My fave dress, no pattern required. A different look!

Do you remember when I posted the My fave dress, no pattern required a while ago?

It sits at number 2 on the most viewed posts that I have done on this blog.

I wanted to show you a dress that I made & wore on the weekend.

I used the same pattern with a few slight changes.

I live this dress! I received so many compliments & quite a few, “Can you make me one?”

The above photo is the same dress but shown with 2 different coloured accessories.

I put the call out on the Sew, cook, laugh & live Facebook page to help me decide which look was better. I had to go to engagement party & then a Good Charlotte rock concert. This dress suited both occasions better than I expected!

I just made it a little more slim fitting than the original My fave dress, no pattern required

And I made it shorter so that it sits just above my knees. It has 2 layers, one of chocolate brown broderie anglaise & a layer of plain brown cotton fabric under so that it is not see-through & the lace doesn’t get uncomfortable.

I did add some little straps just a couple of hours before I wore it. I thought it would be a safer option for the rock concert & I was right! There was a lot of dancing & arms waving so I was very thankful for the straps by the end of the night.

This dress took well under 1 hour to make. If you didn’t need to have a second layer of fabric, you could make this dress in 30 minutes.

I have never worn a brown dress before, hence why I asked for help with choosing accessories! I am now in love with chocolate brown! I ended up wearing the silver accessories & I personally think it looked fabulous!

The basic “no pattern” for My fave dress, can be tweaked in so many different ways for so many different looks & I will share those with you through out this long hot Australian summer. I think that I am going to have one of these in every colour of the rainbow! It is such a light, comfy dress & it is

My fave dress.

This dress would suit any occasion, I even did an engagement party & rock concert in the one day! If it can be worn to both of those events, it can be worn anywhere!

You can wear this type of dress at any time of the year..

throw on a light cropped cardigan in the autumn months…

A denim jacket & boots in winter…

a nice crochet shawl in spring..

& just with a few pop of colour accessories in summer!!

A whole new world!

I have been a follower of a fantastic blog called Beach Vintage for a very long time.

The use of fabrics that are shown on this blog are amazing!

Everything that I am trying to achieve in my home, although the whole Paris theme is slowly being added to my Beach Vintage look!

I love the fact that they live on the other side of our beautiful city. We are all from the same great sunny place!

Now these 2 lovely ladies, Simone & Jody, have had a small boutique online shop for quite a while but now they have a new look store with so many new products & fabulous fabrics!

They stock everything from

designer fabric

ribbons

An amazing range of oilcloth

They even offer a service where you can choose the fabric for your new cushions & have them made for you!

Why not pop over & say hi to Jody & Simone & let them know that you heard about them here!

Ruffled Christmas onesie!

How cute is this ruffled Christmas onesie???

Too cute if you ask me!

I had some of this gorgeous  Christmas Candy fabric left over from the No pattern required festive apron tutorial that I did a couple of weeks ago. The fabric was from my fave online fabric shop, Wrapped in Fabric

This gorgeous little onesie was very quick & easy to make.

All you need is a store brought onesie & 3 x 5cm strips of fabric.

The length of the strips depends on how ruffled you want the onesie to be.

(bad picture, I know!)

To start with, I used the rolled hem setting on my overlocker to neaten & finish off all the edges of the strips of fabric.

I then placed the longest strip down the front of the onesie & folded & pined to form the folded ruffles.

I then used a zig zag stitch down the middle to secure it to the front of the onesie.

Then I attached one ruffle to the bottom of the back of the onesie.

I then sewed a straight stich along the bottom. When that was attached, I then folded it down & pinned the sewed so it sat perfectly like a ruffle should!

I then pinned the next ruffle on top of the first one like this.

And there you have it, one very cute Ruffled Christmas onesie for someone's very first Christmas!

Sunday stumble upon!!

If you are or know of an owl fan, then this is for you (or them!).

I stumbled across this fantastic page where you can create your own 2012 owl themed calendar!

AND IT IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD!!!!

My Owl Barn

You choose the picture for each month.

(this is just a couple to choose from)

I have just printed a 2012 calendar for Georgia’s Hoot Hoot bedroom & I am going to make a desk calendar.

This would make a perfect Christmas gift!!

Festive Friday, stocking stuffers

These paperclip bookmarks are such a cute little stocking stuffer!

They are quick & easy to make & would be perfect for anyone who loves to get lost in a good book or who goes crazy over cute stationary.

A while back I did a blog on how to make fabric covered buttons

All you have to do to make these too cute bookmarks is make a button with the fabric of your choice.

Make sure to use self covered buttons that have a shank on the back.

Thread a large or jumbo paper clip through the shank, use a little hot glue & there you have it!

To make them that little bit more special, cut a square of pretty paper. Cut 2 slits that are large enough for the paperclips to pass through & there you have it!

Georgia watched me make a couple of these & made quite a few for her friends so they are also perfect for those end of year gifts that girls love to pass out to their friends when they hand out Christmas cards. They are a little nicer than just giving a candy cane!

Don't forget to head over to Wrapped in Fabric for all your fabric needs!

If you find some already made fabric covered buttons, then this could be an even quicker little project!

In the lead up to Christmas, I am going to be doing a lot more handmade gift ideas. If there is something in particular that you would like to learn how to make, please feel free to contact me & I will do my best to help you out!

Have a Fantastic Friday!

Over the shoulder ruffled bag. No pattern required.

Ok, so I am going to let you know right from the start, I hate zips!

I am not an expert in zips & I will never claim to be! I did somehow fudge my way through it & made a shoulder bag with a zip!

Woo hoo for me!

The thing is, I really don’t know how I did it or even if I did it right but it is in & working fine!

(I apologise now for the out of focus photo’s! I used my phone to take the pics as the batteries were flat for my camera! Lesson learnt!)

Isn’t the fabric just stunning?? It is

Trick or Treat Damask black by Riley Blake

You can buy it from

I only used one fat quarter, some strapping, a zipper & 2 self covered buttons for this bag.

I just cut the fabric in to halves. One half I used for the main bag (cut it into halves again) & the other half was cut into 4 x 5cm wide strips for the ruffles. With the left over scraps, I covered 2 self covered buttons.

I then sewed the zipper to the 2 squares of the main bag.

Then used the rolled hem on the overlocker to edge the ruffles & then gathered them. I sewed them on to one side of the bag, one at a time.

I then turned the bag inside out & sewed up the edges. Make sure to leave the zip half open so you can turn it back in the right way.

I tapered the sides in towards the top just to give it that something special.

I then attached the strapping to either side. I made it quite long so that I can wear it across my body.

I then put 2 covered buttons over the top of the strapping where I attached it to the bag.

This would be the perfect bag to wear to the markets (working or shopping)!

I am going to wear it to a concert on the weekend so I have both of my hands free to dance! LOL!!

I think that now I can put in a zip (cough, giggle!) I might want to make one of these bags in every colour!

Here are some other colour options

 

 

Don’t forget that Wrapped in Fabric, has more than just fabric!

They also stock a wide range of patterns, trims & sewing accessories.

(once again I apoligise for the out of focus photo's but I really wanted to share this project with you all. I guess it just shows that we all have good & bad days!)

Fantastic felt owls Christmas ornaments, free pattern

So what started as a post about a too cute owl Christmas ornament,

quickly turned into a owl bag tag!

Miss Georgia, who is a Daddy’s little girl, manage to sweet talk him into a new Smiggle backpack for school when we went shopping the other day! She just batts her eyelids at him & says, “Puh……leeeeeaaasssse Daddy” & she gets him every time!

So, what to do but make her a new bag tag at 8pm on a Sunday night! This was a bit of a rush job & I am going to make a few more that are a little “neater”.

I had pinned this pic on Sew, cook, laugh & Live Pinterest

It is a simple & easy little felt owl with a downloadable free pattern. This could be a cute little ornament to make for the

Sew, cook, laugh & live 2011 Ornament Chain

You don’t even need a sewing machine for this little owl!

Why not make a whole family of these little fella’s!!

Chalkboard bucket labels

Some of you may remember the Pink ribbon day cake pops that I made.

I want to show you how easy it is to make the chalkboard label for these cute little tins.

I brought the little tin buckets from a cheap dollar store.

Use some masking tape to make the shape that you want for the label

Paint the inside area with blackboard paint & allow to dry.

remove the masking tape.

The uses for these little buckets are endless!

I think they are perfect for holding cake pops. Just put some floral foam in the bottom & stick the cake pop sticks in.

I think that I could find a use for 100's of this little buckets in my house!