A little of this, a little of that.....

Somewhere there is a box full of fabulous sewing notions. Pretty ribbon trims, lovely vintage buttons, zippers, hooks and eyes, oh and I can't forget the collection of Gingher scissors and shears. Basically everything you really need to sew with the exception of a pattern and  fabric. Since we've moved I've been unable to find this box, the price I pay for not packing and moving these things myself I suppose. After yet another fruitless search I decided if I was going to sew I was going to have to replace some of my missing notions, starting with closures. 

For the last couple of years I've bought many of my sewing/crafting supplies on Etsy. Since I had shops on the site I wanted to support the Etsy community, plus both the selection and prices are incredible. I found everything I could ever need and more! I could have spent hours looking at vintage buttons alone, there were thousands upon thousands of options. I decided to pick some basics to start with, white, ivory, navy, pink and red. I got this lot of 180 ivory and white vintage buttons for $10 from Vintage Closet by LR. 

I found many similar lots, over 100 buttons for under $10. This lot of red vintage buttons was just $4.50

 For small buttons, perfect for children's clothes there is Mariiam.  There I got small lots, 8-12 buttons, for $2-3. Here are some of the many many styles they have,

Zipit, another great Etsy shop, has every size and color YKK zipper you could ever need and I've never seen better prices. I really like their mix and match packages. You choose the size and  then pick whatever color or colors you want. The price for the ten zipper package ranges from $4-$5 depending on size. Here are the color choices

While shopping on I came across a really cute and simple PDF dress pattern for my youngest daughter. It looked like something that could be versatile and easily embellished with trim, like ric rac, or maybe some embroidery. The pattern is by Pink Poodle Bows

The pattern was quickly emailed to me, this is greatly appreciated by this sewer, as I get so excited about a new pdf pattern purchase and sometimes waiting for the pattern to be emailed can be frustrating. I choose a vintage inspired Michael Miller print for the main fabric and a red and white tiny gingham for the small yoke piece. The pattern includes wonderful instructions for making your own bias binding for the armholes and straps as well as directions for putting the bias over or under the chest piece. I cheated on this one and used some bias tape I already had and I chose to put it over the chest fabric rather than under. I really liked the pattern. It included easy to assemble pattern pieces and very clear instructions for making the dress. If I had one complaint it would be that I think the armholes on my finished product are too big, or my daughter is too small, lol. She is very thin and has a tiny frame so I think I should have opted for the smaller armhole cutout even though I was making the 3T because she is probably a 2T or smaller across her chest and waist. Overall I love the end result and can see me making several of these cute little babydoll dresses with my own embellishments here and there. Here's mine!