The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns Now Availlable in PDF / Digital Form!

Just wanted to pop in and let you know that, by popular request, The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns are now all available in PDF / Digital form at www.thecottagemama.com. I know some of you who were living overseas didn't love having to pay international postage on pattern orders (I don't blame you). And some of you just love to be able to print out the pattern at home and have it right away.

What is a PDF sewing pattern? A PDF pattern is a digital file that you download and you can print out the pattern sheets and instructions on your home computer. It prints out on 8.5'' x 11'' paper and you tape the pieces of paper together to make the full sized pattern sheets. I will warn you; however, that one of the reasons I avoided PDF patterns in the first place is because some of my pieces are very large. A size 10 A-line is a large pattern piece, but if you don't mind putting them together, then it shouldn't be a problem. The nice thing about PDF's is you can put them together, cut out the size you need and if you want to make it again in another size, just print it out and cut out another size......no tracing necessary.

 Charlotte Apron Dress

(SIZE 6 MONTH - 8 YEARS)

Run Around Romper

(SIZE 6 MONTH - 6 YEARS)

Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress

(SIZE 6 MONTH - 6 YEARS)

Janey Jumper

(SIZE 6 MONTH - 10 YEARS)

Ruby Ruffle Dress

(SIZE 6 MONTH - 10 YEARS)

I am a paper pattern girl at heart, so I will definitely still have the paper versions available for those of you that prefer patterns in that form. But if you love the instant gratification of PDF patterns, those will be available too! You can find all of the pattern available by clicking here.

Also, the blog and website will be undergoing a redesign this summer, so once that happens you will be able to instantly download the patterns directly from the website. It's going to be really nice.....I can't wait!

Finally, I will have a new pattern release coming up in about two months, so stay tuned for some new children's clothing designs. I had to take a break designing patterns this last year while I was writing my book. But the book is turned into the publisher and now I'm back designing individual patterns again!

Pin It

Matilda's Easter Dress

We are flying down to Texas next week for Spring Break / Easter and I've been working on the kids coordinating Easter outfits so they are all ready before we leave. I decided to start with Matilda's dress and use a pattern I've been dying to try!

This dress was made using the Harper Dress pattern by the Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop. I changed a few things here and there, but for the most part followed the pattern instructions and design. I love how this dress came together. There are so many different elements that I think are so sweet for a little girl.

The Harper Dress pattern is PDF printable pattern (size 3 months - 8 years) and was very user-friendly and easy to follow. I would say this is an intermediate level pattern. I probably wouldn't attempt it as one of my first dresses. Like I said, the instructions are fantastic, but it will be a lot easier if you have some of the basic skills down such as buttonholes, applying bias tape and gathering fabric for ruffles. Once you feel like you've got those skills down, then I would definitely give this pattern a try!

The fabric for this dress was from 'ABC 123' by American Jane for Moda. This sweet little flowers just stole my heart. American Jane always has such adorable fabrics with a slightly vintage vibe.

 

I decided to use a 1/4'' bias binding instead of a 1/2'' just because I thought it would be little and sweet. Also, I chose to use six buttons on the top of the dress instead of the four shown in the pattern.

I made the bias binding from a green gingham cotton fabric from Fabric Finders. I have a handy dandy little bias tape tool that you use with your iron, but it did take me a little bit of time to make all of the bias binding.

I also used the bias binding and attached it around the waistline with a little bow. The pattern includes a wider waistband with button closure, but I wanted something a little more petite. I love the way this turned out. I'm thinking of incorporating something similar into one of my next patterns that will be released in May.

For the ruffles, I used a rolled hem on my serger. I'm not always a fan of the rolled hem. Sometimes I don't think it looks as professional, but because the main skirt is a single layer of fabric, I didn't want the ruffles to be too heavy, so I thought it would lighten them up by using the rolled hem.

I adore this dress. I can definitely see myself making more of this one. Often I make a pattern and never make it again, but I think this sweet little pattern will be used again for sure. I have some visions of other fabric combinations that would work so well with this design. If you've never visited the Peek-a-book Pattern Shop, you should head over there a take a peek, they carry so many cute patterns!

PS: Peek-a-book Pattern Shop is running a 25% off site wide sale through 3/23/13 on all patterns with the coupon code: DRIPDROP. Click here to check it out.

Here's what's up next on my Easter sewing to-do list........

 Can you guess who's outfit this will be?

Yep, next up.......an outfit for the little man.

Pin It

Sun & Surf Pattern Tour ~ Beachy Boat Neck and Santa Monica Cinch

This weekend I had the opportunity to sew up two of the pieces from Pattern Anthology's first collection of sewing patterns called the 'Sun & Surf Collection'. Pattern Anthology is a collaborative effort of four different pattern designers coming together to create one cohesive pattern collection. Pretty fun, right? I think so.

So my original plan was to create one outfit with these two patterns; however, the knit fabric I ordered never arrived, so one outfit became two. Not a problem. I sewed the Beachy Boat Neck by Melissa from 'Melly Sews' and the Santa Monica Cinch by Kate from 'See Kate Sew'. And let me tell you, I really challenged myself by stepping away from my normal quilting cotton fabric and sewing with something a little more outside of my comfort zone.

Beachy Boat Neck

Savannah has been difficult about her clothing lately. She is going through this.......'that doesn't feel right', 'it's too tight', 'it's too itchy' phase......let's just say, it's been a challenge. So I knew the Beachy Boat Neck by Melissa from 'Melly Sews' would be a great pattern for her because I could use a super-soft spandex knit that would be incredibly comfortable and hopefully avoid some of her recent clothing complaints.

I had purchased three spandex knit prints from Joann's and I let her choose which one she wanted for her shirt. She went with the most subtle print of the three, but I think it looks really pretty on her.

The pattern was SO easy to follow and the results were perfect! I was a little nervous about using such a stretchy knit, but it worked out great. I think you could also use a knit interlock and that would be nice and soft with a little less stretch. The pattern comes with step-by-step photographed instructions, so you won't have any problems following along.

The Beachy Boat Neck is a wonderful pattern if you are new to working with knits or want to give them a try. I would say it's a beginner level. The only part I had to pay careful attention too was hemming the bottom edge. It is on a curve, so you really have to work the curve with your iron to make sure the hem turns out nicely. Also, I did use my serger for the majority of the shirt and just used the sewing machine for the hemming and topstitiching (though a serger is not required).

When we came inside after taking these pictures, this little lady asked if she could wear this shirt to school tomorrow. Yay! Success.......something she actually wants to wear!

Santa Monica Cinch

When I saw the Santa Monica Cinch by Kate from See Kate Sew, I just knew I had to make this for my little girlies. It's a sweet little coat that is perfect for spring. You can play around with the different fabrics used to construct the coat too for a different look. I decided to finally cut into some Heather Ross cotton canvas fabric (Far Far Away II) that I have had for years now. It seemed like it would be a really nice weight for this little coat. It's actually 80% cotton and 20% linen with a light-weight canvas feel.

 

Probably the cutest part on the coat is the bow on the backside (although I do really like the collar and the bottom part of the coat). The pattern calls for a ribbon to be threaded through the casing, but none of the ribbons I had seemed like they would go with this thicker fabric. I decided to make a ribbon from cotton fabric that I already had and I think it ended up working with the look of the coat. I also shortened it by quite a bit since I didn't want the tails hanging down too far.

I had never sewn a 'See Kate Sew' pattern and it was a treat! The pattern had very clear photographed instructions which were very helpful. The writing style was easy to understand and I never had one of those 'huh, what are they talking about?' moments, which if you've ever sewn from a pattern, you know can certainly happen. I would say this is an confident beginner -  intermediate level pattern with a lot of great sewing techniques involved including sewing pleats, a collar and buttonholes as well as setting in sleeves.

So here's where I make a confession. I cut the pattern wrong. It was not any fault of the instructions, it was just me. I wasn't paying attention and ended up cutting the front lining pieces the same as the front exterior pieces and by the time I noticed, it was too late. But if you watch Project Runway, you know what Tim Gunn says......'make it work' and so I did. And to tell you the truth, some of my most creative moments have come from my mistakes. It really makes me think outside the box and well, get creative.

The front of the coat is not supposed to have a contrast placket on the front, but I quite like it. I also added an additional two buttons to the front (the pattern calls for one) and made them smaller so they fit within the contrast placket that I created.

There is a piece of bias tape on the inside of the coat that encases one of the seams, I decided to hand sew this to the interior of the coat so I didn't have to run a line of stitching on top of the pleats on the bottom part of the coat. Oh, and the fabric on the inside is Rapunzel......but that's Savannah's little secret when she takes the coat on and off.

And one last little addition I made to the coat was some understitching at the collar to help it lay nice and flat.

I just think this coat pattern is darling. It's girly and feminine, yet still practical for everyday wear. The coat took me a day to sew......probably six hours total. There are a lot of pieces to cut and setting in the sleeves takes some time, but I think the end result is well worth it!

So do you like these patterns? The Santa Monica Cinch is being sold as part of the Sun Collection (four patterns) and the Beachy Boat Neck is part of the Surf Collection (four patterns) or you can buy the full Sun and Surf Collection through Pattern Anthology and get all eight patterns that are included. But here's the catch, the collection is only available until March 24th, 2013. After that, the patterns will be sold on their own through each separate designer at their full retail price. So make sure you get them before the collection is no more.

If you want to check out what some of the other bloggers on the Pattern Anthology Sun & Surf Blog Tour are sewing, you can check out the links below!

Sun & Surf at Sew a Straight Line | Sun & Surf at It's Always Autumn | Sun & Surf at Elsie Marley | Sun & Surf at A Girl and a Glue Gun | Sun & Surf at Mama Says Sew | Sun & Surf at Girl, Inspired | Sun & Surf at Groovybaby and Mama | Sun & Surf at The Cottage Home | Sun & Surf at Craftiness is Not Optional | Sun & Surf at Skirtastop | Sun & Surf at Straight Grain | Sun & Surf at Me Sew Crazy | Sun & Surf at Delia Creates | Sun & Surf at Max California

Pin It

Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party with Free Printables

This past weekend we celebrated Miss Savannah's 5th birthday with a Rainbow Unicorn themed party. She loves rainbows and unicorns and wanted them combined into one great big birthday party! Today I'm excited to share some party details with you and I've also included some of the printables I came up with in case you would like to print them up and use them for your next Rainbow Unicorn party (whenever, and if ever, that may be).

I ordered Savannah's birthday invitations from minted.com. I love their site. They always have really classy and unique designs and I thought this one fit our rainbow theme just right. You can find this invitation here.

I added some pink zig zag washi tape to the back of each of the silver envelopes for some added detail.

Above are the treat bags we took for Savannah's class. We decided to go with the rainbow theme there as well and I created a little label to attach to each bag. If you want to bring treats at our preschool, they must be individually wrapped, so that's why we did these bags instead of something like cupcakes.

Here is the label I created for the treat bags for her class. I simply sized it down and printed out as a wallet sized picture.

For the main party food table, I wanted to do a rainbow tablecloth, but didn't want to buy one. As you know, I have a lot of fabric, so I just grabbed some of my yardage in rainbow colors and layered several yards on top of one another for a rainbow effect. Easy and inexpensive.

I also made some paper rosettes out of scrapbooking 12" x 12" paper. Each rosette has three sheets of paper and is secured together with staples that were done so they don't show. I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to hang these on the wall, but I ended up just threading a needle with embroidery floss and threading the floss through two spots on each rosette so they hung all on one string. This actually held up great and looked pretty in our sunroom window.

I love making paper pom-poms. I first did these about 2.5 years ago at Matilda's Summer Garden Party. I think they are a great way to fill up large spaces with colors that go with the party theme. We had a large bunch in one corner of the living room and another big bunch next to the main food table.

I strung a rag garland across one of our living room windows. This was the same garland I used for Savannah's Orange 4th Birthday party, but I added in some of the fabrics that coordinated with her dress.

I had the dining room set up for the kids with a unicorn craft project and strings to make fruit loop necklaces. I used a red tablecloth that I already had and made a runner from rainbow striped wrapping paper. The kids had a great time doing the crafts! After the crafts were complete, the dining room was a great place for them to eat their lunch.

Now onto the food........my favorite part.......

As a sweet treat, I made some rice crispy treats using Fruity Pebbles cereal. They were nice and rainbow-y and were super-sweet!

For the adults, I created a roasted veggie, cheese and baby greens sandwich. They were SO delicious. I will have to share the recipe with you. For the kids, we served hot dogs and called them 'Unicorn Dogs'.

I made a pasta salad with a rainbow of different ingredients. It was light and fresh tasting.

I thought this fruit rainbow platter turned out so pretty. I used strawberries, fresh pineapple, kiwi and blueberries. The marshmallows on the sides are supposed to look like clouds. Savannah loves kiwi, but you could also use green grapes for the green and add in an orange layer with clementines or other orange fruit.

We got some Bugles and called them 'Unicorn Horns'.

Savannah loves black olives so she requested we have a bowl full of olives.

I'm not really into baking. It's ok, but what I really love is cooking. So I decided to get a rainbow cake from Costco and added a plastic unicorn on top that I found at Joann Fabrics. If you've never had a Costco cake, they are really good and a very economical option.

We use mason jars for just about everything around here. I took some fabric from Savannah's birthday dress and tied it around each jar that contained the silverware.

I found these fun napkins and plates at Target. I thought the colors were just perfect. I found the little paper trays in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby and they were so great for the kids (and the adults liked them too). They held their hot dogs and side goodies without having to worry about anything falling off of a plate. I will definitely try to find some of these for our next party.

I used party blowers as rainbow decoration for the table and of course, the kids loved playing with those. We had some striped paper cups for the parents to use for goldfish crackers or other treats for the kids.

We had 24 rainbow colored balloons around the house and then this one giant unicorn balloon. Savannah was over the moon with excitement when my husband and her Grandpa brought it into the house. Look at her expression.......she was a happy little girl.

Here were the treat bags for the kids attending the party. Each bag had a bunch of different little things.......such as a new pack of crayons, bracelets, pencils, rings, a necklace, smarties and a couple lollipops.

Here are some of the labels I created for the different food. You are welcome to download these and use them for your party.

Also, here is the rainbow background and the rainbow background with the blank label if you'd like to pull it into some photo editing software and add your own text. I don't consider myself a graphic designer, but I'm pleased with how the rainbow stripe turned out and I can try to show you how I created that in a tutorial, if you are interested.

Savannah and I worked on this party together with her helping me make decisions all along the way from picking out the fabric for her dress, the food, the cake, ect. We had so much fun!

As the party was coming to a close, Savannah said, "This was the best day of my life".

And that.......makes it all worth it.

PS: You can find more details about Savannah's Rainbow Unicorn Dress by clicking HERE.

Pin It