Shoe Bin Redo

Okay, so this isn't as much a craft project as it is simple organization, but I always love seeing a good before-and-after.

I also love finding a good solution that cost absolutely nothing, since I already had the shelves around the house.

This is our "shoe bin." It's an old cat tree that had been largely ignored, especially the lower level, which worked great for our two-year-old to put his shoes, until it got out of hand. Messy!



He's like: whoa, where did it go?



New shelves!



Much better! A place for shoes and jackets. (Also, look at that spiffy haircut!)



The top shelf, I've discovered, is a great place to put a stack of folded toddler clothes, all ready to be put on in the morning. Because I'm that organized now (har har)

Camo Pants

First of all, I have some news. I (finally) have a brand new Facebook page! Check it out, and "like" if you want to follow my crafty posts. You won't be disappointed!

I started these camo pants last week, and was excited to be nearly finishing a project in a day. But something looked off, and if I had looked closer at the pattern, I would have seen that they're meant to be shorts! (view D) I thought they looked wide, but didn't realize how out of proportion they'd be when I just trimmed a little off the length to fit H.

So this is take 2. I decided to make the hearts in a slightly different fabric, and I like how they turned out.







When we picked out this fabric, H said "I love it!" And when I told him I'd make him pants, he added definitively: "and shirt." ...and he did this each time I talked about the pants. Now I'm not a HUGE camo fan, so the thought of pants and a shirt/jacket was a bit much...

So I thought I'd give this a try. I took the heart cutout from these shirts, and gave it to H to see if he liked it. Sold! I'll sew it on after the pants are done.




Here's my favorite way to sew a reinforced pocket in one go. You start with a short bit of zig-zag on one side, and then run a straight stitch on the outside around the three sides. Then do another bit of zig-zag, turn it around and sew the second straight stitch back.

Baby Backpack

Last summer I made a backpack for my little guy. He loves bright colors and rainbows, and I found this fabulous fabric on the sale table.

I used a pattern from The Green Pepper, their drawstring daypack. I made a couple modifications, and I think it turned out great. Now he's looking much more grown up, and it doesn't look quite so huge on him. He loves his backpack!

And here's a sneak peek of what I'm working on today. Bathing suit time!!

H loves the stars, and got so excited when I showed him the fabric. It's not the standard suit fabric, but it's polyester and should be great.  One of the things I don't like about boys' swim trunks is that they're made out of such stiff fabric and restrict their movement, especially for little guys.

New Shop Inventory

I'm happy to announce several new items in my shop including baby hats, catnip toys, and rainbow heart toddler shirts.

Also this lovely blue baby blanket. I've made a couple so far, and I'm just loving the pattern. One purple blanket was for my niece last year.



Crocheted Baby Blanket - Blue, Navy and White Stripe

Rain and Sewing

It sprinkled a tiny bit this morning, and H was quick to grab his red boots and otter umbrella. So cute!

He's proudly wearing a shirt that he "helped Mommy make." He sat on my lap and pushed the scissor button when I finished a seam. I cut this down from an old shirt of mine that I wasn't wearing much. Cuter on him anyway :)

He's very interested in the sewing machine and the knitting machine, and I'm excited to help him learn both when he gets a little older. This is a good start!

Gumby Birthday Plush

Little baby toddler H is 2 years old! And fearless at the playground. Look at him climbing to the top of the caterpillar monkey bars!

 

A neighbor of ours had a Gumby lawn display for Christmas, and H just LOVED it. So I decided for his birthday I would sew him a Gumby doll.

 

I printed out a Gumby, and drew it onto some green fleece. I knew it would be hard to turn him inside out, but I thought it was worth a try.

The face was lots of fun! Pieces of felt and yellow stitching for the eyebrows.

Here he is on the turner tool. Wow, do I love that little tool... best thing ever.

"Nooo, stop!!" Or, the birth of Gumby. At this point I was having a hard time turning the fleece, especially since I decided to put interfacing on it to help stabilize. I called him Gumby Impossible!

I did it! I thought I was going to sew little patches onto the feet, but decided to just gather them up with thread instead.

All done! The mouth turned out a little funky, but H doesn't care.

Birthday Boy! He loves his Gumby. I also made him a cupcake shirt, complete with seed bead sprinkles. His new favorite phrase is "blow candles out!"

Besides the other new favorite, "do it myself!" :)

 

 

 

Brown Fisherman's Sweater

Happy new year!

After knitting a toddler sweater for H, I decided to make one for me. I used his sweater as a guide for gauge, and made adjustments as I went along.

Overall it's not too bad! One of my main goals was to have sleeves that aren't too short, and I definitely got those. I crocheted the edges at the wrist and neckline, and machine knit the ribbing at the lower edge.

I like how my little guy photobombs me as he's having a snack: "whatcha doing, Mom??"



It's so warm, and not too itchy if I have a shirt under it. And there's his sweater, which is a little too big, next to mine. He calls his an "owie sweater" and won't wear it. I'll make one with softer yarn next time :)

My cat Dragon, however, approves.