elodie

Is it just me or is there some kind of baby boom this past month?!

I'm very happy to announce that my cousin and his wife just welcomed their first child into their family - baby William. 

I haven't seen him yet but have been busy making some things to bring to the new baby.

I decided to make a stuffy this time because it's something I've never really made before (without using a sock).

 

And because it was a fun, and fairly quick project, this may be the first of many!

I found the pattern in one of my favourite sewing books called One Yard Wonders. 

The pattern is called Elodie Elephant.

I hope to drop Elodie off tomorrow to meet her new family.

easy peasy zippers & pillows

One of my goals for this year is to makeover my living room. 

So if all goes well, this would be the first of several posts in a little makeover series. Fingers crossed!

There happened to be a hockey game on today, so with the boys occupied I headed into my sewing room to make some new pillow covers for my couch.

As much as I'd love to have all creamy white pillows, I have two boys, so obviously pillows should be the colour of dirt. The plan (eventually) is to change up the wall colour from a taupey shade of dirt to a pale gray shade of dirt so I thought this fabric would work well.

So here's the before picture of the pillow that came with the couch. 
And although it conceals dirt well, it's not really working for me

before

When it comes to sewing, I'm all about doing it the easy way. So I bought one of these bad boys:

invisible zipper foot

It's a presser foot that allows me to sew on 'invisible zippers.' These kind of zippers cost a bit more but are SO worth it because they are so easy to install.
And, if you don't believe me, I'll show you just how I did it!

First I ironed and cut my fabric to size. 
I opened the zipper and pinned one side of it to the edge of the fabric with right sides together. I made sure that the very top of the zipper was lined up with the fabric too.

This zipper foot has two grooves underneath it - one on either side of the needle. I lined up the zipper so that the needle would stitch just to the outside of the track. I sewed it on, starting from the top of the zipper, working my way down to the bottom.

Zipper fits into the right groove when stitching to the left of it like this.

My finger is just out of view here, but I was able to get the needle even closer to the zipper tracks by pushing down on it and rolling it flat (as seen at the bottom of the picture). 

Once I stitched to the end of the zipper, I lined up the other half of the track the same way. I stitched down the side, beginning at the top of the zipper again.

Because this is an invisible zipper, there was no need to top stitch. 

Zipper = done!

Can you see the zipper?!

To finish off the pillow cover I just had to pin it with right sides together and sew it closed. 

One tip if you would like to try this too: pin the pieces together with the zipper closed, but don't forget to open it before sewing (it makes it hard to open). Ask me how I know that!

And voila!

Now how long do you think these pillows will last with my two boys around?! Hopefully long enough to get the living room painted.

baby T

Earlier this week I showed you a gift I made for my neighbours and their new baby boy. 

But I also gave them something a little more fun that I haven't shown you yet.

As you know, I absolutely love the technique of using freezer paper as a stencil for painting on fabric. So of course, I had to make baby Mitchell a fun new shirt too!

How could I resist?!

So much cuter than just a plain ol' T, no?! 

To start, I printed out the iPod logo with apple and traced it onto my freezer paper (with an extra letter). I cut out the template I had made and ironed it on to the shirt. 
Then I painted the letters.

Next to play with the infamous apple logo. 
I wanted to keep its recognizable shape but turn it into a poopy diaper as well.  

I tried a couple different ways - but being limited in my artistic abilities - I really struggled with this part.  It seemed so much easier in my head.

I ended up painting it white and then going over it with fabric markers. 
So you think I pulled it off?!

I love the stem - turned stinky fumes tee hee!

there's a new kid on the block

My neighbour (and friend) had a baby this week!
We didn't know the sex until his arrival, so I've been feverishly working away to get this baby boy's gift ready ever since.

I managed to get it finished today.

Because he's the second child in this family, there's not a whole lot they 'need' in terms of gifts so I decided to give them something a little more personalized...

I used a pattern from the 'Winsome Baby' book by Art to Heart and Nancy Halvorsen.

Oh! And in case you're wondering: baby and mum are happy, healthy and home.

pack n play fitted sheet

Just a quick little project to share here but first I want to apologize for the crummy flash pictures!

I'll snap better ones next time (I hope).

I wanted a fitted sheet for my 'pack-and-play' (you know those portable cribs) and decided to make my own.

For the fabric, I cut up a twin-sized sheet into the desired smaller size (one sheet is big enough to make 2 or 3 of these). I added a few inches on all sides so the sheet could fold over the edges. Then I rounded off the corners, folded the edge over a thin elastic and encased it with a flatlock (serge).

Fairly simple but a great way to keep my pack-and-play clean and comfy!

growing up fast

This picture was taken 4 years ago. It is me with my oldest son, Malcolm. 

This little guy is going to be eight years old soon and each day he continues to amaze me. 

He's so very bright. I know, I know, every parent thinks that their child is smart. But what I mean is that he knows so much more about the way the world works compared to me at that age. He has this insatiable curiosity that is unmatched (except maybe by his father) and it serves him very well. He's so different from me in that sense.

We do share a sense of humour though. Right now he's all about the potty humour but in general he's pretty funny and laughs often too. This morning he took it upon himself to wrap the sprayer at the kitchen sink with elastics so that the button would stay in the 'on' position. My unsuspecting husband turned the tap on to pour himself a glass of water before heading to work and got sprayed!! Hilarious (because it wasn't me).

Lately I've been teasing Malcolm about the girls in his class. It amazes me how young girls start being interested in boys. My son is aware of girls, but really just wants to play sports. It's not that he's awkward and doesn't socialize with girls, it's just that they're not on his radar in that way ...yet. 

There are only about 4 or 5 boys in Malcolm's class so the odds are pretty good for him when he does become interested. And already a few little girls have crushes on him. He's learning the intricacies of relationships and the language that goes with them. One day he told me that a girl in his class broke up with him. My ears perked up and I asked him to elaborate. He said that she didn't love him anymore and that meant she broke up with him. I explained that you both have to love each other to be dating and break it off.

"Oh" he said.

I love the innocence of it all. And of course I love to tease him about it too. When I do, he just nervously smiles and says: "Ew, gross." And I take comfort in his response because before long, this won't be the case and I'm very aware of how temporary this all is.

When I kiss this little guy goodbye in the morning and send him on his way to school, I worry that it will be the day that he becomes embarrassed by his mom kissing him in front of his friends. But for now, he leans in and turns his cheek to me, looking for that embrace.
And I am very thankful for that moment each day - for as long as I'm allowed to have it.

whatcha-ma-call-it

I'm not even sure what you call these, or exactly what they are for. I always thought they were for crafts like knitting or even magazines. A place to store unfinished projects and keep them nearby.

the 'before' picture

I found this one at the Thrift store with big plans to replace the original fabric. I would work out a pattern and recover every one of these that I came across in a funky new fabric to give it new life. I was on a mission. A mission to rid homes of these ugly whatcha-ma-call-its.

I brought two of them home and cut the fabric off ever so carefully so that I could use it as a pattern.

Then I got to work.

I sewed all the pieces I could by machine, but then I couldn't get the wooden rods apart so I had to sew the rest in place by hand. So it sat. For weeks. Waiting for me to finish it. I'm not a big fan at hand sewing (unless it's decorative stitches) but I finally finished it the other day.

This was a real pain in my behind to do so I've given up on my big plans. 
Sorry folks, you'll have to rid the world of ugliness yourselves.
I have an extra one of these if anyone needs one!
Oh, and can anyone tell me what it is actually for??

fairies, ballerinas, and princesses oh my!

I'm still here!!

This week turned out to be a busy one so I didn't get to post nearly as much as I would have liked. I have a lot to make up for so I'll jump right in!

When I was a little girl I took ballet classes and dreamed of one day having a big poofy tutu. I wanted one just like the Prima Ballerinas. In the end, I didn't follow through on my dreams of dancing professionally but I know that this is a common fantasy for many little girls. And any little girl who wants a tutu, should probably have one. Wouldn't you agree?!

I made this easy, almost no-sew tutu to add to our dress-up box. I used three different shades of tulle: a meter each of dark purple and pale violet, and about half a meter of soft pink. It doesn't come across well in the picture, but the mix of the three colours really adds depth and visual interest. 

To make the tutu, I cut out 3 inch strips of tulle (the length of the fabric) and folded them in half. Then I stitched the ends of an elastic together at the desired length.

I placed a tulle strip over the elastic at the fold and tied it into a knot around the elastic (so that the tulle was the same length on both sides). I repeated this step all the way around the elastic, alternating the colours of tulle. 

Once the tutu was at the desired fullness, I took a whole spool of matching ribbon and wrapped it over top of the elastic and tulle knots, leaving some extra ribbon at both ends for the bow.

That was it! A project easy enough for anyone to make for their little fairies, future ballerinas and even princesses to enjoy!