Christmas skirts

Nick's mom had a yard of this awesome velvet left over from a project and let me have it to make the girls Christmas skirts. I was super nervous, as she paid over $60 for the yard, but how could I not use such great fabric? I made my own simple pattern by tracing a skirt that Moo has and I think it turned out great. There is an elastic casing in the back and the flat front panel in the front. I love how it twirls!

Merry Christmas, Olivia!

Bug was digging through a pile of my fabrics this last week, found a piece she loved, and declared "We can make this a baby quilt for Olivia for Christmas!" And so we did! I let her pick the fabrics, and although they are not my first choices, I am one proud mama. She also 'helped' with the entire process of sewing on my lap. I hope her baby doll loves it!

... and she was done with the photo shoot...

treat bag

I have wanted to make one of these for a while, inspired by Dana's tutorial and I finally got around to it. I seem to have sewn the fabric too close to the zipper, and it is a little tough to get open and closed, but other than that {minor detail} I really do like it. I did line it with vinyl, perfect for candy at church!

goldfish!

I finally decided to dive in and use some of the Heather Ross fabric I have! With a borrowed sewing machine from my mom I got started this evening, and I have to say {even though I don't like orange... at all} I am in love with it!

in order

My sweet husband really likes his holidays "in order" so I waited to post this quilt, although I made it two weeks ago. I am still in love with the "New Wave" pattern from Oh,Fransson and plan to use it again. I couldn't decide on just 12 prints, so I did 14 and I love the extra length it gives it. Again I used the walking foot and did straight line quilting, it looks so nice!

charmed

Since my sewing machine is out for a while, I am now getting around to taking pictures of what I have been busy sewing this month. I am surprised at how much I made!

I made this quilt a couple weeks back, it is made from Moda Bliss two charm packs and came together really fast. I had it done in less than two days. Moo helped with the layout or it might have gone even faster :) I used a walking foot for the first time on this quilt, and boy does that make a difference!

 I think I will be making more of these quilts just because they can be made so fast with not much time into fabric choices.

bummer.

My sewing machine took an accidental tumble off my table on Saturday. It's pretty bad, and to make it worse, we are snowed in at home and can't even take it to the repair shop in Idaho Falls. Once the roads open, and I can make it out there - hopefully the end of the week - it will take 7-10 days to get parts, another 7 to fix and then I have to make another trip out to pick it up. So... guess I'll be knitting Christmas gifts!

{sewing day}

Today has been incredibly productive! I needed a day like this! I made a huge batch of  ribbon blankets and have gotten started on a Christmas quilt, hopefully done before the craft fair this weekend.

Linden Park Craft Fair

I have been super busy this past week sewing up inventory for the Linden Park Craft Fair yesterday in Idaho Falls. It doesn't look like much inventory, but I feel like I have done nothing but sew for days! 

My favorite creation of the week was the quilt, made from 2 charm packs & quilted with my mom's walking foot. Man, I need one of those!

Audrey and I are doing another craft fair this upcoming weekend in Driggs, and I obviously need to work on the display before then! Lots more sewing to do...

James Pirates

I had great ambitions of getting our costumes done early this year... I got some done last month, but left the shirts for last minute yesterday morning. Of course, I forgot to take good pictures of the girls while it was light with the whole outfits... maybe if I'm ambitious today I'll give it a go.

The girls: Bug & Moo had leggings, pirate skirts, pirate vests and shirts with a pirate ship iron-on transfer. Bitty baby was a bumblebee. I sported the pirate ship shirt, skull bandana, pirate medallion, jeans & black boots with gold studs.

The girls out "trunk or treating"
Bug

Moo

Nick with the girls... he was a good sport and wore a shirt to match us. It was a super fun night, I am glad this holiday is over though!

Strangers have the best candy

As I was working on Halloween costumes, I dug through my knits and found this shirt my friend gave me this summer to make her little girl a dress. Sorry it took me forever, Audrey! I thought it was fit for Halloween so I made it one morning while Bug was at school.

Muffin Tin Monday

This week's theme: Halloween! Top row: Pumpkin muffin {recipe here}, 'witch' grapes, peach pumpkin jello jigglers,

Bottom row: mini pepperoni, yogurt covered raisin 'ghosts', applesauce with sprinkles

You can find the link up here, lots of inspiration!

Fall knitting

The weather has turned cooler, and I have been knitting. Oh, I love knitting. I used this pattern (version D) and a nice 100% wool Daletta yarn. I braved the yarn store with both girls and let them pick their own colors.

Bug picked a nice light pink, and Moo quickly grabbed the color at eye level and then ran off to pull yarn out of baskets. I chose grey, my go-to neutral. Shown here with already a few baby pounds. I'm 14 weeks along and due in April! After I got done with the hats, Bug told me "I can't wait to get that hat for Christmas!" so... I guess I have one handmade gift already done.

Muffin Tin Monday

Confession: I am not very creative when it comes to food. I seem to get stuck on the same dinner meals, and I am horrible about lunch. I would prefer to skip the meal all together, but the girls don't agree, and I find myself scrambling for something every day. So, to help me get motivated, I have decided to join the Muffin Tin Monday group, and here's our first go: There was no theme today, so Bug helped pick what went in each spot. Her choices were: Doritos, string cheese, marshmallows, turkey sandwiches and raisins. Hopefully this will get me thinking outside the box and maybe my kids will try some new foods! I am also inspired by {another lunch} and {bentolunch.net}, just wished I lived close to somewhere they had great Japanese bento boxes available!

Twirly skirt

... because a girl needs options! Shirt tutorial {here}

Skirt tutorial {here}

Gone Fishin!

Nick went fishing with his brother a last weekend and Bug has been begging to go fishin' with her Daddy ever since. I opted for an indoor version, and with a little inspiration from {Sew Like My Mom} I came up with this. Bug insisted the yellow was the pond, and carefully laid the fish out. A strong magnet on the end of a wooden spoon and we were set!

Her comment after she caught her first fish: "Isn't it a beauty?"I wanted the fish to be a little thicker than just two layers of fabric so I put a layer of purple felt in between the purple polka dot fabric. I used a pretty generic fish shape, they measure 5" from tail fins to nose. I also did one seam to sew the magnets into the 'noses' of the fish. One more rainy day game for the upcoming long Idaho winter!

{clothes for bitty baby}

Shortly after we had our birthday festivities for her baby doll, Bug decided her Bitty Baby was much better. I agree. She has been hauling her baby to Joy School, Church, and everywhere else we go. The ladies at our local thrift store even know "Baby Girl" by name. After several months in the same jammies, it was time for new clothes. I found this great tutorial for a shirt and Bug picked {surprise!} polka dot fabric. Oh, that girl is funny! I made my own legging pattern and was super surprised when it worked the first attempt while taking into consideration I had A LOT of help making the pattern. I also found a pair of 3-6m Old Navy jammies at the thrift store and altered them so she had more clothing options. I love being able to make doll clothes for $.50 and less than a half hours' time.I also have a Halloween costume for her in the works...

Joy School

This fall, Bug is in a great little group of 5 kids for Joy School. It has been really nice to have some time with Moo while she is at school, and it was a blast to be able to teach this week! You would think I could get more crafting/sewing done with only one kid, but nope. We just play! My lesson was on the Joy of the Earth, and we had a great time making art projects, with free time play, and singing silly tree songs. It's a great program and has really worked well for what I wanted. Worth looking into!

kcwc: day 6

Kids Clothes Week Challenge: Day 6

I love how this turned out! It is a Heidi & Finn pattern, the 'Everyday Coat'. I got the black heavier weight fabric at the thrift store for $2 and my mom let Moo pick the polka dot fabric, so super cheap to make it! I am thinking yellow buttons, but I'll have to see what is available in our area. It might have to wait a week or two until I head out to JoAnn's.

The pattern was super easy, but I did make the mistake of not lying out all the pattern pieces on the lining fabric and ended up piecing one of the sleeves. Oops. It took one morning to make with kids interrupting, so definately worth the time to make a cute jacket!

kcwc: day 5

Kids Clothes Week Challenge: Day 5

Today Bug asked to make a small batch of cookies to take to grandmother, so that's what we did! She took her Red Riding Hood Dress off long enough for bed, then this morning she was right back in it. Oh, how I love it when the girls love what I make! Since I didn't really want to bake cookies, I pulled some felt from our stash and whipped up a couple cookies. As far as clothes, I did wash fabric for a coat for Moo and am working on cutting out the pieces, hopefully to sew it tomorrow morning before work. I am excited to try this pattern I just bought from Heidi & Finn!

kcwc: day 3&4

Kids Clothes Week Challenge: Day 3&4

Yesterday was a super busy shopping day, so I didn't get any sewing done. I did manage, however, to score a great red & white gingham, yards of red interlock and two different black remnants at the thrift store. That counts as time towards kids clothes, right? Bug has been begging for 'Red Riding Hood Clothes' so I was super anxious to get to work on these! When I saw this capelet tutorial, I knew it would be prefect with a hood for this project. I just used a hoodie from their closet for the hood pattern, and changed the dimensions from the tutorial so it turned out big enough for Bug. For the dress, I used a thrifted shirt and added a twirly circle skirt and a 'belt' to the bottom of it. I now wish I had tried the shirt on Bug beforehand and not made it a drop-waist dress, but she doesn't seem to mind in the least. It's perfect for twirling and going to take grandmother cookies. Total for both pieces: $4, with enough leftover fabric to make another capelet for baby sister.

kcwc: day 2

With Bug off at Joy School, Moo and I were able to whip up two pirate girl skirts this morning! My mom found this great stripe and it totally works! I did a small elastic casing at the top with 1/2" elastic, then five rows with elastic thread. I am considering pockets... what do you think?

kcwc: day 1

Kids Clothes Week Challenge: day 1
I have to admit, with as excited as I have been for this challenge, I did absolutely no prep work ahead of time. I woke up this morning with not one idea. So, I mulled around this morning trying for inspiration in the fabrics that I had on hand. I finally came up with this easy shirt, inspired from here. I did get a little heartburn cutting into the fabrics, but Moo loves it and that's what counts. Then I turned Dora's Pirate Adventure on and got started on pirate costumes! I got two of these vests done, and although they don't look like much now, they will work with the costume as a whole. They are fully lined and reversible. One of the great things about having my girls so close in age (and size!) is that I only need to draft one pattern and it fits both of them! More 'pirate gear' coming this week!

i've got a secret...

On the way home from the Farmers' Market today, my kids had the following conversation:

Bug: mom, MooLunker is making me really mad!
Moo: {chanting} i've got a secret, i've got a secret...
Bug: no, i have the only secret, she can't have one!
Me: you can both have secrets.
Bug: no we can't! i am going to take hers away from her!
Moo: oh no!
Bug: i took your secret!
Moo: oh no, she take my secret, mom!
Bug: AND i am going to eat it!
Moo: {really in distress now} she ate my secret mom! she ate it!
... I just laughed. There was no logical way to explain what a secret actually was, and there was no way to eat it... so I laughed. and laughed. love those girls!
{this is one of my favorite pics from the Farmers Market this summer. cupcake ice cream cones. yum!}

One of a kind

Bug has renewed interest in her Bitty Baby she got for her birthday, but has been concerned that she didn't have a blanket of her very own. I let Bug pick fabric out of the kid scrap bin, and opted for an easy design. A mini ticker tape! I have been wanting to make a bigger one, but this baby isn't very big, and I was short on time so this is what we ended up with. I love how it turned out, and I would love to make another bigger, more colorful version soon! Bug and I both seem to love this pink fabric, I wish I had yards of it! When Bug showed it to daddy, she said "Look, Dad! I made it one of a kind!"