Bicycle Shirt

I've been having fun with freezer paper lately. I kind of want to paint everything. I love how Isaac's shirt turned out.

We have a lot of solid shirts around here so I should be busy for a while.

Autumn

Fall is officially here in the U.P. We've been having some windy, rainy, dreary days. Perfect for getting a few things done inside. I spent yesterday cleaning house so I would be able to have a craft day today, guilt-free. I always have these grand plans of getting 17 projects knocked off my pile but I somehow only managed to finish a couple. Between both kids and the fact that I was out of much needed white thread, I'm lucky I got anything done.

I have been wanting to put designs on the boys' shirts with freezer paper so I went to Michael's a while ago searching for it. I mean, all the craft bloggers use it so it must be at the craft store right? Whoops. The guy at Michael's had no idea what I was talking about. I finally emailed Dana and she was gracious enough to get back to me. Oh, duh, you buy it from the grocery store. I had some fun this evening and I'm not done yet!

These last few days have been so nice. I feel like things are finally slowing down a little after the go-go-go of summertime. I'm looking forward to more crafting days--maybe this will be the year I actually have handmade clothes for our little family. Jeff did say he wanted me to design some shirts for him. You have no idea how happy that makes me.

Generally this time of year is super motivational for me, even more so than New Year's. This year it has been a little slow to get started, but I feel the momentum picking up!

Daily Journal and Fishing

Summertime is getting away from me! It's the middle of August and it already feels like fall in the U.P. The tips of many of the maples are just beginning to change. Perhaps next month I'll get back to more regular blogging.
Jeff went fishing overnight on Monday with my cousin Tom. It was my first night alone in our new house and I survived to tell the tale. Or lack of a tale. It was a peaceful night, thank goodness. Of course, I had Adrian to protect me, he was pretty excited to go to sleep in our room. He's been sleeping in there more often than not lately but he generally starts out in his own room. I enjoyed a few evening hours alone and devoured the rest of the birthday cake. Kidding. Actually, I'm serious and it was good.

I thought the guys had good luck fishing when Jeff brought home a cooler of salmon weighing 20-something lbs, but apparently they didn't do well at all for that area. I guess they'll just have to go again! Tom is coming over for supper tonight to enjoy some of that fish.
Last night, I had a few ladies over for craft night (you know, since I finally have the space to do that). I had pinned this journal calendar a while back--yeah I think all of my projects for craft night come from Pinterest--and started on it last night.

I didn't actually read the post on Design Sponge until I was about halfway through making the calendar so mine is a little different. I didn't have enough index cards so I mixed them in with colored cardstock and I decided to leave out the month dividers for now. I'll probably just keep the current date at the front and file it to the back each day. I also used both sides of each card since the cardstock is thicker than the notcards; there wouldn't have been enough room for 366 cards. (Dont' forget Leap Day!) I'm excited to have this since I like to journal, in theory, I just don't always remember to do it. This way, I can quickly jot down something from my day and be able to look back each year. How fun!

Mooshy Belly Bunny

The girls get together for craft night semi regularly (there's one tonight, woohoo!) and last time I made this Mooshy Belly Bunny that I had pinned a while back. (Click on the picture for a link to the tutorial from Chez Beeper Bebe.)

Here's how mine turned out:

Hm...somehow not quite as adorable. I realize now that the fabric I used was way too stretchy so the head in particular ended up too wide when I stuffed it. It was pretty quick to make (who am I kidding, it took me 3 seperate occasions to finish but in all fairness, the little boy above often steals my attention). Isaac is learning to grab things so this was the perfect time for him to get a new toy. Or a toy in general. I got rid of all of our baby toys because I didn't like any of them so it's time to start getting a few. I'd love to get him one of the nice, wooden teething toys that I've seen on Etsy as well but anyways....

Now Adrian wants one so I may make his a little bigger and I'll probably make another one for Isaac but his seems like it should have a rattle inside. I wonder where I would find that without ordering a ton...

Now I'm off to find something to make for tonight's craft night!

"I'm a big helper hey, Mom?"

The boys are resting so I have a little bit of time to kick up my feet uninterrupted. We had a rough morning. The kind that makes me want to run away. For a few minutes anyways. I was out late with the ladies last night to do some crafting. Inspired by this, I used paint chips to make this:

Adrian was up earlier than usual jumping on me and yelling which soon turned to whining and crying and screaming (at me) and it didn't stop till about 11:30. I hope it's over. I think I get even more frustrated with the situation knowing that everything would be fine and dandy if we were outside which would be so much easier to do if we had a yard to step out to. We're still house-hunting, I hope we find something soon! (Then maybe we won't have to deal with that beautiful faux wood paneling.)

Yesterday was a lot better. After grocery shopping Adrian put the groceries away.

I never asked him to, he just started putting them away. If it didn't belong in the fridge, he put it on the counter.

Bananas were on sale, we go through them like crazy since we drink smoothies every morning.
Sorry about the super blurry pictures, I was laughing out loud by this point.

He's a super great kid when he wants to be. We love him either way but I definitely prefer him this way. ;)

Black and White

Third time's a charm. I finally made a shirt for Adrian. You saw the first attempt. The second attempt looked too feminine. The third attempt is currently on his body and it's my favorite so far.

Nice mug shot. He is so cranky right now, he's headed to my bed to take a rest, I hope he falls asleep even if it is after 4. It took me about 8 hours to make this shirt because I had to keep stopping to rescue Isaac from whatever torture Adrian was currently using on him. (This picture is so goofy, he didn't have any pants on so I was trying not to get his undies.)

I swear that top stripe is straight, the neckline is so tight (looking) when the shirt first goes on but it will open up after wearing it for a little bit and look more normal.

We tried out a new restaurant this past weekend and I had salad for the first time ever. I feel like such a big girl. All three of us solid-food-eaters had burgers and you could either have a mixed greens salad or potato salad on the side. Cold potatoes just seem wrong to me so I decided to try the green salad since the server mentioned a maple vinaigrette. It was so good! I can't stop thinking about salad now. I'm all, "Oh! Is this why you crazy people love salad so much?" So much so in fact, that tonight we're having burgers and salad with whatever vinaigrette I whip up. I think I'll throw in some sliced almonds and dried cranberries too. Can't wait!

Let's Review

I used this tutorial to make a baby wrap similar to this and it turned out like this:

Did you follow that?

If you actually clicked over to the tutorial, you'll see that it uses half the yardage that most other tutorials would use by simply cutting the width of the fabric in half and then sewing the two pieces together.  I was able to buy 3 yards instead of 6. Basically, with most other tutorials you're either paying the same, if not more, than you would if you had just bought the Moby Wrap in the first place.

My thoughts on the tutorial and resulting baby wrap:

1. Great idea for using half yardage. I was able to make a wrap for half the price.
2. Very straightforward directions...if you have the space. The hardest part was getting the fabric lined up to cut since it uses a knit fabric. I did it in my hallway since it was kind of long enough but it wasn't wide enough and a certain 2-year-old was constantly running across the fabric.
3. There is a step to sew patterned fabric over the center seam (which is a nice, neat french seam) so I chose some super awesome fabric somehow failed to notice the pink factor on this one until it showed up at my door:

Source

Not sure how I missed that. I looked at a local quilt shop for an alternative but found absolutely nothing that interested me so I decided it looked okay with the french seam (it's not showing in the picture) so I'll leave it that way for now. Or forever.
4. The ends of the wrap are tapered to make it easier to tie and I just lined up the ends and eyeballed it. Trust me, no one else will notice it's not perfect. In fact that's the nice thing about the knit, the edges aren't finished since I don't have a serger (someday!) and it looks just fine.
5. When I first put it on (after watching this video) it was WAY TOO LONG. I mean, after wrapping it around my waist and tying it, I was still tripping over it. Huge bummer because this could have been an even cheaper wrap. I ended up cutting an extra 5 feet off and now it fits perfectly.
6. I used an interlock knit (you need a one-way stretch) and I somehow managed to miss that it was made of polyester, I would have much preferred cotton. We'll see how that works out in the summertime...
7. Considering the patterned fabric didn't work out, I really wish I would have chosen an interlock in a fun color. I was having a hard time matching solids to prints when I was starting out with the solid interlock. So I reversed that which is why I ended up with a boring gray. I actually love gray but this one looks almost like slate blue on its own.

Overall, I'm loving the wrap. It's such a simple design (really, just a very long strip of fabric), it's easy to put on, and Isaac loves it. Plus, it's more comfortable, less bulky, and easier on the eyes than my front pack. I can't wait to use it for grocery shopping instead of lugging his carseat in. (I have yet to go anywhere with him by myself.)

You can find instructions and videos for several different holds here.

We Like Stripes

Jeffery worked with a friend for part of the day and I stayed home and spent some time with my sewing machine. Nothing too exciting today, just a few things that have been adding up in the finish up or fix pile. Like the baby wrap that I've been trying to finish. I finally did today because I didn't want Isaac laying by himself all day while my hands were busy. He's sleeping in it as I type..pictures on a day when I actually get dressed. I was working on resizing a pair of pants today so I never quite made it out of my pajamas since I intended to wear the pants when I finished.

We only had one little mishap; Adrian figured out what I mean when I say "don't touch the iron, it's hot." Poor kiddo cried "OW!" for 10 minutes straight as I tried to console him. He's been running around with a wet paper towel wrapped around his finger for the last many hours. I tried to put lavender oil on it but he kept wiping it off and we don't have any bandages. Pair that with his dirty, almond butter face, and tiny little boxer-brief clad body and he's quite a sight. 

I was hoping to actually work on something fun for Restyle once I had a few other little projects out of the way, but that never happened. There's always tomorrow! Or later this evening. Even though I wasn't super-duper productive since I still had to look after my boys it was so nice to have a day of sewing (and neglect for the rest of our home, of course). I need to do that more often. (As Jeff's eyes widen.) ;)

Day 10: Something I Made

I've been collecting magazine pages for the last several months with the intention of making paper beads. Have you ever made them? They are really easy, I think I was about 10 the first time I made them. The trick is to use really thick paper so I've been holding onto magazine covers with pretty colors.

I found a size that I liked, somewhere around a half-inch, and used my paper cutter to cut triangles. Then, I used my fingers (I wrecked my paintbrush last time I used mod-podge because I didn't clean it very well...) to spread mod-podge on the side of the triangle that I wanted on the inside and starting on the wide side, used the wooden skewer to roll it up nice and tight. I finished them off with a bit more mod-podge to seal it all together.

I have yet to make anything with them, I really just wanted to get the pages off my desk.

I know there are organizations out there where impoverished women make and sell jewelry made from recycled paper beads. Some of them use posters to make big chunky beads, they look awesome. A friend of mine has a colorful necklace that was made by one of these organizations and it looks really cool with the big beads. She said she didn't even realize they were paper beads until someone else pointed it out.

Be Mine, Valentine

Our date went great the other night! I felt like a kid again when I didn't have the responsibility of caring for a kid. The weather was fairly mild so we walked around town, checking out some of the shops before heading to L'Attitude. It was our first time there and we were both impressed. It feels more upscale, but the prices are very reasonable. We ate on a couch. Ha! Can't say I've ever done that before. Jeff ordered the whitefish tacos and I had the chicken stir-fry--which was served with chopsticks. I was momentarily freaked out, I don't know how to use those things! But then I saw the napkin-wrapped silverware on the table and everything was cool. We'll definitely try it out again.

Afterwards, we went bowling and then came home to watch Water For Elephants which was a big disappointment for me, the book was much better.

When we went to pick Adrian up the next day I was hoping for a little more than a grunt that we were here, but that's about all I got. He wasn't completely thrilled that we were coming to take him home. On the other hand, I was glad to hear he did just fine overnight without us!

I guess this week isn't completely uneventful; Last night, the ladies got together for a craft night. (Which should definitely be a regular thing!) I didn't want to lug my sewing machine over, and besides, it's been acting up lately, so I decided to do some hand-sewing instead. I had seen these felt heart pockets on Pinterest and at the last minute (as in, 5 minutes before Kate arrived to pick me up) I grabbed some felt and embroidery thread to take with me.

I did them a little differently, with the opening in the back so I could put an initial on the front. They were super simple to make and now Adrian has a few Valentine's to hand out! Okay, so he's only 2, but I thought they were cute so I decided 'what the heck' and made them. I can just see all the late-night February 13th's when Adrian starts school...

Happy Halloween!

We're taking Adrian trick-or-treating for the first time tonight. He is so excited! We've been talking about it for the past week or so and he is always telling me, "say, 'trick-or-treat,' give candy, say, 'thank-you!'" I've been letting him play in his pumpkin costume for the past few days to get him comfortable with wearing it and boy, he's comfortable! Last night, he was wearing it (sweating) and I took it off to change him into his pajamas. As soon as his pajamas were on he wanted it on again and was so upset when I had to take it off for him to go to bed. He wore it until lunchtime today, again sweating, and only took it off because I didn't want it to get dirty while he was eating. I don't think we'll have any trouble with it tonight! He's been asking all morning, "Go trick-or-treating?" His voice gets all high-pitched at the end and he raises his eyebrows. "Go trick-or-treating when Daddy get home?"

I whipped up a trick-or-treat bag for Adrian today. I can't take credit for the idea, I saw this bag on Etsy. I had some green fabric left over from another bag, I used felt and black buttons for the eyes.

Adrian was so impatient for me to finish making it so he could carry it around. I wish I could get a picture of him looking all excited but it was difficult enough to get him to hold the bag in the right direction.

Trick-or-treating pictures tomorrow and that shirt if I remember to get a picture!

Happy Halloween! Be safe!

Autumn Leaves

I did end up making the leaf garland I was talking about. It was such a super simple project which is so motivating to do more projects. I think I used my sewing machine twice over the summer so we definitely have some catching up to do.

I had a bunch of felt sheets leftover from Easter...I made some animals for Adrian with the intention of making a felt board. I have yet to buy materials for said board. Anyway, I cut out a bunch of simple leaves which took all of 10 minutes and sewed them right up. From the looks of my piles, I thought the garland would be able to double up over my living room window. In fact, I thought it would be even longer than that. Let me tell you, I am a terrible estimator; I was only able to drape it once.

The above picture is my best shot of the garland 'in action.' Even on a dark, gloomy day, my camera is no match for the window.

I'm already thinking about what kind of garland to make once fall is officially over (which seems to happen pretty quickly in this area). Probably pom-poms...Am I the only one excited for Christmas while there are still green leaves on the trees? I blame it on Pinterest of course.

gettin' my craft on

Jenna and her bridesmaids

My sister's Sara and Jennifer are doing a craft show this summer in their town. Hearing (or reading, rather) their excitement is motivating me to get my own craft on! I have been so frustrated with myself for procrastinating with my Etsy shop and I seriously felt like something was holding me back yet, I couldn't figure out what.

Pretty cupcakes decorated by my mom-in-law and me

I'm trying to get rid of some of my scrapbook supplies--I'm keeping the ones I can still use for packaging and most of my tools--but I'm not having luck. I'd like to sell them because, as anyone who has ever scrapbooked knows, they are expensive! I'm too cheap to drop them off at the nearest thrift shop. I have them on craigslist right now but I realize that isn't the best option for that sort of thing. A garage sale would be best but uh, that's kind of hard when we live in an apartment!

Anyways, the point is, I'm using a desk for my sewing machine that I don't like anymore, it's full of things I don't use, and it's in my bedroom which isn't my favorite place to sew. Other than that, I've been trying to make items that are very size specific and frustrating when I'm still kind of a beginner. Yesterday, I started working on a knit top restyle and I am all excited again! I realize that I should stick to something I can actually do pretty quickly and easily right now. I'm having fun again and hopefully I'll have a few items for my shop soon so it can actually open.

Dave received a gun from the groomsmen.
BTW, look how handsome my husband is, I love that smile! :)

 Until then, I'm trying not to stress about the fact that I already created it and therefore, that date is shown even though I haven't actually started listing yet. (I really wish they would change that.) I'm not setting a date for the 'grand opening' because I'm pretty sure that just makes me procrastinate more. It will happen when it happens. Right now, I'm going to have fun making things that I know how to make!

Pictures are the very few that I remembered to take at the rehearsal dinner.

Just Something I Made

I restyled this dress for the wedding:

I didn't have much time to resize it so I did a few simple changes for the time being. I added a few inches of elastic to the back to bring it in. I would have taken it in the 'right way' but there is a zipper on the side and I didn't want to mess with that just a couple days before leaving town. I rolled the sleeves under to shorten them and added a green sash that I've had since standing in my friend Cindy's wedding--the 'sash' was used to wrap around the stem of my bouquet. I wanted to dress the skirt up a little and shorten it so I tucked the hem under and threw in a few stitches to give it a bubble look. It didn't turn out quite right, I had at least 2 people ask if my skirt was tucked up...embarrassing right? I ripped the stitches out as soon as I got home. This is the only picture I have of the finished (for now) dress.

Just Something I Made

I made this a week or so ago but it was a gift so I had to wait until it was received to show it on here.

I kind of wanted to keep it for myself. I love how this apron turned out, if only I could make a skirt like this...

Just Something I Made...

I did actually make something this week, I got started about an hour after getting back home. Buuut, I was going to list it in my shop and now I'm not sure. It turned out fine and everything but it's not really 'me.' I'm not sure what to do with it now. Sorry for the tease! I'll show you pictures as soon as I figure out what to do!
Otherwise, I'm working on this right now (are you worried?):

I pulled it apart yesterday and started resizing the top. I soon realized that I would need to move the tucks on the shoulders-front and back-and I'm not looking forward to that. Whenever I reach a step where I have little experience, I slow waaaay down. I'm not stuck exactly, I was just hoping this dress would be easy peasier. Anyways, besides resizing, I am going to raise the waistline, redo the sleeves-I'm not sure what I'll do with them just yet-I might shorten the skirt but I'll wait to see where the hem falls once I raise the waistline.  I'll also add a brightly colored belt (I won't do the usual navy with red combination). As of now, the collar is staying but since I'm not usually a collar-wearing kind of girl, that could also change! IF this dress turns out the way I imagine it will, it might be my dress for the wedding. Of course, I could always list it on Etsy and make another...Oh, how I love sewing!

Just Something I Made

I mentioned a while ago that I found a few treasures in Jeff's grandpa's house. One of my treasures was a simple white skirt. (ETA: this skirt belonged to Jeff's grandma, Sally, whom I never had a chance to meet.) I didn't take a before picture but there isn't much of a difference either way. The only changes I made was flipping the waistband and resizing. It has a thick band of elastic without a casing and it was sewn 'inside out.' Except, there was a tag, so maybe it was meant to be rolled down? It looked very awkward that way because the fabric is a thicker material so it would be all bunched up. I was able to redo the entire skirt in about half an hour.

Jeff took these pictures. I usually just use self-timer so having someone behind the camera made me just slightly self-conscious. Okay, maybe a lot. Anyways, these were the best shots.

I love quick projects like this, they motivate me to sew even more. As if I need more motivation, I swear it's all I think about these days: sewing and designing. I picked up a few more items at Salvation Army today so my pile of projects just keeps growing! I think I found a dress for Dave and Jenna's wedding!

BTW, it's 11:57, I'm just barely squeaking this in on Friday but I did make it! Have a great weekend!

Just Something I Made: A cheap lesson

Okay, so I really try not to criticize my work too much. But, this one, I just couldn't help. I love the idea of this shirt but the outcome wasn't so great. It's frustrating that it didn't turn out just right but on the other hand, I look at it like this: it was a 50 cent lesson.


Before (I hope to finish the remaining 2 shirts by next week.)



On a whim, I ran into Salvation Army between grocery stores last week. I can't remember what I was actually looking for but I ended up walking out with 4 men's shirts--all for around $2.00. I saw this tutorial a while back and was inspired to make my own shirt. Or rather, Adrian's shirt. I simplified it (or at least, I thought I did) and made my own pattern out of one of A's shirts--just a regular crew-neck tee. I didn't take a picture of the first shirt (it's dirty right now) but it was a simple orange, striped pattern. I made it very basic, a short-sleeved, crew-neck tee. The only problem was, I popped a few stitches when I tried it on Adrian and once it was on, the neckline seemed a little too baggy. I was already starting to see the beauty of the envelope-style neckline from the tutorial...

So, for the next shirt, I thought I would try adding a button. That way, it would fit easily over his head and the neckline could stay smaller. I copied the way everything was laid out on the original men's shirt, minus the collar. Agh! I don't know if it would have been easier to try my own thing or not. My stitching ended up being all uneven because I couldn't get the fabric to come together just right. Maybe I should have started with something simpler! 

The buttonhole was the last step. I had never made one with my sewing machine so I looked it up in the manual and put everything together right, or so I thought. It probably took me 6 hours before I finally got it right, it turns out I had missed one more attachment piece. Once that was in place, it was very simple, I lined up the machine and pressed the foot control until it was done. Easy peasy! Except, when I went to rip through the center, I snagged some stitches. I 'fixed' that but it looks really sloppy now and I still didn't figure out how to do it better. My practice buttonhole turned out pefectly! Anyhow, I'll probably be cringing everytime he wears this shirt but, again, it was a 50 cent lesson!

I love how the sleeves turned out anyway, I used the edge of the original sleeves. I still have 2 more shirts to upcycle, and plenty more waiting at the thrift!

As Promised...

I finished my skirt on Saturday. I didn't end up adding extra panels of fabric, I was able to pull the entire skirt apart (even the zipper!) and make the seam allowances a little smaller. I had left them really big to leave room for error. It worked but I'm still debating whether or not I'll keep the skirt for myself. It's still just a bit smaller than I would like. Luckily, the church was so cold on Sunday so I ended up keeping my coat on the entire time anyways.

I started with this shirt. Yeah, I swiped another piece of Jeffery's clothing for myself. (I did ask for permission!) I picked this out years ago when it was on clearance at Elder Beerman. I don't think he ever wore it.

It now looks like this:

It's pretty wrinkly, I took these pictures after church. It's probably slightly looser than it looks with all the wrinkles.

Now that I've learned a few things about making a skirt from a shirt, maybe I'll dig through Jeffery's clothes and find another...

Just Something I Made...

Or didn't make as it happens!

Grumble, grumble. I still have so much to learn about making clothing! This skirt has been a pain in the rear. And speaking of rears...it barely fits over mine! I was adjusting the waistline to fit me and completely disregarded the fact that it still needed to fit over my rather substantial hips. So, now it doesn't. Well, it does, but I'm not really up for wearing tight-fitting skirts.
I started this skirt on Tuesday or Wednesday night and it was going great until I got to the zipper. I wanted to do a hidden zipper in the back. It took me 8 tries to get it in right, and it looked great. Then I completely changed the top of the skirt and guess what? Half of the zipper got pulled out. I can hardly wait to put it back on! Now, since I made it too small, I need to add extra fabric which I really do not want to do but I guess this is a 'make it work' moment!
I'm still hoping to get it done before Sunday so I won't dread getting dressed as I do every other Sunday.
I WILL have pictures on Monday. Even if it means no sleep tonight!