I love knits!

I found a yard of this stripey colorful knit at a thrift store a few months back and knew it would make a great fall dress for my daughter. I haven't sewn sucessfully with knits in years (if ever), but the remnant was only a dollar so I decided to take a risk. I guess I never really learned how to sew with knits, or if I did then I forgot. But I studied up and whipped this baby out in less than a day. Honestly, 3 hours, maybe four at most. Cowl neck and everything!

Knits are really easy to work with and a super forgiving, which suits my slightly(understatement) imperfect style just fine. I'm hooked! Here's the secret - it's all about the zig-zag. Knits stretch, right, so you have to take that into account when aligning your pattern, and you also can't use an ordinary straight stitch. My sewing machine has a knit stitch - most should - but if in doubt, you can just sew with the zig-zag stitch, which allows the seam to stretch along with the fabric. I used zig-zag to hem this dress and the knit stitch for the other seams.

Last thing this dress needs is a belt. I'm torn between a double wrap belt in the same fabric, or a braided belt in a complimentary color, either blue, purple or orange... Please help me decide by commenting below :)

DIY Superhero Cape

I made this cape for a friend's 3rd birthday. It was pretty easy, only took a few hours and came out great. All I needed was a large piece of red felt and a smaller piece of both yellow and black felt, some fabric glue and a needle and thread. Best of all, he loves it! Who doesn't need a superhero cape?

I'll be making another one in a few months and will post a full tutorial then.

DIY Play Kitchen Round Up

As I mentioned in my last post, I am making my 16-month old daughter a play kitchen for Christmas. I have seen a ton of wonderful homemade play kitchens online, which are so inspiring. I, of course, want my version to be unique, but I also plan on borrowing design ideas from some of these beauties. Here's a round up of some of my faves:

I love the color combo on this one!

Source: dwellingsbydevore.com via Sage on Pinterest

I kind of wish this was my actual kitchen ;)

Source: mcbabybump.blogspot.com via Sage on Pinterest

Small, efficient, and fun!

Source: sweetandlovelycrafts.blogspot.com via Sage on Pinterest

This strikes me as quite modern.

Source: catherinehug.de via Sage on Pinterest

As you can see, the desk or cabinet you use as your foundation makes a huge impact on what your finished kitchen will look like. I'm using an old TV stand, but will probably alter it substantially to make it less deep, with a hutch at the back. More on that soon. Any other examples of inspiring kitchens?

DIY Play Kitchen - Step One - The Doppelgänger!

I'm making my daughter a play kitchen for Christmas. My budget is $30.
I'm going to walk you through each step as I do it. I've had the idea for a while but Christmas seems so far away. Oh wait, it's August! I guess my last-minute shopping won't work as well with something I'm trying to make on the cheap... So here we go, Step One:

Acquire the piece of furniture you will be converting. Usually an old entertainment cabinet of some sort. A few weeks ago I found a lightly used cabinet on craigslist for free, and decided it would be perfect. That evening I was browsing the web and I found the EXACT cabinet converted to a play kitchen (see below). The exact cabinet, the same day. Weird. But also kind of cool. Now I have to make sure mine isn't a too similar :)

Step One complete. Total Cost = $0

Step Two coming soon.

Source: flickr.com via Sage on Pinterest