KCW day 3 - The Julia Sweater and go to leggings

for day 3 I made the Julia sweater and the Go to leggings ( a staple ) . Why a long sleeve top. First of all this pattern was just released a few weeks ago by Marte from Compagnie-M and I just love her style. Other patterns I have sewn from Marte is The Mara dress/blouse and also my version of The Louisa . Second - we spend a lot of time at the pool late afternoon and when the kids are done they are almost turning completely blue so this is the perfect outfit for after swim!

 I added cording in the front and used the same method I use for Bella's Twizzler dress....

the things that immediately attracted me to this sweater was the buttons on the shoulder as well as the tunnel pocket...

I used some turquoise leather to mount my name tag to the back

  All of the fabrics are from JoAnn's

 just look at those cute pockets

I will add some pictures of my girl in her new outfit as soon as I can.

for Today I had the Berkshire blazer planned but I am so excited to sew up some Natty Janes that I am going to do that first and see what time is left for the blazer - it might just have to wait for tomorrow. 

KCW Day 2 - The Soleil dress

On Tuesday I  sewed the
Soleil dress from Selvage designs. If you have a girl GET.IT.

Get the pattern HERE

LOVE.IT. Will sew up a few for Bella. It is the prefect summer dress for any occasion and I sure love a knit fabric pattern. I bought this fabric from

Girl Charlee a while back so I don't know if they have it anymore.... ( I checked ,they don't:(  )

I am hoping to cut and sew the Julia Sweater from Compagnie M for Day 3.....

KCW Spring 2014 Day 1

It is Kids Clothes week Spring 2014 ( the idea is that you sew kids clothes at least 1 hour each day for 7 days) 

Day 1 I got up early and finished my Madeline Dress from the fabulous Jess at the Sewing rabbit ( me sew crazy Blog)  I shoretened it to a  Tunic for an Easter outfit for Bella. I am planning to sew up some go-to-leggings and a blazer with it for my Signature look for Project Run and Play. I used some shantung for the bodice , cotton for the dress part as well as a beautiful flower net fabric I got from JoAnns a while ago.

I got up early Monday morning to finish it and I sure  am glad I did . I ended up getting a stomach bug and was out till day 2.

see you at Day 2

Week 3 Project Run and Play - design your own fabric...

Its week 3 over at Project Run and Play and its "Design your own fabric" week. 

I am ALWAYS having a lot of fun with Project Run and Play but this challenge was SUPER fun.

 Arthur has a certain style and I love that about him. Not only that but he LOVES it if I sew for him. He asked me the other day if I can teach him to sew and you know what - I am going to buy a sewing machine for my boy and teach him and let him be creative.

Taking pictures with him is also a LOT easier than with a 3 year old. We got up early Saturday morning while dad and sister is still asleep and headed on over to the basketball courts to get some pictures. That is our special time together - weekends early in the morning while the other 2 are still sleeping....

He Loves his skateboard and so the clothes I sew for him needs to be comfy enough for skateboarding.

He is such a thinker

Showing me his Yoga pose

The Pants:

I used the Small Fry Skinny Jeans Pattern and if you are looking for a great jeans pattern this is your pattern. It wasn't a fast sew but it is a great quality pattern that produces some pretty adorable pants. I chose to make Capri's so he has some protection over his knees but not too long if it is hot. I added a slanted inlay at the bottom of the pants to show off the design of the fabric. orange zipper and made an orange belt and diamond detail on the back pocket.

Design of the fabric. I used a black and white Painty marker and drew lines a quarter of an inch apart over all of the fabric before cutting the pattern pieces. It ended up not too bad at all and I managed to line up the lines on most places. the lines runs horizontally across the pants but I made the bottom inlay so it runs diagonally and the seam where the two pieces join also runs diagonally.

The Shirt:

I made a recessed sleeve shirt with a button placket and a black pocket. For the sleeves I used my serger to make decorative serger stitching on top over the seam with orange thread.

 I took a picture of him on the skateboard and created a silhouette on Photoshop elements

I then cut out the silhouette on freezer paper and ironed him to the front panel of the shirt and sprayed around him with Tulip fabric paint. The back panel was just sprayed with the white paint. It came out pretty cool.

The Slouchy Beanie,

I used the GRAHAM Hat Pattern to knit this beanie. Great easy pattern that I definetely will be doing for him and me. 

I kid you not as I am lying down on my belly taking pictures he comes and sits right in front of me and this is what he says......

I appreciate and love this boy ,

Till next time

If you want to keep up with my sewing and crafty adventures, sneak peeks and sewalongs I participate in you can follow me on my FACEBOOK page. 

Lake Tahoe Outfit

It's all ready time for Week 2 over at Project Run and Play and its "the Spring Break" Challenge...
Favorite vacation spot or dream spot...... mmmmm there is so many to choose from. Growing up in South Africa we are definitely beach people.. South Africa is blessed with miles and miles of beautiful coast line. When we moved to Iowa 9 years ago we were sooooo far from any coast and thought we would miss the beach terribly and yes in the beginning we did but then we started going to Brainerd lake and started to fall in love with the lakes of the Mid-West. When we moved to Upstate NY we were fortunate enough to enjoy Lake Placid and last year after we moved to the Bay area we visited Lake Tahoe for the first time. I did not expect the beauty of it. The water is Beautiful, the trees are beautiful and it is so peaceful..... There is just something about sitting next to the lake with a glass of wine and enjoying the beauty and Peace of Nature.My son goes to a Christian School and we only have Spring break at the end of April to celebrate Easter . After taking pictures of Bella I was about ready to get in the car and go on vacation:)There was no question about what I would use as inspiration and hence the Lake Tahoe outfit was born....

I tried my best to capture the natural beauty of the blues and greens as well as the browns of the rocks and beach.....

The blues and greens are all Kona cottons. The brown that I used for the pants is Robert Kaufman Chambray Stretch Linen Cocoa from Pink Chalk fabrics .

for the dress I just used a basic a- line dress which I color blocked with all the shades of green and blues. I added half circles of blues on the bottom to mimic the waves of the lake. I added half circle pockets with the cocoa linen to resemble the beautiful rocks around the lake. The buttons I used on the back of the dress as well as the headband is all natural buttons in wood.

I Loooove how the pants came out. I used a legging pattern that I widened around the bottom and added a faux side seam. It has a nice stretch to it. I found turquoise wide soft elastic at our local JoAnns that I used as a waistband. I used three different shades of turquoise thread to make waves on the back pockets of the pants.

always so silly....

 I wanted to take pictures at the Lafayette reservoir but we have had a rainy week so Isabella was happy helping me draw a lake on some paper to add to the wall!

I made an infinity scarf with some blue and white tie dye knit from girl charlee that is super soft and comfy to keep her neck warm on chilly spring mornings.

the headband is made of foldover elastic with a circle a flower and a button.

 next week is design your own fabric and I am excited to share my outfit with you. It's one for Arthur and so far he has been very excited about it...

Cockadoodledoo.....Project run and Play week 1

wow it is Season 9 already over at Project Run and Play and my 3rd time I am joining in on the fun. Last season was the first time I sewed all 4 weeks and I am hoping to do it again. So for week 1 the challenge is called "put me in the Zoo" You sew an outfit inspired by you or your child's favorite animal.....

Why a Chicken you might ask ?We are animal people so there is lots of favorites. Then I did the risky thing and decided to ask Isabella - I also decided that no matter what animal she picks I was going to stick with it and so the the chicken outfit was born. After she uttered the word the first thing i see is a beautiful white and red dress and a couple minutes later more than one stain all over it so I started to plan around a brown chicken.

My choice of fabrics for the top was from my Shwe Shwe fabric stash which is greatly depleted. I am glad my mom and dad is coming to visit soon. I chose brown for the bodice and red for the sleeves. You can see the brown has yellow diamonds on that reminds my of chicken beaks. The brown between the bodice and sleeves is the same brown just the wrong side.(The wrong side of Shwe Shwe is just as beautiful it has the official shwe shwe stamp on it that says it is made in South Africa and you will see it later on the sleeves) 

THE SHIRT:The sleeves are made of the wrong side of the red Shwe Shwe and resembles the red comb of a chicken. 

I used a basic a-line dress pattern to draft a new pattern to look like above.The front was gathered before I added the top panel and the back is gathered by adding 4 pieces of elastic. That way I dont have to add buttons and it goes easily over her head. The bodice is wide to resemble the round body of the chicken.

THE PANTS:   Yellow knit leggings to resemble skinny legs of chickens. I added "beak" pockets 

( I made squares turned them in the shape of a diamond and folded over the top corner) on the side of the pants.

these beak pockets is kinda my favorite. I love how they turned out and Bella loves to carry her rocks and acorns around in it.

We went over to Old Borges Ranch here in Walnut Creek to see if we can find some chickens and we sure did. There was nobody else there and we could go in and have them all to ourselves. Bella was stoked.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of Bella in her chicken outfit. 

This is my favorite picture.....