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Valentine T-shirt Dress

2012-01-27T12:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't made T-shirt dresses in a while and had forgotten how quick and easy they are.
Over Christmas I noticed that one of girls' red shirts was getting waaaaayyyyy to small; I mean belly-hanging-out-small and sleeves becoming 3/4 length. So, I decided to upcycle them into Valentine dresses.

And, if I may say so, they turned out really cute.

Here is, in short, what I did:
1. The skirt part is made up of three tiers. Each tier was cut 7 inches wide. The lengths for the top tier is the width of the fabric (42 in), the second 1.5 times the width and the last one twice the width of fabric. So, really easy to calculate.
2. The sleeve extenstions are made from two 4.5 x 12 inch pieces of fabric: ruffled on top and turned under on the bottom.
3. The neck opening was too small as well, so I cut of the old one and covered the opening with: WAIT!!!!: FOE. Yes, there it is again. Best thing ever, I tell you.
4. The sash is twice the width of fabric and about 3 inches wide finished.

More finished projects to show off soon. Just need to those pictures edited. Have a great weekend.
And: Happy Birthday, Lauranie!!!!

Interchangeable Yarn Wreath

2012-01-17T12:18:00.000-05:00

I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am, that I finally got around to taking down all our outside Christmas lights yesterday. I know! Can you believe it?! It's mid January, and we still have the lights up....

So, naturally, I wanted to show off my "new" ready-for-Valentines-day-front-door.

I made this pretty yarn wreath the other day. Best part about it, it's interchangeable.

Similar to the wreath in this tutorial, I sewed the flowers onto a piece of felt backed with a strip of velcro. However, instead of glueing, I sewed everything. We have the sun bearing down on our front door all afternoon, so it gets very hot between the screen door and front door. And with that anything glued tends to fall off sooner or later....

So, now I have to make "stick-ons" for Spring, Summer, Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... I think, I can combine Spring and Summer, though, and maybe Fall and Thanksgiving, too. So, that leaves only 4 more.... Easy, peasy.

Beginning Beginner Embroidery project

2012-01-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!
We are taking it VERY easy today. Just hanging around, doing "stuff", watching football, whishing for the kids to take a nap..., so I can take one, too.

Just wanted to quickly show how the girls' first embroidery projects turned out. As mentioned in the previous post, I asked them to draw their favorite princess. Anika took that request serious and drew a very pretty Ariel (Unfortunately, it was a little bigger than the hoop, so that the tail did not fit.). Kordula on the other hand, just wanted to be done: so she drew a stick princess. But, I guess, that's okay.

Holding it against a window I transfered their pictures onto cross-stitching fabric with a regular pencil.
I literally showed each of them with two stitches how to do it and off they went. I was bracing myself for lot's of frustration, lost needles (well, they did lose 3 in the process...!), tangled threads and me fixing mistakes. But, except for the lost needles, none of it happened. Both sat for 2+ hours just stitching away. All I had to do is change colors for them and secure the threads in back.
Anika even said at one point: "Mama, this (sewing) makes me so, so happy!" (Aaaaw.)

Later, I will go get wooden hoops to frame their work and hang it in their room. They are already asking to embroider another picture! They had so much fun.

BTW: The purple thing is the bathing suit top and the thing on the left is a fish, not a tail.

I am very proud of how even most of the stitches turned out. I really did not expect that on the first try.

Merry Christmas and some last minute gift ideas

2011-12-24T17:20:00.000-05:00

I am wishing everybody a very merry Christmas in peace and harmony!

Are you all done with your shopping and gift making? I just finished a couple of hours ago. So glad, I got it done.
And if you are still looking for a few small things, these are really quick:

First up these super cute miniature deers. Couldn't you just eat them up?! The free pattern can be found here. But, before you start, know that there is quite a bit of handstitching involved and everthing is really tiny to sew.

Then, this cool dude, for the 9-year-old, who acts like a mid-teen right now! (Uggh... ;-)). Over at Obsessively Stitching there are free tutorials for Angry Bird and his entire crew. Try them! It's fun and therapeutic ;-) I stuffed mine half and half with regular fiber fill and cherry pits. This makes it "easier" to toss him around.

And last, but not least: The girls at 4 are more and more asking me to "sew" their own things. First I thought about getting them each a toy sewing machine. However, then I saw all these bad reviews on every single one of them, that I decided against it and opted for stitching kits instead. I made cute bright colored drawstring bags with lots of different trims and Uroma's crochet flowers on front and filled them with stitching fabric, a hoop and lots of embroidery floss.

I think, sometime next week, I will have the girls draw their favorite princess, transfer them onto the fabric and have them outline them with running stitches. When done we can either hang them on the wall as art or use them to make a pillow or bag. I will let you know how it goes.

Until then, enjoy the Holidays!

Ruffle Scarf - a tutorial

2011-12-22T20:19:00.002-05:00

Oh, boy, these past two weeks have been crazy. The whole family was down with a vicious stomach virus. It was aweful. I felt like, if I had to clean one more bowl o' puke, I would go insane.
Luckily, everybody is better now.

Here the tutorial I promised ages ago. It's really quick and super easy.
All you need are a 7 inch piece of fleece the width of fabric (usually 60 inches) and four 2 x 12 inch pieces of fleece in a matching/contrasting color.

Step 1: With sizzors cut half inch wide fringes on both ends of your fleece. Mine were about 6 inches long.

Step 2: With your sewing machine ruffle the four small fleece pieces until each of them is 7 inches long.

Step 3: Sew two ruffles on each end of the scarf as seen on the pictures. All done!
This size will fit kids as well as adults. Enjoy!

Hopefully, I will be back soon with some of the things I have made for Christmas. I couple of things still have to be finished. Hoping for some Me-time tomorrow.

Nightgowns

2011-12-02T13:58:00.001-05:00

A long, long time ago I won a few yards of organic cotton sateen fabric and had made pillow cases and slippers for the girls.
Recently, I remembered that I had a ton of that fabric still left and decided to make matching nightgowns. I, again, used the free pattern that was posted on SMS in late summer. It's such a well fitting and easy tutorial.

The neckline trim, again, is FOE! I swear, it's the best.

Have a great weekend! I will have a tiny tutorial coming up next.

Crochettop Dress Tutorial

2011-11-29T14:42:00.001-05:00

I just remembered that I never got around to posting again about the crochet-top dresses I made earlier this season. Reason being, I have no model shots.... ;-).

Anyway, I have put together a little pattern for you to use, if you wish to make a dress just like it. Simply click on this link and download via the free version.

Enjoy.

Bib Skirts

2011-11-28T11:13:00.001-05:00

This must have been one of the most frustrating projects I have done in a while. It's right up there with this bag!

I found this cute and seemingly easy tutorial on this blog. I know, it's free and I should be nice. And the frustration was probably caused on my part anyway.

The recommendation is, that if your child is "normal" to "full size", go with one size bigger, in order for the skirt to fit properly. So, my girls are a size 116/122, so I chose 128/134 and added plenty of seam allowance. Yet, nothing fit at first. My fault, 'cause I should have measured and checked against the size of the pattern pieces.

Anyway, I added triangles on the sides to make the top part wider, and then it worked. But, it just added a lot more time and ripping seams and adjusting the pattern pieces for the inside facing...

Also, I finally figured out how to use the one-step-button function on my machine! Yeah! All it took was 10 minutes of reading the manual. Who'd have thought.... ;-)

So, in the end I am happy with the skirts and the girls like them. Especially, the pompoms. I was able to use only left over fabrics: fleece, corduroy, velveteen.

I also used FOE on this project again. The edges of the pockets are covered with it. If you have never used it before, you should really try. It's super easy to use and makes bindings look really neat.

A couple more projects got finished over the weekend. I will show those later. Have a great start to the week! Did you go shopping on Black Friday??? I did! Yes! First time, ever! And the only store I went to was Joann's! Couldn't pass up the 1.12$/yrd flannel.... ;-)

Big 30% OFF SALE

2011-11-23T10:45:00.001-05:00

My biggest Sale ever! Seriously! ;-)

Please make sure to stop by between now and Sunday, 11/27, 12 p.m. for super great deals. My entire inventory is 30% off. Custom orders will be at regular price.

Don't miss this great Thanks Giving Sale!
Happy Turkey Day!

IZZY Coat by Farbenmix

2011-11-16T12:27:00.001-05:00

If you have read some of my posts, you may know that I DO NOT purchase patterns, if I have reasonable confidence I can come up with one on my own.
Jackets are still one of the things, I need a professional pattern for. So, I was searching high and low for a really cool one that I could use for Fall jackets for the girls. No luck with any of the patterns they have at Joann's. So, I started searching Etsy. Which I should have done in the first place. I decided to try Farbenmix' IZZY coat and purchased it here.

It is a nice pattern, but it takes some time to finish. There are 26 pattern pieces you have to cut out... ughh. And you have to remember, that this is a European pattern, so you have to add your own seam allowance. I used velveteen for the outside and fleece for the lining. This makes for a really warm and cozy coat, but my machine was huffing and puffing to get through those several layers of fabric, especially on the bottom where the big front pocket is.

Compared to the examples you can find on Farbenmix' website, I left the jackets rather simple. Since the fabric is quite busy already, I only embellished with some flower buttons and sequin flowers.

The girls really like the many pockets and big muff-like pocket in front (You can't see it on the pictures, because the fabric print is so busy.) and they love how warm and soft it is.

I used size 122/128 (which should translate into a child size 7/8), hoping they will fit for at least another year.
So, in summary, it's a nice pattern, but has lot's of pieces to assemble and it's quite expensive.

Skate Guards - Tutorial

2011-11-09T11:39:00.000-05:00

I know, that this is probably blogging for one! But, I will post it anyway.

The girls are going to start figure skating lessons this Saturday. A couple of days ago we went and bought each a used pair of skates. As this was enough money spent already I was not in the mood to spend another 25$ on skate guards. Then, yesterday it hit me: I can make them myself! Duh! And that's exactly what I did.

All you need is some thick terry, FOE (Fold Over Elastic) and 1.5 inch wide nylon band ( I used a pair of old toddler belts).
For kid's size skates (figure or hockey) you will have to cut your supplies as follows (2 of each)
Terry clothes: 4.5 x 11.5 inches
FOE: 10 inches
Nylon band: 11.5 inches

1. Sew the nylon band to the center of each piece of terry clothes.

2. Fold terry piece in half length wise right sides together and sew down the short ends. Sew a slight curve toward the open edge (see pic). Turn right side out.

3. Sew FOE along top edge with a zig-zig stitch. Pull the FOE as much as possible when sewing. Don't start right at either of the two seams, but rather somewhere in the middle. Otherwise, it will get too bulky at the ends. Overlap the FOE at the end a bit. And Voila! You are all done.

The "Anika Skirt" in (almost) Mass Production

2011-11-03T11:26:00.000-04:00

Phew! Halloween is over! The kids really had fun this year and were very disappointed when it was time to stop trick-or-treating after almost two hours. I don't think we ever collected this much candy at Halloween before: almost 15 pounds between the three of them.

Now, only a little over 7 weeks and it will already be Christmas! Eeeek.

A (long) while ago I bought quite a bit of AH's velveteen print from the Innocent Crush line (on sale, of course) in order to make comfy coats for the girls. The coats are WIPs, but after cutting all the pattern pieces, I had quite a bit left over and decided to make matching "Anika skirts" for the girls.

And after that, I still had a lot left over....
Over the next few weeks there will be birthday parties the girls are invited to and I decided to make the same skirt for all the birthday girls: 3.

All five girls go to the same school and are about the same age. I am thinking, it would be so cool, if by chance all five of them show up in the same outfit one of these days.... :D

Also, Vivi and Franzi are twins, too. Two sets of twins in the same outfit ?! Oh, so cute... Okay, I am getting carried away.
The light blue accent fabrics are baby corduroy. That combined with the velveteen make these ultra-cuddly and warm. Perfect for Fall.

Now, I just have to find the time to finish the coats. I can't wait to show them off. I think (hope) they will be super cute.
But, first I have to fill some custom orders, I received. Yeah!

Van Helsing - Halloween Costume

2011-10-31T12:21:00.001-04:00

Here are finally a few pictures of Yanic's Van Helsing costume. It has been ready for a while, just didn't get around to posting. Also, the pictures are not the greatest, because somebody was having some attitude issues.... ;-)

The only things handmade on this costume are the coat and the tojo-blades. The coat is made from pleather and the blades are cardboard covered in aluminum foil.

In the beginning I was searching high and low for a coat pattern, because I could not wrap my head around making one myself. However, in the end I absolutely could not find one, and started measuring and cutting and sewing... It worked.

This costume is by far the most expensive one out of the three I made this year. I think I spent close to 25$, including the hat.

Happy Halloween!

Name Tags

2011-10-24T11:02:00.000-04:00

If you have children in school, you know how important it is to put their names onto every piece of school "equipment" and clothing. Especially, when it comes to winter accessories! I don't know why, but at the end of every season, we end up with less then half of our gloves and most of them will be missmatched.
I have long given up on buying expensive gloves and am now getting the Dollor-deals. And, last week, I was so happy to see that Target had 20% off on winter accessories! So, I bought their 2 for 1$ for a whopping 40 Cents per pair!!!!!

Now, we still don't want to lose them during the course of pre-winter, right?! However, these cheapo-gloves don't come with any space to write in a name.

I decided to write the girls' names with fabric paint on a piece of twill tape and hand-stitch them to the front.

Now, they can easily find them and know which is left and which is right...
Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

Little Red Riding Hood Halloween Costume

2011-10-17T16:07:00.000-04:00

I have been busy working on Halloween costumes. The "Princess" which I turned into Little Red Riding Hood is done. Here she is.

This one cost me a bit more than the Pink Pony, but it was still reasonable. Since all the costume fabrics are on sale at Joann's right now, I think I spent about 12$ total on everything.

So, the costume consists of a white tutu, red circle skirt, red cape (3/4 circle with hood) and a white muslin blouse. The blouse is actually my rescue of this screw-up from earlier this summer. ;-)

For some reason the costume looks a bit plain, or even incomplete to me. What do you think? I feel like it needs a dirndl or corsette type top?!

The last costume, Van Helsing, is in the works. Hopefully, I can finish it before the end of this week, because I am anxious to start working on new jackets for the girls. I bought this really cute pattern. Yes, you heard right: I BOUGHT A PATTERN!

Some of you probably know about the Label Design contest over on Crafterhours. Well, I couldn't help it and participated. Because: I really !!! need new labels. Have a minute to vote?! Come on over here. I bet you can tell which is my entry ;-)

Pink Pony Halloween Costume

2011-10-12T13:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday!
I know, I had promised a follow up on the crochet-top dresses from my last post. They are both finished, however I have not been able yet to take pictures of them while the girls are wearing them. Maybe, we'll have time this coming weekend.

On the other hand, I have started working on this year's Halloween Costumes. The requests are for a Pink and Purple Pony, a Princess (which mean ol' me will turn into Little Red Riding Hood, 'cause I can't bring myself to make another princess dress...) and Van Helsing.

The Pink Pony is done! And I am VERY proud of it, as I spent a total of 4.67$ on it! I scored a velour jogging suit for 2$ at the Salvation Army and spent the rest on purple yarn and some felt.

The mane is made from 4 inch long pieces of yarn sewn onto a strip of felt and then sewn onto the hood. The ears are also felt, free-hand cut and sewn onto the hood as well. For the hoofs I simply added felt cuffs that are slightly wider on the bottom.

Anika LOVES her costume and it's hard to get her out of it.
Next up: Little Red Riding Hood

Fall Dresses

2011-09-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

It's been a while. Again!

I have finally managed to finish one of the fall dresses I have planned for the girls. The second one will hopefully be done this weekend. The dress has a crochet top with an a-line skirt attached to it.

Different corduroy prints in the front and cute ruffles on the bottom

Simple back.

And cute polymer clay button closure on the side.

I will post more pictures and some how-toos once the other dress is done and I can get some "model-pics" of them.

Crochet Hats

2011-09-13T14:26:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, Fall is coming in strides in our part of the country. No more 90-degree weather and some of the leaves are starting to turn colors already. Soon, we will be engulfed in grey skies for the next 6 months. So, what's better than wearing some bright colors?!

I made these crochet hats for the girls the other day. And they love 'em. I combined 3 or 4 different tutorials I had found online to get them to look the way I wanted. And I really think they came out cute.

I kind of caught the crocheting-bug and am now trying to figure out how to make dresses for the girls. We'll see... Sounds like a lot of work.

Back to school! Yeah!!!

2011-09-06T13:00:00.002-04:00

Today is the kids' first day of school. 12 long weeks of summer are over. It seems the weather knew exactly what day it was, 'cause we went from almost 100 degrees on Friday and Saturday down to barely 70 today.

Here are some back to school things I made for the kids (Caution: picture overload!).

First a new set of dresses for the girls in simple pillow-case-dress-style.

The bottom is made from several different cotton laces, hand-dyed "apple green". After I had made my orange lace skirt earlier this summer, the girls have been bugging me to have one, too. Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with the patience to sew together enough lace for two skirts, so I opted for this alternative. The girls like it nonetheless.

I little lace detail on top.

And matching hairclips made from leftover lace pieces.

Next: new pyjamas for everybody. These are the first nightgowns the girls have ever had. And they are in love with them! I used this tutorial for them. It's super easy and quick. For the fabric I chose a very light and soft jersey and left-over flannel for the bias tape.

Even Yanic scored a pair of PJ-pants from the same fabric. Cute, to have all three of them matching, huh?! :D

A (long) while ago I bookmarked this awesome tutorial and just thought of it again last Friday when I was going through Yanic's closet. Perfect timing, since many of his shorts are just way toooo short now.

I think this bottle holder will be perfect for soccer practice, since it will hold the water bottle and a snack and his phone.
Wanna know somethin'?! This bag was made from a pair of long pants, which turned shorts two years ago and are now a bag! What a life for some plain ol' cargo pants.... ;-)

Last thing, I want to show you today, does not score very high on the creativity scale. However, it's a slightly different approach to personalizing, so I wanted to at least post one picture of it. This is a simple, cheapo 1$ pencil case from Walmart with a picture collage on the back. I created the collage on the computer. I chose a pic of Yanic and logos of some of the teams he plays for. In the center is his name, school and grade. I printed it onto fabric and then simply sewed it to the back side of the pencil case.

Wow, that was a lot! Next post will be shorter! Promise!

Homemade Dirndls

2011-08-30T15:19:00.000-04:00

When it comes to making “things” for my kids, their wish is usually my command. Within reason, of course.

Recently, we found out about this German Festival in our town which happens three times a year. So in July we went for the first time, expecting a few wannabe Germans drinking beer and having a good time. What we found was a giant Beer-garden-type setting with thousands of people. In short: it was a lot of fun. Among other things they also had a traditional southern German dance group performing. The girls fell in love with the dresses the ladies were wearing. Naturally, they requested to have their own. The dresses, called Dirndl, can be very expensive if you try to purchase an original.

So, I decided to figure it out on my own. I really only had two requirements to meet: they had to look like the real deal and they had to be blue. I made a few sketches and this is the one I went with.

I decided on a Linen-Look fabric from Joann’s and a couple of cotton prints which I had in my stash and matched the color scheme. The Linen-Look fabric is perfect, as it has a nice drape and is easy to care for (it doesn’t wrinkle).

Just in time for this year’s last festival I had both of them ready. The girls were SOOO excited to wear them.

The typical Dirndl just has a gathered skirt, but I opted for a circle skirt, just so they can twirl better ;-).

I was also planning to make white peasant blouses for each of them, but took the wrong measurements and majorly screwed the first one up. See the "neckline" in this picture? (Aweful!)

After that I didn’t feel like trying again. Luckily, we still have temps in the 80s, so the dresses and aprons by themselves were fine.

See you soon with some back-to-school gifts for the kids.

Electric Guitar

2011-08-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

Once in a while my son will start complaining that I NEVER make anything for him!
I guess, shirts, quilts, pillows, pants and such don't really count ;-)
Well, one of these complaints reached me again a few days ago. So, I told him, to draw me a picture of something (anything) and I will make it for him.

Here is the drawing that was "thrown" at me.

An electric guitar, and it had to be life-size. We went through my scrap stash and picked an old pillow case for the body and a camo-print for the neck. I drew an enlarged version of his design onto the pillow case and he cut it out. He also helped sew some of the seams and stuffed it.

And here he is with his new E-Guitar! I guess, it makes a nice pillow, too.

Nook Pouch and Around-the-house-dress

2011-08-23T14:28:00.000-04:00

WOW! Two months without blogging. Can you believe it?!
It doesn't mean I have not made anything to show, it just has been such a nice summer so far that I didn't feel like spending a lot of time with my computer.

Just before summer I mentioned I would make a cover for my Nook.

Well, here it is; a simple envelope sleeve. I used leftover fabric from the bags I recently made.

On the back side I added a pocket with velcro-closure. This one came in really handy at the pool when we were on vacation. It was just the right size to hold some cash and keys. On "normal" days it holds my charger.

Also, I have this favorite racer-back jersey "dress" I wear a lot around the house. It's totally unstylish and very old and baggy now. But, since it is so comfortable I wanted to try and make a copy of it. I used the bottom of a yellow T-shirt my husband never wore (Why?! ;-)) and some other left over orange jersey.

I simply traced the shape of the old dress onto the fabric, added some seam allowance and sewed it together. I had to piece together the top a bit, but it worked out great, and it fits.

I will be back soon with some back-to-school outfits, a special project Yanic made and some really cute (!) dresses I drew up and made.

Car Seat Organizers

2011-06-23T09:23:00.003-04:00

Our annual road trip is coming up and the girls are now big enough to be in booster seats and therefore able to move and reach far enough to use a seat back organizer.

As I did with Yanic's a couple of years ago, I used home dec fabric again. I love this print, I found at Joann's. It so happy and bright.
BTW, have you noticed that fabric prices have increased at Joann's ????!!!! At least in our area. Instead of 9.99$, their 45" home dec fabric is now 10.99$. How dare they... :(
Anyway, I bought 1.5 yards with my 50% off coupon and I used every single piece of it. So, roughly 4.35$ per organizer: still a good deal.

I cut the pocket pieces as I went along, making sure I have two of everything and utilizing the remnant pieces as best as possible.
The only differences to Yanic's are the elastic pockets and an added 6 inch wide piece of super heavy duty interfacing. I added this piece in the top portion for stiffness, in order for the edges not to "slump" over.

Alright, now we have even more areas to store junk in... ;-)

It's voting time!!!!

2011-06-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

I am sooo excited! I submitted my organge lace skirt to Skirt Week at Crafterhours and it made it into the finals! Yippie.

[ Imagine Picture here. The Blogger "picture adder" appears to be on strike. At least for me. Sorry.]

Go on over and vote for your favorite today.
Of course, I'd appreciate your vote for the orange lace skirt. But, hey, no pressure ;-)

A once favorite skirt....

2011-06-21T16:04:00.000-04:00

...turned into a new favorite skirt.

I bought this skirt exactly 15 years ago! Which makes it almost "vintage". Huh!
It's made from a really thick, flowy knit fabric and is very comfortable to wear. But, the style!!!! ...or lack thereof.

I wanted to make it wearable again and decided to cut off the bottom part and make it knee length. From the cut off piece I made varying lengths of ruffles and arranged them "randomly" on one side of the front.

Voila! Pretty, new, comfy and dare do I say: sexy skirt.

I have not yet finished the hem. I am not sure if I will. I tried, but it kept being really uneven and puckered a lot. I think I need a serger to do a proper job. Maybe, I will just leave it as is. It shouldn't fray anyway, since it's knit fabric.

Teacher Appreciation Poster

2011-06-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

Hello again.

Because I work full time, I never sign up to be a room parent in any of my children's classes. I love to help out and send in things for special days, but just don't have the time to be in the class room for holiday parties or go around coordinate and organize things for the teachers. However, this past school year I agreed to be a room parent in K's class. It turns out the only job I really had, was to make a teacher appreciation poster!

Even I can do this!

So, here is what I came up with. Our girls' school is called "Go Like the Wind". The meaning behind the name is, that kids should always do just that: go higher, farther, accelerate, never stop learning, exploring. With that in mind, here is my poster:

I glued each child's picture to a dandilion seed and the classroom teachers' pictures to a dandilion flower.

Costumes

2011-06-15T14:28:00.000-04:00

Hello there!
Just wanted to pop in to show a couple of costumes Yanic needed for school.

First one was for a play they performed for all the parents and friends. He was supposed to be a respesentative from a society in the future. This was his description of what he was looking for: "white pants, white shirt with gold shoulder things like a king".

For good reasons, none of my kids own white pants. So, I hit one of the local thrift stores and found a pair of women's summer pants. I took them in where needed, in order to make them fit. It worked out great. The shoulder boards are made from cardboard. I hot glued fabric and trim on to them. They are velcroed to a regular white dress shirt.
Okay, here's the worst pic ever. Sorry. It's a screen shot out of a video. Unfortunately, that's all I have. But, I think it's obvious who's Yanic there...

Then a few weeks ago, Yanic's class had a day long field trip to a 19th Century one-room school house. The kids were asked to look the part as well. So, here is Yanic in front of that school.
I made the hat from an old pair of pants using the Jack & Jill Hat pattern by Izzy & Ivy Designs.
The suspenders are made from the same old pants and I used this tutorial at Make-it-and-love-it.

Still on my list to make, before we go on our annual road trip: a cover for my Nook, car organizers for the girls and a skirt refashion.
I will be back soon with another post (hopefully). Until then, enjoy the summer weather.

Rompers

2011-05-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Adrianna from Crafterhours I have a new favorite summer outfit (for the girls, of course). Rompers!

Aren't they cute?!

I had left over swiss dot fabric from the Princess Bella dresses I made earlier this year. Adrianna says, you need up to one yard for these rompers. I had 2/3 of a yard for each of them and it was enough for a size 5.

Make sure to stop by Adrianna's and Susan's blog. They are both very talented and have many great tutorials. Also, make sure to enter this year's Skirt Week contest!

Sewing projects with Pillow Cases

2011-05-24T11:08:00.000-04:00

Originally, I just wanted to make another post about the few things I have made lately. But, then realized how many different things I have made from pillow cases already and wanted to share. Maybe, you will be inspired by the simplicity of these projects and try it, too.

So, first, my latest creations.
About a year ago I scored a set of cute peach colored machine embroidered pillow cases at a Thrift store (2.99$ for both!). For this project, I simply cut off about 6.5 inches off the closed end of the pillow case, finished the raw edge by double-folding and stitching it. Then I added 6 rows of shirring. The straps are made out of the strip I cut off the top.

Then, you can easily turn a pillow case into a peasant top/dress. Like, so. Inditutes has a wonderful tutorial.

You can also make a simple halter dress from a pillow case.

And, then, there is the tradditional pillow case dress. There are several great tutorials online for this version.

Non-matching matching dresses

2011-04-29T09:00:00.007-04:00

I have been wanting to try Made's tutorial for turning a men's shirt into a girl's dress for the past two years, but never had two shirts that kind of had either a similar pattern or type of fabric. Luckily, hubby finally sorted out these so-90s dress shirts. Remember?! Those, pink or light blue or light green striped shirts that every business man on earth was wearing back then???!!!

Dana's tutorial is for a simple tailored peasant dress. Very easy to make.

I used XL-sized shirts and they were just big enough to accomodate the length of the dresses I was going for. So, if you want to make a dress bigger then, let's say, a 5T, you will need to use a men's shirt that's bigger than a size XL, or add a wide border on the bottom.
So, how lucky am I, that hubby had a pink and light blue version of these "awesome" shirts and my fabric stash held the blue and red prints of Amy Butler's LOVE???!!!! The result: pretty and cute non-matching matching dresses!

Instead of double-folding the seam on the bottom I added a bias-tape border. It would also have been very difficult to fold over the front twice with the button front and all.

... told you, ....

2011-04-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

.... this was the longest project EVER!
I thought, I was done, but apparantly, I am not. But, let's start from the beginning.

Just, to recap: I am talking about the lace skirt, I was working on.
Over the past few days I managed to sew up all the lace, cut the front and back of the skirt from my pattern and sewed it all up. Before sewing the lace together I had pre-washed it all to make sure it won't shrink later on.
Then it was time to dye it all. Let me tell you, this is the most exciting thing I have done in a while... Here's a look at the skirt pre-dye. You can see that I used different types and shades of cotton lace.

With the same bath I also dyed the skirt lining, which I had sewn from the same pattern and from some left over green voile.
I left both skirts in the bath for about 35 minutes. The directions on the bottle call for 30-60 minutes.
So, here are some pictures the girls took of it this morning.

I LOVE IT!!!!
Looks done and finished, doesn't it?! Not so. It only looks great, when the sun isn't shining....
You see, voile, although dyed, is not opaque enough, when sunlight hits it. So, it's basically see-through. Means, I have to re-do the lining. Too bad, I handstitched it all in... Ugh!

So, maybe soon, I can report this project "DONE"!

Pencil Skirt - the longest project ever

2011-04-23T08:00:00.002-04:00

Today, I will tell you about a project that has been in the making for weeks now. And, it's still not finished! Not even close.

I wanted to make a skirt that looks just like this one. Well, only with different lace and maybe in a different color. Isn't it beautiful and unique, though?!

I also wanted to make the pattern myself.
So, first I searched all kind of blogs for pencil skirt tutorials, and found this one over at House of Marmelade, which is very detailed. I started measuring, did some more measuring, drafted a pattern and cut it out.

At this point I was not convinced that I did everything right and decided to test it on some scrap fabric. Only problem was, I do not own scrap fabric. Luckily, my husband just added some of his old dress shirts to the throw away pile. Perfect! I just centered my pattern over the shirt and cut it out.

Pattern test: successful! (Pictures, courtesey of two four year olds!) Now, I am ready to start the lace skirt. Wish me luck. As you can see on one of the pictures above I have already layed out and dye-tested the lace I am going to use. This is going to be one bright skirt.

Hoping to show it off soon.

Princess Bella Dress - mini pattern review

2011-04-20T09:00:00.002-04:00

A long time ago I won a couple of Izzy & Ivy patterns. One was for the hats I made here and the other was the Princess Bella Dress.

The pattern itself is very straight forward and not complicated at all. There are no pattern pieces. All you will have to do is cut different size rectangles. The top layer of the dress is made from four separte pieces, all of which have to be finished on all edges. So, if you have a serger you will be ahead of the pack. I do not own one, so had to double-fold and stitch all those edges. It took a lot of time! Twice!
The most difficult part, in my opinion, was to get the top shirred from a total width of about 60 inches down to 23 inches. Is that even possible???!!! I tried several times and did not get it reduced by that much. So, in the end I added 1/4 inch elastic on the inside all the way around. Not as the pattern intended, but it works.

When placing the shoulder straps on the dress, I would recommend checking the fit before you sew them on. For me, they were a bit too far apart, if I would have strictly gone by the measurements given in the pattern.

Since there are two layers of fabric on the dress, I chose a light voile for the bottom layer and a sheer swiss dot fabric for the top layer. I think that was the best choice I could make, otherwise the shirring whould have probably not worked at all and the dress would be way too bulky around the chest and too warm for the summer. With the lighter fabrics it will be great on it's own or layered with shirts and pants. It will also last a couple of seasons/years, because of the loose fit at the top.

All in all it's a very cute dress and easy to put together, though a bit time consuming.
The girls love it. They say, they feel like Fairy Princesses in them.

Beautification of an old dresser

2011-04-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

I have started following the One-month-to-win-it blog. Every week the ladies have to come up with a craft for a specific theme. This past week the theme was Mod Podge. One entry particularly caught my eye: a revamped toy chest. It was such an easy way to make something old look new again.

Nine years ago we bought this cheapo dresser for our son's nursery. My "fab" idea back then was to cutify it with some moon-and-stars knobs. Yeah, that's how creative I can be! Don't be jealous. Four years ago this treasure was handed down to our girls and has been in their room ever since.

So, I felt, the time was right that something had to be done about it.

Three hours later, a few sheets of scrap booking paper and a bottle of mod podge, they now have a cute, pink, flowery dresser. Even the knobs became part of the transformation.

I do like how it turned out, but think it would look prettier if the dresser was painted white. However, that would take too much energy on my part right now. Noticed that unsightly gap between the second and third drawers? Well, the bottom drawer is supposed to be the top drawer. I mixed them up. It's fixed now, though.

And, the lid of their toy chest received a little facelift, too.

Now, what else can I plaster with paper and mod podge....? ;-)

The Flower Garden Dress

2011-04-14T13:39:00.000-04:00

Drumm roll please!!!!

YES, it's done. Finally. I wrote the tutorial. Now, that you all have probably been looking elsewhere for free stuff and have already finished your girl's spring and summer wardrobes...

But, hey, better late then never and this pattern will work for any season. So, just klick here to download the tutorial and pattern pieces.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment here. Enjoy.

Top 50 Style Blogs

2011-04-04T09:32:00.000-04:00

Guess, what?! The tutorial for the dress in my last post is still NOT done! I know. I am such a slacker. I am sorry.
But, I promise, eventually, it will get done.

I am just popping in today to direct you to a very nice compilation of craft blogs. Liza from Careers in Fashion put this list together.

http://www.careersinfashion.net/blog/13/top-50-stylish-diy-blogs

Have fun. You may find some great tutorials you have just been waiting for.

PS: I am honored to be included in that list, too. ;-)

A special little doll

2011-02-28T15:52:00.000-05:00

I know, I promissed the tutorial for THE dress with my next post.
Yeah, I am still working on it. I took pictures and everything, but still have to write it all up. Here's a little sneak peak at the dress(es) that you will see in the tute...

You like? 'kay, then come back in a couple of days and I will have the tutorial up.

Until then, here is a pic of a very special custom order I just finished.

Isn't she cute?! When she saw her, Anika said: " Mama, she is smiling at me. I think she wants me. Can I have her?" Sorry, no. She will go to a little girl who is being adopted from Africa and will have this super cute nursery.

http://www.beyond-bedding.com/red-and-white-baby-girls-ladybug-polka-dot-crib-bedding-set.html

The Royal-pain-in-the-rear-Blossom Bag

2011-02-21T21:32:00.000-05:00

...yep, that's exactly what it was, while I was wrestling with it. WRESTLING! Literally. The pattern and directions are not exceptionally difficult. It's the layers upon layers of fabric, interfacing and super stiff peltex. I broke two machine needles, bent endless pins and drew blood twice while trying to tack the dividers into place by hand.

Before I started sewing the Amy Butler Blossom Bag, I read this review. I second it 360% and then some.

Okay, here my two cents.
I tried to take a short cut and used fusible extra-stiff Peltex instead of extra-stiff Peltex + fusible interfacing. At first that idea seemed to work just fine, until I had to turn the bag right side out: the fabric started to become wavy and puckered. I am not sure if I measured incorrectly, but the snap did not line up at first and I had to patch up the holes and cut a set of new ones.

To sew the flap onto the bag was painful. Since the bag is so stiff it was difficult to sew a straight line. I tried several times and in the end gave up. The result is that the lining is shifted in the back.

I wonder what the bag would feel and look like if it was made with fusible fleece instead of stiff Peltex. But, I guess, I will never know. Because, I am NOT going to make another one.
Please let me know if you made one. I'd love to hear what you think.

Patriotic Spirit

2011-02-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
I don't have any valentinish things to present to you today. YES, my children did not get special Valentine's dresses or accessories this year! Shame on me. Just didn't have the time or drive.

So, I only have some pics from our International Festival at the girls' school this weekend. This is an annual event to celebrate the diversity that exists at their school. It's literally The United Nations there. I set up the German table with some help from one of the other parents. We decorated with typical German things, toys and offered food: I had made over 200 cookies and two German cheesecakes (delicious!) and the other parent had two crock pots full of Spaetzle (egg noodles).
We also had clothes pin magnets with the German colors as little give-aways for the children. It took me quite a few evenings to make these (100+), but the concept is pretty easy: plain clothes pin, decopage one side with flag printed on plain paper, glue magnets to the back. Sorry, forgot to take a picture of those.

Aside from decorating the German table at the Festival I also "decorated" my children...

The appliques of Germany are made from left over jersey I had from old T-shirts.

The girls' dresses are an enlarged copy of a well-loved dress they have. The dress is now too small to be an actual dress, unless you live in the Fiftees when dresses barely covered a girl's behind. So, they are more like tops now. But, anyway.

I am working on a little tutorial for you, so you can make this type of dress yourself. But, as always, it will be a while until I get around to posting it. I will first have to make another dress, in order to take pictures for the tute. These dresses are great for layering and wearing for several years as tops (see notes above...).

Happy Valentine's Day.

For Pleat's sake tote

2011-02-02T20:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am still here!
Just a little bit of sewing going on around here, and even less to show for. I do have a handful of WIPs, though.

Last Saturday I had my dear friend Angie over for a night of sewing fun. And fun it was. We chatted and sewed for close to five hours. We both decided to make a new bag. Angie conquered the Fatquarter Tote from Cicada Daydream and I worked on this pretty bag from U-handbag.

It's a very straight forward pattern and comes together quickly. I used the Calliope print from Braemore. I have been wanting to make a bag from this fabric for close to two years now and finally broke down to buy the fabric. I have plenty left over to make this purse by Amy Butler and work out a pattern for a cover for my new Nook.

The only changes I made to the original pattern for this tote are the handles, a shabby flower on the front and a big pocket on the inside. The bag is big enough to hold my laptop and wallet, etc. So, it's my new take-to-work-bag.

I am also working on a couple of "patriotic" dresses for the girls and have to finish a taggy blanket for a Baby shower I am going to this weekend.
Hope to be back soon to show some finished work.

Organic Cotton Sateen and a New Couch Pillow

2011-01-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

I couple of months ago I was the lucky give away winner of two yards of organic cotton sateen from Harmonyart. I received this one and this one. When I received it the fabric felt a bit stiff, so I immediately washed it. Let me tell you, I have never felt a cotton sateen this soft. It is like velvet.

So far I have used the fabrics for new pillow cases and pretend Ballerina shoes.

I have plenty left over, and will probably make night gowns for the girls for spring.

The ballerina shoes are based on a pattern from Homespun-threads. Just before Christmas they were giving their patterns away for free. It looks like some of them still are. Make sure to check out their store.

The pattern they offer for the ballerina shoes is for infants only. But, after I understood the concept, it was pretty easy to draw up a pattern large enough to fit the girls' feet. They turned out a bit wide, hence the elastic across.

Yesterday, I was going through my closet and stumbled across this relatively old lambswool sweater, which I may have worn once.

I decided to make a simple toss pillow from it.

A simple square pillow with a little ruffle flower.

I know the pictures are awefull, but this is as good as it gets when you use a cell phone to photograph a black pillow. I used this tutorial for the ruffle flower.

Hug Pillow

2011-01-06T15:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday everybody! The first work week of the year is almost over. Yeah! Can't wait. It was so hard to get up on Monday and drive to work.

Just a little show-and-tell today.

For my Mom's Birthday this year, my sisters and I decided on a Grandkids-Hug-Pillow. We traced everybody's hands. My sisters both scanned the ones of their kids and sent them over, since one is in Germany and the other in Switzerland. I arranged them so that there would be enough room for one more little print for another Swiss Baby coming in March.
Here is the pillow already on my parents' couch.

If you would like to make one too and need some directions, there is a great tutorial right here. I turned mine into a pillow cover, instead of stuffing it. Just in case it needs to be washed.
Pillows like this make great Birthday, Valentines, Mother's Day, etc. gifts!

Also, have you heard of Stitched in Color's big Blogger's Pillow Party? Every month until June you can submit your pillow creations with great prizes being awarded to the winner each month.

Ruffle Wreath - A Tutorial

2011-01-02T10:00:00.001-05:00

Now, that all my Christmas decorations are gone I needed something new and fresh for my front door. Cute, huh?!

Wanna make one, too? Here is how.
You will need

1 yard fabric (I bought the least expensive white cotton, I could find. I think it was 1.99$/yrd.)
1 Styrofoam ring (I got mine at Joann. Regular price was 4.99$, but I was able to use a 40% off coupon.)
Scissors
Thread, needle (Sewing machine optional, but will get the job done quicker)
Hot glue gun
fabric scraps for flower (optional)

Let's get started.
Cut your fabric into 4 inch wide strips and then each strip into three equal pieces. My fabric width was 45 inches, so each of my strips was 4 inches x 15 inches. If your fabric is less than 45 inches, don't worry, just adjust the length of each individual strip. Your ruffles will just be a tiny bit less full on the wreath. You will need a total of 24 of these strips.

Now start ruffling each strip right down the center. I used the longest stitch and lowest tension on my machine, but you could also use a plain needle and thread.

Ruffle each piece until the length of the ruffle is approximately 6.25 inches. The foam ring is about 6 inches around and with your ruffle being a little longer it will overlap slightly in the back later on.

Next, fold each ruffle piece lengthwise and give it a quick press with your steam iron. Having the crease will make gluing them onto the ring easier and will also look better.

Now, the fun part. You are ready to assemble your wreath. For the first ruffle, place a line of glue about half way around the ring and press the center of the ruffle on it.

Then turn the ring over, apply glue on the other half of the ring and press the ends of the ruffle onto it.

Repeat this process with each of your ruffles. I placed one every 1.5 inches or so.

After you have glued all your ruffles onto your ring, fluff them a little to make it look all pretty and "even". Now, you can hang your wreath or go ahead with some embellishments.

I added a fabric rosette flower to mine. I had some left over quilt binding which was just waiting to be used for this purpose. If you are looking for a tutorial to make a rosette flower, there is an easy to follow one right here. You don't need special fabric glue. I just used my hot glue gun and it worked just as fine.

Go ahead, make one, too. Be creative with the colors and embellishements. How about pink for Valentine's Day, or pastels for Easter. Then there is bound to be a next Christmas, so how about green with red flowers or one in fall colors?!
If you make one, please let me know and link back to this post.
Enjoy.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

Wow, can't believe it's 2011 already.
I never got around to showing a few more things I made for Christmas gifts "last" year. This past week was just very busy with Hockey Tournements, activities and cleaning.
And, I didn't even take pictures of everything. So, here are just two of things I made. The shirt for Yanic in his Team colors.

One sleeve has his number appliqued and the other the Team Logo. I used organic cotton jersey for this shirt. It's the softest jersey I have used so far. Very comfy.

Then, the girls got these Hello Kitty towel sets from one of their aunts for Christmas. Each set came with two wash towels. Since, we have wash towels galore at our house already, I decided to turn the bath towels into hooded towels.

My first! I know..., but better late than never. Thanks, Lauranie, for the tips on how to make them you gave me a while back.

That's all for today. I am working on a cute little crafting/sewing tutorial for you all. Hope to have it done tomorrow.
Until then.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T10:00:00.006-05:00

From our house to Yours!

(Dresses: The All Season Jumper Dress)

Ruffle Skirt

2010-12-23T14:34:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year I had bought some plaid fabric on Sale with the intention of making a skirt for myself. Recently, I found just the right design. A tutorial by Sew Dang Cute Crafts. I followed the instructions exactly. I even ended up with the same measurements, except my waistband was a tad longer. The plaid fabric I used was 50" wide, so I got away with 1.5 yards of fabric. I did have to piece one of the ruffles, but I used it on the back panel and you can really not tell.
It's also not cotton, but a suiting fabric with a little bit of stretch. It feels really soft and comfortable. It was also very nice to work with.

The skirt fits perfectly and I think it's a very flattering cut. It was also very easy to sew. And, you can't beat 7.50$ in total material cost!

Thank you, Tam, for a wonderful tutorial.

Ciao, Ciao.

PS: Thanks, Yanic, for taking my "modeling" pictures ;-)

Pink Duck and Yellow Duck

2010-12-17T14:07:00.001-05:00

Is it really just one more week until Christmas?! I am running soooo late. There are still quite a few gifts to be made and purchased. The bad part: I hate shopping. I really do. I cannot stand being in crowded malls, people running over you, waiting in long lines, not finding what you are looking for... It irritates me.

Anyway, as I mentioned, when the kids went to see this guy a couple of weeks ago,

the girls asked for a pink duck and a yellow duck.
So, here they are. And they are not just plush animals, they are Pit-Boo-Boo-Pads, too. The top half is stuffed with cotton fibers and the bottom half is full with cherry pits. The girls love to take an animal and a Boo-Boo-Pad to bed at night. So, now they will have a Two-in-one ducky. Hope they like 'em.

BTW, this cat is a giant and the ducks are about 13 inches tall.

One more thing, don't forget the big SMS Giveaway Week. It ends to today. So, make sure to enter all those fabulous giveaways.
I have a ~~nutty~~ dear friend, who is hosting one, too ;-): Lauranie is crazy enough to handmake anything the winner would like. How generous is that?! So, hurry and enter. She makes fabulous things!

Teacher Gifts - Cookies in a Jar

2010-12-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

Instead of putting the burden of making gifts for Yanic's teachers all on myself, I decided to look for something that he could get involved with, too. And I found the perfect solution: Cookies in a Jar.

I found this really great tutorial and recipe on Bakerella's blog. I adapted it to the season and used red and green M&M's and did not add the chopped nuts. Initially, because I personally do not like nuts, but in the end it turned out they would not have fit into the jars anyway.

I had Yanic measuring and filling the jars. He had a blast. I mean, which kid doesn't like playing with food and making a mess at the same time?! ;-)

We will start passing them out tomorrow. Hope all his teachers will like them.

Also, this past weekend the kids saw Santa at the Mall and got their picture taken with him. I only mention this because I need to share what the girls told him they wanted for Christmas!
Anika: Candy and a yellow duck.
Kordula: Candy and a pink duck.
Who's kids are these???!!! Well, I guess, I will be making ducks next....

Have a happy week, everybody.

New Hair Pretties

2010-12-02T21:15:00.000-05:00

I have been working on some new clips and headbands with fabric flowers. These are made from eight fabric circles folded twice - four bigger and four slightly smaller. I, then, stitched those to a felt circle and added some heart-shaped beads in the center.

Whether, you want to attach them to clips or headbands, the easiest way is to hot glue them on and cover the bottom with a second felt circle. This way it will nice and polished (Okay, but only if your circles are not as sloppy as mine.).

The flowers can be made from almost any kind of fabric. This time I used jersey knit and regular cotton.

Now, something, that only Hockey Moms can appreciate... ;-) Meet my new companion on game days: the Stadium Cushion in Team colors.

I am hoping for no more aching bum, from sitting on freezing cold metal benches! This is a simple fleece cover for a 10 inch square piece of foam with my son's number appliqued. The applique is a two-layer felt cutout.

It's pretty comfy....;-)

* SALE *

2010-11-29T08:52:00.000-05:00

Cyber Monday Sale.

Use Coupon Code CYBER15 during check out in either of my Etsy shops for a 15% discount. Discount applies to anything and everything in my shops. EVERYTHING!!!!

Kindershop
KAY-Kreative

This coupon will be good through 11:59 p.m. EST tonight.
Happy shopping. And check out all the other great sales on Etsy as well.

... and more dresses... "Hello Kitty"

2010-11-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

Nobody really needs more dresses around here, but I couldn't help myself. Fabric.com had another great Sale and I couldn't pass on this super cute and soft Hello Kitty Jersey fabric.
I used the same basic pattern, I had drawn up for these Raglan Sleeve dresses and just modified the lower part.

The girls are in love with them. They wear them all the time, with leggings and shirts underneath right now. Since it's getting really cold. Brrrrrrh....

I have also made some very warm sweat pants, hats and mittens a while back. I am hoping to get pictures of all those taken soon.
Other than that I have made some gifts for Birthdays the girls have been attending: pencil rolls, covered note books, book bags. No pics, though. I am finding myself always in a hurry, lately. No time to stop and breath...

Until later. Have a great short work week and Happy Thanksgiving.

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-03T15:37:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post with a couple of pictures of the kids on Halloween. It turned out to be a rather cold evening and I was very happy, that the costumes I made for them were big enough to fit another layer underneath.

So, here is Indiana Jones. The costume turned out to be more work than what I was planning on. A dear friend of mine told me, that Indi Jones is “just a jacket and shoulder bag”. That’s right, but what to do when none of the metro area thrift stores have any right sized jackets or bags????

The answer, my friends, is PLEATHER: Pleather jacket and Pleather bag paired with a dollar store cowboy hat and whip. I think he looks great. I am not very proud of the jacket, but it was good enough to be a costume. I was, again, too cheap to by a pattern, so I just “cut”. The sleeves turned out too wide on top and I had to add this funny looking pleat. The bag, on the other hand, turned out nicely and held a lot of the extra candy.
Yanic decided, to not go with his friends, but take the girls for Trick or Treating. That was so nice of him. They all had a lot of fun. Only A (princess), got it mixed up a little. At first she kept saying: "Thank you! Trick or Treat". And K (witch) was running ahead of everybody so she could be first at each door.
Did I mention, that the the girls picked their costumes according to their personalities.... ;-)

Now, it's time to think about Christmas....

My Goodies

2010-10-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

I warned you that the next post would be about the great things I got for my Birthday. Take a look! Awesome. Right?!

Tons of fabric from Westfalenstoffe and little odds and ends, perfect for embellishing. All this came from my dear family in Germany.

The fabrics are really high quality and ecologically produced. Two of them are called Doppeltes Lottchen (perfect for twins ;-)) and the other Sterntaler. So cute. I think I will look at these for quite a while before I have the guts to cut into them.

I also got an iPod from my Hubby (I know I am so far behind on technology, it's not even funny!) His intend was to give me some kind of entertainment during my long rides to and from work. So, for the past few weeks I have been listening to books on "tape". If you haven't yet, let me recommend the three Stieg Larsson books. They are awesome. You will not want to put them down.

Oh, and look at these cute hats and scarfs my Mom made for the girls:

See you back early next week with some Halloween pics. I am almost done with the boy's Indiana Jones costume. Just a whip-holder still has to be made.
Until then.

Raglan-Sleeved Playdress

2010-10-18T15:42:00.000-04:00

Meet our new favorite dresses:

I so wish, I had the time to put a tutorial together to share with you. I drafted the pattern myself. The dresses turned out a little wide around the waist. But, the good thing is they will still fit next spring.

Cute ruffle bum:

Paired with Leggings; perfect for cooler weather:

The dress is a simple A-line shape with 4 inch wide ruffles. The ruffles are overlapping by about half an inch. The top ruffle's raw edge is covered with a band. The top part turned out to be quite well fitting and I think I will make a couple more shirts with raglan sleeves for the girls. I am in love with how colorful the dresses are.

Have a wonderful week everybody. My next post will be me bragging about all the goodies I got for my Birthday! Yep, it's today! AGAIN!
Later.

Recycling last year's All-Season-Jumper-Dress

2010-10-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

Remember the All-Season-Jumper-Dress tutorial I posted last year around this time?! I pulled out the dresses I made from it the other day and "oh, what a surprise" they don't fit anymore.

They are still too nice looking to be sent to the Thrift shop and there is nobody in the family who is just the right size to wear these right now. So, what to do?!

I decided to turn them into skirts! Super easy. They have just the right width on top to fit the girls' waists with even some wiggle room.

All you have to do is carefully remove the straps using a seam ripper, re-sew the top-stiching on the top band, and you are DONE!

Depending on your preference, you may have to shorten the skirt a little bit. I removed about 1.5 inches from mine in order for the skirt to fall at below the knees. I also added a pompom border to cuten them up a bit more. Sorry, no model shots this time. Although, the girls have worn them a few times already.

I also ventured into hair clip making a couple of days ago. It seems like the more clips and bows I buy, the more of them disappear. So, frankly I am getting tired of spending all this money. So, Etsy to the rescue! Not for handmade items this time, but for supplies: alligator clips and non-slip grips. Paired with those super cute ribbons I got last year (!) for my birthday, they look and work great!

Now, I will still be upset if they don't come home today, but at least it won't rip a big hole into my wallet anymore.

Extra sets are here!

Scrappy Hats

2010-10-08T14:04:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think my husband believes I am torturing our kids with my handmade-craze. Especially, Yanic. Like this hat for instance. Which, Yanic LOVES, by the way.

Each of these is made from too-small T-shirts and other jersey remnants I had laying around. The fit is not perfect, since no prior measuring took place. But, I think they look really cute. Yanic's is full of Tarantulas from an old shirt my parents gave him a few years back. And the girls' is just an assembly of bright colored jersey knits.

I did not come up with this great idea on my own. Have you heard of So You Think You Are Crafty??!! It's awesome. You need to check it out. They are currently in season 5 of several ladies competing against each other every week with a new craft. Typically, all the Ladies will post tutorials for their respective crafts.
Last Season, Cheri from "I am Momma - Hear me Roar" participated with these awesomely cute hats. You will find the full tutorial over here.
She has a lot of other great tutorials as well. Make sure to check them out.

The Scary Pink Witch and Princess Ballerina

2010-10-04T15:24:00.001-04:00

I must warn you! This post is most of all a pat on my back for:

1. Having Halloween costumes done 4 weeks ahead of time

2. Doing it all from scratch: sketching, pattern drafting, sewing. Everything, based on two Preschoolers’ vague descriptions.

And it wasn’t all that difficult. It just took a little bit of time, measuring and planning. Here are the two sketches I made.

I know, I am not very good at drawing, but you can kind of tell, what it’s supposed to be.

I used the same pattern for both the outfits; and just added some elastic to make the puffy sleeves and the fake sash to the Princess dress. Both dresses have a zipper in the back and the bodices are lined with jersey. Because, well, we can’t have any issues with itchy and scratchy outfits on Halloween...

The sash was not really planned, but at first Ms. A looked like a Matryoshka, so I had to “slim” her down a little. I am still thinking about gathering her purple over-skirt as in the original sketch. At least I will try, to see what it looks like. I am afraid the tulle will be too stiff for it to drape nicely. Both dresses are made from Crushed Panne. It’s super easy to sew and VERY forgiving. And added bonus: it’s soft and warm. After all, we are in the Midwest and we have seen snow on Halloween before…

I also really like Ms. K’s Witch Hat. We actually bought it last year after Halloween for 50 Cents! I just braided the fake hair, added tulle bows to the braids and a big one on top. Perfect!

The girls’ love their outfits. They wore them almost all day yesterday. I think with some festive fabric the pattern might even work great for Holiday Dresses. Now, I have to figure out how to make an Indiana Jones Costume for Yanic.

PS: The girls are still the same height. Ms. A’s heels in the picture are just an inch or so higher.

PPS: By the way, see the pretty pinks and turquoise to the left in the preview for my Etsy shop? I love how it all matches right now :-)
PPPS: Klick on the individual pictures for a better resolution. Blogger gave me a hard time uploading today, so I had to embed Flickr pics.

Make it Fit

2010-09-19T14:35:00.000-04:00

Hi Everybody!
Before I get to the point I wanted to share a couple of pictures of another set of pants I made for the girls. I used the same pattern I had drawn up for the other set I recently made.

And a custom order I just finished. An extra long owls and hearts garland. I think it came out really cute.

Already! Now, the main point of this post.
I am not sure what to think of it, but my girls grew two sizes in less than a year. 3Ts were a perfect fit in the spring and now they need 5Ts! Money is tight, so I have to figure out ways to extend the life of as much of their old clothing as possible.
Here is an easy way to do just that with regular stretch pants. Stretch pants that are too short on both ends.
To replace the waist I cut the existing waist band off, including the elastic and replaced it with a folded knit band. I used the same technique as for my summer skirt and the stretch knit pants from above and this post.

And to lengthen the legs I simply added a double-folded band of the same knit fabric I used for the waist band. Voila! 20 min and a new pair of pants!

First Christmas Presents DONE !

2010-09-12T21:42:00.000-04:00

YES, that's right! I am way ahead of my time. Never mind that Halloween is WAY too soon for comfort ("Princerella", Witch and Indiana Jones costumes waiting to be made).

But, inspiration struck when one day I saw the beautifully whimsical creations Marysia is posting about on a regular basis. Just look at this gorgeous quilt she made together with her blog readers.
And this is what made me run to get fabric and scissors. Isn't it cute? It's a Pyjama Keeper! Awesome, right?! I think this almost falls into the category of "Things you never knew you needed". But, let me tell you, YOU really do need it if you have Pre-schoolers who drop their PJs anywhere in the house, except on their bed. See!

So, here are my versions. The girls are in LOVE with Kailan right now and can't pass anything up that has Hello Kitty on it.

They are kind of like 3D-Wall Hangings and are supposed to be tied to either the headboard or foot end of the bed. And those huge oversized elastic pockets will hold the pyjamas. I am totally envisioning no more laying around night time clothing... Or, they will just turn into another stuffed animal holder. Only time will tell.

The characters are both copied from images I found on the internet. It's pretty easy. All you need is an image at a scale of 1:1 with as little fancy detail as possible. Trace all the different shapes from that image onto fabric or felt, cut and re-assemble on your quilt (shirt, jacket, bag, etc.).

It was fun making these and I made a few extra. Two are already in the shop. More will come soon.
Have a wonderful week.

Paper Doll Play Sets

2010-09-07T14:22:00.000-04:00

Do you remember cutting out and playing with paper dolls when you were little?! I do. And it was so much fun.
So, I was really happy to come across this Blue Hills paper doll fabric a while back. It's perfect to make the cutest sets of fabric paper dolls. And paired with a quilted carrying case it's sure to be a favorite for traveling and riding in the car. The best part: They won't rip or tare!

The girls love their sets. I backed the dolls with super stiff interfacing and the clothes with fusible fleece.

There are a few extra sets in the shop right now and a few more are cut out and ready to be assembled. They will be added to the shop later.

Wouldn't these be great as Holiday gifts? So, go and grab one! ;-)

New Quilt

2010-08-23T20:47:00.000-04:00

This project was really not on my radar until I received a HUGE bag full of crochet flowers from my Grandma. I had asked her to please make a few for me, so I could add them as embellishments to dresses and shirts for my girls. But then, she sent so many, that I wanted to make something that last a bit longer than just one season.
So, I arranged them on a piece of fabric and turned that into a quilt. It's not the greatest design ever, but it's a keepsake and the kids love it, and the cat, too. As you can see...

The front is made from a mix of Shade Garden fabrics and Chick A Dee, Chick A Doo Dots. Also, you can barely tell from the picture, but on some of the flowers I added the Polymer clay buttons I made a while ago. I am happy to report that they hold up great during washing and drying.

On the back I used several remnants of vintage sheets and pillow cases and appliqued a big cute owl on it.

I am proud to say, that NO fabric was bought specifically for this project! Yay, for using up my stash. The quilt is about 45x60 inches.

Hmhmm, I also ventured into making crochet flowers for, yeah, well, I don't really know.... But, I only got this far....

Maybe more some other time.
Have a great week everybody. I think for me it will be time to start working on stocking up my shop for the Holidays. I have a few ideas for some new things. More soon.

On a personal note: Today was my first day at the new office of my company. The offices moved over the weekend. Now I have a 55 mile drive every morning/evening. Up from about 32 miles. It stinks! But, it will get worse once school starts. Our kids are going to schools that are out of our district: so no school buses. I will have to drive close to 20 miles out of my way to drop them off before going to work.... With the traffic situation here that will amount to about 2 hours each way (including time to drop everybody off).
The reason I am telling you this?! - I want some pitty, of course!

Some 70's Inspiration

2010-08-15T17:14:00.003-04:00

... or, Back-to-school-outfits.
... or, Yes, I am still here!
... or, Yes, I still do sew!
... or, Yes, we have been having a great summer!

Can't believe it's been over a month that I have posted last. I am greatful, that once in a while people still stop by and take a look around here, on this non-happening blog.

I have been making quite a few more skirts and dresses for my girls. I will spare you the pictures, since summer sewing is over anyway and instead show you the girls' new Back-to-school outfits. They have also been called "back-to-bed" and "running-with-the-bulls" Outfits....
For these, I was inspired by: the training pants of my gymnastics coach, when I was about 7 years old. Look:

So, here is what I came up with. Pants and shirt sets.

I used super soft and stretchy cotton jersey knit which I got on sale at http://www.fabric.com/, combined with some owl-jersey from Joann's. No patterns were used, just did some eyeballing of their current size. Instead of the conventional elastic waist I made a wide and comfy yoga-band. Similar to how I made my summer skirt. The girls love it.

The sleeves are a little long right now. But, I think in a couple of months they will be just fine. This owl-fabric is really cute. If you have a Joann's around, hurry up. I think it's a pretty hot commodity.

... all done posing. Give us our candy, now!

Just three more weeks of summer, then school will start again! Luckily, we are still having the most beautiful weather: nothing less then mid 80s all the time! I am loving it.
I will be back soon (Promise!) with some pictures of a quilt I am working on right now.
Until later.

Polymer Clay

2010-06-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

I needed a break from Sewing. Well, not really, but I wanted to try something new. So, the last couple of nights instead of sewing I worked with polymer clay.
I had totally forgotten how much fun it is. We used to make all kinds of things when we were kids.

This time I used Sculpey, but I think Fimo is equally good. It's basically Playdough you can bake in the oven. I first tried myself on some buttons. The bigger ones are about 1.25 inches and the two smaller ones 1 inch. I think they will look pretty as accents on one of the next dresses for my girls. I used thread spools to cut the circles for the buttons and tooth picks to poke the holes.

And then I made a set of bottlecap necklaces for the girls. I think they turned out cute for a first try.

Also, Yanic had a lot of fun crafting with me. He made a bottlecap necklace for himself: "Y" with hockey stick and puck.

Proudly wearing it on our excursion to a farm this weekend.

My new Summer Skirt

2010-06-19T14:13:00.001-04:00

Update 6/22/2010: Just saw that a tutorial to make a skirt similar to mine was posted on Sew Mama Sew today. Check it out. It's really easy. Only difference is that the skirt panel is made from a rectangular piece of fabric instead of circular.

When I heard about the Make it & Ware it Challenge at Sew Mama Sew, I knew I had to make something for myself; for a change. And what's easier and quicker than a skirt?! Well, nothing, really. So, I decided on a circle skirt.
Here it is:

All you need is a cirlce and some knit fabric for the waist band.
For the skirt I used 1.5 yards of 58" wide clearance fabric from Joann and for the waist band 9" of rib knit. After I had finished the skirt I realized that the fabric was quite sheer, so I added an underskirt. For that I used Kona Muslin.

The waist band is folded in half lengthwise, so in the end it's about 4" wide. To determine how long I had to cut the rib knit, I simply pulled it around my waist really tight and then cut. It ended up being about 4 inches shorter than my waist measurment. I finished the lower edge with narrow gross grain ribbon.

This really is very easy and quick. Without the underskirt, I was done in about an hour. I think I will make something similar again but with only 3/4 of a circle for fall.
Have a happy weekend. We are enjoying 90+ degree weather! Yeah!

Winner of the "Anika" skirt pdf pattern

2010-06-13T20:46:00.001-04:00

Thank you so much for all your nice comments and thanks for still checking in after these few months of almost non-posting.
But, I am afraid summer is not going to become any more interesting around here. I will be spending lots and lots of time outside. However, I am sure I will have some sewing going on here and there. Like this past weekend: I had three projects going at the same time: 2 more summer dresses for the girls, a sleep sack for a soon-to-be-baby and a baby blanket for the same baby.

The baby items are done and one dress as well. The other dress will get done tomorrow (maybe...).

But, now our winner of the "Anika Twirl Skirt with attached Zippered Purse": It's numero 3!!!!

Congratulations, Mama Lusco!!!! I will be mailing you the pattern soon.

For everyone else, who would like to try the pattern; it will be available in the shop tomorrow morning.

Have a great start of the week. It will be our first week of Summer Break!

1,000 DONE AND FINISHED

2010-06-08T20:35:00.002-04:00

I DID IT!!!
ALL ONE THOUSAND NAMETAGS ARE FINISHED!!!! (Sorry, for screaming, but I am so excited and relieved.) Here is a picture of the last 70 tags, I just finished.
Thank you Kristin at BBD Supplies for the felt flowers and circles. Couldn't have done it without you and all of YOU my friends who have cheered me on. Thank you!

So, let's celebrate by having a little GIVE AWAY!. Yeah! Remember, the little sneak peak I gave you in my last post?!

I think, this little pocket belongs to one of the cutest things I have made so far. I know, I say that quite often, but I really like it and I have received more inquiries on it and the girls have received more compliments on this design, than on any others before.

It's my new "Anika Twirl Skirt with attached zippered Purse". You like???

If you do, you can win a copy of the pattern before it goes on sale in my Etsy store. The pattern is for sizes 2T - 5T and includes a very detailled pictured tutorial and pattern pieces for the purse. The Purse is the highlight of the pattern. My girls LOVE it! It holds their Chap sticks, sun glasses, hair clips and typically numeruous trinkets. It's even big enough to carry a Beanie-Baby-size stuffed animal.
The pattern is a real playground for mixing and matching different fabric prints. Everything goes. The only limit is your imagination.

So, if you like to win a copy of the pattern, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me how much you love the skirt ;-) Just kidding, just tell me what you are working on right now, or what your next project will be, or maybe you have a link to a new tutorial that you really like. Or, just tell me where you will go on vacation this year!
Good luck. I will be picking a winner sometime at the end of the week.

BTW, the pink skirt in above picture is for sale right here.

Are you in?!

2010-05-25T21:55:00.005-04:00

I know, I am so boring lately. Nothing’s going on around here on this blog. Also, I have not been checking any of my favorite blogs for at least four weeks. Yesterday, I realized that I completely missed out on the May Giveaway Day/Week at SMS. Shame on me.

I am still very busy working on the name tags. I am getting closer to finishing. YEAH! 850 are done!

But, let’s change the subject!

ARE YOU IN????? “In” what, you ask?! Well, the Soccer World Cup, of course. I know, being from Europe, I am probably one of five or so, that care about it here on the North American continent. Luckily, I work in a VERY international company and we have people from all over the world, from places were soccer is a major sport. So, we will have some “brackets” going.

Our house will be divided for a while (until the US is kicked out of their group ;-)) and then we will all be rooting for Germany.

Besides the T-shirt dresses you see in the pictures, I also started to work on a new pattern. I am hoping to have it finished in a few weeks. After I finish the name tags….

Here is a little sneak peak. It will be really cute. I promise.

Twice!!!!

2010-05-09T14:56:00.001-04:00

Just a wanted to pop my head in very quickly!
I am very excited: My snail messenger bag was featured in TWO different Treasuries this weekend. Thank you Ladies!

Wanna know ....?!

2010-05-03T11:26:00.001-04:00

...why it's been so boring around here???!!!
This is the reason:

About a month ago I accepted an order for ONE THOUSAND (1,000!) name tags to be used at a Women's conference in August.
Yes, ONE THOUSAND! That's 1,000 felt flowers, 1,000 tule circles, 1,000 2 inch fabric circles, 1,000 1.5 inch fabric circles, 1,000 1 inch felt circles, 834 yards of ribbon, 112 sheets of 9x12 stiffened felt, 1,000 pieces of 1x3 card stock, 12 weeks of work.
All I can say is: This is my first and last whole sale order. I am working in batches of 250 at a time. The second one is almost complete. So, I am only half way done. I love layering the flowers and sewing them onto the felt. My least favorite part?!: sewing the cardstock onto the felt.

Because of this huge project I have very little time to sneak in any other sewing or crafting. Much to my dismay. So, here are just a couple of things I quickly made this weekend.

Inspired, by a recent project shown on SYTYC, I modified some of our hand towels to make them "stick" to the hanger. Three strips of 2 inch long velcro and a pretty felt ruffle later, here is the way our towels look and "stick" now! No more wet, crunched up towels on the floor! The ruffle is covering the areas where the velcro is sewn on the other side.

And Mother's Day is coming up. I found an easy way to make really pretty cards for my Mom and MIL.

In case you would like to try it, here is how I did it: I took an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cardstock, printed "Happy Mother's Day" onto it. Cut a 2 inch x 12 inch strip of bright flowery fabric, ruffled it and sewed it onto the card. After that just fold it in half.

Happy Crafting.
Until later.

ART

2010-04-13T11:38:00.000-04:00

Now, the post about the project that I have been so excited about!

A while back I saw a tutorial on Jessica's blog for transfering a black and white image onto a wooden plaque. I absolutely loved the idea of taking a photograph of the kids, using an imaging program to change it into a b&w picture, "posterize" it a bit and then turning it into a work of art. Art that will make great gifts for grandparents and great-grandparents.

Instead of the wooden plaque I opted for 8 x 10 artist canvas. And it worked out great. I have to mention, however, that my first attempt failed miserably: I plastered too much medium onto the canvas, did not let it dry completely, rubbed off half of the black image in the process, but not all the paper... It was just a total mess. So, I agree with Jessica, to make a few photocopies of your picture in case you screw up.

For the backgrounds I used three different acrylic paints (red, yellow, white and green, yellow, white). I used Golden Regular Gel Medium to transfer the images and also to seal it afterwards. There is a great tutorial on how to transfer the image at LilBlueBoo. I think the key for this project is to be patient and let your work dry completely between each step.

Come Christmas time, I think I will be making a few more of these.
Have a great week!

New Cutie-Pie Hats

2010-04-09T15:48:00.000-04:00

I just had to slide in this post. Even so, I was planning to tell you about this other great project I mentioned before.

A couple of weeks ago I won a blog giveaway at Sevi Designs and had the choice of two Izzy & Ivy patterns. I chose the Jack & Jill hat and the Princess Bella Dress. These are such cute patterns. You should really check them out.

So, anyway, even so I shouldn't work on anything but that huge custom order that will keep me busy for the next 3 months (more about it in another post), I couldn't wait to try the Jack & Jill hat(s). It turned out not to be as quick a project as I would have liked. It took me close to 3 hours to make one, including cutting the fabrics. There are a lot of pieces to be sewn together. But, the pattern itself is very acurate and fits together nicely. Also, the sizing is perfect.

Aren't they cute?! I used a Summer Soiree print, which I had bought from Marie Madeline Studio a while ago and some white and pink Kona cottons. I wish I had a hot pink instead of the lighter pink for the band, but didn't want to spend more on fabric right now...

And here a couple more shots with funny faces.

There are about two hours inbetween the first and second "session" and I had chopped the girls' hair in the meantime. About 5 inches. It was A LOT, but worth the elimination of morning screams when I try to brush out food and syrup....

...and one last one, just because it's so pretty....

Awe!

2010-04-07T14:17:00.000-04:00

A dream come true?! Or should I be worried?!
The other day, Yanic came to me and asked me if I could show him how to crochet. Of course, I said, and WHY? at the same time. Turns out they have started a Crochet Club at school and he wanted to be part of it. He thinks it's COOL!

So, one evening we sat down and I showed him how to crochet a chain. I think he is a natural... ;-) I only showed him once and he was already doing it by himself afterwards.

Now, whenever he has the chance he sits down and makes "chains" and the stitches are pretty even!

At his first Crochet Club meeting he was the Star, since he was the only one who knew how to hold the yarn.
Next week they will start working on a Bookmark.

There is only one thing he asked from me:...not to tell his Hockey Buddies! I think I can do that.

Messenger Bags

2010-04-06T12:32:00.000-04:00

Hello there!
Is the long weekend really over already?! We had four days of mid to upper 70-degree weather, a lot of sunshine, forsythias and cherry trees were starting to bloom, the grass is green now. And all that came a whopping four weeks earlier than usual. Awesome. I am loving it. But, I am sure we will get one more April Snow Shower sooner or later.
And, of course, the kids had fun hunting for easter eggs and little presents. They are now slowly coming down from their 3-day-sugar-rush.

Many Birthdays are happening around here right now. For some of them I decided to make messenger bags this year.

Hannah Montana and Fancy Nancy for two of my nieces.

And Lizard-Camo for Yanic.

Yanic's bag is a bid wider than the other two and has an added zipper pocket on the back.

All bags have a magnetic snap closure and inside pockets as well. The printed fabric is regular cotton and the solid colors are Duckcloth to make the bags extra sturdy (hopefully). For the two basic ones I used this easy to follow tutorial at Fishsticksandfries and modified the pattern for Yanic's bag.

Have a great week. I will be back soon with another project I worked on last week. It's pretty cool. Just wait 'til you see it.

Happy Easter

2010-04-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

I personally cannot wait for the long weekend to start: four days in a row that I do not have to deal with Corporate America. And we are expecting temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s. I cannot remember when it has ever been this warm on Easter. Typically, we are hunting easter eggs on snow dusted grass.

If you are still looking for some special Easter treats, try this:

Absolutely yummy and super easy to make. The lovely Nerida pointed me to the recipe: Chocolate, Chow Main noodles and Jelly beans; that's i!

And who can ever have enough of these.....?!:

Happy Easter everybody.

Shirt Refashion

2010-03-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

So, I had this favorite blouse of mine, which I wore basically once a week to work.

Until, one day I found THIS...!!!

Don't ask me how or when it happened. I have no idea. For all I know I may have been wearing it like this for a while. How embarrassing.

Anyway, I really did not want to throw it away and tried to modify it. I cut off the sleeves, ripped one of the sides by accident even more and had to widen the armholes, added bias tape to finish the armholes, removed the colar and added ruffles to the front from some leftover jersey knit.

I also cut up the useable sleeve to make a belt topped with cute ruffles made from the same pink jersey knit. It's a simple belt with two D-rings.

I absolutely LOVE the belt. It also looks really cute with Jeans.

I am not so sure about the top at all: the armholes are too wide (obviously) and I think the ruffles on either side of the buttons are too scrawny. I may try adding a couple more rows to make it appear fuller. But, I have no idea on how to fix the arm openings.

Can anybody help?

3 - YEARS - OLD (...okay, almost)

2010-03-15T16:02:00.000-04:00

Well, I am jumping ahead, but I was sooo excited about sharing the outfits I made for the girls' third birthday. Which is actually not until next Monday.

As I mentioned before I was really looking forward to working with something other than PINK all the time. So, I decided to make them blue outfits. I might have gone overboard a bit, but for some reason these 1001-shades of blue still appeal to me.

Some of you may have seen the Can-Can-skirt from Dana Made. I thought it was such a great idea to to have the color-changing-effect on the ruffles. I did not buy the pattern (yeah, I am cheap like that...), but tried to figure it out myself. And the skirts fit. So, it worked out okay.

I also made the leggings by using a pair they already have as a guide to draw the pattern.
The T-shirts are Target's "Ultimate Tee" and I appliqued the number on them.

The hairclips are also handmade.

I found this awesome tutorial on PurlBee. It's super easy and quick. I think it did not take me longer than 15 minutes to make one of these. The original pattern calls for woolfelt. But, I thought the regular cheapo kind worked just as well.

Happy 3rd Birthday girls! WE LOVE YOU!

Doorway Puppet Theater

2010-03-08T14:46:00.000-05:00

Lately, the girls' imaginations have been running wild and they are more and more into role-play type games. So, I thought it would be nice for them to have a puppet theater for their upcoming 3rd Birthday. However, I did not want to add another bulky piece of equipment that takes up a lot of space. And let's face it, some toys get old very quickly and just end up laying around collecting dust.
So, herewith, I present to you my doorway puppet theater! Easy to roll up and hide in a closet.

It's about 36" wide x 50" high and fits with a tension rod into any regular doorway. I used part of an old flannel sheet, some leftover vintage sheet for the curtains, lots of felt and chalk cloth for the clock and frameboard.

Originally, I was planning to put a tutorial together, but then totally forgot to take pictures of the process. Sorry. But, to get you started, here are the main measurments:
1. Theater pannel: cut a 55" x 38" rectangle, finish the lower edges and side edges. Create a "tunnel" up top that will fit a regular sized shower curtain rod. Our doors are 32" wide on the inside. So, if yours are wider you will have to add to the width of your pannel accordingly.
2. The window opening is about 24 inches from the ground and measures 18" wide x 16" high. On the inside at the bottom of the window I sewed a pocket to insert a dowel stick. This way the window will not be floppy when you hang the theater in the doorway.

The accessories I basically cut and sewed as I went along. Also, on the backside I added three pockets to hold various puppets. Puppets, that I still have to make (or buy...). The numbers on the clock and the writing on the board are applied freehand with fabric paint. Overall I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I may add a few more embellishments, like carnival masks, above the stage window later on.

This pic was supposed to show you the chalk pocket, but Blue jumped in to check out the theater.

Have a great week, everybody.

Wow!

2010-03-04T09:40:00.001-05:00

WOW! Has it really been two weeks since my last post?! I guess, I have been busy and didn't realize how fast time is flying by.

I really don't have much to show for right now. I have started working on the girls' 3rd Birthday outfits and started making a puppet theater for them. This will be this year's handmade gift for them. I can't show any of it yet, 'cause all of it is a big huge WIP (Read: "Mess".).

Just, quickly, a couple of things I did finish:

This must be the worst picture ever taken!

an apron for Uroma (my grandma). It's reversible: one side bright and springy for when she feels like showing off and the other side a bit more subtle for everyday-working around the house- stuff.

I hope she likes it and more importantly it fits. She is a bit shorter than I am, so I hope it won't be too long for her. I did not use a commercial pattern, just a "vision" I had ;-)
Her Birthday was Tuesday, but unfortunately the package did not make it in time. How is it, that whenever you send something that's not urgent it gets to Europe in 4-5 days, but when you are in a hurry it's 10 days+?

Then, before Valentine's Day one of my co-workers ordered a personalized coffee cozy (like this one) for his wife. I added a set of stenciled coasters. I used a vintage pillow case and brown linen. He said that she loved it.

Can't wait to get home tonight to continue working on the birthday outfits. They will be in all different shades of blue... I was getting tired of all the pink a bit, so I went with the opposite color spectrum this time. I know Anika will like it (she will always pick the blue plate, cup, toothbrush, etc. over pink), but Kordula is the exact opposite. I will keep you updated.

PS: Yeah! for Germany for being second in the Olympic medal count!!!!

Pants

2010-02-19T11:50:00.001-05:00

About a year ago you would have never found me considering to make a pair of pants for my girls or even draw a pattern for pants. I was always afraid that they would never fit right. But, practice makes better. And with having sewn so many skirts, jackets, PJs and dresses over the past year I felt confident that now it could possibly work out okay if I made some pants; simple pants.

So, I drew up two different patterns: one that uses one piece of fabric for each leg (= no side seams on the legs) and one with side seams and cuffs. Because I wanted something really fun for the girls to wear I chose loud and bright fabrics for both.

Cute brown and purple owl flannel paired with bright pink and more owls for the pockets.

Big fun pockets on the side and in back.

For the second set I used different prints from the Monkey's Bizness and Chick A Dee, Chick A Doo fabric lines.

Nice big pockets on this one, too.

And nice cuffs with a slight flare on the bottom.

When planning and making these pants I discovered how easy, quick and awesome French Seams are! Look!

Doesn't it look so clean and professional?! If you have never tried using this type of seam it's definetly worth trying. There are quite a few easy to follow tutorials available on sewing blogs.

Quite a few birthdays are coming up next month: Uroma, Nephew, Nieces AND Anika und Kordula. I have lots of plans for handmade gifts for almost all of them. But first, I need to sit down and finish Anika's pink cardigan.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Little Miss-Sweater and Repurposed Leggings

2010-02-16T13:25:00.001-05:00

So, "K" is my Sweater-girl. She will wear a jacket/cardigan/sweater/shrug any day, time and location, no matter what the weather is. And, YES, she also wears them to bed. So, I felt kind of obligated to give her one that is not store bought. Initially, I wanted to knit a cardigan for her, but then settled on this super easy and cute crochet pattern from Lionbrand. And we all know, crocheting is much faster than knitting!

I followed the pattern in the largest size. I made the sleeves a little longer, though (from 1/2 to 3/4 length). Which, ultimately caused me to run out of blue yarn. Luckily, I have enough scraps of other colors on hand. I think it looks pretty with the pink cuffs and collar.

She loves it and has not taken it off since Sunday afternoon. Except when changing from Jammie tops to shirt and back.
In the meantime "A" requested a cardigan like this one as well. First she wanted yellow.... and then changed her mind to pink yesterday morning ... But, again, crocheting is fast. So, no big deal to lose an hour worth of work. Right? Right!

Then, a couple of days ago I ran into this awesome Tutorial at MakeItAndLoveIt. Out came a new set of leggings for the girls.

They look cute but are a bit too baggy and long. So, I will have to redo them before they can actually "really" wear them.

I am excited for my next post. A few weeks ago I ventured into drawing my own patterns for pants (children's of course). Can't wait to show you the results. I just need to find some time to edit the pics that go with the post.

Until then, Happy Karneval/Fasching/Mardi Gras/Paczki Day (I have had two already this morning and feel like I have been run over by a train!)

Random Update

2010-02-11T14:53:00.003-05:00

Happy Thursday Everybody!

I really don't have anything great to present today. Just wanted to quickly show the Valentine's the children will give out at school tomorrow.

I found the idea for this on one of the blogs I frequently read. ~~Unfortunately, right now, I cannot find it for the life of it. Sorry.~~ Thank you Erika for the link.
Anyway, I asked the kids to make a funny face and hold one hand out like they are holding something. Took a picture, printed it on cardstock, cut it out, put slits above and below their fists and put a sucker through them. That's it.

And for the girls' Preschool Teacher I made this felt heart. The tutorial for this can be found at Sew Mama Sew.

And the following is the product of a VERY long and VERY boring conference call at work this morning: 50 some paper beads...

At least the girls will have something to make necklaces with tonight :-D

New Addiction - Sewing with Knits

2010-02-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, my dear sewing friends!
WHY did nobody ever tell me how easy it really is to sew knits?!
WHY did nobody ever tell me that my sewing machine has a "fake" serger stitch?!
WHY did nobody ever tell me that that same sewing machine has a fancy decorative zig zag stitch perfect for top stitching knits?!

Along the same lines: WHY did nobody ever tell me how easy french seams are. I had to find out all on my own. But better late than never. I will safe this topic for another post, though.

But, back to knits! I am addicted to recycling John's and my old T-shirts into dresses for the Twins. If you cut it right then the lower edge and sleeve edges are already finished for you. Which eliminates a lot of work.

Inspired by a dress that Angie at Mama Lusco recently made for her daughter and the Lil Blue Boo Sienna dress, I took three plain white shirts and turned them into simple A-line dresses with lots and lots of ruffles. Oh, they are so cute. Never mind the fact that white really is not a good color choice for Toddler dresses. But, oh well, who cares. They are adorable.

Initially, I just wanted the dresses to be all white. But then I remembered the hand sewn felt flowers I made last summer and figured they'd look cute as appliques centered on the dresses.

(Note to self: Need to comb childrens' hair before taking pictures and work on lighting, to eliminate pee-yellow hue on white fabric.)

I think, I will enter them in the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design challenge as well. Did you know that for every 10 dresses entered into the challenge Ashley will make and donate one to a Charity! If that's not reason enough to make some more...!

Have a great week everybody!

Recycled T-shirt Dresses

2010-02-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

It was a more or less a last minute decision for me to participate in the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design Challenge. I didn't think I could pull it off.
Ashley from Lil Blue Boo has the cutest patterns for dresses made from recycled T-shirts. And see, I don't really like working with knits and I don't own a serger. Which I think is really a plus to have when sewing knits.

Anyway, Sunday night I just started cutting away. Inspired by the Sienna dress, I used four old shirts to piece together two different dresses. In addition I used the bottom of some pants' legs I had left over from making another set of capries for the girls. Those legs are now the sleeves on the dresses.

On one of the dresses I added a low fitting belt made from left over T-shirt fabric. It is looped through slits I cut above the twirly skirt part of the dress and simply tied into a double knot on one side.

I also added the girls' initial on each of the dresses by creating a stencil from freezer paper and filling it in with fabric paint. (Will be a helpfull touch for some of the teachers at their Pre-school ;-))

I think I will be making a few more of these dresses. They are easy and quick to make and the girls are very comfortable in them. Also, we have plenty of T-shirts that would love to see the light of day again...

PS: YES, I still have 3 or so "one-of-two-done-projects" laying around....!

Bright Summer Dress

2010-02-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

As of late I have been in this crazy summer-clothing-for-the-girls-sewing-mood. And it's not over. Bad part about it is that I have about three or four "one-of-two-done" projects laying around.
Obviously, I have every intention of finishing them and luckily at 13 degrees (-10 C) there will be no need for any of the clothes I am making just yet.
Like this one (one of the few that I have two to show already):

I have been stashing tons of different pinkish fabrics: new prints, thrifted pillow cases, linens, you name it. I picked a few Amy Butler and Michael Miller prints and paired them with a couple of bright flowery pillow cases. I love the result: so bright and fresh. Just like summer.

These dresses do not have a zipper or buttons in the back. They are cut wide enough to slide over the hips. So: step in, pull up, insert arms, done!

I have drawn a little pattern and written some instructions, if you like to try this kind of dress. The pattern is made to fit a child with a 22 inch chest (56 cm) or 4T dress size. The instructions are not very detailled and don't have step by step pics. But, that's all I can manage for right now. If you do have any questions just comment here or send me an email. I will get back to you.

Hope everybody has a great week!

Repurpose-Refashion last year's leggings

2010-01-27T14:29:00.000-05:00

Another little refashion I worked on over the weekend: last year's Leggings into this year's Capri's. This might only work if your little one has grown taller but not so much changed her "profile". For us it worked perfectly, because the girls went from diaper-butts to undie-butts. Which means that last year's 2T Stretch pants still fit around the waist this year.

So, here is what I did.
I cut these brown pants, which were about 2 inches too short by now, right below the knee.

To make the capri "cuff" I cut a rectangular piece of cotton fabric which was pant-leg-circumference + 2 inches in length and 5 inches wide (my rectangle was 14 x 5 inches). I double-folded both short ends and stitched and then double-folded the lower edge (hem) and stitched. With right sides facing I sewed the raw edge of the cotton fabric to the pant legs slightly overlapping the short ends at the outer leg seam. Therefore, creating a "slit" at the outside. This will make it fit comfortably and give room to move around. The seam allowances were folded upward towards the pants and top-stitched.

The fabric I used is from the Cutie Pie line and is called Gingham Girls. I bought mine at Sew Mama Sew. But, unfortunately, I don't think they have it in stock anymore. However, I saw several listings for this print on Etsy and Ebay. I think it's the perfect match for these pants. The dolls are 4 inches tall. Just the right size for the cuffs.

As you can see in the pictures "A" grew increasingly intolerant of having her picture taken.

Poor thing. Well, as of this morning I know why: Both of them are down with full blown ear infections and nasty coughs. Hoping this will pass quickly...

I know, sometimes it's hard to follow written instructions without having pictures to look at. So, if you would like to try this refashion project and have any questions please leave a comment or send me an email.

Thrifted Skirt Winner and a Valentine Craft

2010-01-25T09:46:00.000-05:00

As Sunday was getting close I was starting to worry that nobody would leave a comment with the right answer. I mean, not that it would have really mattered, because I would have just picked a random winner then. But, then Saturday, somebody finally guessed it right!!!!

And, that somebody is Mari !!!!!!!!!!!!!

She said: "Adorable...I'm going to say a bed skirt was used (the dust ruffle) or whatever they are called?? (but I'm international so not sure it counts?!)" (Of course, it does!)

Congratulations! Yes, I used a cribsized Bedskirt. See!

On to a little craft I made yesterday. You may have seen this awesome tutorial floating around in Craft-Blogland over the past few days. I can only recommend it. It's easy and super "cost-conscious". I spent a whopping 1.17 USD (incl. tax) to make two!
One for the inside of our front door:

and one for the outside:

Very pretty, cute and quick.
I have so many more projects to share with you. Three to be exact. But, I will pace myself. See, I want to make sure you come back! ;-)

Snowflakes, Snowflakes

2010-01-23T08:28:00.000-05:00

Just a quick reminder, if you haven't yet, don't forget to take a guess to participate in the giveaway right here. You still have until tomorrow.

So, now. Yesterday was the girls' school's Winter Program. And it was CUTE! Let me tell you. Their class had prepared four different songs and the kids were literally just screaming them out. Really, really cute. And it was double cute because all the kids in Anika and Kordula's class were wearing matching Snowflake costumes.

Those costumes, that I signed up to make and didn't get to start working on until last Friday. Remember?! Anyway, they came together much quicker than I thought. I drew up a simple A-line jumper pattern (one size fits all), cut it out from white felt, used freezer paper to stencil a glittery snowflake on the front and sewed shoulder and side seams together. Pretty easy.

From some of the left over felt I made little flower hairpins for all the girls in the class.

It was adorable: 17 little snowflakes singing their hearts out on stage.

So, this would be the spot I would add a picture of the entire class, if my husband ever learns how to take sharp, non-wonky, non-fuzzy and out of focus pictures. Maybe next year....

Thrifty Spring Skirt Re-Purpose Project

2010-01-17T17:04:00.001-05:00

Another project that cost me next to nothing. I LOVE those kinds of projects!

Just finished this set of skirts in perfect spring colors: light green, blue, pink and purple with cute birdie and simple flower appliques.

All I did to make one of these skirts is add a fabric strip for the waist band, close the back seam and insert elastic. Easy peasy.

You will notice that the skirts are a tad too long right now. But, I figured, spring is still at least three months away here where I live, so that's three more months for the girls to grow another inch or so. And while you are looking at the pics; see how short and tight the shirts are.... :( This is a total underestimation on my part as to how much they'd grow over the winter. Anyway, they will have to stick it out until warmer weather arrives. Too late into the season to buy more long sleeved shirts.

Okay, if you are still with me after my ramblings, then here comes a little GIVEAWAY!!!!! Yeah! See, sometimes it pays off to read through a full post ;-)
I have enough of the thrifted "something" left, to make a skirt for one of my lovely blog readers! Are you excited?!

As you may have noticed I have not told you yet, what I re-purposed in order to make these skirts. So, in order to qualify to win , leave a comment and tell me what you think it is I used. If there is more than one of you with the correct answer I will pick a random winner among those with the correct answer. Everybody only gets ONE guess, though. Sounds fair?!

Okay, one more thing for you to read through: Just so you know, based on what I have available I can make a skirt in these three sizes:
a) 11 inches long (won't have blue gingham waistband, but the light green of the main fabric)
b) 12.5 inches long (blue gingham will only be on the inside of the waistband, outside will show the light green)
c) 13.5 inches long (as seen in the pictures)
I would estimate that the 13.5 inch long skirts are a 4T.
Now, go on and take your guess! I will leave this giveaway open until next Sunday (1/24/10).

Pretty New Books

2010-01-14T14:36:00.000-05:00

A while back I entered a "sewing green" contest at STC Craft. I had entered the set of jammies I had made from vintage embroidered pillow cases. And I was one of the lucky winners. I was so excited, 'cause I got to pick any of the crafting books they carry. Yeah!!!

So, I picked Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin.

Can't wait to try printing some designs on brown or natural linen. I am thinking zippy pouches and clutches.

Also, because I had to wait a couple of months for my prize to arrive they included a free copy of Zakka Sewing as well.

Oh, I am in heaven. This book has been on my Wishlist for quite a while now.

Okay, that's a LOT of concentrated inspiration to receive in one day. I will have to wait a few days with starting any of the projects in these books, though. Yesterday, I finally received confirmation from the girls' Preschool that they indeed would like to have Snowflake costumes for all the kids for the upcoming Winterprogram: 16 Outfits to be ready by mid next week! I know I can do it ;-)

Better Pictures

2010-01-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

All right. We had a chance to take some better pictures of the skorts yesterday. Bribary included.

I had to redo the first skort I made (the one that had the red tights' top) because it was too small and kept sliding off their little butts. So, here are the finished versions.

I added a little applique and flowery embellishments to both of them. The birds are from the new Leanika line of fabric (Get it?! LeANIKA... ;-)) It's very cute. I got mine here. The flowers are made from circles cut out of left over jersey from this project with a few glass beads added in the center.

One of the tights had a little hole in the back, so I added a little heart applique. Cute, huh?!

By the way, the knee highs are made from the legs of the same tights that I used for the skorts. And the skort's legs are the same length, but they keep sliding up a little when the kids move around.

Upcycled Skorts

2010-01-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

It works!
So, I took the left over tops of old tights from this project and used them as shorts for a new skort.

All you have to do is:

1.Take a light weight cotton or knit fabric and cut a rectangle over the width of your fabric. The length of it should be the desired length of your skirt plus 1.25 inches for hem and gathering on top.

2. Sew the short ends of your rectangle right sides together to create a big "tube".

3. Gather the top of that tube to reach the same circumference that the top of your tights have.

4. Turn skirt tube inside out, insert tights' top as shown in the picture and attach the skirt tube just below the tight's waistband with a Zig-Zag-stitch. The tights' waistband will be visible at the end and become the waistband of your skorts. So, you need to make sure that the waistband still has some stretch in it to stay up on your child's waist. Otherwise the weight of the skirt will just make it slide down.
Try not to stretch the tights' waist at all while sewing.

5. Remove your gathering thread (Or simply stretch out the waistband until the gathering stitch rips. Don't worry about the zig zag stitch. It won't rip).

6. To finish the lower edge, fold over twice to the inside and stitch.

Sorry for the crappy pictures again. The camera's battery was charging and my phone's camera just stinks in the dark... Also, as you can see my lower edge is not finished yet and the fabric needs some serious ironing. Anika quickly tried it on this morning and it fit perfectly. I will post better pics once I get a chance to have the girls wear their skorts in decent lighting and with enough time on my part to take good pictures.

From Tights to Knee-highs

2010-01-03T11:24:00.000-05:00

Don't you wish you knew what to do with all these super cute little kids tights that are w-a-a-a-a-y too short and keep sliding down?! Well, Disney from Ruffles 'n Stuff had the best idea ever!

- Cut them up, add elastic, embellish = have knee highs -

It's so easy and the results so cute you will want to go out and buy too small tights on purpose. Just so you can cut them up! I made four pair in less than an hour. Klick here for the link to Disney's great tutorial.

In order to get the right length for the elastic, I measured the girls right below the knee and substracted 1/2 inch. They measured 7.5 inches and I cut the elastic at 7 inches. This way they are staying up nicely without being too tight. Also, I did not overlap the ends of the elastic. They are butting right up to one another. This will also ensure a little more stretch and comfort.

And, don't throw out the top of the tights! My daughters are now wearing theirs as super-comfy-warm "underwear covers". They love 'em. Unfortunately, a little bit more than the knee highs I made...
I also think, the tops would be great as the shorts part for skorts... I may just try that tomorrow!

Multi Tasker Tote

2009-12-30T14:09:00.000-05:00

I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas. Ours was great, but went by so quickly again. The kids are in heaven with all the new toys they received. And I am happy, because everybody loves the handmade gifts I made. Well worth the long hours and late nights.

So, now that all the Christmas sewing is done it was time to make something just for ME!
You may remember that I scored this awesome fabric a few months ago. I decided to use some of it for a new bag. I chose the Anna Maria Horner Multi Tasker Tote.

Although, I just finished mine last night and haven't had a chance to really use it yet, I can already tell you that I LOVE IT! It's just the right size for me and has a lot of pockets (There are FOUR on the outside!).

The pattern itself is a bit complicated and the directions require more than one read through. So, I would say it's probably not the ideal project for a beginning sewer's first project.

I also made a few modifications which I would really recommend if you decide to make this bag for yourself:
- add a second inner pocket
- use a front and back piece for each pocket (pattern asks for one piece and seam allowances to be folded inward = very flimsy)
- add magnetic snap
- add fusible fleece to the lining (without the bag will be very floppy)
- fold the tunnel that holds the straps on the side inward instead of outward (A must if you chose different fabrics for lining and straps and don't want the lining fabric to show on the outside.)

If I had to chose between the Multi Tasker Tote and Amy Butler's Birdie Sling bag (which I made last year around this time), I would definetly prefer the Multi Tasker Tote. Both are similar in size, but the MTT is not as deep, which makes finding things easier and the top opens wider: also better for locating things. I also love those four outside pockets. Great for cell phone, keys, snacks, cups....
Both bags take about the same amount of time to make. Probably a solid 6 hours, including cutting and fusing interfacings.

That's all for now. Have to get my brain working on figuring out a New Year's Eve food display fit for four adults and six (6 !!!) children...

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T13:31:00.000-05:00

from our house to yours. ;-)

Just a few more hours and Santa will come to bring us presents. Of course, he will be so quick again down and up the gas fireplace chimney that nobody will even see him. Oh, that magic!
What about you?! Are you opening presents tonight or on Christmas Day?
Either way, enjoy.

Ca-ute!!! - Elise is playing dress-up

2009-12-23T18:36:00.000-05:00

What do you think??!!
Isn't she super cute?!

On one of my latest trips to my fabric store I found a remnant of white and blue gingham. And, instantly, had a vision of the Elise Doll wearing a "real" The Wizard of Oz' Dorothy dress, including red boots and all. I took the Elise pattern, but cut up the front and back dress pieces, the arms, legs and modified the shape of the body. So, all that's really left from the original pattern is the head. I also re-shaped the feet a bit, to make them look a little more like she is wearing shoes.

The sewing part was quite difficult and took a long time. I basically had to work my way down from head to toe. I am surprised how well all the seams matched up in the end. And she is still perfectly baby safe, once you remove the hair ties.

So, if you like her as much as I do and know a little (or big) girl who would love to play with her, you know where to find her!

All done! - A little Show and Tell

2009-12-22T21:35:00.000-05:00

Looks like I have been cutting it down right to the wire. I started in October (!!!), but just today I finished the last of the handmade Christmas presents I had planned.
Time to relax a little. Hopefully.

So, here are some of the things I have made:

Lot's and lot's of pencil rolls.
The idea to include a note pad is originally from Fishsticksandfries. I modified it a little and added the note pad on the side instead of on top of the pencils. I also didn't use any interfacing/fleece.
Some for boys,

(Don't ask, but Blogger keeps flipping this pic for unknown reasons...)

some for girls,

(The top one in this pic is for Yanic.)

and a couple for my little "lefty" girls. Notice, how the paper pad is on the opposite side!
Isn't it funny?! Neither John or I, nor Yanic for that matter, are left-handed. And along come these twins, and BOTH are left handed. It even says so in their Pre-school "mid term" evaluation ;-)

Then a car-cozy with built in road, fit for Matchbox or Hotwheels. The cars are held in place by 3/4 inch elastic loops.

(It also rolls up nicely. Just like the pencil rolls.)

And, here a super duper totally cool T-shirt quilt, made of some of Yanic's old T-shirts that have some significance to him. I really like how it turned out. In order to keep the jersey from stretching too much I interfaced all the pieces. It worked great.

(This is the quilt top, just before I started making the quilt sandwich.)

And have you ever seen a corner so perfectly mitered???!!!

(For the backing I used an old flannel sheet.)

No! Not, from me you have!
Love how the light and dark blue are making the T-shirt pieces pop. I think Yanic will really like it. This quilt is lap quilt size: 40 x 60 inches. I really like this size for working on. Small enough to handle on my machine but still big enough to make a nice-sized blanket.
The next quilt I will make for him will be from all his Hockey tournement shirts. But, it will be a few years before I can start working on that :-)

So, that's it for now. Tomorrow, I am off to the Mall (the most hated place for me...) to buy last-minute gifts for the ones that do not care too much for handmade presents.

Meet the Testers' Elise Dolls - and receive a Discount

2009-12-18T10:10:00.002-05:00

First of, thank you again for the great response to my first pattern. You are all such nice bloggy friends.
All the testers' dolls are in. I love how each one of you put your personal spin on the pattern.

So, first meet Suzanne's Elise:

Don't you just love how comfy she looks in her flannel dress. And it even has sleeves!

Now, here is my dear friend Lauranie's cowgirl:

I don't know how she found the time to test my pattern with all the things she had going on. But, I think she is super cute with her patchy dress and accessories.

And, here is Freda's Suzie Q:

Love her cherry dress. Makes me think of summer....

And, one more! This is Lisa's Elise, all dressed in a Amy Butler designer frock ;-)

Thank you so much everybody for helping me finalize the pattern.

I took everybody's comments into consideration and made a few updates to the pattern files. The pattern is now for sale in my Etsy store. Yippie!
Please go! Get one! You know there are a few girls in your life that would love to get one for Christmas :-)
I know, I will be making more!
I am offering 2$ off the pattern (Sorry, electronic files only. Not for a printed version) for all my blog friends from now until Christmas Eve, December 24th. So, you only pay 4.95$! All you have to do is mention code "2OFF" in the message to seller box. I will send your refund through PayPal right away.

... just a quicky post

2009-12-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

... just because I cannot get over myself and how clever I am.... ;-). Or better, how clever my gift idea was/is.

For our gift exchange at work this year we decided to pick names and limit the amount to be spent to 10$.
So, here is mine:

A coffe cup cozy with an altered Starbucks Logo. The girl I picked is Gurianna, so I replaced Starbucks with her name in Image Pro, printed it on fabric from my computer and appliqued it onto the cup cozy.

I think, it looks totally cool. Don't you think?! With it she will get a gift card as well.

See you in a bit with an update on my Elise doll.

Nikolaus Day and Pattern Testers wanted

2009-12-07T14:40:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: I have received an overwhelming response regarding pattern testers. Thank you so much. I have selected three lovely Ladies, who will receive the patterns later tonight. Everbody else; I will keep your emails for possible future patterns. Thank you so much again.

So, yesterday was Nikolaus Day. For those of you who do not celebrate this day, here is a quick link.
In Germany, where I come from, it is custom for the children to shine their boots the night of December 5th and set them outside for St. Niklaus to come and fill them with candy and small presents. So, all three of our children did just that and this is what they were going to wake up to:

They loved every bit of it and breakfast for the girls was basically candy and gingerbread cookies.

Notice the dolls in the pics?

Meet the ELISE DOLL.

(The girls renamed theirs into "Hockeypuckus" and "Ketchup"....). The doll is about 18 inches tall and made from fabric and felt, with an embroidered face. I have drawn up a pattern and written instructions for it. I am thinking about making it available for sale in my Etsy shop. Before I do so, I am asking for a few pattern testers. So, if you are interested please send me a quick email to "beatrix dot sadek at yahoo dot com". I am looking for a pretty quick turn around time.
I know everybody is busy with Holiday preparations, but maybe you are still missing a gift for a little girl and would have time to make one of these before the end of the week?!
Looking forward to hearing from you.

SMS Giveaway Winner - and Nikolaus Day

2009-12-06T08:11:00.000-05:00

You guys are all sooo nice! 165 entries to the giveaway! WOW! I am overwhelmed.
And you all gave me so many great ideas for gifts for our male teachers. My favorites were:

- coffee/tea cup cozy with coffe shop gift card
- lanyard for the PE teacher
- bookmarks
- journal covers

I am swaying between the cup cozy and the lanyard. I may even make both. So, thank you everybody for playing along and entering in my giveaway.

Random.org picked number "25" as the winner. And that would be Karen from Twiceasniceboutique. She said: "Chocolates, or baking- Men love to eat right?"
If you have a minute go check out her blog and Etsy store. She makes the coziest sleep sacks. If you have a little baby these are a must-have. I have been using sleep sacks for all three of my children and they are the best thing to prevent SIDS and you don't have to worry about thrown off blankets at night.

So, now where does the second part of the post title come in, you ask???!! This is the reason why I am posting at this ungodly hour already! The kids woke up at 6:15 a.m. in order to check out their boots. More on that tomorrow! Have a great second Advent Sunday everybody.

Kindershop Online

Valentine T-shirt Dress

Interchangeable Yarn Wreath

Beginning Beginner Embroidery project

Merry Christmas and some last minute gift ideas

Ruffle Scarf - a tutorial

Nightgowns

Crochettop Dress Tutorial

Bib Skirts

Big 30% OFF SALE

IZZY Coat by Farbenmix

Skate Guards - Tutorial

The "Anika Skirt" in (almost) Mass Production

Van Helsing - Halloween Costume

Name Tags

Little Red Riding Hood Halloween Costume

Pink Pony Halloween Costume

Fall Dresses

Crochet Hats

Back to school! Yeah!!!

Homemade Dirndls

Electric Guitar

Nook Pouch and Around-the-house-dress

Car Seat Organizers

It's voting time!!!!

A once favorite skirt....

Teacher Appreciation Poster

Costumes

Rompers

Sewing projects with Pillow Cases

Non-matching matching dresses

... told you, ....

Pencil Skirt - the longest project ever

Princess Bella Dress - mini pattern review

Beautification of an old dresser

The Flower Garden Dress

Top 50 Style Blogs

A special little doll

The Royal-pain-in-the-rear-Blossom Bag

Patriotic Spirit

For Pleat's sake tote

Organic Cotton Sateen and a New Couch Pillow

Hug Pillow

Ruffle Wreath - A Tutorial

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Ruffle Skirt

Pink Duck and Yellow Duck

Teacher Gifts - Cookies in a Jar

New Hair Pretties

*** SALE ***

... and more dresses... "Hello Kitty"

Halloween Pictures

My Goodies

Raglan-Sleeved Playdress

Recycling last year's All-Season-Jumper-Dress

Scrappy Hats

The Scary Pink Witch and Princess Ballerina

Make it Fit

First Christmas Presents DONE !

Paper Doll Play Sets

New Quilt

Some 70's Inspiration

Polymer Clay

My new Summer Skirt

Winner of the "Anika" skirt pdf pattern

1,000 DONE AND FINISHED

Are you in?!

Twice!!!!

Wanna know ....?!

ART

New Cutie-Pie Hats

Awe!

Messenger Bags

Happy Easter

Shirt Refashion

3 - YEARS - OLD (...okay, almost)

Doorway Puppet Theater

Wow!

Pants

* SALE *