Ruffled Flower Headband

I just finished revising our Ruffled Flower pattern for The Cloth Parcel, and I just had to share!  I love how this pattern turned out.  We added an elastic headband option to the pattern, along with instructions for using regular cotton material.  Originally, this pattern was written for using denim material, like in our Scarf and Ruffled Flower craft kit.  I thought it could use a little update, since it was one of our very first patterns written just about a year ago.  In the last year, we have learned quite a bit about how we like our patterns to be laid out, taking product photos, and how to write things to be a little more readable.

I am so pleased with how this pattern turned out!  These flowers are the perfect embellishment for every little girl.  The headbands make the sweetest little baby shower gifts, stocking stuffers, and the pins work for ladies of all ages.

 

The Cloth Parcel

I've mentioned that I have been working on a fun new business with my mom, and it's finally up and running!  The Cloth Parcel is our new quilting and crafting website.  We have cute fabric, original patterns, craft and quilting kits, and so many fun notions.  All of the patterns were written by my mom or me, or both of us together, and are available to download right when you buy them.

I designed this Chenille Burp Cloth Kit, which features Riley Blake Woodland Tails flannel, in both pink and blue.  These make stunning baby shower gifts, and since they are much smaller than a blanket, it's not a huge ordeal to make the chenille.  We even have Olfa Chenille Cutters available, which make this project so quick and easy.

We have put together nine different baby blanket kits, also available in burp cloth size, which come with super soft Shannon Cuddle fabric for one side (also known as minky) and a variety of flannels for the backs.  The flannels come from Moda and Riley Blake.

How cute is this little wind-up bear?  We scored these Japanese Tokotoko Wind-Up Felt Doll Kits after we saw them at Quilt Market last October.  The kits come with everything you need for the dolls, including the wobbly wind-up mechanism.  We have seven different dolls: Red Bear, Orange Cat, Pink Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Pinocchio, and Red Riding Hood.  You have to see all of them!

We have so many fun things that are still in the design stages, so keep checking back.  I will still be putting my own projects up on here, so don't think I'm going anywhere.  Today is my day to finish the binding on my zig zag quilt (it's about time)!  Also, don't forget that the Lifestyle 50% off promo is running this whole week.

Houndstooth Sophia Carry-All

Do you recognize that fabric?  It's my brown and black houndstooth!  My mom used it in part to make this bag, the Amy Butler Sophia Carry-All. 

Of course, the bag turned out great, since my mom is awesome at this kind of stuff.  It's so fun to see my fabric turning into actual things.  Making something out of fabric I have designed is officially on my to-do list, again, but this time I'd like to design the fabric with a specific project in mind.  Ideas?

Easter Finery

The Easter skirt was a reality this year!  Great pictures of my girls in their dresses, not so much.  Also, quick disclaimer: I am not a model.  But I did have fun making the skirt!  I bought the pattern from Make It and Love It, called the Lily Skirt.  It was well-written and easy to follow, and I love that the waistband is super stretchy.  The skirt did end up with a little bit more pouf than I expected, so if I make another one I won't use as much fabric.

This is seriously the best picture we could get of the kids, but there were a few things going against us.  They had to sit because of the cast, we didn't have time for photos before church, and we didn't have a great location.  Maybe next year.  Looking back, I also wish I would have had my picture taken with the girls.  Instead, here's a full-length shot of me trying to look serious.

I'll have to work on that.

 Linked up: Sugar Bee Crafts

Easter Dresses 2012

I decided to try something new for Easter dresses this year.  Last year, I didn't even consider making my daughters' dresses.  I guess a lot has changed in the last year, and thanks to discovering a lot of new sewing blogs, I felt like this might be something I could handle.

I picked up a pattern at Walmart, New Look 6448, and decided on variation A.  It said "Easy" right on front, so I thought it would be on my level, but that was a bit of an overstatement.  I ended up needing a lot of explanation of pattern terms and techniques from my sewing instructor. (hi, Mom!)  I'm sure I would have messed something up without her.  Now that I have done these, though, I do feel like I might be able to do more by myself in the future.

For the fabric flower embellishment, I sewed together three rolled fabric flowers of different sizes and a little bit of lace trim.  They turned out exactly how I wanted, so that was great.

The sashes just tie in a simple bow in the back. 

I hope I can get a good photo of my girls in their dresses.  My oldest went and got her leg broken on the trampoline over the weekend, so that hot pink cast has become an unexpected accessory and will make an adventure for Easter egg hunting.

Now the real question: Do I use the leftover fabric to make some sort of banded matching skirt for me. . ?  I have a simple pattern I have been meaning to try, so maybe I'll get brave and energetic and give it a try.

Linked up: Sugar Bee Crafts

Felt Mitten and Stocking Advent Calendar

About mid-November, I decided I wanted to make an advent calendar that would be cute and also fun for my kids.  I started off with this idea, which morphed into more of this one, and finally ended up with my own sort of thing.

It took a little bit more time than I planned for, but once I started blanket-stitching the mittens and stockings, I knew it was going to look great.  All of the embellishments are hot-glued down, but I did do some detail stitching on some of them before I glued them down.  I didn't filled the mittens and stockings this year, since I don't think the twine would be able to hold that much weight.  I have each end tied to stocking holders, and the tray on top of my piano is holding the middle part.  Next year, I think I will put slips of paper in each mitten or stocking with either a treat for the day or a Christmas activity.

For the 25th, I did a star on a circle medallion thing.  It doesn't have a pocket, because the countdown is over at that point, but I thought it needed to be there.  I just pinned it to the twine with a straight pin.

Want to make your own?  Here's the pattern I made for my mittens and stockings.  Click on the photo, right-click to save, and then you can print it and cut the patterns out to do your own.  Just make sure that you print without scaling to get it the right size.

Any questions?  Leave a comment or send me an email.  Happy crafting!

Linked up: Tatertots & Jello

Baby Apron

If any of you follow me on Pinterest, you may have seen that I pinned this free baby apron pattern to my "Things to Make" board a few weeks ago.

via Craftiness is not Optional

What a great idea!  My baby has just started feeding herself, and the regular bibs we have just aren't cutting it.  Since I had some leftover bias tape from the Toy Stroller Makeover, I thought this would be a cinch.  Here's what I ended up with:

It's not perfect, but it does the trick.  A couple of things I learned about this pattern:
I wouldn't recommend using bias tape this small.  It was very difficult to work with, and I wrestled with my machine a lot.  There are still a few little places where I didn't catch enough of the fabric in the tape, and it came out a little bit after I put it in the wash.  It also shrunk quite a bit in the wash, so next time I will cut the pattern a little bit bigger.

Overall, it was great for a free pattern!  I was able to do it all in one afternoon.  I can't wait to try it again with bigger tape, which I think will make things go much faster.