How I made Un Petit Design's Little Fleece Dress

Now that the weather is cooling down, it's the perfect time for Cadie to wear the little dress I made her using  Un Petit Design's 'Little Fleece Dress' tutorial. You can also find a link to it on our 'Kid Love' page under the All Tutorials tab.

She provides a pattern for both the sleeved and sleeveless version in about a size 4. Since it's made with stretchy fleece, it could easily go up a size, especially if you widened it a bit at the sides. I think both versions are adorable, but I decided to make the sleeveless one for easy layering.

The pattern was totally easy to print up and put together.

And I had a needle and thread handy to mark the ends of the pleats. You can't see it in the picture, but I made small clips at the top (within the seam allowance) to mark the tops of the pleats.

The rest of it went together in a flash. 

When Cadie woke up from her nap it was done, and now it's one of her favorite play dresses.

Enjoy!

Stamp your own personalized ribbon

The other day I wanted a unique way to wrap some gifts in a Sew Can She way and I decided to make personalized ribbon. At this point I must tell you that I am not a scrapbooker, paper crafts person, or stamper. I love the creative stuff that people make, but I admit that...

Fabric is my fiber, not paper.

And stamping is new to me.

So my lettering looks like a really old, over-inked typewriter.

But I love it!

And this isn't really a tutorial, because a tutorial isn't necessary. Just a trip to your local craft store where you'll find adorable alphabets, inexpensive ink, and yards and yards of ribbon.

Then you're probably gonna need three helpers...

One to stamp lots of ribbon.

One to stamp love notes.

And one to stamp herself and the table.

You might stamp a little bit of ribbon too.

Have fun,

See my reusable snack bags 8 months later.

Earlier this year Fabricworm sent me some of their delicious organic cotton and I knew just the fun little project for it. 


Jen from New Green Mama had recently come out with this free snack bag tutorial. The instructions were perfectly easy to follow and made a nice self-lined bag with a generous velcro closure. 

The cute little bags were a hit!

I loved how I could turn them inside out and throw them into the wash day after day, and because I used such high quality cotton, they still look great. 

Here's a picture I just took today, 8 months later.





















And here's one my Sister-in-law Brie made for her little girl. Cute birdie fabric!

So save some plastic from going in the landfill and let your munchkins put their munchies in reusable bags!


Happy Sewing,

The Spoonful of Sugar team makes Thimbleanna's Purse Thingy

When I asked Lisa and Sarah, the adorable mother-daughter team behind Spoonful of Sugar if they would like to guest post for us here, I should have known that whatever they came up with would have that same darling Spoonful of Sugar style. I wish I could mix prints like they do. And check out that teeny-tiny Eiffel tower, swoon! Here you go...


When we were asked to choose one of the fabulous sewing tutorials from Sew Can She to make for a guest post, it was an easy decision. We have been intending to sew the Little Purse Thingy designed by Anna from Thimbleanna for a long while and this was just the motivation we needed.



What we love most about this purse is that it has a clear vinyl window pocket on the front which is the perfect place to hold your ID, Drivers License, or Rail Pass. It is sized for just a few essentials so would be ideal when travelling or when you are just popping out for a short while.

It was fun to choose three co-ordinating fabrics from our stash. We followed the tutorial pretty closely - everything is explained clearly and the steps are all photographed. The only variation we made is that we skipped applying the binding on the inside seams, opting instead to overlock (serge) the edges.  We rounded the bottom corners slightly when we were sewing the purse together and used a little Eiffel Tower charm on the zipper in lieu of ribbon.

We are really pleased with the Purse and plan to make some more. We are planning a special Mother/Daughter holiday next year and the purse will be just the right size to hold our Metro tickets. and the gathered pocket on the back is perfect for a small notebook.

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Lisa and Sarah are a mother and daughter duo who share their crafty tutorials, inspiring projects, and delicious recipes on their blog, A Spoonful of Sugar. You can find more of their pdf sewing and quilt patterns in their Etsy Store.

Trying out IC's Wrist Key Chain Tutorial

My boys' school is already taking donations of craft items for a little Holiday 'store' they will be doing in a couple of months. The idea is that sewists and crafters like me will donate lots of handmade stuff that that the kids will buy and all the money goes to the school. Not a bad idea, really, but I've heard that they sell the handmade goodies for cheap, so maybe I can go too???

Anyway, this week I tried a new tutorial and whipped up 17 of these adorable key chain fobs. I've made them from a different tutorial before and I like this one better because the hardware is much cuter and the strap is just big enough to fit your hand through - genius!

So here is the link to the original tutorial by Infarrantly Creative. I pretty much followed the tutorial to the letter (except for one thing - read on). I love how she uses purse hardware for the clip. I knew I would want a lot of them so I ordered bulk from a Hong Kong supplier here.

The only change I made was leaving out the fusible interfacing in between the fabric layers. I got impatient after cutting 34 rectangles from my scraps and I didn't want to cut out 17 more pieces. The interfacing would have made the straps stiffer, but honestly I think they are fine without it. Then I set my ironing board up next to my sewing machine and worked like a maniac ironing two pieces, sewing them together, and ironing two more...

I do have one quick tip. If your machine lets you move your sewing machine needle over to the right, that will help you get more of the strap over the feed dogs, making everything move smoother and your stitching look nicer.

After the straps were done came the fun part deciding which side would be the inside and picking out ribbon and lace scraps to match. I ended up changing my mind lots and being amazed at how some prints I had thought would go on the outside looked more surprising and cute on the inside.

And FYI, making 17 straps took a total of 5 hours (including cutting and picking out ribbon).

Happy holiday sewing already,

Learn Block Printing from Deanna

In case you haven't noticed, our giveaway right now is a set of 7 beautiful hand-printed dishtowels from Deanna of Salty Style. When I was setting up the giveaway I asked her to send me a picture of the printing tools she uses.











That picture was so intriguing that I asked her if she would write a whole blog post for us (okay, mostly for me) showing the process. I'm so thrilled that she did, and I can't wait to try it.

So here you go... Deanna's tutorial for block carving and printing:

Before taking a block printing class in college, I was beyond intimidated by the printing process. Quickly, I learned that aside from being soothing, carving and printing were easier than I imagined. Now, in response to questions about carving blocks, I encourage those curious to give it a try; it's a hobby that anyone can enjoy. Really! You'll need to sketch a little. If you think you're not the artistic type, don't run away! Drawing is another subject, but you can do it. Just think of something that inspires you. (I'm wild about anything ocean. Feel free to check out more prints!) Look at pictures, and loosen up on that pencil. Forget about straight lines and perfection. Scribble, doodle, and have fun. The first step? You'll need a block! I work with linoleum; strong enough to take the beating of constant printing and scrubbing since the fabric paint I use is quick setting. Blocks are cheap, and are available pre-cut in various sizes. In our little town of Astoria, Oregon we're fortunate to have an art store with a good supply of printing materials. You can shop at Dots N' Doodles too.

After choosing a block size, you can either sketch straight onto the line, or on paper. If you choose to draw on paper (this is the easiest way to transfer letters, rather than writing backwards) use a fairly soft sketching pencil. Place your drawing over the block, face down, and rub the paper with a wooden spoon. This should transfer your drawing, and you're ready to carve! I chose a simple anchor sketch; easy!

Time for carving tools! Everything you need to get going, you'll find in this starter kit by Speedball. Before you begin carving, take a second to think about positive & negative spaces. You can always just carve along your lines, keeping it simple. I'll be carving texture around the anchor, cutting the lino out around my sketch, so the anchor will remain solid.

Be cautions. Always cut away from your body & appendages!

Since I also print on soft fabrics, my lines are deeper than they need to be for printing just on paper.

When you feel like you're done carving, it's time to print!

You'll need a flat surface for rolling your ink. I use a glass cake plate. Just squeeze a little ink onto your smooth surface, roll the ink around with your brayer, then roll the ink onto your block.

Place your block onto paper, or paper onto your block, and rub the paper with a wooden spoon.

Peel the paper off, and Voila - your beautiful creation! You are now a block printer!

Easier than you thought, right? Have fun, and print away! I would absolutely love to see your masterpieces; post them on Salty Style's facebook page! I'll do my best to keep the new prints coming too.

Guess what my favorite sewing tool is.

September is National Sewing Month! Today I'm guest posting over at The Sewing Loft Blog and sharing with you my favorite sewing tool in a special National Sewing Month series all about the tools of our trade. Here are some hints about the tool(s) I picked:

I bought my first ones here.

This tool comes in these colors.

And I used it to make this super-sized nap mat when I was writing the blog post.

Ready to find out what my favorite sewing tool is??? Visit the Sewing Loft Blog now.

What's your favorite sewing tool?

Fabric Shopping in Nassau!

So... If you've been following the chatter on our facebook page lately you may have noticed that I left the updating of Sew Can She in the very creative hands of Sarah from Blue Susan Makes while my husband and I ran away for the weekend. Now that we're back I can tell you we went to the Bahamas! 

We went on a cruise that we've been on before and we just keep repeating because of the price and the easy weekend itinerary. The main stop was in Nassau and to tell the truth, I felt like I had already seen and done all that I would enjoy there until the thought occurred to me that they must have a fabric shop or two. 

So as soon as we got off the ship and exited customs I looked around for a local woman who might point me in the right direction.  We found someone and she was friendly enough to even walk us to the necessary  bus stop. Then, after a 15 minute bus ride we arrived at our destination - which was well off the beaten track for tourists like us. 

Check out the Home Fabrics store on Madiera Street!  What an adventure, we were the only non-locals there. 

And, to my delight the entire first floor of this two story fabric shop was on sale for 50% off!

They didn't have carts so my husband had to lug around all the bolts that I fell in love with. (I wish I had gotten a pic.) That first floor had an amazing selection of linen and wool suiting fabrics at super prices. Plus I found an adorable knit I had to have.

Here's the sweet cutting lady who helped me. Her name was Loretta Hepburn <3.  

After browsing some more upstairs to be sure I had every thing I needed, we checked out and went outside to wait for the bus again. 

Here's one last pic taken from the bus stop. 

Since we've gotten home, I've googled fabric stores in Nassau and found several others I need to visit the next time we go.   Any one else up for a Bahamas cruise and fabric shopping in Nassau???