Project of the Moment - Super Kid!

As I child I loved playing dress up and I especially loved capes!  I knew that I wanted to make one for Nik now that he has an interest in playing dress up.

For the cape I probably could have done without a sewing pattern however the last time I tried to cut a large amount of fabric into a perfect square, I ended up with crooked parts!  So if spending $1.99 saves my sanity then so be it...it's a small price to pay.

I bought this pattern last Halloween and I planned to use when Nik was ready to start playing dress up.  Luckily for me Ann Kelle came out with her Super Kids fabric collection this year (I seriously love all her prints!!!).  It was a no brainer that I was going to use the fabric to make a super hero cape for Nik.

I made this a size larger and I changed the fastening method of the cape because I didn't want to use a string to tie the cape.  I'm extremely cautious about fasteners that cannot be easily undone.  I cut a 3" inch tall piece of fabric and folded it in half and stitched down one edge.  I cut the length generously so it wouldn't be tugging on Nik while he plays.  I sandwiched the unfinished end between the fabrics before I sewed up the cape and I used a little velcro for the fastener.  The pattern calls for top stitching the top of the neck to seal the opening left for turning, however I think the entire cape needs to be top stitched because the lining fabric separates and poofs out (as you can see in the solo cape picture).

*p.s. I don't know why the red came out so bright, I made edits to tone it down.  :(

Project of the Moment - Super Kid!

As I child I loved playing dress up and I especially loved capes!  I knew that I wanted to make one for Nik now that he has an interest in playing dress up.

For the cape I probably could have done without a sewing pattern however the last time I tried to cut a large amount of fabric into a perfect square, I ended up with crooked parts!  So if spending $1.99 saves my sanity then so be it...it's a small price to pay.

I bought this pattern last Halloween and I planned to use when Nik was ready to start playing dress up.  Luckily for me Ann Kelle came out with her Super Kids fabric collection this year (I seriously love all her prints!!!).  It was a no brainer that I was going to use the fabric to make a super hero cape for Nik.

I made this a size larger and I changed the fastening method of the cape because I didn't want to use a string to tie the cape.  I'm extremely cautious about fasteners that cannot be easily undone.  I cut a 3" inch tall piece of fabric and folded it in half and stitched down one edge.  I cut the length generously so it wouldn't be tugging on Nik while he plays.  I sandwiched the unfinished end between the fabrics before I sewed up the cape and I used a little velcro for the fastener.  The pattern calls for top stitching the top of the neck to seal the opening left for turning, however I think the entire cape needs to be top stitched because the lining fabric separates and poofs out (as you can see in the solo cape picture).

*p.s. I don't know why the red came out so bright, I made edits to tone it down.  :(

Project of the Moment - Tee Time!

Sorry, I just had to think of a cheesy title...I couldn't resist!

My little man has been growing like a weed and all his t-shirts and pants are too small, so I decided to use my last weeks of maternity leave to focus on making him clothes.  I managed to make him a pullover sweater, a pair of shorts and two t-shirts.  It was a satisfying being sew productive ;)

While I was looking through my stash and planning out what to use for the t-shirts I wanted to make Nik, I noticed that I have a ton of striped fabric...I jokingly told my husband that I was turning our son into a pirate and making him pirate clothing with all the striped fabric...har har!

I made these shirts using knit fabric I bought from Girl Charlee Fabrics and Fabic.com.  I did have a difficult time locating rib knit fabric in bright fun colors so if you know a place where I can get some, please let me know.

For the shirt pattern I used the free Basic Tee pattern by Made. I love the way the tutorial includes instructions on how to make shirts from scratch, like I did, or how to make toddler tees out of adult tees.  I really want to try making a toddler tee from an adult t-shirt next time...I'd love to avoid having to sew hems!

Remember me?

Hello again!  I know I've been away for a while but trust me I've been busy, I just haven't had time to blog about everything.  Let me get you up to speed with what's been going on.  As you may know I was pregnant and I had early signs of labor so I was taking it easy and getting ready for the baby's arrival.  Baby Violet did arrive 2 weeks early and we are all happy that she is here!  I am writing a post about her birth and I'll share it soon.

In my blogging absence I did manage to work on a few projects, here is a quick preview I'll try to write a post about some of these projects:

When Sewing Goes Wrong...

I typically read and re-read pattern instructions to make sure I am sewing properly (because I hate using my seam ripper!), but I got carried away and excited and I accidentally sewed shut the casing for the elastic...doh!

Although it doesn't look like it, I did try to steam this!  :(

I didn't want to unpick the seams because I had already used my serger and trimmed off the excess fabric so I decided it was time to try something I've been wanting to try for a while...sewing with elastic in the bobbin.  I was nervous but I figured that if I screwed up really bad then I could just make another baby dress (after all they don't require a lot of fabric).

I am very pleased with the result of the dress and I think the slight ruffle adds to the style of the dress, I just hope the neck isn't too big.

This dress was made using this pattern: Sweet Little Baby Dress by Leila and Ben

Project of the Moment - Simple Spring Toddler Skirt

I was thinking of a "Thank you" gift for someone and while I was brainstorming I came up with the idea of a cute little skirt with heart shaped pockets.  I know this design isn't ground breaking but I thought it was super cute, so I had to share my creation.

I used yellow and white seersucker for the skirt and red and white seersucker for the pockets.  I made the pockets double sided and sewed them on the skirt and left enough room at the top for little hands.  In retrospect I think these pockets might be too small but I was afraid of making them bigger and overwhelming the skirt.

I hope my friend's daughter enjoys the skirt!

I am also nesting up a storm!  This blanket was a quick sew with my new binding foot.  

Project of the Moment - Fleece Bias Tape Baby Blankets

When I make flannel blankets as a gift I like to cut them bigger than the size sold in the store and I make them double sided (...and I topstitch the entire blanket to help keep the edges from rolling up like the ones bought from the store do).  I had intended to make these baby blankets the same way until I stumbled across fleece bias tape!!!  I had no idea that fleece bias tape even existed until a month ago.  I think the bias tape adds a lot of color and gives the blanket a clean finish.

During my first attempt of adding the bias tape I was being lazy and I tried to just sew both sides but the thickness of the fleece bias tape made that a little difficult so I used this tutorial by The Haby Goddess.  It made everything sew much easier!  (Did you see what I just did there?  I crack myself up!)  When I sewed the second blanket I used my walking foot and the bias tape and blanket fed through the machine smoothly.  I did end up purchasing a binding foot for my machine for future projects...I can't wait to try it out.

Anyway, if you use fleece bias tape, I'd love to hear what projects you use it on.

 p.s. - Don't use steam on the fleece bias tape!!  The package doesn't say anything but when I tried to iron the bias tape with steam it melted a little (see the picture below).

Easing back into sewing (M6309 pattern review)...and baby news

Back View (I forgot to re-distribute the gather after I sewed the size tag...oops!)

It's been a while since I sewed anything and I wanted a quick project to get me going again so I decided to try this cute little pattern.  It was so easy that I could have made this without a pattern but I was nervous making something for an infant so I bought the pattern.

                                                                             Source: mccallpattern.mccall.com via Ashley on Pinterest

If I had no distractions, I think I could finish this project in 2 hours max. I really can't wait to see how this is going to look on the baby!  I'm also working on a coordinating diaper cover but I'm not using the designs from this pattern.  My husband made a remark that he didn't really like the "bloomer" style.

Front View

BTW, did I mention we found out we're having a girl!!!!!  

Adventures in Cross Stitching Pt. 2 - "The Dog"

I started a cross stitch project earlier this year and then I just got caught up in a bunch of other projects and I kinda left it to the side.  During the last few weeks I haven't felt like doing much sewing or crafting so I went back to my cross stitching to keep me busy during the evening.  It's been calming doing my cross stitch and watching the baby play in the living room (I love seeing him play, I'm always fascinated to see what he's going to do next).  

It took me forever to get the cross stitch going because I wasn't sure where to start or how to do it "correctly" and I didn't want to mess it all up.  However now that I finished two words, I feel like I can take on anything!  I'm pretty sure I changed the direction of my stitches a few times but now I have a rhythm going and I try to plan out my stitches ahead of time so I can move on to the next letter with ease.  I still have a long way to go until this is complete but it will keep me happy and occupied this winter.

Project of the Moment - Like Father, Like Son

The Hubby's Shorts New Look 6951

I made the hubby a pair of shorts and I thought it would be cute to make a matching pair for the baby.  I used my handy dandy Fishsticks Designs pattern and made similar little shorts for Nik.  Originally the shorts were going to be a surprise for the husband because I thought he would be thrilled to have a real life mini-me, but the surprise was ruined when he walked in on me making them...face palm.  Since the surprise was ruined I asked him if I should make them identical and add a drawstring waist with elastic and he said no, so I stayed true to the original pattern.

I cut out the shorts in a size 3T and I hemmed them per the pattern instructions.  I figured you can't go wrong on the length of shorts so now I have my first completely finished pair of shorts/pants using this pattern.

Front View

Waist Band and Pockets

Back View

My label and size label...I can't tell you how much I love the size labels.

After I photographed my husband's short, I photographed these shorts while Nik was in his baby pool.   All of a sudden Nik started screaming and reaching toward the shorts.  My husband told me, "He knows that those are for him"  So I quickly finished taking pictures and handed over the shorts so he could have them with him in his pool.  I'm sure you can imagine what he did next...yup, he got them all wet.  :)

Project of the Moment - New Look 6951

About 6 years ago I bought a similar Simplicity pattern to make drawstring shorts for my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time). I never did sew those shorts for him and when we moved into our house I donated the unused sewing pattern. Agh, what was I thinking?!? I don't know why I didn't keep that pattern, I guess I figured he'd never wear a pair of shorts made by me. Pretty silly for me to think that, because he likes my work and he lives in shorts year-round.

I'm not sure what prompted me to ask him if he wanted me to make him shorts, but when I asked he said yes. After mending the wear and tear on his current shorts I decided to look for a drawstring pattern. You see, he has this habit of hanging his heavy key ring off his waistband and it pulls his shorts down and puts a lot of strain on the button and buttonhole area...so I thought a drawstring with a little elastic would be best for him.

Source: simplicity.com via Ashley on Pinterest

So after looking through all of the men's shorts patterns, I thought this had the relaxed fit he would like. Once I cut out the pattern pieces I compared them to his favorite pair of shorts and added 3" inches to the bottom of the shorts so they would fall below his knees (like basketball shorts).

When I saw the fabric I thought he'd probably like it so I bought it...little did I know it would be a nightmare to cut and sew.   That fabric unraveled and frayed all over the place!  Not to worry, I used my serger on every piece!

The pattern was simple but I didn't like the cargo pocket instructions. Maybe it's just me and I did something wrong but the flap and pocket don't look like the picture on the pattern envelope. My husband doesn't care but it bothers me because I don't know what happened there...I mean I cut it out as directed...so what gives???

I expect this pattern will be a staple in our house because my husband grabbed his finished shorts and wore them as soon as he saw them.  His only complaint is that the waist band isn't as tall as he'd like it to be, so I intend on enlarging the band the next time I make these shorts.

Funny story...while I was cutting out the shorts my husband said he liked the material (whoops!  I didn't even think to ask him what fabric he wanted for his shorts...good thing he liked it...), and that it reminded him of the new Mac OSX background....uh yeah, me too...ha ha ha...(what on Earth is he talking about???).

p.s. - Please excuse the wrinkles...

Front View

View of Side Pocket

Back View

View of Cargo Pocket

After I made these shorts I really started to think about how life must have been before ready to wear clothes.  It blows my mind to think of how much work was involved in making clothes back then and how easy we have it now!  I sure am thankful for modern technology!

Project of the Moment - Pier 49 Pants Pattern Review

Before you say anything...yes, I know these pants are a little bit...errr...out there (fabric wise)...I'd like to think of myself as more of a conservative creator but I couldn't resist the print...now on with the rest of the post.

Last summer I bought a cute pair of navy roll up pants on clearance (at Old Navy) for Nik.  I didn't really love the fabric (but the pants were so cute), it felt like a greasy kind of rayon material...do you know the type?  Anyway, I bought the pants and thought about trying to draft my own pattern (but that never happened!), then I found the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and their Pier 49 Pants Pattern.

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Perfect! 

I was a little hesitant to have the pressed open seam showing on the pants so I contacted Peek-a-Boo Patterns and asked if there was an option for adding lining and they directed me to Melly's tutorial.   I looked at Melly's tutorial but I ended up not being able to add lining because I didn't have enough red accent fabric (doh!)...oh well, maybe next time I can try lining the pants.  This time around I just serged the seams so the fabric wouldn't fray after a few washings.

The pants have a few details, mostly top/decorative stitching (which I didn't do).  I like this pattern because it can be used for boys and girls, and it comes in a variety of sizes in one pattern.

Overall the pattern was easy to follow and the only complaint I have is that the pieces are a little difficult to line up when you're taping them together...but that could just be me.  It does seem like there are a lot of little pieces and steps, but there really isn't.

I made these pants in a size 4T  (and left the waist band and hem undone for now) and I think I'm going to make a few more in different sizes. Perhaps I'll try making a back patch pocket on the next pair of pants instead of a faux back pocket flap.

I plan on using cord for the belt and inserting elastic when Nik is old enough to fit in the pants.

Front View

Side view with button

Back View

Faux Back Pocket

Front View of Rolled-Up Pants

Close Up of Rolled-Up Cuff

I'm anxious to see how Nik reacts once he can fit into the clothes I've made for him...I hope he likes my creations.  My mom never sewed for me but I didn't object to most of the clothes she got me...err...at least that's how I remember it (ok, so maybe I refused to wear things with shoulder pads in them).