Mock Smock Frock Tutorial

I am such a lazy blogger! It  seems the only time I ever get anything finished is when I am guest posting for someone else, so I thought it was time to bring home a few of my guest post tutorials so they'd all be available here.  First up, my "Mock Smock Frock" originally posted on See Kate Sew. Hope you find it useful! 


-Danielle
**************

I wish I could say I thought of this technique on my own, but I got the idea from a shower curtain I have that is all white, and has this same mock-smocking design. I thought it would be interesting to use the same technique for a garment, but use striped fabric instead, to accentuate the interesting shapes made when the pleats open and close on themselves.

I made a simple top, but you could use this same technique for lots of other things. Since I just made mine based on measurements of my daughter, I'll give you the basic steps and you can adapt it to suit your needs.



Start by squaring off your fabric. I try to do this whenever I sew, but it will be especially important in this project. This is easily done by ripping across the fabric at the top to get a nice straight edge that you know will be perpendicular to the selvage.



(For reference, I used a 40" x 20" rectangular piece of this Kaffe Fassett Stripe fabric to start with)

Next, mark lines with a disappearing fabric pen at 1/2", 3", 5 1/2", and 8" from the top of your fabric as shown above. I didn't do this, so you can trust me when I tell you that it will make things much easier.

Next, based on the measurements of the person you are sewing for, locate the center front of the garment (make sure and account for the side seam allowance and the fact that you will lose fabric as you make your pleats. If you are unsure...just roughly pin up your pleats and check.) It may take some trial and error.



You can make as many pleats as you want but I made 4. Just make sure you do an even number for this technique to work. Pinch the fabric together, aligning the lines carefully as shown above and below. It may help to press them if you are having difficulty getting things to line up properly.

Pin the pleats in place down to the 8" mark.

Stitch each pleat together carefully, using the stripe line as a guide, until you reach the 8" mark. Back-stitch at the end.

Figure out where your side line will be (this top only has a seam on one side), as well as your back center, and repeat the whole process for the back.

Now, fold pleats 1&2 together and 3&4 together as shown and stitch in place at the 1/2" mark.

Next, open the pleats in the opposite direction and pin and stitch at the 3" mark.

Now bring the pleats back together and pin and stitch in place at the 5 1/2 inch mark.

And then open them up again and pin and stitch in place at the 8" mark.

Press the pleats flat if you want to give them a rounder neater look.

Repeat the process on the back pleats as well.

Use a shirt that fits as a guide, or just eye-ball the curves for the arm openings and cut them so they are the same on both sides.

Then I folded under and sewed my side seams, added buttons and button holes, finished the neck and arms with self-made bias tape, and hammed the bottom.

Done! And as a side note...I love making this style of top because it fits forever (as long as you make the arm holes generous enough)! It's kind of a dress at first and then gradually becomes more of a shirt. Plus its super versatile. And if I am going to spend time sewing something...I want it to last a while and work in lots of ways.



Happy pleating!

Neon Friendship Bracelet

Is it obnoxious to make yourself a friendship bracelet? Well... I did.

I'm trying to remember to be a better friend to myself, and well-- I needed something to do with my hands during all 6 hours of "Hatfields & McCoys'".

I'd have done a tutorial (in case you didn't go to summer camp when you were ten), but Purlbee has already done such a fabulous one, I didn't bother.

To make one like mine you'll use 4 lengths of string (2 in each color) doubled over. To get the stripes follow their "Basic Stripes" instructions, left-knotting all the pink first, and then all the taupe.

To end, group the strings in 2's and twist them counter-clockwise, while wrapping them together clockwise, and knot at the end.

Father's Day Photo Gifts

I think I shared this photo that I made for my husband last year for Father's Day already (an idea I originally got from Pinterest), but I thought I'd post it again in case you need an idea like I do every year. 

It's super easy to make... I just used an exacto-knife to cut the letters from a piece of poster board, and took a picture of the kids holding it on a sunny day. You don't  need to write it out backwards or upside down or anything... but they will have to hold it that way. Also, try to take your photo in the middle of the day when the sun's rays are closer (but early enough that it's not directly overhead-- I had the best luck mid morning). The silhouette will be crisper that way.

This is another photo gift I did a few years ago with my friend Alissa. She had the idea, and showed up with the letter's all painted and everything. All I had to do was take the photos and frame them. Super easy. It's kind of self explanatory... just paint some cardboard letters and have your child hold them. It's a good idea to have them sitting if they are busy as my kids are, so you are shooting from the same perspective each time-- the letters will be about the same size in the final shot. I love how it turned out. You can do "Grandpa" too, just make sure you do 2 different shots with the "D" and "A" and you can spell Dad and Grandpa.

What are you doing for Father's Day this year? When my kids are old enough to initiate their own way of celebrating their dad on Father's Day am I off the hook? Cause I'm running out of ideas!

Vintage May

 

As usual, it took a guest-posting spot to get me to start and finish a sewing project. I'm over at Skirtastop today sharing my little vintage inspired dress as part of Kristin and Jess's (of Craftiness is Not Optional)  Vintage May series.

  

This is probably one of the simplest things I've sewn but I made more mistakes and had to rip apart more seams on this little dress than anything I've ever made I think. I blame my distracted brain.

  

Why distracted?  My computer crashed (like in a major way) last week and I've been battling it ever since! The good news is that I got all my files back (6 hours at the Mac store later). The bad news is that my video card is on its way out making things totally unpredictable and crashy with this here machine. So it looks like we'll have to replace her soon.

At any rate, head on over and check out my dress if you are so inclined. And check out the Vintage May board on Pinterest for even more inspiration. 

Happy Friday!

Christmas Yarn Ornaments

Um...I realize it's just the beginning of October, but we happen to have a baby due to arrive just 4 days before Christmas this year so I am trying to get a little jump-start on Christmas activities. I mean...it's true that I have about 5,000 things that are probably a little more pressing than Christmas crafts, but sometimes you just need to play with yarn.

I love yarn! Problem is I am not great at crocheting and even worse knitting. But since we've been doing this house remodel I have been envisioning our December with snow on the ground, and our little family warm inside with with nubby, fuzzy, soft yarn sprinkled here and there.

Fingers crossed our fireplace is finished by then!

For now, here is a yarn wrapped Christmas ornament that I made. I realized last year that with a curious 2-year-old running around, anything on the bottom 3 feet of the tree better be indestructible and safe for little hands. These fuzzy yarn ornaments are perfect! Avery is already toting them around the house.

To make, you will need: yarn (any kind will do, but thicker yarn will make for quicker work), foam balls (or if you have some old ornaments you're not so fond of anymore, you could easily re-purpose them instead), tacky glue, wire ornament hangers (2 for each ball you make), and scissors.

Take one wire ornament hanger, straighten it, and then bend it into a "v" shape

Next, push it into the foam ball and cover the top half-ish of the ball with glue (don't be shy with the glue), making sure to glue around wire.

Place the end of the yarn in between the wire.

Then start wrapping around the wire.

...and keep wrapping, ensuring the yarn is adhering to the glue (Don't worry if a little glue seeps through...it will dry clear),

until you get about halfway down.

Then flip 'er upside down and holding the wire, and cover the rest of the ball with glue,

and keep wrapping!

When you get near the end, cut your yarn leaving a little tail, and then poke the tail straight down into the glue so that end of yarn is secure.

That's it! Use your other ornament hook to hang from the tree.

And once you start wrapping yarn around things it might be hard to stop...
it was for me.

More yarn ideas tomorrow!

How To: Ruffle Corsage Shirt

So I am in the middle of several kind of labor intensive projects and I just got the hankering for some instant gratification... know what I mean? I saw a shirt sort of like this at J.Crew the other day, but didn't want to shell out the $35 for a t-shirt. Plus I thought I could make one. Mine's a little more colorful and a little more finished. Here's how I did it.

I cut out a heart shape. Here is the pattern I made. If you can get it to print from here then go for it. It should be about 2.7 inches across at the widest part.

I cut out 12 little heart shapes for my shirt. I used this fabric, and this shirt that I snatched for about $6 from old Navy. I recommend using a scoop neck T-shirt, because they are universally flattering, and have a nice little spot for the heart petals.

Next, I zig-zagged around each heart. This doesn't have to be perfect, and you will still have some little frayed pieces hanging out, but it will keep it from totally unraveling in the wash.

Then, I placed my pieces roughly how I wanted them (although I ended up switching them to other side since I normally wear my purse on my right shoulder). The edges should overlap a bit so the will kind of fold up on each other.

After getting them all pinned down how I wanted them, I sewed each heart down with a straight stitch following generally the dotted lines on my heart pattern. Make sure you don't catch a neighboring heart in your stitch.



And that's it. Lovely!

How To: Quilted Bib

When we were in Seattle over Christmas, Trav's mom pulled out this darling quilted bib that her mother had made for one of her children. It was so cute I thought I'd try to re-create it. Mine is a little bit different, and by way of a disclaimer, I just made this up as I went along so if you happen to be someone who is a very accomplished seamstress, and you are asking yourself, "Why on earth did she do it that way when there is such a more sensible way to do it?" then I am sorry for wasting your time.

Ok so you will need:
2 cute fat quarters or scraps at least 10 "x 10" (or as big as you want your bib to be)
10"x 10" (ditto as above) piece of cotton batting (cotton being a natural fiber is more absorbent and it is a bib after all)
1 package of double fold bias tape in fun coordinating color (you can make your own...but don't, or do-- but it will take lots longer)


First, draw a bib-ish shape on some sort of paper. I used wax, but a paper bag, newspaper-- anything paper-- really will work. I folded it in half to make sure its symmetrical. This is first grade stuff here. If you are not so great at visualizing the shape, you can trace a bib you might already have to get the general shape. mine was about 10 inches long and about 9.5 inches wide and fits my 8-month-old perfectly.


Moving on. So cut out your pattern, and then pin it to your fabric and cut out. Pretty simple. Now you will repeat this for your other fabric as well as your batting. You could be crazy and do all three at once, but I wouldn't recommend it if the pattern in your fabric has any kind of design that needs to be centered. You don't want your stripes to be wonky. Unless you do.


So now you make a little quilt sandwich: first fabric, batting, second fabric. That makes sense right? You want the right sides of both fabric facing out. Now pin it all together making sure both sides are smooth.


Now, we quilt. Here you can do whatever you want. I just did four straight lines about 2 inches apart. Because this is such a small project you can just do it right in your sewing machine...no special foot needed. Just make sure the whole project goes through together, so one layer doesn't bunch, but if you pin it well it should be fine. You can really play around with your quilting. Whatever design you see fit.


Aren't you excited by how fast this is going? Almost done. Now unfold your bias tape and pin it so that the raw edge of the bias tape is up against the raw edge of the bib, right sides together, along the outside of the bib only (we'll do the neck in a minute). Sew in the crease (fold) of the bias tape (not the center one...the one closest to the raw edge).


Now turn the bias tape over the raw edge and pin it down on the other side (leaving the raw edge of the bias tape folded under this time). The trick to having a smooth curve is using lots of pins. Sorry, there is just no way around it. Now edge stitch the bias tape as close to the edge as possible. Its looking good right?


Now cut a piece of bias tape long enough to comfortably tie around your little cherubs sweet neck. I cut mine 38 inches, and it is plenty generous to tie a nice sweet bow. OK so fold it in half lengthwise and find the center. You can mark it or just eyeball it and remember. So open the tape just like in the last step and place the center on the center of the bib neck and repeat the pinning process. Sew the tape to the neck leaving the ties alone for now. Now fold the tape over the raw edge like before and pin like before. Only this time, also pin the ties together as they are already folded. Starting at the end of one tie, edge stitch the tie shut sewing towards the neck. when you get to the neck, just keep sewing along the edge to secure the tape. When you get around the neck keep sewing up the other tie till you get to the end.


And that's it! Done. With time left to vacuum.