Super Hero Capes - DIY

I got a few emails when I did I DIY gift post a while back and mentioned that I make children's capes for gifts. They are easy, quick and turn out really nicely. In fact I think you would have a really hard time finding something similar to purchase even if you had a big budget. Best of all you can get two capes out of two yards of fabric so they are also really affordable. I do a side with the child's favorite animal and a side with their favorite color if I can get it to coordinate right.

(Super heroes look noble and serious.)

I looked at a bunch on the internet and really didn't find just what I was looking for, the pattern at pukingpastilles was by far the cutest I thought and I just modified it a bit. My pattern looks just like the light pink fabric. I iron my fabric in half pin my paper pattern to it and cut 1 patterned piece and 1 solid piece, pin those together, then sew it all around leaving a little opening at the bottom to pull it through. After that I simply iron it and hand-sew up the opening - that's it! I do usually iron on a felt patch with their first initial and sometimes if I am feeling really crafty I sew the patch on. Also I started making them with Velcro at the neck which seems super important to preschoolers who can't tie them on yet or untie a double knot and some kids will not wear anything around their neck that they can't take off independently. 

Oh and I almost forgot to say - they give you the ability to fly :)

If anyone wants the measurements of my pattern and fabric pieces just leave it in the comments and I will update. But mine are really similar to the one at pukingpastilles. I think making your own pattern from things of the web is very easy if you print out the basic shape and have the measurements. One reader mentioned to me that they cut capes out of t-shirts and that is really brilliant because since jersey doesn't fray so they would be no-sew. 

Happy Crafting and Saving the World from Evil

Kitcheny Windows

Our rental kitchen needed some 'kitcheny' window treatments, so I came up with these. 

The white in the rental house felt a little stark to me at first. We are allowed to paint but most of ceilings in the house are very high so we have only done an accent wall in the playroom and in the girl's room. After living here for almost four months though I am starting to see the white walls as part of a really good challenge. Sometimes paint can seem like decorating and styling but it really isn't. 

The rocking chair and little Ikea table seem to be working there for now so I am leaving them alone even if they are a little odd. It is so nice to have a place for Ava to sit while I am cooking or a place to feed and rock Lilly while Ava has her afternoon snack. 

Sewing details: I ordered two yards of an Amy Butler fabric called 'Lotus Pond Tangerine' from and eBay seller. I even lined the back with some unbleached cotton I had that I pieced together, which made the valances so much nicer. They were so easy - well except that for some reason when I did the top seam I let it get all crazy and then I waited a week or so before ripping the top seams and re-stitching them (ugh). If you want more of a tutorial let me know - but really you can easily sew a rectangle!

Bella Strip Work Dress - Perfect First Dress to Make!

Alisha at Pink Poodle Bows asked me if I would be interested in trying out one of her patterns after I posted about one of her dresses here. So, my first request was for her to direct me to the easiest patterns in her shop. I was so excited when she said the Bella Strip Work Dress was an "instant gratification pattern". It also makes a dress from 12m to size 8!

It took me about 4 hours to make the dress but I would suspect it will take less time in the future especially for a size 4 since I have the pattern all ready now. The pattern was excellent and it is a million times easier to sew something from a professionally produced Etsy pattern than to sew something from a store-bought pattern. There are tons of photos, you can enlarge and reduce the pdf and you can print it out over and over again. Oh and if you run into a problem you can just email the author!

Make sure when you print the pattern pages for this pattern you choose "none" under page scaling and you choose "auto-rotate and center". Also, before you tape together any digital pattern always find a part to measure against a measurement provided to check to make sure that your printer didn't shrink or enlarge it.

I made Ava (who is almost three) the size 4 dress. She is big for her age and I wanted her to have some growing room. I used a nice weight fabric (important) for the cherry part of the dress and doubled the white fabric for the center strip because it was a bit see-through. I did choose the option to top stitch down the center strip seams from the front. I have made a dress for Ava before using inexpensive fabric and tried to make my own binding tape to finish the edges and it didn't hold up well. This time, I took a lot of care with finishing the hems and seams because I want this dress to really hold up to lots of wash and wear and so far it looks much sturdier than something store-bought. The only skills you need for the dress are to be able to sew a straight line - very easy and a perfect first dress to make.

You can find more sewing posts here.

Tialla

Ava and I made our first doll. Ava was really excited about making it and naming it but actually baby Lilly has 'played' with it more. Tialla's legs are just right for Lilly's little mouth.

I don't know where Ava got the name Tialla from.

We used this pattern, I just searched 'easy doll patterns' to find it. I think the legs and arms printed too thin but otherwise it was pretty easy.

 Oh and I would definitely embroider the face before I stuffed it if I did it again.

p.s. sorry for the sub-par phone photos

etsy and summertime

I have had summertime on the brain! From browsing my Etsy favorites apparently I want a $300 Etsy gift card so I can buy some summer:

Print from - The Wheatfield 

Photo Print from - honeytree

Skirt From - KimHerring

Print From - Hannah Skoonberg

Fabric From - rainydaysandfundays

Patter from - Snazziedrawers

Pattern from - pinkpoodlebows

And my favorite (because Ava loves to sing this song and so did my Great Grandpa) 

another print from - The Wheatfield

A New Skirt I made and some easy, quick, free sewing patterns

First, I really wanted to find some patterns to make that were easy and quick! The first one I found was this skirt from Oliver + S. I couldn't use the selvedge for the interior seams since I was making it for a 22 month old and that would have been huge so i used the selvedge for the bottom hem instead and cut the piece based on where I wanted it to fall on Ava. You only need 1/4 yard or even less for a toddler skirt.

My first try - which is sometimes a wash - turned out pretty good. It is a little big, but cute because Ava doesn't have any long skirts - her shirt is pretty big too actually. I could totally rig up one of these for myself - oh, oh or a tiny matching one for Lilly!

Here are a few other patterns I think look very, very easy - 

Popover Sundress from Oliver + S

32 minute messanger bag from Amy Smart via a guest post on Design Mom

Fabric Flowers from the Idea Room

Adding a Ruffle to a Hoodie from the Idea Room

Ruffle Butt Onesie from Ucreate

Vintage Baby Hankie Dress or baby shirt from Trey and Lucy (omgosh so adorable, so easy!)

Craft, Sewing, and other ideas for BOYS

Since this is a little confusing I am just going to copy (below the line) exactly what these ladies said on their blog. Basically two bloggers are spending the whole month posting tons of boy crafts and other boy stuff - VERY COOL ideas. You need to go to both blogs to see all the projects. Just read below for all the details, it started Monday so there is already tons of stuff to look at!


Like the tutorial for this awesome shirt - 

----------from www.dana-made-it.com-------

For THE ENTIRE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, Made is teaming up with Made by Rae (the two Made-Maids) and together we're going to:


To "moms of boys" out there, we've heard your woes! There just isn't enough info shared amongst us about BOYS. There aren't enough clothing ideas, enough tutorials, enough fresh ideas. Well ladies (and little gents), we're going to stock your Tonka Trucks full of info!

Throughout the month you'll find:
* TONS of Boy tutorials
* Boy clothing ideas
* TWELVE guest bloggers! (this part REALLY excites me)
* Boy crafts
* Boy bags
* Baby Boy stuff
* Boy giveaways
* Boy design tips

Boy, that's a lot! And remember....it's happening on TWO blogs!
Not a lick of girly glitter here for the whole month. It's gonna be hard. But I think we can do it.

These buttons will take you to both blogs.