Top Posts of 2013

Ok, so I know my blog has only been around for a few months, but I figured I would do a round-up of my most popular posts of the year anyway.  Here they are:

A Review and a Preview

Heather at Feather's Flights reviewed my giraffe lovey pattern.  You can read her review here.  I love the patterned fleece she used for the head.

I have been working on another lovey pattern also.  I had already been planning to make a zebra/horse pattern.  I figured a zebra would be a nice compliment to the giraffe and rhino patterns.  I hadn't gotten started on working on the actual pattern yet, though.  Then my niece asked me to make her a unicorn lovey for Christmas.  She has a new baby sister who has recently been given a lovey and she wanted her own.  I took on the challenge and came up with a pattern that can be a unicorn, horse or zebra!  I already gave you a tiny taste in my sneak peek, but here's a photo of the finished unicorn lovey.

Arctic Trapper Hat

It got really cold here a few weeks ago and my big kid needed a new winter hat.  I bought the Arctic Trapper Hat pattern from see kate sew to make Christmas gifts for his cousins and, when I asked the big kid to try his cousin's hat on, he, naturally, asked me to make one for him as well.  

Sneak Peak

So for the last couple weeks I have mostly been sewing Christmas gifts, which means I can't really share without spoiling the surprise, but here are a few sneak peeks:

Review of Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's Updated Footed PJ's Pattern

(Disclosure: I am a Peek-a-Boo pattern shop affiliate, so if you click on my links and buy something I will get a small commission.)

I made a pair of Footed PJs from Peek-a-Boo Pattern shop a couple months ago and wasn't very happy with the fit on my big kid.  I had made the size 8 because he is right at the end of the height range for the size 7 and so I had expected them to be a little big, but they were waaaay long in the legs and also waaay wide in the torso (but the sleeves were just right).  Recently, however, Amy updated the pattern and she also hosted a sew-along last week on her blog, so I decided to give the new version a try and I am happy to report that the fit is much improved! 

Winter Coat

I saved almost all of my big kid's clothes from when he was younger. So the little guy's wardrobe consists almost entirely of hand-me-downs from his big brother. Which means I don't have to buy him a lot of clothes, but it also means he hasn't been the recipient of many handmade clothes yet. However, apparently, I did give away rather than save some of the big kid's clothes from when he was two or three. Most notably his winter coat. So, as the weather started getting cooler I got busy making the little guy a winter coat.

Christmas Countdown Rings: Tutorial for a Simple Advent Calendar

When I was a kid, I always counted down the days to Christmas with a chain of construction paper rings - one for each day until Christmas.  I loved seeing the chain getting shorter and shorter as Christmas got closer.  It is a great visual way to represent time for a young child.  I decided to re-create that chain for my kids in a more permanent form and I have created a tutorial so you can too! 

Skinny Jeans for my skinny kid

In case you haven't heard, the week before last was Kids Clothes Week.  The idea is to sew for one hour a day during the week, with the result being that you probably finish a project or two and your kids have some homemade clothes.  A lot of people obviously put more than an hour a day into sewing during kids clothing week, and many hours before the week prepping for the sewing by printing out patterns and cutting fabric before the week even begins.  I did not do that this year.  Finding even an hour a day to sew is challenging for me and I was sick the first two days of kids clothes week this year, so I didn't sew at all on those days, but I did manage to complete one project during the week - a pair of skinny jeans for my big kid.  I was participating in the Skinny Jeans Sew Along at Naptime Crafters using the Skinny Jeans pattern (affiliate link) from Peek-A-Boo Pattern shop.

My first pattern for sale: Giraffe Lovey Blanket

 

After making the big kid's rhino lovey I had the idea to make a giraffe lovey.  I guess because both are animals that you don't often see in lovey form. I have been working on the pattern for a few weeks now and it is finally done!  

This giraffe lovey blanket is a sweet guy with a slightly sleepy look.  Made out of a soft minky or fleece on one side and a smooth satin or cotton on the other side it will offer a nice contrast in textures that a little one will love to stroke and cuddle with.

I have decided to offer it for sale on Craftsy.  If you are interested you can buy it here.

A pattern for the rhino lovey is also in the works (along with a few more free tutorials, other patterns for softies, clothes for the kids, christmas gifts, etc...)  So stay tuned!!

Spider Softie - A pattern hack and tutorial

We are sorely in need of some Halloween decor around here.  The big kid had a spider that we had bought last year that had bendy legs that he really liked.  He played with it as if it were a toy and it didn't really hold up well to that much use.  It seemed to be made of some kind of cardboard covered in black feathers and after a while we were finding little black puffs everywhere.  So this year I wanted to make him something similar that would stand up to heavy play and not make a mess.

Fleece-Lined Corduroy Jacket in Action

I have posted about this jacket before, but I didn't have great pictures of it because when I finished it it was too warm for the little guy to wear it. But now that fall weather is here I got the little guy outside on a sunny day with the jacket on and got some shots of the jacket in action:

Skull Hoodie

My big kid has a fleece-lined hoodie that he has been wearing pretty much every day since it started to get cooler.  Unfortunately it was getting too small for him, so I decided to make him a new one.  I had some black sweatshirt fleece that I got for a dollar a yard at the fabric store near where I work and I had a grey separating zipper that I have had for a long time.  So I knew I would be going with a grey and black theme.  I bought grey fleece for the lining from fabric.com and black ribbing from Jo-Ann's.

Moth-Eaten Sweater Dress to Elephant Softie!

This cute elephant was once a Banana Republic sweater dress that got eaten by moths at a prior residence. I felted it by running it through the washer and dryer on the hot cycles twice with a few towels to provide friction.  The pattern is from Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction (affiliate link). I bought myself the book for my birthday and so far am pretty pleased with it.  It doesn't just contain patterns but also walks you through how to make various three dimensional shapes so that you can design your own stuffed animals. Just flipping through the book and reading about gussets and how they work to give a head shape helped me feel confident enough to create a rhino head for my big guy's Rhino Lovie.  

Rhino Lovey Blanket

My big kid has been asking me all week to make him a rhino lovey.  He found his old lion lovey not long after the little guy was born and has been more attached to it in the last year or so than he ever was when he was a baby.  Because he is really into super heroes he has bestowed his lovey with super powers and calls it "All Power Lovey."  Now, apparently, All Power Lovey needs a side kick.  And that sidekick is a rhino.

He requested that the rhino part be blue.  He told me the blanket part could be any color fabric I had (although later he clarified that it shouldn't be pink or purple).  Hubby even helped him create a mock-up of what he wanted. Here it is:

 

Welcome Fall

 

It is the first day of fall, so in anticipation of coming cooler weather I have been sewing some warm clothes for my kids.  My big kid loves to wrap himself up in fuzzy fabrics like fleece and velour and he also loves to match his little brother so I made both of them shirts out of a snazzy blue argyle fleece. Big kid is wearing a Varsity Cowl Neck Pullover (affiliate link) from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and the little guy is wearing Pauley's Pullover from Sewing for Boys (affiliate link).  

Sewing Fail

So yesterday I was feeling so proud of myself because I finished up a pair of pants that I had been working on for my big kid.  They came out really nice I thought:

But then I had him try them on this morning and the rise was too low!  I was fussing at them while he had them on trying to see if the problem was that the waist was too big or the rise was too low and he got annoyed and took them off and told me he would never wear them even if I did fix them.

Fleece lined corduroy jacket

This is what I have been working on over the past week.

A fall jacket for my little guy!  It started its life as these two fabrics:

Tutorial: Scarf with Claw Mittens

Welcome to my site.  For my first post I thought I would share a tutorial I created.  It is an easy project that would make a great gift for the little monster (or dinosaur, or bear, or other animal with claws) in your life.  This project is suitable for a beginning sewer.  It can be done in one or two colors and the colors can be chosen to suit the type of creature you are going for. I used a bright orange and turquoise for a fun monster look, but you could choose brown and tan if you were going for bear claws.