Easter Chloe Dress

 Does anyone else get excited when they find super cute free sewing patterns? This one is the Chloe Dress Baby from Vintage Little Lady. It also comes in girls and tween sizes.

It was the perfect pattern to make a little bunny dress, just in time for the long weekend - luckily bunnies are cute any time of the year!

I did snap closures instead of buttons just because they're so much easier to do, and also quicker when dressing a wriggly baby!

The lovely bunny fabric is Boho Easter from Frankie Bear Fabric.

Elderberries

 I have an elderberry that wasn't meant to be planted in the ground, but it chose to root through it's pot so for now it is staying!

It is quite a lovely plant but my little fence to stop Archie getting into my vegetable garden is falling down - helped by the elderberry growing through it! Soon I'll get to that section of the garden and it will have to come out, but until then I have taken cuttings so I can grow it along my back fence. I'm hoping it will help prevent the neighbours smoke blowing into our house!

Now while I've always had elderberry in pots they've never produced enough for me to do anything with the berries so I've just left them for the birds. Obviously it's happy being in the ground because it's been so productive the birds aren't eating them all.

All those tiny berries don't look like much now they're all dried out. The dried ones can be used to make a syrup that is beneficial for your immune system. If I get enough fresh ones I'll attempt the cordial and jam recipes I've seen.

Galaxy Matching Outfits

 Christmas 2021 I made all the nieces, nephews and sibling in laws matching clothes using this galaxy fabric. I love this fabric, it works for both male and female, and I have enough leftover to make myself something one day!

For my daughter and her little cousin I made matching Overall Playsuits from OhMeOhMy. I shortened the straps and the front top by one inch since it's already too long for my tall baby. If you want to see what changes I make when sewing this pattern you can read my other post here.

For my little nephews, I used the Sycamore shorts pattern from Sew Like my Mom. I was lazy and didn't add the pockets, but I did a size bigger and added buttonhole elastic to the back so it will fit them longer.

For my nieces, I used the elastic waist skirt tutorial from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. I made a size bigger for my nieces and added buttonhole elastic to the back as well.

For the pocket tshirts I used the tutorial from See Kate Sew, before you cut your fabric, just hold the template up to your shirt as I found them to be too big.

And for my newest sister in law I tried adding flutters to this cute store bought romper, I didn't take into account the fraying edges until I'd already started. It's probably not going to be a problem since babies outgrow clothes so fast, but if I ever do this again I will use lace since it doesn't fray.

Ironing trolley

 I have one of those big steam irons that take up so much room on my ironing board and doesn't have a home so it is always in the way. But then it got placed on this Ikea trolley which has now become my permanent ironing station! 

It has this chopping board on top where I sit the iron and I bought a second one to create a mini ironing board, it is perfect for pressing all the seams when sewing.

All I did was trace the board then cut 1 layer of Insul-Brite and 4 layers of flannel to sit on top of the wood. For the outer layer I traced the board and added 1" all the way around using cotton fabric (mine is from Frankie Bear), then notch the curved edges. 

Line up all the fabric then place the board on top (upside down). I just used wood glue all around the edge and pulled the fabric taught and pressed it onto the glue until it held. Then leave to dry. 

The edges look a little rough on the curves so you could glue ribbon around the edge to finish it off. I'll get around to that one day!

Pocket Tshirts

 Making pocket tshirts is a quick gift idea, perfect for kids and adults! I think these are going to be my go to Christmas gifts, they don't cost much in time or money so they're perfect for the most expensive time of year!

I used the scraps from the pillowcases I made for the kids birthday presents for their pockets since I already knew they liked my fabric choice. Even my almost adult nephew said he wanted a spiderman one!

I used the tutorial and template from See Kate Sew, I did find them too big so just hold the template up to the tshirt to make sure you're happy with the size before you cut your fabric.