Plaid Dress

 Plaid Dress Free Pattern and Tutorial

The Plaid Dress is a sleeveless drop waist dress with a circle skirt. It has a v-neck back with an invisible zipper and a hook and eye closure. It is fully lined with bias binding on the skirt/bodice seam for a nice finishing touch.

 What you need:

• Purple Rose Party Dress free pattern size 4
• 1 yard plaid fabric
• 1 yard lining fabric
• 1 inch bias tape maker
• 7-9 inch invisible zipper
• 1 hook and eye closure

 What you do: (All seam allowances are .5 inch)

• Cut out the bodice pieces in the plaid fabric.

•  Cut out the bodice pieces in the lining fabric. Also cut 1 yard of bias tape, 1.75 inches wide for the 1 inch bias tape maker.

•  With right sides together sew the bodice together at the shoulder seams, cut seams down to .25 inch, and press seams open. Repeat this for the bodice lining. With right sides together sew the 2 bodices together around the neckline, then along the 2 armholes.

•  Trim seam allowances down to .25 inch, clip curves, then turn right side out and press.

•  Sew the side seams.

•  Install the invisible zipper, hand sew the lining to the invisible zipper tape, and attach the hook and eye above the invisible zipper.

•  Cut out the circle skirt (10 inches in length or you could make it longer or shorter) in the lining fabric. Lay the lining circle skirt on top of the plaid fabric with right sides together, pin around the circle, then cut out. Sew these pieces together and clip edges all around.

•  Turn the circle skirt right side out and press.

•  With right sides together sew the circle skirt to the bodice.

•  Sew the bias tape around the skirt/bodice seam. All done!

The plaid fabric I used was Plaiditudes Collection Fabric- Cotton Heather, Pink, Grey & Magenta from JoAnn, it's super soft and was an absolute dream to work with. And I thought the gray with white polka skirt lining would make a playful addition.

Have fun sewing your plaid dress!

Felt Cat Ears Tutorial

 Felt cat ears for pretend play, dress-up, costumes. These are simple to sew felt ears that slide onto a headband. A super quick and easy project, too.

What you need:

• Paper and pencil to make a template
• Wool felt in 2 different colors
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Headband (I used a fabric covered headband)

 What you do:

• With paper and pencil draw the 2 templates shown in the photo. The big ear piece is approximately 2.5 inches wide and 5.25 inches tall. The little ear piece is approximately 1.75 inches wide and 1 7/8 inches tall.
• Use those paper templates to cut out 2 big ear pieces and 2 little ear pieces out of the wool felt.

•  Fold a big ear piece in half, place a little ear piece on top.
• At the sewing machine topstitch around the little ear piece.
• Repeat for the 2nd ear.
• Slide the cat ears onto the headband.

Purrfect for the little kitty cat lover in your life :)

>^..^<

Meow!

Thank you for taking the time to visit here.

Sew Cool for the Tween Scene Guest Post

Today I am visiting the Sew Cool for the Tween Scene blog. Major Moma and Sally just started that blog in August covering everything about pre-teen sewing patterns and ideas. A brand new fun blog, so if you have an 8-12 year old, go check it out!

You can click here to see my post about some of the clothing I have sewn for my tween son and some tips/ideas/resources, too.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Fall 13 Ideas House

 {This is not my house}

Taking a break today from blogging about sewing and sharing something that is found in my area and is unique. One of the things that I like about reading blogs is that I get exposed to certain places/events that I would never be able to go to because I can't travel to it. I enjoy it when bloggers share a photo tour. So that is what I'm doing here today...

I just visited the Bachman's Fall 2013 Ideas House. It is located in an historic (early 1920s) family home in Minneapolis. It's such a wonderful destination for design inspiration. Three times per year they completely repaint, refurnish and redecorate the house with creative ideas in home décor and entertaining, using their signature mix of vintage and new pieces.

Would you like to visit some of the previous ones? Spring 13, Holiday 12, Fall 12, Spring 12, Holiday 11, Summer 11, Spring 11, Holiday 10, Summer 10, and Spring 10

Enjoy the photo tour!

On the porch... a fairy garden in a vintage suitcase.

 Sunflower place settings.

 In the living room... candles and potted plants above the fireplace.

 LED lanterns hanging in the fireplace.

 Stuffed pumpkins made out of velvet fabric.

 Flea market wall shelves and trays hung as wall art.

 In the sunroom... game table set up with Scrabble Gardening Edition, Scrabble letters as placecard holders, metal mesh painted white and used as tablecloth, pillows tied to chairs with scarves.

 Vintage foil wallpaper for runner on console table which serves as a mini bar.

 In the dining room... buffet wall painted gold with 1950s vintage roller, metal vase filled with clear string lights and trimmed with burlap ribbon, buffet carved detail highlighted with black paint.

 Pear place settings.

 In the kitchen... outdoor arch canopy as pot and pan rack.

 Floating cookbook shelves serve as spice racks.

 Metal ironing board frame as message center with clock and calendar magnets.

 This is my favorite photo, tiny porcelain Scandinavian woven heart pockets for succulent planters (hanging on the wall in the bathroom).

 In the master bedroom... vintage screen doors repurposed as headboard, window valance made from silk and metal flowers.

 Wire baskets hung inside frames as wall decor, outdoor garden bench painted black.

 Jewelry holder assembled from painted clay containers.

 In the men's office... suede jacket and belts used as valance covers.

 Belts as decorative accent on the desk chair.

 Floor lamp accessorized with golf clubs.

 In the even planner workshop... harvest table decorated with squirrels and acorns.

 Fall vineyard wedding theme with mini glass greenhouse wedding card holder on top of vintage suitcase.

 In the guest bedroom... bank teller window as headboard.

 Wooden ironing boards used as shelving unit.

 Going outside... in the potting shed... football man-cave, kitchen towels as curtains, galvanized trough as ceiling light.

 In the garage... Thanksgiving celebration.

 Painted vintage frames as placemats.

 Blessing tree from ribbon and burlap leaves.

 Fairy garden in a dresser drawer!

 I did buy one item that was used in the Ideas House, some cotton ribbon tape measure. Not sure what I'm going to use it for yet, but I couldn't resist buying it.

The Fall 13 Ideas House is open September 12th - October 6th, 2013 and the Holiday 13 Ideas House will be November 7th - December 15th, 2013.

Art Museum Boy Look

 Today is my last day of the Oliver + S fall pattern preview...

Oliver + S just released the Art Museum Vest + Trousers (available in sizes 6M-12) as one of three of their fall 2013 sewing patterns and I'm so excited to share what I have made! Here is a sewing pattern for boys and girls. Last time was my girl's look, today I'm sharing my tween boy's look. Yay for handmade tween clothing!

Did you know that the vast majority of Oliver + S sewing patterns go all the way up to size 12? So they are not just for a little kid, they can be for a tween, too.

 You can read all about my thoughts on the Art Museum Vest + Trousers sewing pattern over here.

I do have to add: Thank you for the belt loops! With my son being so skinny he almost always has to wear a belt, so belt loops are a must. How nice that they are included so now I don't have to figure how to make then and add them myself. Speaking of skinny, one of the nice things about sewing clothes for your kids is that you can get a good fit if they don't fall into a specific size, by adjusting the sewing pattern accordingly before cutting out the fabric. For example, if I would have sewn this outfit in size 7 it would have been too short, but if I would have sewn it in size 10 it would have been too wide.

I was contemplating adding a zipper fly, but I felt I didn't have enough time (hoping to do a zipper fly next time). Would you like to sew a zipper fly with this one? If so, check out this Mock fly to zip fly tutorial from Cindy at Siestas and Sewing. It is my understanding that a mock fly to zipper fly tutorial on the Oliver + S blog will be coming soon.

 There could be so many different possibilities for boy looks with this sewing pattern, you could go more casual (like denim trousers) all the way up to very formal (all black and/or suiting fabric).

On a side note, do you buy digital patterns from Oliver + S? If so, I wanted to mention that there is some helpful information about printing out digital patterns at the printer by Nicole from the Nicole at home blog.

 Project Details
Pattern: Oliver + S Art Museum Vest + Trousers (difficulty level: 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 7 (with size 9/10 length)
Modifications: Like I mentioned above I added length on both the trousers and the vest, otherwise it was sewn by the pattern
Fabrics:
Trousers: Deep red cotton twill
Vest: Navy cotton twill
Vest lining: Free Spirit, Salt water - Octo Garden - Aqua
Notions:
Trousers: One, .75 inch red button from my stash
Vest: Seven, 5/8 inch navy buttons
Inspiration: The octopus is my son's favorite animal. Cindy from Siestas and Sewing whipped up this awesome O+S Sketchbook Shirt for her tween son. That inspired me to purchase some of that same octopus fabric so I could create something for my tween son. Another inspiration was that red is my son's 2nd favorite color and I just love deep red pants. Then it was just a matter of coordinating a vest with the deep red trouser fabric and aqua octopus vest lining fabric. After seeing the available fabrics at the store, in the end a navy it was.

 Here is what it looks like with the addition of the patchwork blazer I sewed him about a year ago. Yay, it still fits!

 (In case anyone was wondering, the white button shirt he's wearing is store bought).

My husband was very unsure of the combination of solid deep red, aqua octopus print and solid navy together. What you do think? Yay or nay?

Library Dress, Playtime Dress, Art Museum Girl Look

And that's a wrap! Many thanks to Oliver + S! I was honored to be a part of the fall pattern preview. I appreciated the invitation.