Goodies and grab bags

This craft doesn't involve any sewing.... but COULD! How adorable are these goodie "bags"? I'd like to make these next Halloween or think about making them appropriate for other holidays as well.

And speaking of goodie bags, I thought these grommet grab bags are adorable for kids' party favors. Well, the kind of parties that other people have, but a girl can always dream. If only I didn't sew at the 11th hour, I would do things like this! Grommets just remind me of a simpler time. Ahhhhh. Note to self: learn to use grommets in my sewing.

Happy Halloween!

Bags, bags, bags

Me and bags... can't dream about them enough! But alas, another summer is half gone and I haven't been sewing. So, I'm probably going to start posting again to help get me inspired.

I love these little first aid bags for diaper bags or backpacks at Busch Gardens. Why so specific there? Well, we had an incident on our last amusement park trip and see, Logan doesn't like just ANY bandaid-- it has to be one he has picked out. Familiar? Oh, and my nephew needs to carry an epipen, so I like those, too.

Perhaps I will just buy them instead of adding them to my ever growing list for sewing, but am passing on Pillow Sew Cute's creative Etsy shop for us to ooohhh and ahhhh.

Tracie's Tent

From Tracie: Hey girls!!! just finished this.....balled it up a year ago and finally put the time into fixing it. kids have already spent hours in there. i have the pattern if anyone wants it....needs ginormous tweaking!!

Scrap quilt!

I love this idea to use up scraps and to make a low-key quilt. Seems like something that would come together pretty quickly! Thanks to sewmamasew for highlighting it!

Monsters for Christmas

Back in February 09, I posted a link asking when we were making monsters. Well, in July I had Logan and his cousins on my side all draw monsters. They quickly forgot, but I didn't... I just procrastinated! The week before Christmas (and unfortunately even a little on Christmas day), I was busy sewing away to make their drawings turn into little pillows.

I LOVED this project! Felt may be my new medium. And, it is actually a little more fun to do the young kids' monsters and try to imagine what their 2 or 3-year old scribbles could be! The older kids' monsters got a little detailed which was HARD, but still really satisfying at the end.

Few things I learned--
-Don't let anything get too narrow if you are trying to stuff it. Even if the drawing of an arm is really narrow, save yourself the trouble and make it wider.
-It also helped me to make each arm and leg first, add extra length that can be hidden inside the body, sew on 3 sides, stuff it and then sew it onto the back of the monster-- closing it off so the stuffing was inside and done.
-I used clear embroidery thread which broke a lot and was hard to see. I am going to look for clear regular thread and I hope the extra weight will be easier to work with!

I'd love to help anyone who might try to make these! Tracie looked at my nephew Evan's drawing and pointed out what looked like a horn. So it may help to have another eye. My oldest nephews loved them so much and sat down right away to draw monsters for me to make them NEXT year for Christmas. You should see the details on the new ones-- yikes! I also made little "sleeping bags" where I could laminate and attach the original drawing b/c I think THAT is what makes this little stuffed animal so special.

Long post, but it's been a LONG time since any of us have posted! Enjoy the photos! Original link to instructions on the monsters.

Art Smock?

As mommas with kids older than mine... what do you value in an art smock? One that covers the arms? Grows from 2 to 5 years with your child? Easy for an older kid to put on by themselves (or will they really need your help until 5 or so anyway?)?

That said... do you have any patterns, ideas or brands (yes, I will buy) that you would recommend? I am thinking of this for my triplet niece and nephews and have been dragging my feet for MONTHS. Thought I'd enlist some help from y'all.

Again, for the girls!

Here is a tutorial on the shirt dress for little girls. I also love this shirt dress the LuvInTheMommyhood blogger just invented before she found the above mentioned tutorial.

Hip Jean Makeover

Erin saw jeans like this for sale at a craft fair and called me asking me if I'd try them. Actually she just said "You can totally do this and sell them for $40 or more!" I'm not ready to sell, but I do love them!! This first pair goes to Amelia since it was her mom's idea. But, I'm ready to add some length to my niece's jeans since she is so tall and outgrows the length before the waist.

I cut off the jean and then used the shape as a general guide for cutting the fabric but adding width for the pleats. I made marks for the pleats and pinned to determine how wide the fabric needed to be. I sewed the new fabric together length wise and then sewed along the bottom 1/4" seam allowance and a top stitch before pinning it around the jean. 1/4" seam allowance all around with right sides together (see photo of folded fabric), press down the new fabric and top stitch ribon or ric rac. YEAH! Would love to have a machine with an arm for this project, but as long as I went slowly, it was fairly easy!

Dresses and tunics

This dress was a DIY kit I bought off Etsy as an intro to getting used to a pattern (I still haven't tried one!). I loved the Amy Butler prints and it is a style that I had seen a woman selling at the Farmer's Market. The beauty of this design is that it is a dress first but then can become a shirt to wear like a tunic for when the girl gets a bit older.

Meghan's pillowcase dresses (please share, Meghan!) are very similar and that is my next dress to try. But for now, just sharing a finished product!

lazy skirts?

i tried the lazy skirts. thank you, sarah, for posting the link! i love these, and hope to do a bunch for m and a.c. to slip in to throughout spring and summer.

i'm curious - are they called lazy skirts because they're meant for a lazy day, or because it's a lazy way to sew a skirt?

i've never made a skirt before - and i knocked out four of these babies for my babies.

they are so fun to make! i had fun playing with patterns, ribbons, even making my own ribbon out of fabric, and ric-rac!

the mary-had-a-little-lamb skirt for a.c. turned out to be like a mini-skirt (oh, me and my seam allowances), but hey, we like leggings in this house, so it's all good.

what do you think of turning these in to an adult version? i'd love to make myself some skirts, but not sure i want the elastic. also not so sure that i want to get in to buttons and such. anyone have a good grown-up (simple) skirt?

AH HA!
so, i was walking down my hallway and saw this little beauty.
i asked her "have you ever considered modeling?"
she grinned.
i quickly pulled out the mary had a little lamb skirt (and the tune, we sang it together, of course - how else do you win over a diva like this?)... slipped it on her, and heaven behold!
now, the next day... my model coerced her big sister to get in to the modeling act.
but they decided that there was a much more fun (though unwilling) body in the house...
cooper, next time you run away, i will know you've gone to vogue.

Capes

Capes seemed to be the "it" gift this Christmas! Thanks to Jack's birthday party, Meghan found this tutorial for kids' capes. I tried to capture Batman (aka Super Logan) for photos of his cape but wasn't very succesful!