Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

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Sewing with two has definitely been a challenge.  With that said.  I have done quite a bit lately, just haven't written about it.  So, in lieu of a long tutorial, I'm going to just give you an idea of what I have been up to.

First, I have been going crazy on Pinterest!  It's a blast and lately when the kiddos are napping (they are both napping at the same time, insane!!) I have been looking at great ideas posted on Pinterest and posting a few of my own.  You can follow my Pinterest posts below.

Thanks to Pinterest, I've gotten a ton of really great ideas for activity bags for Grace.  I put together a few this week.  We've got a matching game, Care Bear color cards (made from stickers G was randomly putting on a page and then I cut them out), spaghetti shaker for dexterity (Grace LOVES this game - she will sit forever playing it), open and close objects, shape puzzles, foam lacing shapes that I made, coloring fun, and sticker fun.

Spaghetti Shaker and home-made lacing shapes/colors

Shape puzzles and coloring fun

Sticker fun and Care Bear Color cards

Not pictured is the matching game and open/close bag

I've also got some small tubs that hold play-dough from a Melissa and Doug set that I'm thinking about putting in the activity set.  The activity grab bags I have seen have mostly been on the large side for those rainy/snowy days indoors.  I'm trying to keep mine very small so that I can take a few on our trips.  We took the open and close objects and the spaghetti shaker to a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and it made a world of difference.  She was quiet and occupied trying to figure out how to open a barrette, a miniature mailbox, another hair clip and other little items that opened and closed.  Usually it is very trying to entertain her in those situations and I don't like to pacify her with snacks.

It was one of those days where we weren't going anywhere and I had a very restless little two year old on my hands.  Grace had gotten hold of a clothespin and just ripped it apart.  She had been asking me to paint all day and the clothespin was already already wrecked so, why not make bunnies!  With the metal hinge off, just glue the two pieces together with a hot glue gun.  I originally used Tacky glue and it worked well.  It just took about 10-15 minutes to fully dry and it is easier to pull apart than the hot glue - but it works. 

I then took a piece of paper and cut out a small circle to glue on for the face.  My bunny faces are a little bit funny looking, I got impatient and didn't wait for the paint to dry and tried to draw the face anyway...the situation was getting sticky.  G was getting restless, little babe was hungry, and so was Daddy.  Here are a few pics of our fun little bunny and painting session.

Daddy and Claire with a pair of her home-made baby legs!!
 Look at that grumpy face!  SMOOOCH!

Grace loved the clothespin bunnies!  She played with them for the rest of the night.  The next morning however, she tore off the faces so I decided not to make anymore until I come up with a better face that she can't just rip off.  I have since bought the old-fashioned doll pins and I'll make some dolls with clothes made from scraps of fabric.  That tutorial will be about hand stitching.

I also have been making a bag for a dear friend.  She crochets faster than anyone I have ever seen and she just walks around the house dragging a ball of yarn, talking, taking care of the baby, picking up toys and petting the dog.  All while still crocheting!  It's really a sight to see.  She crochets beautiful flowers for headbands and barrettes through her business, Bella's Blossoms, named after her gorgeous daughter Bella.  Bella and Grace were born only five days apart and we have spent many hours together with the kiddos.  I found this knitting bag tutorial on one of my many internet idea crawls.  I took the basic tutorial and added a few more features such as extra pockets and key/yarn holders.  I say yarn holders because you can just thread the yarn through and when you need to "stuff and go", your yarn will not get muddled with the rest of the bags contents.  

I'm not finished with the bag, I ran out of pink thread right at the end!  However, all that is left to do is make the straps and sew the bottom of the casing as this bag conveniently cinches at the top.  Here are a few photos of the progress so far.

The fabric is so fun and pretty.  It is a kind of toile on a beautiful light blue cotton.  The images are in cream and brown.  I literally got this fabric at Hancock for...wait for it...50 cents a yard!!!  I was out for fabric on a different project and passed the clearance bin on the way to the counter.  I took a quick look and found this beauty.  There was about a yard and a half left and I grabbed it up...not having any idea what I was going to do with it but it was too pretty to pass up...and 75 cents!  This fabric is perfect for my friend as the scenes depict a mother and daughter in various settings such as shopping at a market, planting in the garden,  and the mother pushing the girl in a wagon and also helping her to skate.  When I started thinking about finally putting this bag together for her, I knew this fabric was just right.  It reminds me of my friend and how she is with her daughter, and how she was with mine.  She is a wonderful mother and a dear friend.  

For the lining I had some thick cotton that almost has the feel of a lightweight canvas.  It is perfect as it adds plenty of strength to the bag but doesn't make it super bulky.  I actually got it from the woman I'm making the bag for.  This thick cotton was the perfect creamy color to match the outside of the bag and it also maintains a wrinkly texture that I couldn't iron out.  But I love how it makes the bag look.

I used bright pink thread just give the bag fun contrast and a pop of color.  It has turned out very cute so far and I've had a good time making it, even with all the weird fiascos that came along with it...and there were quite a few, i.e., fabric issues, spilled soda, thread issues, burning myself with the iron, everything falling out of my sewing kit...and a few other spastic happenings.  This was all in a two night period and it was so strange.

As I said, I originally found this bag through a tutorial.  You can find the tutorial by clicking on the link to the left and navigating to the tutorial page and looking for the link for "Knitting Bag: Passionate Design".

I finally have the fabric for Grace's bedding!  It's stinkin' cute!  I can't wait to start making it but I have to wait for the same pink thread that I am using for the knitting bag, which by the way, I am definitely making one for myself!  There is so much room in it!

The solid blue will be the bottom of the duvet.
The bumble bee, floral and pink geometric will
serve as the top of the duvet.
The solid yellow will be the sheet and the solid
looking pink will serve as the bed skirt.

I hope I enjoy doing the bedding as much as I think I am going to.  This might be something more down the line.  So, as soon as the bag is finished, I will start on the bedding and I am ITCHING to get to it.

While on my shopping trip for the bedding fabric I found some really great Mickey Mouse themed paper!  Remember this picture?

This shoe box is about to be completely decked out in Mickey Mouse from the inside out.  I'm making Grace her very own Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for all of her "friends" as she calls them.

This paper is so cute.  All I need is some Modge Podge to glue down the paper.  I keep reading this is the best stuff in the world.  I hope so because Grace will just pull it off if she gets the chance, lol.

I'm going to cut out the photos of each character and
place them in the shoe box like photographs on a wall.

This is my favorite paper.  Going back to the
old-school Mickey Mouse!  Woot-Woot!

Ha!!

So, I've been busy and I'm going to be busy.  I'm very excited about my ongoing and upcoming projects.  I'm going to post more in the coming days as I am trying to increase my following so tell all your friends about my little blog and encourage them to follow my projects.  Leave comments and tell me what you like or don't like.  Also, feel free to give me some ideas.  I'm always looking for a new project for the girls or for my home...you should see my schematics on the fabric organizers I've got in the works!

Thanks for visiting and until next time...

New ideas!

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This is going to be Grace's very own Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Can you see it?  I think it will be just perfect!

BABY LEGS!!

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Wow are these things stinkin' cute!  I love the fact that I can keep Claire's legs warm and I can still get to her diaper without completely disrobing her.  It's starting to get cold here in St. Louis so this will definately be a plus.

These baby legs are so easy to make and so much cheaper!  For one pair of really cute "baby legs" I would pay around $7 or $8 dollars...well, the ones that I liked at least.  For $8 I bought really cute knee high socks for little girls and made four pairs of baby legs!  That's a price I like.

So here we go.  First, lay the sock down flat on it's natural fold from the packaging.  Next, take siccors and cut off the toe and the heel.  On the heel, cut along one side and then cut straight. 

You may think that this will leave the sock with a peak but it actually leaves you with a nice little rectangular piece as you can see below.

Next, take the small piece and fold it inward with wrong sides together.  Pull the raw edges together.

Now, here you can do one of two things.  A) You can leave it as is to sew to the other piece, or B) you can cut one side in order to make the cuff smaller.  I went with option A but at the end of this tutorial I will tell you what to do for option B.

Now that you have your raw ends together with right sides facing out, slide the cuff onto the other end (long end) of the sock.  Again, bring the raw edges together.  Now do any wiggling you need to to make the ends nice and even and everything is laying correctly.

Next, sew down the raw edges taking care to capture all three edges.  Use a zigzag stitch and stretch out the fabric a little bit.  I suggest a little more than a 1/4" seam allowance as the knit in the sock likes to roll up just enough that anything less lends to missed fabric. 

This process literally takes about 5 minutes...maybe.  I did four pairs in about 45 minutes.  That's with taking pictures, changing Claire, feeding Claire and having a few bites of key lime pie to boot.  It also helped that I did all the socks in an assymbly line.

And here is sweet Claire in her brand new baby legs!  They are so cute and so is she!  And yes, she has two different colored socks on...

Grace had to come and give her little sister a sweet kiss.  I don't blame her!

So there you have it.  DIY baby legs on a friendly budget.  I think I am going to make a few pairs for Grace but I will make them out of adult socks.  I'll post the pics when I make them.

For option B, I made you a very fancy illustration of what to do...Ha!



Make sure you use a zig-zag stitch on step 2.  Also, you will have to stretch the material to make everything fit nice and neat as the cuff will be smaller than the other end piece.


That's it.  This was a fun little project.  I enjoyed making them and now I will be on the lookout for more socks for my little ones.  Oh, plural.  That's fun to say.

Thanks for visiting as always and I will be posting some more in the coming days.  Stay tuned!

Back to Work!

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It's been quite a while, but I'm back!  After a long, long bed rest, a miserable labor and a lengthy trip to the NICU the family is all together again and everybody is healthy.

I haven't made anything yet, but ever since I was put on bed rest I have been itching to sew something.  Well, now I have a couple of projects lined up.

Grace will be going into a toddler bed soon and I've been scouring the Internet and various catalogs to find toddler bedding...none of which I like and all of which are way too costly.  Therefore, I will be making my own toddler bedding.  It will include a duvet cover (to fit the pottery barn toddler down comforter), a fitted sheet, pillow covers and a bed skirt...well, maybe a bed skirt.  I won't be making a flat sheet because Grace just doesn't need it.  She might not even take the down comforter because it may conflict with her blanket, aka "buntin".  We will just have to sew and see!

The next project on my agenda is to sew the little one, Claire, some leg warmers.  It's silly simple.  All I have to do is buy some funky knee high socks, make a few cuts and sew a few stitches.  Silly simple!  It's going to save so much money rather than buying the baby legs brand, or any other brand for that matter.  I will get three pairs of baby leggings for the price of one pre-made.  Very excited for this project.

I'm also currently making a knitting bag for myself and a friend; and by currently I mean I have the pattern cut out...that's it.

Also in the works, but won't be ready to go for a while is a diaper bag.  I've been making preliminary sketches...(bed rest gave me a lot of time to draw and design)...and I'll start configuring measurements soon.  I'm trying to just figure out what is really needed in my diaper bag, especially with two, and how to best construct it.

Can't wait to put it all out there.  Also got a new camera witch will give you some excellent photographs without much editing on my end.  YAY!

Stay tuned!