Welcome to my stop on the Sew Much Fun Blog Hop hosted by Faith & Fabric . This month’s theme is ‘Save Our Scraps’.
I am decidedly a scrap fabric hoarder. I rarely throw them out.
Which is not always a good thing.
When I saw the digital stamp that Deb‘s friend Elena of Just Me Prints created especially for our tour, I fell in love. It’s so cute! So I just had to buy it!
Problem is though that I don’t really make cards.
As you can see I forgot to flip the image before printing it out so my flamingo is pointing in the opposite direction.. Oops #1!
Oops #2: I can’t find the picture I took of how I traced out all the pieces. Basically though I traced out each item separately and extended the edges slightly so that pieces would overlap. I traced the outer edge of the flamingo and girl as one piece on a white fabric (helps with placement) and then traced the flamingo separately onto the floral, and did the same with the rest of the parts of the girl. (In case you’ve never done FMA before, you trace the shapes onto a fusible adhesive like Heat n Bond).
Oops #3: Normally you’re supposed to stitch down each element before fusing on a piece over top of it. So I did all my stitching at the end when at the very least I should have stitched the flamingo body onto the background before adding the water and other elements over top.
Oops #5: I forgot that her face would be tiny and impossible to stitch on machine. I think I will take out the stitches and try my luck at handstitching her face.
Well, I really like how she turned out! (Other than the face…) I’ve been debating the last few days about what I was going to do with her and my husband had a great idea! Make a quilt!! I have to make a lot more appliqué pieces now though and when I have enough I will put it together.
It’ll be awhile…. But I didn’t want to applique it to a dress for one of my girls and have them outgrow the dress in a week.
So now I’m off to check out Just Me Prints‘ shop to see if there’s another digital stamp that I want to try to FMA-ize!
The theme for the newest issue of One Thimble magazine is ‘Urban Jungle’. There are 12 PDF patterns included in the issue as well as 26 articles, all for $25 AUD (so if you’re in the US it will be much less!) The articles range from regular features such as a gift guide featuring items handmade in Australia (while keeping them related to the theme) to articles on sewing techniques and tutorials. As a bonus there are also exclusive discount codes included!
Each of the patterns included in the issue* have beautiful photos showcasing the pattern using the Urban Jungle theme.
What caught my eye most about this issue was how well so many of the patterns seem to complement one another. The toys and accessories are all animal related (baby shoes, baby quilt, cross-stitch wall art, FMA, and the two toy patterns).
One of the articles that interested me was one on sewing with laminated cotton. Laminated cotton is similar but not the same as oilcloth which I’ve used before. I haven’t tried laminated cotton yet and have been interested in trying it out however from what I’ve seen it’s not as inexpensive as oilcloth. There are lots of good tips for sewing with it as well as links to tutorials that I need to try.
The Hood Creature free motion appliqué (or FMA) pattern included in this issue is super cute and is a perfect match with the hoodie pattern. I’ve used one of the designer’s (StitchART by Jeanine) other FMA patterns in a pair of PJ’s I sewed up for my oldest daughter recently. You can check it out >>HERE<<, it’s really cute. Free motion appliqué is super fun and fairly easy to do, I will be for sure stitching up one of the hood creatures soon.
No surprise to those that know me, but I really wanted to sew these up. I love felt and I have a fairly good size stash of wool felt on hand, although my colour choices are somewhat limited at the moment.
Included in the pattern are templates for a giraffe, elephant, rhinoceros, octopus, unicorn, turtle, lion and alligator. Since I didn’t want to use the same colour felt for more than one animal (to make it possibly easier for my 2.5 year old, although maybe she’d have been fine), I made just the elephant, octopus, unicorn, turtle and alligator.
As expected the 6-year-old, Silly Bean, claimed the unicorn for herself, which was fine because the octopus was Miss V’s favourite. They liked them so much in fact that they actually slept with them the first night!
These were fun to make and not too difficult. There are three layers of felt and in between Heat’n Bond
Interested in seeing more from Felt With Love Designs? You can see the other patterns of theirs that I have sewn up HERE and HERE.
The Felt 3D Animal Puzzle was Felt With Love Designs’ contribution to the magazine. You can purchase this pattern separately for $3 AUD >>HERE*<< or it is included with the purchase of the magazine.
*****
These are just soooo cute, I couldn’t resist making one. The sloth is adorable so that was the first one I wanted to sew. The fabric suggestions for Roly Poly Critters are to use felt or fleece but I’ve seen some versions using different fabrics that are super cute too. For mine I decided to stick with the fabric suggestions and made it out of felt.
I didn’t have any safety eyes or noses on hand and didn’t know where to buy them locally and with no time to wait for an order to arrive I decided to cut out eye and nose shapes from felt and sew those on. I need to work a little more on sewing around the small curves to make the stitching neater but otherwise it was a pretty quick sew. About 1.5 hours from cut to finish including interruptions from Miss V.
SO SO cute. These will make fun baby gifts. My only wish is that there had been overlap with the animals between these and the baby quilts*. But I guess I could try hacking one of the critters into a bunny! They would make a cute set to give at a baby shower.
I have made many of Swoodson Says’ patterns before. You can see the ones I’ve blogged HERE and HERE, and read an interview with Stephanie of Swoodson Says HERE.
The Roly Poly Critters can be purchased separately for $7 AUD >>HERE*<< or get it with the purchase of the magazine.
For more One Thimble inspiration, check out the rest of the tour stops below:
Yeah! It’s my turn to show what I’ve made for the pyjama tour! I’ve been doing so much behind-the-scenes work on this tour, sewing these pjs was a breeze compared to that!
Getting pictures of the kids, however, was not so easy. I need to hire some new models!
In Silly Bean’s defense she gets home from school around 4:15pm and by then the house is already somewhat dark, and I work most weekends and get home when it IS dark so indoor photos are not good.
As mentioned in previous posts, the goal of this tour was to sew up pjs using patterns already in your stash. We were lucky to get fabric shop sponsors offering discount codes (more below) and pattern shops sponsoring giveaways! Keep reading to the bottom to enter today’s giveaway!
Instead of using patterns that are marketed as pjs I decided to use regular knit patterns for the tops and bottoms from two of my favourite PDF pattern designers: Filles a Maman and Sofilantjes. Mind you I could easily have used actual pyjama patterns because I know I have a couple in my stash but I decided it’d be more fun for me to mix and match from some other patterns I own.
From Filles a Maman* I used the Agathe et Theo pants* for some comfy slouchy pants. The girls look so cozy and cool in their pants, I can’t figure out why (besides lack of time) I haven’t sewn more of these already. I did test this pattern way back when Miss V was known around here as Baby V but other than those ones, for some odd reason I haven’t sewn them since. (I’ll blame it on too much pattern testing!)
These make good pj pants as they are comfy and have cuffs at the ankles keeping them tight-ish and prevent riding up in the night. (Or am I the only person who wakes up to find pj pants up around their knees?) They’re baggy slightly through the hips but it’s not super exaggerated.
From Sofilantjes* I sewed the ADVtee*. The ADVtee is a v-neck tee with two neckline options, I decided to stick with the standard neckline. I made this pattern once before and it went together so easily. Since store bought pj’s tend to be more of a slim fit this pattern was a good pick. It’s slightly more slim fitting than the Otium* top which I’ve sewn before (HERE and HERE) which would have been my back up choice for a knit top.
Because I wasn’t using all pink for the fabric I decided to appease the pink princess in the house by adding an applique to the front of Silly Bean’s pjs. I used the mermaid free motion applique (or FMA) from StitchART that I had purchased a few months back but hadn’t gotten around to trying out yet. It’s so cute, Silly Bean loves her, and Miss V has requested I make something for her with one.
Of course I needed to add something to Miss V’s pjs and so I drew up a lake monster applique. Technically it’s modelled after Vermont’s Champ (did you know they had a lake monster?? I didn’t until hubby told me.) but if you want it to be Nessie that’s cool by me. (Miss V however calls it a dinosaur which is a relief since she loves dinosaurs which means she’s more likely to want to wear the pjs).
I’ll will be posting the lake monster applique for download soon. I tried to get it done in time for this tour, but hopefully it will be up at the beginning of next week. I will update this post when it’s ready! FMA is so much fun to do btw. I love the handdrawn look of the stitching, which is great because it’s not easy to repeat each stitching line perfectly over the last one!
Pants: Agathe et Theo* from Filles a Maman. Patterns are available in both French and English
Sizes sewn:
For both I probably should have sized up in the length to allow for growing room, but the fit is perfect on them right now.
Top: ADVtee* from Sofilantjes; and using the cuffs from Otium. Patterns are available in both Dutch and English
Sizes sewn:
For both tops I sewed the long sleeves and the regular v-neck. There is also a cute little pocket you can add but I left it off since I had added the FMA’s.
I think the fit is perfect on my girls for both patterns!
I tried to make this project completely stash busting but the fabric was purchased recently from L’Oiseau Fabrics. The solid was leftover from another project, and the dots were originally earmarked for another project but I decided to use it for these pjs instead. They sewed so nicely and are super soft!
If you want to learn more about these designers I’ve interviewed both of them in the past year. Read the interview with Anne of Sofilantjes >>HERE<< and the interview with Mel of Filles a Maman >>HERE<<.
There are 24 shops sponsoring prizes for this tour!
Along with today’s daily giveaway (see below!) there is also larger giveaway and a link up happening. Go to today’s post over at Made By Jaime to get the full details on how to link up and to enter the giveaway!
We are also lucky to have four fabric shops offering readers discount codes:
Mabel Madison is offering 20% off with the code JAMMIES. Code expires March 31st!
PhatQuarters is offering 10% off OR FREE shipping to US addresses on orders over 40$ US (with an equivalent discount for international shoppers). Use the code PHAT10 for 10% off OR FREE40 for free shipping to US.
Raspberry Creek Fabrics is offering 15% off with the code PJPARTYTOUR. Good through March 26th!
Tangled Blossoms Designs is offering 10% off with the code PJPARTY. Code expires March 25th!
Today’s prize is sponsored by Paisley Roots. You could win both patterns: the All Spice dress and the Saffron Twirl dress! Visit Paisley Roots to see what they have to offer. The giveaway ends March 25th at 11:59pm EST. See the Rafflecopter on how to enter! You have up to 7 chances to win! The winner will be chosen March 26th and will have 48 hours to respond to the email before a new winner is chosen.
Monday, March 21st
Sew Far North | The Wholesome Mama | From-a-Box | Pattern Revolution | Inspinration | Paisley Roots
Tuesday, March 22nd
Sprouting JubeJube | 5 Out Of 4 | Sew Happily Ever After | Beri Bee Designs | Phat Quarters | Connected by A Thread
Wednesday, March 23rd
Create 3.5 | Handmade Boy | HattieLu Handmade | Made by Melli | The Crafting Fiend | Sweeter Than Cupcakes
Thursday, March 24th
Lulu & Celeste | Sew Starly | Phat Quarters | Pear Berry Lane | Rebel & Malice | Creative Counselor
Friday, March 25th
Made By Jaime | Mae & K | SewSophieLynn | Amazing Adventures of Bubba & Bug | MahlicaDesigns
I’m back for another One Thimble tour! Issue 9 has just been released and I’m showing off the Trapeze Eloise applique pattern. (The magazine is priced in Australian dollars so if you’re in the US or even Canada it’s even cheaper with the exchange rate right now!) You can win a copy of the magazine (or get a refund if you purchase it, just check out the rafflecopter at the bottom of the post!
Continue reading “Trapeze Eloise FMA review for One Thimble”
