21
Jul

Sewing Refashion – A Simple Shirt Dress Tutorial

Refashioning seems to be a hot trend that is here to stay.  With people trying to get back to basics, saving money and using what they have on hand, it's no wonder it's become so popular. Now this isn't exactly a tutorial for the following dress, since I got a little lazy with my picture taking, but I thought I would just give you a rough idea of what I did and you can make up your own version if you like. I got these button up shirts in the clearance section at Target.  I thought they were a little bit much for a grown woman, but I thought these would make … continue reading

18
Jul

Sew Basics: Piping

I'm starting a new series and it's called, Sew Basics, and the first lesson is all about piping.....Sew Basics: Piping!  I've realized, from the emails I've received,  that many of you are beginning sewers and would like to learn some of the basic skills involved in sewing.  So, for those of you seasoned sewers, perhaps you already know most of these skills, but I always think it's fun to see how other people do things, don't you? I'm sure many people have different techniques in adding piping to clothing, but here's how The Cottage Mama does it......so, here … continue reading

15
Jul

Fun with Knits

Since today was my birthday, I decided I was going to sew whatever I felt like.  Nothing for The Cottage Mama, just something that I had been dreaming up in my head.  I recently received a shipment of new cotton knit fabric - Patty Young for Michael Miller and I have been dying to get working with them.To be honest, these knits are a little "funky" for me, since I consider myself to be a little more classic in style, but every once in a while I like to step outside of the box.Here's a little number I came up with today for my daughter Savannah........For the … continue reading

15
Jul

Happy Birthday……to me!!

Hi!  So that's me in the picture above.  I realized that the two pictures I have on the blog are with long hair........so nope......I've got short hair now.  Today is my birthday and I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little bit more about myself.  That's fun, right?  Personally, I love getting to know people better so I thought you might too!So, my name is Lindsay Michelle Wilkes and I was born July 15, 1981.  That makes me 29 years old today.  How old did you think I was?  Not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing that I reveal my age on … continue reading

14
Jul

What’s Coming Next

I feel like my posting has been a bit sporadic lately.  With being away for almost a week in St. Louis at Grand-Molly's funeral, I have some SERIOUS catching up to do on The Cottage Mama custom orders.  I'm going to need to really focus on getting those orders out to my lovely customers, but I promise to be back with some more regular posts very soon!So, I thought I would let you know what to expect from me in the coming weeks.Piping Tutorial - I will show you how easy it is to add beautiful piping to your handmade garments.  For example, adding piping to clothing … continue reading

13
Jul

You will be so deeply missed…….

Last week we got word that my husband's Grandma (Molly) was expected to pass away from pancreatic cancer.  We ended up driving down to St. Louis in hopes of being able to say our final goodbyes (though we didn't know if we would get there in time). We arrived at Molly's home in St. Louis at 4:30pm.  Brett went quickly into the house to be by Molly's side.  They told Molly that Brett had arrived and she opened her eyes, for what we think was the last time, and reacted with a little smile. The family sat by her bedside all day, holding her hand, talking to her, … continue reading

6
Jul

{ Matilda’s Summer Garden Party }

This past weekend was my daughter, Matilda Jane's 1st Birthday Party.  The party was inspired by the fabric I made her birthday outfit from - Heather Bailey's "Nicey Jane". We decided to do an intimate party and had 20 of our closest family and friends over to the Cottage Garden to celebrate.Miss Matilda had a great time at her party and thoroughly enjoyed her cake.  It was her 1st time to have something that delicious so she was in baby heaven!I used the same fabrics that I designed Matilda's birthday dress in and made a pennant banner.  I didn't have a pattern … continue reading

5
Jul

Happy 4th of July

I just wanted to write a quick note to wish everyone a very happy 4th of July.  I know I'm a day late, but we have been super busy around here!As you can see we have just been go, go, go around here.  My Mom and Allen flew in from Texas on Friday, we celebrated Matilda's 1st birthday on Saturday afternoon with a Summer Garden Party (I can't wait to share all the details with you!), had professional family photos taken at our home on Sunday morning, visited our local flea market Sunday afternoon (hunting for vintage treasure), spent Monday morning at the park and … continue reading

28
Jun

Dollar Store Tiered Party Trays

As I have mentioned, we are getting ready for Miss M's Garden Party 1st birthday coming up this weekend.  I'm really hoping to be able to have the party outdoors (fingers crossed for good weather).I have been working on some of the decor for her party and wanted to share these fun tiered party trays that I made from items from our local dollar store.Now I cannot take credit for this idea.  I saw the tutorial for these trays by Julie on Joy's Hope blog and knew I HAD to make these!These are made from silver dollar store trays that have been spray painted to match … continue reading

27
Jun

My Little Baby and My New Baby

I just feel like things have been go, go, go around here lately - I mean, seriously, where does all the time go?  I have all of these projects that I would love to get done, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day.  Maybe someday, I will get to everything........I'm trying to stay focused, which is very difficult for me - I tend to move in five different directions all at once but somehow get most of it done.  And honestly I LOVE to accomplish things.  Yes, I enjoy sewing and creating, but my favorite part is seeing the end result.  So this weekend my … continue reading