He's a star pocket shorts

But whats this you ask? That's right, boy sewing! I thought it about time I stopped neglecting the boy with all this girly sewing going on.

These shorts actually serve a very specific purpose, they are his new 'potty training pants'. We have just started with this joyful phase of toddlerhood and what we learnt is that he likes to take his whole bottoms off before using the potty; yep naked from the waist down! This is perfectly fine when you are at home but when you are out and about and in a hurry you don't want to have to be taking those pesky shoes off just to get his trousers off. Thankfully its summer and so I went on the hunt for the perfect shorts pattern to help us with this dilemma.

How adorable is this little man modelling his new shorts whilst running around an illuminarium! Not the best visual representation I know but have you ever tried to keep a 2 year old boy still! At least you can see the fit on him.

I was looking for something very specific when trying to find a pattern for his potty training shorts; a soft waistband for easy up and down action, no cuffs on the legs so they would go over his shoes whilst they are still on and preferably knee length. I was given a few suggestions but the pattern that came to my rescue was from Brindille and Twig and its their pockets shorts pattern. It fit my above criteria perfectly, looked really easy to make and also seemed to fit some fabric which I already had in my stash of leftovers. I also love the fact it comes with pockets, its such a cute little addition and adds a nice bit of detail to make them more interesting.

I've never made a pattern from this company before but not only is their website visually gorgeous they have so many basic jersey patterns for kids, there is definitely something for every occasion.

The pattern was a PDF download as you would expect these days, but it was so simple I only needed 5 pieces of paper. The construction was also simple enough and the pattern came with really helpful instructions that included very helpful images. In fact I don't think I actually read any of the text when constructing these shorts I just following the photos. That is my idea of a perfect pattern.

I made two versions as you can see; the blue pair are some leftover single jersey from myfabrics.com with blue rib for the waistband and some leftover black jersey for the pockets. The second pair are made using a more sturdy grey and black sweatshirt knit which I got from the Ottobre Etsy shop, some black ribbing for the waistband and the same black jersey for the pockets again. The pattern worked perfectly for both types of fabric but I definitely like the black and grey pair better. I think that's just because I love boy shorts in sweatshirt fabric, they are more like joggers and this fabric just handled really nicely and they have such a professional finish.

I made these shorts in a size 90cm (18-24 months) and they fit him perfectly, and I mean perfectly. I did sew the waistband a tiny it shorter as I know he has a little waist but otherwise its spot on. This was a little surprising as most of his stuff in this size is still a little big but I am not going to complain, its summer, they fit and he needs them for now not in 2 months time.

So all in all I love this pattern, I recommend it and this will definitely not be the last Brindille and Twig pattern I make for my little monkeys! They only question is which of their gorgeous patterns next, and will it be for a boy or a girl?

Mexico Kitty Ceramic Pot

I am so excited to show this little fella to you, he is the first thing I made in my ceramic workshop and I'm so pleased he is finally home. He is named 'Mexico Kitty' as he was inspired by some Mexican art I saw, with the painted design. Isn't he the cutest!

He was made using the snake pot technique; i.e hand built using long snakes to form a pot. I really like the shape of him, he sort of curves in like a nice plump kitty but I think its a really aesthetic shape. I then added four legs onto the bottom. Sadly I don't think I secured them well enough, so as you can see here they exploded off on the first firing but they have been very cleverly attached back on by David when dip glazed. David also put a hole in the bottom of my pot for the water to drain out so I also made this little stand for it to catch any water that drips through. This I just made out of a flat rolled piece of clay which I made dint's in for the legs to sit in so its all nice and sturdy.

The pattern was hand painted on using some oxide and water after I added the blue slip to colour the main pot. I really like the way this looks actually, its definitely something I will try again. I like how delicate the brush strokes are on something which is otherwise quiet chunky. With the face I cut away from the clay and then painted in the gaps but as you can see the oxide has burnt away during the firing process, which is a shame but I really see all this as a bit of a learning curve, there are no errors only happy accidents!

The final shiney glaze was added by dipping him in glaze, this helped to stick his legs back on, but we would normally paint the glaze on to the pot. After firing the shrinkage of the clay caused the glaze to crack which is the effect you can see above. David suggested that we paint over the pot with a watery acrylic paint to show off the cracks it has caused. We gave it a test on the bottom of the plate and it looked really nice so I applied it to the whole pot. I think its a really interesting effect.

I hope you like Mexico Kitty :) It just goes to show just how easy it is to make something amazing. I love this pot and as I said at the beginning this is the first one I made so it just goes to show what you can achieve when you give things a try. I have put David's flyer below for anyone who is local and fancies giving ceramics a go. 

Now I need to go and get on with trying to finish some of my sewing projects! Honestly, I have a pile so high of half done makes that I really need to tackle, they are in the way if nothing else!

Puperita showcase: Pirate dungarees for little pugwash

How bloody cute is this kid, I could eat him! I know I'm biased, but hey he is pretty handsome you know you can't deny it.

Anyway, on with what we are here for; firstly, I know it's a bit odd that I'm coming to you on a Thursday this week but bear with me, there is good reason for it which I will explain in a minute, but in the meantime why don't you scroll through another adorable picture of Master Fox...

I was very pleased to be invited to join in on a showcase blog event to sing the praises of Annalisa Puperita who designs the most amazing children's sewing patterns which can be downloaded in PDF from her Etsy shop. If you have seen my previous baby makes you will know that I have sung her praises a couple of times before so was more than happy to take part in this event. There is a list of all the other bloggers taking part at the end of this post so make sure you go and have a look at some of the other amazing makes to get some inspiration and see some of the other patterns which are on offer. 

I chose to use the little birds dungarees pattern again as I loved his Christmas dungarees and they are really nice to sew in fashion or quilting cottons. I think of all the bloggers I might have been the only one to make something for a little boy so I'm pleased to be able to show off how nice handmade boys clothes can be too. Master Fox has been in his current size for a couple of months now so I have made them in the next size up so he gets more wear out of them. So excuse the fact they are looking a bit baggy in these pictures, they are not meant to be fitting well yet and the cuffs have been double rolled up! The other nice thing about this pattern is that it's not too difficult to get on and off for a nappy change. I definite must for little ones who wriggle enough as it is! 

I used some lovely blue Makower skull print cotton for the outer and some plain cheap black cotton on the inside. I love a pirate theme on little boys, it's so cute! The fabric was from Ebay of course but I think there are still a number of online retailers selling it. The pattern features three pockets, a lovely big roomy one on the front and two which are nicely placed on the bottom area. There are four buttons which fasten at the sides and on the shoulder straps and the thing I really like to do for this pattern is make my own fabric covered buttons to match the rest of the dungarees. I think they fit really well rather than having to match a store bought button. These dungarees are newborn -2 but she also designs patterns for older kids, and some of the patterns cover newborn - 6 years! That's a bargain of a pattern purchase right there.

One of he best things about these patterns though is the commitment to support that you get from Annalisa the designer. When you buy one of her patterns you get invited to her support Facebook group where herself and other makers have built an amazing group that not only offers help with patterns but also showcases other peoples makes which is a great source of inspiration. There are all sorts of people in this group  from seasoned sewers, private children's clothes sellers to people that have never sewn in their lives and just want to make something nice for themselves. This makes it a great little community. 

But not only this Annalisa is happy to answer questions from you either via Facebook or through Etsy messenger. She is always quick to respond and really helpful. You honestly could not ask for more from her.

So whether you are seasoned at sewing and fancy making kids clothes, or have never done it before but want to make something from scratch with confidence I seriously recommend you take a look at her patterns. The instructions are so clear with pictures and clear directions that anyone should be able to follow them. Take a look around the other bloggers posts below and you will no doubt find some serious inspiration and testemant to the fact that these patterns always have amazing results:

Emi ~ Just Add Fabric     Jaime ~ Made By Jaime     Janice ~ So-Cal Sewing Mom     

Soso ~Moineau & Petit Pois     Ula ~ Lulu & Celeste     Nuala ~ clootie dumplings

Pam ~ Threading My Way     Maria ~ Fairies, Bubbles & Co.     Shelly ~ Sew Shelly Sew

Chari ~ Take time to smell the rose     Helen ~ The DIY Fox     Karly ~ Paisley Roots

Sanae ~ Sanae Ishida     Candice ~ Candice Ayala     Melissa ~ Rebel & Malice

Janet ~ 7 Pine Design     Jenya ~ While she was sleeping

Felt Dinosaur

 

This is Mick the Felty Dinosaur! Hello Mick. 

Mick is another pattern which I got from the second issue of Simply Sewing magazine. As soon as I saw this pattern in the mag I just new it had to be done. I mean it appeals to all my sewing whims. Plushie, cute, quick, perfect for the boy. He just had to get made. 

He is made from pure wool felt. When I saw the pattern I knew I had the perfect piece of material to make him out of. The body is a hand felted piece of fabric in teal and green, I hear you, its like it was made for this project. I've had it in my craft room for years and you know when you can't bear to use something because you know the perfect project will come along... well here's proof it does in the end. Because its hand felted real wool as well it gives it a gorgeous texture, its almost scaly just like a real dino!

The pattern was really easy. Its thankfully mostly machine sewn which just a few sections of the feet being hand sewing, perfect! The instructions were really clear and easy to follow. I also love the way the feet are sewn on so that it makes the dino stand up.

The Simply Sewing magazine, whilst not always being chocca full of things I would make, has at least always had really clear instructions, and with the pattern pieces provided this makes things a lot easier. I hate it when you have to upscale pattern pieces, I mean we don't all have access to a copier do we, and the idea of doing it on graph paper is just too much of a chore. I have had issue 3 through the door now, and this one is a little lacking in projects which interest me personally, but I suppose you can't please everyone all the time. It comes with a lovely felt pack, but again i'm not inspired by the projects included so need to rack my brains for a different one.

Anyway. I think I'm rambling!! I hope you like Mick (he was named by Mr Fox, don't ask me why Mick). I would definitely suggest giving him a go if you have a copy of the mag. If not, get googling for some felt dinosaur sewing patterns of your own!

Blue Baby Moss Print Hoodie

Baby knitting is so awesome! Its so much easier to finish something when its this tiny, and i'll be honest i'm not brilliant at finishing my knitting projects. Admittedly, with a little baby it still takes a while, but at least its a finishable project. I mean it seems daft to put something this small on you hibernating knitting pile when a few extra evenings will see it finished.

This little hoodie is a pattern I got from Ravelry called Manda Ruth which can also be purchased from the designers website. I really like the all over moss print which adds a lovely bit of texture, and of course the cute little hood.

 

This is the first time I have ever knitted anything 'in the round' (its a cardi, so esentially not round but you get the point). Knitting in the round is where you knit the whole body, front and back, as one piece so there are no seams to be sewn. You then pick up the arms and knit them in the round on dpns so again no seams. This is not a very British way of sewing, and although the technique itself wasn't difficult I think I actually prefer to knit all the pieces and sew them together at the end. I'm not brilliant at picking up and knitting, but at least this project gave me some much needed practice. 

The pattern itself was very straight forward to follow and it knitted up really quick being an aran weight hoodie. I would definitely recommend this pattern, and I might make up another one for when hes a bit older.

I did make a couple of boo boos here and there, but nothing too noticeable I hope, and certainly not something which is going to bother me (or Master Fox).

 

I chose this really lovely blue Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which I got from Love Knitting. It was meant to be a superman blue, as Mr Fox is a huge fan of blue, but it is ever so slightly off. The colour and feel of this wool is so gorgeous though, its so fresh and bright.

The sad thing about this pattern is that it has come up really small :(. Master Fox is a little boy and is still in 0-3 month clothes despite being 4 months now (how is he already 4 months old!?!). I chose to knit this in the 6 month size and as you can see from the picture below its a little on the snug side, especially the hood. So if you do decide to knit this double check your gauge and maybe knit the next next size up to be on the safe side. Its ok when the hood is down though, and we will get a few wears out of it as its the perfect cover up for these spring days.

Fabric Storage Basket

Well, its Good Friday so I hope you are all planning to cram as much chocolate into your cake holes as possible over the next few days... I know I am!

So issue 2 of the new Simply Sewing Magazine turned up last week (it was a bit over a month and I eagerly anticipated its arrival!). It has a lot of cute little patterns in it, my favourites being the stuffed felt dinosaur which I am totally going to make, this fabric basket and a cute pintucked top. The pintucked top is however very similar to the free Colette sorbetto pattern though it does make a cute little variation and has some very nice dipped hems.

What I think I like most about this magazine though it that it contains loads of simple, yet lovely small makes. Things that don't require a huge amount of fabric or time and whats so perfect about this is that its totally a way of me sewing stuff out of the massive amounts of fabric I already have lying around doing nothing.

Now don't get me wrong, I am terrible at using fabric. I buy its because its pretty and then I fear using it for making something which turns out to be a huge failure, or something which I don't actually like. Well, time to get over that fear, I need to get using some of this stuff I'm hording!.

So this months issue came with a little floral tea towel and some patterns on how to best use the tea towel to make it into something else. These included a roll bag, a lunchbox, a pinny or cutlery roll. They are all very nice ideas but do you know what, non of them are practical to my life (and the idea here is to destash, not create stuff I don't need). So instead of making one of those I used the pattern in the magazine for this fabric storage basket and turned this tea towel into storage instead. 

The pattern called for some lining fabric as well so I used this teal and black fat quarter which I bought about 2 years ago from ebay. Its a lovely colour match and makes a very nice lining in my opinion. The nice thing about this basket is its also reversible. 

The pattern was really easy to follow, just a few straight lines and folds here and there and you have a basket. I did omit the interfacing as the free tea towel was pretty sturdy, it is a little floppy though so you might want to use it anyway. It doesn't fall over though so is perfectly servicable. Its now sat in the living room keeping my current knitting project in order instead of being strewn all over the side! perfect.

 

Have you been reading the new sewing mag? do you have any favourite patterns, or makes from it you want to show off? Please feel free to leave a linky below.

Happy Easter :)

DIY Custom Baby Grow Series: Fabric Printing Part 2

Here's what I am sure you have all been waiting for! Part 2 of my DIY custom baby grow series where I am looking at fabric printing.

In the last post we looked at how to stamp patterns on to baby grows using mostly rubbers and shapes cut out of rubbers (the white and yellow versions above). Today I am going to show you how I made the lovely green and blue striped version.

This baby grow started life as a plain white sleepsuit as part of a supermarket multipack. I started off by dying a few of them green using a packet of dye and then printed the pattern on the top. I have been specifically instructed by Mr Fox that one of these sleepsuits has to stay plain green so he can have hulk baby (boys!).

How to make it:

You will need:

• Plain white baby grow
• Dylon fabric dye (I used the small packet as I only dyed 3 small suits but you can use the machine version if you wanted to dye more)/ 
• Fabric paint
• Masking tape
• Old clean sponge

Start off by carefully masking off areas of the onesie which you don't want to dye, you might want to mask off the neckline so you don't get dye on it by mistake. You will end up painting the area between the masking tape strips so you can make these as wide or as thin as you like. If you are using a button down onesie like me make sure you get your stripes across matching and you will need to undo it to get all the way to the edge of the button band.

Once you have done this get your sponge, dip it in your fabric paint and dab it onto the onesie between the masking tape. Make sure you get a good coverage and go all the way to the edges of the tape.

Once the paint has dried fully you can remove the strips of tape and seal the fabric paint as per the instructions on the packet. 

As you can see from the picture above I only did stripes on the front body, and a bit down the legs. I had intended to do the whole lot, if you want to do this make sure you allow the body to dry before masking the arms or turning to do the back so that you don't smudge your lovely perfect lines. I actually decided the stripes on the body were striking enough that I didn't need to do any more.

I am really pleased with this one as well. I thought while it was drying it was going to look a bit naff, but actually its really cool. I can definitely see our little boy in this.

I hope you enjoyed these two little posts on jazzing up some store bought plain baby grows. I hope you do give this a go, or that it inspires you to create some designs of your very own. Again I would love to see them so please leave me a link below, or just email me a piccie. Bear in mind as well these techniques can be applied to any item of clothing; t-shirts, pants, hats etc you name it. It would be a great rainy day activity for little kids as well. Let your creativity run wild.

Completed Norman

I actually knitted a whole jumper!

That might not sound too amazing to a lot of you, but I have actually never started and finished a jumper knitting project yet (and there are a lot on the half done pile!) so I am feeling very proud of myself right now.

Not too proud though, I started this jumper 9 months before my nephews 2nd birthday as part of his birthday gift. He is now 2 years and 11 months and I completed it this week! Oops! Safe to say its not going to fit him now, but at least I know I will have a little boy who will grow into it. I will just need to find a new knitting project for my nephew.

The pattern is from 'Just Baby' by Rowan and is called Norton, I'm not 100% sure I didn't pick this pattern because the child is so cute! I loved the colours though so knitted it in the exact same wool as the pattern. Its very boyish but still not dull and too babyish.

The pattern was really easy to follow and not actually too arduous to knit, I just put it down and didn't pick it back up again. I have got half a mind to knit it in a smaller size and some different colours now, but I think I should give some other baby patterns a go. I do like a baby knit though, they come together really quickly and I really think I have picked up a bit of the knitting bug now.

I really like the button panel on the front of this jumper. It was probably the most awkward part to knit up but it gives a nice little detail to the front and will make taking it on and off the little man really easy. 

Keep your eyes peeled for what will come next....

Do you have any really good baby knitting patterns you like to know? I would love to hear your recommendations.

Pinata!

Hello! Welcome back... with a bang (or a pop, or in this case just a collapse!)

I needed to play a bit of toddler pinata the other day, for those that don't know toddler pinata is where you have a trap door in the bottom, and use ribbon to release the door. Only one ribbon has a knot in, so the others simply just pull out rather than bashing the crap out of the cardboard figure.

I tried to figure out how to adapt a store bought pinata, but couldn't for the life of me work it out, though it turns out I could have just used a craft knife on the bottom and it would have been an simple as that. But anyway, that's no fun, and not the DIY Fox way right, so I set about making my own. It also turned out to actually be a lot cheaper to make my own, I got to pick the colours and even have tissue paper to spare.

I started out with some cardboard from the recycling bin and was just going to make a box shape. I figured whilst taping it though that it would be a lot simpler to just make a cone with an old cereal box and tape a circular base onto the bottom with a trap door cut in it. I then set about covering it is roughly chopped tissue paper strips in 3 different colours and just attached with pva glue.

The final stage was to cut out a ton of little tiny slits and place the strips of ribbon through each one, tying a knot in the end of one of the strings. Then loosely tape the hole up and cover the tape with another piece of tissue paper and voila!

It didn't go 100% to plan as the knot came through the hole, so I had to tie up another one mid game, and the string I had to hold it didn't hole out with the weight so we had just stand their holding the top of it. But it served its purpose and there was a sweetie fallout!

DIY Glitter Bow Clips Tutorial

Look Look! A tutorial using all of my favourite things: Glitter, Bows and Shoes Clips!!! For me this literally couldn't  get better (well I could have chosen pink, but sometimes its nice to be different). You could make a pair of these bad boys in just a few minutes if you follow my instructions below:

You will need: 

• A sheet of A4 glitter fabric (I got mine from ebay and here)
• Shoe clip blanks (ebay)
• A pair of skissors
• Glue gun

First of all cut out 4 pieces from your glitter fabric. Two pieces measuring 2.5 x 1.5 inches and two pieces measuring 2.5 x 0.5inches (as above)

.1. Fold one of your larger pieces in half along the length with the glitter on the inside.

 

2. Then fold the tops down towards the outside in half again, pinching in the middle (it looks like a bow already... does a little jig). Its a bit like a concertina or fan.

3. Wrap one of the smaller pieces around the bunched up middle, with the ends at the bottom, and secure with a blob from your glue gun.

4. Using the glue gun, glue the shoe clips to the underside of the centre piece as above and your done! I honestly didn't manage this stage once without getting completely stuck to the glue and getting stringy glue gun bits everywhere but the stringy bits come off so its not a problem if this happens to you as well.

You can round of the edges with a pair of skissors at this stage if you would prefer them to be a bit smoother. Personally I don't have a preference as to which is best, they look great either way.  

5. Now repeat with the other two pieces to make a pair and clip em on your favourite pair of shoes... and then make some more because that was so easy and you need a pair of these in every colour and so do all your friends!

 

If you make a pair of these I would love to see them, so leave me a link below. Also, don't forget these would not be limited to shoe clips. You could make brooches, hair clips, all sorts using the same method but different findings so let me know if you come up with any good uses for this template. 

Simplicity 2258

I am cheating a little bit with this post as this is actually something I made around a year ago, post GBSB1, that never made its debut on the internets.

The Pattern: Simplicity 2258

View: C

Fabric: Leopard print cotton (I think quilting)

Fabric Source: Derby Eagle Centre Market

About the pattern: This is the first item of clothing I made from a pattern (apart from a corset) in many many years, I don't know why I feared it so much. I was determined with this pattern that I would follow the instructions and sew it word for word. The pattern is actually really easy to follow and the construction was simple. This actually was the perfect starting project. It has an elasticated waist so no fiddly fastenings, but the pockets and tie make it a bit more interesting.

About the item: I hate it! I mean its really horrible. The skirt itself is really nice and the pockets are really deep and AWESOME, I want to keep my hands in there all day! I like the length as well. However; the elasticated waist is not flattering, I really don't like the tie bit, I know it hides the elasticated bit but it just feels really big, and the shape of it on me just makes me feel like I am wearing a sack. I think a lot of this might be down to the poor fabric choice (I know, I know, novice seamstress sewing in quilters cotton!) but I am reluctant to remake this because of the elasticated waist. It really is a shame as I really want to like it.

 

I am sure one day I will find a suitable fabric/use for this pattern, I maybe need to figure out the darts whilst keeping the pockets and add a zip in there. But that will wait for another day. Do you have any items you love to hate/hate to love? I would be interested to hear about them, I am sure we have all been there done that at some point. 

p.s. I apologise for looking grumpy in these pictures, the neighbours 16yr old son and his mates were hanging out in the garden, and needless to say, I was trying to look less weird than I already did taking pictures of myself in the garden!

Knitted Fingerless Gloves for Mummy

My mum put on her Christmas list that she would like a pair of knitted gloves for Christmas so I really want to knit them myself because it was the perfect stash buster idea, and so meant think could be an inexpensive 'extra' gift for her to open on Christmas morning.

I started off using my favourite go-to fingerless glove pattern: Cherry Red Handwarmers by Creative Yarn

I love this pattern, it can be made up in almost any wool and because they are open lacework (which is a really simple repeat) they are flattering, an easy fit, and very quick to make. However on this occasion I tried them on a friend with normal sized hands and she thought they were a little bit on the small side.

So I searched for another pattern using 3.25 double pointed needles (the only set I have) and Aran weight yarn to stash bust some Kid classic that I have. I found this pattern: Optimistic Mitt Pattern by For Makers Sake. They are a little longer than I wanted to so made a few alterations to the pattern. I knitted just 10 repeats of the bottom rib, and 6 for the top. I also added the stripe pattern and omitted the cuff button. I am really pleased with how these came out, and were my first attempt at a thumb hole and so I am very proud of myself. They do feel a little big on my hands, but not too uncomfortably, and I do have children's midget hands so hopefully they will have a good fit on a normal person.

I really hope she likes them! I am off to wrap them up ready for tomorrow, and the bonus, I get to keep the grey pair!

I am now going to chill out with Mr Fox, so I wish you all a wonderfully Merry Christmas.