Burp Cloths

Some friends of ours had a baby boy the other week and I really wanted to make something for them. I have already planned on making some baby items to sell in the New Year, including these gorgeous burp cloths, so I thought this would be an ideal excuse to test them out.

The backing material is chenille, and is oh so soft. The co-ordinating fabric is cotton, and I also want to play around with some cute flannel material with the next batch that I make.

I've got to say, they look even cuter than what I even thought they would. I can't wait to make some more next year to add to my Etsy shop.

What do you think?

DIY Sewing Folder

It was my Sister's birthday last week, and I was trying to think of something to get her as a gift. She's recently joined our sewing class and has been making some lovely things, and seems to be really enjoying it.

I'd been mentioning different tutorial projects online here and there, but realised that it might be handy to have a whole heap of sewing tutorials in one easy place to give her ideas of future projects, and to see just how easy some projects really are!

So - with immense help of my Pinterest page - I prepared a quite large document (from memory, I think it was about 250 pages!!) containing all of my favourite sewing tutorials that I thought would be useful. I set up a folder with various sections, including some blank sections for her to fill up later, and also a couple of expandable plastic sleeves to store paper patterns, and also picture inspiration from magazines etc for ideas of future projects (something I started doing a little while back, and it's been quite useful). I realised that it wouldn't be practical to print off all of the tutorials to store in the folder, so I selected one from each category to print, and saved the whole document to a CD that could be stored in the front of the folder.

Here it is:

I also bought a voucher from Fabric.com to go towards fabric for her next project, and my lovely husband made up a very realistic gift card for me, as I just received the voucher in email form.

She seemed to really like it, and I'm sure she'll have fun skimming through all of the tutorials in there. I'm looking forward to seeing what she makes in the New Year!

Stripey Skirt

I've had a bit of a problem lately that has meant I need to make some new clothes. You see, I've lost 7kg (15lb) over the last 6 months and a lot of my clothes - especially skirts and trousers - are becoming too loose to wear. I know, terrible isn't it?!
Seriously though, I'm loving that I can make clothing that suits my new and improved body shape a little better, so I'm digging out some tutorials that I've been wanting to try out.
I've had some pink and brown striped jersey knit fabric for a little while and decided to make The Hopscotch Skirt using iCandy's tutorial. If you haven't checked out her wonderful tutorials, then definitely take a look. I changed it around slightly as I wasn't a huge fan of the checkerboard look, but otherwise followed the tutorial exactly - and it was so easy.

I love the sash tie on the front, it just adds a bit more cuteness to it.

Plaid Girl's Dresses on Etsy

I've added some more items to my Etsy Shop - these gorgeous plaid woollen dresses:

All three dresses are Size 1, and these are the only ones I plan on making. At least for now and in that fabric, as it's fabric I just picked up a few months ago not knowing what I was going to use it for!

My little model helped me out again - luckily she's a small two year old and the dresses fitted her still.

Aren't they just so cute? And perfect for those cold winter months.

New skirt additions to my Etsy Shop

I know I've been quiet on here lately, but that's for a good reason. I've been very busy on my sewing machine!

I made these corduroy skirts recently, and the other day had a photoshoot with my cute little model.

I've got to say, I love it when I've finished making something and it ends up looking even more cute on a little person than I even envisaged.

I have added these skirts to my Etsy Shop so they are available for purchase now - they are sizes 2-3 (they have an adjustable waist), but I will also do custom orders.

So let me know what you think!

Ice Cream Cozy

A while back, I pinned this Coffee Cozy Tutorial.  The thing is though, I’m not a coffee drinker but it looked so cute that I wanted to make one, but had to find a reason ... !


Fast forward a few months, and I found my reason. Once a week my husband and I sit down with some vanilla ice cream with milo on top (is there anything better?!) and watch one of our favourite TV shows. We have it in small ramekin bowls (portion control) but, being a particularly slow eater, I find that my hand gets way too cold.


Cue the Ice Cream Cozy!



Front

  

Back


I altered the pattern slightly to fit the ramekin, but otherwise followed the tutorial completely. It was a great project for using up some scraps, and I love how it turned out. And, of course, finishing it meant having to try it out, right?!

Woollen Skirt

I know, another skirt. I have decided I really have to start making some tops to go with all of these skirt creations!

But in the meantime, I am a bit excited about this one.

I picked up some woollen plaid material a little while ago from my local Spotlight store, with the plan of making a nice, warm winter skirt. I had an image in my head, but wasn't sure whether to go with a pattern or just wing it. After much hesitation, I decided to go without a pattern and, using an existing skirt to get the sizing right, I took the scary step of cutting out my fabric.

I cut in on the bias as I knew it would fall a bit nicer, and I much prefered the diagonal plaid pattern. I also decided to use a zipper for a side fastening, and an overlocked edge finish for the hem. The wool fabric is pretty thick, so I tried to take that into consideration while designing it so that I wouldn't end up with bulky hems etc that wouldn't fit under my sewing foot on my machine!

I was a little surprised that it ended up fitting so well, and it is really comfortable and warm to wear - which is great for the icy Melbourne weather at the moment.

Success!