Carseat Covers

I have two sister-in-laws having babies this spring, so I made carseat covers for them. The one on the right is supposed to be for a boy. The one on the left is supposed to be unisex, but it was so hard finding fabric that could go either girl or boy! I ended up thinking the mushrooms were a little girly, and the other was a little too boyish, but oh well. I love how they turned out either way.

 I found the pattern on Etsy. I love that it has a button front so you can peek in, but still keep the little ones covered if you want. Her pattern was great, but I made a few changes. She used Grossgrain ribbon everywhere, but I decided to pipe it. I'm getting more confident with my piping skills. For the red one, I made my own bias tape and covered store-bought piping to make it a little more special. (Thanks to my sister for the idea)

 Buttons! Sometimes it's the embellishments that end up costing the most. 

Hope they liked it. This was a relatively simple pattern, so if you're a beginner, this might be a great start.

Quilted Pot Holders

I recently whipped these babies up for a friend's birthday. These would be great for a beginning quilter to practice.

They are kind of addicting. I think I ended up quilting about 20 or so pot holders for my friends for Christmas this year. I used all scraps. Just piece it however you like. I went with a sort of wonky log cabin, but it could be super simple. One piece of fabric even.

After that just use some Thermolam heat resistant batting stuff, and essentially make a mini quilt sandwich. I added little tabs for them to hang.

And striped binding. Of course. 

Sewing Apron

I made this sewing apron for my Grandma.

She is an awesome quilter and gets together with her quilting gals once a week.

 

I'm always misplacing things - scissors, seam rippers - when doing a project,

so I thought of adding lots of pockets to an apron for all the gadgets you might need while working.

 

And if she doesn't use it for sewing, she's also a great cook, so she could wear it while making a pie or something delicious like that.

 

All of it is made from scraps that I've had for a while, so it's a bit of a mish mash of colors.

 

I used this tutorial.

Quiet Book Pt. I

Phew. Just finished this baby. Making a quiet book like this is a bit like childbirth. A lot of work in the moment, and you're sooo glad when you're done. But so worth it in the end, of course.

I thought it would be great to make something homemade for my daughter for Christmas, and I've had my eye on tons of quiet book ideas for ages. I came up with some of the ideas on my own, but I got most my inspiration from blogs and Etsy. I think the important thing is to just do it how you like it, and tailor it to your kid's needs.

I really wanted to make this so the pages are removable. That way I could divvy them out among a few kids in the future, without fighting over one book. I just bought book rings at Walmart and made button holes in each page. They measure about 9x12" before finishing. Also, if she outgrows a page or ruins it, it's easily replacable. 

Pages 1 & 2:

I originally found the idea for this one here. 

Tying is a little advanced for a 1 1/2 year old, but I thought it was cute. I pretty much winged the shape of the ballet shoe out of felt. I had some leftover black ribbon from my party, so that's what I used for the ties. I added a little decorative stitch on the ribbon for fun.

Button flowers. Inspiration here.

I just used scraps I already had around my sewing room. The blue was actually already pieced like that, so I just cut out my shapes, sewed the blue to the green, and made my stems. The key on this one is to use all the same button sizes so all the flowers are interchangeable. I have an automatic button hole on my machine, so when I figured out the size of the first one, I was able to do all of them after that without adjusting anything. 

Pages 3 & 4:

Originally found the idea a few years ago on Homemade by Jill. Love her. Once again, I just winged it. I could have used ribbon as a border, but I didn't have any so I just zig zagged on some felt I cut into thin strips. The top window pops down and opens too. The finger puppet templates are also on Jill's website.

Mmm. Pie. I originally found this idea on a food-themed quiet book here, which was cute. This is a fun weaving activity. I used my pinking shears to make the zig zag edges on the crust. I love the food fabric underneath.

Pages 5 & 6:

My kid is mildly obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba. So of course, I had to make DJ Lance's boom box. This page was tricky because I had to rig it so it would open up. I ended up just making a whole separate boom box that was a tiny bit smaller, and attaching it to a base page that was the right size. See the base page? It's that orange/red print you can barely see.

Are those not the cutest finger puppets ever??

I kind of guessed on the sizes after doing the barn animals. I embroidered on the details, like Toodee's mouth and Brobee's stripes. Pretty sure this is my favorite page. 

Original idea here. 

I wanted to do other root vegetables, but I made the pockets too small so I had to stick with all carrots. I did the button holes in the brown first, and sewed pockets after using a piece of fabric on the back of the page. I put a tiny piece of floral wire between the front and back sides of the carrots, so they would be stiff enough to poke down the holes.

And that's it for today.... More quiet book to come.

Another Itty Bitty

Remember Mary's Itty Bitty Baby Dress found here?

My friend is about to have a baby girl, so I made her one.

The funnest part of making stuff like this is shopping for fabric.

Crayon Pouch

Here is a quick and easy gift idea. We whipped this up last minute before our little friend's birthday party.

The background is a rectangle of grey felt 12 x 5 inches.

The pockets are made with blue felt, 12 x 2.25 (bottom) and 12 x 1.5 (top) 

Each crayon pocket is sewn 1.25 inches apart.

For fastening, I sewed a button and cut a button hole. (It's felt so you don't even need to hem the button hole. That's why I love this stuff.)

Then when you roll it up...

Ta da! It stays fastened.

The little boy is the sixth child in his family, so his initials sewn onto it will make sure everyone knows whose crayons these are. It's not perfectly done, but I don't think he will mind too much.

teacher gift ideas....

brown paper packages is a favorite and she's posted some super cute teacher gift ideas for those of you who have kids starting school soon....

go here


and of course...eighteen25 has some super cute ideas too...
go here

Oh Snap!

Found this idea on eighteen25, and thought it was too cute not to share! Fun gift for friends or for just your kids even.

Lazy Days Skirt

This is the funnest, easiest skirt you will ever make. I love picking out the fabric and the ribbon to match.

It is so easy because you sew selvage to selvage. All you have to worry about is how long/short you want it!

Find the pattern here.

I found the best length by measuring from the waist to knee, and then add 2 1/2 more inches. For my almost 3 year old, that is 13 inches.

My little girl refused to model it for me, but it is so cute on. Plus I made 3 more for birthday gifts for our little friends.

Easy St. Patty's Gift

Here's very simple and cute idea for a St. Patty's day gift for your kid's teachers, neighbors, friends...or for me (and if you are LDS) the ladies you Visit Teach.

How to:

Get yourself some 'Lucky Charms' cereal

Baggies or cello bags

A shamrock cut-out (I used my Silhouette, but you could print it off your computer with clip-art and cut it out too)

And a printed version of my little cheesey saying, "We're (or I'm) so LUCKY to know someone so "CHARM"-ing!"

Place cereal in baggie, tie with ribbon and add on saying...done!

Easy peasy...as usual! 

Linked up here:http://adventuresofthemichelenafamily.blogspot.com/2011/03/catch-glimpse-19.html