More gifts!

This lilac and white tutu is for my darling newest baby niece Danica! She's 4 months old and I can't wait to have a little ballerina photoshoot! I hope my sister in law is as excited as I am! IThis is only the second tutu I've made, the first was for my own little ballerina in black and aquamarine. I have yet to find a matching shirt so I can take pictures of her modelling it!

And for the little boys in the family- superhero gear! I whipped up a few more double sided capes and added a handstiched felt batman mask.

I'm now working on a few paci clips, and then I think I might finally be done with Christmas gifts!

Emergency gift stash

Can you believe Christmas is almost upon us?! And more suprisingly- I have finished making and mailed Christmas cards and gifts and they will all arrive at thier various destinations a full week before Christmas!! Yay! Thats a big accomplishment for me, and I haven't actually been this organized since before having kids!
I still have a few last minute projects to complete but the end is in sight and I'm confident that it will all be done in time!

So on to this weekends project : the emergency gift stash. We are lucky enough to spend Christmas at my inlaws house ( no cooking, yay!). And my husband has a large family. So its inevitable that people drop by unexpectedly. You know, Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents and Cousins who would normally not recieve a present from us, but if they happen to show up I would feel a little guilty not having a little something for them to open. And so enters the idea of an emergency gift stash. A generic gift that almost anyone will find handy. I decided on a sunglass/eyeglass case. I had made a few of these babies earlier this year, starting when my sunglasses kept getting scratched up in my purse. I got the pattern here . It took me about 3 hrs on Saturday night to make 9 of these, including cutting, pinning, machine sewing, and hand sewing. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Deck the halls with boughs of holly!

Its begining to look alot like Christmas around here! Okay well, not really! After all I do live in the icy north and, as you can see, there isn't a trace of snow on the ground! I think this is the first year that we've managed to decorate the outside of the house without getting frostbite!  But the lack of snow leaves me with little inspiration to get in the Christmas spirit. And the unseasonably warm weather is not helping with the motivation to head to the basement to sew. I have managed to finish about half the gifts on my "to make" list. I've made 2 more superhero capes and batman masks for 2 special little boys, 3 more sunglass/glasses cases to acompany adult gifts, 2 spa gift baskets for my tween nieces, and now I'm working on a baby gift for my newest niece. I am totally feeling the stress of the season already though. Oh why didn't I start back in july??!

The finished felt lunch set!

I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures! I geave this to my niece for her 3rd birthday and they were a hit! She carried the bag around for hours, making everyone take a "bite" of the sandwich! Yay, my first hand-crafted toy success!!

I think I will definetely be making some more of these sets for gifts! Though the banana turned out a little wonky so I will have to revise that pattern a bit. But overall I think it was a success!

Pumpkin Boards

I whipped these babies up this morning to keep my boy and my 3 yr old niece busy this weekend. I love felt, it has so many uses! And did I mention I use all eco-felt, made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles? It makes a earth-loving, recycling fanatical, re-purposing mom like myself very happy!

and apparently I forgot to rotate these pictures before loading them on here...... and I'm too lazy to redo it. So tilt your head, and check out the pumpkin felt fun!

Snow? In October?!

Oh yeah, that's right, I live in Canada! Snow can fall in July some years so I shouldn't really be all that surprised! But I was still a little shocked to wake up this morning to a perfect winter scene out my window! And after breakfast I bundled the kids up (and discovered that my boy has outgrown his winter boots and my girl swims in the snow pants that match her coat so she had to wear her brothers old snow pants!) and headed outside to play in the first snow of the year! We even kept with the halloween theme for our snowman!

And luckily the colder weather gives me more time to spend inside sewing :) I finally finished the skirt and the shorts from the last post (I'll post pics later) and recycling blankets into clothes worked so well that I'm now in the process of making 3 pairs of lounge pants from flannel baby blankets. Actually 2 are already complete and the third is just waiting on the elastic waist, but I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet (as my model has not been cooperative of late).

Too many projects, not enough time!

As a Mom to a 3.5 year old and a 1.5 year old I have limited sewing time. Pretty much nap time while my son is at preschool, or evenings if I want to ignore my husband, and the occasional weekend. I envy anyone with a full weekend to sew. Sigh. I lay awake at night thinking of all the projects I want to start, so when I get a few minutes during the day (on the rare occasion that my kids are playing nicely and quietly) I immediately start tracing and cutting pattern pieces! The problem is finding the time to head downstairs, move the cat food dishes off my old sewing machine table, pull out the machine and get things done! Ah, well, maybe this weekend...

So, instead of waiting a few more weeks until I actually finish something, I`m posting the start of a few projects. Maybe this will be the motivation I need to get sewing. Or something like that :)

Here`s little ruffle skirt I`m working on for my baby girl. I got the basic pattern from Su at Vively Online http://www.vivelyonline.com/2009/02/sew-easy-little-girls-ruffle-skirt.html and then I added a pocket. Because I think pockets on girly skirts are adorable. Its my first attempt at ruffles like this so I hope it turns out.

Next project : the pillowcase dress. I`ve seen tutorials for these popping up everywhere this summer, and now thats its winter I have finally gotten around to making one. I found this pillow case while helping my inlaws clean out their basement and I think its cute! I`m hoping the dress works for my skinny little girl!

And one last project started this week- a pair of shorts (well, more like capris) made out of an organic cotton baby blanket that I loved and couldnt bear to pass on.

So there you have it, my un-finished projects this week! I`m hoping I can update the finished products soon!

Halloween Costume Ribbons

My sister is having an adult Halloween party again this year and we have been searching for costume prize ribbons with no success (previous years walnart has had a cute 3 pack of ribbons). So this weekend while the husband was at a hockey game, after the little monsters were in bed, I decided to try my hand at making some. I think they turned out not too bad, considering I went at it with no real plan, and free hand embroidery, while totally distracted by an old episode of Criminal Minds. I like the skull the best, he's so cute! I make have to make something for my son that is covered in embroidery skulls! The ghost looks pretty buff, but I had no idea how to draw a convincing ghost free hand so I totally cheated and traced a cookie cutter!  Now I need to make a costume. I thought I would just buy costumes this year but after visiting every store in town and trying on a million costumes, and even buying one and returning it I decided to make mine. I bought the kids costumes, the cheap $10 pirate costumes from walmart. I figure I'll start making them costumes next year. Maybe. :)

Oh I should add- I am planning on being a pirate as well. All the store costumes are either a) too sexy. short skirts are fine, but I'm 5'9" and I guess the costumes are made for 5'2" women cuz they barely cover my butt.  Or b) in plus sizes, with floor length skirt, which of course is calf length on me. Not to mention way too big. Sigh. Well, thats my rant. I'm going to go check out the salvation army later for fabric or clothes I can repurse to piraty-ness.

My latest obsession...

Felt Food! Its so much fun to make, and so easy! I'm currently working on a sandwich set for my niece for her birthday, I hope she likes it as much as I do!
Here's my creations so far.
I was planning on doing a whole basket of fruit and veggies but i've just been working with the colors of felt that I already have so I've been a bit limited.

And the sandwich is still waiting on swiss cheese and bologna slices. And the classic brown lunch bag to hold it all. Isnt it precious? I just love felt food!

Superheroes, sunglass cases, summer shirts and my garden!

Heres a few things I've been working on and actually completed this month!

My adorable son, the superhero!

I made this awesome reversable cape from this tutorial  http://pukingpastilles.com/?p=57

which I have had saved to my favourites for 2 years but only just got around to trying! Its a fabulous tutorial, and so easy to sew, and clearly loved by my 3 year old! And, yes I am fully aware that

Superman does infact have a RED cape on a BLUE costume, but I decided since there was no costume to accompany the cape and I already had the blue broadcloth in my stash that my boy wouldnt mind!

I've also whipped up a few of these sunglass cases to keep my sunglasses from getting all scratched up in my purse. And then a made a few more for my sister and my sister-in-law!

And last week I finished this shirt for my little girl. It started out as a pattern from an online tutorial but I ended up changing it all around and making it my own. It also ended up about 2 sizes too big, which is for the best since the summer is pretty much over here! ( I started this back in the first week of july, finished last week of august. Yep, I'm a procrastinator!)

So thats what I've been up to lately. This week I'm busy with the garden, digging up potatoes, harvesting spaghetti squash, roasting sunflowers seeds, and still working through those dang apples! My deep freeze is filling up fast with muffins, cookies, and pies! So with gardening occupying my precious kid-free nap times I dont have time to take on any big sewing projects and have been working on a few random things here and there when I get a chance. Mostly mending, hemming, and the like, but also my latest blog obsession- felt food! I have made strawberries, corn (complete with removable husk) and eggplant so far, just working with the colors of felt I had stashed away. I would love to make a cake with removable decorations for my kids! They would love it! That is what I daydream about while doing daily mundane chores :)

Holy Apples Batman!

Yesterday it was hot out. I mean like 35degree, sit in the shade and sweat hot. So brilliant me filled the kiddy pool and water table and while the kids were splashing around in the pool, I climbed the apple tree and gathered 2 big buckets full of apples. I was a nasty, sweaty, leaf covered mess, but I'm glad I got to them before they rain down on us like vicious hail! Ever been hit in the head by a falling apple? No? Well, it hurts!

So now I have a kitchen full of apples and, despite the heat, have been slaving away trying to bake things with them that can be frozen and enjoyed over the next few months. So far I've made Apple Muffins and Apple Cookies, and I'm now contemplating apple pie.

(If you are wondering where this post title comes from- my son is watching Scooby Doo and Batman for the hundreth time this week, and I guess its wearing off on me!)