Hi, guys! Hope you’re all well! I’ve got something a little different to show you today- kid sewing!

I met Hayley of Mouse House Creations last year and immediately wanted to be best friends with her. She’s super fun, sweet, and is involved with so many cool crafting adventures that it’s kinda crazy (she’s the designer behind Mouse House Creations and a co-founder of the Willow & Co pattern collective). So when she asked me to be part of the blog tour for her new fabric collection, I was stoked! And get this: it’s fabric that you can COLOR on! How fun is that?!

The collection is “Color Me” by Hayley Crouse for Michael Miller Fabrics. There are two variations, “A Royal Life” and “Space Adventures”, and each variation has a border print in addition to an all-over. Hayley worked with her kids, Ethan and Ainsley, to design the fabric, so everything that’s included on the fabric was requested by those two. Fun! I would have been so excited to customize my own fabric when I was a kid… I used to agonize for ages before picking out my Lisa Frank designs, so how great would it be if you could avoid the choice and have both killer whales AND golden retrievers?! Mind. Blown.

I decided that this fun fabric was a good excuse to sew something cute for my nephew. He’s two years old and is absurdly adorable, and now that he looks more like a little boy than a baby, it’s prime time to start making him cool clothes! So I chose “To the Moon and Back” for him because ALIENS. What kid doesn’t want a shirt covered in flying saucers?!

I mean, look at this little alien. I LOVE IT. It’s ridiculously cute.

I knew right away that I wanted to make a little buttondown for Noah. He’s too big for M6016, a tot-sized pattern that I used to make a teensy Magnum P.I. shirt. So I did what I always do when I’m stumped- I asked the friendly folks on Twitter for pattern recommendations! Becky Jo suggested I try Ottobre, and was kind enough to send me the 3/2012 issue. There are so many cute patterns packed into the magazine! I’m looking forward to trying out several of them.

I used pattern #19 in a size 96 (he’s between sizes, so sizing up seemed prudent). I made some modifications to the pattern to simplify it a bit- since the print is so over the top, the bias-bound hem and faced sleeves would be a bit much. I mean, the shirt is covered in aliens and planets! It doesn’t need anything else! 😉

Oh, and before I forget, the fabric is printed on Michael Miller’s Cotton Couture fabric, so it’s a bit thicker and softer than the quilting cottons in my stash. I think it will make for a really comfortable shirt!

I couldn’t resist… I had to try a little coloring myself! 😀

Thank you for letting me be part of your tour, Hayley, and thank you for the fabric, Michael Miller! If you are interested in this fabric, check out the store locator, and be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour! The first blogger, An of Straight Grain, made an adorable fabric coloring book. I’ll be making these for the little people in my life, for sure!

One last thing: if Noah goes crazy coloring on all his clothes, it’s not my fault. 😮