After the Angelina Ballerina Costume and Peppa Pig T-shirt, a quick skirt (not related to any TV show!) for Celeste was in order for Kids Clothes Week (yep, Jacob missed out this time!). I’ve never used the gathering foot for my sewing machine and it was time to give it a try. I started with […]
Angelina Ballerina Costume
After the Peppa Pig T-shirt for Day 1 of Kids Clothes Week, my next project was something Celeste has been asking for for months: an Angelina Ballerina Costume. It’s still missing a few details – the flower on the waistband and big pink bow in the hair. I have a very observant (and demanding) little […]
Peppa Pig Applique – Kids Clothes Week Day 1
Kids Clothes Week is on again – the fun challenge to sew kids clothes for an hour each day for seven days. This time around, I’ve had a dilemma. My kids don’t really need more clothes. They are both on the skinny side and their waist measurements haven’t changed much since last summer. All their […]
How to make a Ballerina Tutu Lampshade
Last week, I promised another tutu craft project. After painting Celeste’s room and finishing her butterfly quilt cover, I’m slowly adding more handmade touches to make it perfect for her. Next up is a combination of two of my tutorials, to create a Ballerina Tutu Lampshade: I started with an IKEA OLLSTA shade with a […]
How to Sew a Full Tutu Skirt Tutorial
Celeste sometimes refuses to answer to her name, claiming she’s Angelina Ballerina (and can get quite angry if we don’t call her that). So it’s taken me a ridiculously long time to make our little ballerina her first tutu. It’s one of those projects I don’t know why I put off. They are so easy […]
Sew Ready to Play – 2013 edition
After my UNO shorts in 2011 and Commodore 64 T-shirt in 2012, the lovely Louise from I’m Feelin’ Crafty has once again invited me to join in on the Sew Ready to Play series. It’s funny how when I’m asked to join these events, one idea gets stuck in my head and I can’t get […]
Butterfly Quilt Cover
After making Jacob’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles quilt (doona/duvet…) cover, I had to make a quilt cover for Celeste when she moved into her big girl bed. She was in baby sleeping bags last year. I had to make it before winter so she’d have something to sleep under! I fell in love with the […]
A Little Girl’s Birthday Gift
One thing I love about having a fully-stocked craft room (well, I could always buy more craft supplies…) is that I can whip up a quick present in no time. Celeste was invited to her friend Rebekah’s third birthday party and the night before, I realised I hadn’t organised a present. To the craft room […]
Baby Shower Gift: Flat Teddy Tutorial and Pattern
Abby from Things for Boys is due to have baby number 2 soon, and Laura from Craftstorming had the great idea to throw a virtual baby shower. And today’s the big day (hopefully my gift arrived in time!). When I first got the email from Laura, I knew exactly what I was going to make: […]
Kids Clothes Week – Done!
I went into Kids Clothes Week with an ambitious plan of sewing 11 items of clothing for my two kids. I’d cut all the fabric out ahead of time, and just had to get down and sew. I’m happy to say I sewed 10.5 items. I didn’t expect to get so far, especially with school […]
Two days of kids clothes (so far)
Kids Clothes Week is on and I’m up for the challenge. One hour a day of sewing kids clothes – I can do that. I’ve set myself the ambitious target of sewing 11 pieces of clothing for my kids. I probably won’t quite make it, but we’ll see how things go (and my kids desperately […]
More Travel Art Kits
After the success of the travel art kits I made for my kids (Jacob’s here with the tutorial and Celeste’s here), I thought they’d make great Christmas gifts for my two nieces (who are five months younger than my two). Searching through my stash, I found Happy Flowers in Blue from the Birdie range by […]
Ripples and Ruffles and Spots Dress
This week’s theme for Project Run and Play is Stripes and Polka Dots. This was the perfect excuse to try creating my own stripes, using the slashing or blooming technique: The stripes are made up of layers of fabric sewn together every 1/2 inch, and all but the bottom layer is slashed (cut open). After […]
Party Dress Pattern Remix
Do you follow Project Run and Play? It’s a Project Runway-style competition for kids’ clothes, and the seasons to date have been amazing. They also have a sew-along competition, and I’m using it as an excuse to sew more clothes for my kids (not that they need any more clothes at the moment!). The first […]
Peaches and Cream Barbie Dress Up Tutorial
We don’t celebrate Halloween here, but our house is seriously lacking in dress up clothes, so it’s a good excuse to sew some. Thinking back to my childhood, who did I want to dress up as? Barbie, and there was no Barbie more pretty or elegant than Peaches’n’Cream. So here’s the toddler dress-up version: I’m […]
Bucket Hat and KCWC Wrap Up
Day 6 was supposed to be spent making pyjamas, but I got a little distracted by the Flickr Pool and was inspired to make an Oliver + S Bucket hat (using the free pattern here) for Little Miss. She desperately needed a new hat for summer, so it was a welcome diversion! The print fabric […]
Kids Clothes Week Challenge Day 4/5
Confession: I didn’t do any sewing on Day 4. Gasp! It was Little Miss’ birthday and nap time was spent decorating her cake and tidying up before a family dinner. I was exhausted after dinner (from spending most of the day breaking up arguments between the kids about the new toys), so there was no […]
Bloomers and Clips (KCWC Day 3)
I didn’t make it to the fabric store today (I took the kids to see Miffy at the local shopping centre instead), so I looked to my stash for inspiration. A fat quarter of Sugar and Spice Textiles Disco Stripe jumped out at me as a great coordinating print for yesterday’s dress. I love a […]
Kokeshi Dress (KCWC Day 1/2)
Kids Clothes Week Challenge is on again at Elsie Marley (hard to miss in blog-land at the moment!). In the past, I’ve had all my fabric cut before the week started so I could get straight into the sewing (and look like I achieved lots!). It didn’t happen this time around. Day 1 was spent […]
Prep School Skirt
I was so excited to find out my “Little Heartbreaker Pants” won the Sewing for Boys sew-along for July at Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy. (OK, the winner is selected by random, so it’s not that exciting, but hey, I won!). The prize was a pattern bundle from Little Lizard King. Since I won with […]
Colouring on the Go
A couple of days before heading off on our last holiday, I started thinking about activities to keep the kids occupied – on the plane, at restaurants and during other quiet times. When I was getting some toys together, I remembered Little Man’s travel drawing kit – we haven’t taken the kids to restaurants very […]
Go To Dress Pattern Review
Little Miss has started asking to wear dresses each morning, and with the wild and woolly weather here in Perth, it was time to make a long-sleeve dress or two. Perfect timing, the lovely Andrea from The Train to Crazy released her first pattern: the Go To Signature Dress. In sizes 12 months to 12 […]
Lucky Ladybird
I picked up a pile of random fabric on Freecycle before Christmas. Hidden amongst the piles of fleece and knit boy fabrics was this panel: I remember seeing panels like this in sewing shops when I was a kid, but hadn’t seen one in ages (and funnily enough, my Mum gave me a similar panel […]
Sweet Mermaiden
The mermaiden pattern has been on my list of projects since the book Wee Wonderfuls was released. After making the felt cake for my niece, I had to sew something for her baby sister too. Mermaiden looked like a fun and easy sewing project. I used wool blanketing fabric for her hair (which I’d bought […]