Where Have I Been?

I disappeared from off my blogs for about 2 years! With a new addition to the family, I have had a lot of fun making girly things! Here is another photo list of some things I have made:

Cute green top.

Knit top with matching knot headband.

Fleece hooded cape.

Baby skirt.

Crochet lace bunting for my niece.

Polka dot dress.

Baby bandanas.

Cute top.

Toddler skirt. 

Halloween costumes for the whole family!

Summer Project List

Life has been busy which has been great! That also means blogging has been on the back burner. I decided to just make a list. 

This is a random post of everything I have done approximately the last 4 months. No tutorials. Just a picture list. Enjoy! x

Baby/toddler bandanas.

Doll quilt.

Black cowl neck top.

Fabric houses for imaginative play. 

Buntings.

Infinity scarves.

Bow ties.

A copy cat cardigan. To the left is from the store. The pinkish one on the right I made.

Toddler Aprons.

Skirts. Simple ones and a tiered ruffle skirt.

This dress for my beautiful friend!

Ties. All the ones pictured.

Kimono top. I wear this a lot. 

Girls Skirt with Ruffles- For Toddler and Baby

I have officially lost track of how many skirts I have made in the past year, but here is a new one! With ruffles!

Measure your girl. The girl I made this for has a waist of 62cm. Then, from her waist to her knees she measured at 34cm.

I got 1 yard of fabric. 

Laid it out on the floor, folded in half.

Measured two 24cm wide strips and one 14cm wide piece. The fourth piece went to my scrap pile.

The first thing I like to do is serge the one edge of the less wide piece, that is my top piece. Set aside. (You could do this later. I choose to do it first because I love my serger :) )

Next, we gather.

Take one of your wider pieces and straight stitch with a long stitch. Then sew another straight line just under that, leaving your ends long. Take those ends and pull to make the gather. Tie your ends!

Do this on both pieces of your wider fabric. Depending on the measurements of your girl, this may differ but for the girl I was sewing this for, I gathered each piece until it measured about 16-17 inches. I know I go back and forth on my cm and inches! My measuring tape is from my Swedish grandmother and my measuring/sewing boards are from WalMart :)

Anyhow, pin the two gathered pieces of fabric and serge the side seams.

Now take the smaller piece, with the one edge serged, and pin to the ruffled edge.

Note: there will be an extra amount of fabric length, I allow it because sometimes the ruffles shift or the thread breaks. Having that extra bit of fabric guarantees that it will all come together and match and I won't be left with too little fabric length to complete the project.

Once I have pinned the smaller piece of fabric to the ruffled skirt up to the point where seams meet, I cut off the extra fabric, serge the seam on the smaller fabric making it a loop/circle, and finish pinning it onto the ruffled skirt.

Serge the pinned seam.

Looking cute so far!

Next is the elastic. Fold down the top and depending on the width of your elastic (I am using 3/4in non roll elastic) pin so there is enough room to thread your elastic through.

 Don't forget to mark your opening, usually near the side seam.

Note: The waist measurement is 62cm. I stretch the elastic to what I think would be a comfortable fit. I usually cut the UN-stretched elastic about 10cm less than the measurement I am going for.

Sew the tunnel with a straight stitch, thread your elastic through, sew your elastic using zigzag back and forth and sew closed with a straight stitch.

You could stop here, hem your bottom and be done with an adorable skirt....but for this particular fabric I really wanted to add lace to the bottom. I LOVE LACE! 

This lace already had a clean edge so I just pinned it to the already serged bottom hem, and with a straight stitch sewed it on.

It ended up being a thick seam so I pinned it down and sewed another straight stitch.

ADORABLE!

Here is my client :) She probably would have smiled if my two year old wasn't screaming his head off! LOL

With this ruffled skirt pattern, here are a few more I made in baby sizes:

Thanks for stopping by! xx

Baby Skirt With Teeshirt Waistband

This is a super quick skirt to make!

I serged the bottom hem, folded it over and straight stitched.

For the top, sew two rows of long straight stitches to gather, for a tutorial on gathering click here.

For the teeshirt waistband, I followed this awesome tutorial. But I didn't use a teeshirt, I had some stretchy knit fabric already laying around and I am so glad it matched the colors! 

I used less than a half yard of fabric and the size was 12-18months.   

Thanks for stopping by! xx

The Good Morning Robe! With Attached Sash.

Every morning the boys and I have done the same thing for years. Lately, a few things have changed, their demands a bit more specific.

They still want their milk and movie, lately they've been wanting blankets. But they can't wear blankets to the dining table for breakfast. I knew I had to make a morning robe!

Luckily, I already had a pattern! From Wal-Mart.

I changed one thing.

That loose sash that goes through loops? I knew that would be bad news for my son. He gets easily frustrated. For example: if the sash were longer on the one side than the other, he might start screaming or crying. If the sash were to ever get lost, or in the hands of his little brother, he might start screaming or crying. If the sash got caught on something as he walked, or if he tripped on it as he walked, he might start screaming or crying.

I have to be honest, I came up with this idea more for my own sake to avoid the unnecessary potential of screaming and crying.

I took the robe, decided where the sash would be and unstitched the serged hem. Then I cut the sash in half, inserted it and re-serged the hem. (He is pointing to the new inside seam.)

Close up on the outside:

Morning robes are great! A blanket you can walk around in! I love that happy face!

Thanks for stopping by!

xx