September Special

Golly Gee!  Is it September already?

I'm starting to run a monthly special on Facebook ("like" my page HERE) and through my ETSY SHOP.

I'm starting to gear up for the fall season and for Halloween!!  It is one of my favorite times of the year. I'm running a Halloween hairbow special this month and next month I'll be doing Halloween shirts!  I can't wait to get them going.

For this month only, you can get all three of these hand-embroidered felt hair barrettes for only $8.  Contact me via facebook and I will set up payment and ship them out!  You will have plenty of time to build your girl's spooky halloween wardrobe around these cute little guys.

Little Brother's Birthday Attire

**So apparently something has happened to last week's full birthday party post...I'm trying to fix it/redo it, so until then enjoy outfits!**

If you are having a sock monkey birthday party, you must have a sock monkey hat!  There are so many crocheted hats on etsy.  I was really close to buying one, and then I found this FREE pattern from Red Heart.  This is the first hat like this type that I have crocheted.  It was a perfect fit!

If you have read my blog much, you know that I like to make shirts...Circus Party Shirt, Mustache Shirts, Watermelon Party Shirt, St. Patrick's Day Shirt, and my all time favorite Lotte's Ruffle Chickie Shirt...

So here is Brother's birthday shirt.

I love the bunting because we used a lot of them throughout the party decorations.

He is actually blowing kisses here...not saying "Oh.Come.On."

For his cake smash, I didn't want just his birthday suit (HAHA) so I made him cute little man suspenders in decor-matching fabric.  If you didn't see it last week, you can see the tutorial HERE.  And here is a little tip for you...the white diaper cover is actually "bloomers" from one of sisters spring dresses from when she was little.  reduce REUSE recycle.

He got rather messy with his little cake.  I love the "blue beard" look!  It isn't a first birthday if Mommy and Daddy don't have icing all over their faces too!

Little Boy Suspenders

There are a few tutorials on the web that are for little man suspenders.

HERE is one that uses "Fashion Fit" clips that I couldn't find in my local stores.

HERE is another tutorial that uses dyed elastic, but that was a little too expensive for me.

I like the first tutorial, but I couldn't find affordable clips and mine needed to be all fabric.  I grabbed some houndstooth that matches Brother's party stuff, a pair of thrifted suspenders and got to work.

(forgive the black and white pictures, but you really don't want to see my ironing board cover...blech)

For Brother (one year old) I made my fabric strips 24 inches long.  For a toddler, I would go with 27; infant 21...if in doubt, measure baby and add 4-5 inches.  Your width will depend on how wide your suspender clips are.  My clip was a little less than and inch and a half.

Sew Right Sides Together to form a long tube.  Turn tube of fabric right side out.

Press so the hem is in the middle...this will be the back of your suspender.

I used a thrifted pair of suspenders and cut the metal attachments off of the elastic.

Here is where it gets a bit complicated, and I hope that my pictures can explain it better.  If not, take pictures of your intact suspenders to use as reference for how they go back together.

The part that lengthens the suspender is call the "SLIDE".  (I didn't make that up)  You will use a roll hem and sew the FRONT of the FABRIC with the BACK side of the SLIDE facing you.

Pull the suspender "CLIP" onto the strip of fabric with the clip facing the right side of fabric.

Pull the free end of the fabric through the slide.  Now it looks like suspenders!

The second clip goes on the open end of the fabric.  Sew it on just as you did the slide.  Using a roll hem so you don't see the ratty end of the fabric.

REPEAT, because you need two straps silly!

Measure your child from front waist band to the back waist band, making sure you cross it in the back.

After you have that measurement, make sure both of your straps are even.

I tried them on Brother and found where they crossed well in the back.  You could guess, but make sure the back clips are several inches apart, or they won't lay flat.

Sew a diamond shape where the straps overlap.  You don't have to do a diamond either...the next time I'm thinking of doing straight lines all the way across or just doing a big "X".  I will also be using iron on interfacing for the next pair.  These worked great for what I was wanting, but I think they would be better with a little more umph!

The suspenders where a HUGE hit for Brother's Birthday Pictures and Party!  Everyone loved them and couldn't believe that I made them myself.  I really love that they match his birthday party colors perfectly.  But you will have to wait to see all that until after the GRAND PARTY reveal!

Linking up to these lovely and gracious hostesses!

We Did It Wednesday--Sew Much Ado
Inspiring Creativity--Dragonfly Designs
Show and Tell--Blue Cricket Design
DIY Under $5--A Little Tipsy
Get Your Brag On--Gluesticks
A fun new to me link party Trendy Tots--A Real Life Housewife
What Are Little Boys Made Of--733blog
Sundae Scoop--I Heart Naptime
Saturday Seven Party--Positively Splendid
Get Your Craft On--Today's Creative Blog
Craft and Tell--Cherished Bliss

Circus Party

I have a friend from high school {Melissa} who contacted me last month to make a shirt for her son's first birthday party.  He was having a circus themed party and she wanted an elephant onesie.  She directed me to her Pinterest Board so I could see the color pallet.

Here is the shirt that I made for Grayson the sweet little birthday boy!

After the party she posted the pictures on facebook.  She did such an AMAZING job putting everything together I asked to share all the details on my blog.  Happily she said "Yes"...so I get to share this talented mommy's first circus party!

I think it's appropriate to start with the invitation.  It was designed by Melissa's best friend Tyler Wheeler.  You can find her FACEBOOK HERE.  I believe she will be taking orders for these and maybe some other designs.  Message her if you are interested!

Melissa and her husband Kevin cut the pennant flags out of a paper pack called Animal Crackers by Imaginisce.  She used a handy tool called a Sew Ribbon Cutter.  It is a paper cutter that allows you to make the perfect cuts to thread ribbon in paper.  I really want one! 

For favors she sent family and friends home with animal crackers and cracker jacks.  When guests came in she had them sign a Dumbo Golden Book.  Very cute guest book idea that he will have forever!

They made the cake banner themselves.  She also hung ribbon behind his highchair for a great pop of color.  The banner was also made by the party parents.  She used the Sew-Ribbon tool again and she cut the letters out with her Cricut on the Winnie the Pooh cartridge.

The cupcakes were made by Sassy Sweets Cakes and Treats from Troy, MO.  I love the blue icing.  The toppers were cut out from Melissa's Cricut and the elephant is a Martha Stewart punch.

I LOVE how his little ear pops out!

This is the party hat that Melissa and Kevin made for Grayson.  She used THIS template from Oh Happy Day.  I've already gone and printed it out to use for my son's party!

And because Grayson is too cute not to show off...here are some pictures of the Birthday Boy.

 These were taken by the super talented photographer Stephanie Geisler.  

I hope you enjoyed the party...I know I did.  GREAT job Melissa and Kevin...and congrats on being parents for a whole year now!

I'm linking this party up to these gracious hostesses.
Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Designs
We Did It Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado
Inspiring Creativity @ Twin Dragonfly Designs
What Are Little Boys Made Of @ 733

New hats!

I made a couple of hats a little while ago.  I used a tutorial I found from Maybe Matilda for the curly-cues.

I made two matching ones for a baby and her big sister.

I think it looks pretty cute on Lotte!

Making life simple! Cutting tulle the FAST way!

So I recently have made two tutus!  One for an order and one for Lotte's Halloween costume.

For the Halloween costume, I bought tulle off of the bolt.  It is so much cheaper, and for Lotte, it's okay if it isn't perfectly cut.  I went to youtube and searched "cutting tulle from bolt"  there was a super great video tutorial HERE and I LOVE this lady because she saved me a BUNCH of time and effort.

I made the lady bug tutu before and didn't think about youtube-ing of googling the fast way to cut tulle from the spool.  So I think I'm pretty GENIUS for coming up with this.

I wanted an 8 inch tutu for a one year old.  So I cut a piece of cardboard 16 inches long {doubled}.  I made sure that it was wider than 6 inches.

I started the tulle at the very top of the cardboard and just simply flipped it around and around and around until the entire spool was wrapped around the cardboard.

I then took scissors and cut through all the layers of tulle at both the top and the bottom of the board.

I removed the board and had a beautiful and neat stack of tulle the exact length that I needed it for my tutu.

This made it super easy to keep the tulle really straight and "fresh".  I didn't want to send it out all rumply and crumply.

I hope this helps you shave time and hassle off of your tutu endeavors!

I'm linking up to these awesome hostesses this week!  Thank you ladies!!
Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Design

Kid's Clothing Week Challenge

Here is a little fun-ness.

I'm going to attempt to participate in this year's Kid's Clothes Week Challenge.

Elsie Marley has motivated me to start an amazing challenge...sew clothes for your children for 1 hour a day for 7 days.

I know there are women out there who are going to sew complete wardrobes for their 6 children, but I'm not going to set a goal to get {x} amount of things completed, but instead I will...

JUST TAKE SOME TIME EACH DAY TO SEW FOR THE KIDS.

{I'm definitely going to use some of this time to work on halloween costumes and some refashions/embellishments}

It is going to be rough, but I'm going to have to be organized.  Especially because I'm going to do this on a shoestring budget.  By that, I mean I'm not going to buy any fabric at all.  Everything is going to be made of something in my stash, or it is going to be upcycled from already on hand {or in drawer} items.

I would like to make at least one new piece for each kid...a Ragland Tee from Jess @ Craftiness is not Optional.

She is one talented seamstress, and her blog is probably one of my most favorite ever.  She has a new tutorial almost every week.  SERIOUS TALENT!


And for Brother...a 90 minute Tee from Dana @ Made.

Dana has soo many variations of this shirt.  It is so cute in every variety!