Classic picnic blouse and shorts

I have had these photos for a while, but summer has been so busy, warm and full of great trips that I am only posting these now.

The fabric combo worked really well, and the pattern is SO cleverly thought out. I love the flat front of these short most of all.

The combination of fabrics worked so well . I love the gray / pink combo

Here is the shorts and blouse. I have already cut out another pair.

Classic Picnic Blouse

Pink and white polka dots are just so much fun!
I recently finished this Oliver and S Picnic Blouse for my daughter. It was my first time sewing with these patterns and they are great. Clear instructions and this blouse was great to make.

I used voile for the blouse that I found at JoAnne's last season and the buttons are from a friend's stash that was passed onto me.

I am going to make another one in cotton. The Voile is great for this weather, but feels very delicate to me for a busy girl running around.

I found these great fabrics and now want to make the shorts for her.

A skirt that spins!

A while ago I had to patch a favorite skirt and while doing this I quickly traced the pattern and made this skirt.
It was really easy and quick and looks great, but best of all she likes it!
Happy Friday!

A lot of prints and color going on!

Monkey pajamas

Ady is really outgrowing her clothes too fast. I turned around this last week and she was out of PJ's that are warm, cozy but not fleece. This girl can really overheat so flannel it best for her to sleep in!

A few years ago I bought two pieces of Sock Monkey flannel by Moda, in a great quilt shop in New Hampshire.
I was immediately pulled in by the monkeys and thought that she would love them.  I now realize that they could be scary to a little girl. She took two days to agree to try them on and the good news is that she now loves them! Phew!
I did not have enough of the fabric to make a matching top but I found a soft long sleeve t-shirt on sale and i think the color matches very nicely. To make sure she will be able to wear them for a while, I added a three inch seam allowance to be let out as needed.

As for a pattern, I just traced around a pair of pants that fits her and added here and there to make them roomy for sleep time. I also added the elastic band in a separate piece in stead of folding the top over. I think this helps with the fit in the waist.

Halloween mermaid costume

This was the fist year that I made one of the kids a costume for Halloween. It was so much fun that I think that I would like to make this a tradition form now on. It was so much fun seeing her in the outfit and to hear her tell people that her Mom made it. 

Also it was easy. It's a costume and its Lycra. You don't have to really seam everything and it really only has to last for a weekend.

I used a pattern for the top, and cut up pieces of contrasting lycra in strips to sew into the sleeve before sewing it .

The "skirt" part I just cut in a basic shape of a "tail" and gathered at the waist. It worked really well. I had a lot of fabric left over , so I made a three tier frill in the back to add just a little more.

The crown closes in the back and I use the hot glue gun to add the "pearl treasures" on the front.

The belt came as a after thought. the skirt part looked too full. I attached a imitation pearl brooch to the front .

I love this photo of her looking at her brother.

I don't want to look like a Leopard

I made my son some new shorts last week.
This is how I see it.
 Not long now and he is not going to wear  anything I make at all. Although almost six, he still prefers elastic waist pants. What I did forget was that he is  growing and getting an opinion on what he likes.

So after finishing the pants I asked him to try them on, he did, but when I suggested he wear them on a recent field trip he ran away! I did stay calm (gasp) And when I asked him why he did not like them he said " I don't want to look like a leopard.

He has since worn them twice and is now happy to resemble an animal!

I cuffed the pant leg with linen and I do like the look 

 In stead of an label I sewed in a piece of contrasting fabric to mark the back

I like them!

Bow ties

I just finished making a birthday present for a special boy we know.
He loves dress up and can get very excited over the right kind of clothes.
Sounds like a challenge to me! And the perfect excuse to sew something different.

I made him 3 really fancy bow ties to wear. They are all different, one small and more somber(green), for maybe with a shirt, the other really playful with a dog bone print in red and white and the third a over the top, fancy , big , polka dot and plaid tie.

I opted for a band and velcro closure in stead of the real tie me I am a bow tie ties.

I love them!

Button fun

On Sunday morning, I decided to take if very easy with the kids.
We seem to be running around way too much, rushing in and out of the house to this party and that practice  and school and homework !

So after we did the latest math homework I asked if they wanted to see some buttons. Now you have to understand that I will only share some of the buttons I have with them and they were amazed to know that I have even more!  I chose the biggest tin that has the bigger buttons in them.

They has so much fun. I was great to see how they approached this task. We spoke about what is similar, how many holes some has and then started matching.
I was amazed at how good my three year old was at doing this. She can look over the sea of buttons and find two or three matches.

They both now have a jar of their own buttons next to their beds .

After we had gone through them all I realized once again that I have some buttons that will never be used, and that is Ok with me, they are really like old friends.

What we have been doing...

Yes it has been a while. I have been quite busy keeping my little girl busy.
She broke her arm and had to undergo surgery so she has been needing more than a lot of help and attention.
When I picked her up after the accident she was wrapped in the little blanket I made for her for school. This became OUR security blanket for the next 24 hours. She came out of the operating room with the blanket neatly placed over her. It really confirmed my love and need for fabric and was reminded how little things like that can make us calm and can make us feel at home even if we are not.

I ran to Savers to buy any long sleeve t-shirt that would fit her and cut off the right arm. This worked very well, except for bed time when she got very upset that she could not wear the right pants with the right top!
To keep her very comfy and me busy creating, I made 2 pairs of comfy, flannel pants. I love these so much and keep wondering why I don't sew for myself. She loved pinning the pattern with her "good' hand and she really loved putting these on.

Her recovery is going really well and we are all looking forward to getting the cast of and getting on with life.

The fabric is from Jo-Anne and the pants pattern is just a "copy" of pants we have. I gave the pants a extra wide , double cuff, I think it makes them look all grown up.

Nap time quilt

Happy new year everyone!

Over the holiday season I did not sew a lot. Part was taking time and just eating a lot and playing with the kids and visiting with friends and part is that my studio floor is in the middle of being replaced after the flood we had in the basement.

So I found myself Sat night dragging my sewing machine and iron upstairs to start a nap blanket for the little one.

She is starting preschool today and I wanted to make her something cozy and special to have.

I got great new fabric from Fabricworm . How could I resist these dots? I also fell in love with the retro / folksy Japanese fabric.

The sad part was I could not use all of the colours and designs and had to choose my favorites.

It ended up crazy and lovely and happy and dotty. Just like I planned.....

I loosely based the quilt on the pillow on the front cover of the Spring 2009 Stitch magazine. It is very easy and fast . I can see myself using this way of quilting again. Not too much measuring and the potential to use a lot of scraps and a nice end result.

Fun Cat Pants

At last I had time to sew up some pants for the smallest or shall I say youger member of our family.

And how theme appropriate to have her wear cat pants today!

I found this great fabric at Jo-Anne's . It is a very soft , fine cord. She is going through a "I love Cats" period and seeing that we will not be getting a cat soon this was the next best thing.

The pants are cut from a pair that I made the previous year and I just added a inch and a half to the leg and a bit in the waist. She was very worried that I was cutting the old pants but had her first lesson in "cutting around" and "using as a pattern".

After they were done they did look a bit like pajama pants and that gave me the idea to have a cat face on the one pant leg. Not sure how long the whiskers will hold but we will see.

The waist is just elastic as we need easy access these days!

Happy Halloween!

Fun washcloths

I have recently made some of these washcloths for the kids and decided to makes some for my Mom's visit that is fast approaching.

I used just pieces of left over cotton for the bias strips and this makes for a very colourful display.

I made two of these bigger with loops, so it will be easy to hang. I just extended the bias strip, made the loop and continued the sewing.

There will be a lot more of these made as gifts, they are fun and quick to make and looks great!

Baby quilt and gifts

A while ago we were very lucky to have the arrival of a new baby girl , no not in our house but in a household that we know very well. So I had to send her a little quilt of her own. The quilt was a very last minute idea(when are they not) but so much fun to make.

 I kept it very simple and got all the fabric from Jo-Anne's . Front all cotton and back matching flannel. The quilting itself took a long time , but I am pleased with it.

Also for my friend Kate I made this plastic bag holder. Yes I know we are all suppose to be more green, but if you have kids with diapers you have some kind of plastic bag to dispose of it all. 

She phoned one day with a request and it was fun to remember my mother in law's one hanging miles away.( Maybe she needs a new one.) I love this fabric and now I need to make myself one too.

Oh and please notice my new labels!.

Nothing better than a sequin cape!

Around two weeks ago I had a request from a certain boy that he was in need of a sparkle and purple velvet cape. Oh and it had to have a lightning bolt on. Needless to say I had to make one for his sister too.

Three night ago he gave me permission to " work though the night until I finish the capes"

Well I had to do it!

The fabric is from Jo Anne's . I do still want to change the piece around the neck to a bigger piece of fabric  that rests on the shoulder and fastens with a press stud. The elastic and button does pull around the neck.

So here are the capes.!

Boys pants

I recently stumbled over Ottobre designs and loved their kids clothing. 

They have an option to print out free designs for embroidery and to sew onto clothing for boys and girls. 

I have had these printed out for a while now and finally got some time on Friday to make up a nice pair of pants in green and white stripe seersucker fabric.

I just used a pair that fits at the moment and traced the size and then just adjusted the length.

 I then used the owl design from their website and although they say you don't have to sew over the design i did secure it with a decorative stitch. I know how may times i am going to wash these.

I love the result and will use this technique again.