eat! craft! live!

skinny minny's new belt

E is a skinny toddler. I mean, not freakishly so, but she's a slender, tall, string bean of a child. Her pants fall down. Sometimes even off. (One day, at daycare, apparently her pants fell down around her ankles while she played and she didn't even notice.)

*sigh*

So what's a mama to do? I purposely seek out slender brands and styles of pants. Some of her pants have adjustable waistbands. Then there are the pants that have decorative drawstrings. How cruel is that? Here I am thinking I'll be able to hike up her pants and tie that drawstring to keep them there but no. (And then a mama friend mentioned it was because of strangulation hazards. Oops.)

So one day I saw some toddler belts on one of those baby deal-a-day websites and had the presence of mind to realize that duh I could make one, before I clicked that "buy" button.

And that's what I did! My only complaint is that the ribbon isn't double sided and I didn't sew on any backing so if it falls in a certain way you only see the back of it in all its thready glory. Still! For the cost of under a yard of cute fishy ribbon and a package of four little belt loops (I can make another!) I have a cute, custom made belt for my girl!

I bought, I believe, 2/3 (maybe 3/4?) of a yard of 1 inch wide ribbon and a package of 1 inch wide belt loop thingies.

Then I hemmed one end, wrapped the other around two of the metal loops and sewed it shut.

Voila! Toddler belt! It took all of about 5 minutes and was so easy and spur of the moment I'm not even counting it as a finished sewing project for my 8 in 2013, though technically I suppose it is a finished sewing project...

And of course now that she's got a belt to wear, she seems to have grown and doesn't need it as much... Ah, well. It will fit for a while! Those 4T pants are coming right up and I'm sure they'll fall down too without some added assistance.

8 in 2013 :: owl pillow

This was not intended to be my third 8 in 2013 project. In fact, I didn't even know this was going to be a project at all! The story is this: I took E to gymnastics one Saturday morning like I always do and on the way home we stopped at JoAnn's so I could pick up a couple things I needed. While waiting to get fabric cut, E spied this half yard of pink owl fabric in the clearance bin and just had to have it. For under a dollar, how could I argue?

She played with the fabric for a few weeks and then one morning, I asked her if she'd like me to make it into something for her. "Yes!" she said, "A pizza!"

OK then.

I gave her some options. Skirt? No, a pizza. Drawstring bag? No, a pizza. Finally, a pillow? Yes.

We have a winner!

It was incredibly simple - I simply folded the fabric in half, right sides together, and sewed it up, leaving a hole for stuffing. Then I flipped it right side out and sewed a little border around it, making sure to leave the hole for stuffing. I stuffed it with enough stuffing to make it puffy but not overly filled, as I wanted the pillow to be flat-ish when she actually got around to lying on it. (This was an excellent excuse to use up a whole bag of polyfil that I bought years ago for stuffing, among other things, the black and white pillow in the photo below!) Once filled, I sewed up the hole and voila! Perfect toddler pillow! The whole thing took perhaps 10-15 minutes, with a baby to tend to simultaneously.

I love quick, satisfying projects like this - they're so gratifying! Especially when the intended recipient is in awe and "love love loves it." (Her words.)

Unfortunately, I'm about out of quick projects for my 8 in 2013...anyone want to come help me bind a large lap quilt?

8 in 2013 :: brown pajamas

This is the second of my 8 in 2013 projects - brown flannel pajamas for M. And this is an example of my 8 in 2013 projects being defined by being finished this year...not necessarily started. These PJs took an embarrassingly long time to make. I picked up the flannel (in three colors!) on Black Friday of...2011. Yes. Over a year ago. *ahem* I also picked up the pattern - Butterick 5537 - at the same time for 99 cents.

Now, the problem with this pattern or, possibly, the problem with sewing things for M, is that nothing fits him. He's...very tall. So in order to have these jammies fit him, I bought the pattern for the XL-XXXL. Great! Except that M is extra tall, but not extra wide. So, while they fit around him, the length is strange. And part of this must have to do with the pattern itself - otherwise, the lengths would all be too short. Right? The length of the shirt is fine. Possibly too long even. But the length of the sleeves? Way too short. As you can see, I didn't even hem them. I'll need to do something about those raw edges, but I didn't want to subject my husband to 3/4 length sleeves on otherwise warm and cozy pajamas in the middle of winter in Maine.

The actual cutting and sewing went fairly smoothly. It's not a complicated pattern, it just took me forever to finally get around to it. (And, in all fairness, I did sew the pajama pants quite some time ago. It was the shirt that was missing...) It's a pretty straightforward pattern - sleeves, two fronts, back...and some weirdness with the collar pieces that may or may not have had some degree of operator error. I'll let you know when I sew the next set...

Because remember? I bought three lengths of flannel! So, coming up soon (hopefully sooner than next year...) will be two more sets of pajamas! Stay tuned for blue and green...

8 in 2013 :: snuggie monster

I've created a monster.

A snuggie monster.

What?

Backing up to the beginning... For the first of my finished 8 in 2013 projects, I've made a giant snuggie. Or slanket. Whatever you want to call it, it's a warm blanket with sleeves.

Wait, 8 in 2013?

Backing up further... A Twitter friend decided to start an 8 in 2013 project. (Read more about it here.) The general idea is to do 8...things...in 2013. Myself, I decided to finish 8 sewing projects. (Notice I didn't say start...) These sewing projects will be big and small, some are already started, some are only planned. But I decided to tag along, as are a bunch of other folks, and try to challenge myself to complete eight sewing projects.

Why sewing? Eight knitting projects would frankly just not be a challenge. And I have neither the time nor the money to travel to eight new places. Since it's taken me 6 months to read a handful of books, it's probably unrealistic to read eight books. (Sad, I know...) But sewing? Sewing is something I love to do but am finding it hard to find time for. As H gets older, it gets easier and I expect it to continue getting easier throughout the year.

If you want to join in, read the blog post I mention above, check out the Flickr group, or search Twitter for #8in2013.

M is always cold, so I decided to make him a snuggie. I ventured out into the wildness of Black Friday at my local JoAnn Fabrics and picked up something like 5 or 6 yards (yes, yards) of fleece for super cheap. Finally, after some measuring and finagling and googling, I sewed him a snuggie. It was incredibly easy and super fast. Basically, it's just a giant rectangle with two holes for arms and the sleeves sewed in. I more or less followed the instructions here, not that instructions are really needed for a project of this complexity. Fleece doesn't fray, so there was no hemming. I left a lot of fabric at the top because M likes to bury his head in the blankets, so I thought he might like to do it in his snuggie too. And it's ridiculously long, because a) he's very tall and b) I wanted to make sure he could cover his feet if he wanted to while he was sitting down.

So what was the verdict? It's a big win!

mail organizer

What's this? I made something? No, couldn't be!

It's true. I made this mail organizer a while back after seeing a photo of Danielle's lovely versions last year.

You can find the tutorial here. There's not a lot of sewing involved - some but not much. There is, however, lots of assembling and hot gluing and that sort of thing. The whole thing comes together relatively quickly, as long as you can find everything you need for "ingredients" and don't accidentally forget something and have to go back to the store or misplace your staple gun and have to borrow one or realize your hot glue gun must've been disowned during one of many moves, necessitating yet another trip to the store... I mean, not that I know this from personal experience. Ahem.

I just got sick of stacking mail on top of the television or losing magazines and bills to a toddler's grabby hands. This is a lovely solution. It is on the other side of the wall from our front door and high enough that no little ones will be sticking their paws into it anytime soon.

I will say, however, that this particular DIY project was really just a labor of love and did not save any money in the long run. (Especially due to needing a new glue gun...ahem.) But, while I may have been able to pick up a cheap(er) mail organizer in the office supply aisle at Target, it wouldn't have been nearly as cute or personalized as this one. I do love it so!

:: photo friday :: sewing!

summertime, summertime

Oh, summer. What have I been up to? Clearly not blogging... Mostly because I've been, well, living.

Started off the season with some gorgeous flowers...hyacinths! (Which, if you've been 'round these parts very long, you know are some of my very favorites.)

There were also (and will always be) some whoopie pies. Oh, the deliciousness. My favorites come from the bakery down the street - Borealis Breads. Yum.

There was some music-ing...

And somebody's very first beach trip...

(Well, the first one where she could actually appreciate it, anyway...) Followed by some more beach trips...

And some more... Love that sand!

There were a lot of hot lazy days spent playing with blocks and baby pools.

There was even some sewing! Here, the lovely E is stacking some rings in her beautiful new handmade dress!

And some more sewing... Love that dress pattern!

I gardened. Quite a bit actually. And I had every intention of blogging about my experience, but...well...maybe I'll get around to an end-of-season recap?

We had play dates!

And parties!

And, of course, I just had to sew a party dress to go to some of those parties...

There was swinging and sliding...

I just had to sew another pair of shoes, before E outgrew the pattern...

There's been a lot of jam and jelly making and other preserving. Like whoa. A lot. Here, vanilla peach oolong. There's also been strawberry lime jam, blackberry jelly, maple strawberry smooch, strawberry lemonade concentrate, salsa verde and more on the agenda...

In addition to all that, I dyed yarn all summer for Picnic at the end of August. My first time vending as a yarnie! (I've done craft shows before, but not with the yarn...)

Finally, at the end of it all, when I was feeling a little stressed out by all that was happening, we went on vacation! A week at the lake, even if part of it is spent with no power or running water (thanks, Irene!) is a wondrous thing.

To top off the vacation, my dear father turned 60. Party! And he got to spend the day with his granddaughter. (Among others...) Possibly my favorite moment this summer.

So I may not have been blogging, or commenting on your blogs, or, honestly, even reading them most of the time, but I'm here. I've been checking in and catching up periodically but I feel like an ass commenting on months-old posts often, so I read, and move on. And live. It's been a good summer for us. I hope the same is true for you!

:: photo friday :: finally got it right

It may have taken me a few previous (equally lovely) tries...

:: photo friday :: pins, no needles

bibs...that work!

One of my pet peeves about most of the store-bought bibs that E received from various well-meaning friends and family members is that they're just too darn small. They might have been fine to protect a drooly infant's onesie but they're hardly sufficient for keeping a growing toddler's dinner out of her lap.

So I made some! I've already shared with you the tag blankie and dress from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby. And now...bibs! They are perfect - they're nice and BIG, with a side velcro closure and a pocket to catch all those little bits that tend to fall (or are forcefully ejected) from little mouths.

I bought a bunch of laminated cotton to make these - that way they're waterproof. (And adorable! I had no idea how many awesome prints there would be in laminated cotton.) Had I been thinking about being thrifty, I probably would have just picked up some cheap oilcloth tablecloths to deconstruct. But, as it was, I purchased a slew of half-yards of fabric and after making a half dozen or so bibs, I still have plenty left. Maybe a little raincoat is in E's future?

Now...about sewing with laminated cotton. At first, I was cursing the fabric, my machine and everything else within earshot. It's definitely got some quirks to it and there's something of a learning curve to it! I found some tips here and they helped me better understand the process. I found that with my machine I needed to always sew with the laminated side down or it just wouldn't work. I would definitely practice on a piece of scrap first! The first two bibs I made (and particularly that very first one...yikes) look, well, kind of awful. They function! But they're not very pretty.

One thing about laminated cotton - the manufacturer's tend to say not to put it in the washing machine. I threw caution to the wind and machine-washed all my bibs. Partly because I didn't want to wipe them all down (though really that's pretty easy) and partly just to see what the machine washing would do to them. The results varied widely. Some of the fabrics looked just the same before and after washing. Others, namely several (though not all!) of the Michael Miller prints, didn't fare so well. (This one and this one, specifically.) They are my favorites, except for the washing issue - the fabric is a little stiffer than the others, which would be bad for some applications but is perfect for a bib! The laminate seemed to detach from the cotton, so if you're at all concerned about that, definitely follow the manufacturer's advice and just wipe clean with a damp cloth! They'll certainly last longer.

Little E enjoys her stylin' bibs!