They are here!

The much anticipated day has arrived! I have had many facebook and etsy messages over the last month from you girls wanting to know when the new princess dresses would be ready.  Well, the wait is over.  I've been watermarking these photos for the past hour and everyone I upload makes me change my mind about which one is my favorite.  Thank you to the very talented Donna Hagin from MaddyEm Photography for these great photos! I love to sew, but when it comes to a vision for a photo shoot, I leave it to her.  She knocked this one out of the park. 

Introducing Tinkerbelle, Ariel, Aurora and Belle---

We had so much fun doing this shoot!  I love all of these princesses, but I have to admit that I'm slightly partial to Belle. This dress features flutter sleeves, elastic back bodice and lace trim on skirt.

Don't you just want to eat that sweet girl up?  She's too cute!

Her big sister modeled Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).  I have to be honest and tell you that I looked at this dress hanging on the hanger for two days trying to decide if I loved it or not.  When this diva put it on, it came alive and I fell in love!  This dress is the peasant style with elastic neck and ruffled collar.  It features a tie at waist so you can adjust for a good fit.

Sweet sister love!

Next up is the princess of the sea....Ariel!  I've had the most request for this dress so I hope everyone is excited to see her in the line up!  This is my first halter style princess dress.  It has elastic in the back and a tie at the waist.  It features some hand beading around the neck line and a ruffle at waist.

As most of you know, I'm a hairdresser in my other life and I've always been a little partial to red hair.  God didn't give me red hair, but mine has been red more than any other color.  I love this dress color against her hair.  So pretty!!

Last, but not least, is Tinkerbelle. Tink has always been a favorite at our house.  My sweet girl was a preemie at birth and is our tiny fairy.  She's the cutest Tink I've ever seen.  (Although I could be slightly partial.)  This dress is a one shoulder style bodice and has a zipper on the side.  The skirt is a two layered skirt that features a scalloped edge on the top layer for the Tinkerbelle look.

One more....

I hope you love all these new dresses as much as I do.  You can purchase them here!


Just a few more because they are so cute!!

If you have bought any of my princess dresses, I would love to see photos of your girls wearing them. You can send them to me at cottonbelleboutique@gmail.com.

Back to the sewing room......

Cricket!

If you've ever wondered how I ended up starting this little business, it's partially because of this cool girl named Amy.  She used to be a pediatric nurse and worked with my sister Hannah.  One day Hannah told me how Amy had started making children's clothes and was going to quit nursing and have a boutique full time.  I started following her little business online and watched it grow, and grow, and GROW!  I was inspired to take my love of sewing and open my own boutique.

 Amy's business got so big that she finally quit sewing and started making her own patterns.  If you are a seamstress, you know that awesome girl as Brownie Goose!  She's kind of a big deal now, although I'm sure she would tell me to hush for saying that.  So now for the exciting news......her newest pattern has just been released! The CRICKET!! I was so very honored to be able to test for her, and my daughter LOVES this pattern.  The first time she tried it on she said it was so "cump-ta-ble" and didn't want to take it off.

This pattern has quite a few options on it that you will enjoy.  It comes with a full length and a tunic length option.  You can also make it as a short sleeve or long sleeve dress.  The really fun part is that this pattern is great for lots of different fabrics.  She suggests cotton voile or rayon challis.  You can also use knit or cotton.  I choose to do mine in a black knit.  When I saw this pattern I thought "little black dress".  The boat neck is so classic, and the bishop sleeves add the simple but beautiful wow factor to this pattern.

I almost forgot about the keyhole opening in the back.  Finish it off with the perfect button for a great eye catcher!

The only bad thing I have to say about this pattern is that it only goes up to a size 12, and when you see how cute it is on your girl, you'll be begging Amy for adult sizes!

If you are new to Brownie Goose patterns, I must tell you that even the newest beginner can make these.  Amy does a great job of explaining everything, and she has lots of pictures if you are visual learner like me. :)  If you've been sewing quite a while and like to add your own spin on things, her patterns are great for that too.  One of the testers even did a split bodice on this, and it was adorable!  

So, that's my review.....I love the dress.  I love BG.  I'm thankful that this girl went out on a limb and started her little business that is now huge.  I'm pretty sure there are lots of seamstresses out there who feel the same about her.  Congratulations on your newest pattern, Amy!  I can't wait to see what's next.

Purchase your cricket here!! Happy Sewing!

Be Anxious for NOTHING

I woke up this morning with something heavy on my heart.  I debated about writing about it on my blog.  I thought for a minute about how this has nothing to do with sewing or my business, but then again it really does.  This issue trickles in to every aspect of your life, and then somehow overtakes it all.  There is no way to dress it up. It is ugly and very controlling.  You can try to run away from it, but it always seems to find you.  Some days you feel like you have "defeated it", only to have it resurface with a vengeance. What I am talking about?  ANXIETY!  Worry is a "less harsh" word we sometimes use to make ourselves feel better.  "I'm just worried about so-and-so" or "I just worry something bad might happen".  There is nothing pretty about worry.  I know.  I've been worrying about something my whole life.  I've been using the excuse that I can't help it because "it runs in my family".  I've spend almost 30 years trying to figure out how to get over my worry and to not be anxious about everything.  I've "given it to God" about 2 million times. I've even taken medication for it at one point in my life. I've prayed and cried and prayed some more that God would "deliver" me from anxiety.  I couldn't figure out why it never really worked.  I might feel better for a few days, and then just like that I would be right back into a panic over something.  My husband even started commenting about how he had to "talk me down off the ledge" so much.  I felt like I was getting worse with age.  God finally got my attention with my sweet little girl.  I had been noticing for a while about what an obsessive planner she had become.  Every night she would ask me about our plans for every single day for at least a week out.  EVERY NIGHT.  It started to drive me crazy.  I finally got to the point that I told her we would only talk about 2 days at a time and she didn't need to worry so much.   If any plans ever changed she would be stressed.  She started worrying about her brother and her daddy and his job.  I started worrying about her.  I saw myself in her and I didn't want her to fight this all of her life.  I started praying about what I could do to help her and it was like a light bulb finally went off!  Worry is nothing but a lack of faith!  I knew a lot of things in my mind but I didn't BELIEVE them! I worried about money.  I knew God could provide for us, but in honesty, I didn't really believe that He would.  I thought I did, but I was worried.  And what is worry?  A lack of faith!  Faith is believing that God will do what He says.  He says He will provide for all of our needs.  (But my God will supply ALL your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:19) I worried that something might happen to my kids or my husband.   Lack of faith again!  God loves my children and my husband even more than I do.  If I pray for God's protection over them, then I have to believe that He will protect them.  They belong to Him and anything that happens to any of us has come through His hand first.  That doesn't mean that nothing bad will ever happen, but that God is always good and He will always be with me and work everything for good in my life.  I have to BELIEVE His word!  For me, it finally came down to what I was teaching my child.  Was I teaching her to trust God? No, I was really teaching her that God can't handle anything so we need to worry what the outcome will be and try to fix it as best we can.  That is NOT what I want to teach my kids!  My attitude about worry has changed.  Yes, I still do find myself worrying.  The difference now is that when I see it creeping up, I start reminding myself of God's promises and thinking about all the ways I have seen His faithfulness in my life already.  Do you know what that is?  It's the shield of faith from Ephesians 6:16.  "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."  Those fiery darts in my life were worry and anxiety.  My shield of faith is what keeps them from wounding me!  My sweet girl may be tempted to worry and be anxious just like her mother, but the best thing I can teach her is that faith is her shield.  Faith is what will keep her from living 30 years of frustration like her mother did. 

Christmas is coming!!!!

Here we are at my favorite time of the year!  I love Thanksgiving and Christmas! Thanksgiving means lots of good food and family time.  For those of you who hate Black Friday, skip over these next few sentences. I LOVE Black Friday!  Its all about sister time for me. With two little ones, I rarely get the chance to have a shopping trip out alone, so I take full advantage on Black Friday.  I have 7 sisters. Most of them are shoppers so we stay up most of the night laughing, freezing to death in long lines, getting great deals, and enjoying time together.  This year I am thinking of having my own little Thanksgiving sale....but it's going to be on Small Business Saturday.  Stay tuned for more info on that. :) 

I know Christmas is a busy season for everyone. Parties, shopping, decorating, more parties, more shopping, family time.....and just like that, family time sometimes gets a little lost in everything.  Mine did last year.  Last fall was when my business started to get really busy. During December I was swamped.  I was so excited at the growth of my business that I didn't say no to ANYONE, even those who ordered 5 days before Christmas!  My goal this year is to not let myself do that again. I LOVE sewing for you all and making cute things for your babies to wear, but my kids need me too.  So here is the plan; December 7th will be my LAST DAY of the YEAR to take any orders.  This means you need to plan head. :)  Go to my etsy shop and look at the darling princess dresses, check out the cute Christmas dress, and maybe even pick up a monogrammed camera strap cover for a gift....but HURRY!  You only have 24 days left! 

If you have already ordered any of the dresses from the Everyday Princess Collection, I'm working on them all and plan to have them all shipped by Thanksgiving.  :)  If you haven't ordered,  don't miss out on these for an awesome Christmas gift for your little girl.  They are SO CUTE! 

Off to get my day started......the little ones are up! 


Elizabeth

Rapunzel

Last week I had the priviledge of testing the Rapunzel Dress from Made for Mermaids.  I fully intended to blog about it then, but my own Rapunzel had a birthday and I got side tracked. :)  But, the good news is that this fun pattern is still on sale for her introductory price of only $4!!

When I heard Megan was working on a Rapunzel Dress I knew we had to have this pattern.  My sweet girl is very intent on growing her hair "down to the ground" so she can be just like Rapunzel. She was THRILLED over this dress.  When you sew as a business, you rarely have time to make fun things for your kids so this was a big treat for her. In a week's time, she's already worn this dress three times.  :) 

Megan did a great job paying attention to all the important details in pattern publishing.  This pattern is very well written and easy to follow.  She has lots of pictures and clear explanations.  I have to confess here that after I've made a pattern a few times, sometimes I don't read my tutorial anymore. For that reason, I love the fact that she printed ALL the cutting information you need on the pattern. If you get lazy like me, you've got it all right there on your pattern pieces. Another great thing about this pattern is that the bodice has actual pattern pieces and not just measurements, so it fits really well and isn't boxy. 

It also has a tie in the back so you can adjust the dress to fit, which was perfect for my girl because she's so petite.  It also adds some extra detail.

We all know little girls love to dress up, so what better than dress-up clothes that you can wear all day??  Megan has been making these dresses for her customers for a while and I'm so glad she decided to make her beautiful creations in to patterns for us!  She also has Cinderella out in PDF and Minnie Mouse.  A little birdie told me that Snow White is coming soon too!!!

Now hurry over to Megan's etsy shop and pick up your Rapunzel pattern before the sale ends!!! 

A little about the family behind the boutique.....

It's been a few weeks now since my blog got a make-over from Plumberry Couture.  Tameka did a great job making me look pretty and professional, but now I think that means I'm supposed to be blogging.  Oops!  That's the part that I'm not so good with.  It baffles me how some of my friends manage to have time for all this great blogging with all the other things going on with the business.  Being a small business owner is extremely time consuming, but so rewarding!  Some days I'd prefer to just lock myself in my sewing room and make beautiful stuff for you all and let someone else do the marketing. But I do enjoy the relationship side of this business, and getting to know my customers and other boutique owners.  Today I will introduce myself and my family for those of you who are new to Cotton Belle Boutique and don't know much about me. 

My name is Elizabeth and I am the wife to a hard working, God loving, country boy named Wes.  We have been married for 7 1/2 years and have two beautiful children. Our daughter is quickly approaching 5 and our son is 2.  Here is a photo of them from last fall. They are pretty cute, aren't they? ;)

I started sewing when I was about 6 years old.  My grandmother and my mom both sew and between the two of them, I quickly learned to make my own clothes and clothes for my siblings.  When I became a mother I started sewing a lot for my daughter. Several people asked about her clothing and I made a few things here and there for friends.  One day my sister mentioned to me that a girl she worked with (who is now the well-known Amy of BG) had quit her job as a nurse and started a business making children's clothing.  I looked her up online and was so inspired by her work. I started thinking about it and eventually convinced myself that I should at least try the children's boutique world.  Over the next 3 years I was on and off with the sewing business as I was trying to survive motherhood with a baby who never slept, working in the salon 3 days a week, and having a second child.  About this time last year, I started sewing again and investing more time into my business.  I cut my salon hours back (I'm also a hair stylist!) to only one day a week so I could be home with my children and I started sewing a lot more.   I'm so thankful for all of you and how much you love my creations!  I am blessed to be able to stay home with my kids and have two jobs that I LOVE!  God has blessed my sewing business so much this year and through it our family has been able to help our dear pastor friend in Haiti.  His family runs an elementary school in Haiti and many of the children can not afford the tuition, although it is only a few dollars.  Because of your support, we have been able to help them send more children to school this year! 

Well, its time to get my day going.  Homeschooling, sewing a little, and church tonight are on the agenda for today.  I hope you have a great Wednesday and that you have enjoyed reading a little about me and my family.   I'll try to do better with this blogging thing from now on....hopefully :)

July 22nd Upload--- READY TO SHIP EVENT!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!  My very first RTS event.  I'm excited about what I hope is going to be a new phase of my business.  Over the last 9 months, Cotton Belle Boutique has grown by leaps and bounds.  I would love to tell you that whole story, but that's another blog post for another day.  Because of this growth and all the custom orders I've been doing lately, I've had to step back and take a look at my business and see how I can simplify my life a bit. As most of you know, I have two little ones at home and I am also a hairstylist.  Life is always busy, but next month it's going to get even more wild when I start homeschooling my oldest.  My solution is to attempt to move to ready to ship inventory to eliminate the stress of having deadlines with custom orders.   This will allow me to have more freedom to be creative and it will allow to you to get your items immediately!  :)  For now, there will still be a few items on my Etsy store, but this may phase out as time goes by.  Hang in there with me as I navigate through this transition and try to make it easier for everyone.  I hope this is going to be a great change for me and you!

Let's talk about tomorrow......

First up will be the Sweet Sparrow Milly Dress.....

This dress will be available in sizes 12-18 months, 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7.  This dress runs a tad small so if you child normally wears the larger size in the listing then I would buy up one size. For example, if your child normally wears a 3, I would order the 4/5. The fabric combinations in this dress are some of my favorites.  This dress will NOT be available again after the RTS items sell out so if you want one, get it now! :)   (Pattern by brownie-goose)


Next up is the Phoebe Dress....

This strip work dress is so darling and is the perfect dress to transition from summer to fall.  It can be worn as is for a cool summer dress, or layered with a pair of Chambray ruffle pants and a shirt when the weather starts to cool off. The back bodice has elastic so this dress can easily grow with your child.  This dress runs true to size.  Available in sizes 6-12m, 3, 4, and 5.  This dress will not be available to order again after the RTS sale, but it may make another appearance at the next RTS event in a different color combo.  (Pattern by CKC)


 This next one is from my favorite pattern designer (BG) and its one of my favorite patterns she's done.  Meet the Autumn Harvest dress......

The colors in this dress are perfect for fall.  My child has this dress in her closet and it's a favorite. This dress is darling paired with cowgirl boots and for the winter you can layer over some brown chambray pants to warm up those legs! Dresses fits true to size and is available in 18m, 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7.  I intended to have the ruffle pants to match each size, but due to a sick child this week, only the 18m and 2T are available in the RTS.  If you need the pants in the bigger size, don't despair.  They will be on my Etsy store soon for purchase.

Also with this dress we have a gorgeous necklace from Sugar Beads.  Melissa made this necklace specifically to match the Autumn Harvest dress, so be sure to order yours to make this outfit complete!  There will be a link directly to Sugar Bead's Etsy store tomorrow for you to purchase this necklace to match your dress.  It's a must-have, girls!!  Melissa will be making more custom "made-to-match" items for my future RTS events so stay tuned.  And in the meantime, like her page on FB so you can see all her cute stuff!  My girl wears her Sugar Beads every day. :)

 Lastly, is a staple item that your girl NEEDS in her closet this fall.  The Lolas!!

My girl loves her cow girl boots, but you can pair these cute bell bottoms with any top and cute shoes for a great fall look.  And look at these cute little pockets!

Gotta have?  Of course you do!  :)  I have sizes 2, 3, and 4 for the RTS sale but these will also be on Etsy soon if you don't find your size.


READY FOR TOMORROW????  I hope so!  Get ready to shop! RTS event will be live tomorrow at 12:00 EST on Facebook!

 ~Elizabeth

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.