MADE! Kid Pants

I overcame my fear of sewing with a pattern.
What was I afraid of?
Probably finding out something that looks easy really isn't easy and feeling like an idiot.
Guess what, the Kid Pants at MADE are as easy to make as Dana's tutorial makes them sound.  And I had everything against me on this pattern as I need to size it down and I don't have a serger.  But the pants *still* came out awesome.
See?

So how did I do it?
I simply followed the directions.  As far as slimming down the pants to an 18m size (yes, my 2 year old is just starting to fit 18m pants) that was a total guess.  I just trimmed off a bit on both sides of the legs (less than a half an inch on each side of each leg) and got very lucky that they fit pefectly.

The MADE directions are really spot on.
Sewing without a serger and doing the zig-zag stitch to clean up the edges was a first (as was following a pattern).  I think I did what she was talking about, but I'm not entirely sure.

It took less than an hour to make these pants out of an awesome fall-colored seersucker fabric I got for less than $4 per yard at Hancock Fabrics over the weekend.  I used less than 1/2 a yard making these officially the greatest pants ever costing less than $5 to make (including thread, elastic and fabric).

And who can argue with these results?

Even the most novice sewer can make these pants.  They're fun and satisfying without being frustrating or over-complicated.

A few recent crafts

My crafty side has been ignited again.  I've been crafting a lot over the past week and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

 First, another set of bean bags.  I'm really happy with how these turned out and I hope that my niece will love them too.  I especially love the color combinations on these.
The second is a baby gift for one of my husband's graduate students who just became a dad for the first time.  I made burp cloths and an appliqué onesie. Both projects couldn't be easier.

For the burp cloths I simply sewed flannel down the middle of a Gerber organic prefold diaper.  Viola! A cute, personal burp cloth that's super absorbent.  For the onesie all I needed was a scrap of wonder-under, a scrap of cute fabric and a onesie.  Cut the wonder-under into the shape of a heart and iron the rough side to the back of your fabric.  Cut the wonder-undered fabric out and peel off the paper on the back of the fabric, iron it on to the onesie and then zig-zag stitch around the outline of the heart to secure it to your onesie.

It took just a couple of hours from start to finish on the baby gifts (the bean bags take a little longer because they're sort of putzy with all the appliqué).  All in all, both projects are fun, interesting and very satisfying at the finish.

Bean Bags

After a long sewing inspiration drought I finally found a fun little project that inspired me to get back at it.
http://sewlikemymom.com/bean-bag-tutorial/

I chose to make my bean bags without the "tags" because, frankly, I don't like those taggy things.  They look like invitations for trouble wrapped all over a kid's favorite toy.   

Other than that, I pretty well followed her instructions, doing the appliqués first.  What's awesome about these bean bags are you can use those little bits of fabric that you love so much and hoped to find a use for in the future.  You can also do a lot of great mixing, matching and coordinating.

I actually sized and centered my "top" fabrics after doing the appliqué.  No real reason I guess, other than I was anxious to get sewing.
 

The finished  products are fantastic.  I love how they turned out and I love how fun, easy and yet personal these bean bags are as both a project and a gift.

I filled two of the bean bags with beans.  The other I filled with rice and in the future I'll likely fill all of my bean bags with rice.  They're softer that way and can be put in the freezer or microwave as a "boo boo bag" as needed.

Restless

I sat at my sewing machine for 45 minutes tonight.  I drifted between three projects.  Two skirts and cloth napkins.  I ended up hating all of the projects.  Totally scrapped one skirt.  The other is about to be scrapped.  The cloth napkins - ugh - those are all folding seams and ironing.  Very little sewing.  I've lost my sewing motivation ever since Megan moved away. 
But it's not just a lack of sewing motivation.  I've tried to muddle through Anna Karenina but can't get involved, thus I'm behind on my 12 books goal.
I've been so focused on making sure I hit the gym, eat right and take the boys swimming as often as possible that by the time the boys are in bed and the house is clean I'm just pooped.
I think I want to start another quilt.

It's Sew Wednesday!

A quick, thrifty sewing project to share today.  One of the boys needed a duvet cover.  I found a great Martha Stewart for Macys striped sheet at a thrift store.  I picked up a coordinating dark blue sheet at Ikea.  I sewed the right sides together then turned it (so that the right sides now faced out).  I sewed a little Velcro on the bottom ends to keep the duvet inside.  And PRESTO!  A brand-new duvet cover for under $15 and it took less than an hour to make.








It really is as comfy as it looks.  I kind of want to dive in right now.

It's sew-Wednesday

 

We recently celebrated my four-year-old son's birthday (a week early but he doesn't know the difference) and of course I wanted to make him an awesome shirt and he wanted a hat.  

The idea for a vest shirt came to me the second I saw this fabric (I found it at Hobby Lobby).  There's something so delightful about argyle.  I also knew I wanted the shirt to have a matching bow tie.  My friend Megan knew it needed real buttons.   We worked on the project together.  It's a simple project that involved wonder-under on the argyle, ironing it onto the shirt and sewing around the edges.  Megan actually cut out and sewed on the bowtie.  It was a two step process - first the "wings" then the "knot" but in all it took us less than 30 minutes to make the pattern on freezer paper, cut it out and sew it all on.  I'm pretty proud that we did this from scratch and it came out exactly how I was picturing it.

The crown is also a really simple project that makes your birthday boy/ girl feel special.  There is a tutorial and pattern here.  I did not use two layers of felt.  I used one layer of felt and the cotton (argyle) for the reverse appliqué.  I hand sketched the four on top rather than use a pattern.  He *loved* this crown for his birthday. I thought it was a perfect way to have a birthday boy look dapper without being fussy.

New Year's Resolutions

I am one of the people who loves making New Year's Resolutions. There's something incredibly hopeful about the start of a new year. We turn to a new page. We get to try new things and everyone around us (or at least a lot of the people around us) is also trying new things. Gyms are full. Evening class enrollment is up. Churches see a bump in attendance.
It wears off by February, right?
I did fantastic on my 2010 resolutions.
I hope to be just as successful in 2011.
Here they are:

Complete two 5ks and one 10k.
I did finish one 5k in 2010. Race for the Cure. It was so much fun. I didn't train for it but ended up running the whole way thanks to my speed-walking friend Megan. This year I'd like to train and run them for real.

Finish 3 quilts
Quilting is such a fun hobby. I love every part of it. Quilts always make a wonderful gift. Unlike last year though, I have no projects on the back burner. I'll have to start from scratch on the 2011 quilts. Not a single square awaits me!

Sew from a pattern
Yes, I still do not sew from patterns. I buy them. Time to make good.

Read 12 books
Just one per month but hey, I'm a mom of two kids who has a lot of other goals. Don't judge me!)

Acquire and rehab (if necessary) a china hutch for the dining room.
Having one solves a lot of my storage issues. Plus I like the challenge.

Make a headboard for our bed
I've made them for the boys. Why not us?

Improve general decoration of the house
It still has that general "we're using our parents' old furniture" vibe. We need a rhyme and reason. I, unfortunately, have zero decorating eye. Hopefully I can figure something out.

Reach my goal weight
There it is. The biggie. I have a chunk of weight to lose. I'm with Weight Watchers now though and am totally motivated and committed. This is is the year that on 12/31 I will not be in the "overweight" category any more.

So there they are. None of them can really be "broken" so I'm set up for success.