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

Little Red Riding Hood Cape Costume

Earlier this year I had bought this lovely red fabric for several different projects and ended up with some large chunks of random scraps. 

Setting it all aside, I knew inspiration would eventually hit me.

And it did. 

Maybe it all happened at the same time, I don't remember. But there was a poem about a wolf, a cute DIY wolf hoodie for boys on Pinterest, my own obsession with turquoise, living around the corner from Grandma's house, and just planning this year's sewing projects, including Halloween, it was just meant to be. 

The Red Cape.

My mother-in-law had an easy pattern for a cape, but I made it much shorter so the length would just cover my shoulders.

I mentioned scraps. The back piece is made up of 5 scraps first sewn together, then I put the pattern piece on top and cut.

Very easy to make and if I were making this for a little girl I might have added some ribbon edging, and a floral lining.

With little kids, I didn't get any selfies but luckily a friend of mine took this photo of me in costume:

And here's the kiddos after a long night of playing and trick or treating:

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by!

xx 

A Casual Kimono Sleeve Top

Inspiration can come from anything- and anyone. When I decided to make a top for a friend of mine, I knew this was what I wanted to make!

Gathered waist, teal colour, comfy tee and kimono sleeves.

Drape, pin, cut and sew.

Inside out view:

Love the colour. Love the soft fabric. 

Thanks for stopping by!

xx

Halter Top Blouse with Pleats

I have had this chiffon laying around for months and I finally decided to make a loose blouse that would match my grey suit.

This grey suit is from the sale rack at Zara, and I bought it 7 years ago! I actually had bought 2 suits, one grey and one black for work. But moving to Ohio from England, I only kept the grey one. I put it on the mannequin and WOW! What a nice suit! Was I really that slim at one time in my life? If I ever fit into that suit again, I promise to never complain about my body! Anyhow, the blouse.

I knew I wanted a halter top, I knew it had to have pleats and a high neck, I knew I wanted it to be loose fitting, and here is the final outcome:

With the suit:

Unbuttoned jacket:

Note to self: serging does not look good with this fabric! Next time just fold and straight stitch!

And here is me being a proud mommy, my 4 year old has recently learned to write his name!

Thanks for stopping by!

xx