Posts Tagged ‘handmade’

Alternative Valentines: Cutie Tag Freebie

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Last year I had this darling idea (I’ll share next week), ordered a bunch of things 3 months in advance and they never came. So, day before Valentine’s I was scrambling to do something a little out-of-the-box that didn’t involve candy. 

I drew the design in Procreate on my iPad Pro and then exported it to Silhouette where I printed and cut all of the tags. I had Penelope put her name on all of hers, but Felix needed a little bit of help. It was easy, and the kids absolutely LOVED it! I didn’t know if fruit would be an acceptable offering for grade school kids, but apparently it was just perfect. PHEW!! 

I didn’t realize I forgot to share the printable here until a few weeks ago, so here you go. And hopefully this year’s 2019 printable won’t take me a year to post. ;)

I kept the shape simple enough that if you don’t have a Silhouette cutter at home, you can easily just cut around the outside with scissors. You don’t have to get a perfect cut in order for them to look darling, either. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLE (SANS SILHOUETTE MACHINE)

Now if you’d like to use a Silhouette machine to cut them out for you (because why would you not) see the link below to download. 

SILHOUETTE STUDIO FREE PRINTABLE

MATERIALS USED

Did you print it out? What did you think? Tag me @melissapher if you do! I’d love to see how they turned out. 

This freebie and the artwork associated with this freebie are yours to use for personal use only. Any alteration, redistribution or selling this work without my permission is prohibited. Thank you! Affiliate links used help support this website. Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or email me directly melissaATmelissaesplinDOTcom

Slouchy Sweater for Junie

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Girl Charlee approached me to see if I wanted to sew something with their fabric. Uh DUH. Yes! It’s about darn time that I turn on the freaking sewing machines. So thanks to them for the extra bit of motivation. :) I love their fabric.

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I chose this heathered specialty hacci sweater knit. It’s a light-weight, ultra-soft sweater knit that’s perfect for the weird transition to fall where it’s hot one minute and cold the next. And it washes and wears so beautifully.

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I made up the pattern for this sweater. I haven’t yet perfected the pattern, but once I do, I’ll share that with you. It’s only 2 pattern pieces, plus binding. It’s similar to the Cocoon Cardigan from True Bias. It’s a little smaller than I had originally planned, but it looks so darn cute on June anyway.

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Junie is too cute. She didn’t want me to take photos of her, so I had to bribe her with phone time. But when it comes to painting her nails, she begs me to do it! She’s such a cute girly-girl. I can’t handle it, total cuteness overload!!

Outfit details:

  • bow: handmade
  • sweater: handmade
  • top: H&M
  • denim: Target
  • shoes: c/o Freshly Picked

 

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Sewing: June’s Baby Doll Outfit

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As a goal for this year, I promised myself I’d take time out to sew each week. It hasn’t happened as religiously as I would like, but it’s happened. I’ve made a couple of little outfits for June and Pen. I’m in the middle of a couple projects for me. It’s been great to do some non-work, just-for-fun sewing. It relaxes me. But apparently it stresses the heck out of June.
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Lately she’s been in such a terrible mood. She’s got most of her teeth now so I wonder if she’s getting her two-year-old molars super early. What else would explain how a normally chill kid freaks out at the littlest thing? She wouldn’t have any part of this little photoshoot I set up for her yesterday. I still think she’s the cutest anyway.

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Around Valentine’s day, I made her this matching babydoll set. I found the fabric in my stash from a fabric swap years ago. It’s a soft, light-weight knit with oversized florals. The color scheme is a little more “Christmas” than it is “emerging spring” but the lightweight long-sleeves are great for those days when the sun is warm but the temperatures are still cool. Also, the dark fabrics hide all the gross stains she gets along her front for refusing to wear a bib. I’m all in favor of hiding those stains.

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I designed the top with an empire waist and low back. The low back is so adorable! I think it’s got to be my new favorite design element on kids’ clothes right now.

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The pants are little harem pants with a gathered waistband. She gets range of motion and I get an incredibly easy sewing project. I didn’t hem any of it besides the neckline. That biz has to be reinforced, but everything else has curled up nicely to look purposefully finished.

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Despite her terrible mood she is absolutely so adorable.

Outfit & Photo details:

DIY: Simple Rope Necklace Tutorial

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It’s unreal how long I’ve had this DIY in the queue.

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I made these necklaces back in 2013, just before I went to L.A. for a girls’ weekend. Back when I made this, I had an idea for a giant rope necklace, but didn’t have any giant rope. Turns out you can find this type of stuff in the upholstery section, but making your own rope is hyper fun. And insanely easy.

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It adds a little bit of quirkiness, but it doesn’t look nearly as home made as it is. I love that.

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For the simplest of necklaces, here’s what we’ll need:

  • Cotton twine: any kind (I found mine at Home Depot)
  • scissors
  • tape
  • jump rings
  • chain (16+ inches)
  • pliers

Click the link to see the full tutorial.

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Understated Style: My Momiform

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Finally I’m getting around to posting some of the many things I’ve made lately. I’ve been busy with projects (some secret and some not so secret) that I haven’t had much time to update this blog. I miss blogging. Instagram has kind of taken over, but I still love the accountability that blogging gives me.

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I found this slub open-knit fabric as a remnant at Michael Levine loft for $3 per pound which means the fabric came out to a whopping $1. Yes. You read right. I love the L.A. fabric district!

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I wanted something light-weight for summer so I whipped up a simple raglan. I don’t like making super basic basics because you can buy those things über cheap at places like Target so I added a couple of fun details that make it unique (at least to me).

I did a reverse hem on the sleeves so you see the underside of the fabric and the raw edges. Since it’s a knit and doesn’t easily fray, it looks purposeful.

I’ve had a heck of a time telling which side is which when I’m racing to throw on my clothes in the morning to get the kids into their routine so I wanted to do something fun to differentiate the front and the back. Instead of sewing a tag only I can see, I added a suede detail on the back side of the shirt. It adds a fun bit of visual interest. I used the raw edge of the hide, but I may go back and cut it at an angle.

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This and a pair of jeans has been my go-to.

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And leather chucks. I wanted to be part of the cool crowd with some rad convers shoes. But between my kids and me, canvas shoes wouldn’t stay nice very long. So I bought leather ones. Good choice, if you ask me. They’ve held up well against vomit, sumi ink, otterpop juice and mud.

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Outfit details:

  • necklace: gift from a friend
  • bracelet: DIY (here)
  • top: handmade (I sized up on the Lane Raglan)
  • purse: c/o Lily Jade
  • jeans: c/o DownEast
  • shoes: Amazon (affiliate, but really this is where I bought them)
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