Handmade 52: Items 23-34 - A Dozen Ottobre Panties

Yay! They're done!

I am very much a fan of assembly line sewing when I have multiples of something to sew up. And that's exactly how I finished up these. Thankfully panties are small so serging multiple side seams or leg bands in a row doesn't actually take that long.

Once again I used the Ottobre 4/04 panties pattern. Size 104 with seam allowances except for the leg openings. Also, you will see that 11 of the 12 have the That Darn Kat style leg bands. They simply work better for Missy. She doesn't mess with them, they provide a tiny bit more modesty to her undies, and they're super simple to sew in, which is a bonus!

The last pair has been mailed off to a new home. The leg bands done the way Ottobre directs, simply don't feel comfortable to her. Once again, there is nothing wrong with the Ottobre method at all, it is neat and soft to the touch when done. It simply doesn't work for Missy-girl.

Also, if you don't have the Ottobre pattern book I used, and don't feel like waiting for a copy to arrive in the mail, I highly recommend the That Darn Kat pattern for undies. It includes boy and girl versions, and I know many a mama that swear by this pattern for a great fit every time!

The stack!

11 of the 12 pairs.

Close up of the top row fabric choices.

Bottom row fabric choices.

The pair that had to find a new home.

And as you can tell, this girlie isn't only into princesses and castles! Pretty much any print is fair game. I just love that!

Handmade 52: Item 22 - A Christmas Stocking

Every month on the Hopeful Threads blog there is a group project that anyone can sew and donate for. Kristy just loves to help people, and she's truly such an amazing person. I've been meaning to contribute for a while, but something always cropped up and got in my way. This time I decided that I wasn't going to be stopped!

And so here is the Christmas stocking I have sewn up to send in for the current November project!

The front of the stocking.

The back of the stocking.

There's still time for you so sew up a quick stocking before the end of the month! Head on over to Kristy's blog for more details: Hopeful Threads - November 2012 Project.

And don't forget to "Like" her Hopeful Threads page on Facebook!


*I used the Imagine Gnats - Falling Flakes Stocking Tutorial (it includes a printable template) for the stocking, changing only how I added the lining into the stocking and closed off the top openings - only because I wasn't in the mood to do it her (proper) way, lol!

Handmade 52: Item # 21- Backpacks are fun!

They're even better if they're made from a little girl's beloved Hello Kitty fabric!

This is another super, fun, FishSticks Designs pattern: The Playdate Messenger Bag for Mom and Backpack for Tot!

It's surprisingly quick to sew up, and now that I've made one I will be sure to keep an extra set of the strap hardware and other supplies on hand. Why? Because this would be a great gift to whip up for "that birthday party you just remembered is coming up this weekend and you haven't bought a gift yet"!

I desperately need a fun bag for myself, as my current diaper bag is just too big to grab if I am dashing out of the house alone. So I'll be making the messenger bag for myself soon. I wonder which fabric I'll use? :)

The straps stay on her shoulders beautifully. And even thought she's already in a 4T/5T for clothing, the straps still have room left to lengthen out some more as she grows.

I just love the flap! It's a great spot to add a bright splash of colour. Here you can also see the loop on top for hanging on hooks or in cubbies. As you can see the bag is big enough to hold plenty of treasured objects, without being too big for them to carry or put on themselves.

And lest you think that she always is well behaved for photos. The majority of our photos this year look more like this!

Her "I'm a model" pose.

This one is called: "I'm too cool for the camera" ;)

**Sorry for the bad photo editing. I'm afraid that until I stop editing on a laptop, my results will be a bit hit or miss!**

Handmade 52: 17, 18, 19 & 20 - Little Girl Undies

Do you have little ones that just don't fit perfectly in some items from the store? For Missy it's panties. Don't get me wrong, she can get them on just fine, and they stay up...but the leg elastics just aren't very comfortable for her. I got tired of watching her constantly readjusting the leg elastic on the inside of her thighs every 20 minutes, no matter where we were, who we were with, or with any regard as to who was watching her.

So I pulled out my That Darn Kat - Children's Undies Sewing Pattern (there's a boy and girl version included in the pattern) and got to work! I was puzzled as to which size to make, so I made a size 4 and a size 6. And for those about to make a pair and happen to have a similar fabric stash to mine: See that purple pair below? Don't use that fabric for undies! It may be easier to sew because it doesn't stretch as much, but it doesn't stretch as much when they're wearing it either! Oops! Lesson learned ;)

Left: Size 6 & Right: Size 4
That Darn Kat Pattern

 The size 4 fit her just fine, and will most likely fit even better when made out of stretchier material, but they don't leave much room to grow on her. And yet the size 6 is far too big on her tiny frame. We have the same problem with store bought panties by the way, so please don't think this is an issue with the pattern! She's really stuck at an in between size right now, and it makes shopping for her a tad bit difficult.

She does LOVE her new panties though. And guess what? She hasn't adjusted her undies, not even ONCE, when she's wearing her new pair (the pink ones have been put up until she grows into them)!! It is wonderful!


But wait, that's only 2 items and the title notes 4!

So in true advertising style:

But WAIT! There's MORE!

I wanted to try another pattern to see if I could find a better fit with a little more room to grow. With all the upcoming sewing, building, birthday party, and Christmas projects coming up, I didn't want to end up needing to add another batch of panty sewing right in the middle of all the chaos!

I decided to brave an Ottobre Magazine pattern. This pattern is often recommended when someone asks for a great fitting girl's pattern, and because they don't come only in even sizes, there is a greater chance of finding the particular fit I am looking for. The particular pattern I used is pattern # 34 in their 4/04 magazine.

After consulting the handy dandy measurement chart (I recently forced the kids to endure seemingly endless measuring), I decided to try size 104. European measurements are different in their size numbers, but that size essentially boils down to a US size 5. See! In between sizes!

There are 3 versions of the pattern, and as it turns out, after making these two, there is at least one more way to do the legs! I by mistake finished the legs in the same way That Darn Kat does, instead of the binding method that Ottobre was calling for, oops. Oh well, she loves them and I am happy to say they FIT! And by fit I mean they fit well now, and are comfy enough with room to grow! Yippee!

I can promise you they look a lot better on than they do here, but forgive me for having not the photos to prove it...a little girl's privacy and all that. ;)

Ottobre 4/04 #34. Size 104
They are both technically the same size. However the top pair I cut out and then realized I'd forgotten to add on a seam allowance. So instead of folding down the top and hiding elastic, I used some picot edge elastic I had bought from Joann Stores the other day.
I've never used this type of elastic before so it's less than perfect, but both my daughter and I love the look of it when it's done!

The back. The slight size difference is more noticeable in the back, with one having seam allowances added on, and the other not. But the size difference while on is hardly visible, so don't worry too much if you forget to add them on like I did the first go round!

3 pairs of undies will most certainly not be enough, so together we went through some of my fabric stash. She picked out many new fabrics, from dinosaurs and ninjas, to butterflies and purple stripes. No stereotypes in this house! ;)

I am excited to get started cutting them out. Stay tuned for a panty stash update soon!

Handmade 52: Items 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Baby Gifts

There'll be a new little nephew for me to cuddle soon enough, and so this Aunty decided that I'd sew up a few goodies for him!

I used the beloved Jamie Jumper from the Fishsticks Designs pattern "The Little One Layette", along with a tutorial for adding feet to them from an amazing lady on my favourite forum, Make Laugh Love.

For the matching hats I used a fabulous freebie, the "Baby Knot Hat" from Cuddles N Chaos on Etsy. The pattern was actually hosted on her blog originally, but seeing as the link wasn't working when I went to download it, Kim so sweetly emailed it to me! Thank you!

A gift from the "geeky" side of the family, to the "sporty" side of the family!

Please ignore the fact that it was a hurried shot taken right before we dashed out the door, on our way to the baby shower!

Handmade 52: #12- Redneck Sprinkler!

"Redneck" Sprinkler

I found this idea on Pinterest!
Original Sprinkler Pin on Pinterest

With Little Man's first birthday (sniff) fast approaching I asked hubby to see if anyone at work had two empty 2-liter soda bottles for us. Why two? Well, I often make mistakes the first time I do things, and I didn't want to risk being without a sprinkler on the big day. It's really hot in Texas in May, and several big kids getting hot and bored at a baby's birthday party would never be a good thing!

I bought a male-to-male brass fitting at the hardware store (about $6 in the plumbing department - if you can't find it then ask someone, I had to ;) ) to attach to the end of the hose...and then I went to town on the empty bottle the with my drill! Weeee!

Several holes, a little bit of wrangling the soda bottle to get it to screw into the brass fitting correctly, hubby daringly climbing the itty bitty tree branch to get it into the right spot, and this is how it worked:

From this shot you can get a rough idea of where I decided to make the holes in the bottle.
Don't stress out and measure, I definitely didn't!

The water pressure was up quite high for this photo.
It made it lovely wide sprinkler, but it was still easy for the kids to get drenched!

The great thing is once you're done playing with it, you can unscrew it from the hose, let it dry, put it away and use it again! But what if it gets trampled on by the children and you can't salvage it? Why, simply recycle it and drill holes in a new one! Don't forget to remove and store the brass fitting before you recycle the bottle.

Our children have accidently broken several really good lawn sprinklers by stepping on them in the middle of their fun, and not even realizing until the spray arm no longer moved. Now I'll save those for the lawn, and use this one when they are playing outside and need to cool down. :)

If you're like us and very seldom buy 2 liter sodas, then don't forget to ask at work / neighbours to see if they  can give you an empty one!

Actually, one of the neighbours saw our sprinkler over the top of our privacy fence and loved the idea so much that he asked us to tell him how to make his own! Isn't that great?!

Handmade 52: Items #10 & #11 - PJs Full Of Love

PJs Full Of Love

A few MONTHS ago I cut out a couple pairs of Lazy Days Lounge Set jammies for Missy. And a couple weeks ago I finally got them all sewn up. *hiding from shame* I haven't been the best as finishing UFOs (Unfinished Objects) this past year or so, and I am determined to fix that!

Funnily, Missy is into more and more 5T clothing at the stores because they are always short and tight. But Fishsticks Designs patterns always seem to have enough room to grow and move around, without me having to size up. I love that. Not only does that mean I waste less time trying to figure out how on earth to lengthen  pattern pieces* without messing up the shape, but it means that I get more use out of her patterns over the years and through sizes, than we get use from store clothes. Don't get me wrong, the majority of her clothes are bought. I simply don't have the time YET to sew the majority myself. Let's hope she still loves "mommy-made" by the time I have more free time to sew regularly!

*I know most people can lengthen / alter patterns easily, especially for children. However, I simply do not have this gift! It's a major upheaval and headache for me to alter a pattern, which means that if I have to do it  I will probably never use the pattern. *more shame*

Missy loves her little ballerinas!

I usually use a solid color for the back. It's stretchier than the jersey I use on the front and  that makes it nice and snuggly at night.

A super adorable bird's nest tag from Night Owl's Menagerie.

I just LOVE these hearts! Thankfully so does she!

Yup, you guessed it! Night Owl's Menagerie again! Nope, I don't think my addiction is a problem ... just wait until you see all the cute ones I have, lol!

This interlock is lovely, soft, and has a nice weight to it. So it was great to use for the back  as well. 

As you can see, most of the time I pair my cute knits with a solid, and most of the time it's from JoAnn Stores, bought with a 40% or 50% off coupon. Sorry JA, I refuse to pay full price. ;) The blue solid is a knit interlock, and the purple in the jammies above, is a cotton/spandex rib knit. Almost all the rib knit you see me use has spandex in it. It bounces back better and survives many, many, washes better than the rib knit without it.

Little Man was determined to have in on the photo shoot but we kept moving him out of the way. So he started blocking the camera with his cute face and smacking it! Don't worry he was laughing not throwing a fit. What else is a mama to do, but capture that gleeful "I just got your camera, Mom!" face! Love you sweetie pie!

Handmade 52: Item #9 Chicken Coop!

It is DONE!!!
Phew! It took me over 3 months and far more cash than planned to build this coop. Oops.

Coop shown with flaps open.
The brown you see inside near the center is a tall cardboard box I used to section off some of the coop, so that the little chicks would be in a smaller area inside the coop to start with. This came in handy when Buttercup needed to be separated from the rest during the "Broken Beak" episode. o_O
More on that and her recovery soon.

Note to self : Use a plan (bought or free) that comes with a cut list and step by step instructions, and remember that you don't have the spare time to make elaborate things during nap times - less is more!

Chicken Coop and Run

• Our coop is taller than my husband! 
• It consists of a 6ft x 3ft coop on top, and a 6ft x 4ft run below. 
• There is a 2 section ladder for them to go up to the coop and down to the run. They enter / exit the coop via a pop-door in the floor. 
• I used hardware cloth over the windows and run sides. We do NOT want to take the risk of anything hurting or taking off with our little ladies, so I tried to make the coop and run as secure as possible. But I also made as many doors and windows as possible. It gets VERY hot here in Texas, and the last thing I wanted was for our chickens to overheat and die....and then I'd have to tell the kids what happened. Nope, not our kind of fun. So lots of windows to open for airflow, while still keeping them secure, and lots of doors so that I can easily clean it out, reach food and water, catch chicks that need medical attention, allow the kids to feed treats without them escaping, and so on.
• Thankfully I thought ahead and put together the whole thing with good quality screws, because the only way I see us being able to move it / sell it off if we move....is in pieces or at least in sections. It is huge, heavy, and strong enough to hold an adult or several kids in the top section without it even moving. I'm pretty proud of it's strength and security features! ;)

(I'll do a separate post with more photos of the building process, inside details etc.)

Our girls are:
Buttercup (Blue Splash Marans - standard size chicken)
Izzy (Black Australorp - standard size chicken)
- named after Isabella on the TV show Phineas and Ferb
Millie (Welsummer - bantam chicken)
and
Meep (Black Frizzle Cochin - bantam chicken)
- named after the cute alien character in Phineas and Ferb.

I'll do a separate post showing off our beauties!
Okay, okay, one sneak peek:

They're MUCH bigger these days!

Where did we get our chickens?
After much deliberation, lots of emails back and forth between myself and several people, I made the executive decision to order our girls from My Pet Chicken.

Why?
For so many reasons. The main ones being:

1. We had to be sure we received girls. Our landlord sweetly said yes to our out-of-the-blue request for chickens in this suburban neighbourhood, but we promised them no roosters would ever call our coop home. Unlike most places, MPC sexes their bantams. Yes, there is always a small chance they will get it wrong, but the chances are far lower than ordering through the feed store, or on Craigslist, and simply taking our chances with what sexes we receive for our bantams.
2. We could get a variety of breeds without having to reach a minimum of 15+ chickens. We are allowed no more than 4 and to be honest, that's plenty for us. For our zipcode, the minimum order is 5 when you order bantams and standards in one order. Thankfully I know a sweet lady nearby that would add to her flock so that we would meet the minimum. Yay!

This is by far the biggest handmade item that I will tackle this year (thankfully). And while it's certainly not perfect, especially up close, it is fully functional and I'll admit I'm pretty impressed that I did the majority of it without help! Though the help I did receive from my husband was invaluable. I could never have finished certain areas like the roof, without his strength, height, and all-round awesomeness. Thanks Handsome! ;)

Handmade 52 Items #7 and #8: Marvin Goes To Mars

I realized the other day that Little Man has been a bit neglected, being the third child that he is. He had been using one of our pillow cases on his pillow, and when I put it in the wash the other day I realized I didn't have a single spare one to replace it with. Mmmm....what else is a sewing mama to do but sew him some! :)

A while ago, oh I guess about a year or so, I stumbled across some super cute fabric on www.fabric.com . A line called "Marvin Goes To Mars". I grabbed a bunch of it with the plan to make a quilt and pillow case set for JBug (aka Booger), possibly even add some trim to a bought sheet set to go with it. But these days he's more into Iron Man than cute little aliens and boys in rocket ships.
Thankfully we have another son, one who happens to be in desperate need of bedding. And wouldn't you know it? I just happen to have a stash of super cute fabric, just begging to be used! Win!  ;)

See having a fabric stash really IS useful!

Now comes the fact that I don't think I've sewn a pillow case in YEARS...possibly since the throw pillow covers of my Home Ec classes in school! Ha ha!

Never fear, I know just the tutorial for the job. Enter the Fishsticks Designs, 9 1/2 Minute Pillowcase Tutorial!

And yes it really is that easy. See for yourself:

Two adorable pillowcases done in record time!
Please ignore the fact that the top one is wrinkly and needs a wash - I couldn't very well force my sick baby to wait for his pillowcase until after I had taken photos. So just pretend it's all cleaned and ironed, ok? ;)

And great timing too. Once they were done a sick Little Man I know was contemplating a nap, and was oh so eager to lie down on his new pillowcase, on Mommy's lap, for a nap. Awww, too cute!

Poor tired guy.

Of course that means Mommy had to wrangle said (30lb) baby, and his newly covered pillow, all the way back to his bed, and get them both in and down without waking up Little Man. Thankfully watching Mission Impossible paid off, and together with my USMC hubby's stealth training, it ensured nap time was a go!

Oh and did you see the tags I used?

Night Owl's Menagerie tags - they're woven and foldover.

They're a foldover tag with "Handmade" on the one side and a cute heart lock on the other. They're designed and sold by Night Owl's Menagerie on Etsy. You also need to see the amazing creations she has available for you on Zazzle.
I can't say enough about her talent...I wish I could design beautiful things like she does. However, my Grandmother's artistic talent was NOT passed on to me, and so even my stick figures run in terror from their reflections, ha ha ha!
I'm not kidding...sadly.

Those are not affiliate links. I simply want to give credit where credit is due. And I also want to make sure everyone can enjoy her crafty goodness. I could write an entire post on my woven / satin tag addiction - in fact I might - but for now I simply want to pass on my love of tags!

Our Hungry Kitchen Beast

As it turns out, it's not the sock monster in the dryer I need to worry about, so much as the fact that our kitchen tries to eat breakables.

Mind you, it fails miserably at the actually eating part. It is, however, quite skilled at breaking things into little pieces in preparation for consumption. I almost wish it would consume the pieces. Quite frankly, I am getting quite tired of sweeping up (and cutting myself on) shards of glass and slivers of bowls, plates and whatever else is on it's menu for the day. We have had so many plates, bowls, glasses, mugs and even a special Pyrex glass pie dish, fall victim to it's hunger pangs.

For example: It sucked a glass right out of my son's hands tonight as he was emptying the dishwasher! And a couple days ago it attempted to devour my slow cooker. My beloved, huge, super dependable, slow cooker. Sadly it only managed to stop me from ever being able to use it again:

One can only hope we subdue the hidden beast in the kitchen before we run out of crockery, or destroy the tiles in our (rented) home!

And now I am off to pick out a new slow cooker and put it into the next budget...I have my eye on one of the fancy ones that can be used on top of the stove as well, so that browning the meat, cooking the meal, and thickening the liquid into a sauce / gravy, can all be done in one pot. Wouldn't that be grand?!
;)

Handmade 52 - Item #6: Miss Molly dress

First, let me apologize for my absence. This move and my husband's job change has been difficult for us...and we're still not completely settled in all these months later!

I have been sewing and making the odd thing, but not nearly as much as I had planned. However, I am making sure I get more "me time" these days, so I'll slowly be able to add more items as time and kids allow. :)

Back to business!
I've quietly been working on the Handmade 52 goal, and while I have been finishing a few items, I haven't been posting them. Yes, bad me. ;) I'm going to start posting one at a time to catch up but the next 10 or so will NOT be in order of completion. I'm simply choosing one I have the picture of ready, and putting it up first. I have some items that I have sewn, built, and canned coming up!

Item #6 : Miss Molly dress for Missy - The Handmade Dress pattern.

This was an "oops" dress. I cut it out a few months ago as a nightie for Missy, in a sz 4 (she wore a 4T at the time, and wears mostly 5T now)...and then it sat, cut out, waiting to get sewn - until this past week, woohoo!  At which time I pulled it out and realized I had cut out the front and back main panels wrong, AND I hadn't cut out enough bodice pieces! *this is where the palm hits the forehead and I realize I have to sneak into the baby's room - aka my sewing area - to find more fabric to fix my mistake.* Oops.

Thankfully - sort of - baby boy chose that moment to wake up and screech, alerting me that it was time for the first nighttime nursing session. *light bulb!* I scrambled and grabbed the cutting mat, rotary cutter and both fabrics I had already cut from for this dress, slipped them out the door, and managed to nurse him back to sleep. Then sleepy me went back to working on this dress.

It took me a few days but it is done! I've been sewing from one designer's patterns so much, that I found it quite difficult to switch gears and fully comprehend, and anticipate, what had to be done / was coming next in this pattern. However, now that I am done, I can say that it really is an easy pattern if you're not in a complete tizzy while you're trying to sew.

It is most definitely a loose fitting pattern. This size 4 will fit for a long time to come on Missy. She is a rather slim and tall almost 4-yr old, just in case you're trying to judge how it'll fit your child / gift recipient.

I'm so thankfully that Missy loves her dress despite the mistakes that I know are there. She actually squealed, yes a real squeal, when I gave it to her! And then she proclaimed it to be the best dress ever!

Mission accomplished  :)

Handmade 52 - Item 5 - Missy's Dress

One of my all time favorite designers, Samantha from Little Comet Tails, designed a dress for a her daughter called the "Spin Around Dress". It has the most adorable sweetheart neckline that just looks so cute on our little girlie. And because Samantha's such a sweetie, it was (and still is) available free from her blog in a size 2T.

Well, recently she went back to that pattern and graded it to fit a sz 4-6 as her daughter, Molly, had outgrown the original size. And what does she do? She offers it as a freebie on her Facebook page! All you have to do is "Like" her FB page (linked above) and you'll be able to download this awesome dress pattern. Trust me, it's well worth it. Plus, there's always something wonderful going on over there!

Anyway. I decided to jump in and make Missy a new Spin Around dress! I'd been hoarding this beautiful "shirting" fabric from Joann for a while now, and decided it was time to use it. Hubby gave his suggestion on what colour to use for the sash (off the kids and I went to Joann for the sash fabric), and then the cutting and sewing began.
On a whim I swapped the skirt portion out for a full circle skirt, cut out based on this tutorial from Dana Made It. I've been wanting to try a circle skirt for so long now, but I keep getting busy with other things, so instead of waiting for another time I just went for it!

The end result:

 Just a quick check on brother mid-shoot. Too cute!

Mia is definitely at the small end of the sizing, but thanks to the lovely sash it stays on beautifully and will fit for a couple years to come! Which is great by the way, because did I mention I LOVE this fabric?! ;) Thanks Samantha! And the next one I make will have the original skirt and probably cap sleeves from her free sleeve pattern to fit this dress.

Handmade 52 - Item #4 - JOE!

Handmade Item #4

Poor Joe. He's been stuck in my UFO pile since about ... well, I'm not 100% sure. I'm guessing around 2009?
Who is Joe, you ask?

Joe started out as a monster, drawn by our son, on paper. I then traced the main lines onto my "Easy Pattern" material so that we could turn him into a stuffie. A special stuffie that my son could say he had designed. We cut him out of the fabric Booger chose.....and then he lay there, being moved from pile to pile, and even to a new house, until this month.

After I finished the crayon bag for Missy I asked Booger who I should sew something for next. After some thought he asked me to finish his stuffie for him. And feeling rather embarrassed that I'd left it this long, I agreed!

So after several sewing sessions, and a surprisingly large amount of stuffing, Joe was finally done! Yay!

So without further ado, let me introduce you the monster of the year....

JOE

as drawn by "Booger"

Joe likes to scale tall...umm..mountains.

And be carted, in clenched teeth, by silly monkeys attempting to climb where they shouldn't!

Joe, as you might have realized, is rather special.

You see, he has one normal arm, and then one arm shaped like a hammer. And his legs and feet are also not even. One big, and one small, just like his eyes. There's several things that are rather unique to Joe...but one of my favourites has to be his hiney "tattoo"! ;)

P52 - Week 4 - Bokeh

Wikipedia's definition of Bokeh.
"  is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light." "

This week between everyone except the hubby getting sick, trying to sew Missy Moo's dress, and Noo-Noo teething...well...basically no photography happened. So I'm cheating a little and using a photo from earlier this month that I feel is a great match for this theme.

Checklist - Striving for 52 Handmade in 2012

I need a place to keep track of my "To Do" and "DONE!" lists, and what better place to do that than right here? I'll be editing this as I go instead of re-posting as I finish another item or find something else to add to the list.

Items on the "To Do" portion are not necessarily going to be completed in that order. I'll probably choose one to do as the need arises or simply choose one that tickles my fancy that day!

DONE:
Updated 2012-1-29

1. Go Mama Diaper Bag
2. Homeschool cabinet - curtain sewn for opening
3. Zippered pouch for Missy Moo's crayons with clear vinyl front
4. Booger's "JOE" stuffie (designed by him in...oh...about 2009!)

TO DO:

• Mod Kid Kyoko for Missy Moo
• Finish Missy Moo's In Threes Cardigan I was knitting before Noo-Noo was born
• Few mug rugs as gifts for family? (UFOs and from scratch)
• Hello Kitty wall hangings from panels for Missy Moo
• IOOP shorts from cammies I have aside for Booger
• Sheets and pillowcases for Missy's bed from our queen sheets as well as new veggietales, HKitty etc fabric
• Build Ana White workbench for garage so that I can build more easily
• Build big kid picnic table from Ana White
• Sew doll diapers, moses basket etc for Missy's doll, Ariel
• Sew medium sized lego playmat for Missy, the one that has a drawstring to close it- small enough for her to carry it around, even on stairs without her tripping
• Sew sweatpants and jackets for Missy for next winter from the hearts and stars sweatshirt fleece
• Sew jammie pants for me and kiddos from the stretch french terry
• Tank dresses with lettuce hems from the Muse of the Morning, Practically Perfect Tee pattern and tutorials on her blog
• Patch holes in homeschool cabinet (from hardware removal)
• Sew long Spin Around dress with cap sleeves for Missy Moo
• Sew shorter Spin Around dress - sleeveless
• Quilt for Booger - maybe Quilt as you go,like Keyka Lou did?
• Wooden puzzle (and other) storage envelopes with foldover flap and clear vinyl front - also one for Moo's ballerina
• Dragon on the Loose's Owl softie for Missy
• 
  
• 
  

P52 - Week 3 - FOOD

Well, week 3 the assignment was food. I really didn't think I'd have trouble getting a shot of food in this house...but somehow I never seemed to have a spare hand or time, when anything was being prepped or served. So I was very happy when the opportunity to make a Summer Cake presented itself, and here is the shot:

The delicious top layer of the summer cake...YUM! (Way better than frosting btw!)

Handmade 52 - Items 2 and 3 DONE!

I'm really enjoying finally sewing a little again. It was a long dry spell and my fabric stash was starting to taunt me and threaten to run off!

But I'm BACK!

Project #2 was a basic little, slightly gathered, curtain for the cabinet housing our homeschool books and supplies.

Before:

Nothing that pretty about it. Plus you can see all the places hardware was removed from it. It was supposed to have a big wooden piece that folded out and down to make a table for a laptop or keyboard to sit on. But seeing because we bought it for $15 in the AS-IS section of Ikea, well, it was missing that part! I still need to fill in the holes, but that will come later because I'm having too much fun sewing to find the right stuff to fill it with. Wood filler? Who knows, I'll find out soon!

Start by adding self adhesive velcro hook to the back of the little wooden piece where the curtain will attach.

Hem and gather the fabric for the curtain, then use the cool trick I learned on Pinterest for GATHERING MORE EASILY. After that sew on the velcro loop to the front of the curtain, carefully making sure your gathers are somewhat even and not coming loose.

After:

Attach to the velcro hook, and  VIOLA!  A curtain to hide the books and random assortment of homeschool goodies!

It ended up being about 3/4" too long, but that's an easy fix that come later if I decide it has to be done. ;)

Project #3:

A clear front, crayon bag for M.

M's crayons are out of control. They are everywhere! But the solution needed to be an easy place for her to remember to put them, and just as easy for her to find them. What better than a zippered pouch with a clear plastic front? It would be easy for her to see the colours she had available to use, easy to find the pouch in her drawer (that mess is a whole other issue), and easy for her to put them away and zip it closed.

So off to Joann we went and bought a yard and a half of the thickest clear vinyl they had, which was 8 gauge, I wouldn't use anything thinner btw, I'd actually prefer to try 10 gauge next time but this is holding up well so far.

And this is what she ended up with:

I learned from a few mistakes along the way, and I used THIS TUTORIAL on Make It and Love It for sewing with vinyl. I mixed it up a bit with a cute fabric for the back piece instead of more vinyl, as well as a cute tag from my tag stash....which I will never show to you in entirety for fear of being forced to come to terms with the fact that I have a tag addiction love for cute little taggies! Ha ha!

Also, see the big zipper pull (is that the right name?) on there? These are handbag zippers from KANDCSUPPLIES on Etsy. The best thing about them, is because the zipper handle (still not right?)  is bigger, it means it's easier for little fingers to grab hold and pull the zipper closed without any tears or begging Mommy for help.... right as Mommy gets baby to sleep on her lap.... 

Me trying to show you the fabric back and the vinyl front...ignore any mistakes you happen to see ;)

It may look full (and especially so because of the horrible lighting, sorry!) but really it's only half full and so there's plenty of space for little hands to dig through to find that one perfect colour for the project at hand.

A close up of the tag...ignore the stitching, I didn't stick tape to the throat plate of my machine as it suggested in the tutorial (few steps above) and you can definitely tell where the vinyl was sticking as I was sewing *whoops*!

Anyhoo, off to cross these off my list and figure out what's next!

Oh and don't forget to check out my friend Katie's blog where she takes the Handmade 52 to a whole new level! She has link ups where you can link what you've made for all to see, and all sorts of awesome things that she herself creates! Go check out RAISING ORANGES and ooh and aah over her adorable family, and the gorgeous crafts you see!

Oh, and in case you're wondering. I obviously did NOT use all that vinyl on this bag...a yard and a half is going to last me a LONG time! ;)