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

Fabric Flower Samples

As part of our away afternoon at work at the end of the month my boss has enlisted me into showing our team a couple of ways to make up some fabric flowers:

There are two methods I used here, one which was cutting circles and then folding them up and stitching them on to a small felt circle. The other was to take a long piece of lace and do a long running stitch to gather it in to a circle, which I then popped a button in the middle to cover the hole.

Both methods worked really well, so I think I will go for both, along with the felt flowers which I used in my bouquets.

The possibilities for these little things are endless: brooches, hair clips, shoe clips, bouquets, bookmarks, all sorts! I am looking forward to seeing what fabrics people choose to put together and how they all turn out. I will make sure to take some pictures for you all. There are hundreds of tutorials for these out on the internet if you fancy having a go yourself.

Christmas Pudding Decoration Tutorial

Today I am going to show you how to make your own awesome Christmas Pudding tree decoration.

I came up with this design for a little stuffed pudding a couple of years ago when making stuff for my Monster Magic stalls at Christmas. Its very quick and easy to make and looks lovely when all finished up on your tree. Its a great little project to make as its quick so you could have a whole ton of these made up in time for that special day.

You will need:

Brown Fabric (anything will do, I used Fleece)
White Felt
Sewing Machine and or Sewing Needle and thread
Stuffing
Pins
Paper
Skissors
Pen/Pencil
Small piece of ribbon
Green Felt
1 Button (preferable red, pink, orange or purple)

Step 1:

Using an upside down mug or glass draw round the edge on to a piece of paper, make two circles this way. Once you have your two circles draw a wiggly line across the center of one circle, as above (this is to look like icing/cream/brandy sauce yum!). Cut out the full circle and the top half of the wiggly line semi-circle.

Step 2:

Get yourself some brown fabric (I used fleece but you can use whatever fabric you have lying around) and some white felt. You can use brown felt for the main body, but I find that it doesn't have much give in it to make a nice plump pudding. Fold both fabrics in half, pin the full circle to the brown and cut round it. Pin the half circle on to the white felt and cut out. You should end up with two brown pieces and two white pieces.

Step 3:

Pin one of the white piece on to the right side of the brown fabric (good side of the fabric facing outwards) and top stitch along the wavy line. Do the same on the other piece of fabric.

Step 4:

Fold your small piece of ribbon in half and pin it onto the front of one of your circles, try to get it as central as possible. You want to try and have the raw ends poking a bit over the edge of the circle as above to be sure that you are going to catch with with the seam. Be careful where you place the pin as you are going to be sewing around it. 

You then want to put your two circles on top of each other, with right sides facing each other. Make sure that you line up the white sections as neatly as possible. 

Step 5:

Pin all the way around the circle, but you are going to need to make sure that you leave a gap for turning the seam the right way out. I like to mark this section with two pins so I know where to start and stop. You also need to make sure that the ribbon is not going to get caught in the seam. The best way to do this is by making sure it sits inbetween these two pins. You can see mine just poking out above.

Step 6:

Machine stitch (you can hand sew it) around the edge of the circle. It is a good idea to do some back stitching over the ribbon to make sure it is secure. Once you have done trim and snip along the seam so you get a nice circle.

Step 7:

Turn your pudding the right way out and stuff with soft toy stuffing. If you don't have any stuffing you can just use some old fabric scraps. 

Step 8:

Hand sew the opening closed using ladder stitch (here is a YouTube video) You should use matching thread but I was fighting sunset so I am using the wrong thread for speed!

Step 9:

Finally, cut two tiny holly shapes out of green felt and hand stitch these on to the top of your pudding along with a shiny red button. 

Voila! you have yourself an awesome looking Christmas pudding to hang on your tree. You could make these for your tree or as last minute stocking fillers for your friends. Its a great little project which is really quick, and you could have a go with your kids, either learning to use a sewing machine, or if they are a bit younger helping to pick out the buttons.

If you make one of these up I would love to see it.

Its my birthday tomorrow so I am not going to be wishing you Merry Christmas just yet. I have been baking my little socks off since finishing work for Christmas on Friday in preparation for some family and friends coming over. I made my first ever Christmas cake, many batches of mince pies (using my Aunties home made mincemeat! Yum!), and I have some dough rising for pitta's and bread sticks. I hope tomorrow brings me lots of lovely crafty things to share with you all.