Lily and Thistle Paper Dolls

Are you looking for a unique and beautiful Christmas gift for a special little girl?  How about these adorable Lily and Thistle Paper Dolls.

I just love them and my girls do too.  Here they are receiving theirs last year.

They are totally customized to look like your little girl.  You choose the hair, eye and skin color as well as the hair style.  Your child’s name is even printed on the bottom.  She comes with a lovely pillowcase dress.

Then the fun really starts with all of the beautiful outfits that Hannah has created.  There are clothing lines for each season as well as Fairytale, Sports and Girls in Literature lines.  SO FUN!

Hannah also shares a great tip on her site about the “Amazing Sticky Strip”.  It is reusable tape that you can place on your doll and just stick the clothes to her rather than using the tabs.  The tape can be used over and over again and if it looses it’s stick you can just wash it and it is good as new!  This made playing with the dolls so much easier for my girls.  It also helped when it came to cutting out the outfits because they could just cut the tabs on the clothing right off.  What a great idea!

Hannah also offers come cute freebies on her blog HERE.  Including this Mabel doll so that your little one’s doll can have a playmate!

Happy Playing!

P.S. There are also boy paper dolls and clothing lines so these would make a great gift for a little boy too.

Pumpkin Applique

(For my more detailed posts on applique “how to”, look HERE for straight stitch and HERE for satin sitch.)


I was in the mood for a quick sewing project so I made up a couple of these Pumpkin Applique T-shirts.  The applique pattern is from Kimberbell Kids and is super easy.

I used Wonder Under to adhere the pieces to the shirt and then I just did a straight stitch around each piece.  It will fray a bit over time but I like that look.  Super easy and super quick!

I also like that the applique isn’t specifically for Halloween so that it can be worn all fall.

Happy Sewing!

No Pattern Knit Pants

My girls only wear knit leggings and I have been meaning to make them some for a long time.  I figured it couldn’t be that hard and now that I have sewn with knits I few times I wanted to give it a go.  For my more detailed post about sewing with knits, please go HERE.


There are several patterns out there for sewing leggings but I decided to try the FREE tutorial on From an Igloo.  I really love this blog and am so sad that Christine isn’t blogging anymore but there are so many wonderful tutorials on there that you should really go check it out!


Anyway, back to the pants.  Christine gives terrific instructions for making your own pattern using a pair of leggings that fit your child.  I have always been a little scared to try this method but knits are so forgiving because they stretch.


Well it worked out great!  You do need to remember to add 1/4” to 1/2” on all sides for seam allowance.  I added a bit more as the pants I used for my pattern were getting to be a bit snug on my girls.

Well they love their groovy knit pants! 

I really like that they have a fold down yoga style top to them rather than an elastic waistband.  Super comfy!

 

I used the same fabric as in the tutorial for two reasons. 
A.) I really liked it! 
B.) I wanted to make sure that the fabric that I chose had the right amount of lycra in it. 
This fabric was found on Chez Ami.  Occasionally , I will by knit fabric at Joann’s or the discount fabric warehouse near my home.  However, the fabric at Chez Ami is far superior and worth the investment in my opinion.
I hope that you give these a try.  They were super easy!

Happy  Sewing!

Cowl Knit Along

 

I only started sewing about five years ago but before that I used to knit.  When I say knit, I don’t mean fancy sweaters or anything.  Mostly scarves and a couple of hats.  I think I even have a blanket 3/4 of the way done in my stash somewhere.  Well it has been a while and I have been meaning to get back to knitting.

 

Shannon over at Luv in the Mommyhood gave me the perfect opportunity.  This month, she is hosting a cowl knit along.  (See that cute little button in my right side bar?  Just click on it for the details.)  Here is the cowl that I made.  I was able to sport it this past weekend while my kiddos played in the snow!  Hello, it’s only October people!

Anyway, I really love it.  It is the Breckenridge Cowl if any of you want to give it a try.  The pattern is on Ravelry which I only just discovered last year.  They have about a bazillion knitting and crochet patterns and many of them are free!

 

See all of the lovely cables?  This was my first time attempting cables.  I am so proud of myself. 

As I mentioned before, it has been a while since I have knit and I even needed a refresher on how to do a knit stitch vs. a purl stitch.  Fortunately, there are several sites with how to videos.  The two that I found the most helpful are Knit Witch and Knitting Help .  Go check them out.

Guess what, I even whipped up a second one!  Hmmmm….. whom to give it to?

 

Happy Knitting and thanks Shannon for hosting the knit along!