Need Something to Display Clothing On?

I stumbled upon Little Girl Pearl through Sew, Mama, Sew's Flickr pool. I was going through some of her posts and saw two on this clothing display she created:

I'm so going to have to try this! Read this post first then see the whole thing together here. Genius! How great for those of us who aren't able to buy a mannequin/dress form/etc. for pictures. I could even use this for when I sell old clothing items on Ebay!

And now meet Kaylan and Her Octopuses

***Since a few of you have asked, this pattern will be available starting next Monday night. I'm currently out of town and need to make a corrections my AMAZING pattern testers found and it will be good to go!***

I'm proud to introduce Kaylan to you now. She made three octopuses to share with you all. Take a look:

I like how she put her own spin on the mouths. It makes me happy to see how people take someone's idea/pattern and make it their own. Here is a little bit about her. Stop by her place and say hi if you like :)

"I have been blogging for just a little under a year. It started out basically as a diary or journal for me, a way to keep my family and friends up to date with all of our activities being two states away. I grew up in Iowa and now live Indiana. We moved here for my job, which is freelance court reporting. My husband and I are high school sweethearts living the American dream:)

My husband and I are always trying to live life to the fullest and keep busy traveling and experiencing new things. Sometimes I am overambitious and get in a little over my head. This summer I took up road bike riding, training for a marathon, and crafting. Growing up I was always very hands-on and crafty. Once I got to college, though, my gears shifted to work and money. Only recently have I gotten back into crafting as a hobby and I really enjoy it. I love all the ideas and tutorials that are in Bloggyville. Thank you so much, Jessica, for allowing me to be a pattern tester! "

Thank you to all of the wonderful ladies who did this for me. Because of their help, the pattern will be even better for all levels of sewers. I can't wait to have it up in my shop next Monday!

Meet Corey and Lilly the Octopus

I have received another review and pictures from Corey, a pattern tester for the octopus.

Here is what she says about the octopus:

"The Fleece I used was left over from a jumper I made my daughter last winter. I choose a berry sweet flannel to go with it, as I was in the process of making my girl a reversable tote for her dance stuff, and really fell in love with the fushia and green fabric. so....in the photos you'll see that the octopus matches her jumper, and her new tote. :) so fun. She is very pleased. I really enjoyed making this octopus, that my sugar has named, Lilly. It was my first time making a stuffed animal. I am so excited to make more for christmas presents."

Here is a little more about Corey and what she does. Pop over to her place and say hi if you like :)

"I have been blogging over at http://livingandlovingeveryminuteofit.blogspot.com/ for 2.5 years, and I am an avid photographer who goes through bouts of crazy crafting several times a year. I enjoy anything from scrapbooking, to sewing, to knitting, to anything else I see and think, "I can make that!" :) I'm a working mother of one. My Sugar Bear is 4.5 years old and it my main source of inspiration. I adore making things for her. I have recently been dabbling in the world of re-fashioning clothing. Here is one of my favs. "

Meet Crissy and her Octopuses

I want to introduce you to Crissy, one of my pattern testers for the octopus pattern. She is the first to finish and the outcome is so cute! Take a look at hers:

Here is a little bit about her. Stop by and say hi if you like :)

"I am a wife and mama that can't sit still so keep myself busy by being crafty. I am married to my best friend and we have two children, a 5 year old son and an almost 10 month old little girl. I have been sewing since I was a wee little one, about 5 or 6. I have always had an urge to create, whether it be painting, jewelery making, paper crafting or sewing. I love it all. I have an etsy shop in the works with a "hopeful" start date of sometime in early 2010. In the meantime stop by my blog http://crissybell.blogspot.com for a peek at what I am up to. It is still a project in the works but it will give you an idea of what I enjoy doing, hopefully you too will be inspired. Thank you Jessica for the opportunity to test out your pattern! :o)"

Shop Update

Nothing too exciting at the moment. I have just been taking care of non-interesting craft things and the little one has just been a big energy taker this week. Therefore I'm just putting some pictures up of some things I have posted in my shop recently. May it inspire you :) Have a fantastic weekend!!!!!

O, o, o, do you see some O's???

My daughter calls oreo cookies "O's". I whipped these up two weekends ago, while enjoying a quiet naptime, using this tutorial.

Those quiet times are rare now. She's going through a no nap stage that I hope will stop soon. I still have her take a quiet time, but she doesn't really stay quiet and protests a lot. It's another transition phase in many ways. We have also been completely paci free for a week and a half now! We were still letting her sleep using it, but she was becoming way too clingy to it. So, poof! The pace fairy came and took it away for another baby. She also decided it was time for her to climb out of her crib (I was kind of hoping she never would, like I did, and we could wait a little longer to switch to a toddler bed). So we converted her crib to the toddler bed. Whew. So many changes in such a short amount of time. There's my motherhood big moments of late.

Today's Tutorial: Let's Cowl Something

I'm back again today :) Hope you all have had a wonderful Sunday. I wanted to share with you something I played around with this weekend, cowl necks. I like the look and figured it would be a fun way to refashion t-shirts, tank tops, dresses, etc. Here is what I made for myself and for my daughter:

Mine was made from an too big t-shirt and that is what I will cover in the tutorial. As for my daughter, I just used an old tank top of mine, shortened the shoulder straps and added the cowl (which was part of a scarf I found while thrifting) . Super quick and easy.

Refashion something with a cowl neck???? Add it to the Flickr group to share with us.

What you need:
-Something to add a cowl to

-Material for the cowl (jersey, cotton, one sided, double sided, etc).
-Scissors
-Measuring Tape

1. If using a shirt with a tight neck, you need to cut off some to make the neck larger. I just cut off the ribbed neck from my shirt. I also cut the sleeves off as well.

2. Measure the lenth of the garments neck. That is how long the piece of material should be (plus an amount for seam allowance; I did 1/4") if you do it with a rectangular piece of fabric like I did. If you want more "cowl", you will want to make a trapezoid shape instead. If that is the case, the bottom of the trapezoid will be the neck length, plus seam allowances, and will taper out to your desired length. The height of the material is up to you.

*Now, if you are using a one sided fabric like me, double the height of what you want so you can fold it in half (the print will be seen on both sides). My daughters was double sided so I didn't need to do this.


3. With right sides facing, pin the sides together to create the tube that will go around the neck. Sew across.

4. Turn right side out. If you have one sided fabric, fold in half to create a tube like this:

The bottom will be open.

5. Take the tube and place on the neck, right sides facing. The bottom of the tube will be the side to pin down. Sew together.

6. It will now look like this:

7. Fold down the seam the seam inside

and sew around on the shirt part to hold the seam down.

8. Optional: I then folded the cowl down over the shirt and sewed across the top again because I thought it looked better after trying it on.

Pockets:

I wanted to add some pockets to spice it up some, so I cut 4 pieces in this shape (I used leftovers from the sleeves for the pink part).

Then, I placed them right sides together and sewed all the way around, except leaving a small opening at the top for turning.

I turned them right side out, and then sewed across the top. Then pin the pockets on the shirt.

Sew them on all sides, except for the top. Add a button if you like. I then also shirred a few rows underneath the chest area to bring it in. Oh, and I also folded down the edges of the arm openings and sewed in place for a finished look.

A nose kiss from my little helper.

A Big Big Thank You!

Thank you so much to everyone who has offered to do pattern testing for me. My daughter and I are talking about who will be the first ones to help me out.

For those of you who I do not contact, you are going on my list and I will contact a few of you at a time for the ones down the road. As of right now, I have 8 more patterns on my to do list (which is always growing). So be on the lookout :) This little girl wants me to make her lots of pretty and fun things, so the more patterns the better!

It means so much to me to see so many of you offering to give of your time, talent, and money to help me out. Blessings on you all!!!

The husband thanks you too :)

I love him a lot!!!!! (Thank you for your support too sweetheart.)

And I leave you with my daughters favorite thing to do at the beach now:

I'm off to work on Today's Tutorial (will be up tonight).

Calling all sewers!!! I need a few good pattern testers...

I'm almost done with my very first pattern!!! I'm so excited! This is a softie, but I have all sorts of patterns in the making (purses, more softies, girls clothing). Just wait, I'm going to see my dreams come true.

I'm thinking of having 2-3 sewers try out this pattern for me. Just leave me a comment (leave your email if you don't have your info public) and I will pick a few of you this weekend. Here are the requirements:

-Must know how to sew

-Must be able to make one octopus within two weeks of receiving the pattern (which would be Sunday or Monday via email)

To make one, you will need 1/2 yard of fleece, a fat quarter of fabric, a pair of 12 mm safety eyes (or you could cut felt circles), scraps of felt, embroidery thread, and misc. for any accessories.

Here are some pictures of other ones I have made in the past:

(in my shop now)

Want to know even more about me?

Then head over to Life with Little Ones now to read this interview!

The very sweet Corey has been blogging for about a year and a half and has decided to take it up a notch. She is interviewing different women from around the blog world and highlighting them on her blog. I'm the lucky one today :) When you stop by, check out her other posts. She's a crafty lady herself (I'm loving these) and has tutorials and lots of inspiration of her own! She has a cute Etsy store as well.
Thank you for the opportunity Corey! It was a pleasure working with you on this :)

Today's Tutorial: A Crocheted Crown Fit for a Prince or Princess

My daughter started getting into the princess stage a little while ago, which is what inspired this crocheted crown. She became fond of Gigi (we have the God's Little Princess DVD).

(I made her skirt with this tutorial)

She just adores the story. I made a boy version of the crown as well, for all of you with sons :) Throw your own spin on it and share it with us in the Flickr group. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

*Disclaimer: I am not a professional crochet pattern writer. Please let me know if you don't understand something.

Materials:
-Yarn (amount depends; not too much though)
-Crochet Hook (I used a size H)
-Yarn Needle

Head band (make one):
1. Measure child's head (or if making for a present or to sell, measure your own).
2. Make a foundation chain that is the measurement of head circumference plus two inches, give or take.
3. At the end of the chain, sc in 2nd chain from hook. SC all the way across.
4. At the end, ch. 1 and turn. SC in 2nd ch from end or row and then sc all the way across.
5. Repeat step 4.
6. End, leaving a tail for sewing

Large Triangle (make one):
1. Ch 11
2. SC in 2nd ch from hook; SC across (10)
3. Ch 1 and turn; SC in 2nd sc in row then sc across (8)
4. Repeat step 3
5. Ch 1 and turn; Dec then sc across (7)
6. Repeat step 5 (6)
7. Repeat step 5 (5)
8. Repeat step 5 (4)
9. Repeat step 5 (3)
10. Repeat step 5 (2)
11. Ch 1 and turn; Dec (1)

12. SC around the whole triangle to smooth out the edges (*You might have to do 2 sc in the corners for it to look nice).
13. Once done, sl st in first outer sc made. Weave in tail.

Small Triangle (make two):
1. Ch 6
2. SC in 2nd ch from hook; SC across (5)
3. Ch 1 and turn; SC in 1st sc, SC across (5)
4. Ch 1 and turn; Dec then sc across (4)
5. Repeat step 4 (3)
6. Repeat step 4 (2)
7. Repeat step 4 (1)
8. SC around the whole triangle to smooth out the edges (*You might have to do 2 sc in the corners for it to look nice).
9. Once done, sl st in first outer sc made. Weave in tail.

Putting it together:

Place the triangles in the middle of the band to see where they should go.

Hold one of the little ones in place and sew on (Use yarn and yarn needle; I also just knotted it at the beginning):

Then add the middle triangle and sew on. Finally, the last one. Sew it on the way you like it.

To finish it off, you can do a few things. You can sew the band together with yarn if you know the correct size it needs to be, or you could add velcro so it can be adjusted. Possibly even a button and add a loop on the other side if desired.

NOW GO DECORATE IT!

For the "boy" one, I added pom poms and a paper number, as if it was for a birthday party. For the girls, I cut a piece of fabric, stitched down the side, pulled thread tight, and connected the two ends together. Then I sewed it to the middle one and sewed a jewel button in the middle of it. I added two other buttons to the smaller triangles.

***I made the butterflies by tracing a cookie cutter onto scrapbook paper. I stuck them on the tree with pins***