Just Launched: My Little Leprechaun Mini Top Hat Pattern

Making more whimsical patterns is something I've been wanting to do for a while.  Judging from the amazing response I've had to some of my recent free download patterns, like this month's Pet House Igloo, it's something others are wanting more of too.  

So...I've decided to turn some of my most popular items from my previous handmade hat offerings into PDF Patterns starting with this Little Leprechaun Mini Top Hat:

With Saint Patrick's Day coming up it seemed like the perfect pattern to create first.

It can be made in fleece or felt so it's soft and washable.  It can be worn as a hair clip or a soft, stay put headband.  It's fun for babies, kids and adults.  

The mini size and jaunty shamrock make it festively fun.

It also can be made with other color combinations for year round looks.  It's perfect for Mad Hatter and Steam Punk styles too.

It can be sewn entirely by hand or mainly machine sewing with minor hand sewing to finish. The pattern includes all the printable pieces plus 8 pages with detailed instructions, supply list and loads of step-by-step full color photos.  

~ TODAY ONLY ~

I'm offering this PDF Pattern for FREE 

to 10 people who comment on this post!

Just leave your email address in your comment or send it to me at cheryl@sewcando.com and I will randomly pick 10 of you to email the pattern.  Comments must be received by 11:59pm EST 2/27/19 to be entered.

For everyone else, the full Little Leprechaun Mini Top Hat PDF Pattern is available in my Etsy shop, The Green Hedgehog.

I'm setting the goal of creating more patterns this year (both freebies and additions to my Etsy shop). I've always wanted to do a pattern book featuring my whimsical hat designs, so I'm aiming to release them as individual patterns in the coming months and then compile them all into one fantastic e-Book when I've got them all done.  

The big question is which one to do next?  

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Let me know what pattern you'd like to see next!

My Best Creation of 2018

The project I've spent the most time on the past 9 months has finally been completed and I'm 100% in love with how it's turned out:

Our littlest guy arrived late last Thursday night, 10 days early.   The past week has been such a whirlwind, I'm just starting to catch my breath, but I'm feeling incredibly blessed and grateful that he came into the world safely and is healthy.  His big brothers & sister are besotted with him already and he's surrounded by much love.  

I don't think anything I craft this year will be as fulfilling and wonderful as this little person, but I'm looking forward to sharing all the sweet things I've made and will continue to make for him.   We're officially a family of 6 now and it feels just right:)

Info on Softie Fabric & Little Lovey Doll Tutorial

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I'm a big fan of specialty fabrics.  They add a bit of extra style, texture & fun to projects.   Today I'm going to share my love of Softie fabric and why I think it's a great addition to any fabric stash.  So what the heck is Softie?

Softie is an incredibly cozy polyester than has plush nap on its right side and a smooth finish on the wrong side.  A bit softer than velour, and with just a bit of stretch, so you can use it for clothing, blankets, toys, quilts & all sorts of other things.  If you want to make something cuddly, this is the fabric to use.  You can't help but want to sink your hand in it - it's that soft.

Sewing with it is easy - just use a lot of pins to keep it from sliding while sewing together.  Doing a quick tumble in the dryer will take care of any loose fuzzies after cutting too, but both of these things are pretty minimal compared to a lot of other fluffy fabrics.  One last tip - it's not meant to be ironed, but because of it's fluid softness it rarely creases.

I used some of the new Timeless Treasures Softie dots & solid green to make a reversible hooded pullover for my little lady.  The pattern I had called for knits and worked great since the Softie has just enough stretch.  It was an huge improvement over using knit since each side was cloud-soft and cuddly.  It's now my 2 year old's favorite top!

I also love Softie fabric because unlike fleece and other cuddly fabrics, it keeps its plush feel and doesn't pill up as much over time.  Staying ultra soft over time makes it ideal for children's projects.  And speaking of projects, how about a tutorial for one right now?  



My Little Lovey Doll is easy to make.  Even a beginner can have one made in about 30 minutes.  And being part doll, part blankie means it's a perfect bedtime or travel companion.   I used the pink squiggly lines & solid chocolate Softie fabrics from Timeless Treasures for mine.

You'll Need:
- 3/8 yd Softie print fabric
- 1/8 yd Softie solid fabric
- Batting (11in wide x 12in high piece)
- A few ounces of polyfill
- Embroidery floss
- Tiny scrap of felt
- Hand embroidery needle
- Sewing Notions (thread, pins, sewing machine, pencil)
- Paper

First make the patterns. On a paper square that is 11in wide by 12in high make a pear shape with rounded arms.  From a square that's 1.5in wide by 1.5in high, cut a "U" shape to make the hands template.  And from a square of paper that is 3.5in wide by 3.5in high make a rounded head shape that that narrows slightly at the bottom (to make a neck).

Cut out the front & back of the body from the print Softie and a single body from the batting.  Cut a front & back of both hands and the head from the solid Softie.



On the head front, using the floss, hand embroider some "U" shapes for the eyes and cut out a small "U" from the felt and stitch that on for the mouth:

With the flat end of the head lined up with the neckline of the body (and the right sides facing), stitch the head to the body on both the front and back pieces:

With right sides facing, sew the front & backs of the hands together leaving the bottoms open.  Clip around the curve (I use pinking shears to make this fast & easy around small curves like this) and turn right side out.  Stuff with a small amount of polyfill.

On the front line up the open ends of the hands with the wrist area on the body:

Place the back side over the front and then place the batting on top.  Pin all the layers and then stitch together with a .25in seam allowance, leaving a 2 inch gap at the bottom for turning.

Clip around the curves (or use my time-saving pinking shears trimming).  Turn the doll right side out and stuff the head section with polyfill, using a pencil or knitting needle to help pack it in.  You can add a few hand stitches through all the layers at the neck to help keep the polyfill in place (although I didn't and it hasn't shifted out of place).  Hand sew the bottom opening closed.  Next cut the two triangles, that are 4 in wide at the base and 4 inches high, for the hat:

Sew the sides of the hat together with a .25in seam allowance and turn right side out:

Fold the raw edges of the hat under and place it on the lovey's head.  Pin together and hand stitch in place:

Now there's a soft & cuddly lovey doll for a little person to love!  My daughter immediately took to hers and it's now her new best friend.  They go everywhere together:)

What would you make with some Softie fabric?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too - click HERE to check them out!

Sherpa Pants: The Ultimate Cuddle Wear

Brrr!  That's how the weather is around here.  C-O-L-D.  Soft, warm clothes are a must to get through these chilly days.  When my now 8yr old was a tiny baby (and I couldn't even sew a straight line) I'd gotten him some lovely sherpa lined jeans from Baby Gap.  They were so soft & cuddly inside, it was like he was wearing a warm hug even when he wasn't in my arms.  They seemed like a steal at the time at $25.  And he outgrew them after 3 months & I never saw anything like them again:(

So I was beyond excited when I found this fabric - it's microsuede on one side, fuzzy sherpa on the other.  So the one side is velvety soft and other is incredibly marshmallowy soft.  Like wearing a fluffy cloud - could there be anything better?  I doubt it.  Super durable too.  And the best part?  I got it on sale, so a half yard needed to make these for my little girl was just $7. Wayyyyy better than $25 and there was enough left over that I can make some cute little matchy shoes or slippers.  When I get a hot second to work on them that is.  And I've been a bit short on hot seconds (or even room temperature ones) lately.

I used a basic pant pattern and added a little color by stitching some ribbon down the sides of each leg.  By adding a bit of extra length and turning the hems outward instead of under, I also added a little cuff so the sherpa gets a peek out of the legs and can be rolled down as she grows so they get a nice long life.

After I made these I knew I needed to get more of this stuff and come up with something for yours truly.  It's just the perfect fabric for feeling warm & fuzzy all day long.

The plushness level of the fabric does make these a little on the poofy side though, so using it for pants isn't the most flattering if you're female & over the age of 10.   But I've got a yard of it just waiting for the ideal use to occur to me.  And even if it doesn't, should this weather stick around I may care less about poofy & more about cozy anyway.

Any ideas for making myself something chic & warm out of this heavenly fabric?  Go ahead and share 'em in the comments!

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so check them out HERE!

Tea Party 1st Birthday - On A Budget

This weekend we celebrated my little girl's 1st birthday with a homemade tea party.  I'd seen some amazing parties on other blogs, but wanted to come up with my own style, make the stuff myself AND still pull together the whole thing for under $75.  Yes, welcome to Crazyville, population: me.

I am still sane enough to state what I hope is obvious: this took time to put together.  Usually when you see a jawdroppingly gorgeous party they leave out the part they were up until 3am for a week making it and that it still cost a bunch.  I've got 3 kids at home and limited time & money, but by starting to gather supplies and make the crafty bits little by little in advance (when I had 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there, etc.), I was able to do all this stuff at a reasonable pace.  It made the actual day a lot less stressful and I got to bed before midnight.   So enough boring talk, let's roll out the party!!

To start, I made these teapot invites using my Cricut & Sure Cuts A Lot software several weeks ago.  You can read more about them here.

Here's a little tour of the actual party:

I used yardage of cotton fabrics for the table & cart coverings (bought on sale for under $2.50/yd), so they could be reused or made into sewing projects later.  The pink flowers were silk ones I use to decorate in the house in the spring.  All the trays, glassware, china plates & teapots were things I already had, but went together easily.

I made a gift bag with some of my favorite print papers & spare ribbon:

Birthday banner made with my Cricut, SCAL & some ribbon:

To hold the banner, we used conduit pipe wrapped in crepe paper (credit to my husband for that idea) and topped with these little doodads:

I made little tea sandwiches and used my Cricut to cut out little teapot signs for the refreshments to tie them to the theme.

Since it's a tea party, even though it was 90 degrees, we had to have tea!

And several kinds of treats.  Like this cookie cone (made with the tutorial from Prudent Baby):

Cupcakes with matching wrappers (using the Cricut & SCAL):

And of course a cake made with my personal favorite, modeling chocolate:

How did she like her first taste of cake? Let's see how she started (wearing her last minute added DIY teapot party hat, of course):

And this is where she ended up:

And her "What?!  Haven't you ever seen anyone enjoying their cake before?!"

And the birthday girl had to have a tea dress, so I'd made this for her to wear (which had to be changed moments after the cake photos:

In addition to getting some wonderful gifts (including several gorgeous handmade ones from my crafty aunt), she finally saw the quilt I made for her in this post:

We even got a somewhat decent picture of us together (where Mommy doesn't look quite as exhausted as she feels):

Would I want to do this for every birthday?  Ummmm, no.  But for a memorable first birthday, for my last baby, it was definitely worth it!

Sharing this with my fave link parties too so check them out here!