Baby Tees

It's a baby tee bonanza at our house!

I have become so tired of seeing the same butterflies, flowers, and trucks on all the baby clothes in the world. I cannot bring myself to understand why babies always have to wear pastels. And I refuse to admit that there are only 5 colors acceptable for the under 1 crowd.

I've been working on baby tees all morning and thought I would share some pics and a pattern with you. I LOVE the veggie tees in the pic. They are bold, energetic, and fun!

The pattern is for a mushroom tee. Ours will feature red mushrooms with white spots, but you could use any fun color combo you like. The pattern includes a pic of the complete design as well as all the pieces you need to create it.

These tees are made using the same process that was posted earlier (see the skull and crossbones), so if you're in the mood...give it a shot, and please share some pics of your finished products!

Rainbow Cupcakes

So, I know this is a craft/sewing blog, but I couldn't resist sharing this little piece of art that Belle and I created today in honor of St. Patricks Day.

We found the idea for rainbow cucpakes in Family Fun magazine (if you have kids and don't have a subscription, you are really missing out!). I did make one simple adjustment to their version. The directions for the ones I made are below. Make, eat, ENJOY!

Make one box white or yellow cake mix according to package directions.

Divide the batter evenly into 6 small ziplock bags. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into the bags. I put about 3 scoops in each bag.

Add food coloring to each bag to make red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple batters. Seal the bags and SQUISH to combine. (This was my variation, Family Fun suggests using 6 small bowls and stirring...but Belle thought this was way more fun!)

Snip the corner of the purple bag and squeeze a little batter into each cupcake wrapper. Repeat with blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

Bake according to package directions.

We didn't even need icing on these:) Next time we are planning to squeeze the batters into a bundt pan for a swirly cake creation!

Oh, and one tip...don't let your two year old eat them on the carpet...bad idea!

Success - Pillowcase Dresses are EASY!

After reading several versions of pillowcase dresses online, I combined directions from a few different patterns and set to work. I started the first one with an actual pillowcase. An adorable navy blue dress with aqua ribbons resulted (the matching bow also found its way into my market inventory).

After determining that these dresses were not only easy, but also fun to make I made my way to the fabric store. Nine yards of seersucker later, I was ready to tackle a stack of dresses.

This little yellow number is for Bee for this summer. I can guarantee that in the humid NC summer I will be jealous when she is enjoying what little breeze there is in this cutie:)

Look for my own version of the pattern, complete with step-by-step pics coming soon!

Pillowcase Dresses

I haven't had a chance to try my hand at these, but I have had several friends tell me that they are super simple. I'm hoping to try one out this weekend! If you search for a pattern on the internet you will find lots of variations. The link below is for one that has easy to follow printable directions with pics of every step. If you try one out I'd love to see a pic, so please share it!

Copy and paste this link in your browser, or look under "Luvin' These Links" for a direct link to the pattern page.
http://sewingmamas.com/b/downloads.php?do=file&id=17

Enjoy!

Easter Egg Appliques

I remember that as a kid I loved to draw Easter eggs. The endless possiblities for combining squiggles, stripes, polkadots, and zigzags in a pretty much no-fail design was highly appealing. As long as you could get the outer shape to look sort-of egg like, then you were going to end up with a beautiful piece of kid-art.

As Easter approaches, I sat down to create some eggsellent designs. How quickly I was whisked back in time to 3rd grade! I just couldn't resist that drawing of old...the egg outline, a narrow stripe here, a wide polka-dotted stripe there, and a squiggle for good measure. I traced and cut out a set of the resulting pieces in both shades of pink and shades of blue. Stitched to brightly colored tee, these are a slightly fresh take on the pastel versions of old.

You can easily create Easter egg tee of your own using the applique tee directions I posted a few days ago. Start with a basic egg shape (you can find tons of templates for these in a google image search). Add your own flair with stripes and dots. New to applique...add just a few large polka dots. Experienced embroiderer (is that a word???)...pile on the decorations and embellish away. Too busy to sew...order one from Etsy today (see shop above).

Have fun...and I would love to see some pics of your results!

Rainy Day was supposed to equal Inventory Building Day

It was a rainy, dreary day around here, so my plan was to work on building my inventory for the spring market. I did get one piece added (check out the cute turtle at the top of the page), but I spent most of the day more of the business of Belle + Bee than the creative front. The Facebook page is up and running (and slowly getting a few fans) and the Etsy shop has been linked to it. I took my first custom orders today and got started on those. And for the rest of the evening, I am truly going to attack that inventory!

For those of you trying felt applique for the first time...please feel free to use my designs as your inspiration. If you would like me to post a template for any of them, just let me know. And here is a little warning...appliqued soccer balls are not for the faint of heart. Don't pick that one as your first attempt!

You can now follow us on Facebook too!

If you're more of a Facebook kind of person, you can follow us there too. Become a fan of Belle + Bee, and you can see blog posts on the Etsy tab at the top of the page. Hope to see you there!