Save the Flooding for Spring

My child has sprouted like a weed since last winter, and desperately needed some new pj’s that weren’t drafty on her ankles. Capris don’t make the cut on cold mornings, apparently.

She has new pajama’s coming for Christmas, but I need to bide my time until then. A quick look through my collected thrift finds, and I found these pajama bottoms that I thrifted this summer for .75. The print was super cute, the cotton fabric perfectly soft, but the fit a bit too big. A prime candidate for a refashion, yes?

This is a simple sewing project for a beginner sewer. Using a pair of pants that fit well as a pattern, I folded both pair at the crotch, and cut around the fitting pair. Sew up the outer leg seams, hem the bottom, and create an elastic casing at the top for a fitting piece of elastic and you’re done!

Done in less time than it would take to drive to Target and shop for a new pair! Plus, have you seen the price for pajama’s lately? Crazy.

** Speaking of crazy, these were the best shots I could capture of my overly rambunctious child last night. *sigh*

Bookmarks, Button Bugs, and Snowmen, Oh My!

You know how when you’re in the middle of making stuff, and the kids always come in and want to help, and you’re knee deep in fabric and needles and glue guns and ribbon and really really sharp cutting devices and the best help they can give you is to go off on a mission of finding something – anything! – else to keep busy so long as you can keep on keepin’ on with what you’re doing? And then you feel guilty for turning them away and admitting all of this out loud because, well, because guilt is just a natural attribute of motherhood?

Yeah. So.

To make up for all of that, this past weekend my friend Kim had an open house craft show in her home, and instead of turning the kids away, we let them take center stage. Five girls with five very unique personalities and crafts all very excited to sell and show off their very own handmade wares to friends and family.

The day was such a fun success for all the girls, that I hope we continue to carry on the tradition of setting up a kids craft show every year. After all, now that the girls have been bitten by the handmade-I-can-make-that-entrepreneurial-button-bug, there will be no stopping them!

Hand Make at Your Own Risk

I am currently cameraless. And that’s a decidedly unfun place to be in blogosphere. So, I decided to take a look around the ol’ photo vault to see if I could find anything fun to post.

Remember that sweet little Polly Pocket roll I made for a little friend’s birthday? Well, here is the dear child posing with it,

and pretty much telling me that it’s a piece o’ crap.

For future gift-giving, I’m putting Angry Chicken’s gift labels on my wish list.

Dia de los Muertos

May those you have lost always be honored

and their lives always celebrated!

Cutest Witch

As the events and activities kept piling up for October - and the time kept flying faster away - I was grateful that A wanted to dress up as the sweet and simple Little Witch from her favorite Halloween story. So,

1 thrifted dress @ $3 + 1 thrifted skirt @ $1.50

+ a few accessories

= the cutest Little Witch ever!

Granola, Schmanola

When my husband asked A what was her favorite part of our recent girls’ getaway weekend,

I thought for certain she'd say jumping on the hotel bed,

or making fuzzy new friends.

However, it was the more simple pleasure of eating Froot Loops at the breakfast buffet that ranked #1 on her list. Seems someone doesn’t quite appreciate the healthier fare that mom slops out each morning.

Peek-A-BOO!

My mom has told me, in no uncertain terms, that she is tired of clicking on my blog every day and not finding anything new. (Hi, Mom!) So this is just a quick little peek at some of the Halloween goodies we’ve been working on for a craft booth at A’s upcoming fall festival:

Whoo says Halloween isn’t fun?

Hello, Polly!

Another birthday gift for a sweet young lady, but this one has a surprise twist:

My partner in crime came up with the concept of making this hybrid Polly Pocket roll a’ la crayon roll. It has four slots for small dolls and a velcroed pocket for storing all of those teeny tiny accessories toy companies evilly insist on making even though they know good and well they’re just going to end up sucked into the vacuum cleaner. (And also, when did Polly’s clothes turn to rubber?)

Another Score for the Unmaterialistic

A’s bestie was having a birthday this week, and in lieu of a traditional gift I had her choose a special outing to share with the birthday girl. I gave her a list of options, and she ultimately thought that a movie “at the theater!” with a shared bucket of popcorn sounded like the ideal way to celebrate with her friend.

Since it’s no fun to show up at a party empty-handed, we made the following movie ticket and popcorn bucket cards as proof of our intent:

I see the wheels spinning in the scrappers heads of how they could make this prettier!shinier!better!, but our supplies were nothing fancier than construction paper, cotton balls, and a glue stick - because I’m old school like that. (Though I will admit I’m not so sure what’s up with the handlebar mustache design hubby drew on the ticket.)

I was a tad worried at how the gift would be received, but the idea was a hit. The girls have been excitedly discussing the movie they want to see, and wasted no time picking the day we’ll go. (Hint: it’s a 3D movie with food, and, uh, I’m kinda excited to see it, too.)

Summer, Baby, Don’t Go!

How is it that summer has a way of fooling you into believing you have more time than you actually do?

Although we are full into the groove of our new (fall) school schedules, I am attempting to squeeze the remaining warmth and sunshine out of these final summer days.

One of the projects on my summer sewing to-do list was to construct a picnic blanket that could be used with unfavorable ground conditions. You know, one that wouldn’t get your bum wet if you used it on soggy grass after a rain.

My requirements for this project: use materials I already owned, and to finish it in one evening. I succeeded by using a less than exciting basket weave-looking vinyl table cloth, and an old curtain I’ve been holding in a storage tote since the 90’s. Also, I forwent a proper blanket binding and totally just made something up as I went along. (Because who am I kidding? Blanket binding is intimidating and would have required at least an entire day of watching YouTube how-tos and blog reading.)

Since the curtain was adequately sized, I used three of its existing hemmed edges and cut the vinyl an inch shorter all around. Then, I hemmed the one side of the curtain I had cut to size, folded the edges around the vinyl and sewed. Voila! A very simple and functional sure-to-keep-you-dry vinyl-backed picnic blanket!

Perfect? Nope.

Free, functional, and ideal for cloud gazing? Absolutely.

The best part about this gift?

I finished it two weeks early! Nothing like the foreshadowing of the upcoming semester to kick my usually procrastinatin’ crafty butt into gear.

Keeping to my goal of handcrafting all of my gifts this year, I made this sweet little crayon roll and matching tote bag for one of A’s classmates.

A just loves it to pieces, and made me promise that the very next one I make will be for her. Yes ma’am, I’ll get right on that!

I used Skip To My Lou’s crayon roll tutorial and tote bag tutorial to make this set. These whipped up so easily, fellow mama’s be warned: If you invite us to your birthday party this year, this is the gift you’ll be receiving!

Fit for a Monkey

We have a generous friend who passes down bags of girls clothing each season. Her recent offerings included this delightful pair of Lilly Pulitzer capris:

Though the style wasn’t quite A’s vibe, the mischievous monkey print was just too irresistible .

It felt sinfully good to cut into them, and the result is a much more suitable skirt. The wide hem at the bottom turned out wonkier than I envisioned,

but I figure the girl never stays still long enough for anyone to notice anyway!

The Craft Bug Bites

Our grandmotherly neighbor taught A how to crochet with her fingers. She took to it, and the result has been an almost OCD need to be constantly making.

And that has resulted in a home full of more crochet jewelry than I know what to do with. Unfortunately, I don’t know squat about crochet, so I don’t know what else she can do with this newfound love. Can anyone tell me?

On her own she has covered all the bases, and no one is exempt from these beautiful jewelry offerings. This toe ring was made for hubby. (You should thank me for having her toes model it instead of his.)

I think I’ll let her sell some of them at my next craft show. Who knows, maybe the entrepreneur bug will bite next.

To sew,

or to be outside running through the sprinkler, that is the question. The days are too beautiful to be inside, and we’ve even taken to sitting at our fire pit in the evenings devouring roasted marshmallows while A runs through the yard in a frenzied attempt to catch lightning bugs. Does it get any better than that?

Today, however, the call of my machine was too strong, and I sat down and made a sweet little baby gift that I should have made weeks (months?) ago.

I love the sweet little piggy print on this flannel that A picked out. It’s fun when she gets excited over picking out fabric, too.

These darling snuggly blankets whip up so easily, I don’t think I’ll ever purchase another shower gift again.

Lovin’ Summer

No time to sew when you’re busy enjoying this

and this

and this.

Just to Prove Myself Wrong

I took this $.50 yard sale find,

and made myself a skirt.

For all of my cynicism of refashioning for myself, I actually kind of like it. Not sure how much wear it’ll get, seeing as I have exactly zero shirts in my closet that goes with it.

When people know you sew,

they give you stuff.

I was offered some outdoor fabric scraps which I joyfully accepted.

I knew a perfect little bench that needed some livening up.

I have enough fabric leftover to make a bench cushion, but that project has been added to my ever-growing to-do list. For now, these little pillows help provide the perfect thoughtful spot.

Little Napkins for Little Changes

Switching to cloth napkins at mealtime will stop my family from tossing over a thousand paper towels in the trash this year. (Best case scenario guestimation, of course – we do sometimes forget, and we do occasionally eat at other places besides home.)

To make the switch, I purchased an inexpensive 4-pack of kitchen towels for $5. From this, I was able to make one art apron for A, a set of “towels” for her play kitchen, and 12 reusable napkins for our family.

I love these napkins, though they do range on the smallish side at 9” x 12”. The size is perfect for me and A, albeit a little too dainty for hubby. He clumsily suffers through it for the good of it all (namely, to cease my nagging), but on my summer sewing to-do list is to purchase another set and cut only in half for larger napkins better suited for man hands.

Hidden Treasures

If you saw this at a yard sale, would you be compelled to open it?

I’m elated I didn’t overlook it. What joy!

 

 

These pictures don’t do it justice. Once I cleaned it out, the pockets held numerous packages of vintage rick-rack, bias trim, elastic, buttons, and even some trolley-fare coins from days long gone.

It is now cleaned out, organized and filled to the brim with my small stash of sewing notions.  The gentleman I bought it from told me his father made it for his mother.  He didn’t know how old it was, but that he himself has held onto it for sixty years.  I’m debating with myself if I should recover it with a fabric that’s a wee bit more my style.

Dolly Gets Refashioned

A cold and rainy day yesterday kept me inside with my sewing machine. Inspired by Care’s baby clothes to doll clothes tutorial this week, I decided to give it a try myself.

A pair of A's too short sleep pants became sleep shorts, and the legs became a tank top and baby britches for dolly:

Here, I used the top of this refashion with a $.50 remnant bin piece to make a new dolly dress:

I’d love to say that I just whipped up these pieces in no time, but alas, it took me all day. To be fair, though, this was my first pair of pants ever, and I had to read a billion tutorials to get the confidence up to try it. This was a great tutorial on turning sleeves into pants for toddlers.

I would never be brave enough to attempt any sewing projects if it wasn't for the awesome bloggers out there who are willing to share their tips and tricks, so here's my shout-out to all of them for the awesome things they do!

And the winner is...

Wow! What a great response from the Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway! The day the giveaway started, I left town and was very happy to have lots of awesome feedback to read when I got home today. Thanks to everyone who took time to stop by and offer a new blogging tip (and more). I couldn’t make a choice on tips alone (SO many great ones!), so I used the Random Number Generator to come up with my winner.

So, without further ado, a big Congratulations to Ali from Thrifty Mom!

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

It's A Party, Ya'll!

Welcome to the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day!

My blog is so fresh, this is a giveaway/welcome/housewarming party all rolled into one!

The giveaway works like this: post a comment below with your best newbie-blogging tip between now and midnight EST on May 31 and I’ll pick a winner. If you don’t have a newbie-blogging tip, then any old tip will do. Also, I cannot ship internationally, so US entrants only. (And I seem to think you'll need to leave your email address so I can notify you if you're not on Blogger because it's weird like that.) I'll post the winner on June 1, and mail to the winner on June 3.

The handmade goods I’m giving away are a pink tea towel apron with a cupcake appliqué, and a set of pink birthday cupcake hair clippies. The apron and clippies look really cute together but it didn’t dawn on me to photograph them like so until, oh, just now. So use your imagination and trust me on that.

But that’s not all! Nope! Because it’s my housewarming party too, I will custom embroider a name up to six letters – or initials, or any word, really - to the bib of the apron! And it’ll be cute, I promise - but again, you’re just gonna have to trust me on that.

Good luck and have fun with all the great giveaways today!

How It All Got Started

I stumbled upon my first sewing blog while searching for Montessori resources late one night. Meg’s creations blogged on the former Montessori by Hand, now Sew Liberated, was the epitome of inspiration. Her classroom was beautiful, and her students lucky to be surrounded by such artistry. However, it was The Apron that made my heart flutter.

All that has ensued following that fated night has been nothing short of a love affair. Explorations with my first sewing machine, fabrics in colors and prints so beautiful they make me gasp, a hobby that has helped me pass cold days and sleepless nights, sewing blogs and tutorials too numerous to name – indeed, it's love.

When Sewers Have Yard Sales

$20 gets you all this!

Obsessive Skirt Disorder

The fervor in which I check for updated postings at Wardrobe Refashion might just be bordering on obsessive. Making something new and lovely out of something unusable is a concept I'm wrapping my arms around. I’m way too non-committal to actually sign up, but I have been playing my own at home version nonetheless. Chopping down large skirts and adding elastic waistbands to fit A has become my new favorite pastime, but I think she is totally over them already.

I loved this skirt before it shrunk (*ahem*), and now I get to love it for a bit longer on A:

I found this size 2 Limited skirt at a yard sale for .50. A was very excited to use her stellar sewing skills to add the button, and we made a pouch from the back pocket and drawstring:

Determined not to spend any extra money on an Easter dress this year, I pulled this size 18 months jumper out from the back of the closet (you know, the spot that's reserved for all those things you love too much to part with but what the heck is it doing in there besides taking up space?) This was her first Easter dress, so the decision to sacrifice it was difficult, but I love how it turned out. Plus, it has daisy appliques on the reverse, so it can be worn all summer:

Finally...

took the plunge and made a little blog for myself. A spot that’s part motherhood, part craftiness, and part eco-consciousness(ish).