Holiday Love

The best part of giving things you've made as gifts is seeing them being loved.  Especially when it's being loved by people you love.  As hokey as it sounds, it feels as good as getting something yourself.  Here are some action shots of some of the homemade gifts from my last post:

 

Little bird rattle for Serena (please ignore the unfortunate lady-in-a-robe background).  Also shown, her super easy Christmas themed baby suit (more info on that coming in a future post).

The Poky Puppy fabric book for Declan is also good for peekaboo. 

 

Polar Bear Pjs.  And the single gift request Ethan had for Santa - a Magic 8 ball.  Why we asked?  "It's got all the answers." was his reply.  Don't I wish it did.  Here's hoping next year is that easy.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and has a great new year.  I can't wait to craft it up with you in 2010!!

Nifty & Gifty

Well, the gifts are all officially finished.  Just in time too.  I thought I'd post a few of my favorites that were new to me and also turned out to be pretty easy to make.  First up is this velour bird rattle.  I love the tie-it-on-anything design and how fast & fun it was to put together.  My husband thought I bought it!  The pattern is from my fave Sweet Booties book.  I plan on making a bunch more in other fun fabrics.

Next is the Poky Little Puppy fabric book. It's even got the Little Golden Book binding on the edge.  I'm a sucker for nostalgic kids stuff.  The yard had all the pages laid out in order & instructions.  Just cut, add batting, stitch and done.  I literally did it all in less than an hour.  So easy and cute to make.

I got our niece a play baking set that had mixing bowls, rolling pin, etc., but it needed a little something, so I whipped up this little apron with some cupcake print flannel.  One long strip of fabric folded & stitched with a folded, gathered rectangle sandwiched in and stitched together at the opening.  Easy as pie, I mean cupcake;)

My oldest has been growing like a weed and needed some pjs bad, so using the latest issue of Ottobre Design, I made these long john style pajamas.  It's hard to find cute, but not too cutesy fabric for older boys, so I loved this polar bear print and its colors. 

Can't wait to give these out & see them in action!

A Mouse In The House Cloth Diaper

I had this cute mouse fleece just waiting for the ideal project, so I was thrilled that it solved my nighttime diapering issue. Serena is sleeping through the night (yay!), but the challenge is diapers keeping up (boo!). I have a large stash of some really great cloth diapers (owning a baby store has its perks), but my girl is a marathon sleeper. Meaning she goes 12 hrs+ at a stretch. Keeping her pjs and the crib dry until morning isn't easy since she is a very heavy wetter and stuffing them with tons of inserts doesn't really work for her 3 month size bod. So I thought making a fleece diaper might do the trick. I traced another diaper I had for size and used bamboo velour for the lining, a layer of PUL, fleece for the outer and a binding of solid color fleece all the way around the edge.


The fleece is printed allover with cheese and came with appliqued mice on it, so it has the look of a fancy custom diaper, but none of the hassle. This thing really works (went 13hrs with no leak through) and since I'm a sucker for cute diapers, I love how it looks too. Now I'm combing through my fleece stash to make some more. Dry bed + cute diaper + using stuff I have on hand = can't go wrong! 

Scarfing Up Some Courage

Behold, my first knitting project, a scarf for my mom, as modeled by our resident shy reindeer. We call him that because my 4yr old has attempted to ride, cuddle, drag and otherwise abuse this poor thing every Christmas. Being hollow papier mache, he didn't stand a chance, but by some miracle he has survived and been left alone this year. Last year we found him peeking out from behind a couch one night and were convinced he'd actually been hiding. When Serena's walking this time next year, God help him. I think he may move out. The scarf seemed to help him come out of his shell though. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out (just a few mistakes) and am ready to try some more needle knitting.

I also have one of those knitting loom kits I'd bought for Ethan & I to do together last year and dragged that out last week to try out. I kind of feel like it's cheating, but the time saving is what attracted me to it, since time without a baby on one arm is hard to come by. I must say that the instructions leave a lot to be desired though. They just mention some random techniques and give no real direction on step order, or, more importantly for me, many pictures. I started a hat during a long car trip, but am kind of stuck on the next part. The stitches look good so far, but wayyyyyy too loose for my liking. I also keep thinking that if this thing really worked so well, why would anyone knit with needles when you can make the same stuff in just an hour or two with this. Has anyone tried these things before and have any opinions or suggestions?

Baby It's Cold Outside: A Mittens Tutorial

Well, the weather here in MI definitely turned into winter this week, so it was time to drag out the hats & gloves. Except I could only find 1 of Ethan's mittens. I know buying a replacement pair isn't very expensive, but they usually aren't all that warm or well made (half of them sport holes within the first week). And forget about trying to find any that match the coat or look cute (which may explain why it's so easy to lose them). So I decided I'd make a spiffy, new pair using scrap fleece I had left from some old projects. Here's how:

First, I examined the mitten I had & saw it was made from 4 pieces. I traced them and added an extra 1inch around them. I cut out 2 of each piece (reversing the sides so there'd be a left & right). I wanted these to be extra warm so I cut out another set in a solid fleece to make a lining layer.


I marked the wrong sides on each piece so I wouldn't mismatch any (it can be hard to figure out front & back on some fleece) and then pinned the small thumb piece to the curved palm piece, right sides facing & stitched them together with a 1/2in seam allowance.

I did the same with the longer thumb & top mitten pieces. I then pinned & stitched the two halves together. I did this for both hands and with both inner & outer fabric, so I had four "mittens".
I trimmed the excess fabric so they'd fit together well.

I opted for adding some elastic to the wrist of the wrong side of the inner fabric. I stitched it about 1 1/4 inches from the raw cuff edge. I used 1/4in elastic and cut pieces that were 1in longer than his wrist measurement and stitched it on, pulling it taut as I went.


I turned the outer mittens right side out and fit the inner inside, so the wrong sides were together and folded in the raw edges and topstitched around the edge to attach them.


All done! I literally had the idea to do this, worked out the plan & whipped them up in an evening, so not hard to do & well worth the effort: perfect fit, cozy warm, fun looking and cost nothing. What could be better?


I've added this to Creative Cats at Poppies At Play and the SOYS Party at Fireflies & Jellybeans. Check out both great sites for more cool project ideas.

Looking Sweet On The Cheap

Since my lovely little girl arrived 3 months ago I now have a reason to check out girly little clothes at every opportunity. On thing that continues to amaze me is how pricey those cute little dresses are. I recently saw a plain fleece jumper at a major chain that was $20. I know some people wouldn't call that pricey, but for the basic design & fabric that could be made for A LOT less and with a lot more personality in about the same amount of time it takes to drag out to the store & buy one. So I created my own jumper dress pattern and made it reversible.


The basic shape means it is very easy to make - just a front & back piece of each fabric, stitched at the sides and then stitched together around the top edges and then bottom. Super fast for even the beginner sewer - I didn't even need to top stitch around the top. Using snaps at the straps makes it look good from both sides. The other bonus is it uses very little fabric - my 3-6mos size used less than a 1/4yd for each fabric, so I used scraps leftover from other projects for my fuzzy mint/pink minky dress.

The other bonus is because it's reversible, besides having two looks in one, just about any fabric can be used. So those gorgeous cotton prints that are too thin for winter can be paired with a thicker fabric & create limitless options. Just pair with a long sleeved shirt & tights/pants for winter and can be worn by itself in summer. The pony print was a fun bamboo terry and the reverse is a solid tan knit. On future versions, I plan to add pockets, appliques, embellishments...the possibilities are endless and even the fanciest version is still going to be a steal compared to the store stuff. Can't wait until after the holidays when there's time to let the imagination run wild!

I'm linking this post with the Penny Pinching Party over at The Thrifty Home. Head over to join in with the fun!

Stocking It Up!

My two boys both have cute snowman stockings that my mom got them for their first Christmases. I decided I'd make one for Serena's first Christmas using stuff I had here at home. I used some fleece scraps to make the stocking itself & the snowman.


For the details I used bits of scrap fabric to make her a cute scarf & bow and some left over beads from when I made last year's I Spy bags for some 3-d snowflakes & for the buttons and eyes. I really wanted to personalize it, but didn't think puff paint or iron-on letters would have the right look so I hand embroidered her name on after I wrote it on with my fabric marker. It was fairly fast to do and a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for an embroidered stocking.


I also decided to make a few smaller ones out of some organic cotton sweatshirt fabric and add on some "go green" themed patches for our eco-friendly store. I attached the hanging loops with my handy-dandy snap machine, so the loops can snap open to make them easy to hang just about anywhere. I almost hope they don't sell so I can use them myself!