Novelty Prints Blog Hop: Day 5

Start out your Monday here! This blog hop is all about novelty prints from Kanvas--fun designs that make you smile--and our talented designing friends are offering up great ideas for using them! Use the links at the bottom of this post in case you missed one of the earlier tutorials.

Today Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts is here, with a salute to local heroes. See how she has used the Firefighters Rock and Boys in Blue collections from Kanvas to make some adorable accessories for her grandsons. Enjoy the tutorial, and then scroll to the bottom of the post to see how you can win a fat quarter bundle of these local hero prints.

I have two little grandsons who are into ACTION! They don't play with stuffed toys or little blankets and quilts. They just run through the house pretending to be super heroes. Firemen and policemen are superheroes, right?

Let's hear it for our local fire fighters! Firefighters Rock Collection

My grandsons LOVE policemen. Boys in Blue Collection 

I made two things for them using these prints. One I'll share with you as show and tell, and the second I'll show you how to make yoursel. The first thing I made was a karate robe for each of them (2 and 4 years old). I used a commercial pattern by McCall's which also includes pajamas. Let me say, they don't make patterns the way they used to! I had to remake the neck interfacing 3 times, with the last time making my own pattern! I wasted a lot of fabric!

First robe with reworked neck facing; for Miles (4)

 Easy to make the second robe after I "learned" on the first one

Firemen fabric robe for Matteo (2)

 Now for the tutorial I can share using a free pattern I found on the Internet. I made them vests using the Vest Pattern by Marzipan.

Two easy pieces; I decided to line the vest

I chose the fingerprint fabric for the lining. This vest is for Miles.

Cut out the lining using the same pattern pieces; back is cut on the fold

 Here are the pieces cut out:

Outside and lining pieces ready to be sewn together

Since it had been a REALLY LONG TIME since I sewed garments like this, I had to do some research for making a lined vest without any raw edges showing. This is what I found:

1.  Join the front pieces to the back piece, at the shoulders, for both the outside and lining parts.
2. Press shoulder seams open.
3. Sew the lining piece and outside piece together along the armholes (see below)

Sew the lining and outside pieces together at the armholes

 4. Now this is where I got real excited, because I couldn't believe this would really result in no raw edges showing! Sew the lining and outside pieces together from the bottom of one front edge, around the neck, and then back down to the other front edge bottom.

Sew the front and neck edges from the inside

 5. Now it gets a little tricky, but it's doable. Turn the whole vest right side out. It's time to sew the side seams (yes, that's right, and we won't have any raw edges showing, I promise).

Vest ready for side seams to be sewn

6. I don't have a picture for this, but this is what I did: open up the sides and pin the main print sides together (right sides together). Stitch. Sew the lining pieces together, right side of fabric together. You can open the vest up from the bottom and press those seams (it's a bit awkward, but it will work).

 7. This is what the vest looks like after the sides are sewn:

The entire bottom of the vest is open for the next step

8. Last seam: turn the vest inside out and stitch the long bottom opening closed, leaving about 4-6" open in order to turn.

Last seam with opening

9. Turn vest right side out; stitch opening closed (I used my sewing machine)

Police vest for Miles with NO raw edges showing

And what about the firemen fabric? I didn't have enough and had to improvise with more of the fingerprint fabric? Pretty clever, huh? And I added big patch pockets

Firemen vest for Matteo

The Vest Pattern by Marzipan is a free download and fits size 2-4T.

What's a boy to do wearing a police vest if he doesn't have handcuffs and badges?

Dollar store finds; I had enough fabric to make a pillowcase

These handcuffs have a safety spring. I gave the keys to the "Sheriff" (my daughter). The boys had a great time locking all the family members us with these things!

Gotta have handcuffs!

And one more pillowcase!

Little boys like action toys and these two collections fit the bill.

Thanks, Debby, for all the inspiration for using these the Firefighters Rock and Boys in Blue collections! Head over to Debby's blog to learn more about her work and find out how to enter to win a fat quarter bundle of the fabrics she used. 

Don't miss our other novelty print tutorials!

Day 1: Reverse applique pillow by Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty

Day 2: Boxy make-up bags by Jennie from Clover & Violet

Day 3: Drawstring camera bag by the Benartex blog design team

Day 4: Pillow organizer by Wendy Sheppard from Ivory Spring