Fabric Roads

I started making these for Asher’s cousin back in May but misplaced them when I moved. Luckily, I found them in time for Christmas. The idea was borrowed from Polly of Helping Little Hands. My addition to her idea was the traffic circle. After all, you never know when you might end up driving in England so you want to be prepared. Although I guess the arrows might be backwards for that. The arrows and stop symbols were painted on with fabric paint, as is the color coded parking lot, which I decided to make the evening before my trip and just didn’t have the time or the materials for a proper appliqué.
All of it was folded and placed into this little bag. I made a embroidered truck from some clipart on a scrap of corduroy and appliquéd it on a reusable gift bag.





Asher has a set too. He usually goes to bed with one of the road pieces and a couple of cars. hmmmm, that gives me an idea

Happy Birthday, Ruth!

I know you haven’t seen much craftiness from me lately…trust me, the Christmas crafts are piled high, I just haven’t had time to blog about them.
However, I wanted to stop by and say Happy Birthday to my partner in crime, Ruth!



 Hope you have a fantastic day, my friend.

And I promise, after the holiday I will have some fun things to show you. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Helmet-hat for Hanukah

Okay it’s just a hat but Ash calls anything that you wear on your head a “Helmet-hat” including hooded sweatshirts and knitted baskets.

At first he wanted nothing do do with this had but then I appliquéd the little car on it and then he didn’t want to take it off. I guess details are important.

  

Instructions to make your own helmet hat from t-shirt scraps can be found on this post from Cheri of I am Momma

Happy Hanukah!

before and after curtains

When we first moved into our new house (back in June) Asher’s room came with 2 panels of fabric as curtains. Seriously the edges are just selvage. I bought the fabric and even made the first curtain for Asher’s room, but it took 5 months to make the second one.

 

 

Both of these fabric came from Ikea (I could tell from the selvage). The new curtains have black out material behind them but the room is still fairly bright for the midday nap. Closing them makes the lighting seem like that of a rainy day. I need to figure out what to do with the palladium window Shades are expensive to have custom fit.

Recycled Hoodie

Last February the lil blue boo recycled t-shirt hoodie was featured on Celebrate the boy over at MADE. I thought it looked really cute but didn’t have much experience with sewing knits or a serger yet so I filed it away as something I might make someday. Well last week I finally took the plunge and bought the pattern. I am kicking myself for not getting it sooner. Ash fits the 2T size perfectly since the sizes start at 6 months I missed out on a year and a half of this awesome pattern. Luckily it will last for another 5 years. Expect to see some more of these.

Ashley’s pattern is really well written. Even if you lack the confidence like I did you can handle this. You don’t need a serger but I think it helps it look more professional. If you are nervous about working with knits this would be a great place to start. the hardest part is picking out your combinations.

If I ever have a little girl I will definitely pick up some of her girl patterns they look so cute and comfortable.

Knuffle Bunny

When I say Emilie’s Knuffle bunny on So You Think You’re Crafty, I just fell in love. I couldn’t believe it didn’t win that week. I am really glad that she posted a pattern for it anyway.

It is super cute and the weight added to the paws and bottom make it look as limp and floppy as it looks in the book. It’s also the perfect size for cuddling.

But before you rush off to make this pattern I did find one big mistake with the pattern. 
I noticed this mistake when I tried to sew my first arm and I noticed with the 1/2 inch seam allowance then there was no opening for turning. Sadly I had already cut out 3 bunnies before I noticed the error. Such is life.
The main color pieces are sized so that you have no seam allowance. This is really easy to remedy. Just cut these pieces with a 1/2 inch border around them and then follow the pattern as written. Cut out the contrasting colors (eyes, nose, paw pads, inner ear and tail) exactly as the pattern says.

After making Knuffle Bunny I went through Asher’s books and was surprised to find I didn’t have the book. I had a coupon for Barnes and Nobles so we took Knuffle and went to the store. It was a major compliment to me (and Emilie) when I plopped the book and Knuffle down on the counter and the check out guy said “Cool, I didn’t know we had the plushie” Sorry dude, this is a limited edition.

By the way Knuffle Bunny Free (the third book in the series) just came out. All three of them are great but “Free” make me tear up. So sweet.

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Happy Bee Costume

I kind of regret last years Halloween Costume. Not because it was lame but because it was so awesome and so adorable I can’t imagine how I could possibly improve it. But of course I had to try, and so I bring you…

I started by making an inner lining for the costume. I traced the outline of one of my son’s muscle shirts onto one of my old t-shirts. I did extend the length of the tank by about 6 inches to cover the butt. I also added an extra inch to the sides of the back piece below the waist to compensate for the diaper bulge.

Then I did a four thread serge along the sides and the shoulder seams.


For the outer shell you need to make a yellow and black striped fabric. I used a super soft fleece-like material that shed like crazy when I cut it. I made 4 inch wide strips and then used a four thread serge to sew them together. I also did a 3 thread serge around the edges of created fabric. When I was finished making the fabric, I was covered with just as much fuzz as it was. I though it would be a pain to clean up but I took it outside and gave it a real good shake and 95% of the fuzz blew away in the wind.
I love these stripes. I was almost sad to cut into it.

To cut the outer fabric I folded the inner shell in half and lined it up along a fold. I cut the neck, shoulder, and arm holes exactly the same. But then I cut a convex curve  for the side lengths. Don’t forget that the neckline is different but otherwise cut the same piece  a second time. Be mindful of the stripes. You want to line them up while cutting or they won’t match in the final costume. I also cut the bottom edge to be 3 inches longer than the inner shell.
Before it had a chance to shed again I did a serge around the arm and necklines of both pieces.  Then I placed them right side to right side and did a 4 thread serge on both side seams and across the shoulder seam. If you need to, also serge the bottom.

With the inner shell right side out and the outer shell wrong side out place the inner piece inside and stretch pin and sew the bottom hems together
 
Turn the piece right-side out and put the lining inside. Cut a length of elastic based on your child’s waist. In the final costume it will actually rest mid thigh but the waist measurement should make it loose enough to walk around.  Place the loop between the 2 layers and sew a casing using the excess 3 inches of outer fabric. I basically used the bottom black strip as the casing and managed to stitch in the ditch on both sides.
 
Add stuffing between the 2 layers to puff up the body then use some ribbing or stretch material to bind off the neck and arm holes. If you live in a cold climate you could add some black sleeves.
   









No bee would be complete with out a stinger. I took some black fabric and cut a circle the size of a small plate. you will only need a third of it.

Fold right side to right side and sew the two straight edges together. Turn it right-side-out and stuff then hand stitch it to the back of the costume. I had my son try on the costume so I could place the stinger in the right place.









 








To make the wings get some 14 gauge wire from the hardware store, electrical tape, a pair of knee highs and some black straps of fabric.
Bend the wire into the shape you want  for the wings and wrap the center where the wire ends meet with electrical. Slip one knee high over each wing and tie them together. You may have to reposition the wire after the knee highs are in place.

I used some leftover fabric to hand stitch a loop of fabric around the joint. Then I cut a length of jersey material to loop behind the back, under both armpits and behind the neck. I tied a knot and then fed the shoulder straps through the loop on the wings.
 
For the Antennae I decided there was no way my kid wound keep on the regular headband variety so I picked up a black hat from Target for $1. For each antennae I folded a black and a yellow pipe cleaner in half and poked each end through the inside of the hat then I took the four ends and did a four strand braid. I hot glued a pom-pom on the end.

Add a pair of black leggings and watch as your baby bumble bee buzzes all around you.
   
If you make your own we would love to see it. Please add it to our flickr group

¡en español, por favor!

Two of my best friends called me up last night with a last minute costume idea ¡Spanish Punctuation! This costume took less than 2 hours to pull together and is not only completely original but also interactive.

We used Freezer paper stencils to make exclamation points on 2 t-shirts. One of them needs to be up-side-down. Then we made some exclamatory Spanish phases in cartoon bubbles using printed paper adhered onto a foam board cut out. Whenever someone stands between them they get to hold one of the phrases.

¡absolutamente brillante!

Feeling inquisitive? Make the shirts with question marks.