Fair and Rodeo (aka Beauty and the Beast)

I entered projects in the fair!  4 to be exact.  The diaper bag I made jsut before C was born, her baptism outfit, the hoodie, and I'm also working on 1 more top.  It's an Oliver + S pattern in beautiful red seersucker.

I hope I win something.

C is still a crawling machine.  She goes everywhere now.  And she pulls herself up on anything she can get a handle on.  It's like I don't have time to take pictures because she is already into the next mess.

I am going to make her one of these.  I think it will be a safe thing to pull up on.  My sister sent me some great fabric from Amsterdam for Caroline and I can't think of anything to make with it, maybe this would be appropriate.  It's not home dec fabric but I could just interface it, right?

We also got a bike trailer and hooked it up last night.  Our first family bike ride was fun, even though it got dark earlier than expected.  And today I took C all around town in the trailer.  If you see a lady in a neon pink helmet pulling a bike trailer with a purple bike (named Zeek, the bike, not the lady) it's probably me.  I'm going everywhere on that thing.

Rodeo is a crazy time in my town.  I'm bracing myself.  The pizza shop is swamped, and everywhere you go you are bumping into cowboys.  Real cowboys and wannabes.  Either way there are too many people in my town.  I don't like it.  And every year I end up going to Fred Meyer for some stupid thing and I just want to yell, "get out of my town!"  I think the solution is to do my grocery shopping early this year, and take a chill pill.  Or have a beer which wasn't an option last year.  I think I was just hot and cranky because I was 7 months pregnant.

Next weekend I am going dress shopping with my friend Hannah.  She's getting married next July and I am, drum roll, the maid of honor again.  Yay!  I feel more prepared this time, and ready for the challenge.

Baby hoodie

First tutorial here.  I tried to get pictures of everything so here we go!  

Step1:  Gather your fabric.  I've got a thinner sweatshirt material in grey and ribbing in purple.

Step 2:  Find a shirt or sweatshirt that is the right size.  It doesn't have to be hooded.  I grabbed a 2T sweatshirt because I didn't want to worry about seam allowances (I know, lazy).  If you are using a shirt that just fits make sure to add 1/2 inch on all sides for seam allowances.  Trace the shirt body first making sure to respect the different necklines in the front and back.

I wore this shirt when I was little!

See, different neck lines.

Draw a straight line from the armpit to the neckline.  We're making a raglan style sweatshirt.

Step 3:  Trace the sleeves.  There should be a corresponding straight line from the armpit of the sleeve to the shoulder.  I also added a notch 3 inches from the armpit so that I could match the sleeves with the body of the shirt a little better.

These are my 2 pattern pieces so far.

A zoom of the notch.  Professional huh?

Step 4:  Sew the body to the sleeves.  Match your notches and it should be a cinch.  Make sure to use a ZIG-ZAG stitch or it won't stretch with the comfy fabric you bought.  (or if you have a Serger and know how to use it, I guess you could do that.)  You will end up with something like this:

Next flip the right sides together and sew up the sides and on down the sleeves like this:

Step 5: Make the hood.  At first I drew a shape like this.  

Too small hood piece.

I didn't measure, and that was a mistake.  The hood was too small.  I ended up sewing it on because I didn't think to try just the hood on Little C....I sewed it to the pieces and got this:

I didn't know her cheeks could look any bigger.

It's okay Mom, try again!

Moral of the story, measure!  To cut the hood piece first measure the neckline.  Divide that number in half and that is how long the bottom line of your hood needs to be.  Little C's neckline was 16, so the bottom of the hood was 8 inches.  See?

Cut 4 pieces.  2 for the outside and 2 for the lining.  If you wanted to, you could line it with some cool crazy fabric, or flannel to make it warmer.  I just used the same knit.

I didn't take extensive pictures at this point.  I was excited to see if the hood was the right size and sewed it together too quick.  You should take the lining and the main pieces and sew around the curved edge, right sides together.  Then fit them inside one another and sew along the straight edge that will eventually frame the face.  Your measured neckline will be the only side open and it should look like this:

Try it on your little one at this point.  You will appreciate it later.  If it fits, baste the neckline and pin and sew it on the body of your sweatshirt.  Almost there!

Step 6:  Next measure for cuffs and the bottom ribbing.  cut blocks that are 1/2 to 1 inch smaller than the sleeves and 1 to 2 inches smaller than the bottom of the sweatshirt so it will fit snug.  Make sure to cut the fabric so it will stretch around their little wrists and keep the cold out.  The lines in the fabric will be parallel to their chubby little arms when they are wearing it. 

Sew up the side.

Fold it in half and slip it over the sleeve.  Sew around the edge and turn it right sides out.

Yay!  A sleeve!

Repeat this for the other sleeve and the bottom of the shirt.

Step 6:  Add a kangaroo pocket.  Every sweatshirt, no matter how small, needs pockets.  Where else would you put the extra pacifiers?  Cut a piece like this:

Fold over and sew alonf the diagonal sides.  This is where the little hands reach in.  Then pin it to your shirt front.  And sew along the top and bottom and you are finished!

Woooo!  Ready to hang out on the couch with dad and watch Barney!

If you have any questions please ask!  I would love to help.  

Finally some good weather!

It was 70 degrees here.  Finally!
We usually ahve good weather early, but not this year.  My parents even got snow the day before yesterday, and they are only a couple of hours away.
Unfortunately I had to work all weekend.  I'm trying to put in some extra hours before Little C's baptism next weekend.  It's also my sister's birthday so we are going to spend some time together too.
But when I got home it was still warm so I put on some shorts and we played outside.

This is Little C in her darling sun hat.  I'm so glad she lets us put hats and bows on her.

I am working on her baptism dress using two different tutorials.
The Charlotte Dress
and
Blessing/Confirmation Dress
And I got the pattern for the sun bonnet from Made By Rae here.
She's gonna look good.
I see lots of bonnets in her future.

Little C's baptism dress

I finished Little C's baptism dress minutes ago, and I'm really happy how it turned out.  As you can see, she is too.

I had a vague plan when I started: lots of ruffles.  And this is what I ended up doing.  It is made from 2 tshirts from Michael's for $5.  No kidding.

And I decided to use it as my audition in the One Month To Win It contest.  Yikes!  I'm excited, I think I have the ability to win this thing if given the chance.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In other news, I ran a 5K today, hoping to see what kind of shape I'm in for racing.  It has only been a few weeks of actual, regular running, but I think I'm doing great.  I was the first stroller to cross the finish line.  And it wasn't exactly a stroller friendly course, a majority of it was on a loose gravel trail.  Little C loved all the bumps and off-roading, she growled and waved her hands most of the time.  

skirt: check!

Finished my sister's skirt.  I link to the tutorial I used in an earlier post, but I also added something to it.  When I made the skirt for me, I didn't like the unfinished edges inside.  I decided to finish all the edges this time.

Unsavory unfinished edges...

Leave the waistband open, sew only the outside and use the inside layer to cover the edges.  Press a small fold in the inside layer as pictures...look close.

pin the layer over the edges.

 Stitch in the ditch to hold inside layer over edges.  They are essentially hidden inside the waistband.

 Careful that the pins go in without pulling up bits of the skirt.

The finished product!

I shipped it off to my sister, she should have it in time to wear to church on Sunday!  My mom says she has been checking the mail everyday...even Sunday!

Next small project is for a friend's birthday.  I am making magnets....

Easter Dress!

I decided to use some of the fabric I have been hoarding to make Little C an Easter dress.  I found this great tutorial.
I drew my own pattern for the bodice and added a sash.  I wasn't sure how big she would be by next month so I hope the sash will make up for anything I couldn't predict.  I think it turned out great.

Little C loved the skirt.

She even loved falling over.

My next project is a skirt for my little sister.  I will post pictures as I work on it.  

This is the fabric she picked out.  The solid will be for the underskirt and pockets.  I might have enough left over to make her a little wallet too.  I'm using this tutorial for the skirt.

I already made one for myself so I know it will turn out.

Oh and here are a couple cute headbands I made for Little C's Easter basket.  Still a little too young for candy so we will just make her cute things to wear.  Never too young to be fashionable.