This month, I helped organize a Relief Society activity for the woman at my church. It was called a “Service Auction” and everyone who wanted to participate was asked to donate goods or services and then, on the night of the activity, everyone in attendance received points to use for bidding on an item they wanted. It was a really fun night and people auctioned off some really great things ranging from babysitting and meals to a professional haircut and a family portrait session.
Of course, I struggled with what I should donate. I knew I wanted to sew something, but it is really hard for me to make something without someone in particular in mind. I also wanted it to be pretty universal, so it would be appealing to lots of people (not just those with kids). I finally settled on a “happy birthday” banner, a scrappy makeup pouch, and a ruffled pouch.
“Happy Birthday” banner (tutorial found here):
and ruffle pouch:
This is the first pouch that I didn’t use a tutorial. It is just a basic lined zipper pouch with an added ruffle. I made the ruffle first and sewed it to the front piece before assembling the whole pouch. I also boxed the corners using the same technique from pouches I’ve made in the past (like this one).
And…people bid on my items. Success!
Thanks for reading!
I got a new Oliver and S pattern, folks, and I LOVE it. It is called the class picnic blouse and it also includes a cute girls short pattern. The pattern has been out for a while, but it never seemed to interest me until I saw it in action on the blog, Probably Actually (one of my very favorite sewing blogs). Now, I can’t get enough.
It takes a little less than a yard of fabric to make a size 7t (not bad!) and it is really a breeze to make. AND Finley loves it!!! She has never liked any of the tops that I have made from quilting cotton, but this one fits great and is comfortable and breezy.
Of course, I love the 3/4 length sleeves and the wide hems. The main fabric is from the 1001 Peeps line by Lizzy House and the yoke is Anna Maria Horner’s Mixed Signals Summer.
After making one, I couldn’t resist making another (and another plain white one is the the works as well…) This one is made with Anna Maria Horner’s Bubble Burst in turquoise and Hello Pilgrim Shapes by Lizzy House. Finley even picked out these two fabrics COMPLETELY by herself! I couldn’t have done better myself…such progress she is making in the fabric preference department. A blue and a green?! I’m kind of proud 
It was time for another baby shower gift around here and this time I was super excited to finally make a pair of quick change trousers and use some heat transfer vinyl.
1) Heat transfer vinyl. Um, pretty cool, right? It comes on a roll in all different colors and can be cut into any shape your heart desires using the silhouette cutting machine. For this onesie, I typed out “the BEAST” because that is what big sister calls her baby brother.
Once the machine cut out my image in the vinyl, I positioned it on the onesie and ironed it for a good long time. At first, I couldn’t get it the vinyl to stick all the way, and I was getting really frustrated. Eventually, I figured out you need to push down HARD as you are ironing AND let the vinyl cool before pulling off the backing. It does not say the vinyl needs to cool in the instructions, but it should! It also helps to iron the image from the underside of the shirt.
2) Quick Change Trousers. This pattern is from my new book, Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner. I am so in love with this book and have so many of the projects on my to do list. This pattern, in particular, is one of the stand outs. It makes a pair of pants that are fully reversible and I LOVE LOVE how it incorporates multiple fabrics.
I see many more pairs of these pants in my future…especially for my new little guy!
Thanks for reading!
I made this skirt using MADE‘s layer skirt tutorial and I quite like it. The construction is really smart and who doesn’t love twirly seersucker?
I left the serged edges exposed just like she did in the tutorial. I think it works well with the seersucker (and it saved me a TON of time).
Since our girls are about the same age, I used the measurements that Dana provided. It fits Finley well in the waist, but it is a tad shorter than I’d like. Next time I’ll cut each layer a 1/2 inch longer. I broke out the ruffler foot for this project, which made all the ruffling pretty quick and easy, but you can definitely get by without.
I also made Finley a simple double layer skirt using another tutorial from MADE. The fabric is from the Oliver and S Modern Workshop line and the bias tape is store bought.
I have been wanting to make Fe a boat neck, 3/4 length sleeve dress for a while. I came across this dress by mini Boden and loved it. The buttons on the shoulder reminded me of the Oliver and S sailboat top. I already owned the pattern, so it was just a matter of lengthening the shirt and cropping the sleeves.
I love the striped mini Boden version, but I had this turquoise knit on hand, so I just went with that. Everything went pretty smoothly, except as I was sewing up the sides of the dress with the serger, I ran over a rogue pin hiding in the seam allowance. The upper knife broke right off and the serger was out of commission for a week or so until a new knife arrived in the mail.
I was a little nervous about doing buttons and buttonholes on knit, but it was not a big deal. The pattern says you can use lightweight knits for the top and calls for some interfacing behind the buttonholes to reinforce them.
I added pockets like the mini Boden version as well.
I didn’t even realizing as I was taking these pictures that Fe had toys in them!
Thanks for reading!
I have made a few pouches over the past few months. I don’t have pictures of all of them, because I often make these as a quick last minute gift and then forget to take a picture, but here are a few:
The pleated zipper pouch:
Good tutorial, cute pouch.
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I didn’t realize until I had already started that this one is not fully lined. All the seams are exposed on the inside…not my favorite.
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This is my own knockoff of the Ouch Pouch sold on Etsy. I “hearted” this item forever ago (before I started sewing) and I decided to make my own.
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I made this while visiting a friend last October. She had this pattern on hand, so I gave it a try and was able to get it together despite the fact that I am apparently not a good social sewer. I make lame mistakes when I am not concentrating. Maybe one day I will be able to listen to audiobooks while sewing like Annee .
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I think this is my favorite. It is a good size and I love using scraps! It just feels so productive .
This is the first pouch where I used one of my twill tape tags. It seems so much more legit with a tag and they are cheap and easy to make.
I bought my cute little bird stamp here.
Thanks for reading!
Here is the other shower gift I made with my new book, “Handmade Beginnings” by Anna Maria Horner.
I love my new book and I love this dress! This is the first time since last summer that I was attending a shower for a baby girl!! I was so excited to finally make a little dress.
The pattern is really easy to follow and came together pretty quick. Man, I love sewing little clothes. I used some pretty Anna Maria Horner fabric for the main fabric and some Michael Miller polka dots for the accent and for lining the bodice.
I also used some of the polka dot scraps to make two mini rosettes and glued them to some foldover elastic to make a little headband.
And I couldn’t help but make a matching diaper cover using the tutorial on MADE.
I also have been having fun making labels with fabric ink and twill tape (idea from here). So, I added a little tag to the back of the diaper cover.
A few weeks ago, I had a baby shower for a friend at my house. I am no party planner extraordinaire, but I did want to make a banner to spruce up the mantle for the big day.
It is hard to see in the pictures, but it says, “it’s a boy”. I cut the pennants out from burlap by hand and then used my silhouette cutting machine to cut a freezer paper stencil of each letter and then painted on each letter with some seafoam green craft paint. I did several coats, but it is still pretty light. I would probably use a darker color next time, but the seafoam is so pretty.
Once the paint was dry, I folded the top of the pennant over about 3/4 inch and sewed a casing for the twine.
That’s it! Coincidentally, I found out that week that I too am having another boy, so the banner is still happily hanging on the mantle. It makes me smile.
Thanks for stopping by!!
I made Fe a dress and Nash a matching tie for Easter this year. This is their first matching brother and sister outfit and I super love it. I followed this tutorial to make the tie for Nash and just made things up as I went for Finley’s dress.
I was inspired by this dress. It didn’t seem too complicated, so I got to work on my own version and it came together really well. I lined the bodice to avoid having to topstitch the neckline and armholes (is armholes the technical term?). I also used my first invisible zipper in a dress. The dress even fits her perfectly. Oh happy day.
I have been hoarding 2 yards of this Joel Dewberry print for a while. It is so pretty that I never wanted to cut into it, but this seemed like the perfect occasion. It works well for boys and girls.
I rounded the hem of the dress and I love the way it looks.
Finley thought it would be really awesome to have me take a picture of her throwing grass…
There you have it!
Finley’s friend was having a birthday, so I asked her mom (my friend) what she needed that I might be able to make. She suggested a nightgown. Sure thing! Finley practically lives in nightgowns, so it was about time I tried making one myself.
I wanted it to be very comfortable, so I looked for a tutorial that used knit instead of cotton and I found this one. It even came with a printable 5T bodice and sleeve pattern, which was just the size I needed. Lovely.
When Finley saw it, she was SO excited, until I told her it wasn’t for her. Poor girl. She was still willing to model it for me though.
There are lots of ways you can customize the nightgown. I decided to add the ruffle at the bottom and I made a casing for some thin elastic on the sleeves instead of using elastic thread.
I used a double needle to create the casings and hem the bottom ruffle and I think it looks really polished.
I also made two felt flower barrettes and used them to decorate the gift bag. Tutorial for the felt flowers found here and here.
Lastly, I used washi tape to make the cake on the gift tag. I love washi tape!
Welcome! My name is Summer and I love to make stuff. Most recently I've been learning to sew -- one project at a time. I'm excited to have a place to share my creations.
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