baby stuff Archives - Page 8 of 9

Bow Ties

June 1, 2011 By Taylor 3 Comments

What is cuter than a little boy in a boy tie?… Nothing is… I tell you NOTHING!

Remember when I won Runner-Up in the Knock it Off contest? Well, I did and one of my prizes was my choice of two patterns from Little Lizard King, a cute Etsy shop. I knew I wanted to make the boys some bow ties for a wedding. It was perfect when I saw that she had a Bow Tie Pattern in her Etsy Shop. Less work when I don’t have to think of how to do something.

I followed the “bow” part just like the pattern said. The only thing I changed was the middle loop to make it a little wider. It was a very easy-to-follow pattern.

The boys looked super geek-chic in their little bow ties… ahhh little men going to their first wedding!

Instead of doing elastic around the neck, I just added an alligator clip to the back with felt and some E-6000 (best glue ever). That way I can use them again on a cardigan or in my hair.

I love these bow ties so I think I might be making more in the near future just for funsies.

What else can I do with them?

Little Boy Shorts

April 26, 2011 By Taylor 17 Comments

This year I had the bright idea that I would dress my boys in matching shorts for Easter. I mean how much longer are two boys going to let me do this, right (but really how much longer)? So, I found some adorable plaid fabric and decided to make them some Little Boy Shorts. I know that the best way to make a pattern is to take another article of clothing apart and trace the pieces, so that is just what I did. Add length to the top (about 1.5″) and the the bottom of the shorts (about 3″) My sons wear 2T and 6mo.

Supplies:
1/2 yd fabric
1/2” elastic
white paper for pattern
safety pin & sewing pins

1 – Trace an old pair of shorts onto a piece of paper
2 – Pin the pattern pieces to your fabric
3 – Cut the new pieces out

This is the first pair of shorts I have made for the boys and I kind of just sat there after this step. I had a million ideas for the order of construction but because I was making these the night before Easter (oops) I didn’t have time for that. I remembered that one of my favorite blogs MADE has a tutorial for a Basic Kids Pants and thought it had to be pretty similar. So thanks MADE!

She says the easiest thing (which totally makes sense) is to sew up the crotch of the pants first because they are already together. If you have a fabric with a right and wrong side, flip your fabric before sewing.

After every step, serge the seam if you have a serger and press with your iron for a more professional look.

Next, pin and sew the inseam together. Then again,serge the seam and press it down.

Next, pin and sew the legs together. Serge that seam as well.

Next, I serged around the top of the pants and the bottoms of the legs because I had to try them on the boys and I didn’t want them to fray. Dana (from MADE) said that the front of the pants will be lower than the back, which is something I had never noticed. She said it will make for a more comfortable fit, so on the 6mo shorts, I actually just cut a little dip after I took this picture.

Next, we will add the elastic. Measure your little boy’s waist and add one inch. For example my oldest son’s waist is 18.5″ so I cut my elastic to 19.5″. Fold down the top of the pants with about 1/4″ overlap and use the elastic as your guide as you pin. Leave an opening of about 1″ and take the elastic out. Sew to top of the shorts closed but remember to leave that 1″ opening to put the elastic back in.

Now insert the elastic using a safety pin. Make sure it is flat all the way around. The elastic will be shorter in length that the shorts. Scrunch the shorts up, pull the elastic out a little and sew the elastic together. I used a zig-zag stitch in 2 places to make sure the elastic stays together.

Lastly, turn the shorts inside out and sew the bottom of the shorts. I sewed in two places. On the top of the serged line and on the bottom right next to the seam.

I added my fabric labels to the back.

Look at these sweet boys in their matching Little Boy Shorts.

Perfect for Egg Hunting

Stay tuned next week for an exciting project because I am a contestant on Season 3 of One Month to Win it! Woo Hoo!

It’s Rodeo Y’all – Texas Onesie

March 14, 2011 By Taylor 11 Comments

It’s spring break here in Houston and you know what that means…. Rodeo Time! Although Clyde has no idea what that means, I think it means I should break out the ole’ Silhouette for her first project! So I did!

I have seen shirts like this before with the capital as a heart in the state but Houston isn’t the capital of Texas so that wasn’t going to work. I also found a picture of Texas in the Silhouette Online Store, but again it had a star over Austin, not what I was looking for. So I had to get clever…

I googled “Texas Outline” under images and when I found one that look clear, I saved it to my computer. Then in the Silhouette Studio, I opened up the Texas picture. I played around and I found this awesome feature; The Tracing Tool. It allows you to trace around a picture that you already have on your computer. So I added the little heart and selected “Trace around Outer Edge”.

Here is what my picture looked like:

Next, I cut a piece of Freezer Paper and loaded it onto my carrier page.

Then I hit cut! It was so exciting… Now if you don’t have a Silhouette, you can just cut this shape out with scissors or an Exacto knife. Next, you need to iron down the shape’s outline to the onesie. Don’t hold the iron down too long, I have made that mistake and the freezer paper gets rumply. Make sure to iron around all of the detailed edges to form a nice seal. Don’t forget to iron down you little heart on the inside of your state.

Now its time for the fabric paint. I meant to buy “matte” red paint but as you can see I must have grabbed the “metallic” so it had kind of a shimmery look to it. Clyde it too little to be mad at me for that :)

(oops)

I did two coats and waited about 20 mins between. Don’t forget to put some newspaper or a paper bag inside the onesie so it wont bleed.

The next step is my favorite part, for some reason there is something SOOO satisfying about pulling the freezer paper off to me! Of course wait until it is completely dry.

Lastly, you have to heat set the fabric paint. There might be some instructions on your fabric paint about how to do this. I looked online and found some. You have to use something between the paint and the iron like a hand towel or something. I ironed mine for about a minute total moving the iron around the whole time. Some people said to do it for 4-5 minutes but that seemed really long to me.

I love my Silhouette! Now on another note, don’t try to stage a photo shoot with a hungry baby…. (I promise he likes his Texas Onesie, the boy just loves to eat!)

Fabric Labels

February 4, 2011 By Taylor 8 Comments

Fabric labels oh Fabric Labels…. I have been online researching these babies for months! Finally I found a good (cheap) solution, a tutorial to make my own. This idea is genius!

Laurraine from Patchwork Pottery has the whole tutorial on her blog here. She has a ton of other great stuff too, so you have to check it out. They were really simple to make and I love the way they look on the twill tape. Also, I didn’t spend a fortune which is always a plus! I made 1/2″ and 1″ labels. I have already made a few bibs and added labels to the back, I feel so professional now hehe :)

In other exciting news, I think I am going to buy a serger soon! I think I am going to get this one… any thoughts, opinions, reviews??