Sneak Peek

Do you remember me mentioning in my last post that the designer Sandi Henderson designs such beautiful fabric? Well, here are a few fabrics from her Meadowsweet Collection. I'm not usually a floral type person but the minute I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it. I ordered some in February eager to make some Easter dresses for my girls. Sadly the package was lost in the mail and had to be resent. I finally received it this past week and couldn't wait to make something with it!

Today I had a chance to cut into it! This is just a little sneak peak, as I don't have time to post a tutorial tonight. I promise it's cute, perfect for summer, and I am going to post step by step instructions on how you can make it too.

Stay tuned! I should hopefully have it up by tomorrow night! :)

Easy Patterns for Spring and Summer

I'm sick. I haven't been this sick in a long time. I won't give you the details, you don't want to know. Not only am I sick, but we woke up to the power being out in our house. It was 15 degrees Celcius (59 F) inside the house this morning! Not the end of the world but a bit chilly indoors! Thankfully it wasn't the 3 degrees Celcius it was outside. Isn't it supposed to be spring?

By some miracle my husband stayed home from work today. That never happens. Usually life goes on like normal when I'm sick. I'm so thankful, as I am sitting in bed and he is getting a little taste of what it is like to be me, minus picking up the house. He isn't much of a multi tasker. The power also eventually came back on and we're toasty warm again.

While I am sitting here I thought I would share with you a few of my "go to" patterns for my little girls for spring and summer. I've made all of them more than once and not only are the following patterns cute, but they are EASY. Perfect for beginners, and will sew up very fast for those that have some sewing time under their belt.

 

I'll start with shamelessly linking a few of the tutorials I already have up on the blog. The nice thing about these tutorials are that they are FREE! First, the Bubblegum Jumper...

the One Hour Sundress....

 and the Sugar and Spice Skirt. This particular skirt was made up in corduroy, but comes out really nice with quilting cottons too.

And now for some purchased patterns...

image from Modkids

One of my most made patterns, Frida, by Modkids! This dress can be made as a dress or a top and can also be made with cute little cap sleeves (not pictured). You can check out this pattern on the Modkid Website as well as the designer, Patty Young's, other adorable patterns.

b

image from Portabellopixie

This pattern comes from Portabellopixie created by designer Sandi Henderson. She also designs fabric that is absolutely beautiful! We have made several of her petal knot dress (alternate view for this pattern). You can see additional photos of the pattern at the link above.

Image from www.youcanmakethis.com

I can't say enough about this pattern. That Darn Kat's Round Neck Top or Dress. It is one of my favorites and I have sewn up a ton of these over the past year. You can find it on her blog at the prior link , or for immediate download at youcanmakethis.com.

Image from www.youcanmakethis.com

 Last, but not least we have Carla C, the Scientific Seamstress' A-Line Top or Dress. Check out her blog at the prior link or find all of her patterns at youcanmakethis.com.

The great thing about all of these patterns (aside from being easy to sew) is that they can carry your child through all of the seasons. Add a top underneath and some tights or leggings and they are just as cute in fall and winter as they are in spring and summer.

Hopefully soon I will post some photos of my daughters in all of these so you can see just how cute they are!  Now, I'm going back to sleep, have a great evening everyone!

Keepsake Hug Pillow Tutorial

I'm calling this a hug pillow because the photo above is a pillow I made for my sister in law for Christmas. She has always been very close with our kids, and it was heartbreaking when we moved across the province from her. I know she misses the kids like crazy, just as they miss her and I wanted to send her something special from them. Kinda like getting a little hug in the mail.
I thought I would buy more of this fabric and make one for myself. Little did I know the fabric I used for the back...

Would be so hard to find. I made a couple of these pillows for gifts, and in the end I only had little scraps. Luckily I kept them and was able to make THIS. I never did find anymore. :(

Anyway on to happier topics! The reason I'm showing you a photo of this particular pillow is because the pictures I have to show you next are horrible. I made up this tutorial late at night, and you can tell! I wanted to post so you all can get started on your Mother's Day projects (we have visitors from out of town and I didn't know when I would get a chance if not tonight). Perfect gift for Grandma!

Here we go!
What you will need:
- Fabric- 2 to 3 coordinating fabrics
- Fabric adhesive or glue stick
- Fabric pen or a washable marker
- Medium weight fusible interfacing
- Your kids!

No measurements as we are going to cut as we go. Don't be scared!

Let's begin by tracing your child(ren)'s hand onto a piece of cardstock. I have three kids so just traced one of their hands. For Christmas I made a pillow also for a close friend who had one child, in that case I traced both of her daughter's hands. I've numbered mine so I could remember who's hand was who's as my kids are close in age.

Cut a piece of fabric that will be large enough to fit all of your hands. Cut a piece of your interfacing to the same size. Fuse your interfacing to the wrong side of your fabric.

On the interfacing side of the fabric trace your hands. Make sure to flip them over so they are right sides down or your hands will be in the opposite direction when you cut them out!

Cut out your hands.

Now, out of another fabric, cut out a piece that will be large enough for all of your hands to be sewn onto in the pattern of your choice. This will be the center of your pillow. It is up to you and will depend on how large you want your pillow to be. I cut mine 10X17. Spray some fabric adhesive on the wrong side of your  fabric hands (or use a glue stick), and arrange them on your fabric.

We are going to stitch the hands to the pillow center. First, get a scrap piece of fabric and adjust your stitch settings. Use a zig zag stitch, and make it smaller and narrower. I can't easily share my settings with you as my machine has a slider, not a numeric measure. Stitching close to the edge of your appliques as shown in the photo, sew all the way around each hand. When you go around the fingers you will need to lift your presser foot and adjust your fabric every few inches to get a nice curve. if you have never appliqued around something curvy before it is best to practice on a scrap first!

Woven fabrics fray. One reason we applied the interfacing is to help prevent fraying (as well as to make them easier to sew to your pillow piece without puckering).The reason we are using a small zig zag stitch is for the same reason. This also prevents fraying. Using a straight stitch is not a good idea unless you want the look of a frayed applique.

Now we need a border for our pillow. There is no right or wrong way of sizing this. Again, it will depend on how big you want your pillow. using the full width of your fabric cut a couple of strips. I wanted 3 inch, but then accidentally cut 2.5 inches. It's all good.

Take one of your long strips and right sides together sew it to one of the long edges of your pillow. I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance. As you can see by the photo you will have quite a bit extra coming off the end. Cut your strip to make it the length of your pillow.

Just like this.

Take the piece you cut off, and right sides together sew it to the side of your pillow, lining the strip up with the top edge of your previous border piece as shown. Then, cut so it is even with the bottom of your pillow just like you did to the top border piece.

Do this with the remaining two sides. This is what your pillow front will look like when you are done. Press. If you are going to embroider something on your pillow now is the time to do it. This one is just for me and I'm choosing to leave it blank.

Square up your pillow. Meaning, measure the width and height of your pillow and make sure it is not wider or taller at one end than the other. Now cut another piece of fabric the same size to be your pillow back.
Sew all the way around, right sides together, leaving an opening of a few inches to insert your stuffing.

Clip your corners being careful not to cut through your stitching. Turn right side out and use something pointy to poke out your corners. Stuff your pillow and slip stitch the opening closed (or be lazy like me and just machine stitch it closed).

Ta da! My bad night time picture!

And the back.

Perfect Mother's Day gift!

I would love to see your pillows! Upload them to our Flickr Group!

Giveaway #3 Winner!

Time to announce the winner of the latest giveaway! A $20 gift certificate to Mamom's, a fabulous little shop on Etsy. Let's see what Random has to say...

Oh, wow, look at that! I finally figured out how to crop my screen shot! Sorry about the blurriness. There were a small amount of entries this time so I let in the few late entries (it's a good thing you didn't win though or there may have been an uproar). Lucky number 7 it is!

Lynne said... 7

Very neat! I love the colours. I think I'd pick some dinner napkins. I like the red and yellow ones. Thanks for the giveaway!

You're right Lynne! I'm partial to blues and greens but the red and yellow is really pretty too! :)

Thank you again Nicci for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway!
My amazing readers, if you are ever in the market for a beautiful hand dyed item be sure to check out Mamom's as Nicci adds things to her shop all the time.

Now, stay tuned folks for a fabulous Mother's Day gift idea you can make yourself and will be treasured for years. With any luck I will have the tutorial up this weekend!

Flickr Photos

A week or so ago I posted a link for the new Flickr Group. I was so excited to see some of you upload your photos! Thes best part about blogging for me is knowing that someone is getting some use from my tutorials. It is so fun to see all of the different creative spins! If you look to the right of the blog and scroll down you will see a slideshow of all the photos that are uploaded. Click on the box and it will also take you to the Flickr group to see the pictures close up.

I want to share with you some of the photos that were uploaded to Flickr this past week. First, there are a few from Megan of her beautiful baby girl. In one word, PRECIOUS!

 Isn't she just SO cute?!

Love this fabric!

Doesn't the One Hour Sundress look so sweet as a top?

This Twirly T Shirt Dress was uploaded by Clarissa. I love how she added the tiers to a onesie! Great idea!

Check out this Scrappy Clutch! I really like the fabric combo on this one too. The creator of this cute clutch also has a crafty blog which you can see HERE

Thank you again ladies for uploading your photos! I love looking at each and every one of them. I have seen so many of your photos via email, please consider uploading them so everyone can be inspired! :)

Also, if you haven't entered our latest giveaway, today is the last day to enter! Giveaway closes at 7pm PST!

Tie Dye T shirts

I'm sorry it has been a few days since my last post. The weather has been beautiful here and we have been enjoying it to the max. In a span of two weeks time we have gone from having 3 feet of snow on the sides of our driveway to mowing the lawn for the first time this year! The lawn is actually brown and dead. Until last week most of it was covered with snow and ice and had been for 6 months! I was breaking my back raking all of the dead bits of grass though, and went the lazy way and had the lawn mower suck it up. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was crazy. No matter, if they are listening close enough and hear my kids screaming as much as they do, they already know I went crazy long long ago.

So, have you all entered the latest giveaway? If you haven't, quick, enter! You have until Friday 7pm PST.

Speaking of the latest giveaway, Mamom's beautiful hand dyed items had me itching to dye something. A few weeks ago the girls and I bought some dye and some shirts and I had forgotten about it until I posted on Sunday. Now, listen here, I'm an expert at a lot of things (making grilled cheese, wiping butts, sweeping floors) but am not an expert at dying clothing. I have done it a few times with my kids so I will share what I know (which isn't much, but is enough to put a smile on your little people).

What you will need:
- T shirts (we have only used white in the past but any color is fine. Make sure your dye is darker than the
   shirt if you use one that is colored)
- Fabric dye (we use the grocery store variety)
- elastics
- Rubber gloves (Puhlease use rubber gloves) and vinegar (optional)- both not shown

 Grab a section of your shirt and tie an elastic around it. Make sure you are just taking one layer of the shirt, either the front or back, not both. You can then leave it like this, or....

Tie another elastic above it. Your first elastic is going to create your classic tie dye ring. The dye is going to touch everywhere on your shirt except for where your elastic is. Having two elastics will create a ring within a ring. You can keep going on this one, or move on to another part of your shirt. I was under the strict command of two drill seargents sitting beside me. They wanted all of the creative say. I only did what they told me to!

Can I also just point out the beautiful warm sun shining on my table giving it that nice orange glow. Warm sun, how I've missed you!

Our two shirts all tied up.

Now, follow the directions on your dye. Or, follow them more or less like we did. What you are seeing in this very bizarre photo is a sink full of hot hot water mixed with our dye and our shirts dropped in. You can also see my kitchen window, flower pots and a lot of steam. The girls thought this looked like witch's brew.

We left our shirts in for about 5 mins. Just swirl them around and watch them. The longer you leave them in the darker your color will be. Remember they will always look darker when wet. Then rinse, rinse, rinse! Rinse until the water runs clear. Use gloves. My hands at the moment look like I just baked about 1000 blueberry pies. I never learn.
Once you have rinsed your shirts you can also soak them for a few mins in a sink of water and vinegar (1/2 cup or so). This will set the dye. I'm not sure how I know this, or if it is true, but if you have something in the wash you think might bleed you can throw vinegar in and it doesn't.

Here comes the fun part...

Remove your elastics and see what happened! The kids will ooh and ahh. :)
Throw your shirts in the dryer.

All dry! Fun play shirts the kids are proud they designed themselves!

Giveaway #3! CLOSED

If you like hand dyed items, you are going to love this giveaway! Nicci, of Mamom's, (another fabulous shop on Etsy) is hosting this giveaway. She sews and hand dyes beautiful items. From bags, to napkins, to even children's aprons. The colors she uses are so vibrant and happy, all of the things in her shop scream spring to me! Here are some of my favorites that she has in her shop right now (she also does custom requests).

This bag is so cute! I absolutely love the colors, I would totally carry this! What about you?

Check out the inside of this fabric basket. The purple is so pretty and perfect for storing any little things you have around the house. This would be perfect in my sewing room!

Don't you just love these place mats? Isn't the blue just so vibrant? My kids would love eating on these!

The winner of this giveaway will receive a $20 gift certificate to Mamom's!
Entering this giveaway is easy! All you need to do is go on over to Mamom's and let me know in the comments section what you would buy if you were to win. I would also love if you were to follow my blog. :) Please leave a way for me to contact you if you don't have an email in your blogger profile.
You have until Friday 7pm PST to enter. Good luck!

Knit Appliques Are Easy

I made this shirt for my Little Dude today. The Jolly Roger on the front is an applique I found at Crap I've Made. Don't be fooled by the blog name, there is a lot of inspiration over there. Check it out!

It's true, I have an embroidery machine and most times if I'm going to do an applique I find one that my machine will stitch out. Sometimes though, it is even easier to do one on the regular machine, and quicker too!

Knit fabrics, otherwise known as the fabrics that are used in T shirts etc. are the easiest fabrics to applique. They don't fray so there is no need to finish your edges. Read on, I'll show you how easy it is. I think this applique probably took 15 mins from start to finish.

What you will need:
- Knit scraps
- Medium weight fusible interfacing
- Fabric adhesive or glue stick
- Scissors and a marker
- T shirt or something to put your applique on

The first thing you need to so is trace your design onto your interfacing. You can do the opposite and trace it to your fabric, but that just isn't as easy! It doesn't matter what side of the interfacing you trace onto. You will want to make sure that if you have a directional design it isn't going to be backwards when you fuse it to your fabric. Now, fuse your interfacing to the wrong side of your fabric. I just used one of my kids' washable markers to trace.

Cut out your pieces.

Now, you can buy something by the name of Wonder Under that is fusible on both sides. I can't get that unless I go to the closest city which is almost 3 hrs away, so I just use regular interfacing. If you use regular interfacing you will also need some type of fabric adhesive. This is what I use. You can also just use your child's glue stick. It works!

Spray the back sides of your applique pieces and place them where you would like them on your shirt. The adhesive helps them stick to your fabric so that they are easier to sew without moving around. You can still peel them off and move them around if you decide you want your applique in another spot. I suggest if you are making a shirt from scratch like I am to put your applique on before sewing your shirt together. It is really sad if you spend time making the shirt and then mess it up with your applique. Much easier to just cut a new front piece!

If I'm doing a large applique I leave my stitch length to what it is normally. If the applique is small like this one I adjust my stitch length a little smaller. Sew around your applique close the the edge. If you have a lot of little curves like this design, you will need to raise your presser foot here and there and adjust your fabric to navigate the small turns. Because this is a knit fabric it will not fray in the wash so just putting your applique on with a straight stitch is just fine!

Go and practice an easy knit applique like this one because in the coming weeks I have a really neat Mother's Day project to show you that also uses appliques.
You could add your child's name or initial to a shirt or blanket, trace a picture of their favorite cartoon character... there are so many things you can do! Let me know what you come up with! :)

The shirt pattern I used here is Carla C's All The Rage Raglan Pattern which can be purchased at youcanmakethis.com.