I love sewing kids’ clothing – they don’t use much fabric and they’re small so they finish up quickly. These little Beach Bum Bermuda shorts (another pattern from this great pattern shop) used only 1/2 yard of fabric (with lots left over) and took me just an hour or two to put together. They have … Read more
I’ve been a little sparse lately. We’re building a house and trying to sell (thought we had sold, were halfway moved out and it fell through. We’re under contract again, hopefully it’s for real this time!) so my brain power has been monopolized by the stress of it all. I am still sewing, just not … Read more
Pin It A while ago Michael Miller sent a bunch of cotton quilting fabric from the Ta Dot collection, my FAVORITE polka dot fabrics ever. And then I had a baby…and then I had a newborn…and then I had a 6 month old…and THEN I finally had time to do something fabulous with the fabric. … Read more
With all the sewing I’ve been doing, I’ve had to copy and enlarge quite a few patterns from sewing project books, and I think I finally figured out the fastest and least frustrating way to get what I need with the least number of wasted copies. Photocopy the page you need to enlarge. Cut each … Read more
I’ve been on the search for a perfect sun hat pattern and I finally found it in a great little sewing book called Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase. Because it’s in a book, I can’t very well give you the pattern here, although I wish I could because I know you … Read more
You can buy shoulder harness pads for kids car seats, but Elliot hasn’t had any and I wanted to make him some to match his carseat. I used scraps and it was a quick and easy sewing project. Cut 4 pieces of fabric (I used flannel) 6.5″ x 6.5″. Cut 2 pieces of thin batting, … Read more
My ironing board is an odd size and my old cover was useless, so I made my own tonight. It cost under $5 and took less than 2 hours. I opted for the silver ironing board cover fabric that is cotton with an aluminized coating for two reasons. Fabric gets scorched and nasty looking eventually … Read more
After almost 6 years of being the master of my own kitchen (and dishes, unfortunately) I have discovered that my favorite dishwashing “tool” is a very small dish cloth. Sponges are gross, those plastic scrubber things fall apart, and regular sized dish cloths are too big. I had some terry cloth scraps so I cut … Read more
This is one project on my Baby To-Do list that I haven’t gotten to yet, so I can’t give you my own tutorial. Basically, I’m waiting to find fabric cheap enough to make it worth my while…or fabric I like enough to pay more for. {photo from JCarolineCreative} My two favorite tutorials come from J … Read more
{The winner of the $50 bundle of patterns from YouCanMakeThis.com is…Shannon! She said, “I have been wanting to get the boys ties pattern for my two little guys. Store bought ties are so expensive! I would love to win this and improve my sewing/self reliance/gift making skills!” Congratulations, Shannon. Email me at kelsey[at]vanillajoy[dot]com and I’ll … Read more