Toddler Chalk Number Quiet Book

If you've been following my recent posts, you would know that my Etsy store has been undergoing a transformation. I'm selling out some products I've had for a while, added a few new ones and updated several others with new fabrics and some new features. I've also joined the Etsy Make For Good Campaign this year with two great creative products for kids. I am so happy with how the store is looking at the moment, and just in time for the pre-Christmas shoppers - bring it on!

This Quiet Book has been in the works for a while, but life has been busy these last few months with changing jobs and reassessing a few other projects I've been involved in, but here it is finally finished.

There are ten number pages with chalk vinyl numbers appliqued on that little ones can trace around with chalk. Each page also has a matching bead counter so that kids can practice counting to each number and associate each figure with its amount.

 

 

I've also added in four new cover designs - bright, colourful and very fun! 

Check out the books here: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/476407589/toddler-chalk-number-quiet-book?ref=shop_home_active_1

Monday Minute

It's an almost sewing-free Monday Minute this week. It's school holidays here in Queensland and so we left our kids with their grandparents for a few days and flew to Sydney for a grown up vacation.

I had an afternoon to myself at the Art Gallery of New South Wales to visit the Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera exhibition, which was excellent!

And we were very lucky to get so much sunshine and blue sky, despite the cool weather - check out that view! Superb!

And the coffee was excellent!

Not completely sewing free, as I arrived home to three little packages of fabric goodness - yay! How cute are those prints for kids?!!? I think my favourite is the yellow with bright dinosaurs :)

And a sweet little gift from a friend at work today - this little kit to make an Autumn Maiden doll. Bring on the weekend so I can get started on this little project. 

Little miss 5 is also eager to help with this one! Hope to show you the finished product soon xx

Fabric Favourites

Sometimes it seems kids get to have all the fun. My son has shorts covered in little monsters, and another pair in sharks. He has pants with dinosaurs on the trim and a reversible hat with bugs on one side and vehicles on the other. 

My daughter has a skirt covered in rainbow spots and multiple items made out of different owl designs.

I shouldn't complain too much though as it can be a lot of fun shopping for kids fabric and as you can see, I'm building up quite the stash <3 <3 <3

Which one do you like the best?

Sewing Tutorial: Easy baby pants variation

We love the easy baby pants at our house. Mr 2 wore these bright dinosaur pants back when he was a baby. What a welcome change they make from the navy blue/khaki options in a lot of the stores here in the cooler months!



A year later, I made him another pair. This time I wanted to trim them with pockets and a cuff.

SEWING TUTORIAL

1. Cut out pant pieces from the original pattern (http://richesandroses.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/sewing-tutorial-easy-baby-pants.html).

2. Decide how big you want your pockets. I wanted pockets to be about 10cm by 10cm when finished. Double the length and cut a rectangle. My rectangle was 12cm by 22cm. (adding in a little for seam allowances). I wanted two pockets (one on each leg), so I cut out two of these from contrasting robot print cotton fabric.

3. Fold the pocket fabric in half length ways, right sides together. Sew around the edges, leaving a 2cm gap to turn the pocket out the right way.

4. Turn pockets out the right way and iron flat.

5. Pin pockets in position. I put mine in the middle of the leg piece, by folding the piece in half in one direction and then in half again the other way, finding the centre point. Sew around the side and bottom edges of the pocket, close to the edges.

6. Cut out a 10cm strip of the contrasting fabric to make the cuffs.

7. Fold the fabric in half lengthways and iron flat. Fold the edges into the centre and iron flat again. Place the bottom edge of the leg piece between the folded length of contrast fabric. Sew it down along the top edge, close to the edge.

8. Now follow the instructions on the original blog post (http://richesandroses.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/sewing-tutorial-easy-baby-pants.html) to finish the pants.

VOILA!

Too busy sewing to blog...

Life has been busy again and trying to squeeze in some winter sewing to my spare time has left little time for blogging.

I previously made a short sleeved version of this shirt from a cute dinosaur fabric using the pattern found here 

http://www.smalldreamfactory.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/free-pattern-short-sleeve-shirt-size-12.html. This long sleeved version has turned out well, although I found I needed to add to the length of the pattern for it to fit my son.

I made my son a pair of pants out of this fabric last winter and decided to make another this year as they were just so cute. I really get tired of shopping for winter clothing for boys and only having the choice of grey, black and navy blue. We need the bright colours more in winter!

This little dress is made from my toddler pinafore dress pattern, found here in my blog. Adjusted of course to fit my growing girl. I bought this cute bright green and turquoise bird fabric ages ago with such a dress in mind. She loves it, especially the pockets (where her hands now live ;)).

These little pants turned out great. Just a simple pattern cut from an existing pair of pants, but simplified by making the front and back pieces the same (just like in my baby pants pattern on the blog). Trimming with the robot fabric really brightened them up. So cute and so comfy.

I love how being able to sew clothes for my kids really brightens up their wardrobes with unique pieces.  As basic clothes are now so cheap to buy, it's lovely to be able to hand make the more special pieces and you really can save money by doing that yourself.

Summer is almost over

April has begun already, but the weather is still warm here in Brisbane. The nights are a little cooler, but Autumn is really taking its time in starting off. Luckily, because it's given me a little bit of extra time to sew some new clothes for the kids. 

Richie is the one who benefits the most - boys pants are so easy to sew. I guess dresses are too, but with our lifestyle of lots of outdoor play, Mia rarely gets the opportunity to dress up and wear pretty dresses. I'm making her a couple though.

I'm using the check fabric above to make a long sleeve, collared shirt for Richie. Last year I made him a really cute little dinosaur short sleeved version. It was a bit on the short side though, so hopefully this will fit him for longer than that one did.

I picked up this retro bird fabric a while ago on sale, already picturing it on denim as a dress for Mia. I've made quite a few metres of bias tape too, so it should really brighten up this dark denim.

Richie's favourite pants of this time last year were a bright pair of easy dinosaur pants. I picked up some more of the fabric on sale a while back, so I'm making him another pair for this year. They make a nice change from the navy blue and greys pants that are standard for boys in winter.

I wasn't sure about the red, but  I had a few scraps left over and thought I'd make them up. They look so cute on Richie! They're the perfect park or child care pant. So comfy and easily washed.

The denim and robot combo are going into some more pants for Richie. I totally underestimated how cute these would turn out (I'll post some more up to date pictures soon). I put the robot strips along the bottom hems and have also put on robot pockets. The denim is a lighter weight fabric picked up on a half price sale, the lighter weight is perfect for our Brisbane winters where the sun still keeps the days quite warm.

Mia's second dress is made out of this cute zakka fabric with a Parisian print. I picked it up on sale with no idea what to make out of it (and still the pattern is mostly on my head). So far I've got a bodice, but the plan is to pleat the skirt part. I've made it loose fitting so we can fit long sleeves and leggings underneath.

So happy to be sewing again!

What have you made recently?

Back to the sewing machine

Life got busy. Since going back to work back in November, sewing and crafting had stopped. Although it's only been part time (2 days a week), there's been Christmas, holidays and two little children who've suddenly needed a bit of extra special care at bed times. Mr now 14 months has been going through some big separation anxiety, and Miss 3 has just been in one of those phases where she needs some extra stories and cuddles in order to go off to sleep.

But then I realised how much I've been missing it. A long list of projects was made and these hats became the first project to be ticked off the list. They're reversible which makes them so much easier to sew, and fun to mix and match the designs. I've made four different sizes in each design and they're all up in my etsy shop already.

I loved this jungle animal fabric when I saw it on sale ages ago but hadn't been able to think of any projects to make - too many little boys being born around here! It makes a nice contrast to the sea life print below, which is on the reverse side.

I first bought this dinosaur print to make a smart little collared shirt for my son to wear to his first birthday party, and ended up buying some more as it's just so cute.

I opted for robots on the reverse side. Cute, no?

My daughter had a pillowcase dress from this Hello Kitty fabric when she was just over 1 year old - I love how it looks made up as this hat!

Paired up with a nice quiet polkadot pattern on the reverse side.

Both of my kids have hats made from this collection of fabrics, although the caravan print is a new addition to my fabric stash. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I love the finished look.

A hat pattern and tutorial will soon follow!

Works in progress: baby boy shirt, a pretty top for me, birthday party favours...

How cute is this new top of mine?

I used the pattern from here: http://www.coletterie.com/colette-patterns-news/free-pattern-to-download-the-sorbetto-top and was so happy with how it turned out. It's such a lovely flattering fit! If I make another (which I no doubt will), I'll add a little to the length though as it's a little short for me.

And how cute is the birthday boy's new shirt?

I used the pattern and super easy to follow instructions from here: http://www.smalldreamfactory.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/free-pattern-short-sleeve-shirt-size-12.html. He looks SO grown up in it, that it almost makes me a little sad to see him wearing it ;) If you use the same patterns just note that they're a smaller fit than I expected, and if you've got a tall little boy you might like to add some extra inches in the length.

Miss 3 had a lovely birthday last week and loved her birthday bunting so much that it's still hanging in the living room. We had a great little party at the weekend with her other friends who turn 3 this month, and this weekend we have a joint birthday party for her and Mr 1 at home with other friends, where this cute little shirt will be worn (perhaps my new top too) and the bunting will hang as decoration. I'm also working on some crayon roll party favours which I'll share on here next week, a dress for myself and some little pre-walker sandals for Mr 1.

Lesley

Works in progress: Richie's new doll, birthday bunting, dinosaur shirt, clothes for me at last!

Meet Richie's new doll:

My baby boy is about to turn one, so I've made this gorgeous little doll to add to his birthday presents. The pattern came from: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2013/02/girl-boy-fabric-dolls-pattern-pieces-included.html, where there are also pattern for some girl dolls and clothing. I'm sure I'll be making one of those for his big sister soon :)

The more pressing birthday though is Miss Almost 3 tomorrow. Eeek. We've decided on a joint birthday party as the two children have their birthdays about a month apart. So tomorrow there'll be balloons, presents and a simple birthday cake at home with just the four of us. And this pretty bunting which we can reuse for the party in two weeks:

I found the free pattern and tutorial for this little shirt online last week: http://www.smalldreamfactory.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/free-pattern-short-sleeve-shirt-size-12.htm, which I've just cut out (beware the pattern does not include seam allowance - I found this out the hard way of course... must read instructions before cutting into my fabric!). I'm making one for Mr Almost 1 for the birthday party out of the dinosaur fabric below (top left):

I picked up all these fabrics for 40% off at a sale a week ago - some great finds there! It was so hard to limit them as I didn't want to spend too much money all at once. Already I've started cutting into most of them :-) The blue green one on the top right will become a top for me and the navy/orange fabric with cherries will become a simple dress for me. Not sure yet what to make out of the underwater fabric, or the bugs....

Kids' craft: Toddler Sewing Kit

My earliest memories of sewing are of using scraps of fabric from my mother's sewing to wrap my dolls in new clothes. I feel very lucky to have been taught this useful skill, mostly just through watching and learning, and I would really love if I could pass it on to my own daughter, who is now almost 3 years old. So I started her a sewing kit...

A lot of pieces were bought on Ebay, like these large plastic needles and wooden beads. I used non slip drawer lining from the $2 shop and a quilting frame for sewing practice. Miss almost three loves threading the beads on and has really caught on quickly to how to sew with the needle. The next thing I need to teach her is how to thread the needle :)

I threw in a few miscellaneous items like some velcro, ribbon, zippers and ric rac.

I made these dinosaurs for threading out of craft foam and a hole punch. She loves sewing these.

I was sent this colour chart from an Etsy seller when I made a purchase a while back and picked up the paper tape measure at an Ikea store.

I also included some plastic cotton reels for threading and colour sorting.

Finally, a bulk bag of buttons from the fabric shop. We spend hours sorting these into colour groups :)