Little Big Things For A Big Day

So Emma’s birthday was a week ago.  I don’t have any decorations at home for birthdays. It is a shame because now when we have children we have to try to make birthdays a little bit more special. So I decided to make a little something. I had a week to make it all before the party. First, I always liked seeing online all the buntings and garlands and thought it would be nice to have one in our house. I still haven’t decided if I should put it up only for birthdays or leave it on the window all year round. It just looks so cheery. I used this Scalloped Fabric Garland tutorial. It was very easy to follow. The only thing I changed was that I lengthened the height of the template an inch or so. I had a hard time picking different fabrics that go together. I am not a quilter and I have no idea which colors go with which.

The other thing that I made for my girl’s birthday was the crown. I thought as we had a Princess Party for her she should have the prettiest crown of all. So I googled ‘felt crown’ and it came up with so many beautiful crowns that people made. As I scrolled down I found these ones and fell in love. So I just shamelessly copied it – drew my own pattern and then just sewed. Mine came out a little higher and I sewed the flower in the center all around after I embroidered the letter E  on it.  I do like how it turned out.

Emma also had a little party at her preschool and I thought I’d make a new dress for her just for that occasion. I used an Oliver+S Ice Cream Dress pattern. It was my first time sewing with Oliver+S patterns. It was a breeze. All the instructions were clear and I finished the dress in 4 hours. Because I picked the pattern I asked Emma to pick the fabric for her dress. And she did a great job.

So we had a very happy girl who turned 4 years old all set up to celebrate her birthday. The party turned out really well and I am thinking about making another garland like that just because they are so cute and cheery. And maybe a crown for myself :)

Little Update

Thanks for all your advice, my friends, I finished this shirt of mine and already wore it couple times. Just forgot to show it up here on the blog. I like it much better now and don’t think of myself as a bat with huge sticking up sleeves. Love love the cotton it is made of – it’s very soft and airy.  Too bad it’s getting too cold in Moscow to wear things like that.

In other news I have to start on Emma’s Halloween costume but she cannot make her mind of what she wants to be this year. One day she wants to be a doggy, the other it’s a witch and other days it’s SpongeBob. How can I make something and not have a disappointed girl who decides to be something else while I make her costume?

Let’s Go To The Market

picture is courtesy of my brother Tim 

Another Market Skirt that I sewed months ago but forgot to take a picture. And so when my brother and his family visited us there was a day when Alyssa was wearing it and Tim snapped some pictures. So I had to show it off here. I love the color of the skirt and it looks very cute on my little monkey. The only problem with skirts lately is that they all end up pulled up to the armpits and look quite funny. Hopefully she’ll grow out of it soon as I love putting skirts on this little one. And as usual the pattern was easy and much faster second time around. I am sure I will be making more of these skirts in my future.

Ruffle Fun

My latest project are these cute pettiskirts. Love how they turned out, hated making them. Even with a ruffler I had a hard time making these skirts. Ruffler damaged two needle clamps on my machine and made my life miserable. But I was not going to go to a no ruffler option because it seems to be too much work. If you don’t know what a ruffler is you should check it out on Google. It’s a scary looking gadget, but once you figure it out you can’t live without it.

Back to the skirts. I don’t know how people make them for a living.  I made three in a week and a half and was so sick of them by the end of the third skirt. Too much fabric, too many ruffles. But the end result is adorable that is why I kept going.

 

Picture is courtesy of my brother Tim

As usual I spent a lot of time procrastinating researching the tutorials online and then took a little bit out of each one. Mostly I returned to this tutorial while sewing. It is very detailed and has lots of pictures.

Linen Shorts for Hot Summer

Forgot to show these shorts. I made them before we left on vacation, so long time ago. They turned out a little wonky and weird because I made them out of Russian linen that kind of looks like denim. Weird, right? It is quite stiff when you wash+press them.

However, I loved making these shorts. Pattern is from another Japanese book (told you I have a lot of them), made in 110cm. They fit nicely, but they have a high waist so if I don’t pull them up they hang at the crotch area (as seen on the pic#2). I still love them and sure hope Emma starts wearing them more often.

And I still haven’t had time for my polka dots shirt. Boohoo… I either procrastinate or study, so I haven’t had much time to sew anything lately. But I will probably end up making my sleeves a little shorter and putting elastic so they’re gathered too.

In Need of Advice…

So, guys (which means Rachel and Suzy cause you’re the only ones reading this blog), I made something for myself for the first time. And I had this vision that it would be a cute peasant top with flowy sleeves, but the fabric is a little bit stiff for the flowy part of the plan. And now I have this:

Is it me or the sleeves look weird? Because to me they look like bat wings… short bat wings. So there are two options to fix this. First one is to just insert the elastic in the casing and call it done. The second one is to shorten the sleeves a little bit and then insert the elastic, so the sleeves would be short.

Otherwise, I am loving this fabric that I got from one Russian fabric store. It is perfect for summer. It’s 100% cotton and very light and I love polka dots. I got the pattern from some Japanese book where I had to build the pattern myself from the given measurements. It was fun and gave me some exercise for my poor old brain.

So help me decide on those sleeves, please, because I am itching to put this top on and go try it out :)

Did you miss me?

I am back from a much needed vacation. I did not do a craft related thing while on vacation, mainly because I had no time to do anything there but run after kids. I am back though with a long list of things I need to make. The only problem is that I have to study these days, so I will be showing up here very sporadically till September. And then I hope I’ll have more time on my hands to do what I like and what relaxes me.

Remember this post about the unfinished bonnet for Alyssa? Well, I finished it but it was weird and too short, so I had to make some changes to my pattern and make another bonnet.

It turned out really cute. A little bit big for Alyssa’s small head, but I hope it will still fit her next summer. The only problem is that she hates it. What is with my girls that they hate everything I make for them? I think Alyssa doesn’t like the tying option of the bonnet.  So every time I tie the ribbon under her chin she starts freaking out and tries to rip the bonnet off her head. I still think girls look adorable in little bonnets.

Sunhat

For some reason I have the hardest time coming up with the header. I always sit for a while thinking and end up using something boring. I guess that’s why I like math much better than writing.

I noticed that all Emma’s sunhats are too small for her. She always had a big head which still gets stuck going through a T-shirt and it still grows obviously.  As the summer is getting hotter and hotter I needed to either buy or make a hat for her. As I am going through a sewing phase I decided to make her one. The pattern is from one of the many Japanese books I own. I just love those books even if I don’t understand a thing out of them. But as long as I have a pattern and some illustrations on how to make a thing then I am good to go.

Emma chose the fabric. She said she likes apples and ABC’s. I like how it turned out and I like how it looks on her. It was pretty easy to sew but it took me longer than I would want it. All because of my procrastination.

So Emma is ready for her hot summer days outside. Now I need to finish the bonnet for Alyssa and we’re good to go. Did I tell you we’re leaving to Crimea next week? I can’t wait.

Skirtapalooza

It’s time for some skirts. I love making skirts for the girls, because there are so many free patterns online for them. As well as I have a lot of patterns at home. Usually it takes half a yard of fabric to make a cute skirt and not longer than a couple of evenings. And do you know a little girl who doesn’t like a skirt? Even Emma who doesn’t care about what she wears cannot resist the charms of a cute skirt.

So here’s the first skirt. I made two of these – one for Emma and one for my friend’s little girl. The fabric is really light and it will be perfect for hot summer days. (Sorry for the ugly brown shelf… you’ll see a lot of it as I can’t find spray paint in Moscow)

The next one is the elastic waist skirt.  You can find the tutorial here (there is also a tutorial for the adult version of a skirt). It’s very easy to make and really fast too. I cheated and used my ruffler foot monster and ruffled up the skirt before attaching it to the elastic. I like how colorful the fabric is but disliked sewing with it because of the strips (you can see they don’t match up at the seam). But oh well, it still turned out really cute. I am thinking about making one like this for myself, using other fabric of course.

The third skirt is the most work I would say, but it is also the cutest. I guess you have to work harder to get better results. Have you ever been to Dana Made It blog? If not, then you should drop everything and go there. It’s one of those blogs that I check everyday to see what else Dana came up with and shared with us. She has so many adorable patterns and great ideas. Also I think that her blog is awesome because she has patterns for boys there too. I just think that it is hard to find free patterns for boys and when/if I have a boy I will have to look hard to find something cute and easy to sew for him. But lucky me, I have two girls who I can sew for right now and I really enjoy doing it. But let’s get back to the skirt. The tutorial for the Market Skirt you’ll find here. It was easy to sew, but it took me longer because it has pockets… with buttons. I hate making buttonholes.  But the result came out really cute and cheery.

All these skirts are made for my friend’s little girl and will go to Hawaii. Thus there are no pictures with modeling. Next post will be with some models for sure.

Fabric Ball

Have you ever made one of these? They are fast and easy to make and they are perfect for the baby shower presents. I also put a little bell inside so it makes a cute sound when shaken. 

I think I am going through a sewing phase right now. I made so many skirts lately that it’s a little bit crazy. I will be posting some pictures of the skirts over the weekend.

Challenge To Sew

Have you seen this challenge from Elsie Marley? I really like the idea, too bad I don’t really have time to take it this year. I love the idea of making summer wardrobe for kids out of the fabric stash I have. The only problem is that when I buy fabric I usually buy half yards, which is good for making skirts and small details.  So i will have to build my stash over the year and then take this challenge next year (if it’s still around).

Check out this blog. It has a ton of useful information and inspiration. So go and look around and I am sure you will find something for yourself there.

And here’s the peek into something I’ve been working on last week. I was inspired by this bonnet by Angry Chicken, and got an itch to make it right away. I had to come up with a pattern myself which turned out a little too big for Alyssa. I will have to tweak it a little bit more and hopefully it will be done by June. :)

Math is Fun

 

This made me smile today. No wonder I like math. :) To see more equations go here.

Embrace Life

Saw this commercial on my friend's blog today and thought it was a beautiful interpretation of a simple message. The music is pretty too.

When There’s Need For Something

I am glad I can (usually) make it. And thanks to all the free tutorials out there sky is the limit.

One day I got sick of looking at this pretty sight:

And after looking for some little belts without any luck, I had to start sewing. First, I found this nifty tutorial  by Apple Cyder on how to make a patchwork belt. Then I had to measure Emma and readjust all the measurements so it would fit a 3 year old. And finally, put it all together. I didn’t have much time to make patchwork for the belt so I just sewed some cute fabric strip on. I also couldn’t find D-rings, for some reason in Moscow there are only fancy belt rings with fake diamonds. I thought this plastic thing would be easier for Emma to open and close by herself so I got that. And it will readjust as she grows.

And on the happy plumber model:

On the other note, I feel bad that i abandon this blog for long stretches before I finally post about something. I do have things to show, i just don’t have time to just sit and write a post. I know it’s a lame excuse but I am quite busy these days and wish I was one of those mothers who can do it all and have plenty of time to craft, take beautiful pictures, clean, make fancy dinners while playing with their four kids. I have my hands full with my two crazies who don’t really like playing with toys/by themselves, which is why I usually forget about my craft blog.

I just saw this cutest tutorial and thought i should post it here. Too bad the winter is coming to an end and Alyssa is growing too big to wear tights all the time. But i think you can totally turn the tights into the leggings without any problem. And also this tutorial is awesome because you can use your old T-shirts. Isn't it clever?

Color Career Quiz

This is pretty cool :) Try this quiz and tell me if it worked for you. This is a quiz that tells you your career choices after you chose a couple of favorite colors. It says i am an Organizer and love Math, which is true. Among my career choices are IRS Agent, Budget Analyst, Banker, Accountant. I guess i know now what i can do when the kids grow up. If you need a Budget Assistant let me know :)

Тётя Лошадь

I did not disappear. I am here, but just have been too tired to post anything. My blogs are suffering from it, but what can you do. I barely have time to sit down and take a breather during the day. And when the kids go to bed I tend to just sit there staring somewhere in front of me and complain to Matt about how hard my day was. :) I hope though that with time i will have more energy to do something and then show it off here.

Enough with the explanation of my disappearing. I want to introduce Miss Horsey. It was made quite fast as a New Year’s gift for my adorable little niece Polina. She is into horses right now. It is nice to know Miss Horsy will be in good loving hands.