I've been making my girls' clothes (as well as my own!) for the past five years. I'm self taught, having learned everything I know from the vast offerings of sewing blogs, online tutorials, and the wonderful independent pattern makers. By independent, I'm referring to those other than the "Big Four" - Vogue, Simplicity, Butterick and McCalls, which are widely distributed in mass market stores such as Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, etc. These manufacturers have their own merit, of course, but for those just starting out learning to sew, the independent pattern designers often provide more explicit instructions, the sizing is more closely aligned with ready to wear sizing, and boast more unique and thoughtful style features.
One such company that piqued my interest after I felt I had gained a decent handle on the fundamentals of sewing is the French company, Citronille. I had come across the patterns and "makes," as the finished garments are often called, across the sewing blogosphere and Flickr sewing groups. The classic, tailored, innocent silhouettes immediately appealed to me, reminiscent of my favorite children's ready to wear brand, Jacadi, also a French company. Most of the patterns were written in French, and having studied the language for 8 years during my schooling, I figured I'd give them a shot. They came together relatively easily, requiring a few bouts of concentration and frustration - and some tangles with Google Translate - but nonetheless the finished garment was truly special.
Fast forward a few years, Craftree has been chosen to participate in the Sew Mama Sew Citronille challenge, partnering with Fiddlehead Artisan Supply - the charming Maine-based fabric store, carrying a host of beautiful fabrics, including my beloved Liberty of London. For those of you just learning to sew, or those curious about the possibilities, Sew Mama Sew is a fantastic resource offering a bundle of tutorials and inspiration. Participants of the challenge were provided with two patterns of their choice, one of which was to be reviewed and blogged about. Many of the patterns are beautifully translated by Fiddlehead Artisan Supply, making this brand infinitely more accessible to the home sewist. I selected the Violette pattern, drawn to the simple, clean lines that could be dressed up or down and looked comfy and easy to wear.
I also figured this would be a good opportunity to give our readers, most of whom are new to sewing, a quick overview of the process of pattern construction. It can seem like quite an intimidating process, but really, it's simply a matter of tracing and cutting out a pattern, and sewing the pieces together like a puzzle, following expert instructions.
Patterns come with a variety of sizes, nested together with different style lines demarcating each size. The Citronille pattern I chose provides sizes 2-8. I chose a size 4 based on the measurements of my 3.5 year old. I traced the pattern in my desired size, so I could keep the original pattern in tact and use it for future sizes as my daughters grow. I then cut out the tracing paper, pinned them to my fabric, and cut out each piece.
The Citronille instructions assume the user has a certain level of experience, and can thus take certain steps upon themselves - such as finishing seams and interfacing - without specific instruction to do so.
The pattern came together beautifully and very simplistically. I found myself over thinking and anticipating certain elements, when I should have just followed the instructions as written and had faith that it would all work out correctly - as is usually the case in puzzling sewing situations! Sure enough, the finished garment did not disappoint! I used a fine wale Liberty of London corduroy which provided the perfect drape and weight for chilly fall days. The pattern features an empire waist with a gathered skirt and button-up back, and is just the style for either casual school days or Sunday church!
Needless to say, Little Annie and I are both very pleased! Thanks to Sew Mama Sew and Fiddlehead Artisan Supply for this wonderful opportunity! Keep an eye out for my name in your orders inbox and save me some Liberty!!
Hop on over to these other fantastic blogs to see their entries to the Citronille challenge!
When Kelly was busy creating her beautiful ﻿"Dresses on the Line"﻿ post it occurred to me, wouldn't it be interesting to create a bunting with princess dresses. In my house we are all familiar with the fairytale princesses and so I was inspired to make a design that would make an adorable hanging for a bedroom. After completing this, I soon realized the pattern could be used for a number of themes--12 Dancing Princesses perhaps? Maybe even Storybook characters like Little Bo Peep and the like. The pattern is very versatile and is used for every dress. See below for my easy tutorial and the finished project, hanging!
Print out all dress patterns. (Note: All the dresses are the same pattern except for a few details that make the princesses unique. I drew them individually only for clarification). Cut out your first dress from the pattern and trace onto a piece of felt. Start with whatever princess you like. I looked online at various princesses to determine colors and accents. To trace, I used a pen typically used in sewing to mark patterns. It disappears after some time, however you can use a pencil as long as you cut away the lines.
Although there may be different colors of felt you use for the top and the bottom of the dress, cut out the entire dress form in one color. Then you can glue different felt colors on top of it. In order to make things easier, trace the entire dress first and then you can cut the details out of the paper pattern as shown below. I cut these from the same pattern piece shown above. If you make a mistake, just print again!
After you have cut out all your felt parts, glue them together. You can use the same colors I did, or just make up your own combinations. Add gems, flowers, pearls as you wish to embellish each dress. You can also make the dresses glittery by using the fabric glitter. Just follow the instructions on the brand you choose.
Measure out 57" of ric rac or ribbon of your choice for 6 dresses and glue each dress onto it. You should lay out on a table before you glue down to make sure that each dress is evenly spaced.
Jennifer and I are always on the hunt for new projects to occupy our time - usually late into the night after the kids are asleep! A good portion of our inspiration comes from the wealth of books available to the home crafter. One of my favorites is blogger and author Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy. I've made many of her delightfully charming softies for myself - I mean, my kids - and they currently adorn a prominent shelf in my living room bringing handmade beauty and whimsy to our everyday.
Jennifer recently mentioned that Alicia had a project featured in an adorable book titled Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals. Of course, I was all over it. The project consisted of a simple dress pattern that is meant to be decorated, lightly stuffed, and strung up as a garland. We love our garlands - and our dresses - so this was right up my alley. Fortunately I had all the materials laying around and quickly set to work.
Originally I had planned on adapting the project to be easier for children in the thought that we could offer something similar as part of our workshops. However, once my creative wheels started spinning I just couldn't hold back from going full throttle - hand twisted wire hangers, stuffing & embroidering and all! This would be a fantastic project to do with your children, and is one that would be conducive to both more elaborate craftsmanship as well as simple and sweet children's handiwork. I'd recommend picking up this book for some great inspiration of softies you can make at home with your kids - sewing machine not required, and most are completed with a few very basic hand stitches.
I needed a way to display my dresses and am a big fan of bringing nature into the home in any way possible. I had found this twisty stick on the beach on our recent trip to Cape Cod and lugged it all the way home - much to my husband's bewilderment. I knew it would find its calling! A quick coat of metallic champagne spray paint and it was ready to go. I twisted the hangers out of the recommended 20 gauge wire and made them varying lengths to properly space out the dresses.
Confession: This dress silhouette happened to resemble one of my most favorite children's sewing patterns - and the one that I recently used to make my daughters' flower girl dresses for my brother's wedding. Naturally, I felt compelled to make a matching mini dress for my display, complete with the same hand beading on the matching Peter Pan collar!
For the child friendly option, I simply cut one layer of the dress instead of two and provided a bunch of trimming options for my daughter to choose from while decorating her dress. We didn't hand sew anything, but rather glued, and we were both very pleased with the end result! I ran a quick thread through the top and secured to her wall with some washi tape. Sweet and simple! And those little fairies hanging from the embroidery hoop on the left? One of our projects for our upcoming July 30th Open Craft hours! Hope to see you there!
If desired, begin by painting the letter the color of your choice. We like white because many fabrics have a white ground color. So, if the kids miss a spot here or there with their fabric scraps you won't really notice it. Otherwise you will see the cardboard or raw wood color showing through those areas. For our ""W" we didn't paint it first but for the others we did.
Next, dip your paintbrush into the Modge Podge and paint onto your letter. No need to be neat here. You can glop it on a little. Then, place your fabric pieces on top and paint another layer of the Modge Podge over the fabric piece. Again, no need to be super careful here but make sure to help the little ones brush away some of the excess or it will take a long time to dry.
Cover the entire letter with the fabric pieces and let dry. If you want, you can also cover the sides as we did with the "W" but you don't need to. This is where the painting comes in handy. If you don't cover the sides, the painting will give it more of a finished look.
Once the letter is dry you may need to trim some of the hardened pieces of fabric along the edges that didn't get glued down.
If you want, you can glue a piece of ribbon on the back so that the letter can be hung on the wall, but many can just be freestanding.
Oh one last thing--make sure you put down some newspaper or plastic. It can get a little messy!
Interested? You can learn more and sign up here!
After months of seemingly endless brainstorming, designing, and good old fashioned elbow grease, our Huntington Village studio is finally open for business! We kicked off our summer season with an open house to welcome our friends, families, and fellow crafters to see our new space, talk summer class schedule and get their craft on. We offered a selection of crafts and nearly all of the children stayed to complete a multitude of projects.
One of the key takeaways for us was watching the boys focused and engaged on the tasks at hand...deliberating about how to put their personal stamp on their projects, and choosing their materials and colors ever so carefully. Moms were proud and impressed that their sons had taken to the crafts so quickly and completely and happily chatted away with each other while the kids got down with glue, tissue paper, markers and origami papers.
Other rewarding moments surfaced while seeing the crafters' interpretation of our project intentions. Many of the children put their own spin on the projects, mixing and matching materials from the various stations and following their own vision instead of ours. We are always so thrilled to see imaginations at work!
Our initial summer schedule is out...have a look and check back often as we'll be adding more classes shortly.
WHAT IS YOUR EASTER NAME?
For those of you who couldn't make our Spring event at the Book Revue, we would like to share one of the games we played. The kids loved it and it is a great little game to get the Easter activities going at your dinner table.
To determine your Easter name, just ask your guests their birthday month and day and assign the corresponding name below to it. For example if your birthday is April 10, your Easter name is HIPPITY CHICK. It is that easy! Everyone will get a kick out of it, guaranteed.