Superhero cape

For a primary activity a month ago I was asked to make a child's cape. This was the result. I followed the online tutorial here, and just appliqued on it the CTR shield. I actually made 2, and my kids loved them. Easy, playful, fun.

Car seat tent, toddler purses, and a car cozy!! Phew!

My cousin is due with a girl in May. It's her fourth baby so I thought it'd be fun to do a little gift for each of the four. For the baby, I made a carseat tent. I think this idea is brilliant. No more throwing a blanket over the handle and chance it slipping off the sleeping baby. The fabric is bright and springy, don't you think?




I can't seem to find the exact tutorial I used, but they are all similar give or take a few inches depending on the size of your baby's carseat. Just google "carseat tent tutorial". :)

There are two girls (about 6 and 4) so I made them Easter purses and flower headbands to match.

The first in a blue pinstripe:


I used these tutorials and modified them/combined them for a custom look:

toddler purse by Adventures in Crafting
gathered pocket tutorial from MADE


I can't find the tutorial for the flower headband - however what I did was cut out two circles of felt. Cut out lots of small circles (don't have to be perfect). One at a time, fold them in half and stitch one small stitch to hold them in place onto one of the felt circles starting on the outside. Add one at a time and alternate which ones lay on top of the others. Then I added a button in the middle. Place your headband between the two felt circles and hot glue the two circles together. Hopefully that quick explanation makes sense.

Here is the second purse:


For her little boy, I made a car cozy, tutorial from Homemade by Jill.


The cars fit in the numbered pockets. I didn't have any duckcloth, so I used a car print flannel instead. I thought it was a perfect fit.

Fold in half:


Fold over in thirds:


Velcro the belt onto the front and you're little boy's hands will be busy waiting at the doctor's office, during church, or in the car!

Gidget Dress

I don't know how many of you out there follow "So You Think You're Crafty" but they have some fun things and free tutorials :). This last weeks winner made this Gidget Dress and I really wanted to try one so this is how mine turned out.

I didn't follow her pattern to the "T", but I like how it turned out. The pattern I used for the dress was Simplicity 9643 and view A without the collar. I used some nice spring colored cotton fabric.
and for the back.....

I think I might modify this pattern some and make shirts for my other 2 girls.

My Husband is a Dentist

This isn't the reason why I made this little tooth fairy, but isn't she cute? I found the tutorial/pattern here. I followed the pattern pretty closely, except I added a ribbon binding on the top of my skirt after experiencing difficulty attaching it the way the tutorial explained. I'm not sure the button-eyes are my favorite. I might figure out something else for the eyes the next time. The buck teeth are cute, don't you think?

Right now she rests on my OttLite, but will soon be gifted!

Valentine Skirt and Top

It's sunny today...perfect for a photo shoot! So we changed into the special outfit, snapped some pics and then hurried inside to change back into play-clothes so we could run around outside. This is about the extent of a photo shoot with a toddler. I realize the pictures look a little strange with her head cropped off, but I don't want her sweet face on the internet.

I found a white t-shirt on clearance at Target and this is where the project began. The black and white taffeta worked perfectly with the red (it's felt...wish I could've used something more fitting for the taffeta, but I was determined to use only what I had on hand). I eyeballed the skirt as I cut it out (should've made it longer in the back to allow for the diaper. Oh well, next time). I cut a strip of red felt and stitched a gathering line down the middle. Gathered it to the ruffle I wanted, and sewed it along the bottom skirt hemline.

The shirt is similar to several "tuxedo" styles I've seen across "blogland". I simply cut a u-shaped piece of felt and stitched it right to the top of the collar line in front. Then I sewed a ruffle to match the skirt and stitched it around the "u". I added a couple black buttons, stitched a ruffle around the collar, and called it good. The collar stretched quite a bit, but shrunk up a little in the wash.
Since you can't see her hair-clip in this picture, I took a separate close-up to show you the details. Super simple folks. Two felt hearts with a small snap-clip inside. I cut a small slit on the back heart to allow the metal part to stick out. Then I stitched around the edges.



Did you notice the customized, matching doll she's hugging? If you missed the post about the doll, click here. After all, what little girl doesn't want a doll that looks like them!

One Wild Suit!

I'm sure you're wondering "What in the world is that!" Well, that my friend is snake skin spandex. Isn't it awesome! My mom picked it up for me, and I didn't really know what I'd do with it. I thought maybe I could make a white elephant gift or something. However, the other day Paige's dance teacher asked me to make costumes for her class for the recital. Well before we purchased the material I figured I'd better make a practice suit (since I've never sewn on spandex, let alone a dance suit). So I made Paige this crazy cool dance suit.

From start to finish it took me less than an hour- That included converting my serger to coverstitch. I'm so excited about this feature! It made the suit look very professional.

I don't know if something is wrong with me, but I actually thought it was darling?

Another Black Apple

Well, it seems Meredith is carrying the blog "weight" here! Way to go Mere! I too have been crafting and sewing a lot these days, but our laptops and internet have not been cooperative. The situation is improving however, so watch out for several posts!

I heard recently that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I decided my little girl needed a Black Apple doll too. Remember how I said our laptops have been sick lately? Well, I couldn't print out the templates. So I drew my own. I was surprised how close it turned out! The idea actually came from a valentine skirt/top that I made for L. She needed a little matching doll to carry around, right? So here's the final product (I will soon get a picture of the outfit and post):

Applique bag for rag quilt letters

Well I finished my rag quilt letters and I decided in an attempt to keep them all together I'd better get some type of bag to keep them in. And this is what I came up with.

The bag was one I pulled out of my laundry room (one of 3- I figured we could manage without it). It is a nice mesh bag and bonus- already has a zipper.

To customize the bag I ripped the side seams and added the fabric swatch with the applique "L is for Lydia". I used the block letters from my lettering software called "Creative Keepsakes". It also had the little face image and I gave her a bow. For the wording "is for" I printed it in reverse, taped it to the back of the fabric, and sewed it using a very thin width and narrow zigzag stitch (almost the button hole width).

I then made a pink fleece pom pom zipper pull secured with embroidery floss to add a little fun.

A quick easy (see through) bag to keep all those letters contained.