Mermaid Tails!

A few weeks ago, my sweet little girls asked if I could make them mermaid tails for swimming! I took out my handy roll of butcher paper and traced each girl to make their tail patterns. For the tankini and shorts, I used a darling pattern from Peekaboo Pattern Shop.

I made them out of shiny swim/dance fabric and Babyville Boutique Foldover Elastic from my local JoAnn Fabric store. I absolutely LOVE how they turned out!

We tried them out the next day at my sister's community pool and they work perfectly. So much so, that my niece knew exactly what she wanted for her birthday present this year. :)

Free Tutorial: Quick and Easy Couch Caddy

Are you having a hard time keeping track of TV remotes? Looking for something to make for Father's Day? Here's the perfect solution!

Click Here to view the entire tutorial at Babyville Boutique!

Free Tutorial: Carefree Cup Cozy

Today I needed a fun, useful gift for my husband's boss. I quickly made a couple of these and she was thrilled! Happiness all around. :)

I also found a really cute "coffee cup cosy" poem, originally by Yvonne Lowther, and adapted it to use as a gift tag.

Click Here to download the JoyfulRose Carefree Cup Cozy Template
(Note: These are PDFs, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open all the files in this tutorial)

Click Here to download the single Cup Cozy Poem

Click Here to download the full page Cup Cozy Poem (4 poems on a regular letter-sized page)

Supplies for 1 Cup Cozy:
About 12" wide x 4" tall outer fabric (I used Babyville Boutique Sassy Girl Cheetah PUL)
About 12" wide x 4" tall inner fabric (I used JoAnn Fabrics Cream Fleece)
4" of 1/4" wide elastic
3.25" of FOE (I used Babyville Boutique Solid Brown Fold Over Elastic)
Label (I used Babyville Boutique Little Bird and Hearts "Love")
3/4" Button
Sewing Machine, needle, thread, scissors, cutting board, needles

Note: this pattern and tutorial are for a small store-bought coffee cup. It's made with elastic so it can expand to fit a cup snugly, but if you're using a much larger or smaller than average cup, you made need to alter this tutorial to fit. :)

Instructions:
1. Print and cut out the Cup Cozy Template
2. Fold PUL in half width-wise, place Template on fold, and cut. Do the same for the Fleece
3. Match up PUL and Fleece, right sides together, and sew along top, bottom, and one side. Clip corners so they'll turn nicely
4. Turn right side out and cover-stitch
5. Place FOE along the side that wasn't sewn and use a wide zig-zag to stitch. Use Fray Check on edges or heat-seal
6. Place Label in center and middle of Cup Cozy and sew
7. Loop elastic, match raw edges to edge of FOE and sew very securely
8. Measure in about 1.5" from sewn side of Cup Cozy and sew button in the center, very securely
9. Make another one so you have a pair!
10. Print poem using above download link, wrap Cup Cozies with poem, and give to your favorite coffee or hot chocolate-drinking friend :)

Free Tutorial: Wildly Cute Essential Oils Holder

Do you need an awesome gift for your favorite guy?

I recently introduced my sister and brother-in-law to essential oils and needed a manly Christmas present for him. That's how this awesome camo essential oils holder was born. It's now under the tree and waiting for Christmas morning!

Finished Size: About 3.5" wide x 7" long.

Note:
My essential oils holder is made to hold 10 of the 5/8 dram bottles, or 8 of the 5/8 dram bottles and 1 of the 2.5" long roller bottles. If you'll be using different-sized bottles please take that into consideration when cutting fabric and elastic.

Supplies:
About 9" x 5" PUL (I used Babyville Boutique Camo)
About 9" x 5" Coordinating Fleece or another soft, thick fabric (I used JoAnn Fabrics Cream Fleece)
Label - Born to be Wild, from Babyville Boutique
Button - 3/4"
About 20" of 1/4" wide Elastic
7" Babyville Boutique Brown FOE (Fold Over Elastic)
Sewing Machine, Thread, Scissors, Cutting Board, Pins, Fabric Marking Pen

Instructions:
1. Cut PUL and Fleece to 4.75" wide x 8.25" long
2. Place PUL and Fleece right sides together and sew along both sides and bottom, using a 5/8" seam allowance.
3. Turn right side out, top-stitch, and then sew FOE along the top
4. Cut about 4" of elastic, fold in half, match ends to bottom of FOE on outside, and stitch along FOE sew line (be sure to sew this part very securely, back-stitching several times)
5. Sew label so that the top of it is about 1.5" above bottom of Holder, on outside
6. Sew button so that the top of it is about 1/2" above bottom of Holder, on outside
7. Cut 2 pieces of elastic, each about 7 and 3/4" long
8. On inside, measure 1" below top of of Holder and draw a horizontal line with your fabric marking pen. Measure 1.5" below that line, and draw another horizontal line
9. On inside, on first line, starting from left side, put a little dot with fabric marking pen every 5/8ths of an inch, for a total of 6 dots. Do the same for the second line, making sure dots line up vertically with those on first line
10. Mark the elastic: for both pieces of elastic, measure in about 1/4" from edge and make a dot with marking pen. Measure in about 1.5" from that dot and make another dot. Continue until you've made 6 total dots
11. On inside, on first line, starting from the left side, match 1st dot of one of the pieces of elastic to 1st dot on fabric and stitch vertically (be sure to double-stitch each of these lines to make sure the elastic doesn't come undone as it stretches to hold your essential oils bottles!) Continue matching dots and sewing until all 6 dots are matched and sewn. Then do the same for the 2nd row and 2nd piece of elastic
12. Add essential oils bottles and enjoy!

Free Tutorial: Simply Cute 10-Minute Stockings

Need a super fast, super cute Christmas gift? These stockings are perfect! It takes about 10 minutes to do all 3. They're about 4" x 5", and are just right for a full-size candy cane and some candy. Use them for decoration, as gift tags on a present, or make a bunch for Christmas tree ornaments! Also, they take so little fabric that it's a great way to use up scraps.

Click Here to download the free JoyfulRose Stocking Template
Note: it's a PDF, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it

Supplies:
Stocking Template
Scraps of non-fraying fabric (I used 3 different patterns of Babyville Boutique PUL, but you could also use felt or fleece)
About 15" of 1/4" wide ribbon (I used Babyville Boutique Pink Floral Ribbon)
Sewing Machine, thread, cutting board, scissors, pins, needle

Instructions:
1. Print and cut out template
2. Fold fabric in half, wrong sides together
3. Trace template onto fabric and cut through both layers of fabric
4. Cut a 5" length of ribbon
5. Keep fabric wrong sides together, fold ribbon into a loop and place at top left corner
6. Sew along sides (not the top!) with a 5/8" seam allowance, using a wide stitch (or hand stitch)
* Tip: Be sure to stitch securely, especially the top sides.
7. Make at least 2 more stockings.
8. Fill with goodies and enjoy!

Free Tutorial: Fast and Festive Gift Bag

Need a quick gift bag? This one is super easy! It takes about 15 minutes, including gathering all the materials.

 Supplies:
About 1/3 yard of fabric (I used Babyville Boutique Chevrons and Solid Red PUL)
About 20" of 1/4" wide ribbon (I used Babyville Boutique Forest Friends Ribbon)
Sewing Machine, cutting board, scissors, pins, thread, needle

Instructions:
1. Cut the chevron BBVL PUL a bit wider than your gift and twice as long (I added about 4 inches of red PUL at the top and bottom to make it more Christmas-y)
2. Fold the PUL in half lengthwise, right sides together
3. Sew the 2 sides together and turn right side out
4. Sew a 20" long BBVL ribbon to the back
5. Insert gift, gather top of bag, tie in a cute bow. 
Done and done!

Babyville Boutique Matching Set!

Today I finally had a chance to finish up my tutorials for Babyville Boutique!

I originally started with just a FOE headband and a tutorial to make a cute matching clip.
Then I finished the FOE diaper cover I'd started before my brother's wedding.
Then I decided I needed a matching pacifier catcher.
Then I needed a matching shirt to go with the set. LOL.

So I ended up making 3 Tutorials. Overkill, much? :)

Ah well, it was fun sewing for my baby girl and she looks so darling in her new matching outfit.

My sweet little girl:


Her outfit:


The Babyville Boutique line is scheduled to debut on September 18th but I've heard through the grapevine that some of the supplies are already out at a few JoAnn Fabrics stores! This calls for a trip to JoAnn's tomorrow, don't you agree?

Babyville Boutique Supplies!

Announcing the most amazing thing to come to cloth diapering in years!!!

Babyville Boutique contains everything you need in order to get started with sewing your own cloth diapers. Wahoo! How-to books, patterns, darling waterproof (PUL) fabrics, velcro-type closures, snaps, appliques, labels, and more!

Babyville Boutique will be in stores such as Joanns, Hancocks, and Hobby Lobby the end of September. Save your coupons!

My Design Tester package arrived last week and I sewed up my most favorite diaper ever for our baby girl. :) Also had a chance to cut out more diapers and will work on those when we return home from vacation.

Sneak peak at my new supplies:

Pics of my favorite diaper:





Wonderful fit on baby girl:


Diaper cover in progress:


Diaper cuts all ready to be sewn up:


Thanks so much to Jean for letting me be part of the Team. So excited for an easy way to get beautiful diaper-sewing supplies!