My Little Junebug(s)

I know a pair of twin girls who's first birthday is fast approaching! The birthday party is next weekend--nothing like procrastinating, huh?? I decided since I rarely get to sew girly little dresses I would do something handmade for them. The Junebug dress from CINO fit the bill in size and style.

Froggie Hat - Simplicity 1953

So a while back during lunch at work I was cruising Pinterest ( I know, shocker) and I saw this cute frog hat someone had done. Another girl I work with said how she liked it and wanted one. I did not pin that post at that time but tucked that into the memory bank for future reference. 

Well her birthday was within this last week and I made a frog hat for her using Simplicity 1953.

I gave it to her today so I can share it with y'all now. She loved it :)

Of course the little man LOVED it and wanted to model it for me!

Here is my review of the pattern:

Pattern Description:

Misses' and Child's assorted animal hats, each in three sizes.

Pattern Sizing:

S,M,L for adults and children.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Pretty much, I changed the mouth to be a wavy frog mouth.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Dunno LOL Didn't use them; It is so easy you do not need them!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

Easy and goes together very quickly. I also like that the hat is lower in the back and covers the ears, it will be super warm.

Fabric Used:

Fleece for the hat and felt for the eyes.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

Just the mouth like I said before.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I have sewn from this pattern before for my son but I did the monkey for him. I probably will make him another one some day. 

 

Here is the monkey hat I made for him a while back, probably a year or longer ago.

Hemming Jeans

So my niece's birthday is coming up and I always like to her something every pre-teen wants--

NEW CLOTHES!

Only one small problem-her pants NEVER fit her right. She needs one size for her waist which leaves her pants miles a little too long. 

Now there are a million and one tutorials on hemming jeans using the original hemline which is what I'm doing here today with one small change. So from start to finish here we go!

Step One :

 Determine how much shorter the pants need to be-I'm taking them up 5" so if you take that length in half I need to fold up 2.5" and pin them all the way around. Careful to keep just the two layers pinned together not all the layers or else there is no place for the foot to come out! haha

Step Two:

Pick your thread, I chose a navy colored Gutermann thread. Since we are keeping the original hem intact you want the thread to blend in to the original jean. Then you need to stitch along the original hem line on the wrong side of the jean.

Step Three:

Now you could stop here and just cut off the excess fabric. 

Not me though, remember I'm doing these for a growing child! So keep following along if you want to keep that fabric!

 

Iron the new hem line as is to get a nice crisp line.

Then flip the jeans inside out and iron again.

Here comes my twist. I don't want the extra fabric to accidentally flip out and cause my niece any embarrassment.

Reality is - Kids are mean. They will pick on a kid for anything and I don't want my hemming to be a reason!

Plus now the hem can be dropped when she has a growth spurt as these are those adjustable waist jeans:)

 Step Four:

 Measure out some stitch witchery with a little extra to overlap. 

Place under the extra fabric all the way around the hem line being careful not to twist it up.

Over lap the ends and iron it well to fuse the layers.

There are ways to remove stitch witchery at a later date; but that's another tutorial and we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

TA-DA!

And we are done!

 Beautiful, aren't they?

Birthday gifts!

So you probably remember my post on the quilted coasters here as a birthday gift for my little brother. I added these to his gift and to my surprise he actually liked them the best!

I made these cuties with some vintage napkins I got at a church sale. The same sale that I got the awesome teacup...which I still haven't decided what to do with!

Anywho I figured I could share this little project with you today.

1) Acquire some vintage napkins...or just buy new if you can not find any.

2) Pick some fabric that you like and cut into strips 3-4 inches wide and as long as the napkin + 1/2 inch or so for folding over.

3) Fold your napkin into fourths and center your names in one of the panels. I used the far left fourth but if I did it again I would use the second from the left. I used this 1" stencil for the names but you may need to use smaller stencil or freehand. Luckily for me they have short names! I got my stencils at Office Max for less than $5 and they were with the protractors and whatnot. They were hard to find surprisingly.

It is hard to see, I know. I used a disappearing/washable blue marking pen by Clover to mark my letters. 

Step 4) Put the strip of fabric in the embroidery hoop and stitch it up. I chose to use black embroidery floss and used two strands at a time. I wanted it to have a timeless look not kitschy. 

Step 5) Then I just serged the edges, washed, ironed and folded the edges over and attached to the napkins. 

I love the way they turned out and I'm glad he did too! 

 

 Ignore the little man's hand! He loves to "help" and be right in the middle of everything...and I don't mind. I hope he grows up liking to do things with his hands as well.

Weekend is over...already??

So here it is, Sunday night.

I sewed a bit over the weekend and came up with these for my brothers birthday on the 26th. I just took a bunch of scraps and mixed with what I had in my stockpile to throw together some cute little coasters.

They are not too girly right?? It seems I do not own very many guy prints, well unless you count the little man's fabrics. Somehow I don't think my brother would be too impressed with Sponge Bob or Dinosaur coasters though!



I did make the little man this cute little outfit in about an hour and a half.

Isn't Wonderunder some great stuff?


The shorts I made using an Alexander Henry print from 2002 I think. I got it out of the remnant bin of course.

Also the pattern for the shorts I got from the lovely Dana at:

http://www.danamadeit.com/2011/05/tutorial-kid-shorts.html

She has some awesome tutorials and takes such perfect photo's for her blog. When I grow up I wanna be just like her:)






I also picked up some cute things at a church festival/garage sale this weekend. I'll have to post a picture later this week!!