A BIG Announcement!

In case you missed the very last line of that poem..........

Can you believe it?  I think I'm still in shock, but we are beyond thrilled!  My husband and I just kind of assumed we'd have another girl since we have two already, but when the ultra-sound technician told us the news, we were utterly stunned.

Me, miss "all about all things girly" is going to be the mama to a little man? Yippee!  This little guy is going to change our family dynamic for sure. We got some great ultrasound pictures of him and I think he looks just perfect (of course I do, I'm his mama).  I know some people don't agree with finding out the gender before the birth, but it honestly makes me feel so much more connected to my baby knowing if it is a boy or girl.  And I love this little guy already.

So, I'm guessing this little man is going to change things up here on the blog.  You know I still do, and always will, love all things girly, but you're definitely going to see a little more variety on here in regards to projects for boys.  This blog is about my life and I have a feeling this little guy is going to steal my heart!  He's expected to be here some time in early September.

And will you believe me if I tell you that I'm already crafting up something for this little guy? Yep, it's just a little something, but I can't help myself.  My head is swirling with all kinds of ideas and I can't wait to start designing his nursery.

Thanks so much for letting me share this wonderful news and yeah for boys!! 

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Twin Boy and Girl Onesie Tutorial

 

I'm back with a tutorial!  It's about time, right?  Well, a couple months back I was contacted by an old friend who asked if I could do a custom order for her brother and his wife who are expecting boy and girl twins.  Of course I said sure and this is the little set I came up with for the soon-to-be parents.  I thought you all might enjoy making this set or just one of the onesies - it seems like there are lots of babies expected over the next six months around here!

Click HERE to print the applique pattern pieces.

Supplies:

Two onesies

Two coordinating fabrics

Fusible interfacing (such as steam-a-seam lite or wonder-under)

Several yards of coordinating ribbon (for ruffle booty on girl onesie)

Ric-Rac

Thread

Embroidery thread (optional)

Wonder-Tape (optional)

Tie and Ruffle Top pattern pieces (click HERE to print)

Directions:

Select your two coordinating fabrics.  I chose these two from Sandi Henderson's "Meadowsweet 2" line.  I thought these were perfect for spring and so cute for little babes.

You will need some fusible interfacing for this project.  Use whatever brand you like, but make sure you choose the lightest version available.

Place your pattern pieces on one side of the fusible interfacing to gauge how much to use.

Peel back one side of your fusible interfacing and iron it to the wrong-side of the fabric (meaning the side that is intended to be the back).

Lay your pattern pieces on top of the fusible interfacing and trace your pattern.  I like to use washers from the hardware store to weight down all my patterns.

Next, cut out your pattern pieces and remove the paper backing from the interfacing.  Place your pattern where you would like it on the onesie.  To make sure it is centered, measure both sides of the tie from both sides of the onesie - make sure they are even.  Iron your tie in place.

Do the same process with the pattern piece for the girl onesie.  You can make this pattern piece much larger if you are making this shirt for an older child.  I just didn't want the ruffle top to overwhelm a 3-6 month old baby.

Iron bib pattern piece in place on girl onesie.

Cut your fabric for the ruffle out of coordinating fabric.  I cut my ruffle 2.5" wide x 18" long.  If you decide to alter the bib pattern piece and make it larger (say for a 2, 3, and 4 year old), cut your ruffle 2-2.5 times as long as the outside of the bib.

Fold the ruffle piece in half with the wrong-sides together and sew both ends.

Once both ends are sewn, clip the corners to remove bulk and turn the ruffle piece right-side out. Press ruffle piece in half.

Next, run a gathering stitch down the ruffle piece on the raw edge of the fabric.  Make your stitch length as long as possible (mine is 5.0) and stitch all the way down the ruffle.  Do not back-stitch or the ruffle will not gather.

Gather your ruffle by pulling on the bobbin thread.  Once gathered, pin your ruffle in place around the bib.  You could certainly serge or run a tight zig-zag stitch along the edge of the ruffle to clean it up a bit.

Stitch ruffle in place.  I really should have started on the other side, but oh well.  It takes some work getting your onesie all situated under your presser foot, but just work with it and you'll get it.

Next grab your ric-rac.  Cut enough to cover the edge of the ruffle - about 9".  Peel off one side of the paper backing on your Wonder-Tape and apply to the back of the ric-rac.  Wonder-Tape is probably one of my most favorite sewing products EVER.  I won't go into it too much, but basically it is a double-sided tape that disappears in the wash.  It doesn't gum up your needle and makes holding trim in place a breeze.  It is found in the notions section of your sewing store.  If you don't have this, you can certainly use pins, but trust me, this will make your life much easier!

I used Wonder-Tape for my "Little Love Bug" outfit for the Project Run and Play Valentine's day challenge.  It held my ric-rac in place nicely down the center of the jumper.

Peel off the other side of the Wonder-Tape and place ric-rac over the raw edge of the ruffle.  Make sure to tuck under both ends of the ric-rac.

Stitch ric-rac in place with coordinating thread.

If you plan to add the ruffles to the booty of the girl onesie, measure the back of the onesie and cut your ribbon 2-2.5 times as wide as the booty.  Turn the ends under and stitch in place.

Run a gathering stitch down the center of each piece of ribbon (as described when making the bib ruffle).  Gather by pulling on the bobbin thread.

Pin in place and stitch down the center of each ribbon.  Make sure to back-stitch well that the beginning and end of each ribbon.

For the tie onesie, you want to zig-zag stitch around the entire outside of the tie to prevent any fraying.  Test out your stitch on another piece of fabric to check for the size of the zig-zag that you prefer.  I like to use embroidery thread for my main thread on applique.  I find it lays nicer and has a little bit of sheen that looks really good.

Stitch around the entire top piece including across the center of the tie to give the applique more definition.

If you have any trouble with your zig-zag stitches not laying flat, check your tension and reduce.  Additionally, I have to stitch fairly slowly on my machine in order to have uniform stitching when doing applique.

Add zig-zag stitching across the top of the bib on the girl onesie as well.  This will prevent any additional fraying and will secure it in place nicely.

I added a set of three burp cloths to this gift set.  These are simply rectangles of fabric that are backed with white minky dot fabric and are serged on the edge with coordinating blue thread.

Add your labels to the gift set to finish each piece.  If you don't have some, I highly recommend purchasing some - see post HERE where to purchase.  Wrap up your gift set and you are all set for the arrival of boy and girl twins!

Cottage Mama's Note:  You can use any onesies you like - look for them at Walmart, Carter's, Target, ect........any one will do.

If you end up making either of these onesies (or any projects from tutorials on the blog), I would love if you would add them to The Cottage Home Flickr Group:

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The Party Dress Pattern on U-Create

Guess where I am today?  I'm a creative guest over on U-Create!  I'm so thrilled to be part of this amazing blog and was tickled to death when Kari invited me over.  Today I am sharing a free pattern and tutorial for The Party Dress.  This is the perfect special occasion dress for your little one in size 18 month through girls size 5.

Click HERE to view the tutorial!

 

I hope you'll head over there and check it out. 
And if you have some extra time........I'd love to know what you think!!

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Embellished Hooded Towel Tutorial

I know it's a tad bit early to be talking about Christmas, but I just can't help thinking about it.  Since I have committed myself to handmade gifts this year, I need to do some serious planning in order to get all my gift giving accomplished.  So I thought you also might enjoy me sharing some holiday gift giving ideas a little earlier than normal.......perhaps you are going handmade as well!

The following tutorial was not entirely my own idea.  I had posed a question over on "The Cottage Mama" facebook fan page in regards to the projects everyone was working on and several women chimed in and said they were working on hooded towels for children.

Well, this little discussion reminded me that I had been wanting to make some giant sized hooded towels for my own girls.  I love the little baby hooded towels, but they seem to grow out of those so quickly.  And the larger sized towels that I see in some of the popular catalogs are just a little too pricey for me.

I think these would make a fabulous Christmas gift the younger people in your life.  You can be as creative as you would like with these and it's a great way to use a small amount of your beloved fabric stash (yes, I know there are others of you out there that are fabric hoarders like myself) to really make a statement on this one-of-a-kind towel.

Hooded Towel Tutorial

Supplies:
1 hand towel
1 large bath towel
1 strip of fabric (approx. 4" by 25")
Ric-rac trim (2 pieces - 25" long)
Thread
Scissors
Iron

Directions:

Cut hand towel to approximately 24" long.  If it is a little shorter or longer, that will be fine.  I just cut off the one end that looked a little different than the other.

Cut your strip of fabric 4" x 25" (allowing an extra inch longer than your hand towel).  If you used a different length for your hand towel, just add one inch for the fabric.  Pin your ric-rac (2 pieces also 25" long) along the raw edges of both sides of the right-side of the fabric strip.

Stitch in place.  I used different sized ric-rac for several different towels.  The one seen here is jumbo.  Base your seam allowance on the size trim you have.  You want the waves of the ric-rac poking through the other-side, so adjust accordingly.

Your best bet is to stitch straight down whatever size trim your are using.

With a hot iron, press the ric-rac to the other side.  Do this on both sides.

Press again with a hot iron to set in place.

Here is the fabric strip with the ric-rac sewn in place.  If you use smaller trim then your fabric strip will be wider because you will not have turned as much under.

Fold the hand towel in half (length-wise) and pin fabric strip approximately 1/2"-1" from the fold.

UNFOLD the towel and top-stitch down both sides to secure in place.

Above is the fabric strip sewn in place on the hand towel.

Now fold the hand towel the other direction - width-wise with right-sides together.  Stitch down the right and left sides.  Do not stitch the open end where you see the raw edges of the fabric.

Use approximately a 1/2" - 5/8" seam allowance.

Turn hand towel right-side out.

Take the corner of the hand towel that I am pointing to in the picture above and tuck it into the opposite corner.

Tuck the right corner inside the left corner.

Once you have tucked the one corner into the other, this is what your hand towel will look like.

Then open up your hand towel and now you have formed the hood.

You will notice after tucking the corners that you have one side that is a little longer than the other.  Fold this over and stitch into place in order to conceal the raw edges of the fabric.

I must have gotten too excited about nearing completion on this project because I didn't take a picture of the final step (sorry).  Pin the center of the hood to the center of the bath towel (right-sides together)......stitch into place using a 1" - 1.5" seam allowance (yes, a large seam allowance).  If you need to use a larger seam allowance because you can still see some of the extra hand towel, feel free to do so.....no harm done.

Here are four hooded towels for my two special little ladies!  I might applique their initials onto each towel in coordinating fabric.......I think that would be a lovely finishing touch.  I just need more hours in the day.......

For the towel above, I used a standard-sized ric-rac.  You could also omit the ric-rac altogether and just press your fabric under.  You could also trim the hood with coordinating ribbon as well.

Here you can see how the fabric strips end up being sized a little differently depending on the trim size used.  Again, no biggie.......exact measurements aren't really needed in this project

I wasn't planning on having my girls model these towels, but when they were outside with me taking pictures, they were begging to wear them........they looked so warm and cozy!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Please let me know if you have any questions or if any of the directions need clarification.  Happy holiday gift making!  Stay tuned for more fun gift giving tutorials.  Anyone else planning a handmade holiday?

Cottage Mama's Note:  The fabrics used in this tutorial were Art Gallery "Paradise" (Double Ivory Bloom), Amy Butler "Love" (Sunspots Tangerine), Robert Kaufman "Sweet Tooth" (Camellia), Jennifer Paganelli "Flower Power"

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