Reuse a man's dress shirt to make baby clothes!

I know it's cliche, but the ink-stain-on-the-pocket-thing really does happen, and men's dress shirts have a lot of fabric that's usually pretty nice.  Why not do more with them than just toss 'em?  Here I show you how to make a baby-sized skirt from the sleeves.  It's a super-quick project that utilizes a lot of the existing sewing, and it looks really cute.

Christmas Sales on Linen

Have you been stocking up on fabric during these days of Christmas super sales?  I can't say I'm well-stocked, but I did score some linen at 50%.  Thanks for mis-marking and honoring your mistake, JoAnn!  So even though it was 19 degrees outside two days ago, inside I have some newly purchased linen that has lit a fire under my tush.  But what to make with it?  There are some new ideas posted on the Handmade Baby Clothes website for you.  Because, seriously, linen is so nice anytime of year!

Free Puppy Bib Pattern

I hope bibs count as clothes, because I wanted to tell you about a cute puppy bib I saw in the December Good Housekeeping magazine.  The greatest part?  Free pattern instructions online!  Click here for the pattern download.  I'll be posting some more bib ideas soon -- they're quick and make great gifts for the holidays.  Find other handmade baby clothes inspiration and tutorials at handmadebabyclothes.org.

-Erin

Great news from Oliver+S

Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S just announced she will have a book out this spring called, Little Things to Sew.  I'm so excited; I can't wait to pick up a copy!  Their patterns are great! 
You can check out more great handmade baby clothing patterns and ideas at HandmadeBabyClothes.org.

-Erin

Rosette Tutorial from Happy Together

Have you seen the post on Olive and Fern with the beautiful flower girl dresses?  Well Happy Together just posted a tutorial on how to make the little fabric rosettes that you see on Olive and Fern's dresses.  Click here.  Embellish something for your little girl to make it ultra-feminine!

-Erin

The Little Lion (Roarrr)

Just in time for Halloween, I spied the cutest knitted handmade baby hats by Sweet Pea Toad Tots.  Here is The Little Lion (Roarrr).  But there's also The Little Lamb - in organic wool or cotton.  Too cute!  In sizes from newborn to 5T.

You can also check out my Halloween post for my daughter's bee costume here: Handmade Baby Clothes Blog

-Erin

Kids Clothing Challenge Week

Elsie Marley hosts a "KCCW" or Kids Clothing Challenge Week -- all it involves is spending 1 hour a day working on handmade clothing.  She uses the term "kids," but I like to replace it with "baby."  Why not?  So sew, knit, or crochet each day, join her flickr group and post your pics.  The fun starts today!  <a href=”http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-challenge-fall-2010.html”>
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 I'm in!
-Erin

Halloween Inspiration

Got a great start on my daughter's bee costume.  I just used old shirts that I was going to get rid of anyway and went at it!  I call it guerilla sewing!  See the process on the Handmade Baby Clothes website.

-Erin

Lisbeth Perrone's book

I just purchased a used copy of Lisbeth Perrone's book Handmade Baby Clothes.  Yes, it was published in the '80s, but I'm hoping to find some timeless designs and inspiration!

-Erin

Sewing Survey

A sewing survey done by Whipstitch had some interesting results, a few of which I've commented on below:

   * 30% of us are fairly new to sewing, and have been at it a year or less
   * Nearly 40% of us are either entirely self-taught or have learned from blogs and books

So what does this mean?  It means that sewing is gaining in popularity!  So if you feel like a newbie, you are not alone.  It means that the internet is a wonderful, accessible way to educate yourself in sewing, as well as a way to gain inspiration and support from others. 

-Erin

patterns

I've just been drooling over some great patterns at Oliver + S.  I love their vintage inspired designs and the sophisticated details they include.  Their little girl's bubble is my favorite - incredibly practical for a crawling baby.  Of course, there's always the "pattern free shirred sundress" on The Sewing Dork's Blog for when I'm feeling adventurous.

-Erin

Velcro

I've just had a revelation.  I know most baby clothes use snaps, which is fine and makes them easy to take on and off, but making your own baby clothes with snaps requires some special equipment (which I don't have).  I don't think the 'snap tool' is expensive, but it's something else to get.  So, I thought to myself, why not use velcro?  It's secure, easily available, and sew-able.  Sounds good to me!  Baby clothes with velcro coming soon!
   
      - Erin

Pillowcase Dress Tutorial

A little more searching on pillowcase dresses yielded this you tube video:

Pillowcase Dress

As I was gathering inspiration for my Handmade Baby Clothes Blog, I stumbled onto a pillowcase dress on the Lucy Jane Blog.   What a great idea!  Turn an old pillowcase into a dress! 

Hmm... materials check: 1 pillow case, needle and thread, ribbon, scissors.  It appears that you use the hemmed side for the bottom of the dress (which makes sense).  Then I thought, what about searching for "Pillowcase dress," and behold: Jen Leheny's site with fantastic step-by step instructions.  Turns out, she suggests 12" of 1/2" elastic, and package of bias binding (which I don't know what that is yet), and some rick-rack for embellishment. 

I think I'll give it a try and post my results.