Waterproof Owl Mittens

C. has been lacking in mittens this winter, so when her one pair got wet I wanted to make her a spare fast!

I skimmed some how-tos online and decided the quickest thing to do was a simple turned hand outline.  I used microfleece for the lining, bamboo fleece for the insulating layer, and PUL for the outer.  (Thanks, cloth-diaper-making materials!)

I added a bit of elastic at the wrist, and ended up topstitching closed the bottom turning hole.

These mittens are a bit snug to put on, but they work!  Next time I want to try adding a cuff containing full elastic for her wrist.  I've promised E. a pair of her own gloves, too (of course), and even A. wants a pair for himself, so I'm going to make him some gloves for Xmas -- and try those cuffs!

The first ever AWESOMETOP!

I traced off the pattern for this shirt (in 2014! Right when I started sewing, I had big dreams!) from a shirt I got at a consignment shop.  I finally made my own! (This is for C. for Xmas, so don't show her!)

I love it.  I call it the Awesometop, because of how it uses different fun prints in wovens AND is loose-fitting (so easy to take on and off AND comfortable), AND it has fit and continues to fit my kid, even though the tag on the original shirt says size 9-12 months!  Ha!

I need to go back and make the pattern less wonky for next time.  But like with every project, I learned so much!  I also used snaps instead of buttons.  Next time I'll refine the look of the snap attachment . . . I was in somewhat of a hurry on this one!

Fun Shirts for Christmas!

I wanted to keep playing catch-up on the blog and show you these shirts I made for the girls!  Don't tell them, ha ha!! (and please excuse these quick, not-so-great photos)

The one on the left is for C. and says, "Crazy Hair, Don't Care!" So perfect for her.

Yes, that one in the middle has My Little Pony's Princess Celestia on the front AND Princess Luna on the back!  Woot!!

The one on the right has the Disney princesses done in a cool manga style.

I worked with panels again on the MLP shirt, and since I knew what I was doing, it came together more easily.

I'll have more pictures to add once they try them on! :)

Purple Cords (from Mommy)!

Well, I just did this project last night and TODAY, so thought I'd keep on top of things and post it NOW!

My old pants had become ill-fitting, so I decided to "downcycle" them into a pair of pants for E! I've had that iron-on letter for forever -- I think I bought it when she was 2!  This just seemed like the right time to use it.

She tried them on for size, but she hasn't worn them for real yet.  I'll update with a pic when she does!  I think it's funny how they still have that curvy women's cut, but on her it'll balloon out into something baggy and probably adorable.

I also figured something out!!  I used the Parsley Pants pattern for these, and realized that all those times I was complaining about this particular pattern being small, I had printed it out at the wrong scale!!  It was off by 1/16 of an inch, but that adds up to be a huge mistake!  So I'm sorry for being skeptical of your pattern, Made By Rae!  Usually I'm super good at not making stupid mistakes like that, but guess what?  Everyone makes mistakes!

I made these with a size 8 pattern (yeah, she's still big for 5) and it's pretty spot on.  YAY!

Mismatched socks and bird pants!

December 2nd.

I got the Cozy Critters sock pattern from Peekaboo and made E. a pair of socks!  She knew she wanted navy blue, but couldn't decide which fabric to pick -- so she went with both of her choices.  I swapped the top band as a nod to how yes, they are a set!

Then I repaired her pants with a hole in the knee with a quick applique.

2016-November: Quick Onesie Alteration and Appliqued Jumper

These are two quick and silly projects I did the other night -- I just want to show you all that I am caught up on this blog!!!  I will celebrate with some lunch in a moment. :)

ALTERATION!

I don't have a before picture, but this was a onesie.  I chopped off the bottom and now it's a shirt!

Using my newfound skill of the 3-step zigzag stitch! It's not pretty or anything, but at least now there are no snappy-flappy tails hanging out. I've always liked these stripes!

APPLIQUE!

This super cute jumper got a mysterious bleach stain! Sadness! So I covered it up!

Making my applique super quick, no ironing or anything, just a hemmed edge.

Woot, applique! I haven't yet ventured into fusible interfacing and all that stuff, but it's probably in my future!

What bleach stain? All I see is cuteness!

Now hopefully I can post updates AS I MAKE THINGS! And try to make sure my photos are better. That would certainly be nice!  Now I'm off to eat some lunch!

2016-November: Refurbishing Mother-ease Wizard cloth diapers!

I recently discovered Mother-ease Wizard diapers for C. and I really like them.  So I got 14 (yes, fourteen!) of them (Unos and Duos) from Cloth Diaper Trader for really cheap.  They all need some cosmetic help, so I got a rainbow of fold-over elastic (FOE) to fix them up! The goal is to transition over to using them and slowly keep selling off other diapers from my stash.

I just finished the first of them! Read on to see the finished result!

Here are the diapers and the FOE.  Oh, I had fun mixing and matching!

My FOE outside on a nice day (E was playing with it!)

OK, first I took off the wing snaps. I needed room for the FOE!

I took the refurbishing opportunity to actually add a snap setting.  (You can't even tell, right?  the snaps matched really well!  And the diaper just has blank space there by the edge, so it was perfect.)

C. is big and this extra setting will help the dipes last longer.

Here I am, sewing the FOE on and about to finish it off not-so-well.  I'm going to do it differently on the rest!

Done!  Contrast snaps!!

I sewed the FOE right over the existing elastic, but I think I need to take it off on the others, because overall the diaper just became too snug, even on my "new" last snap setting.  And I know from my wildflower cover that a FOE-edged cover works great with the Wizard system.

While I was at it, I added a snap setting to another Mother-ease Wizard Duo I had (from the trial package that made me a fan of this diaper!).  For some reason, the Duos have pesky hip snaps (the Unos don't), so I took those off, too. Neither of my girls has ever needed hip snaps!

2016-October: Penny Lamb Dress and Raining Rainbow Unicorn Shirt

 My best friend visited me and I made her two things for her daughter -- she and her daughter picked out the fabrics.

fronts

This is an Everyday Playdress and Charlie Tee (I think?)

backs

I am so in love with how this dress turned out!  Good fabric picks, Best Friend E!  That bodice print is the out-of-print Penny's Seasons fabric.  Only for you, my best friend!!  The rest of what I have will go toward a cardigan thing for (my) E.

It's sized a little big for her little girl right now, but I'm sure she'll be rocking it soon.  Making this dress made me realize how much I love that lamb fabric, too, so I scooped up some more.

important thought:

Also, I'm super proud of this dress because to me (in my loving it so much) it really shows how far I've come in learning to sew!  I could really open up a shop and make things that people would love to dress their children in, and the kids would love wearing them, too!  You know what I mean?  Like I can do it. I'm obsessed with sewing and the time is getting closer and closer for me to share with the world!!

Here is li'l daughter in the raining rainbow unicorn shirt!

front

back

Yes, I do like pairing those particular unicorns and rainbows fabrics!

One other important thing from E's visit: She couldn't find any fabrics in my stash for her 1st grader son.  I took this to heart and have been slowly collecting boyish fabrics for the future shop.  I have two girls so I never have to think about what boys would want! If you have a boy and would like to join a panel (of 2 currently) that I can run boyish fabric choices by, email me!

2016-October: Floral Color Craze Couch PIllows!

Hey, it's Halloween!  I know, let's make some colorful pillowcases for giant pillows for our new couch!

Circle-y sides showing

Leafy green sides showing

Our couch arms aren't the most comfy, so I got the pillow forms at IKEA to make my own casual puffy "arms".  I just sort of read up on pillowcases without following a real tutorial.

And the most important part of this project was: I wanted to use some of my special special fabrics I had been "saving" (basically hoarding, not wanting to cut into them), in a project where I could show them off in a big way and look at them every day.  As A. said, "It's always better to use something you love instead of store it."  Very wise.

Ooh!  Dorothy's very favorites! There are tiny children climbing all over those trees. And that Alison Glass print is so cool I can't even begin to explain.

Ooh!  How garden-y!

I color-coordinated the snaps that you can't even really see!

I love these pillows.

I have a small wish to recover all the "official" couch pillows -- that basically make up the couch -- in fun colors.  That would be WILD!

Sadly I don't have any couch action shots because our living room is always such a mess.  If I ever think of it, I'll update this post!

2016-October: Undies gift pack!

I made some undies for a friend's daughter!  Scrundlewear, too!

2016-October: Modified Cover for Mother-ease Duo insert

So remember that wildflowers diaper cover I made way back when?  I never liked it much as-is, but by adding six snaps (those white ones you can barely see), I made it super functional!

It's now a homemade Mother-ease Wizard Duo cover and it works GREAT! I had an extra Mother-ease insert (from buying a trial pack), and it snaps right in.  I do feel the need to inform you, internet, that those Mother-ease stay-dry inserts are quite absorbent and effective! And sadly no, no one is paying me to say that. ;)