Upcycling Belinda's: From a Men's Button-up to a Girls' Dress

Today's upcycle tutorial comes to us from one of our fabulous testers, Amber Grunke-Guevara. I absolutely adore how it turned out.  Here's Amber:

When I first saw the new Belinda's dress pattern, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I have been searching for a very long time for something that would be a perfect upcycle for a very special shirt. The shirt belonged to my Papa, my best friend, and had been hanging in my closet for 6 years. I had been making millions of excuses as to why I couldn't use it yet, but with Belinda's dress pattern my excuses were gone. It was a simple, elegant pattern, that would keep the classic lines and his signature pearl snaps intact. 

First you want to choose the perfect shirt and make sure it will work with the sizing you are needing. These upcycles typically work best with sizes up to about a 5T. Once you get larger than that, the shirt would have to be substantially larger to accommodate width. 

Gathering with a Serger

I love sewing.  I'm sure that's no surprise, and there's a good chance you're the same way since you are here reading this!  But as much as I love sewing, I also like to learn new ways to save time while I do it. After all, the quicker I can do something, the more creating I can do!  Today's skill is is not a new technique but  it sounds like there are many of our sewing friends who don't know how to do it.  So... let's get to it and learn something new!

Gathering can be done with a regular sewing machine, or even just by hand.  But if you happen to have a serger, you have the greatest gathering tool at your fingertips and it doesn't even require a special foot!  While it's true that there are ruffling feet available, there is somewhat of a learning curve for them and the method I'm showing today is just as effective, in my opinion.  I'm going to demonstrate how gathering is done on my Brother 1034D serger, first using photo steps and then with video! 

Laminated Cotton - Tips for Sewing and How to Make Your Own!

Hey there! Stephanie Baker here to share a few tips and tricks with laminated cotton and how you can laminate your own cotton if you just can't find what you are looking for. I'm SO excited about our new pattern Rowen's Raincoat that is available in girls, tweens and doll sizes. 

By following these few tips, your raincoat will come together with ease and you'll be wondering why you never tried laminated cotton before!

Tips for Working with Laminate Cotton:

• Use a Teflon or plastic foot on your machine. The laminate will stick to any metal surface.

Lace Bunny Ears Headband

We have a special treat for you today and it's sure to make you "hoppy"!  How about a FREE pattern for a gorgeous accessory?  

We have been so incredibly excited to share our Lace Bunny Ears Headband with you!  It was created by Shannon Buckbee, one of our fabulous designers, and the instructions are super easy to follow.  All pieces are included and there are step-by-step photos - even right down to the embellishments of lace ribbon, bead strands, and singed satin flower! You can make it all with no guesswork involved.

In fact, we even included a VIDEO for how to make that awesome singed flower! 

Isn't she gorgeous?! 

 I'm sure you are already convinced that you NEED this pattern, so here you go: 

Coming Soon to CKC!

Hi! It's Nikki here and I am so excited to announce the newest product at CKC!  We love expanding into new categories and we hope you adore this one as much as we do.  

Launching in the very near future... are our CKC Cutting Files!

Our files can be used with both the Cricut Explore and Silhouette Cameo machines to cut a variety of materials.  Each design you get will include the .svg and the .dxf files.  The .svg can be used with Cricut Explore machines and also with Silhouette Cameo if you have the designer upgrade. The .dxf file can be used with Silhouette Cameo machines.

Printable Sewing-Themed Valentines

It's that time of year again!  When my first child came home with their first list of classmates to make valentines for them, I was SO excited! I soon discovered, though, that first of all, boys aren't always as into it as girls are (or maybe mine was an exception), and second, that it can be a LOT of work for tiny kids to make it through that whole list! Then we throw candy and art supplies into the mix, and... wow!  Multiply that by five and then ask me how my week has been. (Joking! I love my creative kids!) 

But still, whether we like it or not, Valentine's Day happens so let's have some fun with it!  I'm really not the valentine grinch like I might have made it sound.  This year at CKC we decided to create some super fun sewing-related valentines, just for you!   

How fun are these?!  All you have to do is download, print, and cut! If you want your kids to color them, you could print in grayscale instead of color. 

Conversation Heart Pillow

NEW BLOG POST WITH UPDATED LINKS FOUND HERE.

Last week we showed you how to use iron-on vinyl to personalize your outfits.  Today we're going to teach you a similar, but not-so-similar, technique that also turns out AMAZING.  It's called "Deco Foil" and it can give you a shiny foil look to your projects. Not only that, but with today's tutorial we are also including the free pattern for our adorable and timely Conversation Heart Pillow! 

Isn't it perfect?!  What a fun way to decorate your house or make as a gift for that special someone. The pillow even has a side strip that makes it 3D like a real conversation heart, plus ruffles on both the top and bottom edges: 

How to Iron Vinyl on Fabric

I love to personalize the clothes I make for my kids, and my kids seem to like it even more!  My new favorite way to do this is with iron-on vinyl.  There are many different types out there and you just want to make sure you choose one that is intended for ironing onto fabric. You can either cut the shapes out by hand the old fashioned way, or you can use a cutting machine such as a Cricut, Cameo, Silhouette, etc. Today I'm going to show you how it's done!

Yes, my daughter is the lucky recipient on this project. I'm so in love with how it turned out! 

I chose to use Cricut brand Glitter Iron-On Vinyl for this project. Basically, it is a sheet of clear backing with a layer of red glittery vinyl stuck to it. So there are two layers total: one will be ironed onto the shirt permanently and the other will be peeled off after ironing.