stockings and ornaments

Last year, my sister saw a picture of the stocking I made Jane. She loved it and wanted me to make her, my niece, and nephew one. My sister isn't that into handmade so whenever she asks for something that is handmade, my mom and I jump all over the chance to make her the requested item. They requested the colors and design. My nephew wanted a bmx bike on his (yeah right). I started making these in August or September. I didn't want to stress myself out with the finishing. Of course, the knitting was done but I took forever to get the linings in so she just got them a few days before Christmas. But that's before Christmas eve, right?!





I like the linings in these, the stockings are so much sturdier. I am going to add one to Jane's stocking (that became mine because it was not very strong).


Lilly made popsicle stick snowflake ornaments. I made a bunch of these quilted tree ornaments. I also made this little house ornament for a friend (tutorial here I loved her idea for the roof ledge). Then I made a "house car" ornament for my parents who are addicted to RVing and their cat, Mr. B. We are giving out our ornaments this year with some granola. This granola is so so so so good. I have made 4 batches so far because we keep eating so much I don't have enough for gifts. It's a cycle! We made ours with almonds, pumpkin seeds, and cran-cherries. I might eat some right now.






This is pretty much all I have this year for handmade Christmas gifts. I am working on a blanket for Jane that did not make it under the tree. Everything I was thinking of making for Lills, I gave up long ago and decided that making and giving them for her birthday was definitely the way to go. I am starting a part time teaching job in January and the prep work for the class has been taking up most of my crafting time. Plus, being a mom can be exhausting, it feels good to sit at the end of the day. I hope you had/have a good holiday!

rudolph shirts

Nicole and I have been excited to craft together but with our girls and busy husbands, crafting is hard to do. We decided to just pick a project and see how much we could get done in an afternoon. Nicole saw this super cute Rudolph shirt idea. With a chubby baby sleeping in her fav moby wrap position, a my little pony Christmas movie, popcorn, and a toddler about, we got a great start to the shirts! Then we each finished them up at a quieter time. Lilly really wanted a sparkly nose so we used some glitter fabric paint, we used a lot!

Simplicity 2574

Lilly is really into dresses and tights right now. And anything that is her idea. I showed her this pattern and said we should go to the fabric store so she can pick out fabric. She was sold and I love what she picked out! She also put herself in charge of button picking.



This pattern was a project runway simplicity pattern. I didn't understand what that meant until I went to buy fabric and cut out the pieces. There was not a set dress to be made with this pattern, you pick out all the design elements and make your dress how you want. It seemed really confusing because I found it hard to know what the name of each element was. But it all got figured out and it looks great. Lilly loves the rainbow fabric that she picked out and that corduroy is so very soft. She wears this about once a week, which is awesome. I have no idea why I made her two pairs of pants recently. One pair has gotten the lucky pick two times but the other none at all. But let's face it, I sewed them for fun for me!




Fabric: corduroy from JoAnns

Pattern: Simplicity 2574, size 6.

the cats pajamas (McCalls 6428)

Jane loves dogs and cats. We don't have pets but the neighbors cats are always out and tons of people walk their dogs by our house. I always think Jane is going to have a heart attack when she sees dogs and cats, oh the excitement! I picked up a pj pattern for the girls at the last pattern sale at JoAnns. I was not intending to buy any pj fabric but when Lilly and I saw this cat knit fabric, we got very excited. Then we showed Jane. Well, we had to buy it after that reaction.





I was worried about making Jane a size 1 (which I was thinking would be a 12 month size) but based on the measurements and now seeing the final product on Jane it is actually quite big. Jane is petite for weight but I think this pattern runs big. Also, a BIG, ANNOYING PROBLEM that this pattern ended up having some mistakes. First the neck ribbing was supposed to have one cut and instead it said to cut two but then the sewing directions made it clear that only one was supposed to be cut. But the biggest mistake was the directions on how to sew the pants up. They were flat out wrong and made no sense! After 30 minutes of sitting there trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do and ripping the first seam out, I realized they were just wrong. If I had never sewn a pair of pants before I would have been crying in the corner. Also if I had paid more than a dollar, I would have been emailing McCalls.

Pattern: McCalls 6428, view A and C

Fabric: cat knit and rib knit from JoAnn's




This is the best I could get of Jane wearing them, we have to fold up the knit ribbing on both the legs and the arms to make it fit her better. but man she sure is cute!


I bought the same pattern in Lilly's size too. I am thinking some Christmas/winter pajamas are definitely in need.

Simplicity 2147

I have been picking up so many patterns at the dollar sales at JoAnns. I was very excited about making this pattern up. I love how the yoke and the sleeves are one piece. It ended up being very easy to put together and I gotta tell you that yoke fits me perfect. I love wearing this tunic!





I am still loving using a twin needle. I think it looks less homemade.


Pattern: Simplicity 2147, view B; only mod was to add a pocket.

Fabric: a linen/rayon blend from JoAnns




I really want to make some tops both long and short sleeves in this pattern and there is a great belt pattern in there too. Currently, I have a ton of girl clothes in the works. I am also planning what handmade gift to make each of them for Christmas. I love sewing for those girls.

hitchhiker

Yet, another selfish knit for me. I like this little shawlette/scarf. It was very simple to knit but did take sometime.



pattern: hitchhiker, pattern on ravelry for a small price

yarn: ella rae lace merino (love this yarn)

KCWC: days 3,4, and 5

I spent most of day 3 and 4 sewing flannel pajamas for Jane. I just had to finish them up on day 5. So I decided to make her a second pj top, since I often feed Jane breakfast in her pj's, she could always use extra tops. I decided to do a 90 minute top with the flannel, so I knew I had to cut it a bit big because of using flannel. So that worked but then I went and did a huge seam allowance and that ruined the top. It would fit on Jane but it was a struggle to get on and off, I knew it just wasn't going to be worth the trouble. So KCWC day 5 was a bust. But I did learn. Day 6 and 7 were an even bigger bust. I had no time to sew during the day and when I got the girls in bed each night, I was too pooped to sew. I feel good though that Jane got her last pair of leggings, some doctored up tops, and a set of pj's! Looking forward to the challenge again in the spring.



pattern: top pattern, McCall's 6152, I did not do the interfacing or facing, just used bias tape; pants pattern, traced from another pair

fabric: flannel from Joann's bought a few years ago

Kids Clothes Week Challenge Days 1 and 2

I have never felt I had the time to join in on the Kid's Clothes Week Challenge. Now that I am a stay at home mom, I was hoping to have the time. Jane has been taking some amazing hour plus naps so completing the challenge each day has been pretty good so far. I had another pair of leggings cut for Jane for a few weeks so I decided to use Day 1 of the KCWC to sew the leggings up (using the same tutorial as these leggings).



For Day 2 of KCWC, I made Jane another 90 minute shirt. I cut this shirt a little big so I added a gather to the middle front but I think it should have been bigger. It looks a little messy.




Jane actually needs more shirts. I am so over onesies. So also for day 2 and part of day 3, I cut some of her onesies off and hemmed the bottoms to become shirts. The shirt below, I used the rolled hem on my serger and stretched the knit to make it ruffle. I like the length on this, I was worried if I did a turned up hem the shirt would be too short. I made 3 other shirts from onesies. I am happy that now I won't skip over these clothes in her closet.

can you be in love with a twin needle?

I hope so, because I am. I can't stop using it. The hem looks so much better then using a single needle and sewing twice. I was doing that forever thinking the twin needle was intimidating. It's not. I made a batch of Jane pants with the twin needle.


The ever faithful big butt baby pants.





Then I saw this leggings tutorial on pinterest. It was one of those ideas that you see where everything else is instantly dropped (including Jane ha!) and these were cut and sewn. Seriously easy and cute.



Really happy with the stripe matching, who knew it would be as simple as Made described?! Sometimes common sense is not one of my attributes.


I made these for new little baby, Edrie.





The ruffles killed me on Edrie's bum so I made Jane a pair with some. Kills me on her too!