Today’s guest is Deborah from Whipstitch Fabrics (Etsy store and real store in Atlanta, USA) and blog. As well as a great selection of fabrics and patterns (and no problems shipping internationally), Deborah runs sewing courses in-store and on-line. She encourages everyone to give sewing a try and has helped to build the sewing community […]
Sewing For Boys Book Review
My parents gave me the book “Sewing for Boys” by Shelly Figuero and Karen LePage for Christmas. It’s been sitting on my shelf since then, just waiting. Well, Boy’s Own Style Month is the perfect time to crack it open. I started with the Little Heartbreaker Pants because pants are the first thing we run […]
Boy’s Hipster Applique Tutorial
The lovely Andrea from The Train To Crazy and Go To Patterns is here today. She’s the host of the Make It, Wear It linky party, and has been a wonderful support to me. She even made my home a happier place by giving me great advice to stop my toddler constantly hurting his baby […]
Repurposing Clothes for Boys Tutorials
Finding just the right fabrics for boy’s clothing can be a challenge. Men’s clothes area great source of fabric (and inspiration). I have a huge pile of old men’s pants and shirts just waiting to be revamped for my son. Here are some of my favourite tutorials for repurposing clothes for boys from around the […]
Give Way!
The next Boy’s Own Style project I planned to share today was some pants for my son (with some extra little details), but colds have taken over our house. My energy levels are low, and this little monkey (in his geometric shirt): …has been nagging me to make him some road signs. So the pants […]
Loops and Pockets
Our next guest for Boy’s Own Style month is Tanya from Sew Many Dreams. She always seems to have lots of sewing projects on the go, as well as the occasional recipe and glimpses of life. She’s also left lots of comments here, and I really appreciate her support. Let’s see how she adds a […]
Boy’s T-shirt Inspiration
With a few T-shirt projects this week, I thought a round up of Boy’s T-shirt ideas was in order: How cute is this Subway Art T-shirt – I love the colours too: I like that this car shirt at Helping Little Hands is a little bit sweet, but still boy-ish: And another simple design great […]
Big Bang Theory T-Shirts
Time for another project of my own for Boy’s Own Style month. Since we’re both engineers, my husband and I love the Big Bang Theory TV show. I love the T-shirts that Sheldon and Leonard wear (hmmm, I love geek fashion: are you starting to feel sorry for my kids?). Little Man’s favourite colour is […]
Geometric T-Shirt
Next up for Boy’s Own Style month is a quick T-shirt up-cycle. As with Stacey’s colour-blocked T-shirts yesterday, simplicity works well with boy’s clothing. So I took a plain red T-shirt (with my strawberry-blonde hair, I can’t wear most shades of red, so I love putting it on my white-blonde kids!): I cut out some […]
Color Blocking T-Shirt Tutorial
First up for Boy’s Own Style Month, we’ve got Stacey from Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy: home to the “Sewing for Boys” book Sew Along, lots of great boy projects such an adorable R2D2 costume and fire truck pillow, and even a bit of selfish sewing: the lovely accordion pleat skirt as part of Skirt […]
Boy’s Own Style – Introduction
I sometimes struggle for inspiration when it comes to creating unique clothes for my son. So July is going to be all about the boy on Cook Clean Craft with: Boy’s Own Style month is all about ways to add a personal touch to boy’s clothes – freezer paper stencilling, appliques, and all the little […]
Men’s Shorts to Boy’s Pants
I wanted a quick sewing project to get me back in the swing of things. My box of clothes to repurpose is overflowing, and simple repurposing projects can be so quick. I started with a pair of corduroy shorts of my husband’s that are getting a bit worn: Most of the fabric is in good […]
Bathrobe for my Dad
I never thought I’d sew a Christmas present for my Dad, but I was inspired this year! When my parents came to visit a few months ago, my Mum was complaining that my Dad’s summer cotton bathrobe really needed a wash, but he didn’t want to put it in the wash as his spare was […]
Travel Drawing Kit
Before we embarked on the Great 24 Hour Rail Journey of 2011, I put a lot of thought into how I would keep a 2 year old occupied in a confined space for such a long period of time. The felt car play mat and a couple of cars and trains were a good start, […]
Sew Ready to Play: UNO Shorts
I’m guest posting today at I’m Feelin’ Crafty for the fun Sew Ready to Play series (hello to any visitors from there!). The game I chose to “play” with was UNO (just about the only game my older brother and I could play together that didn’t end with me in tears!). I made a fun […]
Baby Pyjamas
I’m not sure if this fits in the “Oh my, what was she thinking?” category or not? I guess I’ll find out from my kids when they grow up! During Kids Clothes Week this year, I made Little Man some pyjamas (or is that pajamas?) with this Lion Sleeps Tonight flannel fabric. Well, when I […]
Spaceman Trevor Doll Jumpsuit
When I made the Cardboard Rocket for Little Man’s doll Trevor, I decided he needed a spaceman outfit too. Nothing too tricky though, as I don’t have a huge amount of crafting time these days, and well, Little Man is only 2, so doesn’t always appreciate what I make. I made a simple outfit from […]
Baby Overalls
Who can resist a cute baby in a pair of overalls? The last item I managed to make during Kids Clothes Week was a pair of overalls for Little Miss (and the only thing I managed to sew for her). Once again, the pattern was from Ottobre Design – Pupu (No 4) from 4/2010. I’d […]
Kids Clothes Week 2011
Kids Clothes Week Challenge for Spring (well, Autumn here in Australia) at Elsie Marley fell right in the middle of Me Me Me Month, so I decided not to blog about it as I went along (although I did have a couple of updates on Facebook). But I did sew along, and here is what […]
What a Star: Boy’s T-shirt
With Celebrate the Boy month, my sewing buddy Jenn (carefully matched by Deborah from Whipstitch) and I decided to have a sew-along. We both subscribe to Ottobre Design magazine so we picked the Matisse shirt from the 1/2011 issue (we both have toddler boys so it was easy to agree!). My husband has been making […]
Car, Boat, Train: Fabric Bookends
My husband and I are both bookworms. To instil the same love of reading into our kids, we have a growing collection of kids books. When decorating my son’s room, I wanted some bookends to go with the transport theme, but really couldn’t find anything I liked. So what is a craft blogger to do, […]
Felt Car Play Mat House
Who can we find behind the doors and windows of this little red house? Open it up… …and what do we see… …and a whole little world awaits: Complete with all our favourite places: Swimming Pool, Construction site, Zoo, Houses (including ours – the maroon one!), Car park, Fire station, Petrol Station, Farm, […]
Sneak Preview: Car and Train Bookends
So once again, I’ve failed to get a craft tutorial together (but to be fair, I’ve actually been on holidays this week and scheduled posts before I left). Here’s a sneak preview of a tutorial-in-waiting: I made these fabric bookends to match the quilt cover and wall art that I’ve blogged about previously. I […]
Planes, Trains and Automobiles Applique
If I had to describe having two kids under two in one word it would be: relentless! It feels like someone is always crying, wanting to be fed, needing a nappy change, wanting a cuddle… I don’t think I’ll be going for 3 under 3! But somehow, I’ve got two sleeping kids and a few […]