--- Cascade Dress Tutorial -- Figgy's and Me ---

Back in august I entered a little competition Figgy's Patterns was having, where I made a cascade- high- low dress for Miss E from their circle skirt pattern. Guess what I won! One of the perks for winning was having the tutorial of the dress created and published on their blog. How cool! Well today I'm sharing the tutorial on my blog- in case you missed it!

This is a pretty easy dress to sew and your daughter will enjoy to twirl in it for hours.
You can make it in any size really and the starting point is the circle skirt which you can find here. For all the instruction and how to, just click on the photo below.

and in case you are interested there is a small interview on the Figgy's blog where I answer a few questions about sewing and I even share a recipe! Have fun!

--- Men's Shirt Refashioned -- Project Run & Play ---

Today's Project Run & Play sew along theme is the Men's Shirt Refashion. 

As much as I wanted to sew up something new and  I did cut out all the pieces, I just didn't get a chance to sew it up- I will try to have that done by the end of the day.

I also had another project- that has been in my fix up pile for months and it was to resize and adjust the first refashioned men's shirt I had done 8 years ago! So today I refashioned a refashioned dress... 

The proportions of the first dress I made were really off. For this dress to fit miss E properly, I had to make the top part shorter and widen it too. So I pretty much unstitched parts of the original dress and then with that fabric, I added it to the center back for more ease. I also removed an invisible zipper that was on the side of the dress and put in a new on at the back.

This dress used up all the fabric from the original men's shirt, all that was left over was the collar and the cuffs. I made uneven pleats at the front, cut my fabric in all the directions, used the sleeve for the back panel and even made a ruffle detail at the hem. I had lot's of time and was ambitious back then!!! I also added some gros- grain ribbon for the straps and at the waistline for a pop of color. 

Since it's -20 degrees here in Montreal these days, I though Miss E could still wear her new dress and paired it with a denim shirt. She loves it! 

--- Sweetheart Dress -- Project Run & Play ---

 

This weeks theme at Project Run & Play is to create a Valentines Inspired Look. When I think Valentines I think: love, hearts, red and pink. I didn't think too much about what I was going to do or how I was going to interpret all of these things- I knew I wanted to make a sweetheart dress with a drop waist. Maybe your are thinking how un-original, at least that's what I'm thinking! But sometimes it's nice to do the obvious... 

So I made a reversible dress for Miss E.  This side of the dress represent the pasionate side of love, the fun and exciting kind.

I found this polka dot fabric at a garage sale last summer. I was going to use it for a clown costume, but this is wayyyyy cuter!

I used my own pattern... It's just a bunch of rectangles really! If your looking for a great sweetheart dress pattern I strongly suggest you check out Lovinthemommyhood one- it's so stinkin' cute. I wish I had planned this ahead and would have probably avoided a few headaches!

 

I had to fix the back a little as I had made my heart to big and the dress to boxy- I took the dress in at the center back seem and fixed the problem. It fits quite nicely now.

This side is the long lasting, sweet side of love. I love that the fabric is a little see through and you can see the dots coming through- it gives a tone on tone polka dot effect.

The fabric is just a light pink cotton and used some snaps for the closure- so Miss E can wear both sides.

 

And then for my daughter Minnie Mouse is who she is loving these days... and how perfect they have matching- well almost- dresses. She couldn't be more thrilled. And that's what I LOVE about this whole process...



Wishing you all a Happy Valentines day! May your day be filled with love, hugs, kisses and lots of tickles!

 

 

--- Boy Outfit -- Project Run & Play ---

It's week 3 of Project Run and Play and I had so much fun crunching out an outfit for Miss E last week, I knew I had to participate again this week. I got all mixed up with the order of the themes- OMG this week I was to create a Boy Outfit and not what I thought was the upcycled men's shirt challenge!

As usual, I'm a last minute kinda girl! I started this on wednesday and finished sewing last night- took the pictures this morning... Yikes!

Sewing for boys is always a bigger challenge for me. When it comes to sewing for girls, the possibilities are endless, as for little boys- you need to find the right balance. Maybe it all depends on were you live in the world! I think I'm a lot more European in my boy style, than Canadian or American. Needless to say, I do love to sew for my Mister M- I love the challenge, it always requires me to think a little more and pushes me further...

This week, I wanted to make an outfit that would be, I guess, dressy casual! Something he can wear to birthday parties or out for dinner, but once you pulled the outfit apart it would be something he could wear any day of the week. Something a little hip and cool...

I knew I wanted to make some tuxedo style pants- I had bought the fabric before christmas and was hoping to make them then... The black fabric is a brushed cotton velveteen, the tuxedo stripes are simple gros-grain ribbon, which I sewed on to the front of the pant. I created some pockets and lined them with superhero printed fabric. Shhhh, it's our little secret! 

I have to say I'm a little jealous, I could use some hip tuxedo pants. 

The next thing I sewed up, was a Grandpa Cardigan. I also created a patch at work ( I have access to a fancy embroidery machine). I only used my overlock to sew this up- so quick and easy! The fabric is fleece on the inside and a knit on top. I found this at my local fabric store and thought it was cool. Originally I wanted to make Mister M some pants, but this turned out much better. 

Mister M is always wearing hoodies and refuses to wear sweaters, so I thought this was a nice compromise. I closed with snaps, so he could put it on and off all on his own.

Lastly I upcycled an old striped t-shirt of mine- I just re-sized it really. And the same goes with the hat- it's a thrifted hat I used to wear, but it's way cuter on Mister M.

So next time I'll try to sew a little more in advance, because having 10 minutes to take photos before we head over to daycare is not such a great idea... This is how it started off- someone wasn't in the mood. But at least he loves his outfit!

See you next week- hopefully!

--- polka dots and stripes ----

 

So I did get around to sewing a little something last night for the Project Run and Play challenge of creating a Polka Dot and Stripe Outfit. I just couldn't resist, stripes and polka dots, two of my favorite prints and just the best when combined together. Since I only found out about this last weekend, I didn't have much time to prepare, but thank goodness I had all I needed at home to complete my outfit!

 

It's kind of cool to see what you can do with some thrifted curtains and a a thrifted tank top! The tunic/ dress is made from that curtain and the short from a womans tank top. Curtains are the best when it come to upcycling- lots and lots of fabric to play with. This one is white with fine blue stripes. I was going to make a blazer for Mister M with it originally- like 2 years ago... No worries, there is a second panel!



 

 

And what little girl doesn't need biker shorts? I wanted to make some last summer and didn't get around to it. These are perfect for wearing with dresses and tunics in the summer time- the slides at the park can get pretty hot and my daughter would always complain when she wore a skirt or dress. You know I'l be making loads more of these, they are really hard to find in stores. These are pretty much like leggings, but shorter and I added a cuff at the hemline.

 

I took these photos real quick this morning... Miss E wanted to wear the outfit to school, but it's -24! She said she could wear the shorts over some tights...

I'm sure we'll figure a way to wear this before the summer comes around!

 

 

 

I didn't use a particular pattern, I just cut up a rectangle and created the neckline. For the sleeves, those are rectangles too, folded over. And on the front I appliqued a circle ( a big dot!) in the same fabric- I added some fusing since the fabric is a little see through and to give it a good shape. 

 

 

To give the dress some shape and a cute silhouette, I stitched an elastic- starting a little at the front and all arround. I used some bias for the neckline and covered a large button with the polka dot fabric- for a little reminder. The button is a little big- it's all I could find at midnight last night.

 

 

 

The next challenge is an upcycled Mens shirt- You know I'll be doing that one too! The first thing I ever created for my first kids collection was an upcycled dress from a mens shirt. I think I'll re-create it for Miss E...

 

--- Bear Hoodie --- Knock It Off Series ---

Oh, it's been so long since I posted anything on the blog- so sorry! I'm working on a few projects that have been taking up all of my free time. I promise I'll be back soon and I've got lots of little things I want to do and share right here on this blog- so please check in!!!!

 

Are you all following along with Project Run & Play? I was really hoping to get something sewed up for the stripes and polka dot challenge- which is right up my alley, but am pressed for time. I still have tomorrow night, right? If you are sewing along, let me know I'd love to see what you've been up to...

 

And just in case you missed it, I took part of the Knock- It-Off series hosted by Elegance and Elephants  and thought you might like it... So here is the guest post form a couple weeks back. Enjoy!!!

 

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Hello everyone! I'm Celina and I blog over at Petite à Petit and family and very recently I started a sewing blog, Let's Do Sew. I used to sew and have my own little kids label, until recently, now I work a full time job, I blog and sew for my kids in my spare time. I am so excited to be part of this sewing series, it's always fun and challenging trying to reproduce an item of clothing you just can't afford or just doesn't come in the right size. There are so many inspiring labels and images on the internet, that I had a hard time narrowing down just what I wanted to do, it doesn't help that I'm terribly addicted to Pinterest and the amount of cool stuff on that site is endless. Finally, when this image of the bear hoodie from Oysho popped up on Pinterest, a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had found my knock off project.

So I got inspired by the Oysho Ladies lounge wear Bear Hoodie...

and made a cute and comfy hoodie for my daughter... I also made my son a bear sweatshirt from the same company which you can see here on my sewing blog. I can never make one something without the other wanting their version too.

So today I've prepared a little tutorial, so your kids (or you) can enjoy a cute bear hoodie as well. I won't be providing any patterns for the hoodie itself, but I've prepared everything for the appliqué face, paws and ears.

The first thing I did was draft a pattern from an existing hoodie, I traced the front, back, sleeves and hood. Then I grabbed my front bodice pattern and figured out the proportions for my appliqué face & bear paws (1st two photos above). I created 2 PDF files for you to print with the patterns of the the bear face, paws and ears which you can find HERE & HERE.
This is what these files look like:

- Print out the pages and cut out the patterns.

- Now grab the biggest piece entitled "Bear Face" ( it's on a fold, you might want to cut the pattern out as a whole) and place it on your front bodice in the center and about 3cm from the lower hem. Now you want to add notches to your front bodice, as I did in the first photo above. This will help you position your pieces later.

- Do the same with the paw pattern, position it on your sleeve pattern and add a notch to your pattern to determine where you would like the paw to be sewn on. Your paw should be approximately in the middle of you sleeve pattern taking a the cuff, if you have one into account.

- Now we need to modify our hood pattern. I added 4cm to the width of my hood. Depending on the pattern you are using, you might have to add or subtract, however it's better to have more than not enough!

Now your pattern pieces are ready. Let's cut out our fabric. I used some french terry I had for the hoodie, then I used white sweatshirt material for the face and inner ears, pink sweatshirt for the cheeks and brown leather for the nose and paws (you can do this in brown felt or sweatshirt material too!).

Now we are ready to sew. I started with the face.

STEP 1: align your face pattern with the notches (see the pink circle) in your front bodice & pin in place & sew all around at 2-3mm from the edge.

STEP 2: Pin your cheeks in place & sew all around at 2-3mm from the edge. For the nose, since I used leather I used a glue stick to hold my piece in place and then sewed all around at 2mm from the edge. If you re using fabric or felt, simply pin your pieces in place.

STEP 3: I traced my eyes with a pencil as a guide line.

STEP 4: With an embroidery needle and some brown embroidery thread I embroidered the eyes with a stem stitch. You could just use a fabric pen and draw the eye in too.

STEP 1: I followed my notch for the placement of the paws on my sleeve. I glued the pieces onto the fabric with a basic glue stick to keep them in place. If you use fabric or felt, then I suggest you pin them in place. Then, I sewed all around at 2mm from the edge.

STEP 2: I stitched the inner ears to one layer of my outer ears at 3mm from the raw edge. Then I sewed both outer ears together at 1cm and then trimmed off 0.5cm for perfect raw edges.

Optional** I fused one of my outer ears for a little more stiffness.

STEP 3: For some added shape, I then folded my ears in two and topstitched for about 2cm.

Sewing the ears to the hood is the trickiest part, probably because of the technique I used! Using some bias could have been a lot more simpler. Oh well It's too late now!

STEP 1: Sew your hood together first. Then place your ears were your notches are at 4cm from the edge and about 6cm from your center seam ( therefore the ears will be 12cm apart). Fold your fabric (4cm) over, good side to good side, therefore you can now see the wrong side of the fabric. PIN all a long.

STEP 2: Sew at 0.5cm from the edge of your fold.

STEP 3: Open up your seam and turn your fabric over. You can iron the seam down if you like.

STEP 4: Fold the edge of your fabric over by 0.5cm.

STEP 5: Fold that over by 1cm and pin down. It's sort of like sewing on some bias.

STEP 6: Turn you fabric over and sew inside the groove of your first seam.

Wow! We did it! Please, if anything is unclear and you need more assistance let me know, I'll gladly help anyone out. I'm new at this tutorial business and still have a lot to learn and refine.

There you have it! The real and the knock-off. I left out the drawstring for security reasons. I added some cuffs to the sleeves, so I can turn the sleeves over and so my daughter can grow into it. I also added a cuffed hem simply because I like the look better and It's so much easier to sew then to do an actual hem!

You could totally add this cute little bear face, paws and ears to any hoodie you already have, by following the same steps, when you get to the ears, you could just topstitch them about 3cm from the edge.

Thank you so much for having me be part of this series Heidi, my daughter is over the moon with her new hoodie and she has you to thank.

-- DIY-- Black Bear Sweatshirt --

Oh, so much to share! First, I wanted to let you know I'm over at Elegance & Elephants today, participating in the Knock-Off series and I'm showing you how to make this Bear Face Hoodie in the photo up top. Go check out what the original looked like and you can even make your own with the tutorial.

Now it goes without saying, my son had to have his own bear hoodie. So luckily the website I took my Bear Face Hoodie idea from also had a slightly different version. And Mister M politely requested his bear be black...

So I'll be sharing a tutorial on how to make this simple bear appliqué sweatshirt with you today. However, I won't be providing any patterns for the sweatshirt itself, but I've prepared everything for the appliqué face and ears.

- The first thing I did was draft a pattern from an existing sweatshirt.

PHOTO 1
- Then I grabbed my front bodice pattern and figured out the proportions for my appliqué face and ears (1st two photos above). I trace a line across the chest approximately 4cm from the lower armhole. And drafted my ears about 6cm from the armhole curve.

- You can print out all the appliqué pattern pieces from a PDF file I provide HERE. (PHOTO 5)

- Cut those out and place them on your front pattern piece. Place the outer ear along the line you drafted  across  the chest at approximately 6cm from your armhole. Create two notches on either side of the ears for easy placement later.

PHOTO 2
- Now cut your pattern across the chest. Your front pattern piece is now 2 pieces.

PHOTO 3-4
- Cut your 2 front pattern pieces. DO NOT forget to add 1 cm on both front pattern pieces photos .

PHOTO 6
-Cut out the remainder of the pattern pieces.
I used grey sweatshirt material for the main sweatshirt. Black sweatshirt for the main face, as well as for the outer ears. Then I cut the inner ears and cheeks in dark grey. The eyes and nose in brown leather (felt or fleece, sweatshirt or t-shirt material could work), I reused the grey sweatshirt material for the snout and some white for the inner eyes.

PHOTO 7
- Now we can pin in place the outer ears ( use your notches as guides), the snout and the cheeks. I glued the leather pieces with a regular glue stick.

- Sew all around your appliqué pieces at 2-3mm form the edge.

PHOTO 8
- Pin the remaining pieces: the inner ears and the inner eyes. I glued the nose on.

- Sew all around your appliqué pieces at 2-3mm form the edge.

*** I used brown thread for all my appliqué, except I used white for the inner eyes.

PHOTO 9

- Embroider the details of the bears mouth. I used some brown embroidery thread and a chain stitch.
- Sew the top and bottom front pattern pieces together.

- Sew the remainder of your sweatshirt as you normally would.

- Wear proudly!

If you have any questions, please let me know I'll gladly help you along the way...