Craftastic Monday Link Party

Welcome the Craftastic Link Party! Come share all your latest and greatest crafts & projects and check out some fab new things below too.

Last week I shared the FREE PDF Pattern & tutorial for my Runaround Baby Romper:



We also kicked off my new upcoming link party for handmade and craft-related shops, Crafty Business Fridays:



It's a free way to spread the word about your small business, network with others and find great independent places to shop that you might not otherwise discover.  Come join us this upcoming Friday for the next Crafty Business Fridays.  



There's still time to enter my giveaway for your own custom photo paint by number kit:

And we have a winner for the Whale Hello Fabric Bundle Giveaway:

~~~ Lori M. ~~~

Congratulations Lori and a big thanks to Timeless Treasures for providing this fabulous fabric prize!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for the Craftastic Picks features...

Sum of Their Stories shared this handy embroidery scissors case tutorial:

Abbots At Home created this DIY Sit n' Spin toy:

Celebrating Everyday Life made this fun summertime tote:

A Big Green House shared how to make these yummy baked vanilla bean doughnuts with chocolate glaze:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on my Buttons Page to share the good news. 

 Want a Chance to 
Be Featured Next Week?  

Link back to the party somewhere on your blog.
I can't feature your post if you don't share the party.  
  

~~ Due to Pinterest inappropriately censoring pins and banning accounts, 
Sew Can Do no longer uses or supports Pinterest ~~  

I WILL feature these projects on both Facebook

& Twitter for your creations to have MORE exposure!

Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple: 

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post. Product reviews, plagiarized or sponsored posts for random items will be immediately deleted.  
• Grab my party button & put it on your post, party page or blog somewhere.  If you want the chance to be featured, this is key.  The button code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

It's The Crafty Business Friday Link-Up!

Welcome to the very first Crafty Business Fridays Link Party!

Every week I welcome any small business that is handmade or sells craft-related supplies (fabric, ribbon, beads, jewelry findings, notions, patterns, digital designs, etc.) to come link up.  

Share your shop's main page, a new product, a giveaway, or a special offer.  

ALL of it is welcome.  

Both stand alone shops and those on Etsy, Facebook, ArtFire or any other selling platform.  I'll have the photo link party here on the blog every Friday as well as a post on the 
Sew Can Do Facebook page where you can link in the comments there too.  If it grows enough, I'll also expand it to Instagram.

I also aim to help create ways to collaborate, cross-promote and share thoughts, so check out other shop links, give them some likes, comments and most importantly, shop them too!

And if you don't have a business, use this handy party as a way to find out about the many hidden gem small shops out there and find out about their latest offers, new products & more. 

And be sure to spread the word that Crafty Business Fridays is the place to be if you own a crafty business or love to buy crafty things!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

FREE Pattern: Runaround Baby Romper

Summer is here and I'm all about easy clothes for my little guy.  Rompers are the ideal item: breezy on hot days, easy to get on & off, diaper change-friendly and plenty of wiggle room for a busy baby.

I came up with this pattern by taking what I liked about a number of his store-bought rompers and putting them all together to make the ideal wearable in this 
Runaround Baby Romper.

Using soft binding for the tank style top and leg areas keeps it comfy:

And helps add pops of color:

The legs snap apart for fast & easy diaper changes:

The loose stretchy knit style means little ones can keep busy, but still stay cool:

My little guy loves playing outside in his:

It takes just an afternoon to sew one up.  I've made a couple and intend to make some more since they're so fun.  I did this one with some awesome solar color change knit.  It's so cool how it changes from basic black & white into banana yellow with shadowy grey palm trees in the sun!

I was so happy with how this romper has turned out, I'm sharing my FREE pattern for it!

Given limited time and my current personal needs, I've only done the size 12-18mos, but by extending or shortening the shoulder seams and the leg curves 1/2 inch each upward or downward, this could be sized up or down a size to fit 6-12mos and 18-24mos as well.  It was hard to snap a full length shot because he loves running around in it!

Runaround Romper Pattern

Materials:
- Fat half (36"h x 25"w) or 1 yard of knit fabric
- 1/4 yd rib knit for binding (25% stretch is ideal)
- 5 snaps (I prefer to use plastic KAM snaps)
- My FREE Runaround Romper Pattern 

Printing the Pattern:  Click HERE to download my PDF romper pattern.  Print at 100% (actual size) no scaling.  Measure with the test square to make sure the scale is correct.  Cut out pattern pieces and tape portions that need to be attached.  You'll end up with a front, back and back extender (to be diaper-friendly).

 

I still sew all my knits on my regular sewing machine - I use a triple straight stitch for the seams so they have the necessary give and a twin needle for the leg hems.  Alternatively, everything could be done on a serger.

Cut out front, back and back extender pieces from fabric.

Cut the following strips from the rib knit:

(1) Neck 2" high x 16" wide
(2) Arm scythe 2" high x 12" wide
(2) Leg seam 2" high x 12" wide

Sew together front and back at shoulders with a 3/8in seam allowance.

Sew the back extender onto the center of the back leg area.  Go slow since it's got a lot of curve.  Trim down raw edges.  

With the right side of the romper facing out, take the arm binding and with its wrong side facing up, match up raw edges, pin then stitch together with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  

Then wrap binding up and over to the wrong side of the fabric and pin.  Topstitch with a triple stitch close to the left side of the binding so it catches the folded over fabric on the back too.  Repeat this with the other arm.

Take the neck binding and bring the short ends together, right sides facing.  Stitch and then mark the circle into 4ths.  Pin to the neck hole, matching the back seam of the binding to the center of the back neck and the other markings to the shoulder seams and front center, stretching the binding as you go.  Stitch as done with the arm areas.  

Turn romper wrong side out, pin and stitch front & back side seams.

Fold up leg hem by 1/2inch and twin needle stitch.

Attach leg bindings, but fold the raw edges on the ends inward (like you would with bias tape).  Set snaps as desired.  I used 5 to keep it simple.

Enjoy your new romper!

Craftastic Monday Link Party & Big News!

Welcome a fun new Craftastic Link Party! There's lots of talk about this week, so be sure to read all the news below.  We love seeing all those fun projects and ideas too, so link up whatever you want.  If you made it, it's Craftastic!

Last week I shared my new upcoming link party for handmade and craft-related shops, Crafty Business Fridays:



It's a free way to spread the word about your small business, network with others and find great independent places to shop that you might not otherwise discover.  Come join us for the very first link-up this Friday.  



And there's a new giveaway for your own custom photo paint by number kit:

It comes with a complete canvas, paints & brushes.  Enter HERE:


And there's still time to enter my Giveaway 
for ALL this beautiful summer fabric. 
10 half yard cuts for one lucky winner!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for the Craftastic Picks features...

Penny's Vintage Home shared this fantastic DIY farmhouse bathroom makeover her daughter did:




The DIY Dreamer created this colorful barn quilt door:

The Scrap Shoppe made this charming house number planter box:

Haekelfieber shared how to make this pretty summer tunic cover-up:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on my Buttons Page to share the good news. 

 Want a Chance to 
Be Featured Next Week?  

Link back to the party somewhere on your blog.
I can't feature your post if you don't share the party.  
  

~~ Due to Pinterest inappropriately censoring pins and banning accounts, 
Sew Can Do no longer uses or supports Pinterest ~~  

I WILL feature these projects on both Facebook

& Twitter for your creations to have MORE exposure!

Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple: 

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post. Product reviews, plagiarized or sponsored posts for random items will be immediately deleted.  
• Grab my party button & put it on your post, party page or blog somewhere.  If you want the chance to be featured, this is key.  The button code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter