Patterns, Techniques, Articles, Blogs, and other resources to learn how to sew
Jen from Growing Up With Charissa and Footprints shows how to refashion an adult tee into her little girl-sized Boardwalk Dress. This is a quick, easy dress with loads of personality. Go to the tutorial. (You’ll need to scroll down for the tute.)
[photo from Footprints]
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.
I Love the itty bitty baby dress. I have a grandaughter aged six months and I am looking for easy patterns for dresses for the summer (age 12 months) how can I adapt the itty bitty dress for a size 18-20?
Margaret
I think this pattern should be fairly easy to adapt. Start with an existing garment that’s the right size and trace around it. Then, print out the smaller sized pattern to use as a guide and draw the larger pattern pieces. It might take a couple of tries to get the scale right, so use inexpensive fabric that you don’t care about for the first ones you make. –Anne