Meadowsweet Mary Jane Slippers

More sewing happened this past week. These are a pair of super cute mary jane slippers I made for Tasha. I had planned to add an embellishment to them but after being excited about having a flower or butterfly on them all day while I made them, she then decided she liked them just as they were. :0)

They were a super quick sew (or would have been minus the interruptions! lol) I plan to make more and hopefully a pair for Kate. I think though bc K's are a size 5 I might have to hand sew them. These are 9s and I had trouble using my machine to make them.

What's been Keeping me Busy

So the blog has been a little bare lately, but it's not for lack of crafting. I put away my paper (for now) and have been on a huge sewing kick lately. I love to sew and paper craft and tend to go back and fourth between the two depending on whatever currently grabs hold of my attention. Lately it's been sewing. :0) This is what I've done over the last couple of weeks;

A Doll Diaper bag for one of N's friends for her Birthday;

A Doll Quilt for another one of N's friends for her Birthday;
A minky pocket diaper for my Etsy shop;

Diaper Covers/Swim Diapers for my Etsy Shop;
A cupcake pink Cushion for me;
Reusable Grocery Bag for one of N's Teachers as her End of School gift;
Doll Diapers, again for one of N's friends as a Birthday Gift;
A Skirt for my youngest Daughter:
Phew! I think that's everything! I also made a the same skirt for my oldest Daughter but she's not worn it yet so I've not had a chance to take any photos. :0) I'm not sure when I'll get back to making cards and scrapbooking. I definitely will be, I'm just in sewing mode right now. :0)

Little Red Riding Hood Costume Complete!

I don't think I can even express how happy I am that this costume if finally completed! It went from a project that I thought was going to be fairly easy, to something that got fairly complicated fast.

I've posted about the dress and over-skirt and how the pattern was not as comprehensive (at least I felt so) to doing the cloak, which really did not have much of a pattern to it at all.

The cape part of it was pretty easy, measure the length of my kid from her shoulders to where I wanted the cloak to end, cut on the fold, repeat for the lining, then sew both together. The hood though, well that was a whole other matter.

The pattern I followed for the cloak was for an adult, so the hood measurements were wayyyy too big. I then found one on Marthastewart.com, however, it was too small and when I increased the measurements, it looked a bit too KKK with such a pointy hat.

So after a few adjustments, guessing the measurements and doing a trial 'hood' bc my daughter was not being very cooperative about trying it on, I followed the directions on MS's site, but then curved the top of the hood so it was not pointy but rounded. :0)

Looking back on this project, it really was not that hard. The satin is a pain to sew bc it moves and I do not have a walking foot for my machine, and figuring out measurements was a bit mind boggling, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

Details:
Peasant Dress or Top - I purchased the pattern from a seller on Etsy and bought 2m of white cotton fabric for I think 7.99 at my local fabric store. I had a bit left over but not a lot. I used a crazy amount of it on the ruffle along the bottom of the dress. I've debated adding lace to the sleeves, but I think it's fine as is. :0)

Over-skirt - I bought this pattern from the same seller as the peasant dress from. I bought 1.5m of Red Gingham Cotton Fabric at the same Local Fabric store. I had some left over, but not a lot. I think it was 12.99/m?

Cloak - I used both this pattern and this pattern and then in the end basically designed my own hood to suit my needs and fit Tasha's head. hah For the cloak I used a 36" length and 1/4" in seam. I bought a deep cranberry red velvet (2 metres) for the outer part of the cloak and then lined it with a deep red Satin(3 metres). I had to get more of the satin then I really wanted because it was only a width of 27" and I needed 36" so I was not able to fold it and cut it out. :0( Sewing the two fabrics together was a huge PITA because the satin is so slippery. I can't remember the price on the Velvet, I think $20/m? or the Satin. I spent way more then I wanted, but I knew I wanted a nice lush cloak. She loves wearing it so I figure it will be used for dress up after halloween. Of course today she was flying around the house with it on saying she was a super hero. haha

I had a bit of trouble with the ties on the cloak, but this morning was able to figure it out. I sewed the hood on to the velvet first, then turned it inside out, and sewed it again, leaving an opening to turn it right side out again. That's when I realized the excess fabric on the hood would work for casing in the tie. :0) I knew I had to do some sort of casing, but could not wrap my head around how to do it hem the hood in. hah Thankfully baby brain eased up and I figured it out.

Anywho, it's done and I could not be happier with the end result. :0) Some pics of the doodlebug in it. I did not have the energy to get her in the complete outfit (dress/over-skirt/cloak), but will be sure to get some pics on Halloween. :0)

Little Red Riding Hood take 2

Last week I cut the fabric for the over-skirt for N's LRRH costume and then ignored it until Monday, when I finally forced myself to start working on it. Yes, forced. For some reason I was not really looking forward to making this part of her costume. I bought the pattern for it on Etsy, the same seller I bought the dress pattern from and as you may remember in a previous post, the instructions were not the most clear. The over-skirt was a bit better, but I was still worried.

Anyway, I finally started work on it Monday morning and finished it by mid afternoon. It was not as hard as I thought it would be, but I had an unwilling toddler when it came to trying it on for fits to check length and positioning of the straps.

In the end, I'm super happy with how it turned out and think that she could even wear the overall outfit w/o anyone thinking it was a costume. :0)

I'm still debating adding some lace to the sleeves and I may still, but I still have the Hood left to make as well as the pettiskirt. So if I can get those things done in time, I will go back and add some lace to the sleeves of the dress if I still have time.

The back:


The little darling in it. She was a bit upset to put it on for about 2 secs and then was fine with it. Much better then earlier "sizing" checks.

Halloween Costume - Part 1

To say how proud I am of myself would be an understatement when it comes to this dress. After seeing this listing on Etsy for a Little Red Riding Costume, I thought to myself, "How hard can that be really?" There was no way I was spending $170 on a costume for my child that would be worn once, so I went on the hunt for patterns for the cloak and dress. The apron seemed easy enough.

So I did some searching on Etsy and found a pattern for a peasant dress and over-skirt and thought perfect! It was not until I got the patterns that it was not so perfect or easy. As I mentioned, the design was great, the instructions though were not too clear and a bit more complicated then need be.

After some ripping, a little re-write of the directions and changing the measurements to fit my child, the end result is this simple white dress.

What I changed from the pattern was - length, width, added the ruffle along the bottom and I'm thinking about using elastic thread on the sleeves and adding some eyelet lace.

Next I'm going to start the over-skirt. Maybe tomorrow, I have to work a few hours in the morning so I'll see how I'm feeling.

I tried to take some pictures of N in it, but she was in a super goofy mood so they were mostly blurred. I did capture this one though. It looks like she has quite the stagger. hah

WIWOW

This week I've started to work on N's Halloween costume. On Tuesday when I showed up for my doctor appointment a day late, I decided since I was halfway there, I'd drive to the Fabric store and find the fabric for her costume. Last week I picked up the Velvet, a lovely deep cranberry red colour, so I just needed the White Cotton and some Red Gingham.

After I washed and dried the white cotton and red gingham I noticed the red gingham looked a lot like a table clothe. hah. However, while my faith might not be too high in my ability to sew a simple dress, over-skirt and cloak, I'm pretty sure that no matter how it turns out, once the red gingham is sewn into the over-skirt, it won't look like a table clothe.

Due to my fear of things not working out, I've only gotten as far as cutting the main dress part from the white cotton. I still need to cut armholes, the sleeves and the ruffle for along the bottom of the dress. The mock up of the dress I did was too short, so this time when I cut out the main body of it I added a few inches. I'll try it on her and then cut off the extra length if needed. :0)

A day of Trial and Error

Every Halloween (all two of them :P), it's a battle to get my daughter into her costume. Actually thinking about it a bit, her first Halloween when she was just 1 month shy of 1, she willingly put on her costume (a ladybug). Last year though, I spent a month (yes you read that right) gradually getting her use to her costume to the point that on the day of her Halloween party with her little friends, she actually wore it and the head piece.

About a month ago I started thinking about Halloween and what she'd dress up as. The store I used the previous 2 years is no longer around and I really did not want to go through the hassle of getting her to like the costume. Soooo I did some thinking and thought "Why not dress her up as a Fairy Tale Character?" She be in 'regular' clothes, not a costume, so **hopefully** she would put it on willingly.

I'm not sure how I came about choosing Little Red Riding Hood, I think it was along the lines of "she likes dresses, I doubt she'd mind a little apron added to it and I know she loves hoods, so the cloak/cape would be something I think she'll love".

This line of thought had me at first looking at the costumes available. Ever Google "Little Red Riding Hood costume"? Yeah, not the best results. So I did a quick search on Etsy and after looking at prices, I decided to make my own. This is where someone should have knocked some sense into me. :P

So I did some more searching, found a cute peasant dress and over-skirt pattern on etsy and found a LRRH costume that I wanted to use as inspiration. Should be easy enough right? Well, while the dress the seller posted in her store was super cute, her instructions on how to make said dress were confusing and complicated. I spent the whole afternoon today doing a 'mock up' dress. The first attempt was an abysmal failure.

Using her 'measurements' for my 3 yr old, the dress was way too short and way too narrow, plus her instruction for assembly left a lot to be desired. After a couple of hours of frustration and tearing out seams, I decided to start from scratch. This time however, I took one of N's pillowcase dresses, measured the width and length, re-cut my scrap fabric, and started assembly. From my trial and error earlier, I figured out how things were suppose to go. The one adjustment I made, was making the sleeves longer instead of short, since she'll be wearing it in October when it's going to be chilly.

Anyway, my mom, friends and others have said a pattern is just one big puzzle. In this case, the pattern itself was a puzzle that you start to put together and then realize you are missing important pieces.

The end result however, is that I completed my mock up dress tonight. I'm quite happy with it minus the fact that it's about 2" too short. :0( Unlike her pillowcase dress, this one has sleeves and the neckline is elastic, so that, and my seam allowance (which I accounted for) had me lose some in the length. This however, is an easy fix, I just made note to add an extra 5" to the length and then I can just cut off the extra after trying it on my daughter.

Next will be deciphering the Over-skirt pattern, which I bought from the same seller.

Olivia the Owl. err Fry.

For a few days now I've been working on this cute little Owl. I bought the pattern over on Etsy after seeing it featured on a blog I read. I thought "he" (she made an Oliver) was super cute and decided I had to make him.

I had some lovely Amy Butler fabric laying around that I thought would work perfect, I just had to make a quick run to Michaels and get some felt. Which I could start another whole entry on about their selection and quality, but I won't. heh

What I thought would be a quick project turned out not to be the case. The pattern was super easy to follow, the pattern pieces themselves matched up great, it was when it came down to the actual assembly that I had some problems.

Sewing in a straight line? Easy. Sewing around curves and in circles? Just a touch more difficult for a beginner like myself. My first obstacle came when it was time to sew on his/her beak. You can't tell from this angle, but it looks like poor Fry flew into a tree. hehe. It's just a touch crooked. But as my husband noted "It's handmade, it's not suppose to be perfect. Nature is not perfect either." It still kind of bothers me, but not too much, my 3 yr old did not notice it, so whatever right? Needless to say, it only intensified the fact that I do not like hand sewing. :P

My next difficult part was sewing the bottom piece on. Seems easy enough, but it was a pain in the butt.

But in the end, she's all sewn up and my daughter took her when I showed "Olivia", said thanks and immediately started calling her "Fry".

A Quickie

I've been busy cutting fabric for various projects and this afternoon decided to take a break and make some baby.legs for jellybean. I tried making them when N was little and the "official" baby.legs became all the rage, but for some reason I just could not grasp the concept. I'm not sure why, because after reading this tutorial, it made perfect sense and was so easy! The best part about this project though? I made 3 baby.legs for a mere $4.30/each! Crazy eh?

Instead of going to walmart and getting girls knee socks, I bought women's crew socks from GAP, where I get a 50% discount on all clothing, so it helped to make this project much more economical then paying $12-$15 a pair! Plus the last time I tried this, I checked out the socks at wal.mart & zell.ers for girls and none of the patterns or colours appealed to me. These ones are a bit on the pink/brown side but that's all GAP really has in right now There were some Orange ones, but I really do not have much that would go with Orange. I'm not sure why the pinstripe ones are so much shorter, I know I've bought socks for myself at GAP, all the same kind and they seem to vary in length.

I'm going to keep an eye out for other colours as winter starts to creep upon us. I remember when N was wee and we were hanging out at home, baby.legs and a onsie were perfect to stay cozy. They worked well under jeans too so that when her jeans rode up while putting her into the truck the baby.legs were there to keep her warm instead of a chill reaching her bare leg.

My almost 3 yr old trying them out:


Ignoring the fact she has no pants on. :p We started potty training over 2m ago and even though she's trained now, she pretty much runs around the house half naked. I've given up trying to keep pants on her unless we are going out. As long as she's wearing panties I'm cool with her being half naked. :p

I have a lot of projects on the go right now - curtains, fitted crib sheets (4), change pad cover, a quilt, a crochet hook holder, another tote, an owl stuffy, birth announcements...yes, I know the design I want and since we are sure jellybean is a girl, I want to get a jump start on them so that all I have do when she arrives is put her name, weight and a photo in the card. First though, I need to find my craft table. hah

Everyday Tote

If you do a google search for "handmade tote", tons of these cute little totes will come up. They come in all shapes, sizes and colours. There are literally tons of tutorials out there on how to make these cute little totes/purses. I'm ashamed to say I can't find the two tutorials I used to make this bag, as well as the bag I saw on a blog that gave me inspiration for mine. I did however just spend 20 minutes bouncing around crafty blogs and bookmarking a couple of other tutorials for possible future projects.

The fabric I used for one of my fabric designers, Amy Butler. I can't remember the particular fabric name, but if you just google Amy Butler Fabrics, so many of her gorgeous fabrics will come up. Sidenote: I found out a couple of days ago she is putting out some gorgeous rugs now! I doubt they will be in my price range but a girl can dream. I think these two fabrics are part of her midwest collection?

The dimensions are approximately 10" wide and 12" high. I've only put in my Sigg, N's KK and an apple but it could hold quite a bit more. I found a pattern today during my 'wanders' that is an organizer that rolls/folds up to fit in this type of bag that can hold your cell phone, wallet and several other things so you are not digging through your tote looking for it.

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out, but next time I'd like it to be a bit narrower and taller. The tote I saw that I got inspiration from for this one was a Crochet bag. The crafter had made it for a friend who was going to be in the hospital. She included a Crochet book, a needle roll (she used a crayon roll pattern), some yarns and other items to get her started on crochet. I just guessed the dimensions she used but am pretty sure I'm off, as mine's quite short. The next one I make I'd also like to add a pocket to the inside. Although adding a pocket is just a tad past my skill level right now. lol

If I find the post/blog that gave me inspiration and the tutorial(s) (I used 2) I'll come back and edit this post. :0)

Miss Natasha's Party favours

As I mentioned in my previous post, since finding out I was pregnant, I've had the sewing bug bite me. I've made receiving blankets for friends, for me, a fitted crib sheet for a friend and over the weekend I worked on this Crayon Tote to give out as a party favour for N's 3rd birthday.

There are several different crayon rolls, totes, crayon + notepads online, even some free tutorials on how to make them, but none really struck my fancy until I found this one. :0)

I used Michael Miller's Dick and Jane Fabric series for the Poka Dot (Lolli Dot, Dick and Jane block) and Dick and Jane Sentences for the top and bottom bands, the middle red stripe is just some red fabric I picked up.

It holds a 6x8 pad of paper, which I'm not sure where to find (maybe the dollar store?) but for now I just cut up some white paper for the inside.

I'm quite proud with how it turned out and it was not too pricey per child. N is having a small party though, we are not inviting many, so this idea works out nicely.

The inside:

Hopefully it's something that the kids will get a lot of use out of and the mom's will also enjoy! N has one (wallet style with a pad) and she loves it! As a matter of fact it kept her occupied at the doctor's office this morning while we were in the exam room waiting for the doctor. :0)

Pillowcase Dress.

I must have some skill that trickled onto me from my mother (who is awesome at sewing just about anything!) because I tried the dress on Tash this morning and it fits perfect! The ribbon is a bit long but I can cut it if need be. Right now I like it the length it is because I can dbl knot the bows so she can untie it.

Here are some pictures:

The fabric is called Paris cats. While I was out this morning I picked up some more fabric to make 2 more dresses. I might even venture further and try making just a top. I have a pattern for the pants as well but I don't think I'm ready for pants. heh

I have a sewing machine?

heh, yeah I actually have one, one I bought I don't know when and have used a total of 4xs, including tonight. :p

Today when I was out running errands I stopped by Frabricville with the idea to buy some flannel to make some receiving blankets. No, I'm not pregnant, I'm just looking for a new project and thought I'd make some up. :0) Instead of finding any flannel that I liked, I found this beautiful cotton fabric that was 40% off. Those that know me will know why I fell in love with it, it's a pale blue, a touch of purples and greens and it's Cats and the Eiffle Tower. Yes, the two things I love in one pattern so of course I had to buy it.

At the time, in my head I was going to make a quilt with it. Yes, laugh now I'll give you a minute. :p

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While I'm finishing the rest of my errands though, I keep thinking about it and decide to try a pillowcase dress for N. Now, as the name suggests, you are suppose to use pillowcases to make them. I however, do not have any of those pretty hand embroidered vintage pillowcases so I used this fabric instead. Everything I read online suggested it would take 30 mins to sew it up. Well I started around 7.30pm after I washed and dried it and just finished about 5 mins ago at around 11.15pm. :p I definitely think anymore I make will go much faster since I know what I'm doing now. Plus I'm going to make a couple of teeny changes.

The directions made me waste a bit of the fabric (which I could still use to cut blocks for a quilt though) , but next time I'll know the right length for cutting it. I also found the double folding of the hem made it a bit bulky in places. It was definitely easier to flip it over x2 rather then fold down a tiny pc then fold it again, but it does add considerable bulk. So when I make another one (I might sneak back tomorrow for some cherry fabric I saw in the same bargain bin) I'll have a better idea how to do things.

I'd post photos, but my child is sound asleep so I'll try it on her tomorrow when she wakes up and take pictures then. It's cute just on the hanger but I want to get some pics of her in it and share those. I'm was so excited about it I actually snuck into her room and laid it over her to check for length. ha!