Another knitting project

As I am laying here on bed-rest, I have started to think about Littleheart's winter wardrobe. It is still really hot here, and it will be for probably another four months or so, but once the baby is born, I wont have much extra time, so I might as well use my time now. Littleheart loves dresses, she actually will only wear dresses at the moment. For summer it is great, she has a bunch of lightweight sundresses, and chooses what she wants to wear every day. Who knows if she will still be into dresses in the winter, but it is definitely more challenging to make winter dresses. I found this knitting pattern for a cute dress, and thought it would look really nice over a long sleeve shirt and with some bright colored tights. 

It is a great pattern, very clear and easy to follow, and the best thing is, it is all knit in one piece, so no sewing together! It actually didn't take me that long, maybe two weeks, but I was pretty much knitting all day long.

My mom went out to buy me beautiful cotton yarn in nice colors for the fall/winter. This is what my version looks like:

It might be a bit big on Littleheart, but then she can wear it next year too. I hope she likes it (she is VERY picky about her dresses).

If you are interested in some of the other knitting projects I have pinned, you can visit my pinterest board here.

Have a nice day!

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!

Bias tape dress up cape and Superhero costume

Like I mentioned here, we celebrated Purim last week and I made my friend's son a costume. He loves this Israeli Superhero called Mr Tomato and we were looking at the costume you can buy which is very expensive, and made out of that cheap, scratchy costume material. I told her I could make it for him and was happy to take on the challenge.

This is the original costume she was going to buy:

We discussed it and decided that the pants with the tomato shirt, the cape and the mask would be plenty. He could wear his boots with it and it would look great.

So I went to work and this is what came out of 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...

You are my sunshine top

Here is my tutorial for my "You are my sunshine shirt" I will be uploading to the Sew in tune flickr group. It isn't really a full tutorial, I kind of just explain what tutorials I used to make it. But If you are an intermediate sewer you should be able to follow along....So here is how I made it:

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...

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!

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!

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...

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).

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…

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

I am very new to the sewing blog world, and I was always wondering how you get to meet the other sewing blog ladies. When Rikka from Ricochet and Away! announced her sewing challenge, I thought, hey here is a great opportunity!

As I mentioned here the theme of the challenge is pleats, pin-tucking, and smocking. Since my real passion is sewing clothes, and I need to work on Littleheart's winter wardrobe, I chose to make Littleheart an outfit for the challenge. My personal challenge was to try to incorporate all three techniques (pleats, pin-tucking, and smocking) into one outfit and I did!

See where they all are?

Knight's Pleat Sleeves

Littleheart's second Birthday is coming up next month, and I want to make her a special outfit for the occasion. I am planning on making her a rainbow birthday party, and am designing her outfit accordingly. I will post about the finished outfit when it is done, but today I would like to show you how to make a Knight's Pleat Sleeve (which I am using for her birthday shirt). I saw this sleeve on a woman a while back, and have recreated it from my memory (so I am not sure if it is like that shirt, but I like the outcome, so who cares, right?). I call it the Knight's Pleat Sleeve because it reminds me of the armor the medieval knights used to wear:

This sleeve works for any shirt, adults or children.

Want to make it? Here is how!

The outfit that started it all...

You might recognize this outfit, it is the shorts outfit I made for "Shorts on the line" this summer. This is the outfit that gave me the push to start my own blog. I had been thinking about it for a while, but I had the usual concerns, "am I interesting enough?", "is my sewing good enough?", "can i commit to it?"...So I kept on putting it off. Then Melanie, who writes a monthly column for Sew, Mama, Sew! contacted me and asked me if she could use my picture in an article she was writing about sewing trends. She said she would link the picture back to my blog. Of course I was thrilled, and told her she was welcome to use it, but that I didn't have a blog of my own yet. So Melanie linked my picture back to my flickr picture and that was it. I told myself, if she chose my outfit out of the many, then maybe I do have something to offer. And so here I am...

The Lani Overalls

In the beginning of the week I showed you how to make the shirred appliqué on these cute overalls and today I will show you how to make the overalls. What I love about these overalls, and all you toddler mothers will probably agree, is that there are snaps at the bottom so you do not have to take them off to change a diaper.