30 Days of Christmas – Project 22

I did quite a bit of sewing for gifting this year.  I found this and this adorable puppet theater on Pintrest. 

I am all about imaginative play and knew my kids needed one.  It was so easy for me to put together I actually made a second for my nephew.

I used a combination of new and on hand fabrics and trims.  I then picked up a couple of tension rods.

Now all we need are some puppets…  though my kids are pretty entertaining without them.

30 Days of Christmas – Project 21

OOMPH.  It’s been a crazy week.  I think the house is fully disinfected, my daughter is well again and we somehow made it through Christmas fully intact.

I’ve got 10 Christmas projects left to share and I’ll be doing so over the coming days.

After discovering how easy it is to make comfy pants at Halloween, I’ve been cranking them out like it’s going out of style.  My kids are loving their custom made pants.

I found some cute little striped flannel fabric and thought it was perfect for some Christmas morning pants.

I attempted to get smiles from my sick daughter and stubborn son.

Then the horsing around ensued and the photo session was over as quickly as it began.

 

My poor little girl got sick all over her pants before I got a picture of them under the tree together.  Maybe before  the tree comes down we can make another attempt….

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 19

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

Monkey’s classroom also has a teacher’s aide.  We surely can’t leave her unloved this holiday season.

A perusal through my shamefully vast fabric stash had me finding just what I needed to make her a tote as well.  I kept this one fairly simple because the fabric has a lot of personality on it’s own.

Pardon the terrible lighting.  It’s “work after the kids go to bed” night again. 

I lined the maroon fabric with a plain brown and included a few pockets for organization. 

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it when I first started working on it, but I really like the finished product.  I may need to make another one of these!

30 Days of Christmas – Day 16

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

I had fully intended to list a few items in my etsy store this month for the Christmas season.  Enter laptop malfunctions and life and I never did get around to creating the listings.

I did, however, make some fully lined festive stockings that will end up sitting in my office until next year.  Or I’ll add them for an after Christmas sale if I don’t have Christmas burnout in the meantime.  ;-)

I’d almost like to keep them for myself but T’s sister had personalized stockings knit for us two years ago.  I can only hang so many stockings before Santa says I’m being selfish and stuffs them all with coal!

Festive.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 15

(My laptop charger AND battery died simultaneously forcing me to play catch up for much of this series.)

I saw this bag months ago and fell in love – which is really odd for a woman like myself.  I rarely carry a bag other than Little Man’s backpack full of diapers (which isn’t a major requirement for outings anymore).

I pinned it with the full intention of recreating it for myself.

Instead, I’ve gone and made my own rendition of it for Monkey to give to her teacher for Christmas (hopefully with a few goodies inside).

 

The lining is red striped ticking.  I included a few pockets for more organized storage.  I also used the lining fabric on the outside of the handles to add more color interest.  I decided to leave off the flower because it competed for attention against the handles and ruffles.  I also treated the edges of the ruffles with Mod Podge to prevent the fraying from going from Perfectly Rustic to Falling Apart after a bit of use.

I still love the bag and still think I need one of my own.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 11

(My laptop charger AND battery died.  I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

I was perusing blogs one morning with my coffee.  Monkey likes to come look at the pretty pictures with me and pointed this pillow out to me.  She wanted to make it.  So we did!

Monkey wanted to learn how to use my sewing machine so I gave her a simple lesson.  I did the majority of the sewing while she sat on my lap and helped guide the fabric through the feed.  The lumpy filling?  Both Monkey and Little Man had to take part in stuffing.

She’s extremely pleased with her first sewing project (even if Mommy did most of the work ;-).

My children can’t help themselves when we set up for photos.  They just love to sneak in!

Strike a pose.

If you couldn’t guess, Monkey has claimed this pillow as her own and it’s now living on her bed.

I do believe I’ll need to start making multiples when sewing pillows if I ever want some to land on my couch.

30 Days of Christmas – Day 10

(My laptop charger AND battery died.  I’ll be playing a little catch up over the next few days now I’m back up and running.)

I’ve seen them done a hundred times (at least!) and decided it was time to add some of this cozy goodness to my winter decor.

I found myself a plain old sweater at Goodwill for $1.  I got myself two wide pillows plus scraps for something else out of it.

 

I backed them with a green fabric from  my fabric stash.

This is what happens when you try to do a photo shoot in this house:

My son has claimed them for his own and keeps taking them upstairs to his bed.  Little stinker.  He was seconds from stealing them here.

I think I need to find myself some more old sweaters.

Happy Halloween!

From Cold Weather Dora and Hunter Man.

I used Handmade Mommy’s 15-minute jammy pants tutorial for the Dora pants (I had a ton of orange fleece leftover from the goldfish I did NOT turn T into for Halloween last year.  I needed to use it.  ;-).  I bought a witches wig at Wal-Mart and gave it a bad haircut - just like Dora.  (PS – those pants were so easy.  I’m going to buy a bunch of fleece and flannel to make us all a huge stack of “comfy pants” for winter).

Little Man was supposed to be Boots the Monkey (Dora’s sidekick) but had a change of heart two days ago.  He decided he wanted to be a hunter.  Pretty easy, what with everything already in his closet - but I didn’t have a vest for him.  Enter more of the orange fleece and I threw this vest together this morning flying by the seat of my pants.  We borrowed the toy gun and he was complete.

Dora isn’t complete without Backpack, of course.  I made Backpack loosely following At Second Street’s tutorial. (I drew out my own pattern, own dimensions, added a pocket for Map and didn’t make the straps adjustable – I wasn’t joking when I said loosely followed).  Map is just a piece of rolled cardstock I quickly drew a face on with Sharpies.

Notice the animal in Backpack?  Yeah – that would be our back up Boots the Monkey.  I took a stuffed animal and quickly made some red felt booties for him – but he rode in Backpack all night.

My kids both loved their costumes – and helping make them!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

 

BOO!

A Princess Birthday

Monkey was invited to her first birthday party.  It was a princess party so I wanted to stick to the princess theme when looking for a  gift.

A quick search online and I found this adorable idea:

Source

The Princess and the Pea story book with a handmade princess with her mattresses to go with it. 

LOVE!

Here is my version:

  

I got to go through my scraps stash and put some pieces to adorable use.

Next up – an embroidered gift.

In need of organization

Life has been…  crazy.  Yep.  There is no other way to put it.  But, we have been loving being near our families.  And the kids are eating up all of the extra attention. 

Unpacking all of our belongings made me realize one thing.  Ok, maybe two.  First, we have a lot of stuff.  (The two biggest culprits would be toys and crafting stuff – though T has quite a bit of hobby stuff too).  Second, I need to do something about the jumbled mess. 

I’m in need of quick projects.  Quick projects may not have a big impact on their own but they add up fast.

Today, I’m making a knitting needle roll to contain the jumbled mess I have tossed into a tote.  They’re nothing new.  Just new to me.  :)

Inspirations:

Made by Loulabelle 

 

Dreamalittle

 

Sewing School

 

Crafty Bob 

Oooh…  the possibilities.  It gives me a great excuse to get out of my painting clothes for an hour and I won’t be so discouraged while trying to get scarves and hats knitted up for the kids for next winter!  Win/Win!   

Sew Fun Sunday

My bestest bud is having a baby.  Her baby shower was this past weekend in Fort Kent (hence my travel, once again).

I made her a few things for Sprout.

A sling:

A changing pad:

 

Burp clothes:

 

This is a hand me down, but Sprout’s Daddy said to include it with baby shower gifts.  It’s a Daddy sling T wore with Little Man :

And I wonder why I don’t have anything new listed on etsy lately…  I’ve been sewing so many presents in the past few weeks.  (I made a few aprons, pot holders and totes, too – and I forgot to take pictures of all of them before shipping them out). 

Working on any fun projects?  I’m supposed to be making myself a dress for a wedding in August.  Right.  T has suggested I buy myself one because he sees how much time I have to sew for myself.  haha

Up next is a custom order Mommy & Me apron set.  I can’t wait to get started on them!

Sew Fun Sunday

Yeah..  so it’s Tuesday.  You know how it goes around here.  Life is hectic.  I’m lucky I’m having time to post at all, let alone on the right day…  ha.

Little Man needed curtains in his room.  This is what he’s been sporting – leftovers from when his bedroom was a guest room. (Don’t mind the shadows.  T was putting up the new hardware when I snapped this.)

I found this fabulous shower curtain at Target on clearance. 

They didn’t have any in store locally so I sucked it up and paid $6 in shipping because I really just HAD to have it.  The numbers.  The letters.  The fun randomness.  It still only cost me $24.  I sliced it down the middle, hemmed up my raw edge and we now have two curtain panels.

I bought a couple of cute coat hooks at Home Depot and some nice curtain clips on rings.  T mounted the hooks for me.  The rod?  One of T’s old hockey sticks.  It had just been taking up space in our closet for the past 8 or so years.  Now it has a cute purpose.

I’m mighty pleased with the look.  I am considering either adding a color block at the bottom to make them floor length – or shortening them to the height of the window and creating throw pillows with the extra fabric once Little Man is in a big boy bed.  They’ll stay as is for now until I make up my wishy washy mind.

I’ve been doing a lot of sewing.  A few were gifts so I’m not able to share at this time.  But I did make a custom apron I’m pretty pleased with.  (Don’t mind the wrinkly pants.  I’ve been at the office all day and had T take a quick picture so I could get final approval from the person who ordered it)

Aprons coming soon to The Road Less Traveled on Etsy.

Have you been working on anything fun?

Sew Fun Sunday

For Mother’s Day, my sweet T told me I could do whatever I wanted to do – all day long! 

I decided to spend a little time with my sewing machine in the morning (and force fed family time for the rest of the day.  haha).

Thanks to the lack of interruptions, I was able to put together a few new items to list on Etsy!

Who says such a utilitarian item as burp clothes has to be boring?

 

Don’t you love the lilacs in the background?  T usually waits until they are open to pick me some.  He got impatient this year.

I’ve also got a second diaper kit nearly finished – it still needs a diaper caddy (they are great for keeping your diapering gear organized and easy to grab from the vast array of stuff that usually winds up in your diaper bag).  Included will be a sling (sized medium), a burp cloth, a changing pad and the yet to be sewn caddy.

I also got to make a special treat for Monkey.  We went to JoAnn’s Fabrics on Friday and she found a lady bug button she just had to have.  While trying to figure out what to do with said button (so Little Man wouldn’t find it and choke on it with it lying around), I spotted an adorable lady bug print fabric.  Monkey now has an apron (she’s a moving target – I had trouble getting a picture.)  It is technically reversible because I also lined it with a deep green for extra thickness/clothing protection.

 

I hope all of the moms out there enjoyed their Mother’s Day and got pampered a little. 

Enjoy your sewing machines!

Sew Fun Sunday!

I haven’t been able to spend nearly as much time with my sewing machine as I would like in the past month or so.  This week, that changed.

A friend is having a baby and today was her surprise baby shower.  I made a diaper kit for her.

I started with the diaper caddy:

 

In it, I put a tube of Butt Paste (the best diaper rash cream we’ve ever come across) and a personalized travel sized wipes container:

I also included a matching changing pad:

A coordinated burp cloth:

And a sling (which I forgot to take a picture of.  Then I tied them all up with a nice little bow:

Watch my Etsy site for similar sets coming soon.

And have fun with your sewing machines!  I know I sure missed mine.

I love a good deal

I took the kids to Target this morning in hopes of finding a window shade for Little Man’s room.  The sun hits his room first and he’s getting up way too early for me.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have what I was looking for.

They did, however, have a great clearance going on in their home goods.  I found some fantastic kitchen towels on clearance for $2.50 for a set of 3.  They are perfect colors for my bathroom.  I snagged 2 sets.  Along with extra large scraps of fabric I used to make curtains for the bathroom, I’m going to make myself  a great big shower curtain.

Look at this adorable pattern!

They had some in teals, too.  I kind of regret not grabbing some.  Maybe I’ll take a lunch break tomorrow to run over and get more…. 

I found some cute placemats for 70 cents a piece as well.  I’m scheming up something for them in my bedroom…

Now…  just to find time to make friendly with my sewing machine….

Introducing….

The Road Less Traveled!

I currently only have a handful of slings listed for sale, but I’m hoping to remedy that in the near future. 

 

I also need a better photo of a sling being modeled…  I’m working on my self-portrait skills.

 

So no more blathering on about needing to do it.  It’s done. 

Have a great day!

Sew Fun Sunday

Ok - so it's really Saturday, but I want to try to bring this feature back. And at the moment, I do what I can, when I can. If that means posting on a Saturday, that's what I'll do.

You may remember my GFT is getting married (in less than a week! Freaking out yet?). Monkey is their flower girl and we decided I would make her dress. No, it's not quite finished yet (it needs a zipper, which I'll be putting in after the kids go to bed tonight). I hadn't worked with a pattern in many many years, so I was a bit intimidated. I bought a sun dress pattern to practice with (you may remember the fiasco here).

I ended up getting a different pattern because they didn't have the original in the smaller sizes (they still don't - I happened to be by there yesterday and looked for the heck of it).

I did finally get the sun dress made. It didn't take me as long as I expected it to after the pattern was cut out.

Adorable, isn't it (it looks tiny in this picture, but it's a 2T. haha)?

Now the only problem is getting Monkey to wear it. She loves wearing dresses, yet for some reason, she freaks out when we pull this dress out. I tried putting it on her yesterday to model it for this picture and you would have thought I was beating the child.

I've put the dress back in the closet for now. If all else fails, I can try to make her use it as a shirt next summer, I suppose.

What are you working on?

Sew Fun Sunday

Welcome to Sew Fun Sunday!

My newest project:

This is an adorable pair of coverall shorts I bought for Monkey at a yard sale last summer for $2 or $3. They were too big last year, but this year they are just right.

She was wearing them one day during the beginning days of potty training. In an effort to make it easier to put her on the toilet more quickly, I had left them unsnapped. It had a skirt effect, and I realized I liked it better as a skirt!

I cut out the snaps and pinned up the open seams in the front and back (this required lining up of the decorative ribbon trim). I figured if I ruined them, I was only out a couple of dollars

Voila!

A new skirt!

I'm not a fancy seamstress by any means, but I doubt anyone will be looking closely at the stitchery when she's wearing it. Besides - practice makes perfect. If I want to be a better seamstress, there's only one way to get better. (To try, try again!)

What have you been working on? Feel free to leave a comment (with a link to a recent project perhaps?) and share!