In this blog post I explain how to use a Bishop Pattern to create a sleeveless bishop. This dress ties at the shoulders and would be considered expert to intermediate level sewing. Knowledge of smocking and pleating it required to understand this post.
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P & M Patterns Bianca
I’ve recently been going out of my way to discover new patterns and pattern lines. Mainly because I bit the bullet and bought a printer (I have a longstanding hatred of printers, that’s a story for another day.) The printer has openned my world to PDF patterns. While I’m still mainly a fan of the printed pattern, I can’t get over how big my pattern world has just gotten. There are SO MANY GOOD patterns out there that I had no clue about. When going down a pattern-discovery rabbit hole, I ran across P & M Patterns. According to her website, Karine Aivazian created the company in 2012. She is…
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Duchess and Hare “Bubble Up” Bubble…for Boys!
Now that I am officially sewing for two boys I am on a mission, people. I need more boy patterns. While I am always here for a Jon Jon, I envy my daughter’s wardrobe for my son. If she’s not in the mood for a dress in one of 75 variations, she gets to wear shorts, pants or overalls in one of 75 other variations. Not so much for the boys. When I ran across this sweet little bubble I was immediately excited that it could easily be done for a boy. This was my first time working with a Duchess and Hare pattern. While the majority of their patterns…
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Gemstone Quick Activity for Kids
Quick activity for babies and toddlers
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Children’s Corner Taylor and Katina Bubble Mash-Up
Recently, one of my favorite facebook groups issued a “mash-up challenge.” The challenge was to take two Children’s Corner Patterns and mash them together to create a new one. I love a good mash-up and was quite excited to do this one. I absolutely love the Children’s Corner Katina and the Children’s Corner Taylor so these two patterns seemed like a great pair for a mash-up. To create clean lines and corners (for some reason they’re more “boy-ish” to me) I redrafted the Katina bodice to look more like the one seen below. The pattern pieces I used are in the image below. The front and back of the Taylor,…
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Violette Field Threads “Spencer” and Tunic Bible
Mommy and Me Match This post has a couple of “firsts” in it. This is my first time sewing for myself and my first time sewing a Violette Field Threads Patterns. I must say, both were really fun! First, let’s talk about Maria’s dress. It is a Violette Field Threads’ pattern. You can find it here. It comes in size 2T-10 (Yay! big girl sizes!) and is insanely modular. You can add a 3/4 sleeve and remove the bottom ruffle so the design possibilities are bountiful. They do a great job of providing tons of model garments in the various configurations which is super helpful if you have a hard…
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Thank you!
As a "thank you" for being a blog reader and subscriber I would like to give you a free embroidery file. I designed the file and bought the rights to it several years ago. It's one of my favorites! Hope you enjoy.
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DIY Play Dough Kit
Taking a moment to break from sewing and talk a bit about children’s activities again. How many of you all have seen these sweet Play Dough Kits on Instagram and Pinterest?! I saw them about a year ago and have been obsessed ever since. They’re extremely photogenic, very engaging, so fun to watch kiddos play with and come organized in an amazing container. I love toys that have an easily storable container (I’m not sure why all toys don’t have an easily storable container) so I am a sucker for these things. Confession: I am a do-er. I often see other people making/doing something and immediately think that I can…
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What I listen to While Sewing…
Confession: I am a podcast junkie. I listen almost non-stop. When I’m sewing I always have a podcast playing on my phone. Awhile back, I mentioned a couple of my favorites in my stories and was overwhelmed by how many people responded with their favorites…apparently I’m not alone in my sewing while podcasting obsession. I thought I’d compile a list of my favorites here….mainly so you will respond with yours and give me new ones to listen to! The 27 Club: this is a new podcast about the life of music artists who died at the age of twenty-seven. Its incredibly well written and produced. Jimmy Hendrix is the topic…
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Creative Needle Easy Sunsuit: Overalls Part 2
This is the second part of a two part blog series. Before you begin, check out my post describing my quest to create a specific pair of overalls, you can find it here. To get the look of overalls, I used the Creative Needle Sunsuit Pattern. I altered it by moving the straps. Instead of having them attach by button in the back as seen in the pattern. I cut them off, and sewed them to the back. Then placed the button on the front of the strap and the button hole on the front of the pattern. I made sure to add a half inch of length to the…
