Big kid backpack

Back in August, I made the little guy a toddler backpack for kindergarten.  It wasn’t until after I made it that I realized it was too small for him.  In kindergarten, they need a backpack big enough to hold an 8.5x11 notebook and folder.  My little guy isn’t toddler-sized anymore.  *sniff*

December 2012 Sewing

Final catch up post of 2012 sewing.  When I compiled this list, I realized I must have been busy during the month of December.  I must have been sewing a lot!  That, added to the fact that the kids both got sick twice, no wonder December felt like a crazy month.  I think I figured I was getting up with the kids in the middle of the night, so I might as well sew.   ha!

I was happy that I got some Christmas sewing done this year, though.  And I like that I can use the stockings and the tree skirt again next year.  So, next holiday season, I can make something else to add to the collection of handmade holiday items.  :)

1) Stockings

But wait, there's more!

 

More ruffled aprons, that is.  :)

Hmm...I only have one post for the month of May.  Must rectify that with a post--or maybe two.  You thought you saw a lot of ruffled aprons in my previous post.  And you thought you were done with ruffled aprons.  But wait, there’s more!

Ruffles, ruffles, ruffles!

This is a project I worked on in February and March, but I couldn’t blog about it until now.  A friend of mine is getting married, and her bridal shower theme was 50s housewife.  When her sister, who was planning the shower, told me the theme, I immediately thought: aprons!  And I immediately thought of this Amy Butler fabric line called “Love” (how appropriate, no?), because it had a lot of rose prints (she loves roses).

We picked out a couple of fabrics, and I got to sewing!  I ironed hems while watching my TV shows and sewed while listening to my podcasts and audiobooks.

 
As a slight aside, I used to poo-poo audiobooks.  As a literature major, I still want the book that I can touch, with pages I can turn and dogear.  There was something sacrilegious to me about listening to a book.  But, hey, my kids love it when I read to them.  I decided I'd give it a try, because it would allow me to multi-task.  Another first for me: I’ve never read any Stephen King, but I recently heard about his new book 11/22/63.  Time travel stories always intrigue me.  (In my next life when I’m a college English professor, I plan to give a course on time travel stories, but that’s an aside to the aside.)  So, I got 11/22/63 on audiobook and listened to it while working on these aprons.  I enjoyed it so much, every night when the kids got into bed, I would quickly pull out the sewing stuff so I could get back to the story and find out what happened next.

So, these aprons got finished thanks to Stephen King!  Or maybe it’s the guy who was narrating the audiobook.

Back to the aprons.  I used this pattern from Sew Sweet Patterns, but changed it a little.  I made ties for the neck strap instead of the strap and button, and I created a border for the bib.  I made the full apron for the bride-to-be.

Hopeful sewing...

As in hopeful that the weather will get warmer soon.  If you sew it, summer will come, right? 

We were recently teased with really warm weather, in the 80s, and when I pulled the kids’ summer hats out, I realized they’d gotten a tad too small.  So, I set out to remedy that.  I was determined to make the kids new summer hats.  Sure, I could have run out to Target and gotten them some hats for $10 each.  But it’s the principle.  I wanted to make them.

I wanted to try the bucket hat pattern from the Little Things to Sew book.  I had an idea in my mind of what fabrics I wanted to use, so we (my two little helpers and I) headed out to Joann Fabrics for a little fabric shopping.  I found two linen blend fabrics that fit the bill of what I wanted for one side of the hat.  Since the hat is supposed to be reversible, I browsed the store for something that I thought would work for the other side.  I normally spend a lot of time deciding on fabric.  Once I’ve picked something out, I start to second guess myself, so then I spend a lot of time in the fabric store, wandering the aisles and putting things side by side to see if they would work together.  But having my two little helpers helped to speed the process along, because they don’t always tolerate extensive browsing.  I did second guess the fabric choices, but by then, the fabric had already been cut and paid for and we were out of the store.  And because my two little helpers were so helpful and patient, they each got a $1 toy from the bins near the checkout line.  Of course, the $1 items were immediately wrecked and torn apart before we got home, but oh well.  That’s why they are only $1, I guess.

Even though the fabric purchase was slightly rushed, I really like the way the fabrics turned out on the hats.

This is the two sides of the boy hat.  I did a neutral linen-type fabric for one side, and for the other I tried to find something boyish but a little more interesting.  I wasn't sure how the stripes would sew up, but it turned out really nicely, I think.  I like the brown side a lot, and the little guy likes the blue side.

And the two sides of the girl hat.  I picked out the embroidered fabric totally on a whim, and I really like the way it looks as a hat.

Race for the Cure

Last weekend, a couple of friends and I did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K to support the fight against breast cancer.  Being the crafty ladies that we are, my friend Jenn (from Fat Cat Crafts) made beanies for us to wear, and I made ruffle scarves.

Care package

My boss is going on an important trip, so for her birthday, everyone at work contributed to a care package that she could take with her.  Some stuff people put into the care package was an itunes gift card (for watching movies on the plane), magazines, travel shampoos, snacks.  I made this tote bag to put all the items in:

And many more!

I’ve had birthday party on the brain.  My son just turned four (*sniff*), and we decided this year we’d do a birthday party, especially because now he's old enough to understand birthdays and feel special about being the center of attention.  For weeks, he kept asking when his birthday was, and we kept telling him a few more weeks.  He would say, “I can’t wait for my 4 year old birthday!”  Oh, such excitement, such build up. 

Little projects

Good things happening lately:
1) We’re enjoying some lovely summer weather around here lately.  (See how baby girl is enjoying wearing her summer hat?)
2) After 13 months, baby girl is sleeping through the night.  After about a week of sleeping through the night myself, I feel like a fog has lifted: less cranky, brain is working a tad faster (you know it’s bad when you forget what the word for “door” is and have to explain to your husband, “you know, that thing you open, with the thing...” oy) and, of course, not dog tired all day long.  Drinking less caffeine.
3) I’m back to working part-time.  I’m looking forward to enjoying the summer with the kids.

I’ve been doing some little projects lately:

Bias!

Before I started sewing, the only definition I knew of “bias” was a tendency or prejudice toward something.  But I just looked up the word on webster.com and did you know that’s not the first definition of bias?  The first definition is:

1 : a line diagonal to the grain of a fabric; especially : a line at a 45 degree angle to the selvage often utilized in the cutting of garments for smoother fit

 
Sewers apparently already knew that. 

This weekend’s sewing involved a lot of bias.  Bias tape, to be more specific.  That’s where you cut a bazillion strips of fabric on the bias (at a 45 degree angle) to make into binding for clothing and various other sewn products.