Monday, March 14, 2011

Well That Went Well!

Sometimes I am a dope! I thought I would have my 1st give away and promote my blog so other sewing mamas of boys might get interested. Then I forgot! LOL Well hopefully the next one will go better!

But YAY! for the 4 that are reading my blog! I couldn't pick 3 and leave the 4th out, so you are all winners!! I will email you and get your mailing addresses so I can send you out a little envelope with some scraps to make a beanie!

I think there is one that didn't leave me an email address, so please comment below and let me know what it was. Going to send the other 3 PDF's right now! Have fun sewing ladies and thank you for playing!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011


My 1st Give a Way!!

In honor of my 50th post and my baby(not Tristan) my 1st baby turning 17 tomorrow, I am in the mood to give something away. So let's see. I know! I LOVE scrappy sewing, it is one of my favorite things to do. Whether I am using hard to find fabrics, little scraps left over from other projects or recycled odds and ends from tee shirts and such. My beanie PDF provides a really fun project that even the least experienced seamstress will love to sew. I think it takes me about 5 minutes now from cut to finish! This is probably my favorite pattern for my kids and has gotten the most use. My now 17 yr old loves to wear them, my daughter has wore them in her tween period and Noah my 7 yr old almost always has a beanie on his head. Tristan has a few already too, I guess they are staples of our wardrobe around here!

I will email 3 lucky winners a copy of my Scrappy Beanie PDF pattern and send them a few knit scraps to make a beanie with in the mail! Just leave a comment telling me who you would sew a beanie for(can be preemie up to an adult!) and what kind of beanie that person would like. You could say things like character fabrics, superheroes,bugs, stripes, dots, solids, cars, you name it and I will see if I can find a little something something in the stash! And PLEASE leave your email for me, so I can contact the winner. It's so sad when you win and no one can get a hold of you!!

I will leave the comments open until midnight, Sunday March 13,2011, EST of course! Winners will be posted on Monday, March 14, 2011!

Now let me hear who needs a beanie!!

The Martians Have Landed and a Simple Tute!

The Munki Martians that is! I had a pajama top that I decided really needed to be a pair of shorts for Tristan. I decided to try out the "aqua" shorts from the 3/2008 ottobre and see what I thought. Overall they are a pretty good fit, I think the next time I would add a tiny bit of rise and maybe give a little on the sides. Cloth diapers can sometimes make the fit of these patterns a little tricky! Tristan is a little over 18 lbs and I traced out a 68 adding seam allowance.


So on to my little, very simple tutorial! I love adding embroideries and appliques to boys clothing. It turns something simple into something very creative and fun to wear! One of my favorite things to do is what I call a "sketch" embroidery. It's freehand and your imagination(and your drawing skills) are your only limitations!

I start off by cutting out the tee front and creasing it down the middle so that I can center the design. Then I cut off a square off iron on stabilizer big enough for the design that I want.
NOTE HERE: I am using this outfit for our own personal clothing. IF I were making this to sell, I would not copy the artwork like I have here. I would sketch out a totally different looking spaceship or better yet a rocket!

Next, sketch out the design that you would like to stitch on the non-shiny side of the paper. It has a rougher feel, you don't want the smooth, slicker side.
Center your design and iron the paper down to your tee on the front side.

Now you are going to go right over your lines with your sewing machine and a straight stitch. For the length, don't make it too long, you don't want the paper not to come off easily. The most important thing make sure you backtack when you start and stop your stitches. The more you do this the better you will get, however, I think imperfections give the tee more character!
When you are finished will all of your stitching, CAREFULLY peel off your paper and you are done!! If you have little tiny bits stuck in the stitches, I wouldn't worry, they normally come off in the first wash!



Now finish up your tee and put it on! I think it turned out pretty cute. Besides the fact that I decided that FOE would make a great collar and sleeve edge! Why would I think it would be quicker than just sewing on cuffs?? It's not, trust me, but it's not a bad look for a baby!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

New Look!

Past time for a new header! Hope this will be simple and easy to read!! Stay tuned for my first give away tomorrow!! #51 post!!

Tristan's Spring Start and New Diapers!

I have been sewing quite a lot lately, just no time to show! Baby boy is now sitting up on his own and thankfully letting mommy have a little more sewing time during the day! Now if I could just get the little booger to nap on a regular schedule we would be great!

I am making my way down my list of "needs" for Tristan's Spring/Summer wardrobe! In the past 2 weeks I have gotten quite a few done. I originally showed this tee with the Japanese red/blue/yellow knit interlock. I decided it would be fun to modify the tee some for smaller scraps. I also did a vneck style on a couple and I really like the way they turned out. Very simple too do, I just looked at one Tristan had in his closet from G@p and went for it! Now I have it drawn up so many different ways, I can't wait to sew some more!

The shorts are drafted by me, based off of a pair of RTW shorts that Noah wore a couple of years back. I drafted a pattern for Noah and found he really loved them and they are easy to sew assembly style. So I went with Tristan's measurements and I think they turned out pretty well. We call them our "Junk in the Trunk" shorts, meaning they have lots of room for our cloth diapers! Super easy to sew, especially assembly style! This is why having a serger and coverstitcher seperately is so nice!

Then last week, I volunteered to be a pattern tester for 3 different ladies who had developed new diaper patterns.

The first one really intrigued me because I had never sewn with FOE(fold over elastic), never used hook/loop tape and I had never made a pocket dipe before. I have made 2 of these now and I really like them. Not sure I am crazy about pockets though, I really find AI2's to be less messy to clean up. I think I will make the next ones that I do from this pattern that way instead. Great shape though and they fit Tristan pretty well for being at the end of the size range.

This one sewed together very easily too. A pretty basic turned and topstitched diaper. Fit Tristan pretty well too for the first go around. I think I may try it with snaps the next time I sew it up!

The third one is super easy to sew up. FOE around the diaper, hook/loop and then I made it an AI2. Shown here next to a DDU bigger newborn diaper. This one did not fit us well. It was a great shape too, just needs some adjustments I think. The mama sent me the next size up so I am going to give it a whirl here in a bit and see how well it fits Tristan.

I think that is it for now! I am working on a tute for changing a pajama button up adult top/long sleeved dress shirt into a little mans shirt. It uses all existing hems, so it sews up really quickly! I have the collar to finish still. Also, have a pair of ahoy shorts cut out and waiting to be sewn together! I think I will finish those today and see if I like the fit! Happy sewing everyone!