Ruffle Bums a Summer Pattern

June 16, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 4 Comments

OK I admit it I think ruffle bum rompers are pretty stinkin cute. So I present the shamelessly girly Ruffle Bum Romper from Peek a Boo patterns. In May I had dreams of hot summer days and toddlers running freely in their summer rompers. I also had baby gifts to sew, so when I saw this pattern up on Thrifty Thursday I grabbed it. The romper sizes newborn to 24 months so technically she’s at the top end of the scale. One last summer of ruffled romper fun?

(Full Disclosure we are affiliates of Peek a Boo Patterns. The opinions in this post are 100% ours)

Pattern Review: Banyan Pants

June 13, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 4 Comments

Picking the Pattern

If you follow us you know we are always on the lookout for a good boy’s pant pattern. They are not easy to come by. Pull on elastic pants are fine for the little ones and even our 3 1/2 year old toddler does well in them . Easy on – easy off. In O’s case mostly easy off. There are times that we are just looking for a little more style. Rachel picked up this FIGGY pattern a while back in a bundle and never got around to sewing them up. I was more than happy to try them out. I used a little bit of a less traditional boy color for some extra fun.

Pros:

These pants appealed to me for several reasons. I like side pockets and the pleated front. The cuffs makes it a little more sophisticated than average.

A Simple Shoulder Tie Top

June 11, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 5 Comments

It’s our last peasant top tutorial! Are you tired of peasant tops? What- never! If you are looking for a full run down you can find the 2T pattern (and directions on resizing it HERE, use that for the original peasant dress tutorial, the ruffle neck tutorial, and the shirred short sleeve tutorial.

This fourth dress, tunic, or top is the simplest to sew of the bunch. If you are new to sewing and looking for a confidence builder this is a great start. If you are an experienced sewer and need a new top for a child FAST- this one is for you!

Sew You Had a Boy with Feather’s Flights

June 6, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 5 Comments

We’re very excited to have Heather from Feather’s Flights as our Sew You Had a Boy guest this month! I follow Heather’s blog regularly, and if you are sewing for a boy I highly recommend you do too! If you’re not sewing for a boy, then tune in for the sewing for women and great inspiration for using your fabric stash along with upcycled materials.

2T Romper From T-Shirt

I am so excited to be here today! I love spreading and sharing the love about any boy sewing projects, especially because I have a cute little guy of my own. This is such a fun boy series!…..Well, I’d like to tell you a story. My bother gives me a lot of his old t-shirts that he doesn’t want. He gave me an awesome monkey face shirt. This monkey shirt was THE inspiration to my t-shirt romper pattern and tutorial post from last year. I loved the idea of a little boy running around in a shorts romper with a huge monkey face on his belly. I didn’t use it originally because the face was so big that I would have had to cut off a lot of the sides to make it the smaller size.

Last fall I made a 24 mos/2T romper pattern because my readers asked for it but forgot about it quickly because Henry wasn’t even close to that size. Well, the summer here has already started off as a hot one, and Henry needs some easy, cool rompers to get him (and me) through the summer! I was finally able to used the monkey face without cutting it up!

Shirred Short Sleeve Peasant Dress or Top

June 2, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 3 Comments

Here is the next easy variation on your peasant top pattern, the shirred short sleeve top or dress. This top makes use of a sewing material I’ve been meaning to try for awhile now, elastic thread. I’m happy to report it was a much easier, happier experience than I had anticipated. I’ll share all the details below.

Let’s start sewing your top!

Don’t have a pattern? Start here.

Let’s Play- the Pleated Playsuit

May 31, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 11 Comments

We had the chance to pattern test Elephants and Elegance’s new pattern. The Playsuit is sized 12 months to 9 years.

The best part she’s offering it as a free download! And you know free patterns make us feel a little like this…..

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Filed Under: DIY Sewing Projects, Free Pattern

Ruffle Neck Peasant Dress Pattern and Tutorial

May 29, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 6 Comments

Our first variation on our basic peasant dress pattern is the ruffle neck peasant dress! This is the first of 3 summer variations we have planned for you. Need the pattern or direction on how to grade it to your size. See our peasant dress introduction.

Read all the way through the instructions before you cut your pieces. I’m going to give you a few armhole choices- and it will effect how you cut.

Ok let’s start!

This One is for the Girls, Four Dresses one Pattern

May 28, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 1 Comment

If you sew for a girl you are, I’m sure, familiar with the staple peasant dress. It is cute, easy, and very forgiving as far as sizing and sewing go. An easy project for a beginner, it can also be detailed, transitioned, embellished, and made to be something much more for an advanced sewer.

This week we are revisiting our most popular post the Peasant Dress Tutorial, and bringing you three new summer time variations. The best part? You only need two pattern pieces to make all four of these dresses! And since this pattern will give you measurements for top, tunic, and dress lengths that is 12 different garments! No need to measure out rectangles or extra pieces- we’ve got you covered.

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Filed Under: DIY Sewing Projects, Free Pattern

Summertime Pajamas

May 24, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 9 Comments

Quick post today! Wanted to share some cute pjs recently sewn up. This is a favorite pattern of ours Alex and Anna’s Winter PJ’s from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop. (affiliate link). We made these up for O when the spring weather rolled in his pajamas were a big hit, little sister likes hers just as much!

M has spent the winter in hand-me-down pajamas. Which means she sports a lot of dinosaurs, puppies, and trucks.

I mean she had a few girly pajamas, but she probably was due a few more.

On the bright side she loves dinos and trucks too, so was not oppose to rocking big brothers PJs. Again this pattern sewed up nice and easy. With professional looking results.

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Filed Under: 30 minutes or less, DIY Sewing Projects

Summer Style Surfer Slacks

May 20, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 17 Comments

I was feeling really uninspired with my boy sewing. I’ve known for a couple weeks that O was one solid dinner away from busting out of ALL of his shorts. But I’ve been left hemming and hawing. I cut out of pair of baggies using this free pattern. But haven’t gotten around to sewing them up. (I might be regretting my fabric choice, it’s curling like mad already)

I decided to break my boy sewing funk by going back to some favorite patterns and adjusting them for the warm weather. I pulled out a linen remnant I had picked up, and one of the vintage revival knits I had just got in the mail.

I altered the Surfer Slacks from See Kate Sew for the shorts and the Varsity Cowl Neck pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop for the top,which by chance was inspired by this See Kate Sew post. (affiliate links)

Ruffle Bums a Summer Pattern

Pattern Review: Banyan Pants

Picking the Pattern

Pros:

A Simple Shoulder Tie Top

Sew You Had a Boy with Feather’s Flights

2T Romper From T-Shirt

Shirred Short Sleeve Peasant Dress or Top

Let’s Play- the Pleated Playsuit

Ruffle Neck Peasant Dress Pattern and Tutorial

This One is for the Girls, Four Dresses one Pattern

Summertime Pajamas

Summer Style Surfer Slacks

The Surfer Slacks- Summer Style

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