My wonderful friend Molly is having a baby and of course he needed a handmade jammies outfit.

There’s nothing quite like making tiny, soft clothes for someone you’re going to love.

look what i made! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I’ve got a tiny, simple tutorial for you today. I know the experienced seamstresses among you will say to yourselves, really? that’s tutorial-worthy?, and my reply is, sure. Because I’ve got a soft spot for you newbies out there.

I was walking around Target yesterday, buying up clearance boys’ flannel shirts to which I’ll add a few darts and wear proudly. The boys’ shirts always end up with the better plaids, somehow, plus they’re longer. And since I’m buying in kids, they’re cheaper (as in, less than $4 each). As Michael Scott would say, this is a win-win-win solution.

Suddenly I was hit with a revelation: what is it like to buy clothes when you can’t sew? How discouraged would I feel if I were forced to buy clothes exactly as they are, rather than buying them for what they could be? I can’t even imagine. I’m sure that I’d spend much more money on my clothes, and I wouldn’t be as happy, as me, wearing those clothes. So I’m planning a series of “before & after” tutorial/inspiration-based posts, meant to give a little push and instruction to those who might think “oh, but i’m not crafty”. Because modifying clothes, making them perfect for you, isn’t all that hard. And it is so very worth it.

So here’s a simple tutorial: how to stitch buttons to knitted garments. I found these convertible gloves, turquoise and orange stripe!, in the dollar spot. My favorite colors, but they had a black button! Who decided that? A change of button quickly carried these gloves to their full potential, and I’m hoping you’ll apply this simple technique to your gloves and cardigans so that they are perfect for you.

First, pick out a rather large needle. We’re going to be stitching through the gaps in the knit, so there’s no sense fussing with a tiny needle for this project! Cut a decent length of thread (16 inches or so, more if your button has 4 holes), and thread your needle – but don’t tie any knots.

Pick out the spot where you want your button to go, and insert the needle between the knit loops of yarn. You may have to stretch the fabric a little bit to find your hole, but you generally don’t want to have your thread go through the yarn because that can decrease the structural integrity of the knitted object. Be sure to leave a tail on the other side, see?

Pass your needle through your button, then go back into the knitted garment a few loops away from where you were before. Make sure your tail is still there on the other side!

Now take your tail and your “active” length of thread and tie them in a reef knot or two. Make sure the first knot is tight… this ensures that your button will not wobble around.

See? A nice tight knot. Don’t cut your tail!

Now keep going up through that first hole, through your button, and down through that second hole until your button is sturdily attached.

After you’ve done enough passes, pull your thread through to the back side and tie it to the tail again with a few more reef knots. Now you can trim both your tails! And you’re done!

See? So much better than that plain black button.

And now I can sew in style. ;)

before & after: how to sew buttons to knitted garments is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I made rainbow plaid pj shorts in less than two hours today… there’s nothing quite like homemade pajama bottoms. They take no time or effort, they fit no matter how they come out, and they always feel so much comfier than anything storebought. Such instant gratification!

Since I can never tell front from back when I’m slipping on my homemade pjs, I added this nifty ribbon loop. Not only will I never put them on backwards, but I can hang them up! I’m very excited about this.

On Thursday evening I picked the first full batch of blackberries this season. They’re so perfect when they come right in from the backyard, mmm. After a few nibbles it was blackberry baking time!

These are mini blackberry custard tartlets, based loosely off a lemon curd tartlet recipe. It starts with a simple pie crust, rolled out and cut into circles then pressed into a muffin tin. The custard called for “farmer’s cheese”, a European thing… I used cottage cheese then blended the whole thing when I was done. Since I had neither lemon curd nor real lemons on hand, I poured a bit of lemon juice into the custard to make it taste less like, well, nothing. The lemon flavor wasn’t noticeable in the finished product, but I’m convinced it added something.

What made these super awesome was my blackberry treatment beforehand. Prior to starting any of the mixing, I tossed my blackberries in a bowl with some lemon juice and a decent sprinkling of sugar and let them sit as I worked. The soaked-in sweetness is an obvious plus to the finished dessert. I’m definitely going to be making these again!

And yesterday I bought these beautiful shoes for back to school. I’m not going to wear them until I get to Cleveland, so they’ll stay white for the rest of the summer (and get dirty instantly come August 15). It’s been a bright and happy weekend!

happy happenings is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Last night I went into “cut stuff out of magazines” mode, the mode I usually go into when I need to do something creative but can’t think of anything too extraordinary. Here’s a mirror in progress:

The mirror’s from Ikea; it started out with a wide, unfinished wood frame. So far I’ve just been glue-sticking circles onto it, but I’m planning on sealing it with modpodge or some varnish when I’ve covered it completely.

And today I made a pair of pajama pants, start to finish, in an hour flat! I think that’s a record. It’s always fun to have a new pair of pjs for Christmas! Brand new flannel just can’t be beat when it comes to coziness.

soft is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

At least two years ago, I cut out a sweatshirt. It was to be a lined, zippered hoodie. I put together each half, stitching up the lining and the outer shell separately. But when I tried them on, it was huge. As one of my first forays into the land of knits, serging, clothing, etc., I became very easily frustrated and discouraged. The sides weren’t the issue; the neckhole itself was gargantuan and I couldn’t think of a way to fix it without my hoodie having a seam down the back. So I did the easiest thing and the best answer at the time: I stuffed it in a drawer.

Last week, I found the thing, stuffed in a drawer with random knits and other forsaken projects. After inspection I realized that, if I were to add a band around the bottom as most hoodies have anyway, the hoodie pieces could be entirely recut to an appropriate size for my petite self. So I ripped seams and chopped away, figuring I had solved the problems.

Of course, I then realized what I was into: a lined, zip-front hoodie. My head has been spinning all week, trying to decide where to connect various pieces in order for it to look as nice as possible. Do I sandwich the zipper right-to-right? But then how would I do the hood? When should I put in pockets? and so on…

But finally, as of twenty minutes ago, it is finished. And entirely lovely, if I do say so myself. A ridiculously complicated garment for its simple appearance; no advanced sewing techniques required, it just took lots of brain power and thinking inside-out and around.

But I have won this battle, I have beat this challenge, I have conquered a small drawer-filling enemy. And it’s cute, and I’m triumphant.

invincible is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I must say that screenprinting is one of the most stressful arts I choose to dabble in. The entire time my mind whizzes through “oh no oh no i moved it wet paint! ah!” Of course, I lift the screen and everything’s fine and lovely and crisp and smooth and it’s all worthwhile.

I printed five shirts today with this lovely shade of blue… it’s almost turquoise, the second picture is more accurate color-wise.

I can feel my 14-year-old self telling me how awesome I am right now. Seriously, five years ago screenprinting seemed impossible, something I’d never try. Now I can do it, and it’s delightful in its hectic manner, and I just feel so cool.

whale tees! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

So that’s my basic idea, on the left. I don’t like the tunic style that’s popular right now; I prefer to avoid looking pregnant. So rather than a flowy knit top, I’m going to use princess seams to keep it fitted, and in the princess seams i want to put little patch pockets. Hopefully these will be some fun print; I’m sure I have a scrap of cute knit somewhere that I can use. The straps would have big fun buttons to attach them to the top strip, thus making it a top that could be sleeveless or could go on top of a long-sleeve shirt without looking weird. I’m excited!

I’ve also been coming up with lots of new product ideas that I’m hoping to get finished this summer before I go off to college. The shop is really important to me, though, so I’m almost positive I’m going to keep everything going next year. But my favorite big idea (literally big!) so far has been these totes. They’re big and floppy, and comfy seems like a strange word for a tote, but they’re so nice for carrying things! Every time I finish one I want to keep it, but nope, they’ve made their way into the shop. They’re also a great stash buster, so hopefully I’ll make room for all my new fabric.

Speaking of the shop, the shopping cart script has been edited and upgraded. I don’t know if any of you have tried to order things lately, but for some reason the “add to cart” function stopped working. Obviously, this makes it pretty difficult to order things. But I’ve fixed it up, and not only is it repaired, but the entire shop is running more smoothly than ever!

Summer vacation is beautiful; I’ve been doing lots of biking, working at random little jobs, and sewing away. I’m hoping this summer lasts as long as I need it to… I’m not quite ready to head off for college. I’m excited, sure, and it’s not like I want another year of high school, but it’s just strange to think about. But I’ll be taking my sewing machine with me, so I’ll be prepared!

sewing in my sleep is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

After last year’s lovely adventures in Spain over Easter break, I was compelled to return this year. It was even more fun because of my additional year’s worth of vocabulary, and I really enjoyed speaking the language as best I could, learning about the culture, and, of course, shopping. I had a great conversation with a cute old man who owned a fabric store; I told him that I worked at a fabric store, too, and he said he had been working with fabric for 50 years! It was so much fun.

Spring break was conveniently placed a week before Tech Week (a.k.a. Hell Week), therefore even in another country, thoughts of the show and the costumes still flitted through my head from time to time. So when we reached our hotel in Madrid and walked around the corner where the La Bella y La Bestia marquee was shining, I was taken aback and unbelievably excited. Two of the other girls on the trip were my castmates, so we begged our chaperones to let us see the show, and they relented. It was even “La Noche de Los Teatros”, or “Theatre Night” in Madrid, so tickets were a great deal cheaper than usual. I was very grateful and felt extremely blessed for the miraculous circumstances.

The show was fantastic. Since I knew half the lines anyway, I didn’t have trouble understanding anything, and it was interesting to try and translate what bits I could. It was a Broadway-quality production, and I was blown away by the voices and the dances and, of course, the costumes. I brought home plenty of costume inspiration and was ready for my huge challenge.

From the start, I had known that this was a huge costume and tech show. But once the cast list was up in January, I was ready and willing to work. But somehow, my directors and I didn’t meet eye-to-eye; they always wanted to hear my ideas, and encouraged me to come up with new ideas, but after I worked on a few things they would say it “wasn’t quite right” and ask that I “please fix it up a bit” — basically, start over. So I learned quickly, and just did what they wanted. But they stopped telling me what to do, and didn’t want me working on my own ideas, so I was left to… sit, i guess, and contemplate life. Which doesn’t get much sewing done.

Luckily, a nearby community theatre had recently done the show, and were generous enough to share some of the big costumes with us. That was a lifesaver, because the process of “have idea” – “get it approved” – “work a bit” – “approve again” – “finish” – would have taken forever.

So by the last two weeks, I had fabric up to my ears and was sewing like a crazy person. It all came together, though, as it always does, and I survived. This was my last show, of course, since I’m a senior, but given the option I would never be in charge of costumes again. It was crazy.

My pride and joy was the little purple rug… she did cartwheels and such across the stage, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how her costume turned out. She reverse-adopted me as her mother, so she tagged along with me in the opening scene as well (sans-rug) as I delivered my famous, “I need six eggs!”. She also kept me company through all the hours of sewing, and she was a great friend.

I was also very pleased with how the silly girls (Gaston’s little stalkers) turned out. The other production only had three of them, but we had six. They provided plaid skirts and vests, so my job was to make 3 solid vests and 3 solid skirts. I just traced their vests and made up a new pattern as best I could, and it worked wonderfully! I was very excited. The skirts were just simple elastic-waist poofy skirts.

Unfortunately I don’t have any good photos of my spoons, knives, and forks… They all wore tuxedo shirts, purple vests, and black pants, and wore a corresponding utensil as a headpiece. The headpieces were cut from foam core (which takes a ridiculously long time) then covered in glittery fabric. There were plates, too, who wore their fabric-covered foam core as a backpack. The teacups had a rim made from a hula hoop covered in fabric then stuffed. Fabric came down from the rim and was gathered around the waist, plus they had handles. They still ended up very floppy, though, and didn’t look as good as I had hoped.

But it all came together, which, at one point, seemed more than I could hope for. It was a successful show and a very fun time.. everyone needs a bit of craziness, I suppose!

tale as old as time… is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog