New knitting bags

I can't remember where I saw a bag like this, but I fell in love with the idea immediately. A knitting bag with buttons! Brilliant! I used fusible interfacing on the lining to make it stand a little better. I must do something wrong when using the interfacing because it doesn't seem to want to stick very well. I gave up and stitched a diagonal line every two inches for the lining so it will stay together (so there, interfacing!).
I love having the ball contained in the bag and just pulling the yarn out little by little...It is just big enough for a small project, an instruction sheet and my little pouch of supplies. Great for travel or just keeping little fingers out. I loved mine so much I made one for my Grandma Kitch as well.
I thought about putting a tutorial together... anybody interested?

Summer stripes

I am so in love with these tops from Anthropologie. I bought one like it last fall and have seen them all over again this spring. When I realized they used elastic thread to create the gathered look, I was off to my machine to recreate one. I had an extra-small shirt in my closet just waiting for a refashion. I wish I had made it toddler-size before I had done the stitching around the neck. That made it kinda hard to set the sleeves, so they ended up with a lot of gathering. I left the original neck intact and just took the sides in, set the sleeves and hemmed with the serger leaving the edge exposed. The stitching around the neck is done with elastic thread in the bobbin and regular in the top, in a tiny 'stippling' pattern. I will be using this technique again for sure!

new hat

I have been working on this hat for a while and finally got it done! Just in time for it to snow tonight, the forecast is 4-6 inches.

I think my mom gave me the pattern, and I wish I would remember that hats knit on size four needles take forever! I love how it turned out though. Worth it in the end.

crazy?

Sometimes I think I need a sanity check. Seriously. I have been drooling over this pattern from Heidi and Finn for months, and when it finally warmed up I bought it. I had this fabric in my stash waiting for a perfect project to come along, and I love it for this! It is reversible, and has a brown and green daisy print on the inside that's really nice.

Here is where the sanity check comes in. Both of my kids seem to want to drag the naked dolls around town with us. In an effort not to waste the leftover fabric and clothe a doll, I decided to make a matching outfit for a naked groovy girls doll. I just eyeballed the pattern and measured the doll and went for it. It turned out cute, but was a total pain in the butt and took just as long and making the toddler top. I do love the look of casual rolled-up jeans, but this look is more out of necessity than fashion. She has grown into her sister's 3T jeans and I just haven't gotten around to hemming them yet.

So, pattern review: another one I love. Simple pattern pieces and great instructions with pictures, it's quick and fun for any level of sewing skills. And reversible? Hello! Perfect for a long day out when you know the chances of your kid spilling something is high. Just turn it around and you are ready to go. I left off the pocket because in this print it just looked really, really busy. I made the back a little more modest on this one but like it the way the original pattern has it as well. This pattern will be another staple for our summer wardrobe for sure!

silly sewing

I have a niece who is just adorable and petite. She is an early potty-trainer and is just too small for any panties from the store. So I bought this great pattern and made some cute little undies for her! I do have to admit I felt a little silly sewing them, but I am glad they fit my cute little niece.The fit is a really modest almost boy-cut, and I love it! After I made a couple of pairs, Bug came up and said VERY proudly "Mom, my butt is just getting bigger every day, I need some new panties!" So she is next on my list for panties.
***Update: I got the fabric at Fabric Fairy and I have been super impressed by their customer service and quality!

picture perfect

Sometimes it takes me looking at a picture to realize things like my kid hasn't brushed her hair for the day, or the huggies box we keep diapers in is really, really ugly (see last post). Mom had this funky diaper pin fabric that I thought would be kind of fun for diapers... and this is what I got! I bought several nice baskets to keep the diapers in, but one by one the girl's friends ruined every.single.one. of them. So, I gave up and went to a sturdier cardboard - wish it hadn't taken me this long to cover it, I love it!

20 months

I can't believe my baby is 20 months old.

Today she came up to me and said

"Mom, are you ready? Let's go to 'Carty's house, ok?"

yup. the whole thing.

I love how much she talks.

Gymboree-inspired tank

I was daydreaming about spring toddler wardrobes and warm weather, and fell in love with this top at Gymboree. Cute, no? So, inspired by this top, I came up with this: Here's how I did it.

I used about 1/2 yard of main print and a 2 1/2" x 42" solid for ruffle, as well as 19" of 1/4" elastic and a few inches of bias tape.

I used a shirt that fit my toddler as a guide for the pattern. I cut it so it was a-line, not like my shirt, but whatever. My measurements are for a 3T.Unfold it and cut one arm off at a slope, like so:Cut a second piece and sew them right sides together along the side seams.On the left side of the shirt (it will have the strap) use your bias tape to finish the armhole.Serge the edge of the 2 1/2" strip, then fold it over and sew at 1/4" .I used my ruffling foot, but use whatever method you like. With right side of solid to wrong side of main fabric inside the neck hole, sew together, ruffling the solid fabric. Serge seam together when you get back to starting point.It will now look something like this:Pin ruffle down (as a side note, this is where I realized I picked the wrong pink. Bummer. Live and learn...).To make a casing for the elastic, I found my smallest safety pin and it would fir through a 1/4" seam, so that is the size of my seam. Topstitch all the way around, leaving a 1" opening for threading elastic through. Measure the top of the garment, mine is about 26" around, and I opted to make my elastic at 75% of this measurement, so 19". Thread through opening. Sew elastic together - my machine likes to have fabric to hold on to, so I sew them together on top of a scrap then trim the excess. Topstitch opening. Serge bottom edge and fold towards inside to hem at 1/4". Done!For the baby, I opted to add another strap - I simply serged both sides of a 2" piece of fabric, topstitch the serging to the inside. With the tank on the toddler, I figured out where the strap should go and topstitched along the elastic casing line. Happy toddler and happy mom!

repeat

Are you sick of the repeat patterns already? I am not... I know I already made this pattern just a couple weeks ago, but I remembered I had this cute bird and tree fabric and whipped it up into a tank for Moo. Bug got to my camera during the weekend and I have no idea what setting she messed with, but it does not want to focus now. Time for a new camera? I think so.
Isn't this pose cute? She was so thrilled to be the only one in the pictures!I loooooooove this picture. Can't you just feel her excitement over her Daddy saying something to her?

Cowgirl fun

Another quilt... we are trying to get ready for the local "Shop Hop" and I have been busy making new samples to hang up. It starts at the end of the month and runs for 2 1/2 weeks. I really like this fabric line. The back is a great brown with white cowgirls and ropes as well as horseshoes. The pattern was another one by Oh, Fransson! but found on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. Super easy, I had it done start to finish in a day.
{please ignore the drab background... we don't have spring, we have "mud season" here in Teton Valley}
I chose to do straight lines for the quilting on it, and I am not so sure I am in love. Bummer, because it was a lot of work. Hers looked much better... Maybe a walking foot would help it from pulling the top fabric? You can see the top two rows 'pull' to the right and the bottom three to the left... maybe it won't be so noticeable after washing?
I also thought I might be brave enough to teach a class on this quilt at my mom's shop. The thought kind of scares me, though. Do I really know enough to teach a class? I'm not sure, so I will continue to toss the idea around for a while still.

giving back

This last weekend, we went to Utah for my cousin's funeral. She had been sick for a couple years with various diseases, but it was still a shock. She was 29 and had three beautiful kids.
She loved to craft. Unfortunately, she was generally too sick to do much. Two years ago, she got a Bernina (Activa 220) and barely used it. I bought it from her husband to help pay for funeral costs. Wow, those things are pricey. I also snuck out a two yard piece of batik fabric from her stash, something she loved. So, in an effort to give back a little, I made it into this baby quilt for her 4 month old, Audrey. It's not traditional little girl fabric, but her mom would have loved it. Although I am not a batik lover, there are some really neat prints in here.
I used the New Wave Pattern from Oh, Fransson and it was really quick. I did change the size up a little, I did it at 75% of her numbers so it would fit on a smaller batting. I also added two more rows so the stripes go horizontally. It measures 37x40 with those changes.

{snowy day}

It snowed again today... it was quite blizzardy for a while, and I am so ready for spring. Unfortunately, it comes late and usually is titled 'mud season' in Teton Valley. We did enjoy a little bit of warmth on our trip to Utah, the girls were so funny! I am so thankful for every day with them.

So, when it started snowing today {and my sister sent me pictures from her beach trip yesterday} I made a "California Dreaming" dress for Moo. Same pattern, different day. I think I have made close to twenty of these now. She was digging the photo shoot until she dropped her toothbrush...
and then decided to go on strike. Still cute to me. Mullet and all.