Tag Archives: vintage buttons

Easy DIY Reversible Doll Dress

09 Friday Aug 2013

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I made a set of these dresses for Ada’s first doll (Baby Stella by Manhattan Toys).  The dresses and the doll have been some of the girls’ favorite playthings, so I recently made up another set for our niece.  The pattern is based off of a vintage Buttterick #4813.  This is a very simple project and a good way to use pretty fabric remnants too small for a child-sized dress.  To make your own Reversible Doll Dress you will need:

*Two pieces of fabric (We used less than 1/4 yard per side)

*Four Buttons

*Scissors

*Sewing Machine and Matching Thread

*Paper for Pattern

*Pins

1. Drag pattern to desktop and print to size.  Our pattern measures 6 3/4″ along Center Front and Center Back.

2. Fold fabric in half.  Position Center Front and Center Back of patterns along fold and pin into place.

3. Cut out Fabric around pattern.  Be sure to include notches.

4. Repeat #2 and 3 for second piece of fabric.  You should now have two Fronts and two Backs, with a full dress in each fabric.

5. Unpin Pattern from Fabric.

6. Pin together Front and Back of same fabric with right sides facing along Side Seams and sew.  (We used a 1/4″ seam allowance).  Press open seams and repeat with second fabric.

7. Place two contrasting pieces of fabric right sides together, pin and stitch up along neck, shoulder and armhole edges.  Be sure to match notches.

8. Press open seams.

9. Sew in Button Holes at Back Shoulder Straps.

10. Sew Buttons in on both sides of fabric- one on each side.  (We used the same thread   to sew both buttons at once).

11. Pin Hem and Blind-Stitch by hand.

Enjoy!

DIY Knitted Duffle Coat

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

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Eme1Eme2I have been wanting to knit up this Vintage Duffle Coat by Sublime for my niece for quite some time.  The pattern is in The Fifth Little Sublime Hand Knit Book, which is full of more sweet baby knits.  I finally finished the duffle in time for our early Christmas celebration last week.  I used the called-for Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, in Plum Pie and finished it off with vintage buttons.  (Etsy has a great selection of vintage buttons here).  Baby knits are always so satisfying and relatively quick to make up, and the chubby recipients make even the cutest sweater look even better.

Thrift Store Sweater Update

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Likes, Organizing, Projects, Vintage

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Some of my favorite clothes for the girls are vintage finds from thrift and resale shops.  Clementine Consignment in Manhattan and LuLu’s Then and Now in Brooklyn are frequent stops for us.  These resale shops also buy gently used clothing and will donate items they can’t resell, so they are a great resource for moving your kids’ outgrown items.  We got this sweater at LuLu’s for under $10, changed out boring buttons for pretty vintage ones and added black lace over the pockets.  Flea markets, Ebay and Etsy always have great stashes of vintage trims and buttons.  We keep ours in these big glass storage jars.  Our little white sweater is now as Josie would say: “fancy”.

DIY Knit Baby Bootie Gift

20 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Party!, Projects, Vintage

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These knitted Mary Jane booties are my favorite new baby gift. The pattern is so simple and can be found here (for free!). This pattern uses less than one skein of sport weight yarn, making it the perfect pattern for that half ball of precious cashmere. (Soon I’ll post the hats I made for Ada out of really expensive, but oh-so-amazing cashmere yarn. Chris nearly had a heart attack when he found out the price, but the hats were by far her favorites and are now being passed on to Josie). The most important part of this project is to find the perfect vintage buttons to finish up the Mary Janes. Ada loves to help search through the button jars with me for just the right pair. We wrapped the booties in some craft paper and tied them up with variegated yarn. More Last Minute Knitted Gifts has a beautiful section on wrapping with scrap yarns. The card by making a simple washi tape collage and trimming the edges with pinking shears. My favorite square vellum envelopes can be found here. Welcome little one!

Ribbon Dress

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Likes, Projects, Shop, Vintage

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I got this dress at American Apparel with plans to decorate it for Ada.  I was going to make little flowers out of vintage ribbons down the front of the dress.  When I asked Ada to help me pick out the ribbon she said she wanted all of them.  Then she told me they needed to go down the back and not be sewn down into petal shapes.  I was annoyed at her for not listening to directions.  I finally asked what the heck she was going to do with the ribbons hanging off the back of her dress.  “Spin and Dance, Mama.”  Duh.

To make a similar dress you will need:

*Plain Dress

*Assorted Ribbons and Buttons

*Needle and Thread

1. Wash and dry dress to account for shrinkage.

2. Let your designer direct placement.

3. Sew down buttons and ribbon.

4. Put dress on child and let the spinning begin.

Renegade

30 Friday Mar 2012

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I’ve been excited about making these headband crowns for kids lately.  Yesterday we found out that my friend Marissa at Soor Ploom and I got into Etsy’s Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair.  Hooray!  We will be selling our children’s clothes and crowns on June 23 and 24 in Willamsburg.  I’ll put up more details as the weekend gets closer.  For now I need to get crafting!

(The crowns and Soor Ploom’s sweet clothes are also both available at Acorn Toys if you can’t wait until June).

Cherry Blossom T

26 Monday Mar 2012

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The cherry trees are just starting to bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  The festival is not until April, but it is exciting to visit each week and watch the progress.  We made this T-shirt in their honor.  You will need:

*Blank T-shirt (we used a child’s American Apparel T.  They have great organic options too).

*Fabric

*Tulle

*Buttons

*Pinking Shears

*Needle and Thread

1. Cut fabric and tulle into circles with pinking shears.  We made 1 inch circles from vintage fabric scraps.

2. Layer fabric and tulle slightly off-center.

3. Place circle layers onto shirt with button on top and stitch down through button holes.

Hand wash, or turn shirt inside out to launder.  Hooray for Spring!