Baby shortalls and matching hat

 

This is what I made during day 6 & 7 of KCWC and I’m just getting around to posting it now. I am very happy with how these turned out. I took my time making these and adding topstitching for extra detail. They are made from part of a man’s dress shirt. I used the same cotton for the hat and hem on the shorts.  I also added leg snaps for quick diaper changes and smaller snaps for the adjustable straps. I am thinking about adding a freezer paper stencil as well.

KCWC Day 5

unfortunately I didn't sew as much as I expected to today. Little B is not feeling well and just wants to be held by ME all day. I did finish his diaper cover from the pattern that I found at Made. It turned out great, was easy to make and is sooo cute on him. Instead of a casing around the legs I used FOE, It didn't need as much gathering as the waist did. In case your wondering I just ordered 50 yards of FOE from FOE YOUR DIAPER so you will probably see me using it a lot.
 
 
He is not very happy about being a model but he is still cute!

KCWC day 4

so yesterday was day 4 and I'm posting late again due to blogger issue… Anyway I completed two skirts and cut pattern pieces for a diaper cover and sun hat. I am having so much fun this week even though most of my project have not turned out right. Most are easily fixable and I'm getting lots of practice!

I made this skirt for Ashley because she loved the fabric. I used FOE on the waist band instead of a casing, but it didn't gather as much as i had hoped. It is about 2 sizes to big. Tomorrow I plan on flipping upside down and adding elastic to turn it into a tube top.


I was surfing the J crew website and found this skirt. The girls thought it was cute and it is reversible so I spent an hour or so trying to make something similar. Not sure why it took me so long when the answer was so simple but I just couldn’t figure it out at first.

This is what I came up with and I am very happy with it. The print side is part of  knit summer dress of mine that no longer fit after baby number three. I found the other knit fabric in my stash and it matches pretty well. Now I just have to make one more exactly the same :)

KCWC Day 3

 
It has been hard to get things done today, little B has not been napping well . Here is what I did manage to finish:
FOE BABY SHORTS

I love how these turned out. I will post a tute when I have some extra time.
FOE Skirt

This skirt was so easy and fast to put together. Alexa was in no mode to model it for me, I will try again tomorrow.
If I am not too tired once the little man is finally asleep I well sew up Ashley's skirt. Tomorrow more skirts and a diaper cover and cutting pieces for a sun hat.

Technorati Tags: FOE baby shorts,FOE skirt,KCWC

Under construction

I am currently working on a better blog layout to make it more user friendly. Over the next couple days you will see some changes. Thanks for  reading!

KCWC Day 2

This post is a little late as today is now day 3, but better late than never. I got little B’s pants done and they turn out pretty good but could have been a bit bigger. He will probably grow out of them in a week.

anything looks cute on a baby!
The leggings for the twins didn't turn out so good. I had trouble getting the right tension with the elastic thread. First I had it too loose then too tight, I ended up putting them aside and i will finish them next week. Time to move on to skirts and dresses
I also cut pieces for a pair of shorts to make for little B

Technorati Tags: baby pants,kcwc

Kids Clothes Week Challenge Day 1

 

I had a very productive hour of sewing today (well for me anyway). I  got three items cut and half finished. I may have gotten more done but it was a P.A. day so all three kids were at home with me.

 

This is a pair of ruched leggings I'm working on. you can find the tutorial here. this pair just needs to be ruched on the legs.

here is the second pair of leggings, I still need to add casing and elastic then ruching on legs.

and here are the pants for my son. I used a pair of pants that fit to get the pattern. They just need elastic. I was able to use a t-shirt for these since they are so small, so no hemming involved. Baby clothes are much faster to sew up.

For tomorrow I plan to finish the pants and start on skirts for the girls and shorts for the boy. I will be posting my progress for each day till the end of the week. If your not sure what KCWC is you can get the info here

My Spring Top

just finished uploading my photo to the flickr pool for the spring top sewalong. its hard to see here but i used a white with yellow strip knit fabric. I used a top that I recently purchased to make my pattern. It was really easy to sew except for the fabric getting caught in my machine a few times. I wanted to enter three tops but only got this one finished in time. For me its not about winning I just wanted my work to be seen by others in hopes of getting some tips to improve my projects. Plus it was really fun and the first thing i have ever sewn for myself.


this is the shirt I used for my pattern

PSP Case

This is my very first tutorial so feedback is welcome, and do let me know if I left anything out.

A couple weeks ago my boyfriend asked me if I could make him something to hold his PSP and a few games. I didn't find any patterns online but did look at a few tutorials for dsi cases. I found this pouch style case here, but made lots of changes to fit what my boyfriend was looking for. This is how I made it:

I used a 20”x 9” piece of denim for the back
20”x 9” piece of fleece as substitute for batting
11.5” x 9” flannel for inside
8.5”x 9” minkey dot for inside
2 pieces of flannel 3.5”x 9” for game pockets
1 piece of flannel 3” x 11” for carry strap
1 piece denim 3.5” x 5” for the closure strap
Velcro 3.5”

I stitched the flannel and minky together to create a 20”x 9” piece. I did this so the minky is the lining for the pocket only. I thought it would not scratch the PSP but apparently it was not manly enough to use for the hole case

for pockets I pressed top and bottom (long ends) 1/4”.

then zig-zag stitched with 1/4'” from the edge.

I folded the inner piece (tri-fold) and marked the folds so I could place my pockets in between. ( I hope that makes sense). Once the pockets were in place I sew along the bottom with strait stitch next to the zig-zag.

Then I placed a mark every 3” on both pockets

Then stitched a strait line across pocket from top to bottom at each mark to form 6 game pockets. Pockets ended up being 2 3/4” x 2 1/2” and held the games tight so they wont slip out.

for the carry strap I folded right sides together stitched close 1/4” from edge, and left short ends open.

then I turned my tube and topstitched down both sides

place all  three pieces together and pinned. Fleece, denim RS up, flannel RS down. If your using a strap than sandwich it between layers with about 1/2” sticking out of seam.(sorry no pic). Sew around all sides leaving a 4” hole at top to turn.
(I messed this part up and had the denim wrong side up,didn't notice until i finished sewing and turned it right side out but it still turned all right.


I trimmed the seams a little because the fleece made them bulky, then clipped the corners

turn the case right side out

next a made another tube with the small piece of denim and attached the hook side of the Velcro ( my stitches are a little sloppy here)

I pinned the Velcro strap in the top opening, then folded case and pin the other side of. Once I stitched the Velcro to back I realized this step should have been done before sewing pieces together. I now have an unusable pocket.

I folded the bottom up about 4” to create the main pocket.

the I closed up the top and topstitched around entire case 1/4” from edge

now just fill with games fold up and enjoy!

A New Attitude

I started this blog just after I began to learn sewing to show off my projects and do some tutorials for other beginners. So far I would been having trouble and making mistakes. I was starting to become very discouraged and was embarrassed to post anything that was less than perfect. This all changed yesterday after reading this blog. It inspired me to keep sewing and be proud of EVERYTHING I make. Starting tomorrow I will be posting pics of everything that I have made so far and I can show you how. I am so exciting to get sewing again, and have been online ordering lots of supplies. My last post was about the Kam snap plier giveaway that I entered. I ended up buying a pair and about 700 snaps. It should be here next week and I already have a list of stuff to use them on. If you have been reading my blog please check back or follow me as I promise lots of fun and learning. I will try to post something new at least once a week. With 3 kids, one being a 2 month old I don't have much spare time.

Come back tomorrow to see my PSP pouch tutorial!

Snaps

I have Been thinking about investing in a snap press to add some snaps to the cloth diapers I plan on sewing soon. I have done my research on a few companies and found KAM snaps to be a big favorite in the diaper community. I stumbled upon a great review of the KAM snap pliers here. They are currently hosting a giveaway for a pair of these pliers. So if you are also considering using snaps in your sewing projects click the link to check out the review and get yourself entered into this fabulous giveaway before May 1st.

Update

I have a few projects on the go that I'm trying to finish up. I have also been collecting lots of photos to post my first tutorials. Also I was checking out some blogs yesterday and discovered the spring top sewalong 2011 that's happening in May. I am very excited to try sewing myself a couple tops to enter(find button sidebar). I will be documenting my progress here. I should have some pics posted in a couple days, so come back and check it out!

T-shirt throws

 

 

last weekend I was sorting out the twins seasonal clothing, when I found a huge mess of old tee’s that had stains, holes or were to worn out to donate. We wanted a fun way to upcycle these shirts so that they didn't have to go in the trash. I searched around and found the a tutorial for a children's t-shirt throws here. I loved the idea and started making two of these throws right away. I changed it a bit to make it smaller and made all blocks the same size. there is 3 rows and 4 columns of 10x10 inch squares. I found this project quick and easy for me because i didn't need to worry about backing or batting. The girls absolutely love how soft these are and use them for watching TV,reading, listening to music. As an added bonus the middle square has a small pocket for an mp3 player. I would love to make one for myself if I can find enough shirts. Check back soon to see my first tutorial. I will be sewing up some  matching storage/carry bags that the girls asked me to make from the shirt scraps.

Brand new

I am very excited to be doing my first post on my brand new blog. I am teaching myself to sew and wanted to show off my creations. I will be posting tutorials to help others who are new to sewing. I also LOVE to do scrapbooking and will be showing off the past albums i have created and show what supplies and techniques I like to use. I am a proud mama of twin seven year old girls and a two month old boy. Occasionally I will be talking about other topics that are making a big impact on my life right now. I will be documenting my adventures in natural parenting, organic living, babywearing and cooking.

So check back for tutorials, project pics , ideas,recipes and lots of laughs....