Riley Blake Designs Flannel Showcase Blog Tour: City Gym Shorts

We are so excited to be part of the Riley Blake Designs Flannel Showcase Blog Tour! I have been selling Riley Blake Flannel for years in my shop and can't say enough about the superior quality and fantastic designs Riley Blake Flannel has to offer.

I have had my eye on Purl Bee's City Gym Shorts free pattern for awhile and thought this Blog Tour would be a great excuse to try it out. My daughter and her 3 cousins all play soccer and spend LOTS of time running around in soccer shorts. They find them so comfortable, they often sleep in them. So I thought, why not make some flannel pajama gym shorts?

I am so glad I tried this pattern out in flannel! The shorts have a classic retro feel to them and allow for mixing and matching of fabrics. The girls absolutely LOVE them. I offered to make some up in cotton, too, but they said no way; they love the flannel!

I was surprised how easy this pattern was to sew. Once you have the fabric pre-washed and cut, the actual sewing takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

The bias trim finishes all of your visible edges, giving the shorts a crisp, finished appearance, and a pop of contrasting color.

I made the shorts one size up because I knew these would be used for pajamas, and wanted to be sure these were roomy and comfortable. 

I chose prints ranging from vibrant primary colors to soft, muted pastel, to reflect the girls' personalities.

 You can find a huge selection of Riley Blake Flannel in my Shop.

Thank you Riley Blake for sponsoring this fabulous blog tour! I hope our readers are getting inspired and seeing all of the fantastic projects that can be made with flannel!

Here are some of the projects the other blog tour participants have come up with:

Riley Blake Designs: Jump Rope Dress in Flannel Gingham

Quiltscapes: Pajama Pants & Pillow

Fishsticks: Reversible Button Bibs

 

The Stitching Scientist: Toddler Nightgown

 

The Sassy Quilter: Patchwork Dog Bed

Simple Simon & Co: Flannel Pajamas

Fabric  Mutt: Patchwork Seat Cushion

 Just Let Me Quilt: Flannel Nightgown & Cape

Jedi Craft Girl: Easy Flannel Blanket & Burpers 

 

Rose and Odin: Christmas Pillowcase

 

Sew We Quilt: Newborn Nightgown

Haberdashery Fun: HST Baby Blanket

Leigh Laurel Studios: Personalized Pet Bed

Riley Blake Designs: DIY Chenille Baby Blanket & Pillow

and still yet to come are stops at Lucy Blaire on 10/31 

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and a final post and giveaway from Riley Blake Designs on 11/4. Be sure to follow Riley Blake Designs on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter for all of the latest scoop!

Last Minute Crunch!

The Countdown is On!

Here are my top 10 Pinterest Picks for your last minute gift giving scramble...

1.  Easy Art Smock made from a t-shirt.

2.  Make Skinny Ties from Regular Wide Ties

3.  Activity Book made from an Old Book

4.  Sherpa Boot Cover Up

5.  Acrylic Paint Image Transfer

6.  DIY Olympia Tan Book Clutch

7.  Ellie the Elephant free Pattern

8.  Easy 4 Step Computer Generated Silhouette Tutorial

9.  DIY Felt Crowns

10.  Triple Zip Pouch

More Owls!

I seriously love this free owl pattern!

 

I posted about this cute little guy 2 weeks ago, and now I have more to share!

  

I whipped up several more owls, but sadly only got a picture of these to show you.

 

This Hot Pink and Navy owl was shipped off to my high school friend, whose wife is expecting a baby.  To make this owl a little more 'girly' I cut out little eyelashes in the hot pink felt backing of the eyes.  

 And I was just dying for an excuse to use Riley Blake's new Rainbow Dot fabric, which is how this owl came into being.

Again, thank you to Emily for the sharing your tutorial with us!

Owl Tutorial

Fabrics:

Riley Blake Black Medium Chevron

Michael Miller Zap

Riley Blake Hot Pink Medium Chevron

Children at Play Navy Dot to Dot

Riley Blake Medium Rainbow Dots

Riley Blake Small Red Dots 

What to Give Baby #4?

My brother and his wife recently welcomed baby #4 to their family - a beautiful baby boy!  The question for me became "what do I give when they're already stocked with clothes, blankets and all other baby fixins"? 

That's when a came across a tutorial for this adorable little owl.  Bingo!  

However, I couldn't send this little guy off alone.

So I found a tutorial for this cute little pair of matching shoes to go with it!

Baby Lucas has siblings who are crazy about super heroes, so I used Michael Miller's Zap fabric for the top of the shoes and for the back of this cute little owl.

I varied from the original owl tutorial just a little by adding three layers to the eyes instead of two.  I also left out the little felt feet because I thought they would get worn out too quickly.  And lastly, I sewed up a small muslin pouch filled with rice and lavender, and inserted it into the base of the owl to give him weight and to add a nice, soothing scent.

And this was only the beginning....

I couldn't just sew up one pair of those adorable little shoes, especially when they make such good use of all those little scraps I can't throw away....

Ahhhh!  So darn cute!  If I didn't have more pressing projects to be working on, I might have gone on sewing these little guys forever!

Be sure to check out these fabulous tutorials and thank you to all of the wonderful bloggers out there who generously share their talents with complete strangers.  Gracias!

 

Owl Tutorial by Emily at Ashby Family Blog

Baby Shoes Tutorial by Joanna at Stardust Shoes

Fabrics:

Riley Blake Black Medium Chevron

Riley Blake Red Dots

Michael Miller Zap

Michael Miller Red Lunch Box

Riley Blake Hot Pink Medium Chevron

Michael Miller Thar She Blows

Children at Play Navy Dot to Dot 

Seaside Blue Bikini

Fly a Kite Orange Floral

Dress Up Days Grape Chevron

Michael Miller Spa Scallop

Riley Blake Gray Medium Dots

Children at Play Coral Dot to Dot

One Pattern - Two Dresses

So, I dug up this vintage 1960's Butterick 3056 pattern from my stash & decided to make it for little T - just because:)  I couldn't decided whether to make it in a solid or a big, mod print - so I decided to do both!  I loved seeing how the fabric & trims I chose completely changed the dress!

 

This first dress I made from Riley Blake's Sea Breeze fabric. 

  

I added brown piping around the collar, took out the front tabs called for in the pattern, and instead added brown ric rac up the front and back seamline, & a brown polka dot bow at the top of the pleat, topped with 4 matching vintage buttons.

 

She loved it!

 

Next up, I picked this very mod Gray & Citron daisy print from Michael Miller.

 

I felt like it would be too busy if I did the sleeves in the same fabric, so I instead opted to make them out of Michael Miller's White Cotton Lawn fabric.  I also made the collar out of the cotton lawn.  On the collar and sleeve cuffs, I added a 1/4" yellow ric rac.  I did add the front tabs to this dress, along with some big, white buttons to add to the 60's feel of it.

 

I decided to add a contrasting Citron Polka Dot to the pleat inset as well.  You can see it in the photo below.

In the end I was really happy with both dresses.  The simplicity of the solid with the contrasting ric rac gave the first dress a very youthful, innocent feel.  The second dress has a similar feel, but with a lot more "pop"!  

When choosing fabrics, it's always good to think about how it will look and come across in the finished garment.  In my opinion, children's clothing shouldn't overtake or drown the child in a bevy of colors, ruffles & bows, but rather they should highlight the child's natural beauty and innocence.  With so many beautiful prints out there, it's a good idea to reign ourselves in - use solids to break it up and give the eye a resting place - and keep it simple.  Happy Sewing!

Links to Free Patterns

There are many, many online resources for quilting and sewing. I have started compiling a list of sites the offer free patterns for quilts, pajamas, clothing, accessories, more! Here are some examples:




Browse our list of free pattern sites. Contact us if you have any favorites to add!