More of the Fun Pants

So I managed to get some laundry done - surprise!  

I hate applique-ing letters.  William will probably never have his name on a shirt because his name is 7 letters long - suddenly rethinking my stance on nicknames.... ha!

The bug one is the only one where I used the extra energy to make contrast cuffs - they're cute but not worth the extra effort for me most of the time.  I'm head over heels for the red seersucker Georgia outfit - even Sam thinks it's cute!!

Not sure why this picture turned out so dark and the others didn't...but... the duck has brown corduroy pants - I can't wait for cooler weather.  The frog might be one of my favorites.  I had to redo his eyes - at first I had just put flat white buttons there and he, the frog, looked a little possessed...ha!  Not exactly what you want your cutie patootie one year old son wearing around town!  The elephant is Sam's favorite.  It's really soft brown and turquoise houndstooth and my mother-in-law actually thought we had bought his outfit!!  One point for me!

So - there's William's entire fall wardrobe (haha - just kidding - this kid has a better closet than me!)  Now go sew something! ;)

I'm Obsessed

Sam will be the first to tell you - I am 100% obsessed with making pants at the moment.  I've never been able to pattern shorts/pants that I'm totally happy with - believe me - I HAVE tried!  I've gotten close many many times but something was always a little off about how they fit and then it happened.  MADE BY RAE made her Big Butt Baby Pants pattern available for sale on her blog.  Now normally I am morally opposed to paying more than $2 for a pattern but these were so cute and I could print off the pattern that very second and all my pants woes would be over - so I paid $10 for the pattern and haven't looked back.  I am pretty sure that if I paid retail price for pants I would've already made my money back, easy.

So - what I'm saying is - if you sew - go buy the pattern!!  Now!! Or in a second.  Or maybe just eventually.  But seriously, go do it at some point!

What's so great about it is there is so much room for adding special touches, especially for girls, the leg is wide and cute, she told me how long to cut the elastic!! (a personal issue of mine...), and the pattern is graded - you can use it from birth to 2T!!  I've already made 3 gifts, two newborn and one 24 months, that turned out darling - this is in addition to the seven pairs I've made pepito and one sitting on the cutting board!  Oh - did I mention that I can cut, sew, and finish these pants in less than an hour?!  Now you really NEED to buy this pattern!  haha!!

I've been loving them so much, that there only three clean outfits I could take a picture of, all others have been worn and sitting in the neverending laundry pile....

Oh - and my other obsesseion?  Applique T-shirts.  I swear, William is going to be in a million variations of this particular outfit for the next two years.  Not even kidding.  Including the T-shirt (Garanimals from WalMart 3.00-3.50 depending on sale days), the whole outfit usually costs about $6.00-8.00.  Insane for a matching top & bottom, appliqued and ADORABLE!  Heat and Bond has changed my life.

After I do laundry - maybe I'll get to it this weekend - I'll post pics of the other outfits.  Seriously too cute not to show you!  You will die.  And then go spend $10.  If only I was getting paid for all this advertisement.... Seriously - I'm just THAT excited!!

Happy Sewing!  (JoAnn's is having a pretty awesome sale with great coupons this weekend...just saying..  AND Hancock's has all notions 50% off!!)

New Boy, New Overalls

No - I didn't get a new boy - but he did just become a bit of toddler and not so much baby.  And with that comes new overalls!!  Well, not really overalls, but romper? jumper?  I never have figured out the "correct" term for children's clothes...oops!  Anyhow.  I finally found a pattern for little boy's clothes that was on sale and in stock and I love it.  4 easy pieces, plenty of ways to dress it up, and it's oh so cute.  It's cut a little wide for my sweet squirt (and he still has some room to grow taller) but I'm going to pretend it's part of the charm because I'm way to lazy to figure out how to take in the facing pieces appropriately.

the ONLY picture I have of him standing still in it...

birthday cupcake applique, green piping on the top edges, fun green buttons = love

how cute is my family?!

turquoise/white linen plaid, pineapple applique, white buttons = classic

OH - and the pattern for those that want to know - Butterick 5439.  And the great part is - this particular pattern also has great girl stuff - it's perfect!  Granted, I haven't made anything but the romper as of yet, but if the rest of it is as simple, I'm 100% sold.  Now - go buy the pattern - when it's on sale for $1 of course! ;)

Put a Lid On It

haha - no - I'm not suggesting that you break out your pots to cover your tot's head... though I'm sure that would make for some very funny candid pictures - I might try that with pepito...

My stepmom "ordered" a pink seersucker dress for someone important at her her school, she's a counselor, and asked if I could make hats.  I said no, I hadn't tried and wasn't really into sewing in triangles, but then, as the week went on I thought "everything else that I haven't had the courage to sew has been super easy - so why not?!"  So I did.  Not too long after - there was an adorable bucket hat with a pink ribbon!!!  So cute!!  

Is there anything sweeter than matching outfit & hat?!  Pepito will have several of these shortly, sans ribbon of course. ;)  And I'm loving the eyelet ruffle and flower buttons!!

Who Wears Short Shorts?!

Well, actually - no one in my house wears short shorts - we don't roll like that.  But, I did discover that making shorts is crazy easy.  It started as a project to make those attached shorts to the cutesy huge collar shirts.  I bought one for pepito that was darling for 99 cents but he has nothing to wear with it because the collar looked so weird under things.  Well - that was a bust.  I got the proportions wrong and it looked crazy.  So - I folded over the top where I had put all the button holes and, voila, he had regular shorts.  And because of the button holes, it was incredibly easy to thread the elastic through.

I ended up removed the collar and plan to have the shirt monogrammed to wear with the blue gingham shorts for a "dressy casual" outfit.  I know - I find myself ridiculous for even saying that about an 8.5 month's wardrobe...

And in the name of easy, my bestest's little boy has the same problem as William - they're squirts.  No shorts/pants in their true size fits their waist.  I can't tell you how many pairs of adorable pants don't fit either one of them.  So - this is doubly awesome - cute shorts for summer and I can tailor the waist measurement to fit.  I am RIDICULOUSLY excited!  And Robbie got some to match!!

Turns out that buying too much green seersucker frogs was the best thing that ever happened to us!

Now - it was on my list all day to take a pic of W in his blue gingham shorts - but the day got away from me and he ended up with no pants on for most of the afternoon.  Oh well.  But here are Robbie's shorts that I took pics of last week.  And I'll have to say, I love that it requires so little yardage - less than 1/2 yd easy.  Oh, remnants, how I've missed you - we will meet again very soon!!

They're just so cute I can't stand it!

And I labeled this post with 'girls' as well, because how cute would these be in pink with a monogrammed tshirt?!!

How I Felt

heehee - punny - yes, I am THAT dork!

I was at a bit of a loss what to do for William's Easter basket.  I mean, seriously, what does an 8 month old really care about?  He'd rather play with the shredded paper inside than any toys we would fill it with!  But I still felt the need to make him one - being his FIRST Easter and all.  I bought some extra pacis, cute bunny eggs, an Amanda Remembered outfit on super sale at the consignment store, a new sippy cup that he still refuses to drink formula out of, and some soft blocks.  But there was nothing in there from me.  (insert sad face here)

I was completely running out of time on Friday, and also out of groceries, so we were at Walmart picking up the essentials.  The frozen pizza JUST HAPPENS to be right by the baby/toddler section of clothes - so I peeked in, of course.  Don't tell Sam - but I always "peek" in.  And there it was - the perfect weight (slightly heavier), perfect size (12 months), white tshirt.  Lightbulb moment - FELT!!  

I have a couple small pieces of felt floating around the fabric bins, stitch witchery in tinier pieces I could use to keep it in place, and then I just had to decide whether hand-sewing or machine sewing was easier/better idea/cuter.  I googled, blogged, and decided on a blanket stitch.  Now, let me go ahead and mention, this project is by no means an original - it's ridiculously easy - so it's everywhere.  But it's the first time I did it, so I'm still pretty excited...

I winged the letter (though I think next time I'll print out a fun font) and the dots and then studied the blanket stitch.  I happened to already have green embroidery "floss" (is that what it's called?) - so I sat down - caught up on my DVR - and it was done in time for early Sunday morning.  

Now - like I said - this is super easy and I know that you can do it!!  

Items needed:

TShirt that fits your tot

One/Two colors of felt (8.5x11 sheets will be just fine)

Some kind of stitch witchery to hold felt in place while you handstitch

Embroidery floss, thread, whatever it's called

A needle 

Interesting TV/Movie so you don't get bored

A really good tutorial or two on blanket stitching

Seriously - you  can be totally done with this project in under two hour, assuming you don't get distracted...  Because that NEVER happens with little ones running around...ha! 

Stay tuned for a machine applique project - I think I'm going to try and get up the courage to try it soon!

Dots for Two

I was contacted by one of my childhood friends last week.  She has an adorable little girl and just gave birth (seriously!) to a precious little boy.  It's kind of wild - we used to ride the bus together and we took gymnastics from the same gym - and now we all have babies!!

the fabrics

Anyhow - she needed outfits for both her children that coordinated for the summer.  And she just happened to LOVE the orange polka dots I had posted.  Which made me so happy - because I was hoping that they were go to the same person with two children!

And done!  ...please excuse my kitchen, I promise it's clean... ;)

She wanted to bring in some green, instead of the standard blue, and I got to choose the accent fabric - whatever I thought would look best!!  Oh - and I did good - it's an adorable floral citrusy print - so cute!!

I absolutely adorable the free form dots with just a small green accent for little C.

And I'm not sure that this dress could be any cuter!! I made a sash for just in case cute little E is a little small in the waist for the dress still.  I didn't stitch it on so her mommy could remove it if need be, but I love how the print is carried up the dress and then we accented the same green on the bodice for consistency.  Love Love Love!!!

S - I was tickled pink (orange!!) to be able to sew some pretty things for your little ones!!  I still can't get over how grown up we've become!! I look forward to seeing the pics of your little ones grow up (and wear the dots with style!!)  Much love and thankyou!!

Easter Outfit for a Sweet Blonde Boy

Ok - I can't stand it - this has to go on the blog.

My bestest's little boy, 2.5 year old Robbie, is ADORABLE!!!  And I got to make his Easter outfit!  Actually, I made two Easter outfits.  A blue plaid one months ago and then rushed to get this seersucker with embroidered frogs done the week of Easter because I had a hunch it would beat out the plaid for the special day.  :)

And I was right.  And he's adorable.

And it doesn't hurt that his momma is a super talented photog - go check her out - no seriously - right now - I'm done with this post anyhow... www.hadleyscott.com

Button Up!

It's hard finding cute boy fabrics.  With girls - you can do ANYTHING and it will be adorable.  Boys - you have to get a little creative.

Enter stage right: Buttons.

Add fun interesting buttons to solid fabric and all of sudden what could've been boring has insta-personality.  Love!!

Cars & Frogs - OH MY!!  So many fun things we could do!!

Design by Accident

I had intended this fun red linen for my pepito.  I was so excited to make him a johnjohn with the great apple tree buttons I had picked up on a whim forever ago.  Well, I accidentally made it WAY too big for him in shoulders but the right size in length.  Meaning - it would probably fit no one's baby as it was...

Stroke of genius - atleast I think so - I cut off the end and made it into a shirt for a small toddler.  Added a pleat, bow, and cute flower stitching at the hem (my camera is being fussy right now about zooming in that much...so no picture) and I think it's adorable!

Now, I'm guessing this would fit a cute tot that's in 18month or 24 month size clothes - but having only a petite 8 month old boy - I'm not entirely sure.


Just tried it on a friend's cute little girl and we decided that it's probably a 2T.  And it was A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E on her!!

The measurements: side to side 13", shoulder to hem 16".

I think it would darling over leggings.  Or anything for that matter.  I'm owed a girl next time around! ;) ha!

In honor of my mistake new item - Price: $15.  Contact me anyway that's easiest for you for more information and if you're local, I'd be happy to let your little one try it on first since I'm not sure what size it is!

Let's try this on...

...and see how it works.

Maybe you noticed - there's been a little reworking of the blog.  Take notice of two things please - available fabric on the left and styles on the right.  Pick one from each side and voila!, we'll have the beginning of something cute!!

I am going to be updating what fabrics I have available and if you love one of them (or want to know how we could make it into something adorable), just email me, call me, get in touch with me somehow.  This way - I won't sew needlessly in sizes that you don't need and can be semi-custom that way.

However, I'm not going to post all of the contrast options.  That will be taken care of when you message me.  Case and point - chocolate gingham for girls - pink binding and white ruffle; for boys - blue binding.  Or green - or yellow - or orange - the options are endless and it would be crazy for me to try and post pictures of all of that on here.

I get the feeling that maybe this will be easier and less intimidating than starting from thin air.  Though, feel free to still message me if you have something particular you need for an occasion or otherwise!

Keep an eye out for new stuff on the left!!! (and maybe even the right....)

Sample Sale!!

Here are two super cutesy little outfits for your darling little girls.

Red paisley print with yellow polka dot ruffle and red buttons.
Absolutely adorable : $20 Sale Price  SOLD!
Size:  3-6 months, 13-18 pounds, Height 24"-26.5" 
Approximately 17.5"-18" shoulder to hem (the straps can be taken up if needed)

Black & White polka dot print with hot pink binding and large fun pink buttons.  Would be adorable with a pink monogram!!  This is a new pattern that I am currently perfecting, so there are slight imperfections (mostly visible from the inside only), but seriously, if this was appropriate for a little boy - pepito would be in it in a heartbeat!
Love this one : $15 Introductory/Sale Price
Size:  9-12 months, 22-25 lbs, height 29"-30" 

Approximately 18.5"-19" shoulder to hem

Obviously, this is first come first serve, these are the only ones I have.  Please email me at meghan.rumer@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing either.  I will immediately mark as sold as soon as I receive word - so no worries about wondering if it's still available.  Unless of course, y'all email me all at once (wouldn't that be a nice problem to have!)

Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Here from the Beginning

I've done it.  I have opened up my sewing to you.  And please opt to take part - if not because the outfits are adorable, almost as adorable as your wee one, then just to indulge me and my ego.  Ha!  No, seriously though, I'm just excited to sew something you'll love.

I began sewing because I was frustrated with all the things that I saw and knew I could make but had no way to do it.  Last year, my sweet husband (and my dad) helped me buy my very own sewing machine.  And it's just perfect.  I've been able to sew clothes for pepito, gift dresses & blankets for friends, window treatments, clothing for myself, pillows, etc.  All things I thought I would never be able to have.  I can make pepito exactly what I want him to wear and have and that alone thrills me.

In the process of churning out dresses and rompers as gifts I've received amazing feedback and feel blessed to be surrounded by such great people.  It is because of all of this support, even if they had no idea, that I feel confident enough to do this.  I am now a small scale custom clothing "manufacturer" - pretty sure that word is only slightly appropriate, but I can't think of a better one right now.

I'm going to limit this thing to infant & toddler clothing right now.  And without further ado, here are the examples of what I've made for my wee one and for other's wee ones.

Shortalls:

With overall straps:

Dresses with ruffles!!!

I'd like to think that these thrill you as much as they thrill me.  I have had a great time picking out the fabrics and trim specific to the recipient.  If you are thrilled - contact me and we'll talk fabric selections.  I'm thinking I'm not going to keep any on hand at first, so it will be truly customized for whatever you can dream up!!  I would say give me about a week turn around time but I'm hoping I can beat that on a regular basis!!

As far as pricing goes:  $25 each for all styles you see above, regardless of the amount of fun extras you choose!!!  And the first two people to contact me, facebook-email-blog, will get their outfit for $20 as a special thank you for paying attention and spending your time to look at this.

I will be more than happy to ship (additional cost obviously but I'll be accurate) or hand deliver - just let me know - and I have plenty of ideas for fun wrapping - so hang on to your hats!  

Contact info:

right here on this fancy schmancy blog

facebook - Meghan Rumer or Nutmeg's

meghan.rumer@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by!!!  Be on the lookout for updates and new styles added!!  This should be fun!