DIY Adjustable Elastic Suspenders

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Recently my husband told me that I needed to have a baby girl so that I would stop accessorizing our boys.  I don't really think that there is anything wrong with accessorizing boys,  it is just a bit more limited.

I love suspenders, and couldn't resist making a pair for Clark out of this striped elastic that I found. I made them adjustable, and I made them large, that way he can wear them for a long time to come.

Do you want to make your own? Tutorial below the jump.

Birthday Boys

Within the past couple of weeks, both of my boys celebrated their birthdays.  I love them.

They make me smile.

Clark is such a bright boy. He just turned four.  He loves space, loves machines, is learning to read, and is bound to do great things.

Miles celebrated his first birthday.

 He's walking like crazy, trying to talk like crazy, and we love him to pieces

I can't believe that a whole year has passed since we welcomed him to our family.

Cake anyone?

Simple Suspenders-The Perfect Lil' Boy Accessory

I sewed up some simple ribbon suspenders recently.  You can find a tutorial for boys suspenders on the cotton and curls blog.  She used elastic for the suspenders, but ours are just made out of ribbon.

 I added a bit of contrast stitching on Miles';  I wish that I'd added it to Clark's as well.

I think that suspenders and bow ties are a fantastic pair.  They help break up the torso, and add a bit of visual balance.

 And with the lack of boys accessories out there, why not make some up.  They are simple and quick to make, and are really fun for photo shoots in the back yard.

If you missed my boys bow tie tutorial and pattern, you can find the original post here.

Thanks for reading, happy sewing, and a happy Memorial Day also!

For Valentine's Day...and Mother's Day: Mom Heart Tattoo Applique

 I must admit, Valentine's day is a hard holiday for outfitting boys.  You don't want to dress them in ruffles, lace, and huge amounts of pink. However, I think that I came up with a fun and appropriate approach to the holiday.

How about a Mom Heart Tattoo Applique.  Because these two little guys are so rough and tough....alright, not so much, but they sure are lovable. When Clark and I started our photo shoot I asked him to act tough, all I got were smiles and kisses (maybe he was remembering our Christmas shirt shoot).  

Right now I'm really enjoying the fact that I am the girl that is in the center of their lives, I dread the day that Clark runs off chasing girls, and forgets all about his dear old mom. I'm marking my territory.  I'm reminding them now, while their young, that mine is a heart that they don't want to break.

If you are interested in this particular applique template and tutorial, I have a pdf file available for purchase.  The file includes three different sized templates.   I've also written up a photo tutorial to explain the process that I used to create my appliques.  The pdf template will be emailed to the buyer, and you can be printed at home. 

Check out the guns! 

While I'd love to share all of my projects with you for free, I feel like I need to make my time more profitable.  We're hoping to get my husband  into grad school later this year, and we're trying to save our pretty little pennies.  Don't worry though,  I have several more projects and tutorials that I'm working on.  Hopefully I'll have them to you early next week.

 A whole lotta love here.

 Thanks so much for reading!

Super Hero Capes

Last week most of my available sewing time was dedicated to sewing sewing six reversible super hero capes for a family member.  

I was sewing them for six of her grandsons, three of which happen to be from the same family.  I wanted each of the brothers to have a unique cape...so that there wasn't any confusion.  Unfortunately, there really aren't very many caped super heroes:  Batman, Superman, Robin (sidekick), and a few lesser known heroes.

 I chose to make a Batman cape, red Superman cape, and a blue Superman cape.  Each of the capes has an un-caped super hero logo on the back: Green Lantern, Spiderman, and Captain America. The brothers can now play different superheroes at the same time.

In the past I've used ribbon for a tie closure at the neck, but after having to stop dinner to tie on a super hero cape, I knew that there had to be a better way.  I figured that a few inches of elastic would do the trick. The elastic stretches over their little noggins, and keeps the cape in position. Can I just say that I'm happy to have this project wrapped up, I have a lot of projects that I'm eager to work on.

Happy sewing!

You can find my Super Hero PDF Sewing Pattern in my shop!

Boys in Bow Ties

I really do love my boys in bow ties.  I grew up with my husband, and one of the things that I've always loved about him (before I ever fell in love with him), is his quirky sense of style.  He's by no means fashion forward, but he sure can work a bow tie.  

I started making bow ties for my husband and Clark last Christmas, and it seems that for every gift giving holiday I end up making them new bow ties.  Some of you may tire from seeing the same projects repeated with new fabric, but I do love how this batch turned out.   

Here are a few of my favorite things about this batch:

1-The stripes.  I love a stripe cut on the bias.  I love that the stripes end up running in the same direction when tied.

2- The fabric, particularly the silver fabric.  It is the perfect weight for a bow tie.  I think that I am finally figuring out the appropriate weight for the bow tie.  The green and blue fabric is too thick, but the silver is light weight, and pressed so nicely.  It also looks crisp and sharp when tied.  A silk weight or silk like fabric is best.

3-Adjustments. The mens bow tie pattern that I used is The David Bow Tie pattern from Burda Style (free on their web site).  The only problem is that it is a bit short when sewn together.  I've figured out how much I need to adjust the length so that the tie is easy to tie.  I also decided to use a continuous piece of elastic for Clark's bow ties.  In the past I've used two separate pieces that velcro together, this just adds unnecessary bulk under the collar.  

 4-Texture. This rust colored fabric has some definite texture to it.  The darker stripes are embossed and velvety.  It adds a bit of bulk to the fabric, but I still love, Love, love it.

Ahhh....Stripes. Retro Pointed Bow Tie by Cheri .

In case you are wondering...Miles is going to sport his first bow tie Christmas Day for his baby blessing.  I'll post pics of his outfit as soon as I finish it up.

So do you have any gifts that you repeat every Christmas?  I know that my husband can almost always count on a new pair of socks from my parents?

Captain America Shield

Clark celebrated his third birthday at the beginning of October.  I wanted to make him some gifts that would keep him entertained and promote imaginative play.  I decided to make some dress up props.  Being a three year old boy he is obsessed with super heroes.

I decided that a Super Man cape, and a Captain America shield would be fun for him.  He loves them.  I just wish that I could keep him from throwing the shield like Captain America does.

The shield is my own design, and I was in such a hurry to finish up the projects that I didn't make a full tutorial, but I'll share some basic details to help you create your own.

I used craft felt for all of the exterior material, doing so means that you don't have to finish off any edges, but it also means that it is going to show wear more.

The shield has an interior layer of peltex (a rigid interfacing often used in bags), and a layer of cardboard for rigidity.  If you were wanting to save money and use only cardboard I'd recommend three layers at a minimum.  The cardboard (single layer) has bent as the shield has been used to fight off villains. In front of the cardboard I used some shredded plastic bags for stuffing. The plastic bags help cushion the shield and give it a slightly domed appearance.

On the back of the shield I attached two bands of felt (double thickness).  The bands are used for holding the shield, and were attached prior to sewing the front and back pieces of the shield together.

The shield could obviously be made any dimensions, but my shield is 16" in diameter, and the cardboard inside is probably a half inch smaller than that.

For the front of the shield I created a printable for the center ring and star.   I then cut out a red circle that was 3" larger in diameter than the blue, and attached the blue circle.  Each underlying circle is 3" larger than the layer attached to the top. When sewing it together I started with the star and worked my way down layer by layer, by doing it this way I only ever had to sew through two layers of felt at a time.

If you want to make your own you can find my printable file here.  Let me know if you have any questions.  I'm sure that I left out some details.

Clark loves his new toys, and wants to wear all of his props at one time.  The dinosaur tail was blogged about here.

Top-Toberfest: A Shirt for Thunder by guest contributor Janine

 A Shirt For Thunder

Today I'm thrilled to have a guest contributor for Top-toberfest: Janine.  Janine is a work at home mom that loves to craft.  I'm so appreciative that she was willing to share her talents, and these great boys tops with us today.  She uses a variety of techniques, including: freezer paper stenciling, hand stitching, bleach, hand painting, and bubble wrap, to create some custom tops for her son Thunder.

My son’s name is Thunder Jason and I thought it would be neat to have fun with it and make him an original shirt. I find that boy’s clothing seems to be all the same and if you find something with words, pictures, etc it’s usually too over-the-top for me. I’m not a huge fan of  all the cartoony pictures and cheesy sayings.

I bought a plain, grey shirt from WalMart. First I washed it in case of shrinkage, then I sprayed some bleach on it. I would have used a bleach pen and done a more ’tatoo’ looking design, but I couldn’t find bleach pens anywhere in my town. After washing the bleach out and drying it I made a freezer paper stencil like this. I followed Cheri’s instructions and used red Tulip fabric paint as recommended by her, painting in the stencil with a small paintbrush. I made a large "T" lightning bolt and the small letters spell 'Thunder J.' When the paint dried I painted some bubble wrap and stamped it randomly on the shirt.

 And finally I did some embroidery. I made some tiny lightning bolts, ‘x’s on the wrist, collar, and bottom hemlines and embroidered “Made By Mama” on the shoulder.

   I’m SO happy with how it turned out! I‘ve also included pictures of 2 other shirts I made.

 The red shirt says, “You’ve been…Thunderstruck” and was made using the same freezer paper stencilling and bubble wrap technique.

   The blue one says, “THUNDERIFIC SO TERRIFIC!” and was made by hand painting with fabric paint and a paint brush. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Be careful, freezer paper stencilling is very addictive :)

Thanks so much Janine.  The tops turned out great, and I'm sure that your son loves them. I especially love the hand stitched details that you added, they really add something special.


  Want to share your custom tees or tops with us?  Link up all of your shirt related projects in our Top-toberfest link party. I'll be featuring some of my favorites from the party come November.