Baby Carlie

I hope everyone had a fabulous Mothers Day!

For me, Mother's Day 2012 began on Friday morning when I went to drop off my latest project,

Baby Carlie's Christening outfit. 
It was made from the train of her Mother's wedding gown.

I love the fact that her Mom saved the picture of her wedding gown

that she tore out of the bridal magazine at the salon almost 15 years ago.

Carlie's has three older brothers ages; 12, 8 and 2.  Her mom has been waiting 14 years for this little princess to arrive.  She has told me that since the day she was married she dreamed about having a daughter
and having her wedding gown made into the christening gown. 

This was such a fun project to complete.

I really enjoyed removing the lace from the hem of her train and

 reworking it for Carlie's Christening Gown and Blanket.

Her Mother also requested that I make a Monogramed Christening Blanket.

Above are a few detail shots of her blanket

When Chris opened the box that contained Carlie's Christening Gown

her eyes filled with tears.

It was an amazing moment to watch her face light up and hear her reminisce about buying her wedding gown and talk about how she dreamed of having a daughter who would be able to wear a Christening gown made from her Wedding dress.

This Mother's day I was able to help make one mom's dream become a reality.

Life doesn't get much better than that :)

Interested in having a dress like this made for your little one ... email me at:

willowbeanstudio@gmail.com

DIY Grocery Store

Last summer I did a guest post on Someday Crafts.
It was an awesome honor to post there.
I thought it was time to repost it here on my blog.

Today I'm going to show you how to knock off the PB Kids grocery store.

First my husband constructed a wooden frame from 1" x 2"s.

He used angle brackets to secure the corners of the frame.

The finished frame measured 49 1/2" tall, 24" wide,  and 19" deep.

Then I began covering the frame with canvas;

you could also use a drop cloth, old drapes, or even bed sheets

would work for making the frame cover.

 First I pinned a 1 1/2 yard long piece to the frame.

I made sure to place the selvage edge along the right back edge and pinned it to my frame

By placing the selvage edge along the outer frame I save myself from having to clean finish that edge.

I then folded the fabric allowing for some seam allowance along the right front corner. 

(see above far right photo)

Using straight pins I pinned along the frame edge; this will be my sew line.

After I sewed along my pin line I used my sewing sheers to slice open the fold.

Press your seams open and you are ready to cover the left side.

Again make sure you line your selvage edge along the left back side and pin to frame.

Pin along the left front corner to create your sew line.

Run through your machine making sure not to run over any pins.

Cut off extra fabric along seam and press open.

Hem the bottom pressing under a 1/2" and then fold over an 1" 

Top stitch to give your hem a clean finished edge.

Next I printed out the letters to spell the word

 GROCERY

I just played in Microsoft Word experimenting with different font styles 

and sizes till I found the one I liked.

 "Heat n Bond" was ironed to my fabric.

I pinned my computer printed letter pages to the fabric 

and cut them out.

I then peeled off the backer paper exposing the adhesive.

 Pin the covering to the frame with your hem line flush with the floor.

Pin the letters to the front of your store.

Positioning them to fit your taste.

Use straight pins to secure the letters until you can iron them in place.

I used a 1/4" wide grosgrain ribbon to outline the store front window opening.

I eyeballed the placement of the ribbon while the cover was pinned to the frame.

Just fold the ribbon over when you reach the corners.

I edge stitched around both sides of the grosgrain ribbon to secure in place.

To make the windowsill I pressed a 3" wide piece of tan fabric to the heat n bond.

I made sure the piece was longer than the window opening.

Remove the paper backing and position your windowsill while the covering is pinned to the frame.

Remove fabric covering from frame and iron to fabric windowsill in place.

The greatest part about using the "Heat n Bond" is that if you want you can leave the 

sill as is.  There is no need to finish off the applique edges.

I chose not to finish off the edges of my letters because I felt it took away from the print I used.

But, I used a satin stitch to go around the edge of my windowsill to add a little dimension.

I also thought this opening would see a lot of wear and tear,

so by finishing off the edge I am strengthening the opening.

At this point you may add the roof to your store.

I attached a piece of ribbon that was 18" long to the outer corners of my store to form the "ties".

These "ties"will be used to secure the cover to the frame.

I also placed some in the seams above and below the window frame opening.

 We are almost done!

At this point I gave the frame cover one last good pressing.

Place it over your frame and tie into place.

Using tiny sheers I cut along the inner edge of my window.

Making sure not to cut into the ribbon or the fabric windowsill.

The store is now completed!

We are OPEN and ready for business!

If we could only get some customers ... LOL!

A Little Bonus

As you all know

I'm about to release a new pattern.

Well, at the suggestion of Susan from the The Felted Pear

I have made the matching 18" doll pattern

I'm so excited that my customers will be able to 

make not only a super cute dress for their daughter's 

but a matching doll dress as well!

I can only imagine all the smiles this will bring!

Bean is already asking for a second Sassafras Dress.

Flapper Swing Top

I wanted to share pics from a recent project

I worked on with one of my students.

This top was super fun to make

and it really pushed her sewing skills to a new level.

We used variety of techniques to finish off the seams.

One involved graph paper and spray adhesive!

Okay, so I was thinking of hosting my very first sew along

and I thought this top would be a lot of fun to do.

If your up for the challenge leave me a comment

or send me an email

willowbeanstudio@gmail.com

If enough people show interest in this project

we'll start in 2 weeks :) 

Slip Cover Craziness Week #2

Okay is everyone ready  ...  I am!

First grab your measuring tape and measure the center back section

along both the top and bottom.

Using a straight pin, preferably one with a big brightly colored head,

mark your center point top and bottom on the chair.

Now cut a piece that is about 6" longer then the length of the chairs center back.

Fold the piece in half length wise and finger press both top and bottom.

You will use this crease mark as a guide to help position your fabric on to the chair.

Pin the center back panel to the chair making sure the crease line you just created 

lines up with the pins you positioned earlier to mark center back points.

Working from top to bottom and from the center back to side seams 

smooth out your fabric and pin along your side seams.

Be sure to place your pins right along the edge of your chairs side seams.

You will use this as a guide for adding your side panels.

Now that you have you center back panel positioned the way you 

want it, take your scissors and cut along the center crease you created 

stopping about 1" from your chair.  

You have just created "notches" that you will refer to later 

to help make sure that the center back panel stays centered as you work.

Now is the time to trim off any excess along your pin line at the side seams.

I like to cut about 2" from my pin line 

 this leaves me plenty of fabric to play with later if problems arise.

Okay we are ready to work on the side panels ...

Cut two pieces as long as your center back seam making sure that

your pattern starts and finishes at the same point as it does on your center back panel.

Now you are ready to start pinning the side.

I generally figure out where the pattern will line up along the top of your piece

and put a pin there.  Pin this section loosely (if that make sense) as it is just a marker

and will most likely be altered later.

If you pin it to tight you run the risk of snagging your fabric while you work.

Starting from the bottom of your chair, and when I say bottom

I mean the bottom of the upholstery not the bottom of the chair legs.

fold under the side panel so the pattern will line up

along the pin line you created while fitting the back section.

gently fold, pin and smooth your fabric as you work your way up the piece.

The shape of your chair and the size, shape / repeat of your print

will determine how far up they will match.

You don't want to force the match as this will cause your fabric to be off grain.

This could cause puckering and pulling of the fabric later on.

Now that you have pinned one side it is time to sew!

Gently remove your fabric from the chair making sure

to remove any pins that secure the fabric to the chair itself.

Make sure the pins you placed along your side seam are secure.

Lay your piece flat on the floor and finger press your seam.

I'm a big fan of finger pressing ... lol!

Gently pull the side panel over so it lays on top of the back panel

As you work your way up the seam pull the pins out partially.

After you partially pull out a pin push it back in so it pierces

through the finger pressed seam and secures your panel.

I apologize the pic below isn't the best quality

but it shows how the pins mark your match point along the finger pressed seam.

(My finger pressed seam falls in the bottom middle section of the photo)

It is time to take your fabric over to your sewing machine and start sewing!

I like to use a slightly smaller stitch length then normal.

This will help keep your seams from bursting under all the everyday stresses your chair will go through.

Run your stitch line in the crease you created when you finger pressed.

Being sure not to sew over any pins.

Try to pull your pins out before they get to close to your presser foot.

Place your needle in the downward position when you lit your presser foot to remove your pin.

If all goes well this is what your finished side seam should look like.

Next week we will work on the cording.

Click here if  you missed last week 

Please me any questions you might have.  

I hope I have written this clearly enough for everyone to follow.

Also email me me pics of your work in progress I would love to share it with everyone.

Happy slippin!

An All Nighter For Me and A Freebie For You!

I have been so swamped with work for the last 6months at least.

On Friday I turned in my last project on the book.

Yeah my summer vacation can now start!!!

I have some new projects coming up

 Wedding Stuff ... YEAH!

But they are not due till the end of October.

Anyway these poor little pinch pleat valences were going to be the death of me.

I worked on them for over 12 hours straight!

First my Roenta iron for the first time ever

developed scorch marks down the front and was

rendered useless.

I had to use my back up iron to press everything ..SHEESHHHH!

To make matters worse I decided at 5am I didn't like the spacing of the pleats

on one of the valences, so I riped it out and started over.

They were completed by 7:30 am just in time for me to get ready for my day with the kids.

The whole time this was going on all I could think was

You can download the following print using this link

Keep Calm and Sew On

Please note freebies are for Willow bean Studio followers only.

When's the last time you had to pull an all nighter? 

 Leave me a comment I'd love to hear your story.

The Cranky Princess

You would never know from the expression on her face

that just 30 seconds earlier she was as happy as can be.

Especially since Mommy had made her a new tu-tu!

I think her temper tantrum lasted longer than it took to make the skirt.

To make this tu-tu skirt you need:

5/8 yard sparkle tulle

5/8 regular tulle

3/4 yard lining fabric

1" wide elastic (should be the circumference of child's waist plus 1")

the above quantities listed are for a size 3/4 skirt.

First I cut the sparkle tulle in half along the fold 

I then cut the regular tulle into 4 sections that were equal in length and width to 

the two sparkle tulle pieces.

I layered the sparkle tulle on top of two pieces of regular tulle.

You will now have two separate piles of tulle.

I took each pile and with my sewing machine ran a basting stitch across the top edge.

Now you are ready to create the lining.

I cut two rectangles out of my lining fabric that were the same length as my tulle.

To determine the width for the lining 

I took half my daughters waist circumference and added 4" to that number.

I joined the side seams with 1/2" seams and did a double roll hem at the bottom of the skirt.

Now take your two piles of tulle and gently pull the basting threads so that the 

pieces are the same width as one side of your skirt lining.

Pin one section to the front and the second to the back.

Attach with 1/2" seams.

Okay we are ready to finish off this skirt!

Take your elastic and over lap the back by a 1/2"

Using your sewing machine secure seam with a zig zag stitch.

Cut a rectangle that is 3 1/2" tall and 1" longer than the circumference of the skirt.

Close the back with 1/2" seams.

Fold piece in 1/2 with your elastic sandwiched in the middle.

Set to skirt top with 1/2" seams gently stretching the elastic as you g.

While setting the waistband to the skirt top 

make sure not to catch the elastic in your seam as this will hinder the elastics ability to stretch. 

Hopefully your little princess will not be as cranky as mine was 

upon the receiving her new skirt!

I swear I have OCD

It occurred to me recently while looking at old projects

that I so have crafter's OCD!

I will rip things out over and over till I get all my seams to match.

I get such a high when I can get the pattern on the fabric

to match when it crosses over a seam.

I get really excited when I manage to carry the pattern

on the fabric from the top of the piece of furniture

seamlessly down the entire piece

The best part is when the piece is complete. 

I have such a feeling of satisfaction knowing all the little

places where the pattern lines up perfect.

I bet the average person wouldn't even notice if they

were off by a 1/4" or so.  But for me they need to be dead on.

Now if I could carry my OCD qualities over to my housework ...