Winner of Vintage Toddler Pattern!

#3 Jennifer said... Oh, and I like you on FB now...thanks!
You win the vintage toddler pattern! I will contact you through your email.
Thank you!

Party Dress!

 

I just LOVE how this dress turned out! I think it will be much easier for me to make if I need to do it again, I read and re-read the tutorial a few times.  I am one of those people that needs to understand WHY I am doing a certain part and how it works for the overall project.  I used The Cottage Home's Party Dress Tutorial.  She gives you patterns, but I needed a smaller bodice so I did got a butterick pattern and shrunk her measurements for the skirt and sash too.  I am crossing my fingers that this fits my niece!  If you have any questions about the tutorial she is pretty quick at responding or you can ask me.

Vintage toddler pattern giveaway!

Well I have had over 5000 page views to my blog in a little over 4 months since I started! Thank you everyone for your support! I hope to continue posting things everyone would like to see and learn.  Now, for the giveaway I promised at 5000 page views.  I have a vintage Simplicity pattern from 1963.  It's an ADORABLE size 1 toddler jumper and blouse as pictured below.  The pattern is cut but it is in great shape and I have double checked that all the pieces and instructions are there. To enter the giveaway all you need to do is leave a comment below.  To get an extra entry please like my facebook page Sweet Stuff Creations.  The giveaway will end at 9pm on Thursday, July 14.   I will also do another giveaway via my facebook page when I reach 300 likes so invite your friends! Good Luck!

To Make or Not to Make

When I see certain clothes and items now, one of my first thought is "I can SO make that for less"! But sometimes, I just can't justify making certain things when I can buy them so cheap!  IKEA is my greatest example.  I hear a lot of good and bad things about IKEA.  Personally everything I have gotten there has been great and way better quality than I would expect for the price.  My nephew loves playing with the grocery cart and vegetables we have at my house so I thought "oh I could make him some out of felt.".  Then I went to IKEA.  All of these are only 7.99 each! 

There is no way I could make them for that, especially considering the time which would go into it.  So, I guess...I will still have to resort to buying certain things, even though I COULD make it. :)

Beach Towel Robe for kids!

I loved R's new Beach/Pool Robe SO much I made him two!  This is seriously a life saving GEM since my 2 year old cannot keep his towel on.  It was VERY easy to make too! I made the first one short sleeved with the partial tie option and a hood.  He normally wears a size 4T (yes I know, he's so tall!) but he is slim enough to wear 3T.  The dilemma was which size to make so I went for the medium sized 18mo to 3T and used the length of the large sized 4/5T.  Worked great!  Except on the first one I made the ties the size of the large, which ended up being way too long and I put them down too far. I then decided for the 2nd one he needed the full tie to help it stay on better and put them up higher.  PERFECT!  I also had a problem with the robe slipping off his shoulders so I added a button and some elastic.  Problem solved! (I went back and added that to his first one later so you don't see it in the pics.) If you can't tell by the pictures, break time at the pool is all about snacks with us!  

Beach Robe Pattern by MADE

Beach Towel Dress!

I love my new Beach Towel Dress! Yes, made from an actual beach towel. Actually, a $3.97 beach towel from Walmart! What I don't like is being my own model! Oh well.  I got the tutorial off Made, which if you haven't noticed is one of my favorite sewing blogs.  She uses a pattern to make hers but I just took my hip measurement and added 6 inches and sewed the top with elastic thread then sewed the side together.  I think when I do it next time I will add more rows of shirring..I got too anxious to finish, and I will cut a front and back piece, I like having two side seams.  I can't wait to use it!  It is so hard to juggle my towel and get R in one while making sure he doesn't run off while getting all our stuff together.  I am always soaking wet while everyone else gets a tad more dry.  In addition, I am usually holding him while he is still wet, but her newest addition will hopefully change that too. She also just added TODAY a beach robe pattern, which R totally needs! I think with a Cars2 or Thomas beach towel though.  So after nap we are off to the pool again!

Kids play tent for under $10!

R's new play tent!!

I fell in love with these A-frame tents I have been seeing on blogs and decided to make one for R.  They are SUPER easy!  I used Rubyellen's tutorial and added a few things of my own.  She explains everything you need on her site, but I had a few changes.  She used finished moulding and I just used 1x2 unfinished wood since I was wrapping mine in fabric (I did lightly sand also).  The moulding was between $3 and $8 a piece depending on the look you wanted (which cut in half gives you 2 pieces for your tent frame) The 1x2 unfinished wood was $1.12 for an 8 foot piece (which gave me 2 pieces also).  I used a $5 sheet from walmart for the tent fabric and hemmed it.  I would measure the frame top once you finish because mine was a tad shorter than her specifications, meaning I  just pushed my tent frame further onto the dowel rod.  For my frame covering I had some canvas/linen type fabric from an old ikea curtain sitting in the closet, which I just ripped into strips to give it a frayed look.  There was enough of the sheet leftover though if you wanted to wrap your tent pieces in matching fabric.

Now go make a tent to read, play, sleep, or in my case.... use as a train tunnel,

or steal mom's tablet to play matching games.