If you’ve made undies or a cami before, you may have used fold over elastic (FOE) to finish edges. It’s a great little notion that helps finish but also stretch seams require stretching. But they can be a bit fiddly to put together, right? Keep reading, I found a fool-proof way to sew with fold over elastic. I’ve been making my daughter’s undies since she was potty trained. And up until now, I have used fabric bands for the leg openings and turn over elastic at the waistband. But … I have a lot of my sewing plate and I was trying to get through them a bit faster so went the FOE route. What i ..read more

Ever have a need to make something but you can’t quite convince yourself that now is the right time because you think it’s too difficult? Or you don’t know where to buy supplies? That’s how I have felt about making myself a backpack. I’ll be sharing some tips and tricks I used, some not so great moments sewing with leather and how I over came them, as well as links to buy supplies from. Contents Pattern Supplies Fabric Sewing with Leather Finishings Modifications Conclusion Pattern Being on the lookout for the right pattern was tough – I had my own version of the goldilocks pattern – not t ..read more

Did you know the Narwhal is called the Unicorn of the sea? We love this special looking creature in our house. I decided to make one for my friend’s daughter’s birthday dress. You can see the other dress I made for her last year here. What’s a Narwhal? If you have never heard of a narwhal, it is a type of whale, a mammal and carnivore. The male narwhals have the unicorn looking tusks that are spiral in nature; and can grow up to 10 ft! Research indicates the tusk is like a tooth and has sensory reception. Narwhals live in the Arctic circle and do not migrate like other whales. They eat fish ..read more

Has your ironing board seen better days? Holes, stains, thinned out areas from over ironing? Let’s fix that pronto! Disclaimer, updating my own was on my to do list for about 6 months so … you know, don’t procrastinate like me. It literally takes just a couple hours to do. What You’ll Need Your existing ironing board cover Fabric to replace it with (I used duck cotton) Batting, use natural fibers here anything poly will melt over time Bias binding (if not reusing from existing one) Elastic or cotton cord (if not reusing from existing one) Step 1: Take off existing cover Take off the existi ..read more

Have you ever watched a movie and thought, wow, I want that dress or outfit? Have you thought that it is too hard to figure out how to make your inspiration outfit? I’m gonna show you the steps to take your inspiration into reality and make your own! When my daughter first watched Spirit Untamed; she declared she wanted Lucky’s dress from the end of the movie, the one Lucky wears to the festival, as her birthday dress. Inspiration on left, real thing on right Step 1 – Analyze the inspiration Get a picture of your outfit that you want to recreate, and study it’s lines and features. What feature ..read more

Does your fabric have a story to tell? Most of mine do. And I remember most of them, which is a hard feat if you’re as forgetful as I am. This particular fabric started by flagging me down in the $3.95/yard jumbled mess in G-Street Fabrics, back in 2012. It told me to take it home and make a dress out of it. It told me take it all. I took all 5 yards. With a wedding to attend in the coming months, I was determined to make my first dress that was good enough for a wedding party. My sparkly teal fabric said to pick it as part of the dress. This was my first time working with a pattern alone, and ..read more

Preschool backpack still used for 1st grade?! It worked for a while but as soon as they were assigned laptops to bring home, I knew Lilli needed an upgrade. After a good deal of scouring for patterns, I found the right one for her needs. I’ll show you how I made it and what changes I made, including painting a galaxy. Keep reading! The Pattern I searched and searched for a kids backpack with a side Accessories water bottle pocket and a laptop sleeve. And after multiple days (this is how I research anything) I found the Flosstyle Bazinga Backpack. It’s got: A contoured design on the front. Lin ..read more

We’ve done the woven patterns with knit fabrics (Ballad Blouse here) but what about the other way around – knit pattern, woven fabric? I did just that with the Love Notions Olympia Dress. Keep reading to find out how! The Pattern The Olympia Dress is a great knit dress with a shawl collar bodice. It has five sleeve lengths: sleeveless, short, elbow, 3/4 and long as well as two skirt lengths: knee and maxi. This dress would look great for going into work – whenever that happens again. But also great for those Zoom conference calls. It’s on sale today only for $5, yes, even during the sale (whi ..read more

Need a sun dress for warmer weather? Want to make a matching mommy and me summer dress? Look no further. Love Notions has you covered with the Tempo Sundress for women and newly released girls! Women’s Tempo I was part of the test last year for the adults version and made this purple dress, which I hacked to add sleeves here. I have worn this every opportunity I got! This year, I decided to take apart my Lyric Dress that didn’t get much wear and make it into a Tempo. The trouble was that I didn’t have enough fabric for the skirt. After some draping, I created a top with a deep curved hem. Som ..read more

My friend, Anshu, introduced me to Little Lizard King just about the same time my daughter asked for a wrap dress/skirt. I found just the right patterns in LLK’s vast collection! I made this outfit from an old skirt from my dancing days. Patterns I Used Byron Bay is a wrap skirt and peplum blouse, with or without ruffles, made for woven fabrics. There is another view of a gathered skirt without the wrap option. This time, I made the curved ruffle hem view. Barcelona is a swing top and dress made for woven fabrics. It comes in top, knee, and maxi lengths. Its sleeveless with straps, com ..read more