Whatever happened to that big bad wolf, anyway?

     Little Red Riding Hood used his fur to trim out her hood and make a hand muff.  That's what.

     Not too long ago Kai was complaining about how her gloves made it hard to use her hands and I got to telling her how when I was a little girl I used a hand muff to keep my hands warm a lot of times.  She didn't know what a hand muff was, so I showed her a picture and she promptly began begging me to make her one....out of fur.

I thought it'd be perfect to pair that with her previous request that I make her a Red Riding Hood cloak.

I've been participating in the Project Run and Play competition and this was an awesome opportunity to make something for their Outerwear week while scratching something off of my to-do list.

     Speaking of Project Run and play .... Wow!  There is some incredible talent in this group of ladies.  They sure do make it fun to compete.  The way this competition works is every week there is a different theme and you have to submit your project by Friday at 8 AM Eastern time.  They announced the themes and weeks on December 23rd.  However, I didn't even know this contest existed until the week it started.  I'm so glad I heard about it from a fellow crafty mama, but my house is not.  Let me tell y'all.  I've been working my fingers to the core to try to make something special in a week's time each week.  That's why that last post only contained a photograph of a dress.  1) I wasn't even done and so I didn't want to blog about it yet.  I was planning on adding a whole lot more handmade roses.  Now I'm thinking about taking some of it apart and adding more roses.  I'll blog about it all then.  2)  I was too dang exhausted to blog about that dress.  I had little sleep and needed to get started on this week's project.  

     Speaking of this week's project.  I had a really nice thing all planned out, but I knew today that I wouldn't have time to complete it.  I had already started on this cloak since Christmas, which is the requirement, and so I decided to finish it up and use it as my entry.  I couldn't be happier with it.  

     I used a cotton canvas for the red fabric.  I already had it on hand and my favorite place to shop for fabric is my own fabric room.  Faux Grey wolf fur is what I used for the lining of the hood, trim around the cloak as well as using it to make the outside and the lining of the hand muff.  

 This girl couldn't be happier, and that makes me the proudest crafty mama in the world.

 On the right side, inside,the cloak is a button for closure by looping the black ribbon on the left side of the inside of the cloak over it.

I used the same fabric to make it so that Kai could hang the muff around her neck for ease of keeping up with.

Now, time to clean my house a little bit before working on next week's project.

Superman/Batman Reversible Cape

I finished another cape today.  

I made a tutorial previously and it can be found here.

Here is a close up of the emblems.

A dress I made for Kai, from an old prom dress, but haven't finished still...

Delsin's Reversible Coat

Finally!  I got Delsin's coat completely finished.

He had asked me a long time ago to make him a coat of many colors.  Then again late summer he mentioned it and picked out the fabric.  A canvas like fabric used for upholstery.  I started thinking of what to do for the thermal layer and lining when I had the idea to use purple Alpine fleece.  I knew that would be warm enough and I knew that I could make a nice "Yellow Jacket" coat out of it while I was at it.  He'd been wanting more articles of clothing with the school mascot on it and this was the best way I knew how to fulfill as many of his wishes.

Back in October you may remember me blogging about his "Yellow Jacket Tough" jacket?

 

I wanted to enter something into this week's Project Run and Play contest, and my time has become increasingly limited as Enoch is starting to stay awake for longer periods of time, we have started selling Girl Scout cookies, and Carolina is no longer taking 2 and sometimes not even 1 nap a day.  I did start work on an outfit that I'm going to finish for him for a PRP competition in a few weeks.  Sadly, I couldn't get that one done in time for the Friday 8AM deadline.  As I was coming to that realization I remembered my original intent when I decided to participate in the PRP weekly contests.....to make things that are on my to-do list.  Finishing this coat has been one of those things for a while, so instead fretting about a whole new project finishing this one would make more sense.  And I feel really great about it.

I took the fabrics that Delsin picked out and meshed them together.  First I half assembled pattern pieces for a coat together with one fabric, then I appliqued strips of the other fabric onto that.  Neither of these fabrics had a red that I was feeling good about, so I appliqued in order to get some of my favorite red thread in there.

It worked out better than I could have imagined.

I was hoping to get it done before he went to bed last night, but just couldn't find the time to work on it.  

So he asked me to wake him up when I finished it, so that he could see it.

I didn't have a problem with that, knowing I would rather have a picture of him wearing it to enter in the contest than one of it displayed on the floor.

One of my favorite details about this coat is the buttons on the front of the Coat of Many Colors side.  

He picked those out and has wanted me to incorporate those into something for him for a long time.  

I would have done a tutorial or sew along (I don't know what you call it when you use someone else's pattern and show your own steps.), but I was so tired and trying to figure it out as I went along too.  That's some of the most exciting fashion, when you're figuring it out as you go.

He asked me to wait till he got to wear it to school and show it to everyone before I entered it into the contest.  He thought he'd have to part with it for some time.  So sweet.

I'm so glad to have the opportunities to sew for such a sweet child that loves my creations so much.  

It really warms my heart.

Deceptively Delicious - Coffee Cake

When I was a kid I tried coffee cake one time and decided I didn't like it, so when I saw the recipe in this cookbook (Deceptively Delicious) I knew that it was going to be one of the last breakfast recipes I would try.  Yesterday I was feeling a little adventurous and decided to go for it.  Kai, Carolina, and myself made it in about 2 hours.  Now it wouldn't have taken me that long if I had just done it myself, but there's something irresistible about cooking with my kids.

This recipe calls for Butternut squash puree.  I didn't have that so I used yellow squash.

One thing I noticed is that with the squash and the marshmallows I cooked this well longer than the recipe called for and my toothpick still came out with stuff on it.  I think it would have been better had I mixed the puree up with the rest of the ingredients.  Anyway, the kids ate it up.

We took it with us to my parents house to share with them, but they didn't try a bite of it.

Daniel and the kids and I ate every last bite of it.  It was good.  After Delsin's 3rd piece he declared that he didn't like it, but that didn't stop him from getting more.

I just changed my domain name

    I want to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause for those following my blog or who have saved some of my projects to your favorites. 

     When I set up this blog page it was only a way for me, personally, to keep up with all of the projects I was making.  I still would like to go back and photograph, if possible, some of the projects I've made over the last 28 years and post some of those pictures.  So this blog page was like a sort of scrapbook for me.  So the title was just what I could come up with at the time I initially set it up.  Recently I've been wishing I had a nicer title.  I like all the catchy phrases I've seen on other blogs.  I wanted something catchy too, but that included more than just sewing as I have many hobbies that I try to include in this blog.  Nothing I could think of sounded just right till I noticed the tags that I sew into everything I make for our children.  "Made By Mama With Love".  So "By Mama With Love" just seemed the natural thing to change the blog name to.  
    

John Wayne Shirt Dress Pattern and Tutorial

I got my inspiration for making this dress from a blog page called Project Run and Play.

Basically they have contests where they give you a theme and you are to come up with a clothing design and make it.  I've been watching a lot of western movies lately so when I saw this dress I immediately thought of John Wayne's signature shirt with the bib across the front and how he sometimes lets part of it flap down.

This weeks theme was the June Bug dress remix.  Inspired by this dress you make your own dress, or something else.  The pattern and tutorial for making the June Bug dress is located HERE. 

I did use 2 of the pattern pieces provided in that link, but I also made several of the pattern pieces for this dress too, so I'll be sharing all of them here. 


  MY PATTERN IS HERE!!!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mV3LDzaidZh_9Ig1SQwalLU-w4vY3fQVEArbggLnoUs/edit?hl=en_US

You will need to tape together the sleeve pattern and the instructions should be easy to follow.

The skirt is simply 2 lengths of fabric cut 14" X 23".

This is a size 18 month dress, using a 5/8" seam allowance.

  

What you'll need:

1.  A yard of fabric
2. 5 buttons
3. 3 inches of elastic thread.  (For looping around the button on the back of the dress.)
4. Thread

1.  First, after cutting out all of your pieces, you want to stay stitch your neck lines on all pieces.  That means, your bodice front, bodice sides, bodice back and bib sections. For the dress and the facing pieces. (facing pieces are the inside of the dress.  Like a liner.) This is where you just put a regular stitch about 1/2" from the edge of the neckline.  This reinforces the seam.

2.  Next you are going to place your back pieces together, right sides together, and stitch 1 1/4" from the bottom.  Your back should look like this.

3.  Now sew the bodice front and back sections together at the shoulders, like so.  You are seeing my facing sections.  You will also be doing this to both the facing and the dress bodice.

4.  On all of your seams you want to pink the fabric left over.  This is a quick and easy way to make sure that your fabric will not fray and have to deal with strings hanging off every time you wash the garment.  Going forward you want to do that.

5.  You also want to press the seams open.  This makes for a nicer looking seam in addition to being easier to manage when hemming or sewing additional pieces on.

6.  Now with right sides together you want to sew the front bodice section to each of the side bodice sections.  I wanted to have a little image behind the bib so that as it's folded down the image looks like it's peeking out.  I cut a piece of fabric that had a cupcake with a heart on top of it to fit this section.  You might would rather applique something on a piece of fabric.  If so, do that before this step.

7.  Now,place your dress bodice and dress facing pieces together making sure to match up shoulder seams, front seams and side edges.  Pin in place then stitch around the neckline and the slit in the back of the bodice.

8.  Now you need to fold under the bottom of the facing sections, front and back and press.  Here you can see I stitched it into place using a 1/2" hem by folding the fabric over two times 1/4" a piece.  That is more work than I should have done.  Just fold the fabric under about 1/2" and press.

9.  Gathering the skirt:  Mark the center of your skirt piece and mark the center of the front bodice.  The back bodice center is of course where your seam is.  Now you want to baste the top of the skirt.  That means you are simply going to set your stitch on the longest setting and 1/2" from the edge of the fabric (at the top of the skirt) all the way down the length of the fabric. Then, with right sides together, pin the center of the skirt to the center of the bodice.  Pin the sides of the skirt to the sides of the bodice.  Now use your basting stitch to gather the extra fabric along until it fits within the parameters of the bodice and pin all of that into place.  Next, stitch.  If you are a new sewer you want to make sure to remove your pins as you are going or you are likely to break a needle, or bend your straight pins.
The back of the front of your garment should now look like this:

10.  Now lay your facing down so that the folded edge lays on top of the gathered edge of the skirt and pin it into place.  You want to put your pins on the top side of your garment because you will be stitching from that side.  Here is what it will look like when you are done, from the right side and the wrong side.

11.  Let's move over to the sleeve section.  First thing you need to do is hem the bottom of the sleeve.  I folded my fabric over 1/4" twice and stitched.

12.  Mark the center of the top of your sleeve.  Now to gather the sleeves you are going to put a baste stitch going around the top of the sleeve, from one dot to the other.  Pin the center of the top of the sleeve to the shoulder seam, right sides together.  Pin the sides of the top of the sleeve to the sides of the shoulder until you get to the dots.  Then draw the basting stitch up to make the sleeve fit the shoulder and pin it into place before stitching it all around.  When you are done it should look like this:

13.  Now with right sides together, fold the sleeve in half and stitch down the length of the sleeve and the garment.  Like this:

14.  Now hem the bottom of the dress 1 1/4".  First fold the fabric under 1/4" then 1 inch and stitch.

15.  Now for the bib section:  Put the bib pieces, right sides together and stitch all the way around leaving a gap large enough to turn the bib right side out at the bottom of the bib.  Once you get it turned right side out fold the gap in and stitch.

16.  In the above photo you can see that I have placed the bib on the front of the dress matching the centers of the bib to the center of the front of the dress.  Pin the bottom of the bib in place and stitch through all the gathers in that section.  You are stitching over the stitching you just did when you sewed the gap shut.

17.  Now to sew the buttons on.  I didn't do button holes because I don't want my bib to be removable.  So I placed my buttons where I wanted them and stitched them through all the fabric on the front of the dress.

Fold the flap down and put a little stitch in it the same color as the fabric so that it looks like it's just laying down.

18.  One more thing, you need to sew a button on the back top of the slit on one side.  On the other side, you are going to make a loop with your piece of elastic.  Tye a knot in it and stitch it on the inside of the back of the slit, so that the loop sticks out and can loop over the button.  This is how the dress will be closed in the back.  You could also add a hook and eye instead.

Reversible Super Hero Cape - Tutorial

I just finished making my first project of the new year.

My sweet nephew just turned 6 years old and I think he's going to love this.

I was not sure what to get him and with Christmas going on I waited till after his birthday to get started.

I asked him what he got for his birthday and he said, "Just what I wanted!  I got a Captain America costume." 

Well that was music to my ears, because I'd been wondering if he'd like a personalized super hero cape.  Captain America doesn't wear a cape, so this might be a nice addition to his costume.  I know he has also had an affection for Batman, so I decided to make it reversible.  Here is a tutorial so that you can make one for your little super hero too.

What you will need:

- 1 yard of fabric per side, and 3 scraps of fabric for appliques.

-  Thread to match each color of fabric

-  3" of loop and 1.5" of hook

1.  The first thing I did was cut a rectangle 30" X 33".  Then I folded it in half length wise.  I rounded the bottom just a bit cutting 1 3/4 inches off the raw edge side.  Then I angled the sides by taking the raw edge and cutting a triangle.  4 1/2 " taken off of the width at the top.  Finally I cut the curve of the neck.  6" (across the top) X 4 3/4" (on the fold).

2.  Now take this shape (still folded) and place it on top of another color of fabric (folded as well).  Cut out your other side of the cape.

3.  Now you want to draw and cut your appliques.  I drew this Batman emblem directly on my fabric, on the fold, with a pencil.  I love using pencil.  They are always readily available and they erase quite nicely, in the event of a mishap.  My applique turned out to be 8" X 5".

The letter "T" for my nephew's initial is 4" X 7".  I also cut it on a fold. 

And the background for the "T" to go on I just winged it.  I'm sure you can tell.  Making sure it was big enough to fit the "T" in, and small enough to fit nicely on the back of the cape.

4.  Now it's time to sew the appliques together.  First you want to sew the "T" to the explosive looking piece using a satin stitch.  If your machine doesn't have a satin stitch then you can use your zig zag stitch on the widest setting and the shortest length setting.

- Now the explosive looking piece is sewn to the cape.

- Next sew the Batman emblem to the back of the black side of the cape.

5.  Now you want to place your cape pieces right sides together and sew around the edges.  Be sure to leave a gap so that you can turn it right side out.  Trim your corners so that they won't be bulky when you turn the cape right side out.

6.  Turn your cape right side out, press, and sew up the gap.  Continue the stitch as a top stitch all the way around the cape.  1/4" from the edge.   When doing this I use one color of thread in the bobbin to match the appropriate side of the cape, and the thread on top to match that side of the cape.  So here I have yellow thread on top and black thread in my bobbin.

7.  Now attach your hook and loop.  I cut the hook a little shorter than the loop because I don't want the risk of my nephew being scratched by the hook if he doesn't need to cover it completely when securing the cape around his neck.  I sewed black hook to the black side of the cape and yellow loop to the yellow side of the cape.

And now you are done!