Twin Toddler Hooded Elmo Towel Tutorial

Here are the hooded towels I made for the Twin's 3rd b-day party.

Drawstring Backpack, Matchcar holder

I made this match car play mat for a Dear friend's little boy...

It has Disney's CARS fabric on the back.

It holds 6 cars. They 'Park' under the road. The top folds over and locks them in, and it rolls up neatly.

Since he is pretty young, i didn't want to make a complicated closure, so i compromised and made him a backpack!

Elmo B-day party

This weekend was the Twins b-day party. It was a ton of fun! I didn't get a lot of pictures from my camera, but here are a couple...

I'll try and get some of the pictures from Charlotte's camera soon.

Emily funnies

This is Emily with the cutest boy twins on the planet! My monster daughter chased them with her Raspberry face! It was hilarious. She would raspberry them, then they would all laugh uncontrollably. Kid laughter is the best medicine ever.
This is the one moment of the whole Super Bowl that they were all still. They look like the Three Musketeers in this one!

Where did she learn that? I said Cheese and she popped out that hip and said cheese. I was laughing so hard i couldn't get a good picture!



This is the strangest thing. This is the kid that only eats kid food. Finger food. Nuggets, pizza, hot dogs, that type of thing. but here she is Digging into the Spinach dip. We couldn't stop her. She ate a ton of the stuff.
....maybe.... i could take green beans and brussel sprouts and mix it with cream cheese, parmesan, bake and serve with chips and she'll eat it! ...she's a nacho kid at heart!

Blue Jean Apron - Ribbon Flowers - Rick Rack

This is the cutest thing i've made so far. and it took me FOREVER. It's like i tried to incorporate 1000 different skills in one project. I did learn alot about what to do, and what NOT to do!

Here is a close up of the Flowers. I basically bought the Rainbow Rick Rack, LOVED IT and decided to match the flowers to it. I pulled out colors that matched and went to town making flowers while watching TV one night. I came up with 7 different flowers, but only used 5 on the apron.

I lined the back of the apron with an Baby waterproof lap pad. it was the non quilted kind. i think it has a rubber layer in between flannel layers. anyway. it's water proof, but it also absorbs some liuid. I hope to use this for Art projects, cooking and (if the gods are shining on me,) teaching her to wash dishes!

MOST IMPORTANT TIP:

Always plan your decorations and execute your decorations BEFORE you construct your project. I had to do a lot of hand sewing in terrible tight places because i had already put it together. Oh well. it's done and cute!

for my friends from Martin...

An elephant's gestational period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal.
Cheetos, and the wall of shame. Need I say more?
Ham, Chips and Cheese is still the best food EVER.
Did they ever figure out what happened to the Cafeteria air conditioner?
RIP Herlockers. I still grieve for you.
Double Decker Rummy. and neverending Uno games.
Snow Cream Screwdrivers.
Stop Sign.
"Be good to that ass"

I could go on forever.
Why couldn't college last forever?

Instead of inventing a cell phone that can pick your nose for you, why can't the invent a transporter. Those hills were hell with a hangover.

MY DAUGHTER IS A GENIOUS!

Emily has this huge young adult dictionary that she likes to play with. She'll drag it around the house and flip through it. It's so cute!

Sometimes when I'm reading she'll bring it and sit next to me and copy me and read along.

This time I was sewing and she wanted to hang out with me, so she brought the dictionary to the table to hang out with me. She was So very happy to find the page with PIZZA!!!! She kept sniffing the page and Laughing out loud! It cracked me up.

Emily and the Snow...or rather NOSE...

For some reason, Emily can't seem to pronounce snow. She says Nose. It’s hilarious. "Mommy it Nose outside!" "I want to play in the Nose" and a few days later "DADDY THE NOSE IS GONE!"

Blue Jean / Denim Art Apron - Construction

In an effort to use every bit of that pair of Jeans, I decided to make Emily another apron. This time I wanted something a little different, so I decided on an Art Apron. I wanted it to be shorter, and have more pockets.

This project was much faster than the last one. I think because I took the time to think it out before I started, and then I did most of the cutting before I got the sewing machine out. (I still haven’t decorated it yet though)

I did make a couple mistakes that I will tell you about, but I’ll make this post like a tutorial in the correct order if you want to make your own.

1 I took the other pant leg and laid it out on the table and cut the arm holes… (NOTE: I’m considering modifying the cut to a straight line so I can trim it in ribbon easier. Think about your decorations before you cut. Curved is fine if you want to do the fray edge again.)

2 Lay it out right sides together and trim it even. I wanted to use the bottom part as the pocket, so I just left it on there to make it easier to handle.
3 I used the pieces that I cut from the ‘arm holes’ to create a pocket. Here I just evened them up.

4 I took apart a scrap piece of hem to have a template to fold up the bottom of the apron, which will become the top of the pocket.

5 Next, I marked the hem lines using the template as a guide. And I ironed the first line, then folded it up again and ironed it again.

6 Denim doesn’t like to hold the crease very long, so I pinned it and sewed it right way. I sewed close to the edge of the fold so it would look more natural.
Cut off the pocket from the apron. I did mine about 6 inches total.

7 Attach the big pocket across the bottom of the apron.

8 Pick a size for your small pocket. I used a box of crayons...
9 I squared off the small pocket and cut it down with a small fold over allowance. I also cut the corners. I was planning on having the bottom of the small pocket inside the big pocket, so it wasn’t important that it looked finished.

10 Decide on small pocket placement, I decided to use line that attached the small pocket all the way down to divide the big pocket.

11 Sew the bottom of the small pocket onto the apron. (NOTE: this is where I goofed up. I sewed the sides of the big pocket on before I did the bottom of the small pocket. I think that from now on, I’ll stick to one direction of sewing at a time. All the horizontal lines, THEN all the vertical lines. As you can see, I had to pin the big pocket out of the way so I could sew the bottom of the small pocket… not ideal)

12 Now is when you should sew the sides of the big pocket closed. I went over it twice. And did a criss cross at the top for stability.

13 Attach the sides of the small pocket and sew all the way down through the big pocket to form 3 sections.

14 All done for now!!!!
Not I have to decide how to decorate and trim it off.

I've gone crafty! Pillowcase, Blue jean Aprons & Shirt?

I've gone crafty and pulled out the sewing machine! My main motivation is the BEAUTIFUL fabric that my Patti bought us to make drapes for the front bedroom.

I figured I should at least get a little experience with the sewing machine before I goofed up that wonderful fabric, so pillowcase here I come!


(Forgive the crazy eyes, she was a little excited that it was finally out of the dryer!)
I found this fabric scrap at Wal-Mart; it was perfect size for a pillowcase. Emily has been on a HUGE Care bears kick lately. So I grabbed a pillowcase out of the closet and got to work! I used an existing fold for one side, and sewed all the edges!









*Things I would do differently...When I folded the open end seam, I only did it once (had to modify it afterwards so there wasn't a raw edge hanging out...) Find a better template!!!! What are the odds that the one pillowcase I grabbed was freakishly wide? It's pretty loose, but SHE LOVES IT!!!!





Next I really wanted an apron for Emily and one for myself. Emily has really been into helping me cook, or at least standing on the chair hanging out with me while I cook! So I surfed the Internet for 'all things Blue jean apron' and collected about 6 different styles/ideas. So, I sat down with a pair of Goodwill jeans and my new scissors, and got to chopping!















Emily's Apron is made from one pant leg, upside down and the open bottom cuff at her neck, and what used to be the thigh area as the bottom.

I trimmed it with White Rick-Rack, set back from the edge about .5 inch. I snipped the edge in every dip of the rick-rack to make it fray. I also wanted to allow the apron to grow with her, so I wanted to make the ties adjustable...I cut two pieces of ribbon and attached one end to the neckline of the apron and used scrap rick-rack to make a slot at the waist. So they crisscross and tie in the back, fully adjustable.

What I would do differently.... Never hand sew again. I was nervous about using the sewing machine at first but I got the hang of it pretty fast. One side effect of Midnight/Stealth sewing after Emily goes to bed, I didn't get to try it on her until the next day. It is super long, and the pocket is cute, but practically in her lap. Oh well!



There is always the other pant leg!

Next I made myself an apron out of the top part of the apron! The jeans I picked had TONS of pockets, so I wasn't sure where to cut them at first... So I cut them in the bum, and then I tried to make the front work with the zipper area, but I couldn't get it to lay right. So I grabbed the handy scissors and cut it out! I made a seam connecting the two front sides. I like this better because i doesn't look like a bum is walking towards you, and the front slash pockets are awesome.



I wanted it to wrap around at least to half my hips/bum, cause I'm a major hip wiper when I'm covered in kitchen messes. So, I just trimmed a curve around the existing pockets. Which happened to be Front slot pockets, Side thigh pockets and bum pockets. Yes, 6 pockets on one apron!



I trimmed it out just like Emily's with Jumbo Rick-Rack and fray, and a White ribbon tie back.



*What I would do differently...shoot myself in the foot before I try and remove a manufactured stitched item off the denim. There were a couple decorative strap things on the waist band, I thought I could just use the seam ripper real fast and get them off. Yeah.... Right.... After 30 minutes, stabbing myself in the finger, breaking off the tip of one seam ripper and a series of hand cramps, I finally got them off. Next time I will just integrate it into the design. They really sewed that stuff on there to stay.


My next project, (I’m not even sure if I should put it on here, is a bit tragic) was great entertainment!

I found a scrap of fleece and thought, what the heck. I’ll make Emily a shirt!
Why not, she has a bunch, I can just copy one! So I grabbed one of her shirts, laid it out on the fabric and cut out the pieces. That part wasn't too hard.





The order of assembly, however, wasn't so easy. I did the shoulders and the sides of the torso, then I had to figure out the sleeves.... I sewed the sleeves into a tube, then I tried to do the cuffs. (Now I understand the stop and iron methodology.) I argued with the double fold hem and sewed possibly the waviest hem EVER.









I spent at least 10 minutes trying to figure out how to attach the sleeves. Finally deciding on sticking them inside the shirt, leaving the arm hole with the two raw edges, out to sew. I managed to sew them on straight and right side up... but I also managed to sew them onto the shirt INSIDE OUT!!!!! ACK!!!!! Oh well. It’s not really terrible looking, but I think it looks stupid.







For the neckline, I just did a V so I wouldn't have to worry about snaps or buttons. Very sloppy and messy. I see the advantage of the iron again...
All in all, if Emily had any fashion sense, she would run to the hills screaming. But she's blissfully ignorant and happy as long as she has her blanket!

Maybe I’ll get adventurous and make her pajama pants to match! Elastic should be highly entertaining.