Oh so very comfy cool pants!

I have been so inspired by some of the printed fabrics that i bought recently that everything I am making has gorgeous play of prints on them. There are a few clothes that I made for E but just haven't been able to post them, but I will do so soon. It is a bit hard to find little girl clothes that fit E since she is such a petite little girl, hence my constant need to sew for her. I wanted to make some very comfy and warm pants for E for the winter, that she can play and get dirty in and I wouldn't be worried that she is cold. 

When I was cutting the lining for the pants and the contrast looked just so good that I decided to have the back lining become the right side of the garment and added some knee patches on the front. For the second pair I just went a bit more bolder and made a dropped crotch pattern with three different prints put together on the back of the pants. Ribbed hem and waistband give them a neat finish.

I just got a bit excited and have taken quite a few shots for these beauties!

Here she is my ever so gorgeous model. The pants looked nothing till she wore them and added the E touch! E was so happy and comfy in them that she shows them off to anyone we meet and says "nice pants..mummy"!

 I am always rewarded with that beautiful smile and a very warm hug xx

Quick Sew Night Dresses

Flannel is such a great fabric for winter, it is pure cotton and yet feels just as soft as fleece. I remember my mum sewing really girly nighties for us, when we were kids. She would make a yoke, add a piping or a lace and give really puffed sleeves. We did get to choose the prints of the fabrics sometimes. Growing up, i would always look forward to the dresses mum would sew for me and sometimes if my friend's mum would sew a dress I wanted one for myself too! I would like E to enjoy the clothes I make for her just as much as I enjoyed my mum's sewing. Here are some very comfy night dresses that I've stitched. 

I did make my own pattern but you can get yours by visiting this page. when i was looking for some lace free designs for night dresses, I came across this page and I just had to make these, although I would have loved to get one of the flannel prints by Cloud9 fabrics I am still happy with these pink patterned night gowns.

E snuggled up comfy and cosy in her nighty and I was rewarded with a big hug as well x

Color Matching Toy Box

Wooden toys are my weakness and E loves them too. The really good ones are hard to find and might be a bit expensive. I've spent a lot on getting the best toys for E but now I want to start making some toys for her instead.When it comes to making my own toys for E, I feel lucky to have H's woodworking skills at my disposal anytime! He made this colour matching toy for E and I painted it, easier bit to do. This can work well with a cardboard box as well and would work just as fine if you can find some sticks to pass through.

Here is how it works, match the sticks to the painted and punched holes on the top of the box. Once all the sticks are in the box E can open the door and take them out. Like most of her toys E loves to explore and create her own ways to play with this toy as well.

 It is always the simple toys that encourage learning and helps in development. E used to like this toy when it was in natural colour just as much as she likes it painted.

Simple to Sew Skirts for little ones

Layering up for winter is the only thing that makes me love the season. So much texture to explore and so many ways to wear your favourite dress or skirt. I find making clothes for E easier as for one she never complains about how it has turned out to be and also she is so tiny that it feels like I'm stitching doll clothes. I made two panelled skirts for E both similar techniques but slightly different fit. 

This one has an elasticated waist and is more fuller as compared to the other skirt. I did get a bit lazy and did not change my thread for the ric rac but for some reason I'm liking the contrast stitching on the broad lace. I liked this ric rac lace so much that I have bought this lace in a few different colours, I might have to find more innovative ways of using it.

I've used three different fabrics for this skirt, two of which are just different colour ways of the same print. The pocket is actually the placket of one of my old shirt, the button is not functional but the pocket is. To finish the hem I used a fabric binding which goes well with the striped pocket.

I must admit that I'm not a very good seamstress as I'm very impatient to see the final product. As I do have quite a few lined up for winter I might have to learn to be patient and sharpen my skills. 

Snuggly Wuggly Blankets

It is autumn here and time to get ready for a very unforgiving Melbourne winter. I remember stacking up E's cupboard with all sorts of blankets for almost every occasion since she was a baby then and everyone wanted a glimpse of her wherever we went so it was really important that she was wrapped in beauty just like herself. I made two blankets from some printed fleece. Funny story, when we were buying fleece I picked up a babushka print for E and I asked her to choose the second print and she picked Dinosaur! Well looks like I won't have to HAVE pink all around the house.

The first blanket I made was with a stitched chevron stripe cotton binding around the edges of the blanket. For the second one I used a no sew method which is quite popular and there are many videos devoted to this technique. The video I referred to has two ways of making this blanket, I used the knotting technique. 

 Here is the no sew fleece blanket where I knotted the fringes. I made small fringes to give a fuller look on the edges. It looks great with one side printed and the other side in plain contrasting fabric. This is the dinosaur print which E chose for herself.

Here is my ever so bubbly girl taking a nap all snuggled up in her blanket. E likes it even more when she knows that mummy made something for her and that makes me want to create more all the time.

I was so excited about this no sew blanket that I made one to snuggle into on the couch while watching a movie on a really cold winter evening. I think I might not stop just here there are some more prints in store I have my eyes on!

This might not be an appropriate post for my readers in the northern hemisphere with spring all around them, so my suggestion is to take advantage of those winter stock clearance on fleece and make some blankets for winter x

Easter with E

Easter sunday was a very happy and special morning for E, she woke up and mum talked her into wearing a tutu in bed and took her out for an easter egg hunt! All the effort was worth it when I saw that smile on E's face as she looked at the bunny foot prints around the house. I didn't get much time to plan a big hunt for E in fact I didn't even pack the gifts that I bought her to put along with the chocolate eggs. I made some felt bunny foot prints and scattered them around the house pointing towards the chocolate eggs and we went around the house with E pointing towards the eggs and let her discover her gifts. She was ecstatic!

Here are the bunny foot prints made out of felt. I made them in the morning so they are not all of a consistent shape but they did the trick. I found the instructions here while I was looking for some foot prints to printout and stick around the house, I'm glad I made them out of felt instead of the printed ones.

 It doesn't matter what is in the basket as long as there is something in the basket and e is the one who found it. At this age finding treasure is what is becoming a really interesting play for E, she likes to find treasure and take ownership of it. E has recently started becoming fond of plush toys and she likes to carry them around as well as pretend play with them, which is great for me as she finally found purpose for all the soft toys I made for her.

I used some felt on brown paper to create this easter bunting, it was very simple and very quick. The tissue paper fringes  were super easy to make too. Just cut out three or four fringes and twist them around the string and glue them with a glue gun. The easter wall art and easter eggs are from my previous posts. A little bit of easter fun for everyone x

Easter Egg Decorated with Fabric

This very rainy and very cold weather couldn't have come on a better time, perfect to decorate some easter eggs! E and I painted some foam eggs just for fun and I made some more serious ones with chocolate inside. I have fallen in love with printed fabric and I'm kind of trying to build up my stash, well only if I stop using what I buy on almost everything. There is an amazing japanese technique to wrap fabric around round objects and you can find the instructions to cover your egg with fabric here . It is simple and I think if you spend a bit more time than I did you can probably do it more neatly. I do like the idea of a handmade look which is not so perfect which is why I love these fabric covered eggs.

I used plastic eggs and filled them with chocolates before covering them with fabric. Just to add a bit more to the pretty eggs I wrapped some twisted raffa around the ends or just in the middle. If you prefer a bit of lustre then a coat of Mod Podge is a good idea. Also, smaller prints on fabric will work better than larger patterns. Get creative with ribbons and sparkles or try a bunny face on one of them.

Add a bit of personal as well as crafter's touch to any holiday season and it just uplifts your spirit and gets in the mood to celebrate. Something special for easter egg hunt this year! Enjoy the chocolates x

Easter wall art

This year I want to some Easter decoration as well as craft and not just hog on chocolates! Reason being E can recognise "bunny" and "egg " almost in anything, anywhere now and that is very exciting for me. E and I painted done eggs just a few days ago and while E enjoys painting for her it needs to be done on a clean white sheet of paper not a foam egg! 

This is a very simple wall art that didn't take me long to make and yet looks gorgeous. I covered a plain canvas with chevron striped fabric. Added a felt bunny cutout and finally gave it a pom pom tail. I just drew the bunny shape myself but it would be nice to printout a basic shape and cut the felt in that shape. 

Hope you make one of these for Easter this year or use the technique and make any shape in felt to create your own artwork!

Sensory Board

I'm on a development toys spree presently and most of these toys are made by H! It is like all those ideas that I was holding onto for so long are now coming out and taking shape with H's woodworking skills. I came across this really smart sensory board at fun at home with kids. We basically just added a few doors on the board and behind each door is a picture, one of them has a mirror. Also I didn't want to add textured fabrics on this board as that is a separate activity that I have planned for E. 

 The paint marks on one of the doors were made by E when she went straight to the board during our finger painting session. With so much to capture her attention, it is hard for E to stay at one place for a long time.

 It was quite interesting to put together this board as a parent, we discussed whether it is workable, for every object we bought. The doors with pictures inside was a hit with E as she loves books and some of the characters she could recognise such as Peter Rabbit. As with every new activity E did get frustrated when she couldn't work something out but the next day she came back to the board and tried again more calmly. 

The touch light works better in dark and once we move the board indoors I think that would be a hit too. E likes the colourful chunky chains too and tries to pull them out of the board.

Sensory board is simple to put together and a provides great food for young minds!

Peppa Pig on a cake!

Peppa pig is a really much loved girl. No matter how much you want to run away from licensed figures, kids just love them as they are the TV stars! This cake is for one of my favourite girl, she looks adorable and is a very fine talker. It only feels like yesterday that Ananya was born, now she is three years old and wanted a Peppa pig birthday cake with cheese! Peppa pig as a character is really cute and I love the way she talks, the simplicity of design of this character is definitely the reason for it's popularity amongst children.

 The cake itself was a chocolate cake wit dark chocolate ganache and I tried to give it a very bright sunny day out and about with Peppa sort of a look. The house is generally where the story starts and it makes it's way out to the garden eventually in every episode. The fun bit was when the children couldn't keep their hands off the cake as soon as A put the knife through it.

It was a great birthday party and I really enjoyed making this cake for a pretty princess xx