The Ruffle Pop Skirt

I'm finally back at the sewing machine, after a frantic few weeks of custom fabric designing, and photography assignments!  I've got a few projects on the go - this is the first...

I had a piece of fabric looking for a home...and decided on a quick and simple skirt for Miss 6.  The fabrics in the skirt are two of my designs...if you want to replicate the look, links to get hold of them are at the bottom of the post.

This is another from Jen of Tie Dye Diva.  I like her patterns as they are fast and easy and I don't have to read the instructions over and over again to get it right!  It's called the Ruffle Pop skirt, and it goes from a size 2 through 8.  A great quick sew.

I opted to use pre-ruffled eyelet for the trim.  I had no idea it even existed till last week...  I'm not a big ruffle fan - all that gathering usually puts me off!!  But this was too too simple, and I will most certainly be using it again.  Plus I think it looks really sweet :)

The hardest part of the whole process was getting a photo of the finished skirt!  My daughter has taken to silly "model" posing whenever I ask...  It's a bit like pulling teeth to get a decent shot right now...but you get the idea anyway!

The main fabric for the skirt is this one:




and the matching stripe is this one:



Have a great weekend!
Shelley

Shorts for my Boy!

A belated post today...  It was summer, and time for some new shorts for my 2 year old.  These were made for him for Christmas, and are a larger size of the ones I made here.  I really like this pattern - again it's from Tie Dye Diva, Jen's Way Cool Shorts...

 

I made these in a size 3 - so they have plenty of room for him to grow into, and since they are Cargo shorts, a little baggy matters not!

I used my own fabric design, available on Spoonflower.com in this collection:

Then I used one of the details from the fabric design to create an iron on transfer for a quick matching t-shirt...

It's a bit hard to get a good shot of a bouncy 2 year old who won't sit still for more than a second...but I tried!

Some views of the front...

 

Some views of the back...

And we end with an action shot!

 

 

A Daydreamer for my Daydreamer...

Hello!

I forgot to post about this little dress I made for my daughter a few months back.  Well, for Christmas really!

It's called the Daydreamer dress - another from the very clever Jen of Tie Dye Diva.  Of all the things I made her for Christmas, this was the one she chose to wear on Christmas Day...

 

She chose the fabric - it's an Ann Kelle print (Birds in Spring).  I thought it might be a little young for a 5 year old, but apparently no!

 

I made her a size 4, with a 5 length...she typically wears 4 as she is pretty slight.  She had particularly requested a LONG dress - so long it is!  The fit is great - particularly with the tie at the back.

 

Next time I will probably go with a rolled hem on the bodice ruffle and hem - just to save time! 

 

She loves it - and it is nice and light for the very long hot summer we have had...  Also good apparently for climbing trees....

 

Running through orchards...

 

...and picking apples!

Little Boy Bedroom Part 4 - Pillowcase

Hello again!

So...we have the wall canvases...the lampshade...the roman blind...now we move on to the bedding.  The pillowcase to be exact!

UPDATE:  This tutorial has been very, very popular, and after numerous requests for me to make this a PDF downloadable pattern - I finally have.  I've included cutting dimensions to give a little more ease on a standard size pillow, and full step by step instructions with photos.  If you would like a copy of the revised tutorial, - you can find it in my store right now by clicking on the image here:

The kind of pillowcases we use here have a flap on the inside to keep your pillow from falling out.  I have recently found out that these are called "Housewife Pillowcases".  As opposed to the ones with no flap, which I believe are called "Bag Pillowcases".  I much, much prefer them with a flap.

I made my pillowcases out of a yard (36" by 42") of fabric.  It might take a little more or less depending on how many different fabrics you want to use, and if they have a "direction".  This example has just one fabric throughout...

This one has a different trim only...

And these ones have different contrast piece and trim piece...

The room is nearly done!  Just the quilt and wall decals to go!

Little Boy Bedroom Part 1 - Canvases

Ok...so quite some time ago I started work on my 2 year old's bedroom...  I wrote about it way back here.  I have two more things to finish, then I'll show you the complete room!

Until then...the first in a series...the wall canvases!

I decided he needed some art to match the rest of the room I was creating for him.  My son loves robots, so I designed a range of fabrics for him, and his room, over on Spoonflower.  I started with the canvases - for a quick project to get underway with.

I didn't stretch canvas over frames.  I took the simpler option of buying pre-stretched canvases from a local art store.  Mine measure 8 inches by 8 inches.  This allowed me to use a regular weight fabric (I used Spoonflower's Cotton Poplin), rather than a heavier weight canvas-type.  You could use any fabric at all using this method - regular quilting cotton would be just fine.  The best thing is that I could get an exact colour match to my curtains, quilt, etc, etc, by using the same fabric type.

Here are the finished canvases on his wall:

For each canvas you will need:

• One pre-stretched plain canvas (I used 8 inches by 8 inches - 1.5 inches deep)
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Staple gun, or hammer and tacks
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Masking tape
• Fabric (I used my own panels here - which are four different fat quarters on a yard)

To calculate how much fabric you need...take your canvas width and add two times the depth to each side for wrapping.  So for my 8 inch square canvases, that are 1.5 inches deep...8 + (1.5 x 2) + (1.5 x 2) = 14 inches square cut fabric.  From a fat quarter you can cover a maximum canvas size of 12 x 15 inches, at 1.5 inches deep.

Use your ruler to measure out your fabric and then cut it to your desired size...

Place the fabric over your canvas so that the canvas is centred underneath.  If you have stripes like I do - you need to be careful with your positioning so that they are straight.  I found the pre-made canvases were not perfectly square.

Once you are happy, flip it over

Pull the four sides in and tape them in place temporarily - pulling them in firmly, but not too tight that you would warp the print.  Flip it back over once you've done it to make sure you are still happy with the placement on the front.

 

Start by stapling (or tacking) in the centre of each side through to the wood.  Then move to each corner, folding them in neatly.  Here are some shots of how my folds look:

 

 

 

So the back is not perfect, but not too bad for an amateur!

The front - very happy with, and so is my wee boy!

 

 

I love how they look in his room.

 

Next on the list to share with you...the lampshade!