baby shoes
A couple of our little friends have just started walking and Lis has been talking about making fabric shoes so I did some digging around and found this pattern.
It looks pretty easy so we may give it a crack.
And then I found these… I think I’ll make some kimono shoes to go with the kids’ kimono we’ve made before. How adorable!
This pattern comes from Homespun Threads and is a gorgeous twist on the fabric shoes.
I’m thinking of also adding some jiffy fabric or non-slip fabric to the bottom of them so the girls can actually walk in them without toppling over… hmm we’ll see.
Den girls get your fabrics ready!
eggscellent weekend
This weekend a group of the Den gals (sans Mrs B who is close to delivering her little bundle) went to the farm with families in tow.
With Easter approaching I thought it would be a good idea to get Pol and Zis to help out with some craft. I got the inspiration from Martha Stewart (oh Martha!) and we took the food colouring and some stickers and created Easter craft.
I’d recommend dyeing the base colour first so the kids don’t have to wait 15 minutes for them to dry but in the end they turned out to be masterpieces (well a 5 and 3 year old masterpiece). Next time I must remember to take pirate stickers and more pink dye!
In any case it was fun and Pol was eggcited to take his egg for show and tell this week! Happy Easter all…
craft hiatus
It’s been such a long time since I blogged about craft because there hasn’t really been much we’ve been up to…
This month the Den girls have not been able to catch up – some of us have been away, others just busy but its time to get cracking again.
For inspiration I have bought a couple of books to get me on my way.
In my quest to make more clothes for myself I bought this gorgeous book on making skirts. I love how simlple they have made the patterns and am looking forward to rummaging through the den to find some inspirational fabric.
kimono for me
After making a kimono for little IW I thought about making one for me. I have something similar that I bought a while ago and I’ve been wearing it to work all summer.
Last time the Den girls were together I spent ages trying to do some maths to work out the measurements for adapting the child’s kimono into an adult’s top.
I would have spent an hour thinking about it (maths is not my strong point and after a long day and a glass of wine… it was never going to happen) PG took the instructions from the Long Thread tutorial and worked it out in about 3 minutes.
Well she was pretty much right and I finished my top this evening – and I have to say I am a bit pleased. It turned out pretty well – in fact I’m going to wear it tomorrow to work.
There is something so satisfying about wearing something you made yourself.
shir thing
PG and Mrs B were talking about shirring the other day which got PG onto the search and again she’s come up with gold…
layer pon layer pon layer
I’m really making up for not crafting much last year to crafting with a vengence at the moment.
It’s Zis’ birthday this week so I have whipped up this skirt for her. It’s one I learned how to make at the Fremantle Arts Centre and is super easy.
I’ve made one for myself before but modified it down to a child size (Zis is only 3).
You make this skirt by laying three layers of fabric on top of each with a chiffon as the middle fabric. Cut the pattern out on the bias.
The skirt is supposed to fray but if you don’t cut on the bias it will just disintergrate.
Then you mark out lines and sew across. Once all the lines are sewn you cut the top two layers and then sew the skirt together like you normally would - sides then top. I put a ribbon band on this because I wasn’t sure of her size but eleastic works really well (for my own I put in a zip).
There you have it. Layered skirt.
baby doll
Children’s gifts and toys have been a focus of the craft group lately with all the first birthdays that have come up.
Mrs B found this cute pattern for a baby doll called Black Apple.
Again its come off our fave site of the moment The Long Thread but it originates from the Martha Stewart site – which has video tutorials as well…
Mrs B made the purple dress Black Apple Doll as a prototype with the sewing machine and a red head doll for little VEs first birthday.
A red head for a red head – makes her daddy so proud!
kutest kimono
How adorable is this?
Lisa’s version of The Long Thread kimono. Lis also took to making her own fabric buttons which totally finish off this top.
VE is a styling little one in this red and pink number!
sock monkey
Mrs B had a go at creating a sock monkey. She hasn’t used a sewing machine for ages so she made this all with handsewing.
Little Red turned out beautifully…
beautiful kimonos for kids
Since we started crafting a bunch of the Den girls have been searching the web for other crafty inspiration.
PG came across this piece of gold on the Long Thread and oh my – its given us a bunch of projects to get on with.
We started sewing these gorgeous kimonos which were so easy to make and look amazing. This is little IW with a kimono I made for her first birthday.
You can find the pattern on The Long Thread
I’m going to try and modify the pattern for myself as well – gotta love free tutorials!
