Un-Paper

We use WAY, WAY too many disposable products in our house - and while I feel like I'm making headway with using the cloth diapers (at least A won't contribute to the never ending, slow decaying diapers in the landfill!) I still find myself buying tons of paper towels and tissues - I feel like I'm (literally) watching my money being thrown away. So, I've decided to create my own.

Today's project is un-paper tissues - which, I guess, are also called handkerchiefs, lol. I guess our grandparents had it right! I made mine roughly the size of a kleenex folded in half, since we tend to do that anyways. They are made out of a thin white flannel, and serged around the outside. They are now resting in a pretty wicker basket I had in the closet, and I think it looks much nicer than the tissue boxes from the stores. Plus, they can double as emergency mess clean up! You can't get much better than that.

Next up: un-paper towels - I think I'm going to make those with more flannel and maybe a pretty cotton print. If I'm going to make my own, they may as well look nice! (and maybe, just maybe, the print will help to hide stains)

Crochet Dream List

I've got to admit, I've become a crochet and knitting junkie. I'm loving it, and loving even more the smaller projects that can be completed in a short time ... they suit my short attention span! Here's a few of the crochet items I'm dreaming of doing at some point.

Ladies Flower Petal Mary Jane, HollandDesigns

Vintage Inspired Crochet Necklace, CrochetMe

Crochet Heart Garland, Skip To My Lou

Crochet Stash Basket, The Purl Bee

Tutu's

Wow, time has flown by since my last blog! My mini-business, The Handmade Princess, has become very busy in the last 2 months ever since the weather has turned nice, and it's leaving me less time for random crafting. I'm not complaining though - I love making tutu's!

Here's a peek at what's been keeping me busy for the past few months:

I've also been working on creating crochet hair clips - here's my first trials, hopefully they work well!

Spring Dress Tutorial

This tutorial is for the Spring Dress in size 12 - 18 month. To make it for 18 - 24 months, enlarge the bodice measurements by 1.5"; to make it for size 6-12 months, reduce the bodice height by 2" and the bodice width by 1.5". Skirt length is up to you, just be sure to add in an extra 0.5" for gathering and attaching to the bodice.

This tutorial uses a standard pillowcase as a starting point. If you would prefer to use your own material, simply use the measurements provided. Always iron the material before starting a project to get the best results.

Materials:
Standard Pillowcase
Ribbon/Lace for straps
Large button
Extra embellishments (optional - my pillowcase already had lace, but if you want to add some, have it on hand)

Start by cutting the skirt - the open end of the pillowcase will create the hem of the dress. I chose my skirt to be ten inches long, so I cut 10.5" from the bottom. This creates a fairly long skirt. If you would like a shorter/longer one, cut accordingly.

Next, measure 7.5" from the closed end of the pillowcase. Cut across the pillowcase, putting the middle section aside for later (although you may need this if you are making the dress larger than 12-18 mos). Cut the long strip into rectangles that are 7.5" x 10.5" long. This should be in the exact middle of a standard pillowcase, but ALWAYS measure!

Your pieces should look like this:

Now iron iron iron! The more time you spend ironing, the nicer your dress will look in the end.

Next, finish the raw edges of the fabric on the bodice and the skirt. Do not sew the skirt shut!!! If you are not lucky enough to have a serger, then you can use a simple zigzag stitch right at the edge of the fabric to do this. The bodice pieces will be 2 layers each, and the skirt one layer.

Using a zigzag stitch to finish edges:

Chose which side you want facing "out" on the bodice pieces. Place that face down and sew a 1/4 inch hem along the long edge you just finished. Do the same with the other bodice piece. IRON. Then place the right sides together (with hemmed edges together) and sew the bodice pieces together (short edges) at 3/8". Leave the long edges open. IRON.

Cut 6" lengths of lace or ribbon for the straps. Use wide lace or ribbon - I used 2" wide lace, but you could also use 1.5" wide satin ribbon. Create a small hem (similar to on bodice bottoms) at either end of the straps.

Pin straps to the bodice (which should still be inside out) on both sides. Attach using a straight stitch.

Turn right side out, and iron. Turn inside out again and place bodice aside for later.

If you would like to add any embellishments to the skirt, do so now.

Next, you will gather the skirt. Taking the rectangle, be sure that the edges are all finished. To gather the skirt, sew a gathering stitch along the unfinished edge of the skirt (top of it) using the presser foot as a guide. Sew another gathering stitch beneath the first, again using the presser foot as a guide. Be sure to leave long tails on both ends! Holding the bobbin threads, gently but firmly pull the threads while pushing on the fabric. Once the waist measures the same as the finished bodice, tie the threads together and snip. Distribute gathers evenly around the skirt, and it's done! Just be sure that you have left the skirt waist open (unlike what I did the first time) or you will have to pull the stitches out and do it again.

Line the seams up on the sides of the bodice and the skirt, and pin. You will need to sew the skirt onto the dress between the gathering stitches, so try to pin it on to match the serging/finished edge on the bodice.

Sew the skirt to the bodice between the gathering lines.

Turn the dress inside out, iron and you are done! I added a fabric flower using scraps of fabric and an extra button I had laying around; find the tutorial for the flower here.

Once you've made the flower, pin it to the dress and sew it on.

Add the button (needs to be big enough to cover the raw edges of the flower) and voila - a perfect finishing touch to your dress.

Here's a few photos of the dress in action:

Spring Dress

With spring fast approaching, I've decided that A needs a few new dresses - so nice and light compared to the heavier winter clothing! I took a look around tonight to see what I had lying around, and found the vintage pillow cases I bought last summer. Not only are they pretty, but the hems are finished and the colours are bright and spring-like! So, I set out to make a dress out of a pillowcase.

I loved the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made By Rae, but needed it to be much larger, and I wanted separate straps. So I used one of A's other dresses as the main inspiration, and used the same style of straps (tie on) - I think it worked well. I'm interested to see if the bodice is the right length or not. It took about 3 hours from start to finish, but here it is:

I love it! Hopefully it fits her - I think it is roughly a 18-24 month size, but I'll have to try it on tomorrow. The dress is meant to be pulled on from the feet, and tied at the shoulders. I didn't want to fiddle with making straps, so I used some wide lace instead, and I think it turned out fantastic!

My favourite part of the dress by far is the fabric flower, which I made using this tutorial - so incredibly easy, and it turns out stunning. These flowers will definitely make it into a few more projects!

I'll post an update once I try the dress on A, and get a tutorial in as well :)

Update: It turns out that the dress is closer to a 12 - 18 month size, which I can still squeeze A into, but it's a challenge to pull it over her fairly round bum. I'm going to see if I can make it a bit looser without having to take it apart completely. Here's some pics of my beauty in her dress!

The Anouk Dress (or, how I've lost 5 lbs)

I have taken up knitting. Yes, knitting, and I bought the crochet hooks to learn that too. I figure that if I'm going to stay at home with O and A, then I may as well learn how to make things for them! After all, with me not working, we can't afford those same beautiful hand knit items :)

I started knitting at the beginning of January, and my very first attempt was dismal - I started with 15 stitches, and somehow ended up with 22, before finally learning how to stitch them back together. My next attempt was slightly better - only a few holes, and it turned out just the right size for O's baby bunny's blanket. Sweet! I figured I needed more practice. So I started working on a pillow, made with 8 squares of differing colours, all done in garter stitch. That should give me practice! Well, 2 months later, I'm finally close to finishing it. I did start in on another project about 3 weeks ago (the garter stitch got boring, plus I found the CUTEST dress pattern for A, with such soft yarn...) but it's still taking forever. The best part? I've lost 5 lbs just from knitting at night, instead of eating! Woohoo! This is a diet I can deal with.


The dress pattern I found on knitty.com - the Anouk pattern (The Anouk pattern by Kate Gilbert). How hard could it be? It's actually not been that hard, but some of the knitting language is a bit overwhelming. Thank goodness for online video tutorials.

Here's a pic of what the final dress will look like (in different colours)- it's got to be the cutest dress I've seen in a long time. I can't wait to get it finished!

The Cave

As we have more children, and therefore less room, my crafting space has been shuffled around the house - before having O, I had an entire bedroom for my crafts, space to spread out the scrapbooking supplies (and leave them!), space to leave out my sewing machine, no need to worry if everything was put away ... it was wonderful. And did I appreciate all that crafting freedom? NO! My older, wiser self now drools over memories of that time. Now I head downstairs to my nook to try and get something done in the tiny bit of time I can call my own each day. Up until a week ago, I had half of the exercise room, with a storage closet for all my stuff. Apparently, we need that space to exercise. So now my crafting supplies and I share space with all our other storage in the tiny room under the stairs. The bonus? It does have a baby gate. The downside? No flooring, poor lighting and not much space. But it is mine! So far, I've got a large kitchen table, storage cubes on said table, a dresser and a small rolling cart to work with.

The other day I went to the fabric store and met my downfall, the remnant bin. I L-O-V-E remnants. To top it off, they had some nice prints and textures. And I got it all for $12.00! Now, I want to head downstairs and create something for O and A's room. But can I? No. Because after shoving all my crafting stuff into it's new home (which will henceforth be known as "The Cave", since it has no windows and poor light) I did not bother to put anything away, I just crammed and left. So, no new crafting for me tonight! Instead, I'll be organizing, but at least then I'll be able to find my crafting space again!