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Blue for Back to School

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Happy Back to School Sunshines!

Hi, I’m Becky and I normally blog at bigflynotions. I am excited to share this dress as part of the Bella Sunshine Design’s Back to School Blog Series.

Back to School Spirit Day Blues

My kids’ school has spirit days sprinkled throughout the year. The school announces the theme and children can decide whether to participate or not. There are things like Superhero Day, Wacky Wednesday, or Backwards Day (remember Kris Kross?).

The most popular day is sports spirit day. The kids wear blue during the hockey season to support the local team. My pink princess has “nothing to wear”. I went for the two birds/one stone approach with this dress: my daughter gets a new back to school dress and I am not caught unprepared for a blue spirit day.

                   

Blue on Blue on Blue

I could have used one shade of blue and made a lovely dress but why stop there? Bella Sunshine Designs has the perfect pattern for monochromatic bliss: (affiliate link) Emmaline. I purchased the ladies/girls bundle (affiliate link) in the recent Sunday Sunshine Sale and was eager to give it a try!

I used three different shades of cotton lycra from The Fabric Fairy. The pattern calls for knits with four-way stretch and good drape. Cotton lycra might have felt too boxy if I were sewing this dress for myself but it worked great for my daughter.  

Sewing Emmaline

I followed the pattern suggestions for selecting sizes. My daughter is slender and needs the size 12m for width and the size 4 for height. The pattern includes simple instructions for blending. Melissa also made this helpful video for blending sizes for the chevron skirt.

I did not perfectly execute the gathered sleeve. Next time, I will pay greater attention to evenly gather between the notches and ensure that I am not stretching as I insert the sleeve. Using a fabric with more drape might also make those small gathers a little easier to manipulate.

I really liked piecing together the skirt and watching the chevrons form. I sometimes worry about how blocked pieces will feel against skin. The skirt’s ease means this is not an issue with Emmaline. Ironing per the pattern instructions worked great but the seams would be simple to topstitch too. 

Tadah!

The outcome is a gorgeous dress with amazing twirl: 

Still intimidated by the Emmaline? You’ve got support:

 

*I used affiliate links in this post. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase,
I will receive a small commission from your purchase, at no greater cost to you.*

Back To School Crafts: Shabby Flower Hair Clips

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It’s that time of year again. The chaos and scramble of back to school is here! But you always have to accessorize, right? If your child is anything like my daughter, then the answer to that question is yes! So today, in honor of all of those bow and flower-loving kids out there, I’m going to show you how to make super quick and simple shabby flower hair clips!

Back To School Crafts: Shabby Flower Hair Clips

Supplies Needed:

Shabby Flower (s)

Felt

Alligator hair clips

Hot glue gun with glue

There are a number of places you can source these items, but if you want to make it easy, you can probably find most of these things in your local craft store. Or you can get it all on Amazon. I went all over… I got the flowers from a Facebook destash, the clips from Amazon, and the glue gun and felt from Michaels. Also important to note is to make sure the size of your flowers and clips are proportional. I used 2″ flowers and 1 1/2″ clips.

Prep Work

You can get your shabby flowers already individually cut, but my flowers were on mesh strips. If your flowers are still connected, carefully cut them apart. Then, equally carefully cut the excess mesh from around the base of the flower. Seeing a little mash peeking is fine, but you want it to be mostly invisible when the flower is right side up, like so:

You’ll also need to cut the felt into circles as well. I took a vitamin bottle lid that was about 1 1/2″ across and traced it onto cardboard so I could make uniform circles. You could also just eyeball it if you’d prefer. I then took that circle and held it still against the felt as I cut around it (tracing onto the felt is also an option).

When I was done, I had a uniform little felt circle. And then you’re ready for assembly!

Assembling Your Clips

First, plug in the glue gun. I always do that at this point for a few reasons. Obviously, hot glue isn’t going to work if it isn’t hot (haha). But, I wait until this point to conserve glue. If you plug it in too soon, it’ll just drip glue all over until you pick it up. Pro tip: When working with a glue gun, ALWAYS keep it on/over a paper towel or a plate of some sort. It will make your life SO much easier when it’s time to clean up!

When it’s all heated up and ready to go, take your felt circle and draw a glue circle just inside the perimeter. I also draw a line through that circle for a little more durability. Like so:

Then place that circle in the middle of the back of that flower and press it down gently. You’ll need to work somewhat quickly before the glue cools too much, but you should have time for fairly careful placement.

Now, take the glue gun and apply glue to the top of your alligator clip in a nice thick line.

And place it glue down into the middle of the felt circle.

That’s it! You’re done! Just let them cool completely (shouldn’t take long), and you have a beautiful new hair clip! These are great because you can dress them up or down. You can also find the flowers in a WIDE array of different colors and prints, so you can match almost ANY outfit! Also, try layering 2 flowers on a felt oblong with one clip for a slightly different look!

Will you be making ant fun school accessories this year? Let us know in the comments, as well as any other fun crafty ideas you’d like to see us try! And join us in our online community to share your fun makes, we love seeing them!

 

5 Fun Craft Projects For Back To School!

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Back to school has always been dreaded by most children, while celebrated by most parents. What can we do to make the transition more fun for our kids? How about some fun craft projects for back to school that they can use when they go back? We’ve searched for some awesome projects featured on other blogs and we’re going to share them with you! So, without further ado…

5 Fun Craft Projects For Back To School!

Vinyl Pouch Tutorial by Bonjour Quilts

This is a super fun see-through pouch that can be jazzed up with a fun print and colorful zipper at the top! Kids will love it when you make it with their favorite prints. And it can help them with organizing their school supplies. Everything within sight and easy to reach! It’s a quick and easy sew that will be a hit with the back to school bunch.

Felt Apple Garland by Heather Handmade

While maybe not as “useful”, this felt apple garland is adorable and would make a fantastic gift for a new teacher. It’s so simple and sweet and I could totally see it dangling cutely from the front of a teacher’s desk or across the top of a whiteboard.

Fabric Scraps Memory Game by Apple Green Cottage

If you have children entering preschool (or maybe a toddler jealous of older siblings going off to school), this one is fun! They can get their own back to school game! Just a few fabric scraps, a machine, and a little time and you have a fun (and durable) memory game that can travel anywhere easily! Use their favorite character fabrics to make it even more fun! And pair it with the vinyl pouch tutorial above for an easy storage solution to keep it all together!

Taco Zipper Pouch by On The Cutting Floor

This one is great even for the older kids! How cool is a taco pouch! I know my teen boy will jump at the chance to carry his pencils around in this one. It’s fun and colorful and just the right touch of trendy and unique to make it an instant winner!

Calico Cat Pencil Case by Sewing a la Carte

This last one is a HUGE dose of cute! Don’t be alarmed by the Dutch language you see when you click, if you scroll down there is a complete set of instructions in English too! I’m completely in love with this pouch, as I’m sure any kitty-loving child will be too! This one ups the difficulty lever by a smidge, but it’s still relatively easy to accomplish.

HUGE thanks to Bonjour Quilts, Apple Green Cottage, Heather Handmade, On the Cutting Floor, and Sewing a la Carte for sharing these amazing craft projects for back to school with us today! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little mini-craft roundup! If you have any new fun back to school craft ideas, please share them in the comments below! And please join us in our Facebook group if you haven’t already! You don’t want to miss out on all the fun! See you next week!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Five

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Today is the final day of our whirlwind Back to School blog tour! I’m so sad to see it come to an end, but all good things must. Last (but most certainly not least!) on this final day of our tour, we will see the creations of Laurie Roberts, Julia Jones, and Teronia Sherece Wilson! Let the fun and cuteness commence!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Five

Laurie Roberts

Laurie Roberts is a Southerner living in the rural Green Mountains of Vermont. It was living in a small town that encouraged her to rediscover sewing after a 20-year break. She’s married to a man that indulges her love of rich textiles and sewing by helping support her small custom dress business. She has 5 children between his, hers and ours and has no shortage of people asking for special custom stuff but really loves to stretch her creativity by indulging the youngest 2 with their specific demands for cosplay inspired and upcycled costuming. She started a challenge at the beginning of the year, which led to a blog chronicling that sewing journey. You can see more of her amazing dragon Gabriella’s Coat here.

Julia Jones

Julia Jones AKA the scatty sewer. Sewing for 6 years, but has become very accomplished, favorite makes are regency dresses for the Jane Austen Promenade in Bath UK. Recently bought a restaurant with her husband and hoping to make all her own business clothing. Mum of 2 adult children who have both moved out of the home, its time to focus on what she wants to do and that’s SEW.

Teronia Sherece Wilson

Teronia is a crafty mom to two girls, foodie wife to her husband and all around crazy lady to everyone who knows her. Her oldest daughter inspired her to start sewing when a special first birthday dress was needed in a special size. Her favorite things to sew are special occasion dresses and custom fitted pants for her oldest petite princess. The Sansa Flares were the perfect choice to kick off her back to school sewing this year. Be sure to check out her blog for all the details.

I don’t know about you, but I am SO inspired to get do my own back to school sewing after this week’s tour! These ladies really killed it! If you missed any of the previous days, just click for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Four! Which was your favorite sew this week? Please share in the comments below!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Four

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We’re on the downhill stretch of this back to school blog tour and have seen some truly amazing things, but there’s still so MORE much to see! Are you ready for it? Today’s features will include sews made by Jessica Cotriss, Taish Bruton, and Nathalie Van den Bossche! I can’t wait for this one!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Four

Jessica Cotriss

Jessica Cotriss writes from her hobbit hole, otherwise known as her spare room/”studio”, where she sews in the a/c to avoid the scorching surface-of-the-sun heat outside in Central Texas. She and her hubby have toured the world, thanks to her former military service, and his continued military career. She’s been sewing since the 1980’s and loves making things for others. For this blog tour, she focused on options for the high school and college students and their teachers, as everyone needs to be stylish and fashionable when heading back to school, even if it’s to teach the next generation.

Taish Bruton

Taish is a sewcialist, creativepreneur and graphic designer who doesn’t like to limit her creativity. Mother of a handsome son and beautiful baby girl. She believes creativity is courageous, inspiring, and always evolving. For this blog tour, she made the Josephine Dress through the lens of a preschooler.

Nathalie Van den Bossche

In 2013, Nathalie was intrigued by the mysterious art of creating clothes. Could she do that? She registered for a local class and has not looked back since. The world wide web turned into an inspirational playground full of patterns, techniques, and fabrics. She started blogging in Dutch and recently added an English version. When she’s not sewing, Nathalie is a teacher. The dress she picked smoothens the transition from lazy days to the classroom. Summer still lingers in the scooped back of the Sahara. At the same time, the UV reactive fabric promises a magical new start for her daughter. You can find the English version of her post here. And the Dutch version here.

If you’ve missed any of our other wonderful bloggers on this tour so far, you can find Day One, Day Two, and Day Three at these links. And don’t forget the week-long sitewide sale going on this week! You don’t want to miss out on that!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Three

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It’s hump day! And the third day of the Back to School blog tour with Bella Sunshine Designs! Are you ready to see some awesome back to school gear? I am! Today we’ll get show-and-tells from Jillayne Whipple Richey, Amanda Cross, and Becca Olson! I’m ready to see what they’ve whipped up, are you?

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Three

Jillayne Whipple Richey

Jillayne is a mother to 4 and Arizonan at heart. She likes dancing in her bare feet, balanced budgets, books, quilting, sewing (especially when it looks good), music, playing music, baking bread, being warm, getting organized, making stacks, getting organized again, soft beds, baby noses, chick flicks, hugs from her kids, skipping ahead to read/watch the ending, quiet, chaos, singing really loud, her family and sharing her sewing on her blog ‘Hazelnut Handmade’. For today’s share, she hacked the Maggie Top for her daughter’s back to school outfit.

Amanda Cross

Amanda Cross, Cross Stitches Custom Clothing, was inspired by the seamstresses in her family to also take up the art and has been sewing for 24 years. She appreciates the ability to create a custom fit when it is near impossible to find it off the rack from Ready-to-Wear garments. She enjoys sharing the creative process, wonderful fabrics, ground-breaking patterns, and the necessary know-how for taking a garment from Home-Made to Hand-Made.

Becca Olson

Becca Olson Nana to 2 adorable monsters. Addicted to sewing, quilting, and basically anything she can add to the studio without getting busted by hubby. Her favorite thing to do though is sewing for those monsters. For the back to school blog, she focused on the FREE Regan Raglan…
Please check out Day One and Day Two if you missed them! Also, don’t forget that Bella Sunshine is having a week-long Back to School blowout sale in effect ALL week long! It’s the perfect opportunity to grab some of those patterns you’ve been on the fence about at a great price! Come back tomorrow to see what new pretties we have in store for you!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Two

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This is the second day of looking at some amazing back to school fashions created by amazing sewists using Bella Sunshine patterns! Today’s post will feature Becky Petty, Dora Serrano, and Jennie Coffman Lindstrom! Let’s meet them and see what amazing things they’ve created for us!

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day Two

Becky Petty

Becky Petty is the mom of twins and lover of coffee and creating. When she’s not doing mountains of laundry or watching Frozen for the umpteenth time, Becky enjoys documenting her sewing journey. Her passion and mommy zen time is making clothes for her family to wear for real life. Check out the full BSD outfit (leggings, tunic, cardigan) that Becky made for her pink-loving princess. We think you’ll agree, she’s too cool for school!

Dora Serrano

Teacher, sewist, tester, blogger… a creative mind on the loose, Dora is a mom to three children and married to the love of her life. She gets her inspiration from her family and she loves to sew for them. This time, she was able to do what she likes most when it comes to sewing: mix fabrics, colors, and textures in a beautiful dress!! Find out more on her blog!

Jennie Coffman Lindstrom

Jennie Lindstrom is a wife, mama to four daughters, homeschooler, veteran, and Dr. Pepper lover. She loves to sew and be creative, and writes all about it on her blog, Stitched by Jennie. Since she homeschools her daughters, she decided to go for a comfortable, yet cute back to school outfit. Her 15-year-old requested a new shirt with a fun quote and the Reagan raglan worked perfectly to fulfill her request. Some Eden leggings and an Apple Cardigan complete the outfit.

How great were those blogs? I love seeing all of the creativity people use when sewing Bella Sunshine patterns! Here’s a jump back to Day One if you missed it! Oh! And if there are some patterns you’ve been eyeing and haven’t jumped on yet, I have a surprise for you! ALL of our patterns are on sale ALL week this week! So hop on over to the shop and grab a few while they’re cheap! You won’t regret it.

Back to School Blog Tour~ Day One

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We’re pretty much all gearing up for back to school. What better way to prep and get a little stress relief too, than by sewing up some new wardrobe pieces? Each day this week we will feature three talented seamstresses who have sewn up some Bella Sunshine goodness for back to school! Today’s post will feature Auke Leufkens, Miranda Bodo, and Leisel Engelbrecht.

Back to School Blog Tour ~ Day One

Auke Leufkens

Aukje from Sew Cucio loves to sew for everybody in her family including herself, although the girls get most of the sews. She especially loves to sew dresses and with a deadline, therefore she loves blog tours and pattern tests. Her sews are recognized for its bold fabric combinations with lots of colors. For the back to school blog tour, she used three patterns, two free patterns, the Eden Leggings and the Reagan Raglan, and the third is the Apple Cardigan, to create a full outfit.

Miranda Bodo

Miranda from Inspinration sews fast, has a passion for sewing with knits and is a hacker at heart. For the back to school blog tour, she used all those qualities and created an all knit mini capsule. It contains eight pieces, four tops four bottoms that can be mixed and matched to create sixteen different looks. Miranda has a passion for color and print which leads to her kids looking like walking happy rainbows, but for the tour, she tried something new, a basic color scheme and several uni-colored fabrics.

Leisel Engelbrecht

Liesel has been sewing for several years, and enjoys sewing for children the best! She homeschools her four children and loves photography, music, and thrifting as other hobbies. Her blog is “It’s Liesel” and you can find all her sewing shares there. She made the Maggie dress and a modified Clementine top for back to school outfits for her girls.

I think these three ladies did an AMAZING job, don’t you? Make sure you check back tomorrow to see more awesome back to school sews!

 

 

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