"Miss Molly" is now ready for pre-order!

The pattern is now available in the shop for pre-order. I will have all the orders mailed out by by mid June. I'm thinking it will be ready before that, but to be on the safe side I say mid June. To order click HERE or click on books and patterns at the top of the page. YAY! These dresses are from my testers! These guys are pretty fast. This first one was made by my sweet friend Karen of The Big Trade-Off. I love her choice of fabrics, it made for a cute funky version of "Miss Molly".

This one is sweet too! Cheryl M. sewed this version of "Miss Molly". The ladybug button just makes the dress!

Isn't it the sweetest!

I have more exciting news. Creative Smocking is going to distribute this pattern for me! They already carry my book and crochet patterns, but now I will have a sewing pattern out! I am so excited! I want you all to know that I probably wouldn't have had the guts to take it this far, had I not had so much encouragement from my wonderful family and you all. This is the most supportive and encouraging community. Thanks guys! Y'all are amazing!

These are the moments......

...that make it all worth it.

Maddie showing her new dress to Daddy. "Wook Daddy, Mama mae-dit". "You wike it Daddy?"

Molly's little notes make me smile every time! This one says don't come in my room OK- Molly. Spelled: Dot coom in mi room ca- Molly.

The big pot of veggie soup we have been eating off of. Molly started begging for some the minute she smelled it. It was hard for us to wait! This little table, full of their little on going crafts and projects.

This beautiful dirt! I can't wait to see our veggies popping up! The kids are so excited, they just watch the dirt. Molly can't wait to eat the hot tomatoes straight out of the garden, that's her favorite.

Our first summer fishing trip . Tim's first fish. Our flooded trail. This made for a fun adventure! It was so much fun. Dirty feet. You know I have a thing for little feet! Dirty little feet are even better!

Our rope swings down by the creek. Maddie falling asleep in her doll bed with her doll.

The beautiful artwork that is taped all over my walls. It really is priceless. Waking up with Elvis. LOL! WIld night?

The Whale download is now finished. I hope you all enjoy it!To get your freebie whale click HERE (or on the word tutorials at the top of the page), click add to cart (pattern is free), follow the prompts to download.

Just checking in.

Hey! How have you all been doing? I have been working like a mad woman on this computer (and on my sewing machine) getting "Miss Molly" my new pattern ready for my testers. I hope to have it ready for them by Tuesday. This is one of the dresses I have made from the pattern "Miss Molly". I added a sweet little whale applique that will be available for free download later this week. Isn't my model a cutie pie! I hate to run but I will be back for the free download soon! ~xoxox, Samantha

Guys! Thanks so much. I had over 150 offers today! I was gone all day and I had my iPhone so I could see the emails pouring in, but I couldn't read them because we were so busy (organizing the twins room) until I got home. Boy was I surprised! I definitely have enough at this point. LOL! I am going to go through my inbox and pick 2 testers per size. I will also pick 2 people to look over the instructions for me. I don't really know any other way of doing it. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! What a great community! I was so touched that so many people were willing to help me out. You are awesome! I wish we could all get together, drink coffee, and get the rest of this pattern finished. Wouldn't that be fun. Oh and some cake.....sour cream pound cake........and we could have some hazelnut creamer for the coffee. OK I'm going to stop and go eat now. LOL! I will let you know by email if you are a tester. I have church tonight so I will probably have to get with you sometime tomorrow. Just for being the sweetest people ever I will share my new pictures of Lily and Iris. Can you believe that they are 7mo old now? Really? Has it been that long? They are PERFECT! xoxox, Samantha

I'm looking for testers.

Hey bloggy friends! I have been working hard on my new pattern but I still have a good bit of work left. I have the pattern drafted out in sizes 18mo- 6yrs. I'm working on the instructions now. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to test the pattern for me? You will get the pattern for all sizes with instructions (it will be the rough draft) and when I have a final draft I will mail all the testers a final copy (you know... the pretty finished version). What I need from testers? Any suggestions for wording or better instructions. Chest and length for the child and size that worked best. A picture would be great, but is not required. I would really like to have a couple of testers for each size. So if you are interested chime in. I would like to know what size you would be making and your skill level. I am hoping to have beginners up to advanced sewers volunteer. I should be ready to send the first drafts in the next week or so (don't hold me to it LOL!). I LOVE THIS DRESS! There is no placket and no buttonholes! Does it get any better than that? View A is without the ruffle and View B is with. The front and back of the dress is the same. I have made several of these dresses in the last few days and start to finish it takes about two hours. PERFECT! When I get the pattern in the shop it will be available for instant download or in print. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! I have really enjoyed this and I am already planning other patterns. Sorry for the dark pictures, I took them inside at 10pm. The yellow dress is for Maddie. I made her a little flower garden on the skirt and hand whipped rick rack on the curved bodice. The pink and brown is for Miss Molly, I just used the two fabrics and added tiny rick rack to the bodice. I like the way these two turned out. I think that the next dress will be a heirloom version. What do you think of "Miss Molly" for the name of the pattern? I decided to add another picture of this version I made a few days ago. I know it is better to see the dress on. Oh and that strawberry design is in the shop for FREE! Run over and download one ;) Just click here.

NOTE: If you want to comment but do not have a blogger account, comment as anonymous and leave your name (and email if you want me to get back with you).

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day mamas! I wanted to share my favorite picture of the precious children who made me a mama. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Just like I told ya, I woke the morning after that last post feeling much better. Thank you for all of your kind comments. ~xoxox, Samantha

HELP!!!!! I MAY BE GOING CRAZY!

Hey friends,

I'm spillin it. I am so overwhelmed the last couple of weeks! I feel like I can't keep my head above water. I was up until 6 am two nights ago trying to get the house clean and working on my new pattern, now I feel like a zombie. It's 12 am and I'm blogging! I just feel so spread thin. I normally do school with Molly, cook, clean, and play with the kids during the day and then I work and blog at night, but lately I have had so much work to do there hasn't been much time for sleep. No sleep makes me grumpy. I was grumpy with my kids today, and now I feel like crap. Yep.....I said it .......the mama curse word......c-r-a-p. I felt like the worst mom in the world today. I felt like telling my kids when I apologised for being ugly "Mama don't even deserve a Mother's day. That's for sweet mamas.", but I didn't. I felt like such a loser. Even the blog makes me feel behind. I have so many tutorials that I would like to post, but they take so long to put together that it's not even feasible right now. I haven't even been able to read my favorite blogs. I'm going to take a few days off from blogland. I know you will all be here when I get back, right? When I get back I'll have a clean slate and I will do the tutorials as I get the time and for fun only. I don't want my happy place to be stressful and feel like work. I just need a few days to re-group, snuggle with my precious children, get some work done, and I'll be back fresh and happy. I think hormones have a role in this too. Not the pregnant ones though. That's another thing......sigh........... I know I will feel better in the morning. Just getting it all out in the open always makes me feel better. Thanks for listening.

Woo Hoo! A new dress and a free pattern.

I did a lot of sewing last week - thank you Jesus! I am working on a new pattern so I have made four dresses to get it just right. I will share the others later this week. This is Molly's strawberry dress. She loves the strawberry applique!

The dress ties over the shoulders and has a little curved bodice. The ruffle you see at the bottom is her little slip - just too cute! I really love how it turned out. This will make the perfect summer dress for the girls. Oh, and guess what! You can get the strawberry design for free! I am hoping to have this dress pattern in my shop as a download in a couple of weeks (let's just see if that really happens in the given time frame). I will try to have sizes 1-7 available. To get your freebie strawberry click HERE (or on the word tutorials at the top of the page), click add to cart (pattern is free), follow the prompts to download. I put this on a T-shirt too and it was super cute. I think it would be great on a bag too, or a skirt! We sure have had a lot going on lately! Maddie got her ears pierced after begging her Daddy for an entire day. She didn't cry she just whimpered a little until we put the mirror in front of her, then she gasped and said " Mama! Wook, they pix me earwings!". Molly and Tim drove the tractor last week. Start'em young! The chickens got promoted to the yard. Yes! No more chickens in the house! Are we up town or what!? I feel so high falutin! Molly lost another tooth. Tim caught his first fish. Maddie has been officially promoted to the big girl bed, and is lovin her life! No more gymnastics to get in bed! My Granny got Internet so she now reads my blog. Told you we were uptown! Granny got a Mac! Now Paw Paw wants to get on EBay. I'm kinda proud that he knows what EBay is. We got the opossum that has been getting in the trash, he sure was a mean looking sucker! Those things freak me out, he looked like a big rat. UUUUGGGHHHHH! Lily and Iris are sitting up, not for long but they are doing pretty good. My kid's drawers no longer have winter clothes in them. Thanks Kim! She came over last week and cleaned out the drawers while I sewed for her little girl. That was the best trade EVER. I made two outfits and a dress. We had a family girl sleep over (I will be posting about this later.), and a family reunion. I had such a good time! Tim is riding without training wheels!!!! You have never seen a four year old so proud! He can even take off without a push. Well That's all I can think of right now! Let me know what you plan to do with that strawberry. I would love to see pictures of what you all make with the freebies. I would love to post some on the blog. If you want to participate send them to mamacaffee@hotmail.com.

Life is good.

(THIS IS A VIDEO CLICK ON THE PLAY SYMBOL TO WATCH)

At our small church we don't have a choir, or not an adult choir I should say. We have very good music and a couple of singers, and then we have our precious children. Every Sunday they come to the front and sing along. They are seriously the highlight of the service! What is so funny about this is that they don't know any kids songs, they like hymns! This Sunday we were missing a few musicians and singers so Pastor (30 minutes before service) requested that the children take over. Our two guitar players decided that they would play children songs instead of our normal hymns. We didn't have time to practice any of the songs but we were sure that if they knew all those old hymns so well that they would surely know "This Little Light of Mine" and "Jesus Loves Me", well, not the case. This turned out to be the most precious mistake ever! I laughed so hard that I had tears pouring down my face. And Just so you know, after this song was over they sang "I'll Fly Away" and never missed a lick! It was so touching. Jesus said, "Unless ye humble yourselves and become as little children ye shall by no means enter the kingdom of Heaven" I am so glad to have a daily reminder of childlike faith. When Molly was a baby I was holding her in a restaurant and an old minister came up to look at her. I knew him to be a very Godly man, but he didn't remember me. When I was little I would go to bible school at his church, and he always took the time to talk to us like we important. He looked at her for a minute and his eyes filled with tears and he told me "this is the closest to heaven you will ever be here on earth". Oh those words. They have been with me since that day. I hope you all enjoy this video! Sorry it's shaky at the end, I was loosing it! When they just went back to singing, I just couldn't handle it! LOL!

Another reason life is good. Est! She is the sweetest! I won a giveaway on her blog and she sent me this. I LOVE IT! I got it when I checked the mail last Sunday before church and I took and showed it to my Sunday school class. They loved it too- and that's saying a lot considering that they are little boys ;) I have it on my desk and it makes me smile every time I see it. Thank you Est! I will have three freebie patterns out this week, and some sewing to show you so stay tuned!

Shop talk.

My mom's best friend Michelle, and her daughter in law Candace, have just opened their Etsy shop! Michelle is seriously like my other mama. She is the one who made my (and my sister's) wedding dress! Their shop is called Kelston's Closet. They will be selling boutique style clothing for little boys. Just click on the pictures and they will take you there.

I also wanted to let you all know that I now have 3/8" entredeux available in my shop. This is the size that I use with size 10 crochet thread. I love this entredeux because it is big enough that when you crochet in it you can still see the holes, but small enough to use on baby clothing. To see more just click HERE.