

So this is why I always have 500 fires burning at one time. ;) (and another 500 smoldering.....)

So this is my little corner of the world. I neglect it. It is so sad. I want to come & share & I forget or get sidetracked.

This is the busy time on the Island. all the monkeys are busy & hard @ work. The three oldest have learned how to roll Korkers so they are a big help.  They also like to take ribbon and design their own color combos - so sometimes you may see something a little funky & that was probably designed by one of the monkeys. In reality a lot of what I do is designed by them (or they have input) The littlest Monkey always wants to "help mama" but other than cutting my ribbon - there isn't a lot he can do.

So what's up @ Monkeyville Island?

1. We are currently rolling & cutting korkers. As they are finished they are taken to the local DQ where the owner (who happens to be the man of the Island) has been so kind as to let me keep a small spinner rack of current offerings (this includes Flowers, bows, korkers & our new loopy bows). 
2. We are trying to get some Halloween outfits up on Etsy. (there is one done yet to be loaded)
3. We are working on sewing up Doll outfits. IF you check out the facebook page you can see current outfit offerings & read up on the October sale.


As always we are around. and you are ALWAYS welcome to drop us a message for customs or to find out where you can get MvI items!

Welcome to our little Island.

Thanks for stopping by & checking us out. On this little Island we will share projects, giveaways & the little things that are happening on Monkeyville Island.  Our Main Island for now will be over on our Facebook page Monkeyville Island Boutique.  You can also visit us over on Etsy -----> Link is on the side there.

Feel free to follow us & remember to check back frequently as you never know what's going to happen on our little Island full of Monkeys!