Mini Comfy Cozy Cowl // Recess Raglan

 The little girl saw my new comfy coral sweatshirt and asked if I could make one for her.  It's nice to have a mama that loves to sew!

 I made hers using See Kate Sew's Recess Raglan pattern.

I followed the pattern, but then added a band at the bottom for more of a sweatshirt feel.  She also requested a kangaroo pocket for the front.  The above picture makes me smile because I asked her to try a different pose, maybe looking off to the side.  To me the look on her face is so forced....it's so cute!

 

I'd say she's pretty comfy in her new sweatshirt.  The boy is getting jealous so I guess I'm going to have to make a boy version.  I'm thinking of adding a hood instead of the cowl neck.  Stay tuned to see how that turns out.

Fingerless Mittens Tutorial

With kids running around and always needing their noses wiped or help with toys, I find myself constantly taking my gloves on and off.  So I decided to make myself some fingerless mittens and thought I'd share.  They are super easy.....here we go.

I made mine with fleece and then embellished with some jersey scraps and buttons I had around.

First, I traced my hand, adding about 1/2 inch all the way around.

I outlined a pattern with marker.  You want to leave extra at the top of the finger and thumb part since it's going to get folded over and sewn.  I made one set just leaving the raw edges and though it looks okay, it doesn't hold up well over time. 

Fleece definitely has a right and wrong side and one way stretches more.  So make sure you figure out which side is the right side and how it stretches.

Fold the fleece in half and cut 2 pieces for each mitten.  Sorry about the pink background, taking photos at night is tough!

Fold the top of the finger portion and thumb portion 1/4 inch to the wrong side and sew with a wide zig zag so that the seam will stretch. 

If you want to embellish, do it now!  Make sure you do the mirror image halves of the set.

Put the front and back together (1 embellished piece with 1 plain piece) and sew as shown.  Don't sew across the top or the thumb piece for obvious reasons :)

There you have it!  A cute pair of fingerless mittens!

Make a pair for yourself....

And for your favorite photographer friend.  Figuring how to to trace your friends' hands without them getting suspicious is the trick. 

Let me know what you come up with!
 

Polka Dot Boy

This boy is looking remarkable happy considering he just got home from the doctor after being diagnosed with his first ear infection!

Must be the super cute boy version of Rae's Snowblossom Hat. She posted a great tutorial for this hat which she did for her little girl, embellished with some beautiful flowers.

Here's my boy version of her hat. Don't you love this picture....it looks like he's doing an ad campaign for his yogurt.



I sewed this hat in literally 15 minutes, which is a testament to Rae's great tutorial. I did make a few little changes....I can't help myself.

I didn't want to have a seam in front (and it's one less seam to sew) so instead of the width of each of the 4 fabric (2 for inside, 2 for outside) pieces being:

(Head Circumference + 1")/2

I had 1 piece of fabric (1 for each side that is, inside and outside) with a width of:

Head Circumference + 1/2"

This way I had one long piece of fabric that I sewed into a tube and put the seam in the back of the hat. The rest of the instructions I followed, but didn't cut the top into petals, just did a regular fringe.

I also used a cream colored interlock for my inside instead of fleece. The goal was to make it less bulky, which it is, but the downside is that the interlock slips away from the fleece, so it peeks out more than a fleece lining would. I could have done an edge-stitch all the way around, but I was worried it would stretch it and make it rippled looking.

I do love this fleece. Unfortunately, one of the few boy prints I could find. We need a Celebrate the Boy fabric shop. Any takers?

Anyway, another great tutorial from Made-by-Rae....and very easy too! Thanks Rae!