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 […]
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: […]
Easter Egg Foil Art Tutorial
Do you carefully open your Easter Eggs, trying to keep the foil intact, and then delicately smooth it out? Or do you rip and tear to get at the chocolate as quickly as possible? I do both, depending on whether I have a craft project in mind 😉 Colourful Easter egg wrappers make a great […]
Quilt as You Go Puff Quilt/Mat Tutorial
This post has been a long time in the making… I made this Puff Quilt Mat (using my own quilt as you go method) for my Mum as a Christmas present in 2011. I really procrastinated writing the tutorial for this. It was a fiddly project and when it was done, I didn’t want to […]
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 […]
Fabric 2013 Printable Monthly Planner
It’s a bit late for a 2013 printable monthly planner, but if you used mine from last year, I thought you might appreciate this (late) gift! I created two separate files – one for if you want to create a booklet with two-sided printing (for information in the tutorial below), and one if you just […]
Paper Christmas Wreath (mini-tutorial)
After making all the snowflakes for the indoor Winter Wonderland, I started getting into paper folding. Soon I was googling Christmas origami ideas and found this origami Christmas wreath tutorial (after finding this pretty version on Go Origami). The tutorial is in Portuguese but the pictures really tell you the story (and Google translate fills […]
Indoor Winter Wonderland Tutorial
There’s no white Christmas here in Australia (and Christmas is forecast to be a scorcher in Perth this year). Instead, as I showed yesterday, I created a Winter Wonderland inside for my kids. I crocheted a chain stitch “ladder” to hang the snowflakes from so I would have lots of loops to attach my decorations […]
Magnetic Paper Dolls Tutorial
Did you play with paper dolls when you were a kid? I remember having a set and loved changing her clothes. Until the little tabs ripped (or the dolls for that matter). Here’s a modern version that’s not so delicate: They’re made with magnetic paper, so it’s as simple as finding something they’ll stick to […]
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 […]
Bleach Number Shirt Tutorial
Our lucky last guest is Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts, one of the most prolific craft bloggers around. She always has great simple projects, and there’s lots of other fun on her blog too, such as What I Wore Wednesday and Take a Look Tuesday. She’s even turned her husband into a blogger at So […]
Magician’s Hat T-Shirt Tutorial
Today our guest crafty blogger is from the UK – Laura from Craftstorming. There’s lots of baking, sewing and chocolate-making (yum!) on her blog. All her food looks so pretty and delicious, but it’s boy clothes month here, so let’s see what she’s made: Hello everyone, I’m Laura. I blog over at Craftstorming where I […]
Modern Monograms Tutorial
Putting together this series made me realise how many bloggers out there are sewing for their sons, and today we have another creative lady: Abby from Things for Boys (but don’t be fooled – there’s more than just boy stuff on her blog…but you’ll have to check it out to see all the great stuff!). […]
Hot Dog Vest Tutorial
Let’s welcome our first guest for this week (and we have quite a line-up this week!): Louise from I’m Feelin’ Crafty! Louise was one of the first people to show me a finished project using one of my tutorials (such a nice feeling!). There’s lots of craftiness on her blog, but it’s time to see […]
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 […]
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 […]
Washable Bolster Pillows Tutorial
When Little Man moved into his big boy bed (nervous Mum started with a mattress on the floor), there was a gap between his bed and the wall due a column on the wall. Nervous Mum (bit of a theme here…) was worried that he’d slide down and get stuck, or worse, his cuddly flat […]
How to Recover a Lampshade Tutorial
My son has been in his big boy room for well over a year, and I still haven’t shared all the projects! For a refresher, I started with this transport-themed appliqued quilt (doona/duvet) cover, matching art work and fabric bookends: Since I seem to like things matchy-matchy, I decided he needed a matching lampshade […]
Giggle Mobile Tutorial
Here’s the tutorial I shared at the Train to Crazy for the Handmade Dress-Up Series: The Giggle Mobile is the amazing car/hovercraft/plane/submarine driven by Jimmy Giggle and Hoot the Owl (the hosts of ABC2 – the kids’ TV channel here in Australia). For those with blank looks, here’s the song: Not only is my son […]
How to Sew Fabric Basket Liners: Tutorial
Yesterday, I showed you my DIY Dinner Meal Kits. I used plastic baskets for the kits, but I wasn’t happy with just plain. So I made up some fabric baskets liners, with Velcro to attach my recipe cards to the front. You could find lots of other uses for these fabric-lined baskets: in the bathroom, […]
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, […]
Tutorial: Dollar Store Tray Makeover
As I mentioned previously, this was my craft for the Dollar Store round of So You Think You’re Crafty, but I was knocked out the previous round (Congrats to Randi of Dukes and Duchesses for taking out the crown, by the way!). I’m one of those people that only sees junk when I head to […]
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 […]