Update....

My computer is dead.  It had a good 7 years, and I was lucky enough to have backed up almost everything recently.  But, it does leave me without a computer of my own.  I have access to a borrowed one, but it just isn't the same.  I am not sure what this really means for my posting future until I procure a new computer.  I can't do much with pictures on the borrowed.  And.....  I started a new job last week.  A real, full time, back to work job.  It is kicking my behind.  I can do the job fine, but the long days without the kiddos and the crazy short evenings with the kiddos are tough.  We will have to see what it brings.

But, I did finish some stuff.  I finished a blanket for my cousin, and I am still working on the pattern for his robe.  I finished llamas for D and M.  They love the Llama Llama books, so I made them stuffed llamas like he carries.  I will get some pictures of those on here!  And, I finished a test shirt for M.  It was a learning shirt so that I can sew D's Halloween costume and have a clue what I am doing.

In other not so fun news, M's finger is infected.  We are not sure how it got that way, but I am leaning towards her picking it, as she picks everything else.  She has to be on oral and topical meds.  It looks gross and she feels rotten.  I hope it gets all better soon!

Toddler Tank Tops

Due to the nature of my current career (mostly raising kids with a little office work thrown in for relaxation), I was recently off of the office work portion of my life for a little over 2 weeks.  Now, this is not cool in the payroll aspect of life, but it was fun in the relax with kiddos and shop on ebay side.

Oh yes, ebay.  That addictive auction site.  The one that I try dearly to stay away from for the sake of my checking account.  Everything is on there.  Or, almost everything.  During this 2 week ebay study, I was super excited to find Barney fabric!!!

Barney fabric!!!  The mystical fabric of my year.  I bought it.  It is awesome jersey knit.  The twins saw it coming out of the dryer, and were amazed and excited.  I cut them each a piece of it then, and they carried them around like little treasures!  So, I knew that the Barney fabric had to quickly turn from fabric into clothes, but what?

I needed it to be suitable for pink and blue toddlers, so I decided on tank tops.  I traced tanks that fit nicely, added seam allowances, and serged those babies into trimless tank tops!  Then I went into my fabric for something to use on the necks and arm holes.  I had nothing stretchy that matched!  I then decided to raid the tub of cute striped t-shirts for stretchy material.  Bingo!!!  Green and white stripes for M's tank top.  I still couldn't find anything small manly, so I used the same fabric as the body of D's shirt.

I think they turned out great, and so do the twins!!!  And, sorry for the terrible photos, but there just wasn't time to keep trying to get snazzy ones!

And, yes, they will sit still on their little couch to watch Barney!  And, M has decided that she doesn't like having her hair fixed this week, so I am picking battles carefully.

Fabric Yumminess

I have no clever project to share today, just a little something that I recently learned.  I guess I already knew it deep down in my fabric self, but it became much more clear to me this week....  Really nice fabric, the kind that I want to make a new wardrobe, quilt, and kids clothes from....  It really does exist.  I am sure there are tons of great fabric producers out there, but I found Moda, and I love it.

I ordered a set of charm squares (5 inch squares for quilts) on ebay.  When I opened the package, I learned how fabulous Moda fabric feels and looks!  For large pieces of fabric to sew clothes with, it will cost more than I like to pay for fabric, but I think it will definitely be worth it for special projects and events.  The only big negative, besides the cost (which really isn't terrible if you price other designer fabrics), is that now I really want to start some new projects with Moda, even though I only have one set of 42 squares.  But, I will try to prevail over my desire to start new stuff.  I need to completely wrap-up everything partially done, and then I have a robe and a blanket on the sewing list.  Those are not for me, so I think it will work telling myself that I already promised my cousin to sew these things for him.  Then.....   I may have to break down and make myself something from some Moda fabric.

And, now, because W says that I don't have enough pictures of him on the blog, I present my soon-to-be 6th grader.....

He took this picture of himself, and I like how you can see his game posters behind him! I am not really sure why his mouth is wide open, though!

Finally Finishing

My sewing room stays pretty crazy, just because of the crafty need to see/feel/be with all of the ideas and pretty supplies.  Most people who sew can completely understand how a mess can happen and how projects that need tweaking/redoing/recycling/or just got boring can make up a huge part of the mess.  And, those are not the things that feed the crafty mind.  They just bog it down.  So, recently, I have attacked some of the things that have been staring back at me for a while.

I started off with a simple one that had just gotten boring.  I finished all of D and M's blankies.  This might sound odd, but I learned a great deal about blankies when W was little.  His blankie was one of a kind, simply because of the fabric type/age.  It was an odd shape of green and super silky.  There was only one.  My mother and I spent many hours over his little years, relocating the blankie in stores, other people's homes, tangled in his covers, you get the idea.  I tried to make "back-up blankies" to no avail.  They were the wrong color.  Really.

So, along come D and M.  I made them sets of blankies.  They received others as gifts.  They have a blankie basket in their room and all of them are rotated through.  I think there are about a dozen blankies total, and only recently have they even started paying attention to having the pink for M and the blue for D.  This way, if one is lost/too nasty/ripped in half, I will not have to spend massive amounts of time searching for properly worn out minky dot fabric.

I also M-proofed this dress.  And didn't take a single picture of her wearing it.  But, it was a simple fix, and it even stays on her now when the snaps are undone!  I added a piece of ribbon on each side of the opening and tied a cute bow, in a double knot!  Yay!

I made matching shorts for the boys, except that W's might have fit him several years ago.  Again, no pictures.  (Maybe you are noticing a theme here...)

I have almost finished a dress that has sat, completely cutout, for several months.  It is done now, except for the buttons.  I sewed them on, but hated how they looked, so they have to be put on differently.  And nope, no pictures.

I have continued work on the scrap basket, and it is almost done!  My to sew list is growing, but I think I have the half done, totally incomplete pile under control again.  Yay!  It feels good to finish!

And now, pictures...

These are the pictures that we sent to their sitter, Mrs. Jen, for her birthday!  She was on vacation, so it was an electronic card!

My Square Life

I love fabric, as most people that know me already know.  And, I hate to throw any fabric away, even scraps from projects.  My scrap basket has gotten to the overflow point before, and I weeded out the tiny pieces and ugly pieces to throw away.  But now, my basket has again overflowed, and I didn't want to throw any of it away!  So, I decided that making the scraps into quilt squares would be good.  Not that I really quilt very much, but that really wasn't the point.  So recently, I have spent some time every day turning this...

Into this......

There are still plenty of scraps that need to be cut into squares, but at least I have started to tackle the scrap monster!  I also made the mistake of looking on etsy for pre-cut quilt squares.  Big mistake!!!!  There are tons available, and some of them are super cute!  Maybe I will get some for Christmas!  It is never to early to start wishing.

New Sewing Friend

I have a new sewing friend, but she needs a name...

I know that I usually only sew clothes for the kiddos, but I have been wanting to make more time for "me" sewing.  Sooooo, when W and I ran to the thrift store and saw her for almost nothing, I knew that she had to come home and be my new friend.  Maybe now I will find more time to sew for me!

And, I did make the skirt that she is wearing, but it didn't require any sewing.  I picked up a high waisted, long top at the thrift store.  The gathered portion was elasticized, so I cut straight across under the arms and folded the bodice into itself to make the waistband! It makes a super comfy skirt for me and my new friend.

But, back to a name.....  She is fun to hang out with, as she appreciates sewing.  She doesn't argue with me about color choice or fabric type.  And, best of all, unlike some other people in this house, she doesn't ask when I am making her something new.  All that said....  She still needs a name.  I would love to get some name ideas down in the comments.  I seem unable to come up with ideas on my own.  Thanks!

Barney Dress

For D and M's Barney birthday party, I decided that they needed Barney themed clothes to wear.  (Note to anyone who might care...  Barney fabric does not really seem to exist unless you want to buy old sheets from Ebay.)  I wish I would learn to have these bright ideas more than a week or two before the clothes are needed, but maybe I will learn to do that.  Instead, I was a bit rushed, but I think the clothes turned out cute.

D got some overalls Barney and BJ on the legs.  Cute and really easy! (And yes, I have baby fencing in my house, and I love it!)

M took a little more time, but I love the results.  I made a Barney dress!!!

I combined some ideas that I have seen on various blogs to create this dress.  I used a men's dress shirt for the purple .  I love the way that the front and back of the dress are longer due to the way the shirt was hemmed.  I cut the shirt off (cut straight across, under the arms) based on the length of a dress that fits M well.  Based on one of our Barney toys, I appliqued spots onto the back of the dress.  I used some green tee shirt remnants from D's Peter Pan costume.  I then cut out J shaped arm holes based on the same dress.  With the tie straps, the arm holes don't have to be perfect.

Then, I applied the tutorial that I saw here to create the rest of the dress.  Bias tape is my friend!!!  I chose the width of the front based on the same dress used for sizing. (M was not available for measurements.)  And, I used 40 inches for each arm hole, just like the tutorial.  It looked like a super long piece, probably because it was longer than M is tall, but it worked perfectly for the ties.  It is even long enough to double knot now that she knows that her dress will fall off if she pulls on the ties!

And then, because I have a button addiction...

 Green and purple/pink buttons!!! (I think they came from Walmart.)

Miss M likes the buttons too!  The shirt had hidden buttons, so I got to choose the spacing when I sewed the buttons onto the dress.  And, they are not functional as buttons, but I think they are really cute.  I finished the dress with a whole day to spare!  Maybe I am learning to pace myself better, but I really think it was just luck.

Yay for Barney clothes!!!!!

Our 4th of July

As I said before, the 4th of July is a time of deep appreciation for those that have given and continue to dedicate their lives to our safety and freedom.  And, it can also be a time for fun with family and friends.

We started the holiday early by watching fireworks on the lake.  We spent the afternoon with our friends, on their boat, swimming, eating, and having fun.  The twins had never been on a boat before, so that was a fun first for them.

The fireworks came late in the evening for the twins, but they both enjoyed the show.  And then, there was a nice relaxing ride back to the dock.  The 11 year old, the 7 year old, and one 2 year old were sound asleep by the time we docked.  Miss M was still wide awake!

Then, on the actual 4th of July....We went out to breakfast!  Love a good southern breakfast!  M concentrated very hard on everything.  I love when she thinks really hard and sticks her tongue out.

Then, we headed to Home Depot to check out lawn mowers.  Not very exciting for me, but D thought that the riding mowers were the best thing he had ever seen.  I didn't get a picture of him sitting on any of them, but he did have a blast.  The thrift store was next.  We scored big with a Barney book and some cute fabric!

 (D wouldn't let me see his face while he showed me the book!)

Naptime was next up.  Sorry, I didn't get any cute sleeping kid pictures either.  Then they were up and going full steam.  We played for a while, and they were very disappointed that it was too hot to play outside.
Block table...

 "Fixing" W's shoes...

 D loves "Bizz."

 The funny lips are D making car noises.

 M matches the teddy bear.

Then, it was time to go for an awesome BBQ dinner with family and friends.

W stayed with my mom to watch the fireworks, but the little ones and I headed home. They got to sleep before the fireworks started booming around here!  I hope everyone else had a fabulous 4th too!

P.S.  I did make D and M's outfits, but there will be more on that some other day!

Pants, With Big Pockets

I have noticed that lots of baby and toddler clothing has pockets, but the pockets are pretty unusable to the baby  or toddler wearing the clothes.  Little D loves pockets and will put stuff in them all day, but only if he can actually get his hand in and out of the pocket.  So, I have started adding pockets to the pants that I make for him.

I make a lot of his pants, simply because he has really short legs.  The short legs give him a really cute run/walk style, but I get tired of rolling the bottoms of his pants up.  I use a homemade (traced pants and made them shorter pattern) for him that seems to work well.  I have started making a fully lined, about 4x4 inch pocket and putting it on his pants so that it opens slightly above his knee.

It seems to be working out okay for him!  Now to work on wearing shoes that match!

Mario Pillow

For W's redone room, I found this tutorial online just a few days before I needed it to be finished!  I love the idea and how they made an entire quilt, but I had hours to work with, not whole days.  I decided to use fleece and just make one Mario for a pillow.  (Note to self and anyone who cares...  Next time, use fleece that is all the same weight.  The various thicknesses did not help the squares line up.)
First, I had to cut out 272 2-inch squares.  I love my rotary cutter.

I then, used the grid in the tutorial to get each row stacked in order.  This helps speed up the sewing, but don't forget to double check when doing the actual sewing.

Then, after sewing a few rows, I would sew the rows together.  This really makes it look like something that might actually be finished before his birthday!  Here is how it all went together.  I took a picture about every 12-18 hours.  I just did it a bit here and there since I was home with sick toddlers for most of it.

 Then, I added a border all around Mario, so that he would not lose any body parts on the pillow edges and look weird.

 I cut a piece of fabric for the backing.  This is where I should have used pins, but time was running out.  I sewed them together, rights sides together, leaving a hole for turning right side out.  Trimmed the corners, turned it right sides out, stuffed it with 3 bags of stuffing, and hand sewed the opening shut!

 Add finished pillow to what I now know if called "Video Game HQ."

I will probably revisit this tutorial to make him a quilt, but that will just have to wait.  I can only handle so many tiny squares in one week.

W's Birthday Surprise

Yes, I actually had a Saturday with no children in my home.  D and M are with their dad, and W had gone on a scout camping trip.  So, as planned, my mom and I spent the day destroying redecorating W's room for his birthday.  I had already ordered and received a blanket and wall stickers online.  I found this awesome tutorial and used it to make a huge pillow that was finished on this morning (More on that later).  The new bed was put together, and the room cleaned from top to bottom.  And now..... W's room.
The view from the door....  (And yes, I know that there is a lack of curtain on the window.  I can really only do so much with him only being gone for 27 hours.)

Mario wall...

The new bed... (The slide is fun.)

 W's Halloween picture is hanging over the bed, and I found the little Mario stickers at Target!

The video game cave is under the bed.  The giant bowl of stuff is for him to put away.  I don't want to mess up any of the game stuff.  The stickers under the bed came from IKEA.

And, a better shot of his pillow.  I will post more about making it later!

It is still not close to everyone's view of a perfect kids bedroom, but I think he will love it!  I will try to get some reaction pictures when he sees it!

Another Dress, But It Fits, Sort Of

I have been on a dress making failure kick, so I thought I would share another one!  This one actually fits perfectly, but has another small problem.  I found this tutorial for a super cute wrap-around dress.  I like how easy the pattern is, and how quick the dress comes together.  I made one, and I think it turned out really cute!

She even let me braid the top part of her hair!!!  The problem that I ran into with this dress, and it is quite a fixable problem, is that it is held together in the front by two snaps.  M, being almost 2 herself, took about two minutes to figure out how to remove the dress from her body.  I do believe that it will require buttons to keep it on, but I am not sure how that will look on this fabric.  I am going to have to play with the placement and see if I can hide them.  Other than the quick removal feature, I love it!  I think it looks fun and summery.  Now, we just need to get to the beach!

A Little Outfit, Refitted

I think all parents have some favorite outfits to see their kids wear.  D had an adorable outfit last year, size 12-18 months.  It was a blue striped onesie and khaki shorts with matching embroidery.  The problem with this is simply that he no longer wears that size onesie.  The shorts work just fine with his short legs!  I apparently loved this outfit too much  to take any pictures of it last year, but you will see it in the end.

So, I started thinking.  24 month clothes are really only significantly longer than 12-18 stuff as far as tops go.  I just needed to un-onesie it!  Out came the rotary cutter and off came the bottom of the onesie.  Then it had a quicky hem around the bottom.

D now has the more mature version of last year's outfit!