Children – Zune's Sewing Therapy

Kids’ Ruffle Tank Top Tutorial with Free Sewing Pattern

July 12, 2021 No Comments

Make your cute little princess a ruffle tank top for some fun in the sun this summer. This free sewing pattern features a flared hem and ruffle details. The ruffle tank top is an easy and quick beginner-friendly sewing project that can be made entirely on a home sewing machine.

In this ruffle tank top sewing tutorial, I will also be sharing with you my favorite way to make easy and quick ruffles using an elastic band. I’m not a huge a fan of the “sew two rows of basting and pull threads to gather” technique. The threads break, get tangled, or some ruffles just end up missing as the fabric has shifted during sewing. So, this is my current go-to ruffle-making technique.

If you make this Ruffle Tank Top, be sure to share pics of your finished project by tagging me @sew_zune on Instagram or post on the Zune’s Sewing Therapy Facebook. I’d love to see your creation!

Now, let’s make a ruffle tank top together!

Children

Kids Shorts with Free Sewing Pattern & Tutorial

April 25, 2020 16 Comments

I have a fun and easy sewing project for you today using a free printable sewing pattern. These pull-on shorts feature no side seams and a no casing elastic waistband making them super quick to sew, that you’ll be able to make several pairs in no time! You can use breathable, moisture-wicking fabrics to make these shorts so your kiddo will be comfy and cool chilling at home or playing outside in the hot summer days ahead.

I drafted this simple one-piece pattern for my little boy who is 9, but these shorts are perfect for both boys and girls. If your kiddo wears a size M (8-10) from Target, then these should fit him/her comfortably.

Also, be sure to share pics of your finished projects by tagging me @sew_zune on Instagram or post on the Zune’s Sewing Therapy Facebook. I’d love to see your creation!

Let’s get sewing!

Children

Kids Shorts with Free Sewing Pattern

September 23, 2019 4 Comments

A comfy pair of shorts are a must have for every kid! You can use this free sewing pattern to make shorts in woven or knit fabrics for your little boy or girl. This simple and quick sewing project is great for beginner sewists and busy moms!

I used this free kid pants pattern and cropped it to my desired length. So far I’ve made these shorts in denim, linen, flannel, and knit. For this interlock fabric, I used my serger and twin stretch needles but don’t worry if you have neither. You can use a regular zig zag stitch on your sewing machine.

Children

DIY Kids Paperbag Shorts with Free Pattern & Tutorial

August 6, 2019 16 Comments

Paperbag shorts are a cute and stylish way to beat the heat! Summers in Oklahoma can be around 105 degrees so I love that these shorts are comfy and not clinging to the body from sweat. If you’re making these paperbag shorts for your little one, be sure to use breathable fabrics like cotton, chambray or linen that will allow airflow and help them stay cool.

These easy pull-on shorts have an elasticized waistband and patch pockets on the front. You can also make these in a boys/unisex version by adjusting the width of the waistband.

If you do make these paperbag shorts, be sure to tag me on Instagram @sew_zune or post the picture on the Zune’s Sewing Therapy Facebook. I’d love to see your finished project!

Ok, let’s get sewing!

Children

Ruffle Swing Top for Kids – Free Pattern & Tutorial

March 29, 2019 2 Comments

I can’t get enough of ruffles! In my previous post, I made a Ruffle Swing Top for myself and just had to draft a smaller version for my little princess. It was so darn cute, that I’ve made 4 of them in the past 2 weeks! I love the open back look on kiddos so I made hers with a low V back.

For this project, I used this organic bamboo jersey from The Sewing Retreat. Madeline, like me, has eczema so I enjoy using cool and breathable fabrics made from natural fibers for her. Plus it’ll be perfect for the upcoming hot and sticky Southern summer.

Here’s a 5% off code you can use at The Sewing Retreat: HAPPYSEWING. Treat yourself and your little ones to some ecofriendly fabrics and sew along with me!

Now, let’s get started.

Children

Ruffle Pants – Free Pattern & Tutorial

March 8, 2019 14 Comments

Ruffles add instant cuteness to a pair of plain pants and they really are easy to make! Madeline has already outgrown all the pants I made for her and if you’ve been following me on Facebook, you probably have already seen that cute elephant flannel fabric I got from Joann’s a couple months ago so when I got a request recently for a ruffle pants tutorial I was more than happy to say yes!

For this project, we are using this pants pattern so print it out, assemble, and cut out the size that you want. Then, let’s begin!

Children

Free Kids’ Pullover Sweater Pattern & Tutorial

January 18, 2019 20 Comments

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic New Year – I spent mine with Netflix! I was just so excited over the fact that they had added all the Indiana Jones movies plus The Addams Family and both of the Ghostbusters movies! Some of my “white noise” movie choices. Lol. Yep, that’s what I listen to while I’m drafting patterns or sewing. Speaking of patterns and New Year, I’d like to present my first pattern of the year, the ABC sweater.

I also want to add that starting with this pattern, I won’t be adding any seam allowances to my patterns anymore. The reason being that I usually end up changing the seam allowances around based on the fabric, the design, or the machine I’m using and also everyone has different amount of seam allowance that they like so now you can add whatever seam allowance that you want. Yay!

I’m also sewing this entire sweater using my home sewing machine, the JanomeHD1000. I love my Janome to pieces! If you have a serger, go ahead and use that but with this tutorial I wanted to focus a bit on how easy it is sewing fleece on a regular sewing machine. Some home sewing machines have built-in overcast stitches which can look confusing because they don’t look anything like the stitches made by a serger but they will essentially do the same thing which is to have the stitches stretch with the fabric and to keep the edges from fraying. My Janome doesn’t have many fancy decorative stitches, to me it’s more like a basic workhorse which is definitely fine by me. After looking at the manual, I decided to use the knit stitch – according to the manual, it’s ideal for sewing swimwear and stretch velour because it gives the most amount of elasticity and strength. I also used the straight stretch stitch for the top stitching. I’ve never really used the knit stitch on my machine before so this project was a nice chance to try out something new out.

If you haven’t explored all the stitches on your sewing machine, take a minute before you start this tutorial and try them out – do some tests on the same material you will be using because each fabric has a mind of its own!
Alright, let’s get to making the sweater.

Children

Fleece-Lined Pants Tutorial & Free Pattern

December 30, 2018 11 Comments

The fleece flowers are a great way to use up fabric scraps – check out my other tutorial on how to make these easy peasy cute flowers! The sweater pattern is coming soon and will include bigger sizes.

As much as I’d like to hibernate on the couch under layers of blanket with with a steaming cup of coffee watching old movies all season until the trees start budding, there are just too many exciting things like Thanksgiving parades and Christmas lights in the park with nostalgic hayrides going on outside. Oklahoma’s wind can be bitingly cold so I like to keep my little ones bundled up and fleece-lined pants are a perfect part of their winter wardrobe that keep little legs all nice and warm when they are out and about.

I used the same pattern as the flannel pants *here*. The only thing I would change when cutting from that pattern would be to add a inch or two to the crotch depending on the fabrics you are using. I used a sweater knit fabric for the outside of the pants and blizzard fleece for the inside and doubling two thick fabrics can shorten the crotch. For the waistband, I used the Sew Classic knit fabric. I’ve also included two ways to sew the elastic waistband – the casing method and another with the elastic sewn directly onto the waistband.

If you’re ever in Yukon, OK check out Express Clydesdale Barn – friendly folks, playful ranch dogs & not to mention beautiful horses plus the self-guided tour is free!

Ok, let’s make some seriously warm pants!

Children, Crafts

DIY Easy Fleece Flower Tutorial & Printable Pattern

November 26, 2018 5 Comments

Busy making sweaters, pants, and hats out of fleece? Is your mound of fabric scraps getting higher and higher? Wait, don’t throw your fleece scraps away! You can make all sorts of beautiful flowers out of the fleece scraps and use them to embellish your clothes, hats, and more!

The kids’ fleece hat with ear flap pattern is also available. Scroll down and check it out!

This is a really simple and quick tutorial on how to make flowers from fleece scraps. This template took me less than 10 minutes to make – I made the petals in 4 sizes and also included different sized circles to cover the center but you can also use buttons, pearls, or even rhinestones if you want some bling!

Before we get to the tute – I know fleece and flowers have really nothing to do with J.R.R. Tolkien but here’s a very quick take on MY version of my favorite Tolkien poem, “From the ashes a fire shall be woken,…”

From the pile of scraps beautiful things shall be made…hehe

And with that, let’s dive right in!

Children

Adjustable Necktie Tutorial & Free Pattern

November 14, 2018 2 Comments

The holidays are coming up and with that come festivities and lots of picture-taking! This simple and cute necktie is perfect for dressing up your darling little boy for special turkey dinners and family photos.
Last year, I got an idea to make a patriotic tie when I made Logan’s adjustable bow tie *here* and coincidentally his school’s fall music concert this year required him to wear red, white, and blue. So here it is!

There are two separate pieces: the neck strap and the neck tie. The neck strap is adjustable with Velcro and the tie itself is 2 1/2” wide and 28” long. I’m back on Methorexate and going through a flare up so pulling the tie and the strap right side out with a safety-pin was pretty painful so I’ve included some other Arthritis-friendly ways to construct the tie. Ok, let’s get to it.