Have a bad day? Make yourself a bag, it helps!

So I’ve been working on Keyka Lou‘s bracelet bag in a little sew along with my friend.  We only get to it every second Tuesday when we have our night in at my house and we have the kids.  Needless to say we don’t get much sewing done until about 8pm and by then it’s almost time for her to leave.  So this week I had a bad day and in a grumpy moment I decided to just finish my bag to cheer my myself up.  It worked wonders!

I used this cute little button because it looks like the inside of a tree and I figured it went well with the fabric.  I *think* it’s a Heidi Grace print but I’m not sure, can’t seem to find it to prove that, but I’m pretty sure I got it at Joann’s.  It’s a great size, there’s a inside and outside pocket.  I added a button hole to my outside pocket, which was a fantastically easy thing to do with my Babylock!!  I just may have to post a video of that so everyone can marvel, it was insanely easy.

The bag is also awesome for hanging on your wrist so you can still have 2 hands, hence the name bracelet bag.  I tried to take a photo of that in action but I was alone and dashing outside for a minute away from the kids so it’s not the best shot but you get the idea.

Triple Double Rainbow pillows!

Apparently my double rainbow pillow has been making some rounds on facebook!  Now it’s like domninoes, my etsy store is getting some link love.  I’m getting emails asking me to make more.  As I list them they’re selling!  It’s crazy!

Thanks Facebook, as if you didn’t already steal enough of my time guess what I have to do all weekend! 

Finally a beginning to the Handmade Beginnings projects.

Finally decided to take some time to tackle a project from Handmade Beginnings. I vowed to use things I had on hand so while they aren’t as colourful as the ones in the book they’re equally as cute once they’re on my little sweetie. I used some IKEA fabric and some red with little white polka dots and just plain yellow.

It’s been pretty hot lately so Nate sort of objected when I snagged him to put some pants on for a photo op. So it only lasted a few shots. I had to distract him with toys and stealing his suckie to get him to stretch up for a nice back shot.

The instructions were really easy to follow.  I was surprised by the way they laid out the patterns, to save paper I understand, and I had to tape it all to a window and trace the pieces onto graph paper.  I went with the 24 month pattern, even though Nate’s only 18 months, they’re a little big so they’ll fit him for a while.  I turned the cuffs up twice so they wouldn’t be too long.  He was napping when I was finishing them up so I used Wesley as my model.  The pants would fit him perfectly if there was another inch or two on the bottom.  I’m hyped to make some more.

A happy beginning with Happy Beginnings!!

Wheeeeee!  My copy of Happy Beginnings arrived this week.  I’m soooo exited.  I can’t really decide which project to start with but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be either these baby pants of the scrappy nap pillow!

Someday I’m tackling this peek-a-boo quilt.

Handmade Beginnings = want!!

Went to the bookstore Thursday while Wesley was at pre-school, figured I’d let Nate play at the Thomas table there without a big brother taking all the fun toys.  Strangely enough, he usually just ends up playing beside some 3 year old who acts like Wesley.  Or wandering around.  I swear he doesn’t really know what to do with toys he is usually being ordered around or redirected.

I flipped through Handmade Beginnings while I waited.  I must have it.  Lots of willpower was used in the non-buying of this book.  There’s been too much shopping lately.  It is however near the top of my wishlist now!  There’s a great pillow pattern in there and an awesome hide and seek quilt as well. Anna Maria Horner also have a nifty little blog as well as another book.

Tara the pattern tester!!

Found myself some more fun online!  Went over to Pepperberry & Co and saw there was a need for pattern testers!  I thought it might be fun and of course there’s some free perks involved for playing along.  I’m so happy to have been assigned the ipod/iphone cover thingie.  What a coincidence i just got an iphone about 2 weeks ago!  Can’t wait to get started on it.

Thanks for the opportunity Sandra!

One Yard Wonders strikes again . . . and again?

I finished stuffing Steggie and sewing him up today.  He’s a bit wonky though.  I think maybe I’m a better make it from scratch person than a pattern follower.  But, wonky or not he was made with love!  Nate was trying to pull him off the table this morning before he was even stuff so clearly he likes him already.  I’m still not sure I did the darts correctly, and his feet seem to be a little misshapen.  Oh and one leg is somehow a bit shorter . . . *sigh*

I love the fabric, it’s Heidi Grace and has little hearts on it and is so cute.  I found it challenging to sew the feet and they’re a little more uneven than I would have liked.  Of course Wesley asked if I would make him one tomorrow.  He even specified ‘orange with blue spikes’.  Choosing complementary colours already?  That’s my boy!  Guess I’m trying Steggie again.

Tags: baby, heidi grace, kids, one yard wonders, sewing, toys

More Steggies and how I work.

So I decided, in the spirit of dinosaurs to make Nate a Steggie from One Yard Wonders.  So I set to it tonight.  I learned I’m not too good at following a pattern, and when I didn’t know what the instructions meant about making a dart I probably should have Googled it after all.  So our poor little Steggie needs some tweaking tomorrow but he’s still going to be a cutie.

There’s been a lot of talk on my online course about how people work, and manage their time.  With 2 little ones at home, and a job it’s been challenging for me to maintain a blog and start an Etsy store.  Now I’ve also added a craft show in May so the pressure’s on.  When I started my blog to help me be creative I hadn’t returned to work yet so it was a bit easier with the extra free time.  However, it did set a sort of standard for crafting and now I try really hard to keep up the pace with posting and creating.   That said, here’s my new system.  I escape downstairs, either while the kids are sleeping, hubby watches them or after they go to bed and I load something to watch up on my desktop computer, put on my headphones (which allow me to hear over the noise of the sewing machine) and get to work!  Yesterday my husband watched the kids a whole bunch, hence my productiveness, and the headphones help block out the sound of the kids which would either distract me or annoy me.  Ignore the mess, and the glare from the OttLight but here’s what it looked like when I left just now.  (That’s deflated Steggie lying next to the book)

A brilliant idea for lost lonely single socks.

As if losing my own socks wasn’t enough, then there was a husband’s socks for me to lose.  Now there’s 2 little ones and more socks I have to keep tracks of!!  So I’ve been keeping this little pile of lonely socks lying around for months ‘just in case’ the other sock reappears.  Then I had an idea.  Wednesday I brought home a paper box from work and started my project.

I cut off part of the box to make it angled to sit on the floor nicely.  With a Sharpie I drew some big circles on it, I was going to make flowers but then I figured two boys would probably go for something a little less girly.  So I turned the circles into mouth of goofy looking aliens.  They’re sort of our family, a big daddy alien, a eyelashed mommy alien, a boy alien and a little baby alien.

Cut out the holes with a blade or sharp knife.  Then I painted them in, while watching LOST.  I just used craft paints, nothing special.

Back to the pile of socks, pictured here.  I also used a lonely single scratch mitten since we don’t need those anymore.

Since, coincidentally, I had been researching bean bag fillings I decided to use rice.  You can rinse them and air dry, if it breaks open it’s pretty easy to clean and if Nate did try to eat it no big deal.  The socks were pretty easy to fill, I just used a spoon and sewed them shut with the machine since it was fast, hand sewing would work.  Cut off the excess sock and you’re ready to go.

I hoped for an action shot today but it was harder to get than I thought.  Wesley turned the game box into a machine and was driving it around the house while stacking the ‘bubbles’ (aka the socks) in a pile in a corner of the kitchen.  Oh well, the point was for them to have fun and they did.

My newest idea, and a thrift find!

I was struck with an idea last night while in the kitchen with the kids.   I think it might have been inspired by my sewing machine cover on my chair.  I had the idea to make a little pouch thingie for the back of the kitchen chairs to store some creative supplies within arms reach of my son when he’s sitting down.  I also figured it would come in handy once he’s at school for completing homework, we can keep pencils and other supplies right there and not have to worry and fumble around looking for things.  So I went to my trusty sewing machine once the kiddies were in bed and whipped this up,

I still need to play with the design a bit, I’d like it to roll up and be portable so you could grab it and go, in the van, to Grandma’s off to the park, whatever. I’m hoping to make it fairly universal so it would fit almost any kitchen or dining room chair. It attached with ribbon that I just tied, thought that was more universal than sewing loops. The fabric is from IKEA, I wanted something kid friendly but not too loud and obnoxious for the kitchen. I have no idea how one is supposed to make a pattern but I relied on my trusty chart graph paper and sketched and cut a template out yesterday while the kiddies ran about.

It’s a very high tech process. Hopefully I can get to making a second one tomorrow.

In unrelated news, every other Tuesday I have my ‘night out’ with my bff! Lately I’ve taken to dragging her to thrift stores. Last Tuesday I found this and loved it!

It reminds me of my Nanny and all my summers spent at the trailer at the lake. Trailers and cottages always seem to have random vintage/retro stuff in them like this. Plus my Nanny, like most Grandparents, was happy to keep things around as long as they still worked, even if they were older than me. My favourite was the avocado green electric knife she had that didn’t actually turn off unless you unplugged it from the wall . . . because that’s safe!! I miss you Nanny, thanks for teaching me to knit and showing me how to cook a turkey, love you.