Crossover Ruffle Sundress

Well, it has definitely been a while, lots has been going on, and I just needed to take a little time-out from writing tutorials (not sewing). But I did get a lot done over the last month, and the weather is finally warm (even hot!), so we are getting a lot of use out of what I have made. 

Littleheart is definitely in a dress/skirt ONLY phase (which means all of he pretty shorts are just put away in the closet). I try to keep up with her phases, not easy, since they change so fast. But I have made her a few new sundresses (luckily some of the ones from last year still fit) and have a few ideas for some more.

Anyway, this crossover ruffle sundress was inspired by a dress I saw online (I really don't remember where). Want to make one? Read on!

I am still here...

Wow, my last post seems like such a long time ago! I don't know where the time went! I do actually have a few tutorials lined up, the only thing I need to do is scan my patterns, and I just have not had time to do it. But I promise, I will get around to it soon...

I have been sewing, not tons, but quite a bit. I made some more summer outfits for Littleheart. The problem is, she is very peculiar about what she wears lately. For a while, it was dresses only, so I made a bunch of dresses, and now it is skirts. At least it is easy to sew up a few circle skirts at a time, and she seems satisfied with them. She is so into skirts, she wears them to sleep over her pajamas!

I also made a few very practical maternity skirts for some friends. It is a great pattern that fits everybody, and I will try and write up a tutorial for it.

I really need to get started on some more baby presents, there are just so many babies due this year around here, I am not sure how I will keep up!

So, you see, my lists are huge! And I really need to get some new material. So hopefully there will be some fun tutorials coming your way this spring and summer...

Anyway, here is a cute outfit I made, that didn't make the tutorial list. Littleheart calls it her "Copohots" outfit (polka-dots).

Giraffe Baby Rattle

I have seen a lot of these soft rattles around lately, and thought I should try and figure out how to make them, since they make a perfect little baby presents, and boy are there a lot of babies due this summer!

I think it turned out kinda cute, although he has a bump in his nose, I guess I didn't sew straight there. Maybe he looks more like a reindeer than a giraffe. But baby won't notice :)

Anyway, this one is for a friend that just had a baby boy, hope the baby will enjoy it!

Bias tape dress up cape and Superhero costume

Like I mentioned here, we celebrated Purim last week and I made my friend's son a costume. He loves this Israeli Superhero called Mr Tomato and we were looking at the costume you can buy which is very expensive, and made out of that cheap, scratchy costume material. I told her I could make it for him and was happy to take on the challenge.

This is the original costume she was going to buy:

We discussed it and decided that the pants with the tomato shirt, the cape and the mask would be plenty. He could wear his boots with it and it would look great.

So I went to work and this is what came out of it:

Princess Costume

Purim has arrived, and I finally finished Littleheart's princess costume. I mentioned last month, that I decided to make the costume in two parts - the tutu under the dress and the dress itself. This way Littleheart will have two dress-up pieces in her dress-up box. You can check out my tutorial for the circle skirt tutu here.

I must say, I cannot take credit for the entire design of the dress. I studied lots of wonderful tutorials before I decided what I wanted to do. You can find my inspiration on my "Sewing Costumes" Pintrest board.

Anyway, I didn't choose a specific Disney princess, since Littleheart really doesn't know them yet, but the style of the dress is definitely inspired by Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella...

I chose pink and white for the fabric, but you can really choose any colors. The pink is a "costume satin" and the white is just a plain cotton. I lined the bodice with a white knit fabric, so it would be nice a soft on the inside (I like soft).

I actually made the dress way to long, and then decided to leave it long, and hem it up by hand with a blind hem to the right length. This way Littleheart can still wear it when she gets a bit taller. If there is a line where the fold is on the hem, I can always sew on a pretty piece of lace. Unfortunately the day I actually put it on her I noticed the front is longer than the back, and the front is a bit too long...But she did ok with it.

Anyway, enough talking, lets get down to business - you want to make your own princess dress? Keep on reading...

You are my sunshine top

Here is my tutorial for my "You are my sunshine shirt" I will be uploading to the Sew in tune flickr group. It isn't really a full tutorial, I kind of just explain what tutorials I used to make it. But If you are an intermediate sewer you should be able to follow along....So here is how I made it:

Ruffle Leg Shorts

This is the first tutorial for my "You are my sunshine" outfit. My ruffle bottom shorts were inspired by these shorts I saw from the Gap:

I didn't gather the pockets (wasn't quite sure how) and left out the bow, but otherwise, I think they turned out pretty similar. Want to make them? Read on...

You are my sunshine summer outfit

You must think I am crazy, but honestly, I am sick of sewing things for the winter. I find it difficult to find thick fabrics (other than fleece), and well, short sleeves and shorts are so much faster, not to mention how fun it is to make sundresses…

So, even though it is February and cold, I decided to get a head start on Littleheart’s summer wardrobe. I surfed around the net for some inspiration and then started making these sketches:

I really hope I can try out all the ideas from my sketches, and bring you lots of fun, new tutorials.

This first outfit I made for a fun series called Sew in tune. It is actually the winter version of the series, but hey, people in Australia are not going to be sewing winter clothes right now, right? Anyway, you are supposed to sew something inspired by a song. I actually had the outfit idea first, and then realized it was perfect for the series, because it fits the song “you are my sunshine”. My grandmother, may she rest in peace, used to call me her sunshine, and I feel the same way about Littleheart. So this is the perfect little outfit to start off my summer sewing.

I will post both a tutorial for the top and shorts. My pattern is as usual, the size of Littleheart (3-4T) but you can easily make both with any top and shorts pattern.

So come back soon to find the tutorials for the “You are my sunshine” outfit.

Update: You can now find the tutorial for the shorts here and for the top here.

More Baby Presents and Softie Bunny Tutorial

Here is the rest of the baby presents I made for my friend’s baby girl (the first one was a Black Apple doll).I love how the set turned out, and it is nice and girly!

The overall is a pattern for the ottobre magazine 4/2012. I added the lace around the chest, to make it real girly (her first child is a boy, so this time around she needs lots of lace and ruffles!).

The hat is a free pattern from Zaaberry. This is a great tutorial, and really easy. I lined the hat so there wouldn't be any rough seams on the baby’s head.

The bunny is my own creation and the tutorial appeared on Gritsand Giggles in December for a “Becoming Mommy series”. I am bringing the tutorial “home” in case you missed it…