Blog

The Norah Dress and Tunic Pattern Tour from welcome to the mouse house

December 15, 2013

Today I have the honor of being one of the stops on The Norah Dress and Tunic Pattern Tour.

As some of you may know, Hayley from welcome to the mouse house has started her own pattern line, Mouse House Creations. The Norah Dress and Tunic was her first pattern released and I was lucky enough to be given the pattern to work with.
The Norah Dress and Tunic Pattern ranges in sizes from 12 months to 12 years and has many different variations to it. You can make it with a peter pan collar and faux ties as well as make it dress length or tunic length, sleeveless or long sleeves/ short sleeves. The dress even has is made with a fully lined bodice.What I love most about The Norah Dress and Tunic Pattern is that it can be made with regular woven cotton or knit fabric. I have already used the pattern with quilting cottons, sweatshirt knits, regular knits and even this red and white striped polyester-ish fabric. No matter what fabric I have used, they all seem to come out super cute and fit my girls perfectly.I purchased this red and white polyester fabric over a year ago and thought it was the perfect time of the year to finally use it. With it being a polyester fabric I decided to line both dresses with a soft white minky fabric. As you can imagine, it’s comfy cozy…at least that is what my girls say. The minky does add a little bulk to the dresses but that just makes them the perfect dress for the cold winters we have here in New England.

Hayley’s step by step instructions and pictures make it a very easy pattern to follow. What else can I say? I love this pattern…and I think it shows considering I have used it to make 8 dresses already!Thanks again Hayley for asking me to be part of your first pattern blog tour!
Be sure to check out the rest of The Norah Dress and Tunic Pattern Tour. We have already seen some pretty amazing dresses and I am sure there are more to come!

Meeting Santa

December 12, 2013

The kids met Santa for the first time this past weekend. It was so much fun. My little boy asked for a Nerf gun, a toy crocodile and a toy snake. I sure hope Santa told him that he only brings 1 gift to each boy and girl. This little girl asked for a pink salamander skateboard.While her little sister asked for a blue frog skateboard. My kids come up with some unique requests, don’t they?I just hope Santa knows where to find them.

One Round Stuffed Chicken

December 3, 2013

Pattern: Cute Cotton Creations Fabric: Jo-Ann Fabrics

She wanted a sewing machine.

November 19, 2013

My little girl turned 5 a few weeks ago and for her birthday she requested a sewing machine. As you can imagine my heart just melted! After a little research I decided or more like she decided to go Janome Fast Lane Fuchsia Portable Sewing Machine from Amazon. Pink is her favorite color and this one really caught her eye…and I can see why. Once she picked out the machine she decided that she needed some butterfly stickers to go on it. So I purchased these Colorful Glitter Stickers. I can honestly say it was love at first sight for her. The moment she saw her sewing machine for the first time you knew she loved it!
What I am loving most about this machine is that it is small in size and the kids are able to sit and sew all by themselves. They don’t need to sit on my lap nor do I have to push the pedal for them. They are doing it all by themselves. I was a little nervous about their fingers getting too close to the needle but the plastic foot that came with the machine actually has a bit of a lip on the front so it makes it a little harder for their little fingers to get in there. I’m not saying it is impossible to them to get hurt on it, I am just saying it keeps them a little safer then a regular sewing foot. I also purchased the book Sewing School to go along with the machine. Not that I need anymore ideas, but it is great for the kids to look through and see some ideas on what they can make. Most of the time they cannot decide on just one project. They have sewn with it almost everyday since we bought it. They all are loving it and as you can imagine I am loving every second of it too! The machine works pretty good and I really don’t have any complaints other then the lack of a light. It has jammed up a few times but that is usually when a little 3 year old is behind the pedal. So yes, I would totally buy this machine if I had it to do over again.

My little girls first project was a pillow for her foxy. I may be a little biased but I think she did an amazing job! She was pretty proud of herself too!Do any of your kids love to sew? Do they have their own machines?

McCall’s Pattern 6488

November 14, 2013

I have been sewing for myself a lot lately and as you all know it can be both fun and frustrating. This is my second time sewing the McCall’s Pattern 6488. I used it previously to make this dress and it is definitely becoming my go to pattern for dresses. It is a quick and easy pattern to sew. I made this dress in just under 2 hours the other night and that was from cut to sew. I purchased the fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics. It was in with the jean section and to honest with you I have no idea what type of fabric it is. It does resemble a stretch jean, but I am not certain that is what it is. There is some spandex or Lycra in it because it has a little bit of stretch to it. It is actually very comfortable being a medium weight fabric.The pattern calls for knits only but I have sewn it twice with a non-knit fabric and they seem to have worked just fine for me. You just need to make sure that the fabric has stretch to it since the dress has no closures.
I chose to go with the 3/4 length sleeve version since it is already winter here in New Hampshire.My next attempt at this pattern is going to be a pattern remix. I want to remix it into a hooded sweater, what do you think?

What are your go to patterns?

Butterfly Birthday Cake

November 13, 2013

My sweet little girl turned 5 last week. For her birthday cake she requested a pink flower cake with a big butterfly on top.I made a pink frosting rosette cake and used Phoomph to make the big butterfly on top. It was my first time using Phoomph and I can already say that I love it! I had received a few sheets in my bag from GNO, LosAngelos months ago and have been meaning to use it. This was the perfect project to use it with.

The Phoomph was so quick and easy to use. You simply pull off the paper and stick your fabric onto it. No sewing, no ironing.From there you simply cut out your design. I used a butterfly image that I found on-line and used that as my template. I did mess up on the construction of my butterfly and had to use the glue gun a little bit, but if I would have thought about the construction before I got started I could have done without the glue gun entirely. Once I had my main butterfly cut out I simply layered some more fabric pieces on top. Then I hot glued some antenna to the butterfly and glued the entire butterfly onto a wooden dowel. A super quick and easy project.Phoomph is pretty stiff and allows you to make objects that will not loose its shape or that can be used as a good base.
I can see lots of Christmas ornaments being made using Phoomph. Have you used Phoomph before? What did you make?

Advent Calender for Seamstresses

November 12, 2013

I think you all know by now that I love advent calenders and I can’t wait to get started on this years calendar. They are one of my favorite things to make at Christmas time. Last year while I was making my kids advent calendar I thought it would be so fun to have an advent calendar filled with just sewing goodies. You know a special sewing advent calendar for that favorite seamstress in your life…how fabulous? I am telling you right now they would love it and you for forever!

As you can see, this advent calendar is just for inspiration. Of course if it was a real advent calendar, everything would be wrapped.

A sewing advent calendar is so easy to make. You can go to any sewing store and in no time at all, have 25 little gifts. Sewing supplies are usually pretty small in size and inexpensive.

Some fun supplies to buy for a sewing advent calendar are: thread, fabric, zippers, elastics, pins, scissors, ribbons, bias tape, piping, buttons, marking pens or chalk, patterns and of course gift cards.

You can use the usual countdown numbers for your calendar instead of the date. We just happen to be using dates this year. It is just another fun way to add a little learning in there for the kids.

So how many of you would love one of these or know of someone who would?

Handmade Halloween Costumes {2013}

November 6, 2013

This year my kids chose what they wanted to be for Halloween and for some strange reason they wanted to be either a reptile or an amphibian. I have no idea why they chose to be a blog frog, an orange eft salamander or a red diamond back cobra snake, but nonetheless this is what they chose to be…and that is what I had to make. I was really stuck when it came to the design and construction of these costumes. Plus my kids had their own visions of what they wanted made…complete with drawings and all. I am always up for a good challenge, but this one not only my challenged my skills but also my tried my patience. I wanted to give up on the costumes a few times but had to keep going and I’m glad I did because all of a sudden, my oopses and mistakes turned into costumes. I honestly have no idea how it happened but I am thankful it did. I took these pictures the day before Halloween since it was supposed to be raining on Halloween and I wanted to make sure I got some pictures of them. Thank goodness I took pictures ahead of time because if you look close you can see that I sewed their hands on the wrong side and alterations needed to be done to their hoods. The snake and the frog kept loosing their heads. Oh and then my son changed his mind and wanted Velcro added to his vest so that it closed like a jacket. They were quick little changes that made a big difference. No one lost their head on Halloween and they all loved their costumes…and in the end that is all that matters. Like every other Halloween, I spent days working on costumes that were worn for about 2 hours. Will I do it again next year? Of course I will!

I will have separate posts for each of the costumes in the next few days. I had a ton of emails this year about the construction of my previous years costumes so I wanted to make sure that I showed more close ups of their costumes this year for future references. The girls costumes are the same basic design that I have used in the past, with the major differences being in the hoods.

mimi green camera strap

October 25, 2013

I don’t blog about items that I have purchased very often so when I do, you better believe it is something that I love! I have been in need of a camera strap for a few years now. It was one of those things I was going to make myself but just never did. We all know how that goes, right? Well one day I decided to take a little peek on etsy and of course I found the cutest camera strap ever! I mean really, just take a peek for yourself!

I purchased it from mgcamerastraps but you can also find them at Shop Mimi Green. I will start off by saying that they are a little pricey but it was worth every penny.
The camera straps are not only super cute they are also super comfy! And as you can see, the strap has quick release buckles for when you want to take off your strap in a pinch.
The strap fits perfectly when worn either across the body or around the neck. The three different straps that are sewn together allow the strap to contour around your neck and make is super comfy to wear. I don’t even know my camera is there half the time. Plus the best thing is that when I want to take a picture I just pull my camera up. The nylon backing allows the strap to glide smoothly without it getting stuck on your clothes. That was the most ingenious idea ever!
What else can I say…I love it and if your in need of a camera strap I highly recommend you buying a mimi green. Oh and as always, I am just sharing a great find with all of you. I was not paid or compensated to share my thoughts on these straps.

KCW Day 1 {Debbie’s Birthday Dress}

October 22, 2013

Kids Clothes Week has begun!

Will you be sewing along? I will be for sure! For day 1, I spent a couple of hours making Debbie’s Birthday Dress from sewponyvintage on etsy. Suz from sewpony is the designer behind the pattern. The dress is a sweet little A-line style dress with a button and loop closure on the back. The pattern comes in PDF form and can be instantly downloaded and printed off at home. It ranges in sizes from 18 months to 7 years. The dress can be sewn in heavier fabrics like wool, denim or corduroy as well as quilting cottons. I actually love the dress in wool like the picture shown on the pattern cover, but I am trying to use up all of my fabric stash before purchasing anymore fabric.The dresses sew up really quickly. It took me about 2 hours to make both dresses. The pattern was very easy to follow and had lots of pictures throughout. It is a great pattern to try if you have never sewn a dress before. You will need to know basic sewing skills but you can make this dress without having to sew a button hole or insert a zipper. Even I like the idea of that.
I made one of the dresses into a shorter tunic length while keeping the other dress longer. And instead of using store bought lace or trim I made some ruffled pieces out of fabric to be added to the bodice.

If you look close, you can see that I made the lined bodice pieces in the coordinating fabrics as well as the pockets and ruffled pieces.
Pattern: Debbbie’s Birthday Dress from sewponyvintage

Fabrics: Amy Butler Henna Paisley from The Ribbon Retreat, Polka Dot fabric purchased from Jo-Ann Fabrics

Flower: Jo-Ann Fabrics trim section

« Previous Page