by Joy2Sew | Sep 13, 2015 | Sewing
Introducing my Hans costume from Frozen! I had so much fun designing and creating this costume especially for (and by special request) my 8 year old nephew, Henry. His sister, Lilly, has been my beautiful Elsa model for my Sofia pattern, and then my Elsa dresses. Now it was time (actually long past) for her handsome brother to join in on the Frozen fun! And I could not have been more pleased with the result, or the amazing joy and delight my nephew has been radiating with!! His excitement (and politely asking me for it for 4 months now) fueled my design and desire to sew it up!
Download Hans Jacket Stencil HERE.
One of my favorite things to attempt, is to see a photo and create a tangible design that looks just like it that is wearable. I like the realism, and fortunately that is what the kids want to. They WANT the costume from the movie. They don’t want one off the shelf that is only a “hint” of the idea of the idea of the character, they want all the real details too.
So glad that someone captured a screen shot of the back of Han’s tail coat here, so that I could see the design. Boy was that elaborate, but so fun to draw up! I used felt for the gray part, and hunter green fleece for the detail. I would have used felt for the green part too, except I didn’t find it in the right color…so Olive Green Fleece Fabric – By the Yard
(the color was so perfect!).
So, how did I make it? For the jacket, I started with a boys size 7/8 long sleeve t-shirt to get the body sizing/trunk part right. I drew long sleeves, added sleeve caplets which I made up, cut the tailored line to the front, and added tails on the back piece. All the black accent pieces are black felt (I bought a black bottom weight fabric to use instead, but time was not on my side to do all that finishing work…so felt it was). I took a short cut on the undershirt and used a royal blue dress shirt from Calvin Klein Boys’ Big Long Sleeve Sateen Dress Shirt, Dark Blue 10
, and made a corduroy vest to go over top of it. The burgundy cravat was just 1/3 yard crushed panne, tied in a square knot. The pants I cut free hand from a boys cargo pair I had bought on clearance at Target last year. I used a strip of blue broadcloth to add the stripe to the sides. I made the pants with a flat front and gathered back waistband, similarly to the pant I made my son HERE, and added two gold shank buttons to the front.
And now…almost the whole Frozen crew is here in my pattern designs!! We had a fun, quick photo shoot before the kids headed to the Frozen themed out party. You can find..Anna vest and skirt pattern hereAnna cape and hat pattern hereElsa Ice Dress pattern hereElsa Coronation Pattern hereOlaf pattern hereand Hans?…use this vest stencil. The only way I know you want my design here to be a pattern is if you beat down my inbox with requests, so drop me a line if you’d like at:
joy@joy2sew.net
And some cameos with the “real deal”. I hope cosplay costume patterns are in my future! Oh the fun! Just look at how that Anna vest stencil matches mine? Maybe she used our stencil templates for her vest and cape???!!! We may never know, but they all looked pretty sharp! 
Yea!!! So much fun!! Are you ready to get your ANNA, ELSA, or OLAF pattern today?!!!All our patterns at Joy2Sew are made for advanced beginner sewers. If you have any doubt just check out my shop reviews and see for yourself. All of you using my patterns have absolutely blown me away with the gorgeous dresses and Olafs that you have been creating! You are making true-to-movie costumes that are not only beautiful, but that will stand the test of repeated play, dancing, and singing venues of “Let it Go”. Keep sending those pictures to me and posting on my Facebook page of all your amazing work!! YOU are why I love doing what I do. YOU making costumes for your kids that they justlove brings me so much joy! Keep it coming, and thank you for choosing Joy2Sew!use
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by Joy2Sew | Oct 4, 2014 | Kids/Family Life, patterns i use, Sewing
Exciting news!!! Our OLAF pattern has just released in our Etsy and Craftsy shops for purchase, and just in time to whip some up for Halloween!! The pattern features 6 crossover sizes: 12-18mo, 18-24mo, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 and 10/12 With the pattern you can make the head/hat and the body, with either a zipper or velcro back closure (both full instructions included):
Easy to read, step by step directions included: 
….with even a clear table of contents to help you easily navigate the choices. Preview of what our professional and easy to print. Example pattern pieces :
(for pattern pieces that require more than one page, you will just overlap the blue dots provided and tape it together, creating full-sized pattern pieces) A huge thank you to my wonderful testers for their amazing work!
With this new Olaf pattern, you’ll be ready to make your own wonderful Frozen line up with all of our wonderful and very popular Frozen Inspired Costume patterns!
Elsa Ice Dress and Olaf made by the talented Angel Tirrell-Voss for her adorable kiddos using two of my patterns! LOVE seeing them together!!
Get your copy today and look just like Olaf!!! now available on Joy2Sew Etsy or Craftsy!
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by Joy2Sew | Mar 29, 2013 | Kids/Family Life, Sewing
#1. Birthday Crown. Remember how I was inspired this past year to begin a “birthday tradition” for Nathan? The goal on his birthday crown, was to add a special icon or logo to represent every birthday he has. I had the privilege of starting one for his friend, Mauricio, recently. Mo had a Dr. Seuss 1st birthday, and a FARM themed 2nd birthday. Both were astounding and so much fun!
I again, used my birthday crown pattern and a felted sweater (that I felted/shrank from the thrift store) for the gray crown :: I used 2 layers. I hand-drew The Cat In the Hat, and cut him out (carefully) out of a dozen pieces of felt, glued them together, and stitched him on by hand. I used a black sharpie to color on top of the white fleece for his face and body.
For the barn, I printed out a picture I liked online of a barn (clip art), cut it out, and then cut the same pieces out of the felt. I used embroidery floss to define the doors and to signify which birthday the barn was relevant to.
And this adorable turquoise fabric I used on the back elastic band, and underneath the front monogram, was a fat quarter print from Riley Blake that I picked up at our wonderful, local sewing boutique.
#2. A Bento Box Lunch Carrier. This was so fun to make for the first time! My friend, Sidney, generously loaned me her new book, Oliver + S, Little Things to Sew. It has such great ideas in it to make for our little guys! I just adored this portable cover for a kid’s (or any one’s) lunch box.
As you can see, it folds up on a plastic storage container very nicely, and when unfolded, makes a
perfect picnic lunch tablecloth for itself!
The best part (I think) is that it’s waterproof & washable. I discovered this AWESOME fusible (iron-on) vinyl at Jo Ann’s that can be ironed to any fabric, making the surface vinylized (is that a word???)! It’s awesome! You don’t even have to sew to use this stuff! Say your kid has something you need to waterproof…..well, just get some, iron it on, and voila!!!! Waterproof/washable! And it comes in matte and gloss (although I thought the matte came out pretty shinny, but oh, well).
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#3. A simple project I made Nathan a while back, but didn’t blog about… a drawstring bag to hold all of his PVC pieces to build with that Daddy made for him. So simple, but fun! I used an old sheet and
THIS easy pattern for the bag,
freezer paper stencils for the motif.
#4. (x3): On to Steven! He’s made some pretty AWESOME paper crafts lately, and I had to share them with you! This first one is two separate models he handmade of “Toothless” from the movie, “How To Train Your Dragon”. The one on the right that’s laying flat, he actually built white, and then painted the whole thing with watercolors. Amazing!
This is an Army plane, a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. The propeller actually spins! All of his models are made 100% out of white card stock. All the fine details he puts into these just blows me away!
This is his most recent build…. A WWI plane, with Armour Truck. This plane is a DH-4, and is quite an important part of American history. The DH-4 was made by the Dayton-Wright Company (in U.S.), and it was the only American made aircraft flown in combat during WWI (for just short of four months). After the war, many DH-4s were converted to become the first air-mail carriers.
Steven’s model fits in the palm of your hand. The spars are actually thread strands that he dipped in glue, let dry, cut meticulously, and then glued each little strand within the wings, and to the tail. I mean, come, on …it’s impressive! And the propeller spins on this one too!I’m quite giddy!
And, yeah,…that last touch…can you see it? He added real plastic to the windshield on the truck above! Wow! I’ve looked over his shoulder and he’s currently working on Captain Jack Sparrow’s Sailing Compass (which will really & truly point North, if I know my husband!). Such a fun (and free : ) )hobby he has! Such a talented man, didn’t I tell you!!!
and……
#5. My “Knitting” Sampler. I know. It’s rough. But, it’s my first one!!! Yea!!! I practiced casting on, a knit stitch for several rows, purl stitch for several rows, and a stockinette stitch (which is alternating rows of knit and purl), before binding off. Not too shabby for my first try. And because it’s just the right size, it’s become another dish towel for my daily use.
My friend pointed out on Facebook a good point…. I didn’t really mention in my knitting post, where I learned these basics. And I should really give credit to the book I followed to help me learn these which is:
I’ve had this book a long time, and feel it does a very good job with words and pictures of how to get started in the beginning. However, had I not had this, I think I would have turned to YouTube for my beginner lessons on how to knit. They would have done just fine. Sometimes it just helps to see it.
So, should I/ dare I jump right into my baby blanket knitting project now? or, maybe a little more practice first, perhaps?
Hope you’ve enjoyed what we’ve MADE recently!!!!
by Joy2Sew | Apr 9, 2012 | Easter, Sewing
Boy, it was a good day! I hope you all had the same blessings on your Easter today!
Our day started with a discovery of what Easter grass is, and a hunt for plastic eggs in our living room. Nathan enjoyed finding them and eating the single chocolate chip that I hid inside each one.
And then, he found more chocolate!
And he got into his Mommy-made Easter basket. Upon reflecting, I think I made his Easter basket too large….does this mean I will have to fill it with sizeable gifts each year, or just add in more grass? Lol!
Then we got ready and put on our new clothes. Here was Nathan’s completed outfit.
Inspired by THIS design. The blue velour fabric used here was leftover fabric from 25+ years ago. I originally had a favorite stuffed sheep made out of the same fabric. It’s lasted a long time!
I used a white jersey knit from a men’s 3XL shirt I picked up at Walmart a month ago on clearance for just $3. I’m sure I can make several shirts out of that for him. T-shirt pattern cut from a tee Nathan wears now.
I love this Oliver+S pattern for his pants! Simply in love! Maybe Nathan will get the matching sailboat top made for him this summer.
And I made this jean jacket for him at the last minute (seriously….from 11:30pm-1:30am Sat night). I am a crazy Mommy who aparently will give up sleep any day to sew something special just for my son. or to show off. or, well, both. I self-drafted a pattern from a well-fitted shirt Nathan currently wears, and the material was upcycled from a donated pair of my brother-in-laws’ jeans! I also made a hat from these jeans too, a few days ago, but didn’t care for it much, so we’re not showcasing that one today. I told you not everything I do works out : )!
And a very pieced together hat. I squeezed out every last inch of that yellow fabric to get this hat made. Barely made it. This is the best side. The back brim is definitely pieced together. The lining material is leftover from the t-shirt above. Free hat pattern on my
Pinterest Board for toddlers.
And then we went to Grandma & Grandpas. And then to Great Grandma & Grandpas. And there was lots of food. Lots of great family. And a wonderful egg hunt!
Nathan’s cousins were VERY helpful at helping Nathan get eggs this year. He only had to find one. Then he sat down next to his basket, and his cousins ran around and collected the rest for him. So pampered!
Best moment: Watching Ben collect all his eggs, realizing that Nathan only had one, and then seeing that Ben was giving all his eggs to Nathan. I about cried. What a kind and gentle heart Ben has!
And I let my son eat A LOT of chocolate! I think he would have eaten it even with the foil wrappers still on. Man does my kid love chocolate! Wonder where he got that from?
Posing in our Easter best with my wonderful sister, Amy!
My Grandpa Del Yoho. Love him!
Mommy and her little amazing man!
Oh, P.S…..this is the dress I made for myself. I did make the time afterall. It turned out pretty good, though I may still make a few adjustments before adding it officially into my summer wardrobe. I used the bodice (“top”) pattern from my wedding dress, and the bottom is just gathered in the round. Zipper down the back.
Thank you, Ben, for making funny faces at Nathan so that he’d actually smile for this picture! And to Amy for taking some great pictures!
And Nathan got carried around. And loved it a lot! In fact, he really didn’t want me all day. He preferred my mom, my sister, and his cousins. They are wonderful…I totally understand!
Nathan with his awesome Great Grandparents, Del & Louise.
Such special, special memories I will cherish forever.
Happy Resurrection Day everyone!
Thank you, Lord, for my salvation.
for my family.
for my friends.
I love you all!
by Joy2Sew | Mar 30, 2012 | gardening, landscaping, Sewing
It was random lamb’s ear growing in my yard….
And now it is flourishing in a pot on my front steps.
That was real yuck….
And is now a little better with paint. I know I still need to do something about that missing door there to my shed (but, it’s still better!). Maybe I’ll dig out our circular saw soon….
And what looked like this…
Now looks like this today, complete with my newly planted vertical garden! Amazing what a little paint and some new soil will do! I made my raised bed with scavenged railroad ties and stones from my yard. Then I bought and added 600 pounds of dirt. I still will need more. This week I planted carrots, snap peas, romaine, and spinach.
And this half-dead pussy willow tree in my yard….
is now gone, thankfully. I think it looks better as a stump! (P.S….A professional team did this….I don’t own a chainsaw. well, yet…lol)!
And my once-vacant, non-inviting porch….
Now is an outdoor living space. I added a rug from Menards, 3 window boxes from Joann Fabrics (clearanced from last fall), a repainted and recushioned bench (my mom found it at a garage sale for me last summer), a black chair (donated from a friend), 2 wooden crates (donated from my sister…thank you!), and a pot with dirt for Nathan to dig in!
I like how my bench turned out. Sorry I was a little lazy to take a picture of it before…but just picture with me: stained redwood and vintage yellow and green vinyl floral covers. This is way better I tell you! I used clearanced outdoor fabric from JoAnns for the front of the covers, and plastic tablecloths for the backings. I mixed 3 paints I had leftover (cream, yellow, and black) to make a gray toned paint, and used it to paint 2 sides of my shed and this bench.
And some other updates from the Hoover household…..
I planted seedlings inside, of which many decided to come up already in just days!
I spray painted a scavenged (out of our neighborhood last fall) ladybug sandbox for Nathan, bought sand at the hardware store, and shovels at Walmart. So, for $21, Nathan has a refurbished sandbox and toys! Now you can’t beat that! Who says ladybugs can’t be a manly blue color? : )
And if that weren’t enough in the last few weeks…. I’ve made a bunny shirt (above) to go with Nathan’s Easter pants, and a fabric Easter basket too. Miffy will make an appearance on his mommy-made t-shirt! More to reveal of all that on Easter!
And what about selfish sewing for me? I’m turning these two patterns…..
And taking this old halter type dress…..
And making something new for summer. As you can see it hasn’t gone perfectly so far (as none of my projects do that I rush through), but it will be done soon. Not sure if this will be my Easter dress, or if I will make time to sew a different one. It all depends on how motivated I get… Haha!
And, my little man has learned to eat with a spoon! Meal time is so much fun now! I do love it! I just want to “eat him up” all the time!!!
The countdown is on!…..Daddy (aka…my wonderful husband) is coming home in a about 45 days! Wow! That’s certainly a far cry from the original 400 days we looked at when he left! We are thankful to the Lord to have him home again soon, and are extremely grateful to all of our friends and family who have been praying and supporting us!!! Love you all!!!
by Joy2Sew | Mar 19, 2012 | Sewing
Now, when I say recently sewn, I mean over the course of the last two months. But, nonetheless, I’ve spent a lot of time in my sewing room during naptimes and late evenings. But, I’ve enjoyed it all and made some great items! This first project I did in February, when it was still cold here (and not in the 70’s, as it is now). Remember me making Nathan pants and a hat HERE out of this recycled Express sweater? Well, after reading THIS post on MADE, turns out I had enough left over to make a baby sweater for Nathan! I left the “Express” tag in it….haha. When I had felted the sweater last summer, the neckline shrunk to the perfect size for my toddler…so, even easier to make!
And yes, I did take him out for a bit to show him off in the sweater and matching hat! So fun!
My next project was making jammies for my niece, Lilly, for her birthday (In February). I had bought THIS book in January, and this was only my second project attempted in sewing with knits. My collar should have stretched out a bit more, and I’m not super proud of my sewing job here, but it was a good go at it, I think. The little princess loves her jammies, though, I think.
And this was my first project from knits out of the same book HERE. The fabric was all from JoAnns.
And I completed a second pull-up trainer using THIS pattern. The first one leaked overnight, but this second one worked! Yea! I just have to finish making the leg holes a little tighter. This second one may have held more liquid due to me switching up how I made the inner soaker. To make the soaker, I layered one layer of cotton, 2 layers of Zorb material, and one bottom layer of PUL. A bit thick, but it held. So, I may either continue with this method, or switch to trying hemp/cotton blend liners (if I can ever track down this fabric in yardage).
I just realized that if you aren’t familiar with sewing or cloth diapering, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Sorry about that, but I hope you will read on anyways : )!
And then took off of THIS Pinterest idea and made this pillow for a friend’s son. Loved it!!! Click HERE if you want directions on how to make one. This project is perfect for beginning sewers!
The felt letters come off and pose as a fine motor skill for older kids.
And when I saw these pants on THIS blog, I absolutely fell head over heals over this pattern! So, what happened? I ended up buying the pattern HERE, and have made two pairs already:
One as a present (above) (All fabric cotton, from Ikea); and one for Nathan (below) (fabric from Annette Tatum: “Banana Diamond”). This is part of his Easter outfit this year.
And, lastly (I think),….new bibs made from upcycled garmets using Lotta Jansdotters bib pattern from her book HERE.
I have been busy, as you can see….and with other non-sewing projects as well. And, so, what I’m saying is….. I’d rather be doing the crafts, and the art, and the sewing, and mainly playing with my little boy. So, you may notice a change in my blog posts, as I make my time more about my family, and less about well-planned-out blog posts. I will still try to post all my done crafts, but the posts will just be fewer.
I love you all for reading, and from what you tell me, you enjoy seeing what I create. If I can bless others with giving my projects away as gifts made with love, then I feel I’m using my talents wisely. I know I can’t do it all, or do it well, but I do want to honor the Lord with my talents and my time as best as I can. So, thank you all for reading, and stay tuned once in awhile. There’s bound to be a whole lot more!
So glad that someone captured a screen shot of the back of Han’s tail coat here, so that I could see the design. Boy was that elaborate, but so fun to draw up! I used felt for the gray part, and hunter green fleece for the detail. I would have used felt for the green part too, except I didn’t find it in the right color…so Olive Green Fleece Fabric – By the Yard
So, how did I make it? For the jacket, I started with a boys size 7/8 long sleeve t-shirt to get the body sizing/trunk part right. I drew long sleeves, added sleeve caplets which I made up, cut the tailored line to the front, and added tails on the back piece. All the black accent pieces are black felt (I bought a black bottom weight fabric to use instead, but time was not on my side to do all that finishing work…so felt it was). I took a short cut on the undershirt and used a royal blue dress shirt from Calvin Klein Boys’ Big Long Sleeve Sateen Dress Shirt, Dark Blue 10
And now…almost the whole Frozen crew is here in my pattern designs!! We had a fun, quick photo shoot before the kids headed to the Frozen themed out party. You can find..Anna vest and skirt pattern hereAnna cape and hat pattern hereElsa Ice Dress pattern hereElsa Coronation Pattern hereOlaf pattern hereand Hans?…use this vest stencil. The only way I know you want my design here to be a pattern is if you beat down my inbox with requests, so drop me a line if you’d like at:
And some cameos with the “real deal”. I hope cosplay costume patterns are in my future! Oh the fun! Just look at how that Anna vest stencil matches mine? Maybe she used our stencil templates for her vest and cape???!!! We may never know, but they all looked pretty sharp! 
Yea!!! So much fun!! Are you ready to get your ANNA, ELSA, or OLAF pattern today?!!!All our patterns at Joy2Sew are made for advanced beginner sewers. If you have any doubt just check out my shop reviews and see for yourself. All of you using my patterns have absolutely blown me away with the gorgeous dresses and Olafs that you have been creating! You are making true-to-movie costumes that are not only beautiful, but that will stand the test of repeated play, dancing, and singing venues of “Let it Go”. Keep sending those pictures to me and posting on my Facebook page of all your amazing work!! YOU are why I love doing what I do. YOU making costumes for your kids that they justlove brings me so much joy! Keep it coming, and thank you for choosing Joy2Sew!use 
