GYCT Designs: Rival Raglan Tee, Tunic, and Dress {Pattern Test}

I had the pleasure of testing the Rival Raglan Tee for GYCT Designs (affiliate) and it is so fast and easy to sew! I love it!

Nikolai was excited to have a camo shirt! :)

You can get the pattern discounted for 5.95 until the end of today (8/29).
Find it here:
Etsy: Rival Raglan by GYCT Designs
Craftsy: Rival Raglan by GYCT Designs
Shop: GYCT (affiliate)

There are so many options for this shirt!

Sleeves: Long sleeve, short sleeve, 3/4 sleeve. Plus directions on layering the sleeves.

Shirt: Regular length, tunic length, dress option for a girl

I have a couple that I want to do. I cannot wait to layer the sleeves! Perfect for the upcoming fall and winter!

Check out some of the tester photos and the range of options available with the pattern Rival Raglan Tee for GYCT Designs (affiliate)!

Happy Sewing!

Bundle Up for Boys - Spiderman

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Bundle Up! And, so excited that these patterns are for boys! Yay sewing for boys!

Check out all the awesome patterns for this bundle. I have to say it is a pretty incredible collection! And I hope to be able to make a purchase soon. Better hurry though, it ends the 29th! That is in 2 days! Then the patterns can be purchased through the designer at regular price.

The two patterns I sewed up for the tour are the Letterman Jacket by Fairytale Pattern Designs and the Butler Britches by Brownie Goose.

The Letterman Jacket by Fairytale Pattern Design

Fabric: I used a red suiting bottomweight for the body and a blue bottom weight from the "jean" section at Joann's. The lining is flannel. I used an interlock for the neck binding, cuffs and waistband.

Modifications: The lining is not in the original pattern. I used the pattern pieces and modified to the bodice front pieces to incorporate the facing as a panel. I quilted the bodice flannel pieces over cotton batting to add in an extra warmth layer. The sleeves are not quilting, just lining and shell fabrics.

Because I used the lining (and Little man was extremely upset when I put the shell on him to try because he couldn't see the pictures) we also made this jacket reversible! All seams are hidden.

Embelishments: I traced the Spiderman Logo on freezer paper. I used the same image for both, just resized when printing.

Butler Britches by Brownie Goose

Fabric: I used the same blue bottomweight and flannel from the jacket.

Modifications: I used the flat front waistband option but did an adjustable elastic by creating my own buttonhole elastic. 

Embelishments: I did not add any of my own. I had a hard time matching the button color and little man wanted a brown button... So brown it was.

The patterns were relatively quick to sew and so much fun! Directions were clear and easy to follow. :)

There are only 2 more days for the sale! Head over to Bundle Up! :)

And, don't forget to check out all the other awesome sewing projects completed using the patterns from the bundle.

 20th Boy, Oh Boy, Sew Like My Mom, Sew a Straight Line

21st Made By Sara, Friends Stitched Together, Max California

22nd Just Joshin, Kid Approved, Gracious Threads

23rd Mimi's Mom, Feather's Flights, Once Upon a Sewing Machine

24th Handmade Boy, Made By Momma, Bee Quilted Beauties

25th Handcrafted By Red, The Crazy Tailor, Kelly Hogaboom

26th Mae&K, Get Your Crap Together, Lady and the Gents

27th Paisley Roots, The Berry Bunch, Knot Sew Normal, 

 BabyFish Designs, Rebekah Sews, Lady and the Gents

28th Swoodson Says, Petit a Petit, Kelly Hogaboom

29th Beaza & Llama, Shaffer Sisters, Fabulous Home Sewn

Happy Sewing!

Color Block Dress: So Sew Easy {Blog Tour}

I will be honest. When I first saw the Color Block Dress by So Sew Easy I thought, "there is no way I could pull something like this off. " Honestly, the curves, the hug, everything about it screamed that I could not wear it. But, I defied my thoughts and decided to jump on and sew up this dress. It had immediately thought that it would make a great 'little black dress' with some color detail. I needed to have little man help with the fabric choices, and I am loving how this turned out! I have a second one, alternated, cut and ready to sew. Perfect for date nights!

don't you love these pictures my 3 year old took? I'm impressed! :)

Now, I am really self-conscious of my momma tummy. I have that mommy pooch that seems it will never go away and anything tight fitting is just waiting for ridicule. All I have in my closet for dresses are either too small or are so loose fitting from wearing during pregnancy that I feel frumpy.  But I don't in this dress, I love it!

I tried on this dress the moment that I finished the side seams and I loved it right away! I felt great, beautiful, and didn't even care of my mommy tummy! 

I cannot wait to wear it on date night with hubby! 

The pattern is so easy to tape together. No cutting needed witch is great.

The directions are easy to follow. I had never done princess seams before and this made it so easy. I used 4-way stretch for the black and this was the easiest time I had ever had with 4-way stretch.

Directions are provided to modify the sizing to fit your body type. 

Color Block Dress by So Sew Easy

Happy Sewing!

August Mystery Challenge: Cover Up

Did you see the challenge I did last month? We swapped a yard of fabric and had to create something from it. If you missed that post, you can check it out here! This month it was an idea that we swapped, fun!!

My Theme is Cover Up. So I did a hooded towel for little man! My first time sewing with terry cloth, and my first time using the serger that my mom gave me! I wont lie. It took me forever to thread the darn thing. Then it took a while to figure out how to get a seam. Once I got the hang of it, it was fun. I did learn that you cannot get 4 layers of terry cloth through the serger. Just in case you were wondering...

So thankful for the ladies putting this together. I would not have attempted this without the little push!

I gave Ula over at Lulu and Celeste the theme of morpho butterfly/rainforest.

I got my idea from Irene over at Sugaridoo. You should check out her Shop on Craftsy, I love her amigurumi patterns! So cute!

I knew what I wanted to do the moment I got the theme from Irene. I have been meaning to make little man some new hooded towels because he loves his hooded towels, but he has outgrown all the baby ones which is most of them! They really should make those baby ones a little bit bigger.

I bought 3 pretty decent sized bath towels from Walmart. There were only a little over $2 per towel. Not bad when considering a hooded towel is about 2-3 times as much.

I used one towel to cut out the hood and a contrasting towel for the spikes. I cut the other towel in half and sewed it back together with the spikes... I was going to stuff those spikes with poly-fil, but hubby thought that would be a little silly for just a towel. so, no stuffing. The colors... Nikolai picked out the colors. I didn't even realize they were kind of Christmas-y until putting them in the washing machine. I love it. :)

I just used my triangle ruler for the spikes, but took them in at the bottom so they were kind of like a jewel shape. it was fun sewing them together using the serger. I had to go back over some of the seams so many times. But I still think they turned out cute. Little man says it looks like a stegosaurus. So stegosaurus towel it is.

and so proud of my first time serging!

And one more... I think this picture is one of my favorites!

We had to hurry, this thunderstorm cloud was moving in! I love desert monsoons!

Don't forget to check out these other lovely ladies and what they came up with for their mystery theme!

Friends Stitched Together - History of Flight - 8/17

Felt with Love Designs - Under the Sea - 8/18

Knot Sew Normal - Fruit - 8/19

Friends Stitched Together - My Little Pony - 8/20

The Berry Bunch - Cover Up - 8/21

Pensebrox - Titanic - 8/22

Tangible Pursuits - London Dapper - 8/23

Rebel and Malice - Disco - 8/24

Sewing Sober - Espionage - 8/25

Sugaridoo - Musical Instruments - 8/26

Lulu and Celeste - Morpho Butterfly/Rainforest - 8/27

Paisley Roots - Classic Summer Movies - 8/28

Create 3.5 - Morocco - 8/29

Mae&K - Solar System - 8/30

The Sewing Sparrow - Safari - 8/31

Happy Sewing!

What's For Dinner: Tuna and Rice Casserole {Recipe}

I have never really been a fan of tuna casserole. I don't really like tuna all that much. It's fish. I don't like fish. And, everyone always puts peas in their tuna casseroles. I don't like peas. 

I found a tuna and rice casserole that had a bunch of veggies in it not just peas, and then (isn't that how it always goes) could not find it again later! This was before pinterest. I had to figure out a casserole that we, meaning hubby and I, would eat. But since little man likes peas, it had to have peas. Luckily he is not the picky one. So after much trial and error, here is the recipe!

Tuna and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:
7oz tuna drained
1 cup rice uncooked
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
2 small potatoes
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup peas
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (divided into 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tbs black pepper (I like a lot, Season to your taste)

Directions:
1. Clean and chop potatoes into small bite size pieces.

2. cook rice and steam potatoes. I add a small amount of butter and about 1/2 tsp pepper to the water.

I love my rice cooker. Probably the best investment I made when I moved out. It has a steamer to use with the rice cooker! They don't sell my model any more. I bought it at Mervyn's before they were even saying they were going to go out of business. But they have more up to date ones like this Aroma 3-Cup (Uncooked) 6-Cup (Cooked) Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, White (affiliate) version. And it comes in black and red too!

3. Use this time to chop veggies

4. preheat oven to 375

5. Add veggies to a casserole dish. I like my Pyrex Bakeware 2-Quart Casserole Dish with Lid (affiliate). Then the soup, milk (I use the can to measure out the milk) and sour cream. mix in the sour cream. then add tuna and spices. It's easiest to stir and mix in this order. I am a messy cook and I make the smallest mess this way. ;)

6. Stir in rice. and 1/4 cup shredded cheese.

7. Top with the remaining shredded cheese.

8. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. Don't worry about the cookie sheet underneath. I cook everything in the oven on a cookie sheet when the bottom rack is not covered in foil.

I let the casserole cool uncovered for about 5 minutes before I dish it out for hubby and I. I dish it out for the kids to cool faster.

Enjoy!