A Spontaneous Pinterest Moment

Do you ever have those moments when looking at Pinterest when you have to do a project right then? I had one of those moments when I saw this pin. I (It might be that I had already been thinking about making hooded towels, but the cuteness of these were irresistible). I let each of the kids pick which pattern they liked best, and off to the store we went. The website where they originated from is here.

 The second half of this project was a place to hang them. While we were at the store I picked up some hooks. Then I went to the garage and grabbed a scrap of wood, sanded, painted, attached hooks, and hung it up. The hope is that now that they each have their own personal towel, I won't end up with miscellaneous towels all over the place that no one will claim ownership of and just end up cycling through the wash over and over and over and over.... 

Where has the time gone?

  The last several years seem to have just flown by. Particularly the last month. It has been a busy one. What have I been up to you ask? Well, for starters there were Christmas presents to be made. If I was better about getting them done before the last minute I would have more pictures to post. I did get a picture of this crayon roll I made my niece.

Since we were further up north where it actually snows, a snowman was also made (I confess, it was mostly Tiger and my husband, with a little help from Kitty- I stayed inside).

As soon as we got back, Kevin and I were a Ma and Pa for the Trek in our stake. I sewed a couple of dresses for that (someday I shall get the pictures of those, but none were on my camera). However, the stake hosted a family trek activity on Saturday. That morning I made Kitty and Monkey bonnets and matching skirts. The aprons were the ones they wore in a pilgrim and Indian themed extended family photo (sorry- I don't have the copyright to those pictures). They were cute little pioneer girls.

Since then, I have been focusing on the Pinewood Derby, which is rapidly approaching. So far, I have:

Clipboards (I spray painted the tops of cheap wood ones red, then ran a strip of duct tape along the bottom, and covered the back with contact paper) 

 Signs: I spray painted thin canvas boards, ran a strip of duct tape, and used my new Silhouette (my husband loves me and got me one for Christmas) to cut out vinyl lettering.

 I also made some bean bags with some scraps of fabric for a bean bag toss.

There is still much left to do, so pardon me if I disappear for a while again.

More Birthday Ideas

I really do more than go to birthday parties all the time. Really. It just feels like it sometimes. This shirt is for a seven year old boy. I have the hardest time coming up with ideas for the older boys. My crafting ability has not yet extended to the realm of hand-held gaming systems or anything similar.

The inspiration for this one came from the part where the boy in question wanted a Skate party and his favorite color is green. I found a skateboard on my Boys Will Be Boys Cricut Cartridge, cut it out in fabric with heat-n-bond (the sewable kind in the purple package), and to make it last through the wash- sewed around all the edges. One custom tee shirt for a birthday boy.

Half Shirt Tutorial

I know what you are thinking- What is a half shirt? At least that is what I thought when a friend was telling me about them. Turns out they are an amazing innovation for the nursing mother. You wear it under another shirt, so when baby is hungry, you pull the one down and the other up, and can nurse while still being covered (if you have ever gone searching for modest nursing tops that don't leave you exposed all over the place you will understand what I am talking about). My friend had found hers at Mod Bod (I think this is the one), but they only came in a few colors and can be a little pricey. So we decided to make our own.

 We took a regular (cheap) shirt, and cut it off about two inches below the original. (It ended up being 15 inches from the highest point on the shoulder, slightly arched).

 Finished cut- see the slight arch. You can use whatever length feels good for you- just try on your shirt and mark where you want it, making sure to leave room for a hem.

 We sewed a simple hem around the bottom. It ended up being between 1/4" and 1/2" depending on the elastic that we were using.

 Make sure to leave a gap to thread the elastic through. (To measure the elastic, I had my friend wrap it around herself til it felt comfortable, and added about an inch to sew it together). After the elastic is in and sewed together, close the opening.

Finished product. This was our sample to see if it would work, and it did. The Mom is going to find more shirts in fun colors to add to her collection. She recommends a slightly tighter fitting shirt, cause after all, it is an undershirt, so just buy whatever size you would for an undershirt. These would also work well for undershirts where you want the layered look with out all the extra bulk and lines.

St. Patrick's Day

I am still behind on life. I forgot that I had these pictures well before St. Patrick's Day. Consider it another idea to store away for next year. I am getting good at those. :)

 I found these barrettes here. They were very quick and easy, and added a nice touch of green.

 These shirts were done with my Cricut, some fabric remnants, cheap tee shirts, and some heat-n-bond. (I just clipped the bows on the girls' shirts so they were easy to find later.

 Close up of the girls' shirts.

 And the Tiger's shirt.

While I was making them I found out that my nephew whom I hadn't ever seen was making a surprise visit so I made him this onesie. (He is adorable, by the way).

Another Dress

A couple of weeks ago I had a slight dilemma on my hands. It was Sunday, and the little Kitty was trying to wear something to church that wasn't going to work (I actually don't even remember what it was, but most likely it was something belonging to her little sister). How to get her to change without great tears and crankiness? So I decided to take some of the leftover fabric from the nursery dress and make Kitty a skirt- new clothes are always preferable to whatever she is currently wearing was my theory.  And I was correct, as soon as the skirt was done she happily shed the other outfit.

Sewing doesn't get much easier than this- it is three straight stitches (unless you french seam it, and then it is four). I took a strip of fabric, I am going to assume that it was 44"-45" wide, cut it into a rectangle (I held a tape measure up to the girl, and decided that 17" was how long I should cut the fabric out so my end strip was 17"x44". That measurement can be adjusted based on the intended recipient). I sewed the short sides together to form a tube, and then on the top side I stitched a casing for some elastic, and on the bottom side I put in a narrow hem. Instant skirt.
It worked. I had no trouble getting the girl to change.

Valentine PJs

 This is what happens when you take a little girl into a fabric store with you- she finds her favorite fabric and holds on tighter than gorilla glue until you agree to get it for her. Fortunately, she has cute tastes. And it was 50% off.

 This is what happens when you try to get a picture of the pajama pants (McCall's M4643) you made a small girl- she becomes very wiggly and impossible to photograph. So look close and admire the little puppy dog that says "I Woof You".

This is what happens when you try to get TWO girls to hold still at the same time. No, they were not sleeping- great tears of sadness were being shed at the thought of having to snuggle.

This is what happens when you still have a little fabric left over after making the two pairs of pjs- the Kitty gets a doggy pillow. Which she loves and had to curl up with right away. I just used scraps I had lying around. I think I would like it better if the white part were red, but fortunately, Kitty doesn't care- she likes it just fine the way it is.

(My children might be a little spoiled- I prefer to use the term loved- which they don't agree with when I am sewing instead of holding them and catering to their every whim.)

Welcome to Nursery

Today marks a momentous occasion- it was the first time since having children that all three were in Primary. Monkey now gets to attend nursery, and I get to listen to what the teachers are saying in Sunday School (If the previous sentences made no sense, consider it your introduction into LDS lingo and look up Mormon.org to find some missionaries in your area to explain them to you). To celebrate this transition, this morning I got up and made Monkey a new dress for her first day in nursery. The pattern I used is Simplicity 5695 View B. Thanks to a wonderful husband who got took care of everything else while I sewed, I was able to get it done in time for church. I even made a quick headband since she is still lacking in the hair department.

The headband I just made up. I cut a long strip of fabric 2" thick and sewed it into a long tube. After turning it right side out, a inserted some elastic (oh so technical measuring technique- I wrapped it around her head to see how big, and took a few inches off so it would hold but not be too tight). I sewed the elastic together so that it formed a circle, and then ran a stitch across the fabric to close it (confusing writing I know, but not a complicated step).

The picture I got was not the greatest. That is what happens when you allow your subject to wear the article of clothing for several hours before taking the picture. That and she was more interested in watching the movie behind me than getting her picture taken. In person, she was much more adorable.

Christmas Pajamas

I finally pinned down one child wearing the pajama bottoms that I was originally planning on making him for Christmas (McCall's M4643). I was only a month late. (OK, I confess, I still need to make Monkey's. It has been a busy week and I still haven't gotten to them).

Valentine Upcycling

I had a pair of pajamas that I loved. They were exceptionally comfortable and covered in hearts- what's not to love. Unfortunately, they finally became too loved and were worn and torn beyond the point of repair. So instead of throwing them out, like any normal person would, I cut them up and made a Valentine's shirt for the little Monkey. And while I was at it I figured she could use a matching flower bow as well.

I took one of those Faded Glory flag shirts (this one was proudly proclaiming the year as 2009) and drew a large heart on it with a fabric marker that covered the current decoration. I then cut out a piece of my pajama fabric that was larger than the heart I had drawn and pinned it on the inside of the shirt. I pulled out my sewing machine and did a zigzag stitch following my outline (if I was really good, I probably would have found a pattern or something to follow, instead I just free-handed it). After I had finished my zigzag stitch, I carefully cut out the red fabric, being careful to not nick the heart fabric underneath. Quick and easy Valentine shirt that I didn't spend an extra cent on, The flower bow I just followed the directions I had found for this bow. Unfortunately, that link has now gone private. If you want to Google it, the official name is a Kanzashi petal fabric flower. They are pretty easy, and turn out cute.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

 I decided that "Small Fry" really wasn't working out very well so I have decided to rename my children. For future reference, here they are:

Tiger

Monkey

Kitty

I know, very creative, but it will have to do.

The real reason I started taking these pajama pictures was to get a picture of Monkey's new pajama pants. The other two just thought Mom wanted them to say "Cheese" and happily obliged. The pajamas are McCall's M4643 and made out of some scraps I had leftover from a bedding project several years ago. I have noticed that my children's ankles are becoming a prominent feature of their wardrobes, so I think much more sewing will be in my near future.

A Tangled Halloween

(really bad picture, but the best we got of everyone together that night) 

Much cuter family portrait from Sears (Yes we have the copyright)

I admit- I am one of those mother's who likes to dress the family in a theme for Halloween. Since my husband likes me, my son is developmentally delayed (PDD-NOS not so specifically) and hasn't expressed an opinion otherwise, my oldest daughter has been diagnosed with Autism and doesn't say much either, and the little one is just one and thinking about talking, I can get away with it. :) We shall see how long that lasts. Because the middle fry likes to dance to Tangled, that was the theme this year. And when we go to get a family picture, I shall try to get good photos of her and her brother. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the little chameleon Pascal, who was adorable and knew it. I used the Simplicity 2792 view c pattern (yes, it is the same one that I modified last year so she could be Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon) and modified it by adding a tail (sorry, I made that up myself- just make a big spiral), ric rac down the back and top, and some styrofoam balls cut in half and covered with felt for the eyes. I also added a couple of "hands" to the sleeve cuffs that just hung over her hands. For her trick-or-treat bag I turned a McDonald's kids meal bucket into a flower pot. She had lots of fun.

How to get lots of candy

(Just for fun, because I realized this blog didn't exist last year, here is the best non-professional (aka copyrighted) family photo we got for How to Train Your Dragon Halloween 2010)

More Dresses

For the brother-in-law's wedding, I made the small fries' dresses. The smallest fry was modeling Simplicity 3509 view B. I love that this pattern has the diaper cover pattern. Since neither girl has any concept of modesty yet, it is nice to at least have their diapers match their dresses. I am kind of silly that way.

Here is the back view of the medium fry in Butterick 4967 view C with sleeves added. She liked being a princess. Technically, she was the flower girl, but her sole function was to look cute. That she did very well.

This is the front view of the dress. The medium fry and the big fry were having fun climbing on the building. He started out in a vest and tie. They didn't last long after the group picture.

Fortunately my mother-in-law found his vest on Ebay so that I didn't have to sew one, and his tie he inherited from his uncle who outgrew it. Random side note- that tie was present at every one of the three married siblings' weddings. Royal blue is a good wedding color I guess.

27 Dresses (ok, not quite that many)

It started with a dress much like this one. My brother-in-law is getting married in another month, and I made a dress like the one pictured above (just a fraction of a shade darker) for my sister-in-law. I had a friend who had two daughters (and a son) getting baptized and we decided to make dresses for their special occasion. The oldest girl liked the bridesmaid dress so we made her this one. Simplicity 2498 view D in case you were wondering.

For the younger sister we went with this version, Butterick 3351, a combination of C and D.

That night I got a call from another friend who was looking for someone to sew a bridesmaid's dress for her friend's daughter because the other friend's friend's son was pulling off a three week engagement. I was able to get this dress done in a day (New Look 6909 view E), but it ended up being too small. Fortunately it fit the bride's sister, but that still left another dress to sew.

The final dress, minus the silver tie.
Now I just have left another bridesmaid dress like the one on top, a flower girl dress, and a smallish fry dress.

Relay for Life

We have a little friend with a big heart. She was participating in the Relay for Life to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. To show our support I made her this shirt. It didn't turn out quite how I imagined, but I have it on good authority that the girl it was for loved it- especially after her mom wrote the names of her team members inside the hearts in pink.

I know, it is difficult to read. I didn't have much time to find the perfect shirt. It says "Relay Princess" with a rhinestone crown. It is a very easy project. I didn't even get to use my Cricut. I just went to Wal-Mart and bought iron-on rhinestones and iron-on letters (check the craft section) and, you guessed it- ironed them on.

Pretty in Purple

The Small Fry was having trouble with her dresses- she was getting bigger and they were getting smaller. For a girl who could live 24/7 in a dress, this was a travesty. In a less than brilliant move, Mom took her to Walmart to pick out fabric. Small children and Walmart (especially when you have to wait forever for someone to be paged three times to the fabric counter to cut) are not a good combination. Fortunately, we all survived. I am claiming success because her big brother told her she was a "princess" (I didn't even know he knew that word). He also gave her a kiss. I think that is a first.

This would be the Butterick 3350, view E dress. I did add the middle bow, sort of. The pattern called for ties in the back out of the same fabric as the body of the dress. I merely made them out of the accent fabric and added a front stripe.