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Girls in Painted Dresses

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I have decided that the best birthday present that I can give myself is to re-create my line of clothing. Yes, bring back Candiland clothing. I loved being a designer until one day I woke up and was so super burnt. It was about this time that I disciovered Craft TV Shows and fell in love and just abandonded my line. But alas, I am back at the drawing board!

I was going through my archives and found this dazzling number that I made for myself- for my birthday a few years back. It is a simple stretch empire-waist dress that I hand-painted. I got such a fantastic response from it that I wanted to share it with you.

People always ask me what I use to hand-paint my dresses. Simple- acrylic paint. Just regular old acrylics (I like Liquitex). I find that they adhere to clothing perfectly ( have you ever been painting and got some on your clothes- well than you know what I mean!)

To hand-paint clothing, you’ll need acrylic paint in your colours of choice, and a garment. The trick is to use a good stiff bristle brush for acrylic to make the paint adhere well to the fabric. You also want to put a piece of cardboard between the layers of fabric so that the paint does not seep through to the other side. I lightly draw my design on first and then paint away. Viola!

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Have you read?

DIY Kids Gingerbread House Bag with Free Pattern

I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag.  This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid.  It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes.  It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows. 

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not.  The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary.  (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.)  The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends.  And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches.  Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure.  The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag. 

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish.  That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings.  Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies.  They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project.  I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.  

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall.  That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

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