Blueprint Crafts

Archive for the ‘Sewing’ Category

Baby Love

May 9th, 2011

A few months ago, my childhood friend contacted me and asked if I would be interested in creating a baptismal gown for her newborn son from her wedding gown. Needless to say, I was extremely flattered by the request, and immediately said yes. What a wonderful way to re-purpose a wedding gown!

She gave me complete artistic freedom to create whatever I wanted, but asked that it not be too feminine. Here’s what the gown looked like prior to alterations (sorry about the quality of the photos, I forgot to charge my camera):

You can’t really tell by the photos, but the dress had 2 layers of a silky chiffon underneath, with 2 layers of a soft crinoline overlay. Very classic.

I have made children’s clothing from scratch before without a pattern, but just to be sure everything came out perfect, I selected this pattern, Burda 9804, using pattern B without the pleated front:

And the results!

And the back:

Like I said, very simple. But I also made her a little petticoat from the crinoline to add if she ever has a baby girl (to make it more feminine), and a diaper cover as well – both of which I forgot to take photos of. Oh well.

Hopefully they got some good pics of the baby in the gown! When I get them I’ll be sure to share.

Do you have any clothes that have been re-purposed into something else? Share them on my Facebook Wall! I’d love to see :)

Check back on Wednesday, when Emily at The Rubber Punkin shares her next installment of the New to You series!

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New Dog Collar Tutorial

February 22nd, 2011

Back when I first started this blog, the very first post I did was a tutorial on how to use an old lanyard to make a dog collar. Well this time, I decided to take a cheap collar that I had bought for Lucy for Christmas, rip it apart, and use the old hardware to make her a new, more fashionable one. Here’s what the original looked like (NOTE – my camera batteries were dying, so the quality of the photos is pretty crappy) :

The first thing I did was rip the seams, and take all of the hardware off of the existing collar. Then, I cut two strips of fabric 1.5″ wide by 21″ long – the length should be the same as the length of the original collar.

Sew the two pieces together along both long sides and one short side, and flip outside right.

I then serged my open end shut and slipped on the slider piece from the end on the right.

Then I slipped on the little rectangular piece (not sure what it is called) on from the left end.

Next I slipped on the clawed part of the clip on the left end, then took the left end and slid it back through the rectangular piece.

Next loosen the slider piece on the right end,

Pull the right end tight again.

Sew loose left end to itself, about 2 inches from the slider.

Slide metal piece onto the right end.

Slide other half of the clasp onto the right end behind the metal piece.

Take the right end and loop it to the left up and under the metal piece back towards the clasp.

Sew end in place so that it allows the metal piece to rest about 2 inches from the clasp.

Then I used this wonderful Felt Flower Tutorial from Mrs. Priss to make a cute little felt flower. Only I added two small strips of elastic to the back of the felt circle backing so that I could slide it on and off of the collar easily.

And that’s it! Cute and easy!

Have any of you made a collar recently? I would love to see them!

Until next time!

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dog collar tutorial, Tutorial

Little Bits of Leather

September 17th, 2010

At the beginning of September, I had a few birthdays that I needed to make gifts for. I had been tossing around the idea of doing a project with leather for awhile now, and I decided it was time to experiment! I went to my favorite fabric store, The Pennsylvania Fabric Outlet, and got a large navy blue piece of leather, matching fabric and zippers to make some unique travel bags. And I have to say, working with leather really wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be! Here are the results:

I loved it so much, that I made one for myself!!

And I really love the mater I used for the inside. I’m definitely going to have to make a purse or something with it!

I had quite a bit of leftover leather, so I made my good friend Emily a little iPhone case (I wish I had one!)

I also just picked up a coffee table that I’m going to be refinishing – can’t wait to share!

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Some Little Goodies

August 30th, 2010

Monica’s baby shower is just about a month away, and knowing that just about everything we need or will use at the baby shower is going to be handmade by me, I’ve been diligently working to get things done. Yesterday, I punched out these cute little change purses that we’ll giveaway as prizes at the shower:

This was the first time I used the vintage orange and red poppy material I picked up at the start of summer. I think I’m going to have to make a dress or something with this lovely fabric!

And as I was finishing up these little purses, I caught Mr. Bruce doing what he always does, looking adorable and cuddly amongst the disarray of fabric.

I still need to share with you all of the lovely dresses that I made this summer! I promise to share soon!

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Lavender Sachet Tutorial

July 2nd, 2010

After harvesting all of that wonderful lavender, it was time to put it to good use! The following tutorial is great for scraps, and as for me, I tried to use everything I had!

First, cut out squares at least 4″ x 4″. Like I said, I tried to use all of my scraps!

With right sides together, use a 1/4″ stitch to sew three of the sides together, and on the fourth side leave at least a 2-3″ gap in the middle. This is where you will pour your sweet lavender in!