Fashion Design 101

Sofi and I discovered this wonderful book on the $2.00 table at Barnes and Noble a month ago. It is called, "Sew Teen" and it shows you how to make about 20 different outfits from scratch - no patterns or anything - it tells YOU how to measure & cut (talk about amazing math practice!) your own pattern based on the measurements you take of yourself. This book was perfect for Sofi because she loves to design her own fashion. She is always cutting up old clothes to make something new and creating things for her dolls out of scraps of fabric. I didn't want to stifle her natural creativity and make sewing a chore for her by bringing in all the pre-stamped patterns and complex directions. And intuitively I was right - she LOVES this method.

So we started by making her Halloween costume - the bottom part will be a skirt - and with the leftover fabric we can easily make something to match for her doll because there is no pattern, we just follow the cutting instructions for the doll down to the doll's size and all is well.

And isn't the skirt pattern so clever? It is just two squares placed at an angle to each other and a waistband in the middle (see picture).

Suede Fairy Shoes Part 2

The second step, after you cut out the pattern is to make the markings on the fabric and then remove the pattern. Sunii and I cut out the suede and then we cut out a lining in a nice 100% cotton flannel. we marked the fabric. Then we decided to use the sewing machine for this job. Sunii has already made a number of items by hand sewing and is ready to advance to the machine. He is almost 13-years-old. Additionally, since these shoes will get a lot of heavy use we want to make sure the stiches are extra strong. The machine has a number of automatic stitches that will easily help this happen. Sunii, of course loved being able to use the machine. He loves anything that involves electricity (my theory is that this must be in the DNA because he was raised a "nature/Waldorf child"). He spent two hours trying out every stitch on the machine and has begged me every day since to do more "sewing". The next step will be doing some of the initial sewing on the shoes...he should be very happy when I share that with him!

Waldorf Memories

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Felt Stick Horse

I found this ole horsy when I was helping my daughter clean her room (don't ask me for the details on that). It brought back such good memories! We made it together when my eldest was 7 (she is 13 now) and it was very easy - we just used 2 pieces of large felt fabric and cut them in the shape of a "sock" - hand sewed them together, stuffed it, added button eyes, sewed closed the part where the stick went in and we had a lovely stick horse. I am not sure why we chose pink....but anyway...thought this might inspire someone out there. We got a lot of use out of him before he joined the stuffed animal zoo in my child's closet!

How to Knit together the Valentine's Flowers...

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Sofi's Easy Christmas Cape

Sofi went shopping with a friend of mine a few nights ago to get gifts for me and some other family members. I have to admit I was a bit worried. I don't like to set "rules" for people when they do me the great favor of taking my children out (hey, as a single mom you get desperate!) so I waited to see what would happen. Would she come home with a bag full of Polly Pockets and Hershey bars?

She surprised me. I would not have guessed in a million years what she would be buying. She saw some velvety fabric and purchased a couple yards of it. But I didn't even know that until she came out of her room wearing this gorgeous green cape secured with a golden button in the middle.

She wanted me to make another one for her doll. Her doll is very special because he older sister (13) gave it to her. So, although it is not a Waldorf doll, it has a lot of special energy in it as her older sister is living overseas this year so this doll is like a treasure to Sofi.

The fabric she had chosen was a strong velvet-like fabric that does not unravel so she had not had to "finish" the edges with any sewing. All she had to do was cut it and secure it with the button. I helped her make a smaller one for her doll and I showed her how to make a button hole for her button (we just cut in the fabric...no sewing). She wore the capes and carried her doll with her all day yesterday. We got some "looks" as we were shopping - but I think most of them were smiles.

Sofi made her cape by just taking a large rectange of material and securing it with a button. All she had to do was cut the material to the right size and sew on the button. I made the doll cape by cutting the material in more of a circle and then cutting a line half-way down on one side of the circle. Then I cut a tiny button hole in one side and sewed the button on the other side. It took me about 5 minutes. The ease is in finding a fabric you do not have to sew (and in being the kind of person who can overlook a few scraggly edges to your cape).

PARENT CRAFT: Baby or Doll Sling

Dear Parents,

I am not very good at sewing and to make it worse I really don't like to sew! However, when my daughter was born I managed to make a sling for her and a few years later I made a smaller one so she could carry around her dolls - she LOVE them. Give it a try for a holiday gift. Make your child a sling for their dolls or animals and save a lot of money! You are basically paying for the price of a little bit of fabric.

Here is a nice online link on how to make them:

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1894

Blankie Jeans

Dear Parents,

I wanted to share with you what my daughter, Sofi, did with her old Blankie today. She is 8-years-old and her grandmother quilted her a blanket when she was very little. She loves it so much and once when I was sick I had nothing else I could do so I sat for 4 hours and sewed up all the ripped parts! But they ripped again so today she cut out pieces from it and designed a new pair of 8-year-old jeans. I just thought that was so cool! Here's a picture: