Design your own sheets!

My little girl is into all the little girl characters like Dora, Hello Kitty, Princesses, Winnie the Poo, etc. One day, she wants a princess bed, the next day a Dora bed. It is hard to keep up.

I went to the store to see what sheets they had, but obviously it is either princess or Dora, so I decided it was time to get crafty.

I purchased a plain set of light pink sheets, and using fabric markers drew all of her favorite characters on it (leaving some more room, just in case we start liking a new character). The sheets are a big success (I have to wash and dry them while she is at daycare, because I am not allowed to take them off of her bed!).

Car Seat Strap Covers

It has been a long time again. I am now 35 weeks pregnant, and am allowed to get up more. In two weeks I get the stitches taken out, and then pretty soon baby girl will be on her way...

I can't sit for long at a time, but I can sew a little bit, so I have been working on smaller projects that don't take too long. 

Ruffle Flap Top

A few months ago I saw a girl on the playground wearing a shirt similar to this one. I thought the idea of the ruffly sides was really cute. Unfortunately, since I did not know the child I could not just walk up to her and take a closer look, or even take a picture, so I made this from my memory. I actually really don't remember what the shirt looked like, but I think this one turned out kind of cute :)

Anyway, it is really easy to make, you just need to alter a normal shirt pattern a bit. I will briefly talk you through it, but I don't have to explain much, if you know how to make a regular t-shirt...

Crossover Ruffle Sundress

Well, it has definitely been a while, lots has been going on, and I just needed to take a little time-out from writing tutorials (not sewing). But I did get a lot done over the last month, and the weather is finally warm (even hot!), so we are getting a lot of use out of what I have made. 

Littleheart is definitely in a dress/skirt ONLY phase (which means all of he pretty shorts are just put away in the closet). I try to keep up with her phases, not easy, since they change so fast. But I have made her a few new sundresses (luckily some of the ones from last year still fit) and have a few ideas for some more.

Anyway, this crossover ruffle sundress was inspired by a dress I saw online (I really don't remember where). Want to make one? Read on!

Giraffe Baby Rattle

I have seen a lot of these soft rattles around lately, and thought I should try and figure out how to make them, since they make a perfect little baby presents, and boy are there a lot of babies due this summer!

I think it turned out kinda cute, although he has a bump in his nose, I guess I didn't sew straight there. Maybe he looks more like a reindeer than a giraffe. But baby won't notice :)

Anyway, this one is for a friend that just had a baby boy, hope the baby will enjoy it!

Princess Costume

Purim has arrived, and I finally finished Littleheart's princess costume. I mentioned last month, that I decided to make the costume in two parts - the tutu under the dress and the dress itself. This way Littleheart will have two dress-up pieces in her dress-up box. You can check out my tutorial for the circle skirt tutu here.

I must say, I cannot take credit for the entire design of the dress. I studied lots of wonderful tutorials before I decided what I wanted to do. You can find my inspiration on my "Sewing Costumes" Pintrest board.

Anyway, I didn't choose a specific Disney princess, since Littleheart really doesn't know them yet, but the style of the dress is definitely inspired by Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella...

I chose pink and white for the fabric, but you can really choose any colors. The pink is a "costume satin" and the white is just a plain cotton. I lined the bodice with a white knit fabric, so it would be nice a soft on the inside (I like soft).

I actually made the dress way to long, and then decided to leave it long, and hem it up by hand with a blind hem to the right length. This way Littleheart can still wear it when she gets a bit taller. If there is a line where the fold is on the hem, I can always sew on a pretty piece of lace. Unfortunately the day I actually put it on her I noticed the front is longer than the back, and the front is a bit too long...But she did ok with it.

Anyway, enough talking, lets get down to business - you want to make your own princess dress? Keep on reading...

Ruffle Leg Shorts

This is the first tutorial for my "You are my sunshine" outfit. My ruffle bottom shorts were inspired by these shorts I saw from the Gap:

I didn't gather the pockets (wasn't quite sure how) and left out the bow, but otherwise, I think they turned out pretty similar. Want to make them? Read on...

You are my sunshine summer outfit

You must think I am crazy, but honestly, I am sick of sewing things for the winter. I find it difficult to find thick fabrics (other than fleece), and well, short sleeves and shorts are so much faster, not to mention how fun it is to make sundresses…

So, even though it is February and cold, I decided to get a head start on Littleheart’s summer wardrobe. I surfed around the net for some inspiration and then started making these sketches:

I really hope I can try out all the ideas from my sketches, and bring you lots of fun, new tutorials.

This first outfit I made for a fun series called Sew in tune. It is actually the winter version of the series, but hey, people in Australia are not going to be sewing winter clothes right now, right? Anyway, you are supposed to sew something inspired by a song. I actually had the outfit idea first, and then realized it was perfect for the series, because it fits the song “you are my sunshine”. My grandmother, may she rest in peace, used to call me her sunshine, and I feel the same way about Littleheart. So this is the perfect little outfit to start off my summer sewing.

I will post both a tutorial for the top and shorts. My pattern is as usual, the size of Littleheart (3-4T) but you can easily make both with any top and shorts pattern.

So come back soon to find the tutorials for the “You are my sunshine” outfit.

Update: You can now find the tutorial for the shorts here and for the top here.

More Baby Presents and Softie Bunny Tutorial

Here is the rest of the baby presents I made for my friend’s baby girl (the first one was a Black Apple doll).I love how the set turned out, and it is nice and girly!

The overall is a pattern for the ottobre magazine 4/2012. I added the lace around the chest, to make it real girly (her first child is a boy, so this time around she needs lots of lace and ruffles!).

The hat is a free pattern from Zaaberry. This is a great tutorial, and really easy. I lined the hat so there wouldn't be any rough seams on the baby’s head.

The bunny is my own creation and the tutorial appeared on Gritsand Giggles in December for a “Becoming Mommy series”. I am bringing the tutorial “home” in case you missed it…

The Circle Skirt Tutu

I have started Littleheart's costume for Purim (a Jewish holiday where all the kids get dressed up). After being a dog her first year

and a rainbow sunshine her second year (see tutorial here)

I decided that it was time to be a princess. I looked around the internet for some inspiration, and decided to make her a princess dress with a separate tutu under it, so that Littleheart would have the tutu after Purim to play dress-up. She doesn't have any dress-up clothes yet, but I think this is the time to start her a dress-up box, so this will be the first item in her box!

Simple fleece skirt with elastic waist

Ok, first of all - Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good holiday season and as we say in Swiss German "E guete Rutsch" (a good slide) into the new year!

The past two months have been a little slow on my blog. I did get some sewing done, but mostly presents, which I cannot reveal until they are given to the people, so we will just have to wait a bit.

Remember how I told you here that I love to sew with fleece? Well, I made myself a skirt out of the left over fabric from Littleheart's fleece coat.  
This is a cute and easy skirt I can wear with leggings and boots. It was so fun and fast to make, I whipped up two more for my sister and cousin!

Guest blogging today...

Hey everybody

Today I am guest blogging over at Grits & Giggles for a wonderful series called "Becoming Mommy", with this cute bunny softie...

Click on the bunny to come check it out...It is my first guest post ever!

The clothes have finally been worn...

Lately I have posted a lot of winter clothes I made for Littleheart, but the weather was always too warm for her to wear them and take pictures. Then we went on our trip to the States, and she finally was able to wear everything, so I thought I would share some pictures with you! I am sorry, they are not all good quality, I don't know if it is just me, but I find it really hard to get good pictures of an active 2 year old...

Pleats, pin-tucking and smocking - all in one outfit!

Fleece Jumper with a pouch

Corduroy Pants

Fleece top with a zip

Thanksgiving jumper with removable turkey tail

Have a nice day!

Holiday Jumper with removable Menorah/Christmas Tree

My Thanksgiving jumper with removable turkey tail was a great hit, and a lot of fun to make. My sister and I were talking about it one day, and found that the options are never ending! We came up with so many new ideas, so the next project for Littleheart's holiday wardrobe is the Hanukkah (Christmas) Jumper with removable Menorah (Christmas Tree). This one can definitely have the interchangeable ruffle like the Thanksgiving jumper with removable turkey tail, but to change things a bit the interchangeable piece for this dress will be snowflakes and a snowman.

Fleece Jumper with a pouch

Today I am going to teach you how to make the second project from my "Fun with Fleece" series. It is a fleece Jumper (or tunic, depending how long you make it. I actually was thinking this year a Jumper, next year a Tunic). It is a really easy, fun little sewing project you can sew up in an evening...Let's get right to the point!

Fleece top with a zip

As you have probably noticed, I like to make every-day clothes. I don't like to make things that are worn only once, I like to see them worn and feel like it was worth all the hard work. 

I got some pretty fleece a couple of months ago. My first project was a coat for Littleheart I made during KCWC. I discovered it is actually really easy to work with fleece, and was excited to go on to my next project.

This time I searched the internet for some inspiration. Mostly I found fleece jackets and coats (which I did not need, since I just made that), but I did stumble across this cute fleece sweatshirt from Old Navy. A simple sweatshirt, but the bottom part is gathered, which makes it very feminine. I looked at it closely, and decided, it is actually really easy to make. I just needed to trace a simple bodice piece, cut two rectangles for the bottom part and of course the sleeves. I left out the collar, since I myself don't love collars.

And this is how I put it together:

Knit Jumper

After all the sewing I did for Littleheart for KCWC, i decided to make some things for myself. I need some everyday, fall/winter clothes, and decided to tackle some of my new knit fabric. When I ordered this purple and black stripe fabric (btw - purple is my FAVORITE color!), I already kind of thought I would make a dress or tunic, but I didn't really have a pattern in mind. Then Jen and Autie over at Icandy Handmade started a series called "Basic Bodice Design Series" which is all about making your own dress design starting with a simple bodice. This got me thinking about my striped purple fabric, and I said, hey, why not try it on myself? I have made tons of clothes for Littleheart starting out with a simple bodice pattern and designing the rest myself, but it seems harder to do it on my own clothes. But this is how I made my jumper, and I am pretty happy with the outcome!

For this jumper I used the Collette free pattern called the Sorbetto top. It is a simple, standard bodice that can be used as a base for many different garments. It comes in sizes 0 - 18 , which is so nice. The Sorbetto top has a pleat in the front, which I did not need for my project, so just cut off that extra strip from your pattern before you cut your material.

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.

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...