A couple of months ago I bought an Umbrella Trimmings pack intending to enter this competition.  The pack sat in my 'to do' pile for months, and with days to spare before the competition closes, I decided to finally make this softie.  The Trimmings pack is essentially a little pack of offcuts of random prints from the Umbrella Prints range. The pieces range in size from 3 x 15cm to about 10 x 12cm.  My pack started it's life looking like this...

 

 

Chop, sew, chop, sew, stuff, stitch...

 

My good friend had a baby boy on the weekend, and since I would make her a gift anyway, the trimmings pack was perfect for a little softie.  It has been ages since I have made a softie.  I made this one up as I went.  Yes he has pink on him and this is for a little boy, but this little boy has two older sisters, so he better get used to pink!  The only fabric that is not from the pack is the beige linen for the face.  The  nose is pink suede.

 

Umbrella Prints is a lovely South Australian screen printing business that make beautiful fabrics.  You can read about the competition in the link above.  I will be checking out the Umbrella Prints pinterest board over the weekend to have a look at some other creations.  The winner receives $300 of gorgeous Umbrella Prints fabric!  Fingers crossed...

Linking up with My Creative Space today.

 

**Sorry Umbrella Prints - the pic of the fabrics is not my best (taken with my old camera a few months ago).  The softie shows off the fabrics much more honestly! 

Today I am guest posting at the awesome Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.  Head over there to see The Perennial Tunic - a variation of The Perennial Dress I drafted a couple of months back.  The Sew, Mama, Sew! post includes a tutorial on how to make the dress as well as link to the free pattern. 

If you read my post over there, you will discover that I have decided to give this lovely (well I think so!) dress away.  I love making dresses for my girls and thought I would share a bit of the love around.  Read all the details about the gorgeous fabric used to make the dress at Sew, Mama, Sew!  The dress will fit 3-4 year old girl (average height: 98cm).

 

 

If you would like this little dress to end up in your mail box, you just need to leave a comment to let me know!  This offer is open to any followers of sewpony (old and new).  Follow through Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin' or 'Like' sewpony on facebook - Thanks!!  Open internationally.  Giveaway entry closes Monday 27 May at 8.00am (AEST) - so Sunday night for those in the Northern Hemisphere.  I will announce the winner on Monday evening at 8.00pm (AEST).

 

Good Luck and I hope you like the dress and pattern!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED.

A quick little post to share this cute 'bodysuit' I made for Emily.  I bought this gorgeous deer jersey from Spotlight a few months ago.  I teemed it with some cherry red ribbing to make this 70's inspired bodysuit for my littlest girl.

Today I made this sweet little skirt for Isabella.  It is a very simple project - one for beginner sewers.  It takes a bit of time to put together but there are no complicated techniques.

It is gathered at the waist with one row of elastic.  The skirt is lined - with the lining peaking out below the hemline.  The hem is edged with two rows of ric rac.

1.  Scraps of fabric for outer layer - you will need them to be the skirt length you like plus 5cm.  You will need enough to allow for a skirt that is about three times your child's waist circumference in width.

2.  Lining-  I lined my skirt.  Again you will need the desired length of your skirt (I added an extra 2cm than my outer layer as I wanted my lining to peak out the bottom).  You will need the same skirt width as your outer layer - approx. 3 x waist... but cut your lining after your outer layer is assembled.  For example, Isabella's waist measurement was 57cm, so I used 180cm in length of lining.  You don't need to buy 180cm of lining though.  Fabric is usually 115 - 150 cm in width.  With a seam, you could achieve the required amount for Isabella from twice the skirt length (ie. 45 x2), so you would need 90cm off the roll of fabric.

3.  Some 2.5 mm width elastic (You will need 10cm less than your child's waist circumference).

4.  Ric rac - 3 x waist measurement again.

My cut pieces looked like this...I paid little attention to matching colours/patterns.

Linking up with Sew Country Chick and also taking part in Skirt Week with this one at Crafterhours.

In the spirit of Vintage May (a vintage sewing series hosted by Jess from Craftiness is not Optional and Kristin from Skirt as Top), and following my first version of  Debbie's Birthday Dress, here is view 2 of the dress.  It features the same A-line shape and but differs in that it has a centre front seam, peter pan collar and optional pocket.  After sewing this dress up in size 5, I have decided to lengthen the hemline just a little.

The bodice is lined with a sweet spotted cotton - Garden Pindot by Michael Miller from Sew, Mama, Sew!  (Their shop is closing down and they are selling lots of their fabrics at discount).

This view of the dress is inspired by another dress Debbie wears preparing for her party...

I remember loving this illustration as a child - all that delicious food!

 

I have decided that instead of developing the Mini Pinnie as my first digital pattern, that I will instead develop Debbie's Birthday Dress.  I am so excited about this design - I can't wait to get it out there!  The Mini Pinnie will have to wait!

It is a simple design that I am hoping will appeal to all sewers as a quick and gorgeous dress to sew up with a few design variations (the second is currently on the ironing board!).  The hemline is short but that is what gives it the sweet vintage appeal.  The bonus of this dress will be that as Juliette grows taller, she can wear it as a top with pants.  The dress took only an hour to sew once all cut and prepped.  I love a quick project! So satisfying.

 

The back has a simple button and loop closure - so no scary zips or buttonholes!!

The back has an invisible zipper...I finally fit one successfully - notice it is...invisible!  I bought a new invisible zipper foot which properly rolled out the zip so that it was concealed fully. 

I wanted a 1970's feel and so chose this Hokkoh Japanese retro print I found at my local Spotlight.

Happy Birthday my big grown up girl!!

Joining up at Our Creative Spaces today.