Friday, March 29, 2013

Friday Features {No. 2}

A big thank you to everyone who participated in Much Ado About Monday this week! We are thrilled to have 33 fabulous entries in our new link party! There were so many wonderful posts, but these ones were our favorites! :)

Emily's Pick:

Lemon Cupcakes for Lemon Lovers via The Alchemist


Jamie's Pick:

DIY Bedskirt via Night Owl Corner


Jill's Pick:

DIY Chevron Mug via Home Is Where the Heart Is


Karla's Pick:

Mossy Easter Egg via Old Things New


Lydia's Pick:

Bow Garland via R and R Workshop



Congratulations to all of our featured bloggers, you deserve it. We'll be pinning these to our Features board and also to other corresponding boards on Pinterest! :) Also, make sure to grab our "I Was Featured" button and display it proudly!
 
 
 
Have a great weekend! We hope to see you back here for Much Ado About Monday next week!
 
 

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Simple Toddler Nightgown {Free Pattern}


One of the great things about having girls, is shopping for all of the cute clothes and accessories. The down side is, once they hit 3, they wont wear any of it... I have learned to let my daughter pick out most of the clothes that I buy her, so that she will actually wear them when it comes to getting ready. Well lately we have had issues at night. All Miss E will wear to bed are nightgowns. This is a major problem since she only has two. One of my fondest mother-daughter memories growing up was picking out fabrics and 'helping' my mom make my pajamas. I thought this was a great opportunity to carry on the tradition. So I took Miss E to Joann's and I let her pick out a few different cotton jersey fabrics. This is what she loved:



So now onto making the nightgowns. I took one of her existing nighties and designed my own pattern based on its measurements. This fits a size 5T with room to grow. I wanted it to get a lot of use out of it :-). Here's the file. Otherwise, make a 19" long rectangle and cut in for arm holes. 

This is what you'll need to get started:

-1 yard of cotton jersey fabric
-1 package of Stretch Lace Elastic (you can find this with all of the elastics at Joann's)
- basic sewing materials


I started by cutting out all of my pieces. You'll need a 19" x 19" piece for the back, two 3.5" x 18" (one for each strap), two 3" x 3/4 yd pieces or desired length (depending on how gathered you prefer) for your ruffle, and your pattern piece for the front. 



First, serge top and bottom of back piece.



Fold under serge on top back and iron. Sew in place to create finished edge.

Attach Stretch Lace Elastic on the serge. You will need to pull on the elastic to stretch it as you sew. I placed the elastic on the serge line, sewed a few stitches at one end and then pulled the elastic as I went along to the other end. You end up with a super soft inside elastic that doesn't need to be encased. I also sewed along the top and bottom of the elastic to keep it from rolling. 



Next, serge the top, arm holes, and bottom of the front piece.Fold the top of the front piece under and iron. Sew to create a finished edge.



Pin front and back, right sides together. Serge along each side of the night gown. 


Now you are ready for the straps. I took each piece and folded like so. It almost makes a really wide bias tape. Fold under both ends first so that you have finished ends.



Pin into place, starting where the arm meets the side seam. 



Sew along the end, then open side until you finish the other end. 



Try the nightgown on your little model and pin straps into place. I made mine in an X across her back. Safely take it off of your model and sew straps into place.



Next, serge along top and bottom edge of ruffle pieces. 
Serge both ruffle pieces together. Right sides together, on both short ends. Using your longest stitch, sew along the top edge of the ruffle piece. Pull on one end of the thread to gather into a ruffle. Use your seams on the ruffle to match the side seams on the nightgown. Gather until lengths match. Pin right sides together, see bottom right picture. Your ruffle will be up-side-down. Sew in place.



And you're finished! Call in your model, try it on, and watch her twirl with delight. Miss E has worn this nightgown every night in the past week. Good thing we do a lot of laundry around here! I have 4 more to make :-) What projects are you working on?







Linking up with these great parties:



My Merry Messy Life

Get Your Crap Together


Ladybird Ln


















Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Ruffled Easter Bunny Shirt {Tutorial}

Easter seems to have sneaked up on me this year. Anyone else feel this way? My Easter decorations never made it out of their box. Oops. And I had planned to make my daughter an Easter dress but I am settling for making her an Easter shirt instead. To give the shirt a little something extra (and to ease my guilt for not making my daughter her Easter dress...again), I decided to add some ruffles to the back of the shirt. I LOVE how the shirt turned out...very boutique-y and super cute. I really like the mint colored fabric that I used too, although my daughter took some convincing ("But it's not pink!").



This shirt was extremely easy to make and I was able to make it during my son's nap time.

 


Materials:
-Shirt
-Fabric of choice
-Heat n Bond (Wal-Mart always seems to have this...I never have much luck at JoAnn's)
-One yard of lace
-7/8" ribbon for bow
-1 1/2" ruffled eyelet lace (I used almost the whole 4 ft. roll)
-lightweight iron-on interfacing
-glue gun and sticks



1. Apply the Heat n Bond according to the package instructions. I absolutely ADORE this product. It is so simple to use and it bonds really well. Run out and buy some right now if you have never tried it. Soo much easier than the other bonding products that I have used.



2. Either using your Silhouette or a trace-and-cut method, cut out your bunny shape. I found mine online by Googling "bunny outline".


 

 3. Apply it to your shirt.




4. Cut out a piece of the interfacing that will cover the shape of the bunny and iron it on the wrong side of the shirt. This helps stabilize the shirt and prevents the knit fabric from stretching when you sew it.


5. Stitch around the bunny. I like to use a straight stitch instead of the traditional zigzag. I am a rebel like that.



 6. To make the bunny's tail, run your lace through your machine using the longest stitch length.



7. Pull the bottom thread and gather your lace so it looks like this. With your sewing machine back on a regular stitch length, sew along the bottom of the lace (along the same seam line) to hold the gathers in place.




8. Starting at the end, apply a small dot of hot glue and begin to roll the lace around itself. Keep rolling and applying hot glue.


Try and keep the bottom as flat as possible so it will lay nicely on your shirt.


Roll all the lace around until it forms a nice little pouf. Be sure to secure the end well.




9. Place the lace tail on the bunny and when ready, hand sew it down. I waited until I finished the back before I sewed the tail down.




10.  Before starting on the back, cut out a piece of the interfacing and apply it to the inside back of your shirt where your ruffles will be. To begin the ruffled back, cut 8-9 inches (depending on how big your shirt is) of your ruffled eyelet lace and pin then sew it down close to the bottom of the shirt.


11. Cut another length of lace about an inch shorter than the row below. I kind of angled my cuts so the ends of the lace matched up to the row below it. Pin it a little above the bottom row and sew it. I just eyeballed the distance between the two rows.


12. Keep cutting the eyelet lace an inch shorter than the row below it and attaching it above.



13. Do this until the last row of lace is 2 inches long.

 


14. Make a bow using your ribbon and hand sew it on. You can either burn the edges or use Fray Check to seal the edges of your ribbon.


And now here come the adorable pictures of my little bunny wearing her Easter shirt. She really warmed up to the mint green color, especially after I put her in some pink pants.
















Now we are ready for the Easter hunt this weekend! Bring on those eggs!




Linking up with these lovely parties: