Rainbow striped Dotty dress

It doesn't get much brighter than this does it! Its making things like this that genuinely just bring joy to my life and show me why I love to sew. This gorgeous little dress was on my make nine this year, and so in keeping with Children's week on The Great British Sewing Bee it was the perfect time to sew it up. Its also been an amazingly sunny week here in the UK for Feb so what better time to add even more sunshine to your day. Read on for more gorgeous pics of this dress, pattern details and a list of current rainbow jersey stockists... 

You've got a friend in me

How amazing is this fabric! Master Fox is a big fan of basically anything Disney, I would tell you which is his fave but it changes weekly so who knows which it will be by the time this post is published. Having said that he is always happy to go back to an old favourite, and who doesn't love a bit of buzz and woody. 

This fabric is some more from llfab who recently ran this as part of their pre-order rounds. The fabric quality is amazing, its so nice to sew with. Its a very thick jersey but it gives the most amazing finish to these adorable little garments.

I bought the fabric to make Master Fox an adorable little tshirt to wear. The problem (is it a problem?) with making kids clothes is that you end up buying by the meter and you have so much fabric left over. Of course I am sure there are other things I can make with the rest of the fabric but how many Toy Story tshirts can one little boy have? So I decided to as well make one of his little girlfriends a matching dress as she is also a big fan of the films.

The patterns for these two outfits are both from the most recent Ottobre magazine (Summer 3/2017). The tshirt is the whales and tigers top and the dress is a mash up of the Donuts and California Surfing dresses. Thankfully these two dresses were drawn on the same pattern pieces so they were easy to mix and match. I do love the versatility of Ottobre patterns, and the great thing about having their magazine subscription is that if I want to make something you can almost always guarentee you already have a pattern for it. Having said that the instructions are vague at best and come with very little visual instruction if any. This does make them quiet difficult to follow for a novice but as long as you read them carefully and follow the instructions they are fine to work with.

I am really impressed with my binding on both these outfits. They are sitting so perfectly flat. I think that can be partly contributed to by the fabric its attached to being of such a good sturdy quality but I have also done a lot of practicing with my twin needle and the threading/tension on my machine. I really do love to challenge myself with sewing now, and knit binding was a skill which was trying to evade me, but I think we are finally getting there.

The binding fabric and green jersey came from caboodle textiles, not a site I have used before but they have some lovely knits, these plain ones feel gorgeous. The knit binding was also from them. it doesn't feel to the touch like the best quality I have ever had but it certainly stitched up fine, I think the pictures prove that.

So which is your favourite disney movie, and if you could score the fabric what would you do with it? Also does anyone have any good ideas for what I could do with the last bit of this fabric? I don't have a massive amount but it would be enough to make another small child/baby outfit. 

An ombre array of baby headbands

Ok, so I know of all the sewing I have been doing these aren't exactly the most practical or useful things but they are pretty damn cute!

Will I actually put my baby in a headband? Am I that person? I don't know, but now I have the option to at least. I have a feeling that its just going to be more hassle than its worth to dress up a baby this much but I imagine they will go on for the odd posed photo ;)

These actually mark the last thing on my list of sewing projects for when baby arrives. I know we definitely didn't need these, but a baby in a headband is adorable and it was a really great use of some leftover jersey from some of my other more recent makes. Plus who can deny the value of a what would be free accessory? What is nice about them as well is that at least a couple of them are made out of fabrics which I used to make other outfits for her so they will even match.

I used a free online pattern from Coral & Co to make these. The pattern was a download but it was very minimal pages and included the pattern for both a thick and thin version as well as various sizes. Their website looks lovely and they have a fair few other free patterns, especially children's ones. There isn't much else to say about the pattern, it wasn't a difficult sew, but definitely a nice way to use up some leftover jersey you have, especially if you have already made a matching outfit and have some fabric spare.

Three of these fabrics are cotton jerseys and the plain pink one is a polyester jersey. The cotton ones have a lovely stiffness to them which helps to keep the bow in shape really well whereas the pink one is a little floppy and I feel might not be as practical on a little baby. Time will tell when I get to test it out practically.

Its lovely to have another use for those fabric scraps though. What is your favourite thing to do with fabric scraps? I'm terrible for not wanting to throw them away but also I really don't have the space to store them anymore. Its especially hard with having kids because every small piece could be a facing or a pocket lining for a tiny outfit! Argh! I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this plight though. 

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?

The cutest kitty baby Hula Hoop dress

Who can resist something so perrrrrfect? I mean its a tiny dress with colourful jolly cats on it!

I was inspired to make this dress by one that I saw in John Lewis. It really was a beautiful dress but I just looked at it, and I looked at the price label and I just thought meh, I can do that. So the search for the perfectly cute kitty fabric commenced and I came across these cats in cotton by Dashwood studio.

The pattern is another from my very favourite children's pattern designer and its the Hula Hoop dress from Puperita. This pattern is so classic and yet modern for little girls. The shape is pretty timeless with the high waistline and gathered skirt but the square neckline make it feel much more modern and interesting.

The sew itself was very straightforward. As usual the instructions from Puperita were clear, with good photo's to help you along the way. The facing on this dress was probably my favourite bit, it was just so satisfying. After I stitched it it lay so perfectly with the top pattern it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The sleeves were a bit fiddly, but they went in easy enough and the rest of it was easy as. I managed to sew the whole thing together (with all the associated ironing, god I hate the ironing!) in one short evening.

I love the little bow on the front, its such a cute little detail. I did think about adding some piping to the waistline but I didn't want to risk ruining it so I missed it off this version. I definitely would consider adding it if I make another, it would help draw attention to the waist detail. This is such a lovely pattern for woven fabrics. The gathered skirt design means that it copes well with a more structured cotton like this. It is also easy to pair with a long sleeved top or cardi for the colder months.

I made this in size 0-3 months, its so dainty! I hope Miss Fox will be able to get some wear out of it before she is crawling around.

So, which are your favourite cats? I think for me it has to be the pink and yellow one, mostly because of the colours. It needs to be more common for adults to wear clothes like this!

A Busy Book for Master Fox

What is a busy book? Well its a book filled with activities in a hope to keep your little toddler busy! Who are we kidding right, this is going to work for all of about 5 minutes! 

I, just like i'm pretty sure all other mothers of toddlers have done, have used pinterest to find activities to keep your little ones entertained, but also with learning in mind. This is one of those examples and has been something which I have been collecting ideas for for a while now. They are usually handmade and sewn so this was definitely a project I knew I could do. 

My plan for this book is to keep it until baby Fox arrives and then it can be his special book which he looks at with mummy while I am breastfeeding. It will hopefully become special to him and will allow us to still have some bonding time and not feel neglected while I have to spend so much time looking after baby. 

I'm not going to lie, I pretty much stole all the ideas for the pages for this book from pinterest, so this is by no means unique or original, but hey when there are so many good ideas out there where is the need. Also I have made this for personal use, it is in no way going to be marketed or sold by me. If you want to have a look at my board of ideas you can find it here on pinterest. 

So let me tell you a little about the pages: 

Page 1: Felt carrots attached to ribbon which can be inserted into holes in the ground which have been sewn as buttonholes. The top of the wheelbarrow also remains open so that the carrots can also be put into the barrow.

Page 2: Animal beads strung onto ribbon which has been attached between two pieces of felt. The number of animals on each row increase by one and the beads can be moved back and forth to encourage counting. 

Page 3: A felt monster with a zip for a mouth which contains some pom poms. This page helps encourage fine motor skills in opening and closing the zip and Master fox will surely have lots of fun putting the pom poms in his mouth. Pom poms are one of our favourite non play play items. You can have hours of fun with these, including pom pom fights which seems to be a favourite game of his grandparents! I purposefully made this monster in blue and purple to match his favourite monster Sully!

Page 4: Three vehicles attached to ribbon which can be moved backwards and forwards across the page. A car, a train and an aeroplane. This again encourages fine motor skills and also imaginary play. 

Page 5: A whale with an open mouth and 3 fish attached to the page with poppers. The fish can be removed from the page and fed to the whale and then reattached. Master Fox loves a whale, and he has a Duplo one which he loves to feed so hopefully he will enjoy this. 

Page 6: This lovely little crocodile has a mouth that opens really wide to show off its sharp teeth. This is great for making snapping motions but the page also includes a toothbrush which can be used to clean the crocs teeth promoting good dental hygiene. The toothbrush can be placed back in the holder once used. 

Page 7: This brave little fireman has got into his lift to help put out the fires in the building. The lift is attached with buttons and buttonholes so that he can be lowered up and down to be closer to the fire. 

Page 8: The last and final page is the least sophisticated with some coloured pockets and some coloured wooden sticks. Not the most exciting page but an excellent one to help learn colours and matching skills. 

I really hope Master Fox likes his little book, I am really pleased with it and I am glad I finally got around to making it. I had loads more ideas for pages but I needed to finish somewhere otherwise I wouldn't be getting anything else done. 

Mermaid baby dress and leggings set

What little girl doesn't need a mermaid dress? Especially at the moment, is it just me or are mermaids definitely the on trend print right now? Not that I mind, Ariel always was my favorite Disney princess anyway.

This amazing fabric was from LLFab who design custom digital print jersey fabrics. Most of their stuff is done in 'runs' for pre-order so is only available for a limited period. To be honest I find that a little annoying, but I can understand from a home business owner thats the practical way to do things as you don't have the means to store endless runs of custom printed fabrics. This does however mean that sadly there isn't any more of this fabric to buy, though they have been known to do re-runs so do join the facebook group if you are interested.

The pattern is another one from Ottobre issue 4/2016. It is a lovely jersey tunic length dress with an integrated vest top underneath. I also made the matching leggings to go with it to make it a complete outfit. I really like tunic style dresses for babies as I never really liked the idea of babies in dresses (despite having sewn a few) as I always think by the time they get to crawling a dress must really get in the way under their knees.

My hope is that this dress will fit Miss Fox once the weather starts to get a bit cooler, though to be honest I'm finding it really hard to sew for her at the moment as I have no idea how big she is going to be. Having said that though I know I won't have any time to sew once she arrives so I am just trying to make the most of it and wing it a bit.

My binding went a lot better on this make as opposed to the kitty romper I last made. I made a couple of adjustments to the way I attached them this time. The first thing was to make sure I didn't stretch the fabric when overlocking and the second was to release the tension in my sewing machine when doing the top stitching, I think this made the biggest difference. Its very nice to have found the biggest cause of the problem though as it will vastly improve future projects. the neck isn't ideal but its ok. I definitely prefer adding a neck band as opposed to binding a neck, something to bear in mind.

I am not 100% sold on the mauve colour of the vest and leggings, It was an online purchase and I was hoping for more of a cadbury purple like the binding. The vest is less of an issue as once its on with some trousers you won't see it. I am hoping though that the colour grows on me more once its actually being worn by a tiny human. I'm sure she will be plenty cute enough to pull it off.

Have you ever bought any fabric from a custom designer? I would love to hear about them and how you found the fabric/service. Its definitely a perk of the digital age, especially in the UK where nice prints have historically been much harder to come by.

Pink and Orange Triangle Cot Bed Quilt

Also known as the sew I have both hated with a fire in my belly and adored at the same time! Anyone who has me on instagram will have seen me whinging about this thing as I have been going along in the last few weeks. 

Seriously, I have HATED sewing every inch of this quilt, it was long, boring, repetitive and monotonous, all those damn straight lines. I seriously don't know how avid quilters do it, though maybe I do, the whole thing felt like such a slog. But lets not be that down about shall we, because look at it! Its bloody stunning! 

I'm just going to keep going; I LOVE it! The finished thing has just been so worth all that effort that maybe I can see how quilters do it, they just probably have more time and patience than me, patience is not a thing I am known for. 

So, about the quilt. The pattern is a free pattern from See Kate Sew's website which includes full instructions and a pattern piece, so I will let you go read her post to find out how to make it. Her site was great at giving me all the details I needed, and the quilt comes out as a good cotbed size. Mine came out in slightly odd proportions to the bed, but its definitely big enough to function as a working full quilt as Miss Fox grows. 

The main pattern and flamingo fabric is a fat quarter bundle from Emma's Fabric Studio. I have used her bundles before and I love them. You get a nice amount of fabric and they come in some lovely combinations. The plain white, pink and orange are just sheeting cotton which I got from Dunelm and ebay. 

I adore the colour combo of this quilt. Pink and Orange are my absolute favourite. It sort of goes with the nursery, I maybe should have added more yellow, but it works. Its so vibrant and the colours really 'pop'. I have a friend to thank via instagram for adding more of the pink and orange, it definitely was a good plan, so thank you to her. 

The quilt batting is a lovely cotton batting which quilted brilliantly. It was an iron fix one which meant I could secure all the layers together before sewing to stop it sliding around. This is by far my preferred option than all the pinning, it just takes a lot of the worry out of the layers moving and sliding around. 

I also got to use some special quilting machine equipment on this quilt. I got a free quilting kit with my machine from Sew Essential so I made good use of the 1/4 seam foot, the extra large sewing plate table and of course the walking foot. All these things definitely eased the blow on this make and made things a little easier. But don't worry if you don't have all this, the only thing I would say is a must is the walking foot, but I think everyone should own one of these regardless, they have so many uses. 

So after all that hate will I make another? Well I am already thinking about making Master Fox one now he is in his big boy bed! I must be insane! 

Do you have any experience quilting? How do you find it? I'm desperate to hear from someone who does this a lot and enjoys it so can hopefully explain why they love it. Again, its probably just down to my lack of patience. 

Baby dribble bibs (including pattern)

Can you ever have enough dribble bibs? There is a possibility I might have gone a bit overboard on the bibs here but personally the answer to this question is no, you definitely can't have too many of these things. I know from the experience of my own little dribbler these things are a must for pretty much any baby (unless you are lucky and manage to get a dribble free one, but I am not convinced they exist). Master Fox was known to go through at least 3 a day some days so unless you want a constant wash on the more the merrier.

The best thing about these though is that they have all been made out of fabric I already had, so not only are they amazing and super useful but they were also free!

But even better than that, I have included my pattern and the instructions for these bibs in this post. Aren't I good to you :)

See below for my instructions as well as the downloadable pattern.

A note about the pattern: I made this pattern by tracing from a shop bought bib left over from when Master Fox was little. I love this size and shape for a bib, but the ones from the shops come in so many different sizes you might find you prefer a different type. In which case, just fold the bib in half, draw around it and add a small seam allowance, it really is as easy as that.

Click here to download my DIY Fox Dibble Bib pattern

Make sure you print the document at 100% size so that you know your final bibs will fit your little ones.

Materials: main fabric, backing fabric, poppers/snaps

I used a variety of different fabrics for these bibs:
For the main fabric I used quilting cotton and knit/jersey (some cotton, some poly). Cottons are easier to sew but are more rigid. Knit/Jersey are harder to sew with but they are nice and soft on babys skin
For the backing I used either flannel or knit/jersey, you could also use toweling, minky, fleece or cotton.
For the poppers I used Kam snaps but you can also use sew in press studs or no sew studs. You could even use velcro if you preferred.

Bibs made from quilting cotton

Instructions:

1. Using the pattern above cut 1 piece main fabric and one piece backing fabric. Make sure to cut the pattern on the fold.
2. With wrong sides together pin the front and back pieces together and sew around the edge leaving a 2 inch gap along one edge to turn the bib the right way around.
3. Trim the seams as close to the stitching as possible
4. Turn the bib so the right sides are now on the outside through the hole you left in the step above
5. Make sure that the seam allowance for the gap you left for turning is folded to the inside of the bib, it helps to iron these seams so that they stay flat
6. Sew all the way around the outside of the bib making sure you catch the seams over the turning hole
7. Attach a snap to the ends of the bib according to your snap instructions. 
8. Admire your work :)

Bibs made from Knit/Jersey

So you see they really are that easy there is little point in buying any at all.

Kitty Romper

I've been very busy this last few weeks, I really do have my sewing mojo on and for the most part I have been loving it. I say for the most part, I just tried a project today and its gone horribly wrong so I am hoping that writing this post will help me refocus that negative energy back into something positive.

This is also a nice little bumper post as its not just 1 make but 2 combined into this adorable little vest and romper combo.

The patterns are from Ottobre magazine and they both come from issue 1/2016 (I believe you can order back issues). I do subscribe to this magazine as I just adore all the kiddy clothes. I have already made Master Fox a couple of outfits from this magazine and have a list as long as my arm of others I want to have a go it. The magazine is from Finland but I get an English version so there are no issues whatsoever. I love getting my quarterly bit of sewing in the mail, its so exciting :)

I have been putting off quiet a few projects from this magazine though because a lot of them call for a ribbed binding edge, which is something I have never attempted and to be honest was pretty daunting. There are some instructions of how to do this in the magazine but they are not the most descriptive. I really wanted to make Miss Fox a romper outfit though, and Mr Fox hates it when I make dungarees that don't have a popper fastening for east nappy access so I thought it might be time to give it a go. 

I am actually really pleased with how the binding came out. Its not perfect by anyone's standards, its a but wavy, but as a first (and second) attempt I don't think its too shabby. Its not a particularly fast thing to do but it was nice to take my time and try out something new and Mr Fox can be happy that he will be able to get babys little legs out to change a nappy without having to take the whole romper off! 

I also had a go with some metal poppers this time instead of the plastic ones I have been using. They turned out really nicely as well and feel a bit sturdier. Hopefully they stand up to a good few washes. 

The fabric as all come from Stoff & Stil which is a Danish company (I have sung my praises about Danish fabric shops before and my regret of not buying more fabric from Denmark!). They now a brilliant English website and a London address so buying from them is really simple. The quality of this Jersey is just amazing, and to be honest I think I can credit a lot of the successes of this project to just how good the fabric is. So much so that I have just put in another large order with them in a hope to rekindle that failed project I mentioned earlier (oops!). 

How adorable is the cat fabric too? Im so pleased this project was so small, there is plenty left for me to hopefully make a tshirt or vest out of post baby :)

I hope you love this adorable outfit as much as I do. I got a lot of satisfaction from this project and that should be just what sewing is all about. Look at the neck on that vest, its almost perfect. Do you have any projects you are especially proud of, and what made you so proud of them? 

I can't wait to see Miss Fox finally wearing this one. Its definitely the most practical of the outfits I have made her so far so hopefully we can get some good wear from it. 

Llama Llama Baby Dress

Hopefully you all remember my amazing Llama Llama dress, well obviously I saved the very small amount of leftovers I had from that dress in my box of fabric scraps which can only have been called the 'just in case I ever have a little girl' box of sewing supplies! Thankfully that box of scraps is now getting its very own lease of life again and this is one of the first makes from it.

Its ok for mama and baby to wear matching dresses isn't it?

The dress is the Puperita Mini Tulips dress which I have blogged about before. The dress is reversible but I have only lined it with a grey cotton as why would you ever wear it any other way round than this?

The pattern is for an overall type dress, so ideally worn over a tshirt or baby grow, but its such a simple pattern. Very easy to sew, easy to adapt and perfect for using up odds and ends of fabric you have collected. I made this dress in 3-6m so it will be a while before we are wearing it, but I think its a pattern better suited for slightly older children than tiny babies.

Just look at those happy little llama faces!! The fabric is Michael Miller 'packmates' and its 100% quilting cotton. Sadly its no longer listed on their website so you will have to do some digging if you wanted to try and blag yourself some of this fabric.

The fabric type isn't ideal for baby clothes as its very rigid but this pattern lends itself so well to a sturdier fabric as it doesn't call for much drape.

I don't really have much more to say about this make, I'm just going to let those little llama's do all the talking instead x

Lightning bolt baby romper

Oh look, another romper! I made this romper ages ago as a present for one of my friends in Denmark who recently had a little girl. I love hearing people having girls it makes a nice change to sewing boy clothes (and I love an excuse for sewing with a bit of pink). I guess this is something I will get to do more and more of now hazaa!! As you can imagine I already have the fabric for one of these for Little Miss Fox.

There's not much more I can say about this pattern, I have done it to death, but for quick reference it is the Puperita Jumpy Romper and this beautiful lightning print fabric is from Mauds Fabric Finds. Sadly there is non of this left which is such a shame, I could do with making myself an outfit from it I love it so much. You can see all the other iterations of this romper on my made by me: children's clothing page.

Annoyingly what has just happened is I have opened both the Puperita and Mauds pages to add the links and I think a new sewing project is going to get purchased in the next 10 minutes. I'm so weak!

Its really hard to take photos of white clothes, especially in the dull winter months.

Anyway I hope you didn't mind the quick whistle stop tour around this little make. I have actually made quiet a bit of stuff over the last few months, just that I either haven't had time to blog it or haven't had sufficient daylight to take a picture. Its a real shame I will try and get a few more quick blog posts up to show them off in the next few weeks.