My 100th Blog Post Celebration: Free Spring Dress Pattern, Anyone?

This is officially my 100th post- woohoo! I can't believe I'm still going. I feel guilty sometimes about not posting consistently but seriously- this is for fun and so I can do it only when time away from three kids allows me to. So no need for guilt, right?

I've stopped posting over at Fresh Off the Bolt since I've realized it's just very odd and difficult to continue two blogs about my creative endeavors. I've decided to keep it online since I have some tutorials and patterns still floating around over there. But from now on, it'll just be this blog, Handicraftiness, that'll hold all my creations.

Anyway- back to the point of this 100th post: I'm celebrating by offering my Bella dress pattern for free!

The Bella dress pattern is available in 12-18 months to 5Y with more sizes coming soon! The bodice is fully lined and the skirt length is adjustable to however long or short you want it to be. You could make it into a peplum top or drop waist dress. You can mix and match fabrics which I love to do. You can even add pockets or appliques to make it special.

I love that it comes together in just a few hours~ I made five dresses over a 3-day period during my son's naps and after his bedtime. I am impatient so instant satisfaction is very gratifying.

I highly recommend mixing and matching fabrics for the prettiest effect! The blue/gray dress above uses woven organic cotton, lace, and chiffon and it turned out to be one of my favorites! I haven't tested this pattern with knits yet but I think it would be okay to use for the skirt. Speaking of the skirt, I extended K's skirt to 14.5" so it would hit just below the knee. She's growing tall very fast so I wanted this one to last through the summer at least!

UPDATE: I've decided to indefinitely allow free downloads of this popular dress. Download it HERE and HERE and let me know how the sewing goes!

Happy Spring Sewing and thanks so much for reading!

P.S. Share your Bella dress HERE in the Bella Flickr Group! I'd LOOOOOVE to see the myriad of combinations that can be made from this pattern! See you there! =)

Results of My Recent Sewing Frenzy- Part 1

These outfits are available for sale here!  And while you're there, like my FB page to find out when I'll be releasing these patterns so you can sew them up yourself! Thanks for stopping by!

I've been busy drafting patterns and sewing for the past few weeks and I've got some fun stuff to share! I've had plenty of inspiration from my nieces, including one who isn't even born yet, and what I've got so far is what I'm going to call my spring-inspired girl's apparel. I'm actually hoping to make a business out of this one day, so let me know what you think! Without further ado...

I'm calling this first outfit, the Harmony, after my soon-to-be-born niece. I drafted it in a 9-12 month size and I fell in love with the results so I'll be making this one in bigger sizes. 

I love lace, ruffles, and pleats and those are all present on this little top without making it look too busy. I also love bubble shorts for girls and these chambray striped ones go so well with the Harmony top. 

This next one is a vintage floral peasant top with magenta corduroy bubble shorts. I'm calling it the Cadence outfit. I love the sweet vintage vibe of this outfit so much but I'm so sad that I no longer have anymore of this floral fabric left! I bought it on a thrifting expedition and had been holding onto it for a wee bit too long. It's hard to cut into beautiful fabric- it really, truly is!

But I'm happy that cutting into the fabric resulted in such a beautiful little top at least!

And of course, a touch of vintage lace trim on the bottom hem gives it the perfect amount of sugar.

And I don't have a name yet for this baby peasant dress but isn't it just adorable?! I love mixing fabric prints and this one outfit alone has three. 

The bodice is made from a men's cotton dress shirt! I love upcycling material- saves money and the environment!

I'll also be drafting this dress in bigger sizes because it's just so sweet!

And how could I leave out leggings? It's become a staple in every girl's wardrobe these days. The colorful Navajo-inspired knit fabric is just fun and graphic! I paired it with a mustard-colored knit from my remnant pile and it looks pretty modern and fab, eh?

I love this set- especially the top- and will definitely be sewing up bigger sizes! This set is about an 18-24 month size. 

Just in case you're curious, my sewing frenzy stemmed from a long creative drought. I recently returned from a very long blogging hiatus in which I didn't sew a stitch for three months! And yes, this is what happens when I resurface, ha! 

I've still got more to share with you, too- didn't you notice the title said "Part 1?" Part 2 has some more dresses and tunics in some lovely shades of lilac, gray, mint, and cream and are all self-drafted patterns that were finally released from my imagination. Can't wait!

This post is linked up at Make It and Love It's linky party. See it here!

Spring Baby Dresses for a New Baby!

No, no, no- first of all, before you congratulate me, I have to set the record straight. No, I'm not having a baby- my sister is. She's having her fourth girl and I'm soooooo very happy and excited because I get to sew for a brand new baby girl! I've never done that before- it's a bit different and a bit similar to sewing for my little girl. The difference being that the baby can't say no to anything I make for her and I can still have a ton of fun mixing and matching prints.

So- check out my first two dresses I made for the yet unnamed baby girl. 

I used the free Baby Geranium dress pattern from Made by Rae for this first vintage floral, stripe, and lace number. It really is a ton of fun mixing prints and I get so inspired when I see a winning combination. This was definitely a winner!

The floral print is a French cabbage rose fabric sample and the skirt is made from thrifted linen fabric. The eyelet lace trim was found during an antiquing trip.

I love the little lace-lined pocket. I only added one pocket instead of the two recommended in the pattern. Newborns don't really use their pockets, right? 

And on the back, I applied a simple elastic loop and fancy button for the closure. This dress was so easy and fast to sew up so if you have a new baby girl to sew for- go grab this pattern and get sewing! You can modify this dress so many ways- add sleeves, lace trim, buttons, etc.- to personalize it and it always looks great because of its classic shape.

This next little dress is my own design! It's a peasant bodice with a layered skirt and eyelet lace sleeves.  Again- a super duper fun time mixing and matching fabrics and trim!

The skirt underneath is fuller than the outer skirt so it bells outwards which makes it easy for baby to kick her legs at will without any fabric hampering her movements. 

This little dress is lightweight- great for those hot Florida days! I'll be making a matching ruffled diaper cover to go with this soon and perhaps a little sunhat too? Adorbs!

I'll be sewing up more stuff for baby and will post them as they're completed! 

A Sweet Upcycled Sweater

Okay, so this is a super duper later KCW post- it was finished for day seven, the last day of KCW, but I had issues with Blogger so I shut my laptop before I started to pull out my hair. 

So now you know and we can move on!

This is another fun upcyle that turned out great, in my opinion. I found the knit skirt at the thrift store and it was originally from Target. Don't you just love the fun colorful stripes???

I had seen a swingy, slightly baggy but girly sweater on a kids clothing website (I've forgotten where now or else I'd link to it!) and just loved the shape and fit of it. 

So I decided to draft a similar top for K and it was so easy! Instead of a straight bodice, I cut a slight bell shape instead. I added lace trim at the sleeve seams and at the bottom hem to make it even more sweet and girly.

The short sleeves are from another thrifted sweater and the collar of the sweater is from the bottom hem of the skirt- I simply folded it in half and applied it like bias tape and it was done!

I don't know why I like this combination of top with skirt. It seems like major stripe overload but I just thought it was adorable together! K did too- and when she wore this outfit out into the cold the other day, we simply layered a long sleeve  shirt underneath the sweater with a pair of colorful leggings under the skirt with her boots and she was a fashionable upcycle do!

I seriously enjoy fun colorful upcycles and look forward to sharing more with you soon! I've got a lot of thrifted treasures that are just waiting to be turned into something wonderful!

KCW Day Five: A Wild Bimaa Top Paired with Sarouels

I've been in a sewing frenzy for this winter KCW challenge but I'm having a lot of fun making clothes for my kids. I mistakenly thought sewing winter wear would not be as fun as summer wear but man oh man, I was sooooo wrong! 

There are so many things you can make to wear during the winter: vests, sweaters, long sleeve shirts, boleros, cardis, skirts, leggings, sarouels, hats, scarves, etc. etc. The list is longer than I thought and I'm trying to make a bit of everything since winter is quite possibly gonna last until May again this year! 

Today, I present to you an adorable wild print sweater designed by LouBee Clothing called the Bimaa top paired with sarouels that I drafted just for K. 

The top is absolutely wonderful and easy to sew. I've already made two (the other was part of yesterday's outfit) and I plan to make some for the boys too. I love unisex patterns since I have both boys and girls to sew for. The fit is spot on too which is awesome!

The top is a lightweight sweater knit that K absolutely loves because of the comfort and stretch. Ditto with the pants- they're made from a stretchy Ibiza knit and I purchased both materials from www.fabric.com. 

The cuff on the pants are leftover material from a pair of thrifted pj pants that I had used to make K a pair of ruffle bottom pants. I thought the leopard prints would look great together even if they're not exactly matching. 

Was I right?

This is quite possibly the most grown up outfit I've made for K. It might be because there's not an ounce of pink or purple in sight but she still looks wonderful in it. She really loves the feeling of knits so she's inspired me to sew with them more now. 

She looks classy and grown-up without being too grown-up. Know what I mean? I love this outfit and wish I had one in my size!

KCW Day Four: The Little Red Outfit

I gotta admit, I'm in love with this outfit! I love the colors and the fun print on the skirt. I love the ruffles and I love that she's so comfortable in this that she actually WANTS to wear it. And who says you can't wear pretty clothes during the winter? Using the right materials, you could totally make a skirt or top that works for cold weather too!

I love the variety of snuggle flannel prints that Joann Fabric carries. K and I spotted this print and snatched it up right away. It was too cute to pass up! I may need to go back and pick up more prints when they go on sale again (you know- for future winter sewing because winters up here last for 8 months!)

And with this print, how could we not choose red to pair it with? I found some leftover yardage of red fleece and knew I wanted to make a ruffled bolero to go with a ruffle skirt.

I drafted the pattern for the bolero myself and then followed this easy-to-follow ruffle skirt tutorial from Made. I made K's skirt a little longer because she's growing tall pretty quick and this skirt should last another year at least! 

The white shirt is actually the Bimaa top from LouBee Clothing. I did not attach a cowl to the neckline though because I wanted it to lie flat beneath the bolero. I used this pattern for day five's outfit too (with the cowl neck.) Wait til you see it- it's seriously adorable!

I just love how the ruffles frame her little face and gives it a very girly feel without being too frou-frou. 

We have ourselves another winner! She told me she feels very pretty in this outfit so I know it'll be worn quite often. I'm a very satisfied mommy-seamstress! See you tomorrow for day five of the KCW challenge.

KCW Challenge Day Two: See Kate Sew's Kaleidoscope Top

Ahh, I made it to day two of the KCW challenge so I guess pre-planning and preparation actually does work! I'll have to keep that in mind for future projects. =)

Today, I sewed up a fun and easy top from See Kate Sew (Purchase the pattern here.) I upcycled a thrifted golf tournament blanket for the base of the sweater- I think I have enough left over to make a miniature version for the littlest! 

I knitted the collar a few years ago and it was originally going to be the border of a knit skirt for K when she was a baby but I never got around to finishing the skirt. Did you know that knitting takes a long time especially when there are young, demanding children around 24/7?! But I love the truly handmade details of knitted items and so I had to add this touch to the sweater!

The unicorn was K's special request. She makes one for every item I sew up for her and I guess if I want her to wear it more than once, then I must comply as long as the request is within reason.

I drew up the unicorn silhouette onto some white fleece then appliqued it on the front of the sweater. I had imagined just sewing gold sequins to the horn but K wanted lots of colored sequins so I gave in again. The colorful sequins match her personality anyway. I really like how the large graphic applique really makes this '80s-inspired top really modern and girly.

I didn't finish off the sleeves as the pattern originally suggests. I kind of like the unfinished look and since the fabric doesn't ravel, it was fine. 

She loves the look of this outfit- so retro, groovy and cool. =) 

Yep- this one's a keeper. It's comfortable, pretty, and layerable. (That's not technically a word, but you know what I mean!) 

Go get the pattern for the Kaleidoscope sweater if you haven't already! It's a great unisex pattern that sews up in less than an hour! Maybe you could sew it up for the Spring KCW challenge! =)