Baby Summer Dress Crochet Cotton and Fabric – Brief How to

So pleased with how this turned out. Considering I had just a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look. I scoured the web for a free crochet pattern for the yoke of the dress as I wasn’t prepared to wing this bit. Plus, it’s been a while since I had a 11 month old to judge the size.

You can go HERE for the crochet part. The rest of the dress I did wing. The skirt part measures 10.5″ incase that’s helpful in sizing. Chest/Waist is 19-20″. This is to fit a 9-12 Month baby. (They also provide instructions for 18 months and 2 years.) However, I just used a length of fabric that I had already. This worked out to just enough to create a few pleats to give the fullness to the skirt. Basically you just have to hem and sew on a panel to the bottom of the crocheted bodice. This could be large pleats like mine or small pin tucks. Depending on what look you wanted. Just measure them as you go around and pin them into place. I recommend a deep hem on the skirt as these press better to create a nice pleated finish when ironed.

I finished it with coordinating ribbon and buttons. The little heart pocket on the skirt is also part of the free crochet pattern. I just threaded a bit of ribbon through the holes and secured it with sewing thread. Always remember to seal off the ends of your ribbon when using it like this tho. You don’t want it ruined with one wash. I used poppers on the back as a fastening, but you could probably utilize the natural holes in the crochet to use small buttons. Just test the buttons first by pushing them through.

You will need 4mm crochet hook and Lightweight cotton DK yarn. Also, at least 150% of the width of the bodice in fabric length to make the skirt. Preferably 200%. Matching sewing thread of course, and at least 3 snaps or buttons for fastening. Everything else is really optional. Just use your imagination! =D

Front

Pocket Detail

Back

Skylanders Chompy Chompie Free Crochet Pattern

Crochet your own Chompies!

So my son is obsessed with Skylanders! But you can’t find any patterns for anything related to this game. So I decided to try to crochet him a Chompy, the small critter that features in the game. So, forgive me if this pattern is not 100% accurate as this is my first toy crochet pattern. The single crochets refer to the US version. If you have any problems with the instructions, please leave a comment or contact me and I’ll fix it/advise you. The teeth and fingers are just cut out from felt and sewn in. The eyes are just embroidered with a satin stitched.

Have fun with this little guy, it didn’t take too long to wip up, and uses less than half a ball of green dk yarn (100g), so leftovers would probably work.

He stands at 8″ high, including his eyes.

Each new line depicts a new row or round.

sc = single crochet
sc2tog = Single crochet 2 stitches together
ch = chain
sc2 in nxt = Increase
dcr = decrease
PATTERN

Skylanders Chompy

3.5 hook Hayfield Bonus DK yarn Shade 0886 100g Ball
Yarn colours needed Green, Red and Black.
Small felt pieces in green and white.

Hands Make 2
Ch16, sc into 1st chain to make a circle (now work in rounds)
sc round x2 (16 sts)
*sc2tog, sc2, *repeat to end (12sts)
sc round
sc2tog, sc2, repeat to end (9sts)
sc round x2
tie off
Flatten and sew in felt fingers using the picture as a guide.
Stuff and set aside

——–
Feet Make 2

Magic circle 6 sts
2 sc in next each st. (12 sts)
*1sc, 2 sc in next st, *repeat to end (18sts)
sc2tog, sc 1, sc2tog, sc 1, sc2tog, sc 10.(15 sts)
sc 15. rows x4
*sc2tog, sc 3. *repeat x2. (12sts)
sc2tog, sc2, repeat x3 (9sts)
2sc in every st to end of row (18 sts)
*sc 1, 2sc in next st, *repeat to end (27 sts)
sc row
tie off 1st but not second.
Stuff and set aside

Recycle t-shirt into a dinosaur costume for kids using felt, super easy!

Dinosaur costume from a t-shirt

This is an on going project so I’ll be posting as I’m going. Excuse the photos there hasn’t been much good light and I’m posting using my iPod touch. I’ll add more pictures and descriptions of my progress. To be quite honest there is no ‘plan’ per-say. But it’s for my sons birthday party at the weekend.
Reusing t-shirts that are going to be outgrown soon us an ideal way to get a costume started. This one is more of a vest as it has no sleeves, but any type would do!

Now I’ve started to add the spines , which are actually different sized ‘house’ shapes. And are stuffed with toy filler. As they are sewn so the bottoms are opened up, it pulls in the sides of the ‘house’ shapes and gives more of a stegosaurus shape.

Black Swan Theme Hair Band Accessory – Using Vintage Buttons, Beads, Felt and Embroidery

Sooo pleased with this!

Alice Band Black Swan

A little project just for me. I just couldn’t resist making myself this cute head band. The swan itself was drawn by myself, transferred onto felt and embellished with a lace ‘half’ yo-yo’, then decorated with seed beads. Other decorations I added were some little vintage black buttons, bugle beads and faceted glass beads. For the eye I used a vintage green Mother of Pearl button with a fish eye design. I embroidered a simple trellis on the chest too.

I’m so pleased with this, I’m going to make a few more animal designs. Next I want to try an octopus, I think this will look great too in those white and dirty vintage creams and off pinks. *squeals* can’t wait!

Oh, and to top it off.. I’m going to the NEC in Birmingham to the Sewing for Pleasure Craft Event at the end of March! Will be buying loads of fabric goodies and crafting essentials.

Let me know what you think of my head band below! Happy Crafting. =]

Black Swan

Front view

Fondant cake design – jewellery box

You can’t argue with cake

Jewellery Box Cake

I can’t let a birthday pass without having a bit of cake! I really treasure my Aunt so I thought I’d try something I hadn’t done before and just go with it. She loves a vintage look and feel, so I tried to get that feel. It didn’t turn out as I imagined, or aimed for as I’m not an overly experienced cake decorator. But I was happy with the end result non-the-less. But needless to say, it went down a treat, as it was filled with high quality chocolate butter cream with a vanilla sponge.

To get a box and lid look, you need to use two cake boards. As my cake was 6″ in diameter the ‘lid’ needed to have a matching size of 6″. The one that holds the whole cake should be at least 1″ bigger than the cake so it’s easy to carry. ‘Glue’ the cake to the base with a touch of frosting and cover it all in your fondant base, board and all so it’s hidden.

Pre mix your colours and wash your hands really well as that dye gets everywhere if you’re not careful! You can use a pair of latex gloves if you have some. Let your coloured fondant cool back down as it will stick to your roller if it’s too warm. But don’t let it dry out, cover it with a cup or wrap it in foil. Don’t try to refrigerate it to be quick as this will only make your fondant go horrible! Just be patient, it doesn’t take long to go back to temperature on a cool surface like a chopping board.

I use gel food colouring to dye my fondant. I have only ever used supermarket fondant as I find it perfectly fine to use and it tastes good as well. To get the paisley look I used my round pastry cutters with the fluted edge usually used for mince pies and tarts. I dotted holes around the edge of the shapes to give it some detail and brushed it with gold shimmer dust.

To get a satin inlay inside the box just roll out a sheet of coloured fondant. I folded mine inside to get a luxury feel of fabric, dust with a white shimmer to give it luster. Of course, to make it look like a jewellery box, you need jewellery draping out of the box. I used some strung pearls that you can buy per meter, you only need one meter. I also used some nice sheer ribbon too. Get them to stay put by putting the cut ends between layers of fondant.

Click to enlarge

A tip I like to share when trying to transport your tasty treats, especially ones you’ve worked so hard on! When you only have a container that is just about big enough. Use a triple folded piece of baking paper underneath as pictured – that will go above the sides of your cake to retrieve your cake once inside the tin. Or else you’ll never get it out in one piece!

Happy baking everyone!

Yarning around! – knitted toy dinosaur

Knitted Gifts for Kids

Smile!

I made this dinosaur from a magazine pattern, I forget which one, in September. It’s taken me a while to post on here as I’ve had a few distractions keeping me away. The magazine also features another dinosaur and can be knitted in any colours you like, even girly pinks and purples. My dear son loves this dino, and takes it to bed with him!

You can buy poly stuffing quite cheaply. This was an easy pattern, however it did seem like an eternity sewing up all those ends for the back plates. But was fun and glad I gave it a go.

Remember to always be extra careful sewing up toys for toddlers as they can be quite rough and tough on your knitted gift. Use a crochet hook to pull all the loose ends into the toy and firmly into the stuffing.

If you gave this pattern a go, let me know how you got on, I’d love to see the different colours you used. I used Hayfield fantasy in the green tones with orange and yellow toy yarn for the plates and spots.

Stegosaurus - Click to enlarge

Give Your Green Parties a Vintage Vibe with This Sweet Serving Tray : Planet Green

Vintage heaven

Super idea for a recycling project. Why not raid your Nan’s kitchen cupboard for supplies for this cake stand?

Give Your Green Parties a Vintage Vibe with This Sweet Serving Tray : Planet Green

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