'Sunny Happy Skies' ~ Coordinating Sister Dresses

So, as I mentioned about a month ago, I'm currently working with Riley Blake Designs on their Project Design Team.  And what is really fun about this new adventure is getting to work with lots of pretty new fabric to come up with projects for their blog.  Well, I happened to receive quite a bit more yardage of 'Sunny Happy Skies', so I decided to create two coordinating looks for my girls.

The hat will be a free pattern and tutorial that I will have posted on the Riley Blake Designs 'Cutting Corners' blog tomorrow and the big bow dress will be a free pattern and tutorial that I will post here on the blog for you all later this week!

Here's the dress I created for Miss Savannah:

I wanted to make her something that was loose-fitting and comfy for running around and playing, but still had a bit of whimsy.

I thought about adding rick rack in the collar, but opted for pale yellow piping instead due to the bold print in the main fabric.

I decided to do a zipper in the back of this dress.  I usually prefer buttons, but I had the urge to do a zipper since it had been awhile since I had put one in a dress.  The verdict.........I still prefer buttons.

Here's the dress I created for Miss Matilda (I will share the tutorial for this dress later in the week):

I wanted something really fun for Matilda since she is at such a fun age.  I went with a giant over-sized pocket that I embroidered with 'Oh Happy Day' and trimmed with rick rack.  I also created a large statement bow for the front of this dress.

I love the huge bow in the front of this dress.  And I especially love the fun, striped fabric.  Matilda's favorite color is blue, so I went with that for the main body of the dress.  The straps are simply pre-gathered eyelet.

And finally, here are some pictures of my little ladies........

So, later this week I will post a tutorial so you can make your own 'Happy Day' Big Bow Dress and tomorrow I will be posting a tutorial and free pattern for this hat on Riley Blake Designs:

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Now that I've got these two looks created, I'm off to cut my pattern for something for my little guy.  

Have a great week!

Girls Appliqued Shirts: GO! Baby Fabric Cutter

This past week the girls and I decided it would be fun to make some appliqued shirts using my new toy the GO! Baby Fabric Cutter.  I recently got this great new machine and I think I might be in love.  I've done my fair share of applique, but the idea of cutting all the shapes out always seemed to un-motivate me to do very much.

The GO! Baby Fabric Cutter is a machine that can be used for quilting or applique and is made by AccuQuilt.  Basically, you purchase dies of all different shapes, run them through the machine and it cuts them out perfectly every time.  I have three dies to go with my machine right now, but there are tons to choose from - I have the little critters, birds, and flowers.

My girls and I picked out some scraps of fabric from my stash that we thought would be fun on some little t-shirts that I picked up at Walmart.  I added a light-weight fusible interfacing to the back of each fabric scrap and away we went.

The machine is not operated by anything but a hand crank on the side.  I would lay the fabric on top of the different dies and the girls would turn the crank to cut the fabric through the machine.  They thought this was so fun to actually get to help mommy with a sewing project.  Mind you, my girls are only 2 years old and 3 and a half and they had absolutely no probably turning the hand crank.  You definitely wouldn't want to leave little ones alone with the machine, but it was great with grown up supervision.  I asked each of them what shapes they wanted on their shirts and we cut everything out accordingly.

Once all the shapes were cut, I removed the paper backing from the interfacing from each of the different shapes.  Then we laid out the different pieces on each shirt.  The next part was all up to me, but by then the girls had lost interest, so it work out just right that way.  I ironed the appliques onto each shirt and then did a combination of machine stitching and hand embroidery on each on of the shapes.

I love how these shirts turned out and I think the girls love them even more!  It's not very often that I get to work on sewing projects with my little ladies, since they are so young, so this was pure joy for me (and them, I hope)!

The GO! Baby Fabric Cutter is the smaller of the two machines offered by AccuQuilt.  They sell a larger version that can accommodate bigger dies, but for my purposes, the GO! Baby is just right. 

Right now AccuQuilt is offering 22 FREE patterns when you sign up for their email newsletter!  All you have to do is submit your email.  Click HERE to sign up and download your free patterns!!

Book Review: Glorious Embellishing with Gloria McKinnon

Sewing and crafting books are one of my favorite pieces of reading material.  I could flip through sewing books time after time and never get bored with them.  I find these books to be so inspiring and a wonderful resource for learning new tricks and techniques.   Most nights, before I fall asleep, I am looking at some sort of sewing / crafting magazine or book - it's just a great way to end the day!

I was recently sent a copy of a fabulous new book from the publishers of Sew Beautiful and Martha Pullen for my review and I am thrilled to share this new publication with you all............

Glorious Embellishing with Gloria McKinnon

The Ultimate Resource for Decorative Stitching and Beading

Have you ever been interested in embroidery or hand embellishing?  "Glorious Embellishing" with Gloria McKinnon includes seven different detail oriented projects in the first half of the book and then includes an invaluable embroidery stitch library in the second part of the book.  The projects are truly delicate works of art and are pieces that will be cherished for a lifetime.

 

Many of the projects include instructions on the piecing of fabric and then finish with the elaborate embellishing stitches that can be used.  The projects are meant to be inspiration and you really can make them into your own works of art.  The vintage women (seen in the project above) are included in the book so that you can put them on fabric transfer paper and use as part of your creation.

I am a big visual learner so I love all the illustrations that come with the embroidery stitch library.  They are very clear and easy to understand, especially for a novice when it comes to hand embroidery.  Most stitches start off showing you the most basic version and then go into more and more advance techniques.  The author also shows you how to add things such as beading or silk ribbons into your embroidery embellishment techniques.

Even if some of the projects are not necessarily your style, they can be adapted and made your own.  And again, I have to say that the embroidery stitch library in this book is like none I have ever seen.  I have always wanted to get more into embroidery and I think this book might be the push I need to make that happen.

If you are interested in reading more about "Glorious Embellishing with Gloria McKinnon", please visit the Martha Pullen Store where you can purchase this book as well as many other sewing and craft resources.