A First of Many - Peasant Blouse

When I found this tutorial for a child's peasant blouse at Prudent Baby I just knew that I had to make one for the girls.  If it really was as easy as it looks, then I'd make several.  I mean seriously... what a perfect addition to any little girl's wardrobe.

Well, I am happy to announce that it really was as easy as it looked.  I followed the measurements that were listed for the 18mo - 2T size because, conveniently, that was the exact size that I needed (it's always nice when you can follow the instructions exactly as written instead of having to do the math to make it a different size).  The instructions were perfect and super simple to follow.

I've been really needing some sort of project that could give me some instant gratification and this was definitely a great one for that.  It took me most of the day (between wrangling two toddlers, one of whom was sick) but could have easily been done in about an hour for those people who can sit for an hour and just work on a single project.

Of course, I made a few customizations myself though.  I did not add the waistband elastic piece from the original tutorial.  I might try it out on future versions just for some variety, but didn't feel like it for this one.  But, I did add some cute little pockets on the front.

I really like this fabric because it's almost got a vintage feel to it.  Nora actually picked it out herself when we were at the fabric store this past weekend.  It was cute and on clearance, so of course I couldn't say no.  :)

Another thing that is so awesome about this top... I really think that I could make it using 2-3 fat quarters (depending on the size).  I'll probably try that at some point and let you know how that turns out. :)

As you can see, my model wasn't really up for the job tonight - too busy watching Toy Story. :)

I like how versatile this type of top is.  You can wear it as a shirt, or as a dress.  With short sleeves, long sleeves, or even no sleeves if you wanted.  It's nice and cool when the weather is hot but can also be worn with a long sleeve shirt underneath during the colder months.  I definitely see myself making lots of these types of tops in the future - maybe even eventually one for myself!

Autism Awareness Bow Tie

I got a message from a friend of mine last week asking for some help with a project.  Annie teaches Autistic children, and has been making some flower pins for her fellow teachers using the Autism puzzle print fabric.

There was one issue though, the school's Principal is a man... and well, she didn't think that he'd be very willing to wear a flower pin.  He does wear bow ties though!

This is where I come in... Annie asked if I could help her make a bow tie for her Principal.  That sounded like fun, and pretty easy so I told her I was in.

So, before she came over I wanted to be prepared and have the pattern and supplies ready.  It's kind of hard to find a free bow tie pattern.  The first one I found didn't really work too well when I tried to print it, so I looked some more and found a post on Greg's Blog.  The instructions show how he used a bow tie that he already had to trace a pattern.  After a few requests, he drew up the pattern to share with the rest of us.  You can find his pattern in the comments on his post.

Anyway, here it is... don't laugh at the photo (this was the best we could do with tying the bow tie - it definitely takes practice)

Cute huh? It will look even better on her Principal (who does wear bow ties, so we figure he actually knows how to tie them correctly).

Have you ever made a bow tie?  Do you know anyone who would wear one?  This was definitely a super simple project and was quite quick to finish.  I could totally see making up a whole stash of these in an afternoon.

Next, I'd love to try to make some already tied ones with an elastic adjustable piece for younger boys.  They'd make great gifts for friends to use for holidays or other special occasions.

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finally tried vinyl

So... everyone has been doing all this super awesome stuff with vinyl and their Silhouette machine.  I have a Silhouette that has been boxed up for the past 2 years in the garage.  Why?  Well, I have the original Silhouette and originally, the software was only for Windows machines.  I have a Mac.  So, I used it a few times using my old laptop then got annoyed at not having a place to be able to set everything up... and having to design things on one machine then take the files to another to cut it all up.  So... it got boxed up.

Well, with all the hype about Silhouette machines lately... I discovered that they had updated the software and it would work with my Mac now!  Yeah!

Anyway, like I said... there have been tons of awesome vinyl projects out there lately and I really wanted to try it out on my machine.  So I stopped at Hobby Lobby last week and got a roll of vinyl using my 40% off coupon :)  Yeah!  That meant I paid about $4.99 for a 10 foot roll :)

I finally got around to figuring out what I wanted to cut... and had at it.

Awesome huh?  A new vinyl label for my laptop.  Not that I need to tell it apart from anyone else as it rarely leaves my house... but it's pretty.  And was the perfect starter vinyl project :)

I now want to do something really cool on my Kitchenaid mixer like this... by Sophie at Sophie Gallo Design

Maybe even something cool on my sewing machine :)

One thing I did notice was that it took forever to cut this simple design.  My machine kept "thinking" in between cuts.  Not sure if that is normal, or what the deal was... but eventually it worked out ok.  Has anyone else had this problem??

Another thing I have to try...

Came across this awesome tutorial today... thinking it will be something great to try and make for the girls this Spring. I've got lots of awesome fabrics in my stash that would make a great skirt for this dress! I can't wait to try it!

Find the tutorial here at Make It and Love It.

Gathered Clutch

I followed this Gathered Clutch Tutorial at Noodlehead.

I've been wanting to make one (or some) of these ever since I came across the tutorial on Noodlehead a few months ago.  I could never find the time with all the other things I was trying to get done... plus I had never made anything with a zipper before and it was a little scary.  My mom used to complain about sewing zippers so I was kind of scared off from the begining.  But after looking through the tutorials, it really didn't look all that difficut.  Maybe it's different in clothing or something... who knows.

Anyway... it's my Sister-in-Law's birthday and I figured there was no better occasion to try these out.  It's hard to think of something to get someone especially when their birthday is right after Christmas, but I figured this was something different and totally unique.  I hope she loves it!  We stashed a gift card inside as well.

Here's a view of the inside.  It features a divider pocket and 2 card pockets.

Here are a few things I thought of when making this... Notes for Next Time:

As Anna says in the tutorial, the part that is going to take the longest is cutting the pieces.  So true - especially since I wasn't completely following directions and ended up wasting interfacing and outside pieces because I ironed them wrong.  Oh well - I'll just save it for the next time when I need those pieces.

The instructions called for an 8" zipper - all I had was a 7"... so I simply extended the size of the tabs to make the entire zipper piece a total of 8.5" as stated is necessary.  This worked out great, the zipper is the exact right size for this bag.

I didn't sandwich my lining/outside/zipper pieces just right when I was attaching the second one.  Therefore, the raw edges show.  It's not so bad, but it wouldn't look like such a mistake if I had messed up on both sides instead of just the one side... oops.

I think I'll make some bags with it gathered on both sides.  Also, I may use ribbon instead of the fabric band.

I really want to dress up the band a little more.  Maybe I could even take the time for some little embroidery design or something on a solid band.  *If I ever get my embroidery machine then I might even make some monogram ones :)

By altering the size of these some, they would make a really cute diaper clutch.  Great gift idea for any new Mom!

I could really go on and on - the possibilities are endless!

A Few New Fall Ideas

I've been looking around online and finding lots of really cool ideas to try and thought I might share a bit... hope you enjoy!  Let me know if you try any of these as well!  I'd love to see what everyone can do!

This super cute wreath is super simple and super fabulous!  It was made by Elise from one of my favorite blogs... I love her designs and super awesome craftiness :)  You can find the tutorial for this on her guest post at A Beautiful Mess.

Isn't this bag awesome?  I was searching for an idea of how to decorate some basic black totes that I have for the girls to use as trick-or-treat bags and found this awesome tutorial and pattern, by The Sometimes Crafter.  I wish I had found this sooner, as I certainly don't have time to make these for this Halloween.  They have definitely been added to the list for next year though :)  Be sure to check out her site as she's got tons of really awesome ideas listed!