Hand Warmers

I have a lovely friend on a mission for the LDS church in Winnipeg, Canada. Now if you know anything about Winnipeg you know that it's real cold.  I wanted to send her a package and one of the things I added was some adorable hand warmers.

I looked up on Pinterest and found these super cute Owl ones from Repeat Crafter.  She even gives you a template to print and use so if you want to make some you should go over there.

I wanted to include some for Becca's roommate too so I also made these little hearts.  They're filled with rice so before you leave the house you  pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and then tuck them in your gloves for some toasty hands.

Gwen's Birthday Shirt

Allrighty, I've been super absent around here... get ready for a slew of posts...

Gwen turned 5 and her Mom wanted a birthday shirt like Catie's.
I think it turned out really cute.  I used fabric for the 5 and purple flocked, iron-on vinyl for the words.

Gwen loved it and the birthday was a success.

Birthday Shirt

Catie's birthday was coming up and a birthday shirt seemed to be in order.  She was super excited to be turning 4 and she loves this shirt.  She wore it three day sin a row and told everyone she saw that she was four.

The 4 is a reverse applique and it turned out super cute.

But really the important part is that the shirt wearer is thrilled.

A Saddle for Freckles

For Gwen's birthday we picked up this adorable white, stuffed horse for her (she's addicted to horses) and it turned out to be a huge hit.  She loves this horse that was lovingly named Sparkles.  We thought it was so cute we picked up a brown version for Catie and named it Freckles.  The horses came with these removable saddles and bridles and I figured Freckles and Sparkles would like a change of clothes.

Here's what the ponies came with

This is Freckles new and improved saddle.

And here's Sparkles

Definitely an improvement that was completely unnecessary but fun for me.

Chocolate Pants, Vinyl Detail

Catie's Pants out of Pants turned out so well that I decided I wanted to make another pair.

Once upon a time I decided to make a maxi skirt for myself.  I headed to to fabric store with my Mom and grabbed some brown jersey, my Mom asked if I was sure I wanted to use that fabric, I assured her it was perfect.  Surprise surprise, she was right and it wasn't awesome fabric, plus the skirt was a total fail.  Meaning I have had brown jersey hanging around so I cut up my awesome skirt to make these pants.

These pants are so close to perfect I'm incredible pleased with myself (pardon my self flattery).  Everything went so well and they fit great and she loves them, win, win win.

Catie had some old brown pants that no longer fit and they had this little pink hard on the hip and she loved that silly heart so I figured she'd like some white, heat flocked added.  I picked the scripty heart and I think it was a good choice.

The heart had a little heart cutout so I added that to the back, I'm pretty sure that's her favourite part.

So the pants fit well, they're super comfy and I'm resisting the urge to make her three more pairs of brown stretchy pants... a girl only needs so many brown pants.

Pants out of Pants

It's kind of a miracle, things in our life are getting so much better that I actually sewed.

I had these brown lounge-y pants that I loved but they'd gotten to be pretty holey.  They were the perfect comfy pants for around the house.  Brad gave me some new pants for Christmas so it really was time to retire them.  I couldn't bear the thought of just throwing them away though because I loved them so much, so I cut them up and made some pants for Catie.

I used the original hem for the bottom and I used the original waistband only I cut off a couple inches.  They turned out even better than I had hoped.  I used some of her pants to draft a pattern, adding a couple inches to the bottom.

She was so pleased that I was making her pants and told Daddy as soon as he got home from work.

Eden's Stocking

I crafted!  It's amazing!

Last year I made our family new stockings, you can read about them here, and see the awful old ones.  It was kind of a shame, I knew I was pregnant when I made them but no one else did (not even Brad) so I couldn't make an extra one without giving anything away, which meant this year I needed to make a stocking for Eden.  I had been smart though and I at least cut the stocking shape out last year so I had somewhere to start from.

I decided to make her a reindeer and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out.

 I think Catie's and Eden's stocking's look particularly cute together.


And the families.. still kicking myself for writing Brad and Laura instead of Mom and Dad but it will survive another year, perhaps I'll change it next year.

(My nativity looks amazing on the mantel hey?)

Bassinet Re-Cover

It's been a long time since I've done a good re-covering project.  While I enjoyed this particular one I would have enjoyed it a little more had I not been so pregnant, that belly sure gets in the way.  A friend of mine (whose even more pregnant than I am) has this baby coming and there was no where for it to sleep so it was time to get cracking.

Turned out this bassinet is exactly like the previous one I worked on which made this extra easy.  The bed was for a baby boy which meant there was no need for pleats or ruffles so again, extra easy.

Here's the final product.

And let me show you how this lovely bed started.

Nice hey?  I particularly like how floppy the canopy is and how much excess fabric there is there, and what's with the random gingham on the canopy?

Noah's Ark ruffle?  Really?  Clearly that had to go.

I went with a really simple design here using some piping to add a little interest yet still keep it masculine.  She didn't bring me the stand or the cushion cover so you'll have to imagine it but the cushion has been re-covered in cream minky.

And one more before and after

I love how this turned out and I can't wait to see the cute boy sleeping inside it.

  Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, It's Sew for You,  Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Lemon Tree Creations,  Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello, The CrEaTiVe CraTe

Altered Curtains

Let's talk about curtains.

I've had these two panels of curtains for years, they're full length, brown and gauzy and I like them a lot.  I found them for super cheap and I've used them in our bedroom for years until I finally replaced them with something even nicer which meant these curtains got moved to Catie's room.  Despite being gauzy they actually keep out a surprising amount of light when paired with our cheap blinds and they worked just great until it came time to move around the bed to make room for Eden's crib.

Let's take a brief pause while I tell you another story.  

I grew up in a really small town which meant we drove to the slightly larger town a lot and even when it wasn't even remotely in our path my Mom couldn't help but drive by this one house over and over.  This house had a large living room window with some nice sheer curtains but they then pushed their couch directly against the curtains, squashing them against the window making this horrible bulge.  This drove Mom crazy and we drove by every time hoping that this time they will have fixed the curtains.  This went on for years until finally, one day they got blinds and Mom had some peace.

Back to Catie's curtains... remember how I told you they were full length?  Making room for the crib meant Catie's bed needed to be pushed against the window so the curtains that were once fine now looked like this.

While you couldn't see a horrible bulge from the outside you could imagine how I felt every time I saw these curtains squashed behind the bed and my Mother's voice rang in my ears.  And if they had actually stayed this way I would probably have left them but the bed in this position gave Catie amazing freedom to sit and look out her window so she'd pull back the panel until it all pooled on her bed.  She often sat on the curtain and every morning when I go get her she'd have to pull herself out from the other side of the fabric.  Also, one last story... it's been super hot here so we put Catie to bed in just a t-shirt and diaper but the quality of diapers we buy is clearly lacking because in the morning her diaper was laying on the floor and she'd peed the bed, and the curtains, since they sit on the bed.  Changing sheets is one thing but seriously, I have to wash the curtains too?

Looking out the window also required her to pull aside the slats in the blinds, let me show you what that's done (and this is after I spent some time bending the slats back in place, they look pretty good in this photo).

Leaving the blinds up wasn't really an option because it was too light in the room without them.  So I couldn't just take down the curtain because she's ruining the blinds and I couldn't just shorten the curtains because without the blinds it's too light in there.  Clearly something needed to be done.

I chopped off a bunch of length, re-hemmed the curtains and added some blackout fabric to the back of the panels. Now I've pulled the blinds all the way up, tucked the string out of the way and replaced her now much heavier curtains (which make her room incredibly dark).  Problem solved.

Re-Covered Pillows

A friend of mine had some old pillows from an old couch and she had some great outdoor fabric and asked if I could combine the two to make something beautiful.

I think I was successful. 

The pillows started out like this.  You can see that there are four from a couch and two others that she had hanging around.  

I started with the couch pillows, sliced open the fabric and groaned, already dreading where I was going to go from her since inside I didn't find a pillow form but a messy semi square of old batting.

I knew I'd need to first cover the batting so I got some broadcloth.  I made a large rectangle (the size of the pillow only twice as long), folded it in half and sewed up the two sides.  I flipped the now square fabric inside out, inserted the batting and sewed the third side shut.  To prevent fraying I used my pinking shears on the one exposed seam and called them good.  

These covers were crazy quick and made a huge difference when inserting into the final pillow cover.


Next up was the piping.  Let me tell you something, I HATE making piping.  I really wanted to just buy some but I couldn't find any pre-made that matched and I did need 12 meters.  I found some green fabric that matched perfectly and was really cheap, I used 1/2 a meter and had a little left.  While I love the way the piping turned out it was easily the worst part of this project, took longer than I wanted and I was annoyed the entire time.


Once I made the piping I made covers using the new fabric, I hand stitched the opening closed and ended up with some really great looking pillows.  I took a lot of care joining my piping and I was really pleased with how it turned out, I think it's the best I've done.  Look at that beautiful join.

One last after photo, a huge improvement and they'll look great on her patio furniture.

Dress Alterations

So I have this maternity dress that I like a lot but it was always just a little bit short so yesterday I showed you the slip I made to extend the dress a little.  I've also always hated the sleeves, they are really fluttery and showed a lot of armpit so I always felt like I needed to wear a t-shirt underneath which made it bulky and uncomfortable.

Here's a finished photo with the slip and then we'll talk about the sleeves.

Notice how tight those shoes are?  They also really didn't match at all, I ended up wearing different ones when I went out.

Now for the sleeves.  I took in about two inches under the armpit and then added some tucks to the sleeves.  They're not the most beautiful and I'm sure there was a much better way to fix them but it worked.

The before (which it turns out is incredibly difficult to take the photo myself, this is the best I could do).

And the altered sleeve.

And a really flattering armpit shot, sorry I didn't take a before.  Now I can wear the dress with a light tank and it's far more comfortable.

Slips

I have a dress that I like a lot but when I walk it bunches up between my legs and is irritating and not very flattering so I decided it was time to get a slip.  I also have two other dresses that I like but they're just a little shorter than I wanted so I've been contemplating an extender slip.  A half slip is just what I needed but last time I went to buy one I ended up discouraged, they were are ridiculously short (mid thigh) and really tight.  It should have come to me sooner, I know how to sew and a slip is not a difficult project.  I picked up supplies at Fabricland and even measured how much material I thought I needed, someone how I came home with enough to make a full dress which ended up being a good thing.

I'd bought this really skinny lace that I liked but skinny lace is no way to extend a dress.  Plus it's really tough to measure lengths on yourself so somehow my slip ended up being long enough for the first dress but not long enough to lengthen the others.  This is where it comes in handy that I bought too much fabric, all I needed to make a second was some different lace and a little more elastic.

Here's the first slip, simple, basic will never been seen but will do the job beautifully (nice background hey?  It was too windy to take photos outside).

And the second, slip extender.  This one is a little less full and longer.  The lace hangs down about an inch and half once I'm wearing the dress.

I did some alterations on the dress I want to wear it with that I'll show you tomorrow so for now here's a waist down shot of the slip in action.

Boy those shoes are tight... thanks pregnancy swelling.  I ended up wearing something else with them since they turned out to not match either.