Toddler apron!

Here it is, the finished toddler apron! Reversable, lilac with a mint green pocket embellished with a cupcake on one side and plain mint green on the other side. I'm still working out some issues with the neck strap so I think when I make another one I will either add elastic to the neck, or do 2 straps with velcro. But not bad for a pattern I made one afternoon with measurements from my little Princess. This is going to another little Princess Sahara this week, along with yet another superhero cape for her brother Ocean.

But I couldn't resist trying it on for a photo shoot first!

Sneak Peek

One last Christmas gift and a refashioned dress

I forgot to post this earlier. Or maybe I only got around to uploading my Christmas picture today. Either way, here it is, better late than never! A paci clip for my little niece Danica. I had made her a few of these when she was born back in August and noticed that they get used alot so I whipped this one up on Christmas Eve. And I can't resist posting this picture of little Danica in her tutu! Isn't she precious?? I could just squeeze those cheeks all day.... and then promply hand her back to mom when she starts fussing! I think being around a baby again has made me realize how happy I am to be past that stage with my own kidlets!

Okay, enough about Christmas! No better way to start the new year off than with a new dress! Last weekend my sister came to visit and brought me a box full of fabric odds and ends from my mom. In there I came across an ever so soft long sleeve t-shirt from Old Navy. White with little yellow butterflies, silver birds, green flowers, and blue crowns. I wish I had taken a before picture, but I got so excited to re-fashion it that I forgot! But it was your basic long sleeve tee, with a round neckline. I took in the sides, shortened and took in the sleeves and added elastic to the neck.  And here's the finished dress modelled by my little Princess!

Return to the darkside...

I have been a terrible blogger of late! The holidays were awesome despite a round of stomach virus, and I'm glad things are finally back to a normal routine! This week also brought my return to crafting. I always feel like I need a few weeks to recover after scrambling to get all those handmade gifts done on time, not to mention the general stress of the holidays. Last week's naptimes were spent gloriously doing nothing. Watching some lame daytime tv, surfing the web reading sewing blogs, catching up on some movies, and un-christmasing our house. But now I'm back in full force to naptime crafting! 3 projects done this week, and I will share them all with you, starting with my upcycled pillowcase skirt.

I came across this vintage pillowcase back in november while helping my inlaws clean out their basement for renovations. I fell in love with the big flowers and the little bit of scaloped lace. My original intention was to make a fabulous pillowcase dress out of it but a few small holes put an end to that. Not to mention my skinny girl would be swallowed up by a billowy pillowcase dress. So it sat in my sewing pile until yesterday when I all of a sudden got the brilliant idea for a simple skirt. I made it a bit big in hopes of getting a few summers use. Too bad my little Princess was in no mood for modeling it, it looks so much cuter on her.

Don't you just love these flowers?!

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??!