Changes

In the past year I've moved to blog over at Crafty Hour, where I'm posting my sewing, tips and tutorials. I'm still active on Etsy and Facebook with my business Lil Bean - come check out what's new!

Canvas portrait

I got a few pictures of our new little sweetie printed and followed this tutorial here to mount them on canvases. I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out, but am nervous to try the 11" x 14" one I printed too. This one is 8" x 8". I hope I didn't go overboard with the "antique-ing"...

Crafts galore!

Here are a few of the things that have been keeping me occupied the past few months.

Lovey for Abigail for Christmas. I made a lovey for each of the boys their first Christmas too.

Little sweater I knitted this summer fits now! And baby leggies out of girls' socks.

Reversible wrap dress from a friend's pattern. I made the red bodysuit too.

Warm furry boots for Abigail (based on a mccalls pattern, but many mods)

An owl set for my friend Suzanne's little guy:

Some photo prop hats for Heather at Muse Childhood Photograhpy:

Headbands for Abigail:

The brown flower is from fleece scraps, with a snap in the centre so it's interchangeable. The black and white one is organza. The petal edges are melted for the shape. Both are on lingerie elastic bands.

Dino hat/mitts set for a friend

Peep toe shoes for Miss Abigail:

Dino hats for my boys:

Jack o' Lantern trick or treat bags for the boys:

Tights out of a maternity tee for Abigail:

Bonnet for Abigail:

Queen Anne's Lace scarf for my OB

I'm Back!

Finally some time to update!

This is why I haven't blogged in a while:

It's been a while since I posted here! I have been very busy since my last post in July. I was in the hospital on bedrest for a few weeks, then another few weeks with our daughter Abigail Grace in the NICU after my c-section. She is doing well - already 4 months old!

Abigail, one day old

ready to come home! Her little outfit I knitted while waiting to come home:

Pro photos, done by Muse Childhood Photography:

And more recently:

Maternity dress finished! And a few other projects

First off, I finally decided what to do to finish of my black dress. I shortened it by a few inches and used more of the teal to do an outside casing over the elastic under the bust. I think I like it a lot more now!




We recently put our boys in a bunk bed. I had initially done Ian's half of the room in the IKEA "Barnslig" theme with duvet cover and animal prints for the wall. So we bought another duvet for Benny, and I had a piece of their fabric in that line, so I did a valance with some polka dot cotton to contrast. Still have to hang the pictures again.



And I whipped up a Charlie Tee for Project First Day. Super easy to understand pattern! A couple years ago I picked up a pile of men's tees in huge sizes on clearance, and as I can't find cute knits locally, I just upcycled one of them. I used existing hems with the fake layer for the sleeves and back, but had to cut the front higher on the tee to keep the screenprint, so did a new hem reusing the contrast fake layer from the original tee.

... and here's the outcome!

Thanks for the suggestions!


I added about 10" to the length (may take a bit off, as it feels just too long).


Then I sewed on a tapered inset neckline, just used a twin needle to sew it under the already finished neck edge. After that, I just cut two 6" wide strip of the teal at a random length, pressed it in half, tapered it into a semicircle, then sewed it under the armhole edge. I think I could have put them in a bit tighter though, as they poke out a bit much.


Does it need anything else? I have a small piece (about 12" x 30") of the teal left.

Any ideas for me?

I found this dress at Walmart for $9 yesterday.

I'm really needing something cool like this to fit the bump, but it's about tunic length on me. I thought to make it a little more interesting with some colour and lengthen it also, so tried this (pinned at the moment):


I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of this. Will be a sort of prairie style, I guess. I could do less gathers, or no gathers, or pleat it?

Also, I want to pull in the teal on the top, but am fairly uncertain what to do there. I thought maybe a ruffle along the v-neck, or just make a teal fabric rose or two to pin on, with possibly a fooler neck as the v is a bit deep on me.

Any ideas??

Upcycled Men's Dress Shirt...

...to boy's dress shirt!!

This was my husband's favourite button-down shirt, but his wide shoulders strained the seams so they started pulling apart. It's a very soft, drapey fabric. I used the Pox Couture Kid's Summer Shirt pattern. I placed the collar pattern on the existing collar, and made a centre back seam as it would have been too long otherwise. Placed the shirt fronts on the original button and buttonhole plackets, minus the seam allowances. Unpicked and used the original yoke and back. If I do this again, I'd upcycle a shirt with an existing pleat at the centre back already, then I could just use the whole back.


The pattern is fabulous! Amazingly detailed instructions with line drawings, just 4 pages, the pattern pieces are very professionally done, with seam allowances marked on each piece. Lots of great tips in the pattern for construction of a couture garment. The fit is great too, not as boxy as a lot of the Big 3 patterns I saw. I did the 2T size for Benny, who just turned 2. He was almost exactly the measurements the pattern listed.

Still has the printed care tag in the back!

Summer Sale at Lil Bean!

Lil Bean is having a summer sale this week!! Everything in stock is 25% off with coupon code "SummerSale" at checkout. (excludes custom items) Check out Lil Bean at Etsy.

Some items currently in stock:

Comfy Sleep Set and more stenciled tees

Had an impromptu craft night with a couple of friends last night. I started on this Comfy Sleep Set for baby girl and finished it this morning. It went together like a breeze once I figured out how to use a twin needle with Wooly Nylon in the bobbin for the hem.

Pattern: Comfy Sleep Set (Fishsticks Designs)
Fabric: mocha 100% cotton interlock
Trim: pink cotton/spandex interlock




I also stenciled another tshirt, using the "negative" of the stencil I cut for Ian's blue power symbol tee. It's a size 3. I fused the stencil on, then used a spray fabric paint.




And this is one I did a while back at Suzanne's - my first try at the spray paint was a little uneven in spots. Oh well, still cute...

More knitted things for baby girl

I've slowed down some with the knitting lately, as I'm finally feeling a little better this pregnancy - enough to get out more and do other things. But here are the last two finished items, which were waiting for buttons till last night.

This is the dress I posted about a while back - I chose the hearts fabric. I think it's about a size 6-12 mo (stretchy bodice because it's knitted).

This little sweater is the free Autumn Leaves pattern. The yarn is some I dyed when I was first experimenting with "breaking" Wilton's icing dyes. This lovely seafoam and lilac colourway was dyed on a Patons Classic wool white base with Wilton's Delphinium Blue, which is a gray-blue. This is the colour it's supposed to be:
When I added acid to the dye, it broke into it's component colours, and this is what I got:

Freezer Paper Stenciled tees

I did some more freezer paper stenciled shirts for Ian today.

Angry Birds red bird stenciled tee:

Power symbol tee:

Ian just HAD to try on Daddy's rock star costume when he saw Henry come home dressed up!
This year he's rowing for the Stollery Children's Hospital again (Row For Kids), and today at his work they put on an '80s Rock Star themed barbeque. He went as Billy Idol.

Embellished hoodie

I picked up this little hoodie a long time ago (I think when I was expecting Benny, before we knew he was a boy) and found it in a box the other day. It needed something to pretty it up. I'm not sure if it's complete yet or not. I have to get an idea of what's cute for a little girl and what's too much! After sewing for boys, this is totally different!

Fishsticks Designs shorts

Now I've sewn from all three of the Fishsticks Designs patterns I got in the mail this week! Thanks for great patterns, Bonnie!

Pattern: AJ Bottoms Fishsticks Designs, shorts option
Fabric: flannelette, waistband black interlock with internal FOE
Sizes: Rockets 4T, traditional rise; Puppies, 2T, diaper rise

In a hurry, cut one leg of the puppy print upside down, but they're sleep shorts and to try out the size anyway...

Here's Benny in his:





Pattern: Inside or Outside Pocket Pants Fishsticks Designs, shorts option
Fabric: cotton twill, internal FOE for waistband
Sizes: Green 4T and Charcoal 2T

[ETA pic] Here are the boys in their new Sunday shorts!