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Adding Trim to the Geranium Dress

Posted January 17, 2013

I’ve made quite a few versions of the Geranium Dress for Clementine that feature trim along the armholes and bottom of the bodice (here, here, and here), and I wanted to show you how! It’s super easy and it really looks great. My favorite trims for necklines are ricrac and pompons, and lace or piping would be really sweet as well.

Note: This tutorial assumes you already have the Geranium Dress pattern, which you can buy here (or download the free Little Geranium pattern if you want to try it out in the 0-3 month size)!

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The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree Shorts

Posted November 13, 2012

OK, so it’s a long name, but it’s fitting: You take a bunch of shirts or boxers from dad’s closet and chop them up, then put them back together to make a great pair kid shorts. I should have posted this eons ago, but honestly I just plain forgot about it *facepalm*. Sometimes that just happens around here. You know what made me think of it? The fact that he’s wearing them, today, in Florida (we’re here on our annual family vacay). He loves these shorts, mostly because everything in them used to be his daddy’s. Plus they’re supercomfy. Double yay.

This tutorial was published earlier this fall as part of the Fall Issue of Petit Purls, a great online kids’ knitting mag…

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Tutorial + Pattern: Long Sleeve for Washi Dress

Posted October 23, 2012

I’m so excited to show you how to add a longer sleeve to the Washi Dress as shown in the Ruby Star Washi Dress post! I’ve made a pattern piece that you may download for free (yay!!). For your convenience, the instructions for sewing the sleeve are printed on the pattern piece in addition to this tutorial. Please note that the various sizes of this pattern are UNTESTED, so you use at your own risk. Feel free to email me if you have feedback. Thanks!

This pattern piece is provided with the understanding that it will be used in conjunction with the Washi Dress Sewing Pattern. All files and images are protected by copyright law. You may not distribute or…

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Puff-sleeve flashback tee + tutorial

Posted September 27, 2012

Want an easy way to “girl up” your Flashback Tees? How about a puff sleeve? It’s so easy, it’s crazy. Here’s what I’m talking about:

(she’s wearing a basic rectangle skirt that we sewed together, by the way…I put the elastic in and did all the pressing, but she sewed the side seam, the elastic casing, and the hem, with my help of course. It’s a nice quick project to sew with your kid!)

I made this tee with my Flashback Skinny Tee pattern but you can do this with any sleeve really. Here’s a quick how-to:

First, cut your sleeve pieces, but move the sleeve pattern piece at least 1″ away from the fold, keeping the edge parallel to the fold (this…

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Ship Shape Button Placket Tutorial

Posted September 26, 2012

I’m so excited to be part of Sarah Jane’s Out to Sea Blog Tour today! I’m going to show you the adorable Charlie Tunic I made for Elliot with two of the Out to Sea prints, along with a tutorial on how to add the button placket.

The Out to Sea collection is absolutely stunning. Sarah is so talented! We met last Spring at Quilt Market and got to see this collection first hand in all of its glory. I also really love her first line, Children at Play, with sweet illustrations that show the carefree days of childhood. I think it’s great that her fabric collections have both featured a number of designs for BOYS! …

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Washi Maxi Dress Tutorial

Posted September 6, 2012

You are going to laugh that I am even calling this a “tutorial,” it’s so campy. But that’s how this one is happening. It’s been campified. New word. You would rather that I spent my time cooking up more new and exciting things for you rather than making my tutorials look more profesh, right? If not, now’s the time to speak up. S’all I’m saying.

So before I give you a detailed how-to, here are the key speaking points for making a Washi Dress into a maxi (floor-length dress):

Lengthen the skirt pieces so they are long enough
Widen the skirt pieces so they don’t trip you when you walk

The key points to remember if you want it fully lined:…

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UPDATED! The ever-popular Baby Sunsuit Tutorial

Posted June 14, 2012

** I couldn’t let yet ANOTHER summer go by without updating this oldie-but-goodie tutorial! I hope you’ll enjoy this sunsuit tutorial, new and improved! **

This is an update to the original Baby Sunsuit Tutorial, which was posted over two years ago (has it really been that long…YIKES!) as part of the Baby Bonanza series over on luvinthemommyhood. This sunsuit is completely adorable and makes a great gift for a baby. Clementine used to love hers as you can plainly see:

(I can’t resist showing this photograph over and over. It’s a classic. It’s fine with me if you pin it, but please don’t use it anywhere else without permission. Once…

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Short-sleeved Flashback Tee!

Posted April 19, 2012

Spring is here and I’ve been starting to think about the boy’s warm-weather wardrobe. Starting with a short-sleeved Flashback Tee!

The one was made with the size 5T of the Flashback Tee Sewing Pattern and an organic 1×1 rib knit from Near Sea Naturals (remember when I bought those swatches?). Love the stripes and how super-soft this is. Elliot LOVES it. He’s just turned five a couple weeks ago so the fit is just a little big. Room to grow for my average-sized kid. Although he’s looking rather skinny in these pictures. No more baby fat, waaaah!

Making a short-sleeved tee from a long-sleeved pattern is so easy! And it’s no big secret: you could do…

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Rainbow Dress Tutorial

Posted August 31, 2011

Well it’s here: The Rainbow Dress Tutorial! I realize my timing is (as usual) a little odd, as it’s now the very end of summer proper and the temperatures here in Michigan are downright cool. But my sister Elli just moved to Texas and assures me that it’s still 100 degrees there, so I’m guessing some of you will still be able to use and enjoy it. Anyway, it’s never too early to start sewing for next summer, right?

In addition to the free tutorial right here in this post, I’ve made a PRINTABLE version of the tutorial available for a very low price ($2, yay!) for those who might not have the luxury of being able to…

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Tutorial: Make Cupcake Flags!

Posted August 10, 2011

I made these little flags a couple weeks ago as cupcake toppers for Clementine’s 2nd birthday. They were a real hit with the kids and the other day when she found a flag that had been dropped in the lawn and forgotten, she picked it up and said “Happy birthday to me?” Yes, yes.

They’re very simple to make; I used origami paper but any printed stationery or wrapping paper would work too. Super-easy, super-quick! Here’s how:

A note about the Xyron: Purchasing this gadget was a little silly (as I’ve mentioned above, a glue stick works just fine for this project), but it comes in handy every once in awhile for making stickers or sticky things…

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