Eight-ish years ago, I began sewing for my unborn daughter. In the back of my mind, I knew that my ultimate goal was to get “good enough” to make her First Holy Communion dress. My mom let me help her design my First Communion dress and doing that with her is one of my core memories of childhood. I walked into our local JoAnne’s with her and saw a bridal gown that I loved, my mom created a similar version for me to wear. My goal when I set out to make this dress was to form similar memories with my daughter. Several months ago, Maria and I sat down…
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Looking for a Fun New Project? Sew a Stuffed Animal for Your Little One and an Outfit to Match!
Maria has been ALL about her American girl dolls these days. She has “Rebecca” and has been obsessed with matching her doll. She’s been wearing a ton of these knit dresses and dressing Rebecca in the matching versions. Dressing and accessorizing her dolls has provided hours of entertainment (she gets it honest…dressing my living “dolls” is one of my favorite things) and It’s made me feel like the boys’ have been left out. They don’t seem to take as much interest in her dolls, but they do love “stuffies.” They love bears, dogs, crocodiles, deer…basically anything that looks like an animal and can be squeezed. Enter, this amazing stuffed animal…
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Picture Smocking on Corduroy, my Solution to Carpool Line Entertainment.
Its been a minute since I’ve done a blog post. Life has been wild around here! We’ve purchased land (nineteen acres) in my hometown and are slowly starting to take the steps toward building a house. I’ve found myself spending a ton of time in carpool lines with Robby and Maria in different schools and keeping up with John Luke is a full time job….see the picture below for his personality in-a-nut-shell. I’ve discovered the best way to spend my time in the carpool line is smocking…otherwise I get sucked into social media and yucky news. Soooo these outfits are the fruits of the carpool. I’m going to start with…
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The Dress Them Dearly Sunsuit Pattern is Now Live!!
A few years ago, my friend and I drafted a pattern on my kitchen counter. I had recently learned that I was pregnant and was itching to get sewing for my baby, who would be about six months old when the summer months hit. Dreaming of a chubby baby sitting by the pool in a sunsuit, we set out to design a sunsuit that would be appropriate for boys and girls and would have a ton of room for embroidery and appliqué. We came up with this look. I made several for my then unborn child Robby, and forgot all about it. This past year I’ve been on a mission…
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Trouble Shooting While Shirring. What to Try, When.
As I’ve gone down this shirring road, it has become obvious that each machine has a happy place. No one machine’s perfect settings seem to apply to all. In fact, it seems quite the opposite, one machine’s perfect settings will not even come close to working for another. The stitch length and bobbin tension seem to be the most important variables. Below I will include a chart of the most common issues I’ve seen and how to use these variables to overcome them. In general, the thinner the fabric, the more it “gathers up.” This is normal! To accommodate, you may want to shorten stitch length, place shirring lines further…
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Shirred Mini Nap Dress-How to Make One Without a Pattern.
Welp, I’m back and shirring again. I promise I will write about something else eventually but for now, I’m coming at ya with more shirring. Sometime last year Hill House came out with the “Nap Dress.” It happened to directly coincide with the start of staying at home a lot so it went instantly viral. Its comfy but still “dressed up.” Its cute but extremely easy to wear. I’ve now made myself three, so I figured it was definitely time to make one for Maria too. This decision came right around the same time they dropped their “Tiny” nap dress….so clearly great minds think alike. The basic formula for this…
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I’m on a roll! Tab Pattern Now Available.
I’ve always been a sucker for a tab. In fact, I’ve had a blog post on tabs sitting in my to-do list for about a year now. I like them for girls, I like them for boys, I like them for everyone. I particularly like them when I make Jon-Jons or Jumpers out of thicker fabric and I don’t want to pipe the top of the garment. I think they give the garment a polished look, without having to add bulk with piping. So, this little pattern is now available here. Not gonna lie guys, it took me a minute to figure out how to draft a pattern. I tried…
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PDF Tutorial Now Available! The Shirred Bishop is live.
I have been FLOORED by the number of you all who want a tutorial for a shirred bishop. FLOORED. I am so excited to let you know that the tutorial is complete and it is now available for download. You can purchase it over on this post. Not convinced that you love this dress? Let me list a few of its attributes: Placket and button free (hello independent kiddos, they can put this one on by themselves!) Most sizes (up to size 5) can be made with only 1 yard of fabric. Use almost any weight of fabric-batiste, broadcloth, poly/cotton blends, knits, pique, etc. If that doesn’t convince you, check…
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Spring Sewing Inspiration for Baby, Toddler, Boys, Girls, and Moms!
I’m a little bit all over the place these days. I’m currently in the middle of several Easter Heirloom garments but am itching to get started on Spring and Summer play clothes. This year I’ll be doing a combination of buying and sewing. In this post, you’ll find the ready to wear (RTW) inspiring me, what I think I’ll make, and what I think I’ll buy this Spring and Summer. In the images below, you can see some of the RTW that I’m loving this Spring and Summer, I will link it all under the images. I will also link patterns that could be used to make these items. None…
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Banded Pants Tutorial
How to redraft pant’s patterns to add a banded bottom Every fall, these adorable banded pants fill my inbox and Instagram feed. They’re often paired with appliquéd knit shirts, Peter Pan collared shirts, turtle necks, or sweatshirts. Made for both boys and girls they seem like the perfect cold-weather staple. I love the look of them, comfortable, versatile and classic. This year I decided to make them myself. I used Spechler Vogel corduroy from Farmhouse Fabrics. I found that I was able to make two pair of pants for the price of one of these pair. After watching the Children’s Corner Sew Along on banded Parker Shorts it occurred to…
