Onesie Giveaway Take 2!

I have to admit, my first attempt at a giveaway was kind of a bust. :-( But I'm learning from the errors of my ways, and here's a new giveaway! This one is sure to appeal to a larger group of people. I hope!

This giveaway is for YOUR CHOICE of TWO ONESIES! The winner can choose the design and size.

Available designs are: mustache, aviator sunglasses, skinny tie and untied bow tie

Available sizes (in LONG SLEEVE ONLY) are: 6, 9, 12, and 18 months in white, Carter's brand onesies.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway (in no particular order) is ONE of the following PER ENTRY. Do all three and you get three entries!

1) Follow this blog by clicking on the "Follow" button on the left sidebar and leave a comment stating that you would like to enter the contest.

2) Visit my Etsy shop and leave a comment here letting me know which one of the items for sale is your favorite!

3) Follow me on Instagram @jkwdesigns AND repost the giveaway photo (you must do both). Be sure to tag the photo #jkwdesigns #onesiegiveaway.

**If you've done all three of the above and you're just dying for another entry, like my Facebook page! Then leave a comment here letting me know.  Please note that following jkwdesigns on Facebook will not automatically enter you into the contest. This giveaway is not associated with Facebook.**

The last day to enter is May 31, 2013 at 11:59PM EST. The winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2013 and the winner will be announced here, on my Facebook Newsfeed and on Instagram. Since I'm not asking you to enter any personal information in order to be a part of the giveaway, once the winner is announced, it is THE WINNER'S RESPONSIBILITY to contact me (juliastitches at me dot com). If the winner does not contact me within 7 days, a new winner will be selected! 

Hand-painted PI Baby Onesie Giveaway!

In celebration of my new line of baby and toddler clothes and accessories in my Etsy shop, I'm hosting my very first giveaway! This is the first of several giveaways that I'll be having in the coming weeks. First up is a hand-painted onesie that is perfect for the nerdy baby. This is a 6 MONTH sized, long-sleeved Carter's brand onesie with a PI symbol.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway (in no particular order) is ONE of the following PER ENTRY. Do all three and you get three entries!

1) Follow this blog by clicking on the "Follow" button on the left sidebar and leave a comment stating that you would like to enter the contest.

2) Visit my Etsy shop and leave a comment here letting me know which one of the items for sale is your favorite!

3) Follow me on Instagram @jkwdesigns AND repost the giveaway photo (you must do both). Be sure to tag the photo #jkwdesigns #PIonesiegiveaway.

**If you've done all three of the above and you're just dying for another entry, like my Facebook page! Then leave a comment here letting me know.  Please note that following jkwdesigns on Facebook will not automatically enter you into the contest. This giveaway is not associated with Facebook.**

The last day to enter is May 14, 2013 at 11:59PM EST. The drawing will be held on May 15, 2013 and the winner will be announced here. Since I'm not asking you to enter any personal information in order to be a part of the giveaway, once the winner is announced, it is THE WINNER'S RESPONSIBILITY to contact me (juliastitches at me dot com).

This is the first of several giveaways, so if a 6 month sized math geek onesie isn't for you (or anyone you know), visit the blog again in the coming weeks. I'll be hosting giveaways of my most popular shop items!

Bow Ties for Little Guys!

I've been busy making bow ties, some for onesies and some for little boys. I feel like I'm running a bow tie making factory...

Coming soon to the shop!

Lightning McQueen is NOT the real McQueen!

I'm trying to teach my boys that the utterly obnoxious Lightning McQueen isn't the Real McQueen. And the Real McQueen is the King of Cool. So this mama did what she does best--I got out my crafting supplies and painted t-shirts with the old Triumph Motorcycles logo. I love the way they turned out! And so does my husband. He wants a daddy-sized one to wear with his boys. ;-)

New Items in my Etsy Shop!

A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks in terms of my crafting. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm downright obsessed with sewing and designing for my kids, so I've decided to use some of that obsessive energy and hopefully make a few bucks to perhaps aid in purchasing more things to feed my crafting madness. I'm sure my husband is very pleased. ;-)

I'm working on quite a few things, and my Etsy shop will continue to sell knit/crochet patterns, but jkwdesigns is now branching out to include clothing and accessories for babies and toddlers. Mostly, it'll be ages 6 months to 5T although some of the things I'll offer will be able to be worn by kids up to about 9-10.

At the moment, I've only posted fabric appliquéd onesies, but I'm experimenting with fabric painting, and I'm hoping to have some new items up soon. Here's a sampling of some of the onesies that are available. All are ready to ship immediately, so check out the shop!

I'm also working on a Party Boy series that will include skinny ties, pre-tied bow ties and untied bow ties for little boys. Here's a sneak peak:

Finally made something for my boys!

So only after making like 20 different things for my baby girl... I finally managed to make something for Charlie and Lincoln. I'm sure they don't find the shirts as amusing as I do...but that's okay. ;-)

Making my own sewing patterns

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get a sewing machine. I love it. And now, I want a serger. Seriously, I can't stop thinking about making clothes. I remember back when I was about 10 or so, I used to draw all these ridiculous dresses and outfits I wanted to make. I should have studied fashion design.

I've figured out how to draw out my own patterns using clothes that currently fit my daughter. Everything I've made so far is pretty much limited to an 18 month size... But I figure I'll work out 24 month size soon. ;-)

Here are the things I've made for Miss Penelope, all using repurposed/upcycled materials. Woohoo! I still haven't made it to the fabric market as there's absolutely no way I would be able to navigate the place with three kids in tow... Someday... But until then, I'm cutting up all the old t-shirts and bedsheets I can find!

Asymmetric pleated dress made from a t-shirt

2 layer dress with deep v-back made from a t-shirt and bedsheets

Bubble dress made from a t-shirt

Shift dress made from a pillowcase and an old skirt

Tunic made from a bedsheet and t-shirt scraps

Peplum Jacket Version 2.0

Last week's peplum jacket for Miss Penelope didn't quite work out according to plan. I'd hoped to put buttons on it, but when I cut the pieces, I didn't account for that. Oh whoops... So I added a little piece of fabric on the front and used velcro to close it. It actually worked out pretty well. I also made the sleeves a smidge too narrow. So obviously, I had to try again. Too bad DH's old khakis weren't big enough for two jackets... But that's okay because I'm apparently a hoarder who doesn't throw anything away. I had an old Ikea couch cover that I should have tossed before we moved to Korea, but I'm definitely glad I didn't. It's a nice thick material--perfect for a jacket.

This jacket seriously kicked my ass. I tried pleats and darts for the first time. I hadn't intended to try darts... But a bit of incorrect measurements on my part led me in that direction. I had to make the pleated peplum twice because the first time, I made it backwards. :-/ But when it was all done... I was quite pleased with the finished product! And now I can say I know how to do pleats and darts. 

I think I missed my calling...

As I've been getting to know my sewing machine better these last couple of months, I've come to the realization that I may have missed my calling as a baby clothes designer... Good thing I went to school for 10 years (post-high school) to get my PhD in Art History, huh? ;-)

Anyway, I tried my hand at another tutorial for a gorgeous dress I saw on Pinterest--that wonderful, evil, time-sucking, procrastination tool. The tutorial can be found on the Tidbits blog. I adore this dress. It's beautiful. But reading through the tutorial, I was worried for a couple of reasons. A) I wasn't sure if I could handle doing the sleeves, and since I'd done the edging on a tank dress before, I decided to make it a tank dress. B) She said that she used up 6 old t-shirts in the making of this dress. Because my sewing skills are still quite limited, I wasn't sure if I was willing to risk RUINING 6 valuable t-shirts if I royally screwed this up. Despite these concerns, the ruffles on the back of this dress made me want to squeal with delight. So I had to try it. I decided to do just two colors--this way, I'd only be ruining 2 shirts.

I took a dress that I already had for Penny and made a pattern... And once I had the pieces cut out (which was way easier this time around), I got sewing. And I immediately got ahead of myself and sewed the front and back pieces of the skirt together before realizing that's one of the last steps on the tutorial. Oh whoops... But I'd already cut up one t-shirt, and there wasn't enough material to cut out another skirt. Plus, I'd already zigzag stitched the seam so it wasn't like I could just rip out the straight stitches and sew the pieces back together later. I wouldn't be able to sew the two triangular pieces onto the back of the dress... And after spending quite a bit of time staring at the pieces, trying to figure out what to do, I finally decided to just move forward. I'd figure it out later!

So I started making ruffles... Lots and lots of ruffles! Sewed the ruffles on, put the edging on the neckline and the armholes (are there more technical terms for these?), sewed the bodice onto the skirt... And I found that I love this version of the dress so much more than what I'd originally set out to make! This is much more my style than the original (thus, Penny's style--haha!), and I just adore it.

Front of dress

Back of dress

 It's just the tiniest bit big on her, so it'll be perfect once the weather warms up. Now, my only problem is is that Miss Penelope isn't walking yet. I need her to walk on her own two feet so she can wear this dress and maximize the adorableness of it.

After I posted photos of this on my Instagram, a friend of mine emailed and asked if I could help her make a dress like this for her niece, so I scanned the pattern I made and emailed it to her. Until I can figure out how to put a PDF file up on my blog, feel free to email me and I'll send you the pattern! It's for an 18 month size dress. It includes a single piece for the top/bodice and the piece for the skirt (which you'll have to cut 2 of--one for the front, one for the back). That's it! I'll get up a proper tutorial soon, with photos and all, but right now, I'm in the middle of working on Version 2 of a peplum jacket for Miss Penelope using an old Ikea couch cover! ;-)

Here's Version 1, made from a pair of her daddy's old khakis.

I love it, but it fits her quite snug right now. I'm not even sure it'll fit her once the weather warms up a bit more and she can actually wear it out of the house... Version 2 features both pleats AND darts. It's been a major pain in the ass... But I've learned a lot and I'm almost done!

One step up

The past few days, I've decided to venture forth and try my hand at sewing something that required more skills and a bit more time than 40 minutes when the baby's napping. A friend had recommended the Reversible Baby Pinafore pattern/tutorial, and amazingly, all the pattern pieces fit on a single pillowcase... So I figured, what the hell. If I screw up, it's just a pillowcase, right?

I printed out the pattern pieces (the free pattern is for 6-12 month size, and Penny's now wearing 12 month, but I figured that she can wear it as a top rather than at dress length), cut them up, lined them up and taped them... Then, I was at a complete loss. I tried cutting with the rotary cutter, but I screwed that all up. It was too hard to just cut the fabric. I found myself cutting the paper as well. Then, I tried scissors. And maybe I need to work on my scissor skills, but it kicked my butt. So after what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to get all the pieces cut. I swear, this process took longer than the actual sewing!

Once I started sewing the pieces together, it was very easy to follow the tutorial. I made a couple of mistakes, but they're all on one side of the pinafore, and since it's reversible and I used one fabric for both sides, Penny can just wear it on the side that doesn't have issues. ;-) I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I actually put Miss Penelope in a pair of white tights for the photos, but they were SO SMALL on her that the crotch was around her knees. :-/ Why does she keep growing so fast?!? It doesn't help that all three of my kids are freakishly tall for their ages, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because I'll all of 5'1". DH is average height, but he does have some crazy tall relatives. Maybe that's where the kids get it from.

Anyway, once I finished that, I jumped into the next project, which only took about 1.5 hours. I worked on it for about 30 minutes while the kids were napping yesterday, then I wrapped it up after they went to bed last night. How's that for a day's work? Hand sewing the braided neckline onto the dress took a bit longer, but since I didn't need the sewing machine, DH and I were able to watch an episode of Homeland (we just started Season 2).

This tutorial is from Make It & Love It, and it's about as simple as dress-making goes. I made it out of one of DH's favorite shirts (that I won't let him wear anymore because it looks terrible--washed too many times, all out of shape, stains, etc.), so he especially loves the finished product.

I've discovered these past few weeks that there are a million things around the house that I can cut up and repurpose. The frugal me LOVES this. On the other hand, I REALLY, REALLY want to get to the big fabric market here. I want to go so badly that I'm actually considering dragging all 3 kids there--on the subway and everything. Sigh... 

Until then, I suppose it's just fabric scraps for me. ;-)