Creating a New Look with Chantelle's Cardigan

Hey everyone!  I’m Nikki here, with a hack for the new Chantelle’s Cardigan pattern.  Today I am going to show you how to slightly alter the front pattern piece, then add a snap and some trim to make the cardigan with a completely new look!

Let's get started!

How to Slim {Skinny} Pants

We are so excited to have a boys' woven skinny pants pattern at CKC now!  I'm sure Ryker's will quickly become a trendy staple for your little guy!  Today we are going to show you how to get exactly the right fit for your boy, even if he is not standard sized. 

If your boy has wider-than-average legs, you will want to make the pants one size larger for the width and then follow the tutorial below. 

And if your boy has thinner-than-average legs, you will want to make his usual size and then follow the same tutorial below.  

So either way, you're going to get what you need from today's tutorial! 

Think Pink!

I'm sure we are all aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one of the ways we can show our support is by wearing pink. Our design team at CKC has a fun tradition of taking it one step further and sewing pink for our kiddos! This year is no different and here are some fun pics of the outfits we came up with.  You might even notice a couple sneek peeks in there. Sit back and enjoy! 

Morgan's daughter, wearing modified Parker's

(Morgan sews pink for her daughter every day in October! You can follow her on IG.)

Nikki's daughter, wearing a very special Chantelle's

 Kristi's daughter, wearing Hattie's

Susan's little buddy, wearing Hadley's

Tiffany A's daughter, wearing a sneak peek 

 Tosha's daughter, wearing Brewster's 

Tiffany Vela's daughter, wearing Tessa's

Candice's daughter, wearing Tansy's

Shannon's daughter, wearing a sneak peek

Shirley's daughter, wearing Tween Rayna's

Kara's daughter, wearing Seyla's

 Kristen's daughter, wearing Tween Toby's 

Stephanie's daughter, wearing a sneak peek

Elizabeth's daughter, wearing modified Hattie's

How fun was that? 

If that wasn't enough pink for you yet and you want to see our pink outfits from last year -- along with a tribute to a very special person -- you can click here.

Above all, we want to give our love and support to our all our fans and their families who are fighting cancer. You are stronger than you may know. <3

Let's Create! ~ Kristen 

Adding Pockets to Jackets and Cardigans

Hey everyone! It’s Nikki from the tween and women’s department again, and I have a great tutorial to teach you for our jacket/cardigan patterns! We just released Chantelle's and my friend Becky from Proud Momma Designs asked me how hard it would be to add some pockets. So of course I aim to please and quickly drafted some pocket pieces for her. Then we went right to work adding them! 

These pockets would be cute on some of our other patterns too, such as Willow's, Adele's, or even sewn on the front of pants! They are easy to add to any of them and today we will show how we added them to Chantelle's. 

Winners in Our 2015 Virtual World Fair

It's time to announce the winners of our 2nd Annual CKC Virtual World Fair! We had even more entries this year and we were really impressed, not only with your beautiful sewing skills, but also your generosity in donating to the hospital. Thank you! I am excited to deliver your gorgeous creations in person! 

Just as we promised, we have chosen winners for each category and we will be sending out your ribbons and judge's feedback very soon! If you aren't familiar with the guidelines for our fair, you can read about them here. And if you would like to know exactly what criteria they were judged on and what we looked for in the entries, you can read that information here and get some helpful tips for the future!

Box Pleat Modification for Eleanor's Pattern

Did you get a chance to grab your copy of our new Eleanor's Pintuck Dress and Top pattern while it was on sale? There are so many adorable options included in the pattern!  And today on the blog we have the designer here with us to show yet another modification that you can do to your Eleanor's -- an adorable box pleat on the front bodice!  

Isn't it pretty?  Most of the steps are written right in the pattern so this tutorial will show you just the changes that you need to make.  First we will show you step-by-step photos, and then at the end we even have a video if you want to watch Susan do it herself! Here we go: 

Floppy Bonnet

Are you ready for another free pattern today?  It's costume season for most of us, so let's learn how to make a floppy bonnet! You could use it for Bo Peep, Strawberry Shortcake, gingerbread girl, and a variety of other characters. 

Today's tutorial comes to us from Tosha, the designer of our dance wear patterns at CKC.  That's her little cutie above. Let's get started! 

Watermarking Photos

We get quite a few questions in our patterns group about how to watermark photos, so today we're going to have a little lesson on it!  A watermark is basically any mark you choose to put on your photos to identify your brand, and to hopefully protect the photos from being used without your permission.  It is not at all difficult to add and it can even be a little fun! 

First of all, you will choose what you want your watermark to look like.  It may be your boutique name, your logo if you have one, or even a small photo or icon. It doesn't have to be anything official; just something that identifies your photo as your own.

Sizing Charts and Other Tips in the Read Me File

You might have noticed the "Read Me" file that is now available for download with every PDF pattern you purchase from CKC. Several people have asked what it's for. And our advice is... read the "Read Me" file and you'll find out!  

Just kidding. It's actually a great question. And the answer is pretty simple. That's what we will talk about today! 

Superhero Wrist Cuffs

It's costume season for most of us and today we have the queen of over-the-top costumes (Dawn from Rainbows Lolipops N Gumdrops, of course) here to show us how to make super-hero wrist cuffs!  

These can be made for boys and girls of all ages for a variety of costume uses. And yes, they're super easy and fast to make! Our tutorial today includes both shapes you see above -- the straight cuff and the pointed cuff, with a printable pattern piece. Because Dawn is so crazy busy filling costume orders right now, I'm going to be doing the tutorial pics. I made mine for my little macho superhero-loving boy. Let's get started!