Reversible Jumper Pattern for Big Girls

Everyone has a baby jumper pattern out there....but what about a big girl jumper pattern? Any kid that is over the age of 4 doesn't have homemade clothes anymore?
That kind of makes me laugh a little because when babies are small, the only time that you can sew is at nap-time. However, when a toddler becomes more of a kid, nap times becomes a thing of the past. Yet, the kids are more able to take care of themselves. Thus, shouldn't there be MORE sewing patterns for the older kids rather than babies?
I've seen few sewing patterns for up to size 10, but none for the larger 10 year old kids who are in a 12-14. I can't save the world from the injustice of not having enough kid sized downloadable sewing patterns online, but I can start to make them one by one.
The newest design that I have going right now is a reversible big girl jumper. It has an a-line shape that is knee length. The sizes are from 4-14. It is an exceptional fit on any kid that wears those sizes. My 4 girls (sizes 5, 7, 8 and 12) are all very pleased! The jumpers look exceptional on them all.
Here is Sadie wearing her new jumper.

I wish that I have more pictures of everyone, but alas, Sadie was my model for this pattern (and a beautiful model she is!). I love how this image accurately shows the knee length, and a-line form. Of course, that beautiful smile draws the attention away from the jumper though.

This picture is the same jumper, but reversed!

The reverse of this jumper is just as beautiful as the main side. It is an entirely new jumper. I wasn't kidding when I said it was like two dresses in one! She could honestly wear this jumper today and tomorrow wear the reverse. The neckline of the reverse jumper is superb. Check out the detail below.

Main fabric neckline

Reverse fabric neckline.

Lets be honest: is that the prettiest neckline that you have ever seen on a handmade/reversible jumper!? I think so! I'm a bit biased, but very pleased with the results all the same.

This is Sadie being silly about showing off the reverse fabric of the dress. Although silly, I do simply love the picture. Her face is remarkable.

Enough about the home-front. Let me tell you what this pattern will do for you.

• It's a reversible jumper pattern that gives you two dresses in one.
• The pattern pieces are printable from your home computer. 
• There are only 9 pages to print for the entire jumper pattern. Yes. Only 9. I have made the pattern pieces in such a way that there will be less paper and ink waste of any pattern that I have ever made. Are you curious?
• The jumper pattern is knee length but is very VERY easy to make longer adjustments for a tall kiddo
• You can use buttons, snaps, velcro, safety pins or sew the shoulder straps into place.
• My favorite part: the jumper pattern only takes a maximum of 1 yard of fabric per side (one yard for the main and one yard for the reverse). 
• Yup, only 1 yard. I have a cutting chart in the tutorial to show you how to accurately cut the fabric so that you can get the most out of it too!
• It's made for beginners. 
• If you can thread your sewing machine, you can sew this jumper pattern.
• I give you budget friendly ideas to make this jumper from next to nothing!
• There are only 8 pages of tutorial, yet I made sure to put 33 real life images with excellent tutorial photos for you to follow my directions.

So honestly, do yourself a favor and try the big girl jumper pattern for your kids. It will be the 'go to' pattern in your sewing room. 

Try the pattern today!

Easy Peasy Onesie pattern - a new design

A while back I had designed a onesie pattern. It has lapped shoulders and is a perfect fit. It's super easy to understand the binding instructions so even a beginner can figure it out. It has printable pattern pieces for every baby size that there is! Starting at a tiny newborn size up to 36 months, this onesie pattern has it all for anyone who wants to make their baby a new outfit.
I love making my baby onesies out of recycled fabric: from used tshirts to scraps that I would normally throw away. In fact, This onesie is still my favorite from when I first started making them:

Isn't the girraff simply adorable? Someone had given me this shirt as a "hand-me-down" for an older child. I almost tossed it to the donation box. I don't toss anything now. I wish this one still fit my chunky monkey.

With my baby growing rapidly I need to make a few more onesies to fit her....and I have figured out some short cuts to make them sew up even faster! Although the fit of the onesie is still spot on, I have changed it to suit my needs a little better. The new design does NOT use lapped shoulders, it simply slips over the head like a t-shirt. I love that. It never fails that when you put a beautiful outfit on a baby that a shoulder pokes out here and there. With the new onesie design, the shoulders are covered. Woot!
The new design also has faster binding instructions! I will still probably put the approximate measurements of the binding in the tutorial, but I want this pattern to be a "whip it out" kind of design. So instead of measuring, I'll teach you how to put the binding on lickety split!
Of course the new design will have short sleeves, long sleeves and tank top styles available. I love using a long sleeve onesie under baby jumpers in the winter. Super oober cute! Check out the baby jumper pattern for a complete outfit!
This new design will still cover the tubby rolls enough that you can use a onesie as an entire outfit on a hot day. It's like a fitted baby romper. :)
Overall, the new easy onesie pattern is going to rock. I can't wait to get it out for you!
If you like lapped shoulders and want to sew up my original onesie pattern design, feel free to check it out! I will still use and love the original. Especially for newborn babies who absolutely need the lapped shoulder style!
I like using onesies for anything. I use them as an outfit with a pair of pants (get the baby pants pattern here) or as an undershirt on a newborn. Like I mentioned already, it's great to use a onesie as a baby romper in the summer. Make a stash for your little one today out of quality recycled fabrics!

The Reversible Baby Jumper Pattern is Incredible!

Have you been looking for a new sewing pattern to make your baby an adorable jumper? Look no farther! This reversible baby jumper pattern gives you two dresses in one and will be a main staple pattern in your sewing room!

I love patterns like this. I can use them over and over without feeling like I am overdoing the same design. This jumper pattern makes an excellent tank top dress for your baby in the summer. It is loose enough to easily fit cloth diapers under it and feels breezy cool. You could also use it in the winter time with tights, leggings, and a long sleeve.

This baby jumper pattern pairs perfectly with my ruffled diaper cover pattern! With Claire, my beautiful daughter and model, I love to dress her in the jumper and a tie-dyed cloth diaper as shown here. I'm a bit crazy for cloth diapers, so I don't mind showing off my handiwork.

The baby jumper pattern comes with multiple sizes. They are all printable from a home printer, so you don't have to worry about scaling, drawing, drafting, or cutting large. They have the seam allowance built in and don't require anything on your part except the printing. Once printed, the directions are incredibly easy to follow and understand. In fact, with most of the patterns that I design, I have one picture per step. In this tutorial, most of the steps have TWO pictures. You CAN'T mess it up.

I recently had someone ask me if my patterns were for beginners. They are. If you can thread your own machine and know the difference between a zig zag stitch and a straight stitch, you can follow my pattern. This pattern uses ALL straight stitches, NO HAND SEWING and is completely reversible with a professional finishing touch. You will be so proud of yourself for making such a darling dress with this baby jumper pattern.

Have you thought about dressing a newborn in some fancy homemade dresses? You should! It takes a minimal amount of fabric to make a newborn baby jumper with this pattern. Can you imagine the gorgeous photos you could take or have professionally taken? 

Don't you love the bows that I am pairing with these baby jumpers? They are all one of a kind creations that I design in my sewing room. Recently I have started to offer them for free on my website. Add a flower headband to any outfit for any size baby.

Enough about the flower headbands, lets get back to the baby jumper pattern. 

The sizes that are included for the jumper pattern are as follows:

• Newborn
• 0-3 months
• 3-6 months
• 6-12 months
• 12-18 months
• 18-24 months
• 24-36 months

Another thing that I want to mention about this pattern compared to others, is that the arm holes are not exceptionally large. I have purposefully designed the jumper pattern to allow room for chubby arms and sleeves, but I have left them small enough that the jumper looks very nice without an undershirt. There's nothing worse then having too much skin showing through an armhole. 

Want to check out the reversible baby jumper pattern yet? Click the image below and get sewing!

Easiest ANYWHERE - Baby Shorts Pattern Rocks!

Sew a pair of baby shorts today in 15 minutes or less! Printable pattern pieces and step by step tutorial for newborn - 36 months. Don't  look anywhere else. Do yourself a favor and get these shorts sewn up today with this baby shorts pattern!

Newborn-Toddler Shorts Pattern

You have a summer barbecue to go to and your baby doesn't have any clean shorts to wear....much less shorts that will make your friends ooo and ahh. There is one hour until you have to leave for the party. Not enough time is left to do a load of laundry, but you can sew up a pair of baby shorts in 15 minutes with this baby shorts pattern!

Ooo and ahhh with a onesie and cute shorts! Easy peasy outfit!

This baby shorts pattern has printable pattern pieces for multiple sizes and is available to download instantly. Don't worry about drafting your own pattern or trying to figure out how to size a "one size" pattern differently. This baby shorts pattern is the one that you need. It will be the "go to" all summer long!

Printable pattern pieces make it a snap!

What's included:

Included in this pattern are directions for how to make baby shorts out of yardage as well as directions on how to use an old t-shirt. Don't worry about spending a fortune on your baby's attire this summer! This shorts pattern works great with knits or woven fabrics.

Sizes:

This design has 7 sizes that are included in the pattern. The sizes that are available are as follows:

• Newborn shorts pattern 
• 0-3 months
• 3-6 months
• 6-12 months
• 12-18 months
• 18-24 months
• 24-36 months 

You will be covered the entirety of your baby's itty bittiness. Hopefully sometime in the future, I will have time to design larger sizes for older kids.

Boy or girl:

Is the pattern for boys or girls? Both! The length is perfect for both girls and boys! However, the baby shorts pattern is very easy to adjust the length to suit your needs if you would like them shorter or longer than what you see pictured.

Special Perks:

What I love about this pattern compared to others, is that it is designed for real babies. Don't worry about sizing up or down if you have a 'chunky' baby or if you are using cloth diapers. There are two versions that are available: A SLIM or a COMFY style. The SLIM version is excellent for the disposable diaper wearer, or if you are simply going to use a knit fabric (like an old t-shirt). The COMFY style is for the babies who might need a bit more room or for using a woven fabric (like a designer quilting fabric). A great reason to use the COMFY style is if you use cloth diapers on your baby. It gives you the option to use any type of fabric with enough room to keep your baby comfortable.

What if I don't like it:

I am so confident in any of my sewing patterns, that if you don't care for it, I give you a refund 100%. I am always pleased to help any of my customers in any step that they might be confused in, and I take all feedback heartily to fix any issues that might arise with a pattern. You have 100% customer support from the designer personally when you purchase a sewing pattern from mammacandoit.com

Are you ready to see it?

Check out the simple baby shorts pattern at mammacandoit.com. For a complete outfit, pair the shorts with the baby tank onesie pattern or short sleeve onesie pattern. Don't forget to add a flower headband for your daughter - There are free flower headband patterns in the free section on mammacandoit.com

The Pregnancy Pillow pattern is about to change

My pregnancy pillow sewing pattern that I designed in 2012 has had rave reviews. People in countries who cannot order pillows like these have especially told me of how they appreciate what a great pattern that this is. It has helped many mamas through their pregnancies when they didn't have another option.
Sadly though, the makers of a similar pillow have accused my design to be too much like theirs. Not that the pattern itself is a problem, but that I am "encouraging people to infringe on" their said patent.  I want  other wahms to feel free to sew any of my designs to sell without worry of infringement. Also, as a wahm myself, I absolutely do not want to be in a business rivalry, so I need to make a few modifications to my design.
I will look into this issue further, but for the time being, the current pregnancy pillow pattern will be retired as of July, 2013.

Although I love this design, I am forced to re-visit the pattern to try to adjust the shape so as to not infringe on any patents.

In the mean time, I would love to hear personal reviews of the pregnancy pillow pattern, the likes and dislikes, new ideas for a replacement pillow design and of course.....(drum roll)....Pictures! I would love to see some pictures of your pregnancy pillow that you have sewn from this or any other pattern.

Although it might take a while, keep a lookout for the next full body pregnancy pillow design. Someday I'll get another one out there. :)

UPDATE - The new pregnancy pillow pattern can be found here: 

New Pregnancy Pillow Pattern

Designing a sewing pattern

I love to design sewing patterns. It's a hobby, my business, and my "go to" when I need something for myself! I have been ridiculously disappointed in store bought patterns multiple times, so I have resolved to only make my own. If you have ever wondered how to make a sewing pattern, this gives you the details on what I do to make my sewing patterns perfect.

I've had hundreds of questions about sewing articles made from my patterns to sell. I think it's a great idea! Moms need to help moms out. My pattern designs are (pat myself on the back) top notch, so it would make sense to use them to make your business grow! I have a contract page here that allows a business Mama to do this very thing: http://www.mammacandoit.com/articles/Make-Your-Business-Grow.cfm

One of the stipulations in the contract is to simply point a link in your product listing to my site. This is great for the following reasons:

• Potential customers see the link and appreciate that the seller is in a working relationship with another mama business. (If I customer is buying on Etsy or from a local Mama, they are aware of how important it is to support working Moms).
• Customers can look up the design to see if other people say positive things about it.
• Customers will see the seller's business integrity and appreciate it. It could be a great selling point!
• Customers will see more pictures of the design. 
• There might be helpful pages on my website that go along with the design like washing instructions or wearing instructions.
• A seller who is in a working relationship with me also gets my referrals (which are many) for people who want items sewn for them.
• I get more helpful exposure which makes my google search results go up, pins on pinterest, facebook likes and more. 
• I would be happy to point a link back to the seller. Just ask!

I've recently had a person ask me if it was necessary to link to my pattern if they tweaked a couple things or if they didn't follow my tutorial. Based on the above reasons, I don't see a reason not to! However, I think it's fair that I tell you what is involved in creating a sewing pattern. As you read below, please understand that the time stated is during my 'work time'....which is nap time. 

1. The first thing that I do when deciding to create a sewing pattern is to determine what I need or a customer needs. Frequently, I have an idea of what I want, but I want it to be the best that it can be!
2. I like to see what other people like. I do hours of research with google images and key words to see what people are searching for, what's popular, and trendy. 
3. Then I research products. What products in those keywords do people like the best? What are their complaints or praises about the products? Do I personally like various things about those products? What could I change to make it better?
4. Then I check out sizing. Many times I have to call around, measure, research, or ask the doctor for average body measurements that would work for my project.
   
   (The above 4 steps can take anywhere from 10 hours to 80 hours depending on the time schedule)
   
5. Once I have decided on the necessities of the design, I start to draw. I use very expensive programs that have required a huge learning curve over the span of about 4 years to become efficient in. I still don't know the programs all that well, but I am efficient at the little bits that I do know. Drawing the original pattern pieces take anywhere from 4 hours to 40 hours. I have body measurements to take into account as well as placements of seam allowances, snaps, elastics, etc.
6. Once I have a rough design drawn, I test it by sewing it. Tweek it, test again, tweek again until it is what I want. Then I make a prototype in various sizes so that I can hunt down friends who might want to try the article on their baby, themselves or just to give me input. 
7. After I have input from others, I tweek the pattern one last time.
8. I finish the pattern pieces by making a page out of it so that it will be printable from a home computer. Then I print and measure to be sure that it's right.
   
   (The main design is accomplished. Whew!)
9. Once the design is done, then it's time to make the tutorial. The first thing that I do is take pictures (with my expensive camera) for each step while I am sewing it. This process usually takes me 2-4 hours.
10. I then edit the photos so that I have crisp images which will look good and be easy to understand.
11. I write a rough draft of the tutorial steps.
12. I design the tutorial in layout form.
13. I have people test the pattern to make sure that it is easy to read and to follow and tweak as necessary.
14. I have a photoshoot with the finished product. Edit more photos.
15. Finish the tutorial and pattern.
16. Put on my website, etsy and various other places.
17. Once the pattern is done, I am constantly answering emails or questions. I tweak the pattern/tutorial if I see that there are issues with how it is written or place new images if the previous ones do not clearly show how to do that step. I also have recently started to make videos for people if they don't get a particular part of the pattern. 

Overall, it takes about 80 working hours at the minimum for each pattern design. I even have designs that I have started a year ago that are moving slowly...it's not a fast process for some of them. In a perfect world that I can spend each and every nap time working, that is a minimum of 20 business days.

Now you know how much time and effort that I put into my patterns. To answer all "tweaking and forgetting that MammaCanDoIt designed it" questions: Unless you have started from the ground up like I have done, it wouldn't be integrally right to "tweak and forget". If you use my design as a base for your project, please send the referral. It is much appreciated.

I frequently get customers who tell me that my patterns are the most professional designs that they have ever bought or used online. I am thankful for the compliment. It's nice to know that my hard work is paying off. 

Every once in a while, I have someone who asks if my design is similar to someone else's. It might be. But I have designed the entire thing myself. I will buy a pattern from other Mama designers sometimes if I need a pattern in a pinch...but I never use them for a base for my designs. 

By writing this article, my hope is that it will help other Mamas who are trying to decide whether to use my designs to make items to sell. It is also intended for the Mama who wants to start designing sewing patterns herself to give her an outline on what she needs to do to get started.

This page was also intended to put at ease any infringement ideas.

Have a wonderful day and thank you for joining me!

Onesie Pattern - Babies sizes NB-36 Months

This is the story of how I came to design the onesie pattern. Actually, it's not a story at all - my baby didn't have enough onesies and they are so expensive that I wanted to make my own.
First I bought a pattern from Mccalls (I think). When I opened up the envelope I laughed out loud! My itty bitty baby was CERTAINLY not going to fit into that gargantuan thing! I should dig it out and line up my pattern with it to see how it compares. I'm pretty sure that my size 18 months would be similar to the newborn size on the mccalls pattern. lol. Obviously wasn't going to work.
I did what any pattern designer would do....I decided to make a GREAT design that was intended for REAL babies...not gargantuan ones. After about 50 hours of measuring and drawing, I came up with the first onesie design. Here is Claire modeling it:

After she wore the onesie all day, I decided to adjust the legs and sleeve length on the pattern. Then I made a few more onesies with the new pattern and loved them!
I got this fantastic idea that I could make these onesies out of purchased fabric, but better yet, I could recycle old shirts to make some one of a kind onesies!
Here is a onesie that has turned into my favorite one - it's made out of a t-shirt with a giraffe on the front:

In fact, I liked the giraffe onesie so much that I decided to model Claire in it! Here is one of my favorites of her modeling for the onesie pattern: 

Do you like it? If you want to make your own, check out the onesie pattern now!

I made that hair bow with left over fabric from the t-shirt and the binding. The binding was made out of a different shirt that needed to be recycled. Here is a better one of the bow:

The flower reminded me of bananas....giraffe....jungle. 

In a nutshell, I loved making this pattern. It took me longer then I thought it would as it was my first baby shirt design. Now that the sizing is spot on, expect some more great baby shirt designs.

This onesie pattern features the fold over shoulders, but I would like to design a pull-over, T-shirt style onesie. I think it would make the sewing a smidge faster.

As a mom who has 6 kids, all VERY different sizes, I knew there would be some mamma out there who wouldn't try the pattern because her baby was so chubby. SO I decided to make a 'comfy' size onesie. It is the exact same length, but has more wiggle room in the shoulders, armholes, leg holes and tummy. It's great for those babies with the extra 'chub love'.

With the purchase of my onesie pattern, you get a fitted pattern (sized nb-36 months) and a comfy pattern (also sized nb-36 months). That's 18 patterns in all!

As far as closure, I am all about snaps. I just plain like them. However, I know that some people just prefer velcro (or it's cheaper, therefore better!), so I also included directions on how to apply the velcro so that it is less likely to irritate baby's skin.

Regardless of what closure you decide to use on your onesies, the design is great for completely concealing diapers. I love that if she is only wearing a onesie, there isn't any diaper poking through. Here is a picture of Claire modeling the onesie pattern to show you there isn't any diaper poking through. 

Well, I think that does it. Go to my website and get the onesie pattern to make your own now!