trick or treat bag

I've been going a little crazy with Halloween this year. Ok, who am I kidding? No I haven't, I just love any excuse to be crafty and make my little one fun things. Like this...a trick or treat bag.

When I was young my mother (who was a seamstress) made me a trick or treat bag. It had a witch on the front and her legs hung from the bottom of the bag. I used it every year for my trick or treating candy loot, and I loved carrying it. 

So, I thought Ella would want one of her own. Low and behold I dreamed up my version of a trick or treat bag for her. One side has ruffles and green ric rac (a halloween spin off my Ruffle Carryall Totes from the shop) and the other has her initial "E" appliqued along with yoyo flowers, fabric rosettes, a mini bow and some fun ribbon loops. 

I think it turned out darling and I hope she gets years and years of use out of it!

halloween costumes + crochet

If you're looking for my giveaway at Keepin' It Thrifty, click HERE.

Here's the progression of Ella's owl Halloween costume. I started with the hat and finished with the body of the costume. Just a sneak peak at the finished product though, i'll share the final photos of her in it soon. 

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the finished product!

ebi nigiri baby sushi costume

Ok, my fears came true. I'm sick. Actually, the whole family is sick. Travis came home from work early yesterday, and took the day off today too. We're all feeling quite under the weather. Thank goodness for dayquil/nyquil, but poor little lady she only gets baby tylenol to help her feel better.

To add insult to injury I'm also knee deep in dressmaking which needs to be finished by the end of the weekend. Hopefully I can churn out 2 more dresses this evening after Elle is down and before my nightly nyquil coma begins.

I already have clothing orders lined up for production in October, but I need to schedule in some time to make Ella's Halloween costume. Last year I wanted to make her my version of the Owl Costume from Pottery Barn, but I got over zealous on the time management for that project and scrapped it pretty quick. Instead I made my little lady a sushi roll! Ebi Nigiri to be exact, and complete with soy sauce/wasabi/ginger headband. She was definitely the cutest thing on the block that year. And the costume was SO simple make.

Here's a rundown of the project.

I used a white onesie and white leggings for the "white rice" portion of the costume.

For the "raw fish" part I just made a small orange pillow (basic orange rectangle lightly stuffed with polyfil) and sewed thin white twill tape to one side in a "v" pattern (you could use white ribbon as well), this served as the lines in the "fish". Then I attached the "pillow" to the costume by sewing/tacking the corners to the back of the onesie.

The green ribbon was used as the "seaweed wrapper". You can attach it to the fish portion (sew/glue it on) or just make a belt out of it and attach velcro in the front so that it is adjustable to baby's tummy.

For the headband I just cut out a grass shape of felt, and hot glued it to a white headband. Then I emptied a package of soy sauce and glued it to the "grass" along with makeshift  green felt wasabi ball and pink ginger flower. 

That's it! It's really not that hard. If you eat sushi you know what these things look like, and felt is very easy to work with. If anyone has any more detailed questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll try to better explain how I made the costume. It was darling on a baby, easy to get on them and off them too, and could be adapted to other sizes easily.

Now to decide what costume I'm going to make her this year, I have a few ideas already...I'll share them soon!

Linking up to this great blog.

twisted scarf turban

I'm sure you've seen this around lately, the turban. Now you may be asking yourself why in the world anyone would want to wear a turban, well let me explain.

First off, they're amazing at giving you a "I actually put effort into my look" look when you really didn't. A quick wrap and tie of a pretty scarf and it looks like you're up with the trends. No one will know that you've been up all night with a teething child and just rolled out of bed in a sleepy haze and threw on whatever clothing was clean. 

Second, they're GREAT for hiding dirty/bad hair days, in fact they wear better if you haven't actually washed your hair in 2 or 3 (ok, in my case 4 or 5) days. 

Third, they're versatile! You can wear your hair up or down, and knot the turban several ways for different looks. 

1.

Here and here are tutorials on how to tie a scarf into a turban. 

2.

Here is a tutorial on how to sew your own twisted turban.

3.

Here and here are some inspiration from real life lovelies who rock the turban. 

Forget Me Knot Headband 
And if you don't want to mess with scarves and tying knots and such (even though it is as easy as tying your shoes, promise!) you can wear a turban headband. Doesn't get much easier than that! The one above is from Anthropologie and is on its way to my doorstep as we speak. Yay! 

Sewing For Fall

Here it is, outfit/item #2 in the Sewing For Fall series I'm doing. At the end of the series like to have at least 8 pieces made for Ella's Fall wardrobe, a few tops, dresses, bottoms, accessories and maybe even a sweater. This simple peasant dress is similar to the cap sleeved tunic  (item #1), but with a full sleeve and elastic casing around the neck and arms. I didn't use a pattern for this dress, but again it's similar to this free tutorial and this pattern.

I think that it'll look darling with leggings, and I love the combo of polka dots and the funky strawberry print. (I can't find the names of the fabric, but they were ordered online. If anyone recognizes what they are please email me or leave a comment with the names.)

Since this is the second top/dress, I'll be doing a pair of bottoms next. I've been thinking about working with knit/jersey fabric on the next project, and leggings seem like a good addition to Elle's fall wardrobe. I've never really sewn with those types of fabrics, but I've been seeing a lot of great tutorials using jersey/knits. 

Are you doing any sewing for fall? Please share!

{play crowns!!!}

Often for me new projects come out of necessity. I'm constantly sewing for my little one, gifts for others, myself, for friends little ones, etc. I often try new ideas and try to put my own spin on classics. These play crowns came from the need for a birthday gift for a special soon to be 3 year old. I thought that she'd enjoy dressing up and pretend playing while wearing a unique accessory. The response I got was so sweet, I was encouraged to put a few up in the shop (HERE is the listing). So, if your little one wants a sweet dress up/imaginative play item they can have one too! 

Don't fret, boy crowns coming soon! 

Ella is modeling it here, but it has a nice cased elastic at the back so it's sure to fit them for years. Size wise, I'd say it fits 12 months to adult. (I can stretch it over my head). If you'd like to see a few other angles you can check out more pics of it HERE.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

{Sewing For Fall - Cap Sleeve Tunic + Headband}

We've been lucky this year in Northern California to have a mild summer. Temps here can reach into the 100's for weeks at a time. Instead of blistering heat we've been treated to temps in the 80's and low 90's most of the summer. I'm hoping this mild weather transitions into Fall earlier than normal this year. In preparation for the next season I've been sewing up a few things for Ella. I've decided I'd like to make a majority of her pieces this Fall and buy her just basics/staples. Below is the first completed item in the Fall wardrobe, a cap sleeve tunic and headband. 

I was brave and didn't use a pattern for the top. In my braveness I had to cut and resew the sleeves twice, frustrating yes, but I guess thats what you get for "winging" it. It's your basic peasant top except that I cut the sleeves a tad shorter to make them capped, and I omitted the elastic from them. This top is more like a tunic as is hits Ella below the hip. It'll be perfect with tights and leggings or over jeans. 

If you want to make one and don't want to wing it, this pattern and this pattern are similar.  The headband is just a mismatch of felt flowers glued to an elastic headband (you could also use 1/4" elastic. 

I think the whole thing turned out so cute! I've since refined my non pattern using skills and whipped up a few other pieces for fall. I'll share those soon!

{sewing for others- the color keeper}

Man, July is one VERY busy month as far as birthdays are concerned. Family alone we have 3 (including mine!!) and there are numerous friends who's birthday's fall this month as well. For a very special three year old friend (Happy Birthday Zoie!) I sewed up a special birthday gift. I call it the Color Keeper! This special tote holds 2 coloring books and 22 crayons for easy toting around and safe crayon keeping. Take a look:

I drafted my own pattern for this project, really I just winged the measurements from a standard coloring book, adding seam allowances, crayon pockets, and handles. Overall, it was an easy project and didn't give me any headaches (rarely does that happen when I'm working without a pattern!) 

I put two pearl snaps on each top corner to keep the tote closed. Originally, I wanted to use velcro but I was a little short on my measuring and my seam allowances so there wasn't enough room for a velcro strip, instead I opted for the snaps, which work great!

22 individual pockets for crayons, and two larger pockets (one on each side) for coloring books. 

I put two sturdy, double re-inforced handles on it for easy carrying, and I think it just turned out so darling! I hope the birthday girl likes it!

{embellished kids tank tops}

On a recent trip to Target I was browsing through the sale section of the children's department and found a yellow tank and striped tank on sale in Ella's size for only $1.12 each (can't beat that!). I couldn't pass up such a great deal, so I snagged them and knew I could do something fun with them. 

I decided that a simple embellishment of yoyo's would be perfect to jazz them up, and because I have a fabric scrap stash the size of mt. everest yoyo's were a perfect option. 

If you've never made a yoyo, here are a few great tutorials on how make them:

Tutorial #1

Tutorial #2

And the finished project? Two cute summer tops for Ella! This is also a great project for repurposing thrift store finds, or any clothing/accessory that needs a little extra something. 

{zippered pouches, birthday gifts}

Hi! Is everyone having a great week? I hope so. I just thought I'd share a couple zippered pouches that I made for birthday gifts recently. Aren't they cute? I love zippered pouches. They're SO easy to make (don't let the zipper fool you) and the possibilities are endless as far as design goes. I hope the recipients of these love them. Here is a link to a great tutorial on how to make your own zippered pouch via Flossie Teacakes. 

{project: car play mat}

I have been SOOOOO looking forward to sharing this project with all of you. I couldn't share it until after this last Saturday as it was a gift for a very special little boy, and I didn't want his Mom to see what I had been working so hard on for him.

Because it was a true labor of love I didn't take pictures along every step of the way, I did however take a lot of pictures, and I think you'll be able to navigate you way through how I made it. I free handed all of my buildings, trees, and the layout of the whole thing.

The great thing about this project is that you can put whatever you want on yours, and tailor it to your child's interests. If I were making one for Ella (which I will in the future) I'd do more female centered places, like the nail salon, and a cupcake shop. But for the birthday boy I stuck to police station and grocery store. :)

The basic idea is that it is a car play mat. Just so you get a feel for how big it is it's about 2ft by 2ft, just small enough to fold up and stick inside the diaper bag for a easy all-in-one toy on the go. It is complete with roads, stop signs, yield signs, a pond, grocery store, car wash, gas station, park (with slide and swings), a car lot, trees, flowers, grass, sand, and a neighborhood of houses.

The front is cotton, while the buildings and such are made of felt, and the back is soft flannel. The finished project was edged in coordinating seam binding. Everything was sewing down to ensure that it stays nice and secure, and will help to keep it around and in good condition to play with for a very long time.

Here are some photos of the process:

All of the completed buildings above, no roads. 

The neighborhood houses, and the beginnings of the park. The yellow piece is the slide, and two blue rectangles will be the swing set. 

The pond. This is my FAVORITE part of the project, and the part that I feel really makes it uniquely my design. I made the pond a zippered pocket so that you can stash matchbox cars in there. Now you'll never be without a car, and you wont lose them when you're done playing. GENIUS!!! :)

This is a close up of the grocery store, mail box, stoplight, and the flags for the car lot. 

Here is a view of the whole mat with the roads added. I used black felt for the roads, and hand embroidered the yellow dashed line. The white road markings are zigzag stitches done on my sewing machine. You can also see here that I used quilt batting (warm and natural I think?) in between the top and the back. You can also see here that the flannel I used on the back was a blue car print with various road signs. 

A close up of the grocery store, pond, car lot, a neighborhood house, and the park. There is also a stop sign and a yield sign in there as well. 

The neighborhood. Two houses and the park.

At the top of this photo you'll see the gas station (complete with a shoe lace as the gas hose), the police station, and the car wash. I used clear buttons as bubbles, and cut strips that move for the car wash scrubbers. 

Silly me, I didn't take a picture of the complete finished project so you could see it backed and with the light blue binding. Oh, well, I think you get the feel. 

Overall the project took me approx. 15-18 hours to complete. Yes, it was quite an investment of time for a 1st birthday present, but the quality is good and the birthday boy is sure to get years and years of enjoyment from it (I hope). I also hope that he keeps it as a keepsake. Handmade things like this always get me nostalgic.

 I can't wait to start another one of these. Now that I have one under my belt I think the next few I do will be less trial and error, and less time consuming. Nevertheless, it was worth every hour I put into it. I'd love to make a few up to put in the shop, but I'm not sure that the time it takes would justify a reasonable price. What do you think? Maybe I'll put one up and see how it does? Oh, and if anyone has questions about the project or the process ask away! I'd be more than happy to answer them.

{gifts in action}

Remember the little package I sent out to a friend up north? It contained a reversible padded camera strap I made as a gift for a wonderful photographer. Well, I got a couple pictures confirming it made its way onto her camera. Isn't it the cutest thing ever? I love making things, and love love love giving them away! 

You can visit Brooke's blog to read more about getting it in the mail! And a big thanks as all photo credits on this post belong to Brooke. 

{camera strap cover & gifts}

On my list of 'to dos' has been sewing up a camera strap cover for my trusty Nikon. This is a great project to do for the avid picture taker in the family {hm...think Christmas gift?}, or if you happen to have an amazing photographer friend who needs a little something for her camera. Well what do you know, I happen to have exactly that {the photographer friend that is}. Since these take no time at all to make in addition to sewing up one for my little camera, I made one for her as well.

The great thing about camera strap covers is that they are a very easy project {think beginner sewer}, take no time at all to do, and the impact is big. They really do make your camera look nicer. Speaking of cameras, please excuse the picture below, it was taken with my iPhone as I couldn't figure out how to take a picture of the camera strap while it was attached to me/the camera, without me being in the picture, and seeing as I didn't put any makeup on today, there was no way I was going to be in the picture.

The long teal and pink one is for Brooke at Harmony Hill Photography. The premise of the whole thing is pretty simple, but if you're looking for a tutorial there is a very easy to follow one here. I only put fusible fleece on one side of the strap as to cut down on bulk. Like the tutorial I also made mine reversible, with two different patterns, one on each side. You can play around with this basic idea a lot, adding a ruffle ribbon, patchwork the top {a great way to get rid of extra scraps of fabric}, add ribbons and trims down the middle, the options are endless.

Here it is all packaged up and ready to be mailed out to her. I hope she enjoys it!

{tiny bird tag toys}

Need another use for all those fabric scraps? Small stuffed toys! I made a dozen or so plush birdies out of leftover fabric scraps and grosgrain ribbon. I'll be selling them at my boutique next month. Aren't they cute?

{zippered pillow covers}

Every sewer wonders what to do with scraps. Little leftovers that you can't bare to part with. For me it was getting to the point where I needed to find a way to use some of them. I had a few pillow forms laying around {making covers for them had been on my 'to do' list for over a year!} and I decided to make a few patchwork covers for them. I went with a pink theme, and a blue theme, and as for the smallest pillow? I used a solid pattern fabric and put a pink ribbon ruffle across the middle.

You can see in the picture above that I patch worked the front of the covers and the back I used co-ordinating solid prints. I also installed zippers in all three covers so that they can be washed and changed out for a new look.

I love zippers. I love the idea that you can take things off and on with them, I love how they hide in the seam, I love how they make items look professional, I love items that the maker thought enough of to install them in, however, I do not love installing zippers. That was until I came across this tutorial from Design Sponge.

I first used the tutorial back when I made a small throw pillow for Ella's nursery. Seriously, this tutorial changed my life! Who would have thought that installing zippers could be so easy? For the longest time not me, that's for sure. But they are, and you all should try a project that involves installing a zipper.

And another small piece of advice, check out your local thrift store for zippers. My local store has a notions/craft area and I ALWAYS walk out of there with a handful of zippers for about 20 cents a piece. Just another reason to love zippers! Ok, onto the pillows:

Blue/Green Scheme

Pink/Orange Scheme

Ribbon Ruffle Pillow