Mom's perfect fit shirt - the winter version

This summer, when my mom came to visit, she brought along her favorite t-shirt, and I made her a couple more by tracing the original one. When she came back for Littleheart's birthday, she confirmed that they were officially her favorite shirts! Unfortunately, it is now too cold in Switzerland to wear them, so I decided to surprise her with two more, only this time I made them with long sleeves. 

If you would like to make Mom's perfect fit shirt - the winter version then download the basic shirt pattern here and the extra pieces for the long sleeves here.

Follow my tutorial for the summer version here and you will have a winter long sleeve shirt in no time!

I will be linking up to some of the link parties on this page . 

Dropped waist sweater dress with over-sized pleated pockets

I mentioned to you a few days ago that I was chosen to participate in an exchange program with fabric fascination. I chose two fabric pieces called Nest Fabric Bundle by Valori Wells, and received half a yard of each to complete my project.

Since my real "thing" is sewing clothes, especially for my daughter, I decided to design something for Littleheart to wear this winter. I am always torn between practical and pretty. I would love to make Littleheart pretty blouses and cotton dresses, but they are not comfortable, and not suitable for daycare. And she really doesn't have many opportunities to wear them. She wears them once or twice and then they get too small. So I tend to stick to the knits, at least most of the time. So this was a bit of a design challenge - how can I integrate these pretty cotton fabrics into Littleheart's normal wardrobe style.

Exchange Program with Fabric Fascination

I am really excited, I was chosen to participate in an exchange program with fabric fascination. Fabric fascination offers 1 yard of free fabric to 5 bloggers, and in exchange the bloggers make something with the fabric and write up a tutorial on their blog. The tutorial is then featured on fabric fascination and totally tutorials.

There were three bundles of fabric to choose from:

I chose the middle bundle assuming I would make something for Littleheart (the others are too "grownup").

The fabric arrived safely a couple of days ago. I have decided what to make and have already started working on it....I have until November 10th to finish and get my tutorial posted.

I hope you come back soon to see what I came up with!

Bye for now...

Woven neck shirt

I am working on Littleheart's fall/winter wardrobe at the moment. It is hard to know what to make - in Israel the weather is hot and then suddenly gets cold, with very little time being cool. So I decided to make some layered outfits she can wear for the cool and the cold days.
I made this outfit a while back, but I didn't have time to write up the tutorial before all of the sewing challenges, so now finally, I am posting about it. This is basically an outfit made of leggings, a long sleeve shirt and a shrug. 

You might remember the little shrug from KCWC. The leggings are very basic, and not worth talking about. But this shirt is special, because the neckline is woven into it.

Want to make one? Here is how...

KCWC - Last project

Elsie Marley's Kids clothes week fall 2012 is now over. I took on this challenge, and actually was almost able to sew at least one hour, every day, for 7 days (it was harder on the weekend). I must say, it is not easy! I usually sew whenever I have a chance, some weeks I sew almost every day, and other weeks I hardly sew at all. So trying to sew for an hour every single day was definitely a challenge. I think, even though I have some great outcomes from this week, I like it my normal way better. It is hard to sew "under pressure" (well, nobody was really pressuring me, but you know what I mean). For me, sewing is kind of an impulse, I have an idea, and I just have to try it out. It is usually not planned, at least the start of a project. But I did have fun taking on this challenge, and I have six finished garments from it!

KCWC - Day six

I didn't get much sewing done this weekend, but I didn't make Littleheart a pair of plain leggings. The weather is getting a bit colder, so it is short sleeves with leggings season. And you can never have too many leggings....

I put some stretchy lace at the bottom, to make them look a little more interesting....I like the way they fit her, and they are perfect for daycare....

KCWC - Day five

Even though I made Littleheart a fleece hat last year that was really cute, and would probably still fit, it doesn't match her new coat, and I have tons of the butterfly fleece left over, so I decided to make her a hat to go with the coat.

I found this really cute and easy hat tutorial on From an Igloo. It is lined and has a cover for the ears. Just perfect. So I started out with Christine's pattern. But instead of her Dino hat, I put butterfly wings on mine. 

I like the outcome, although I am not sure if it really looks like a butterfly hat. Could just be a hat with ears....Oh well. Littleheart had fun playing with it.

KCWC - Day four

Yesterday I took a little break from KCWC to post my Thanksgiving Jumper with the removable turkey tail, but today I am back with my newest project - a pair of corduroy pants for Littleheart.

I made these pants from the pattern in the Ottobre magazine 4/2012 (called forest path), but I lined them with a soft, knit fabric, so they would be thicker for winter. The fabric is from the stash my mom bought at Joann's fabric this summer. Isn't it a happy fabric? The pants have front and back pockets (hard to see because of the busy fabric). 

Thanksgiving jumper with removable turkey tail

Project Run & Play week 5 - Holiday wear. As I told you last week, I finally joined in on the Project Run & Play sew along. Last week was boys week (I entered my Lego Man Shirt) and this week is Holiday Wear. I was actually really excited this was the topic, since I had this idea in my head, and this gave me a push to realize it. 

See, I am planning a little trip with Littleheart, to go see my family in the States. We will be spending Thanksgiving with my sister. A few weeks ago, my sister sent me a picture of a little turkey outfit she got my nephew for the occasion, thinking it might be a little tacky, but I loved the idea of dressing up for Thanksgiving, and told her I would make Littleheart something to match!

The only problem is, we don't celebrate thanksgiving here is Israel, and turkeys don't really have any meaning here. So I thought I better come up with something that could be used after thanksgiving too....

And this is what I came up with...The thanksgiving jumper with a removable turkey tail that turns into a ruffle! The jumper turned out just what I imagined, and I am really excited for Littleheart to wear it for thanksgiving. And hey, she even let me do a photo session in the park (she is wearing it without anything under it, since it is still hot here, but the idea is to wear a long sleeve shirt under it).

KCWC - Day two

Well, I got a lot of sewing done yesterday and today. In fact, I went to bed last night, and couldn't fall asleep, so I went back to my machine and sewed some more. Then my bobbin thread ran out, and I was too lazy to change it, so I went back to bed. Today is my free morning, so I washed the floor really quickly and went to work on my sewing....

We are going to visit my nephew for his first birthday, and I wanted to make him a special outfit. I chose a really cute pattern, and worked pretty hard, only problem....It is way too big! It fits Littleheart!!!! I hope it is big enough that he can wear it next winter...

KCWC - Day one

Ok, so this week my challenge is to sew kids clothing one hour a day, each day for 7 days. I started a little early, and here is my first outcome. I made a fleece coat for Littleheart. It is my first time really sewing with fleece, and it went really well. I used an adorable pattern from Ottobre Magazine 4/2012 called "Teddy Bear" and it was actually really easy! I sewed along step by step (usually I improvise a bit, but this time I thought I better stick to the instructions) and even learned some new techniques! I love love love the outcome! The pockets are great, Littleheart is just learning the wonders of pockets, and she was really excited about them.

Sewing Challenges

As you know I am new to the sewing blog world, and I keep on discovering all of these fun challenges to participate in. It is a lot of fun (and a lot of work) and through these challenges I find more and more amazingly talented seamstresses out there. Seriously, the projects all of these sewing blog ladies come up with are outstanding!

Anyway, as you know I participated in the Fab Folds Sewing Challenge at Richochet and Away! last month, and this month you can vote for your favorite project, so go check out the amazing projects!

In addition, there is a sewing competition going on at Project run & play where designers compete to create the best outfit based on a theme. Other bloggers (and non blogging sewers) can participate in the sew along every week, and create outfits according to that week's theme. I participated last week (boy's week) with my "Lego Man Shirt". This week is holiday wear, and I have a fun outfit ready to enter. I just need to write up my tutorial. 

Last but not least, Elsie Marley is having a Kids Clothes Week Challenge starting Monday. The challenge is to sew kids clothing one hour a day, each day for 7 days. I am going to give it a try, in fact, I kind of already started, because I cut out some fabric with the idea I would start sewing on Monday, but I couldn't wait so I started sewing...But no worries, I have so many ideas, and not enough time, I won't run out of projects before next week...

Lego Man Shirt (Embroidered Freezer Paper Stenciling)

A couple weeks ago was my cousins son's birthday. He turned 7 and just started first grade. One of his favorite things is Lego, so I wanted to make him something special with a Lego design. I looked around the web and found a cute T-shirt idea  here and here. 

I think the felt is really cute, but I have been dying to try out freezer paper stenciling ever since I started sewing, and my mom just came for a visit and brought me four boxes of freezer paper (I can't get it here). So I took the idea of the Lego Man t-shirt, and painted the man on with fabric paints using a stencil.

Unfortunately I didn't realize that fabric paint does not show very well on dark fabrics (at least the kind I have) so I was a little disappointed when I applied the paint. I did do three layers though, which made it look much better.

Then my mom suggested sewing around the edges with embroidery thread to enhance the Lego Man a bit and make him "stand out". So I did, and I love the way it turned out!

You want to make one? This is how!

Kodak Moments: Rainbow Birthday Party

Earlier this week I posted a tutorial for Littleheart’s rainbow circle skirt I made her for her birthday. We really had a great party, even though some of our family was missing (the one’s that live far away).

It was mostly an adult party, since she is only two, and gets a little birthday party at daycare with her daycare friends. But lots of her “special people” were there, and she was in seventh heaven! I tried not to go overboard, but I did try to put the rainbows in wherever I could (mostly in the decorations and desserts).

Here are some of the things I made and links to my inspirations:

Rainbow Marshmellows

Rainbow Circle Skirt and Rainbow Applique

Remember my post about these pretty sleeves?

I promised you that I would show the whole Birthday outfit, once it came together. The birthday party was so much fun, as you can see we had a rainbow theme, and everything looked great. I will write about the party soon, but here is a tutorial on how to make the rainbow skirt:

I made this skirt for Littleheart using scraps of lightweight cotton fabric, since it is still pretty hot here. I made it big so she can wear it next year too. Since many of you are slowly going into your colder seasons, I bet it would work really nicely with thicker materials too (like different colors of corduroy). 

So do you want to learn how to make the rainbow circle skirt? Read on…