Sweatshirt jacket to Vest

I just realized, I dont think I've ever put any pictures of my Monkey up on my craft blog.  So, at almost 4 months old, he's making his blogging debut...

 What a charmer!  This is such a happy-go-lucky kid, which is a real blessing considering how busy my other two are!

Do you see the vest my Monkey is wearing here?  I just bought that for him, its size 9 months but apparently runs small.  He'll only fit it a few more weeks.

Which is sad, because I think he looks downright studly in a vest!

I also realized that this jacket of his just wasnt fitting right.  It was tight through the shoulders and arms, but the tummy and length were just fine.  And since its really winter now he wears a heavy coat instead of jackets.

SO.

I cut it up and made a vest!

It was really quick and easy, too...my kind of project!

Since this was a hooded jacket, and I wanted a collar, I cut the hood off about 2 inches up from the neckline. 

 Then I folded the top edge (where I just cut) in about 1/2 inch.  Since the hood had been lined, this is what it looked like:

I pinned it in place, then stitched!

And thats it!

 I do think I would like it better if I took it in around the armholes, particularly on the shoulder.  But that's easy enough to do; I'll just fold it under one more time and stitch again (although it'll be thick so I'll have to go slow.)

 Monkey just discovered his tongue, if you couldn't tell.  :)



Now, I guess since its December 1st, I've got to get serious about making Christmas presents.  Anyone else out there feeling WAY behind already?!

Batman Slippers

My hubby L-O-V-E-S comic books, superheroes and all that jazz.  He's passed that love onto our kids it seems; my Munchkin can name just about any superhero by sight but, until we bought the Beauty and the Beast DVD this last week, she really didnt care much about princesses.

Go figure that my only girl just wants to be one of the boys!

Anyways, its getting colder so I thought my little Monkey could use another pair of slippers...since he's only 3 1/2 months old he can wear them anywhere, not just in the house which is great!

I used my tutorial for Wool Sweater Slippers found here.  The sweater I used for these had rabbit hair, so its little fuzzier than I like, but they are so soft!!!!  The Batman Logo is made from recycled t-shirts...scraps leftover from the Batman bibs I've been making.

Recycled Tshirt Baby Bibs

In an attempt to whittle down stash this week, I decided to make some baby bibs from old clothes.  Here's some of my favorites:

These two are made from recycled jeans and an old polo-style tshirt from my little brother.

And, of couse, for Halloween!

I have some girly ones too, but we've been having some technical difficulties, so maybe I'll get those up a little later.

I decided to make a bunch of stuff with what I have, post it on etsy and hope it sells, and if it doesn't then at least I've got a nice stockpile of baby presents ready!

I linked up at the Show Off Your Stuff party here:

Recent projects

I was very impatient to get back to crafting after giving birth at the beginning of the month, so when my brother and sister-in-law were in town I admit I was looking for a reason to whip out my sewing machine again.

My first project was to make a bib for my 5-month old niece.  My crazy SIL was still using cloth bibs on this kid!  She mentioned she's been meaning to get one that wipes off nicely, so that night I pulled out this lovely:

A clearanced Easter vinyl tablecloth.  The only way you can tell it's "Easter" is the little bunny head at the top of the packaging.

After a few hours' frustration (newborns are less than understanding when you say "let me just finish this little part"), I ended up with this:

I used some bias tape to edge it, which was a pain in the rear but made it look nice.  As long as you dont look too close. :)

It has a lovely pocket in the front to catch all the falling food, and then it un-velcro's for easy cleaning!

Its not the most heavy-duty bib, I suggested it be one to just keep in the diaper bag in case you need it.  But I had all the supplies on hand, which makes it a FREE bib so I don't think anyone's complaining!

The other thing that I made was a camera strap cover as a late-birthday present for my sister-in-law.

She just got a nice digital SLR camera (I dont remember exactly which one), and she's starting to build her portfolio.  (She took pics of my kids when she was here, and they turned out GREAT!  If you're anywhere near Rexburg, ID, and need a photographer, check her out right here!)

Anyways, those camera straps can really dig into your neck, so I used a soft fuzzy fabric (not sure what its REALLY called) for the white, and then just a cotton for the design (didnt hurt that it happened to be on sale too!)

The best part is, I have enough left over to make a second cover for my new camera that is supposed to be here TOMORROW!  So I guess I better get on it and make one, huh?

Polo Shirt to Girl's Dress

This girl, this Munchkin...

...is an

IMP.

HOOLIGAN.

BIG PAIN IN THE REAR END.

A very, very cute pain in the rear end, but a pain nonetheless!

She's never what I would call "cooperative" when it comes to taking pictures of the clothes I make her, but today was particularly terrible.

First off, she absolutely REFUSED to stand on the nice green grass or in front of the rose plants; she kept running to the driveway.  Hence the ugly car backdrop.

Then I told her "Where's mommy?  Point at mommy!"  Most people would look where they're pointing...

Nope.  Not my Munchkin.

Then I told her to show me the new bag she painted (that'll be my next post!)

Of course the bag swings right in front of the dress, blocking the only shot of the bodice that I could get!  (Plus, she decided to run into the shadoms at that very moment.)

So, I guess you're just going to have to trust me when I tell you how cute this dress turned out.  It started out as one of my 12-yr old twin brother's Polo Shirts.  Ever since I mentioned that I'm working on a project to enter into the Lil Blue Boo Great Ugly Knit Upcycle, both my mom and grandma have been weeding out everyone's T-Shirt drawers and giving the stash to me.  (My brother doesn't actually know that this shirt is gone yet, and even though we spent a couple hours with them today he has yet to put two and two together, which is a good thing since he would be VERY upset about it!)

Originally this polo shirt was just going to be a skirt for the Munchkin.  But I got to looking at it, thinking how easy it would be to turn it into a dress, using the original collar and buttons and sleeves.

I was worried the collar might be too wide, but it actually turned out looking a little "Jackie O"-ish...you know, classy 50's full-skirted dress.  But, in knit.

Anyways, the black waistband is just a strip of black T-shirt I had leftover - like I said, it was going to be a skirt but the I sewed the top onto the waistband.  Maybe a different color would have looked better, but this dress was one of those just-throw-something-together projects.  Seriously, I didn't start working on it until almost 9pm (my bedtime is usually 9:30) and I didn't really care how it turned out.  I just needed another summery play dress because I didnt feel like doing laundry!

Well, good bye then!

Easter Tablecloth gets a second chance!

Once upon a time, a year or so ago, a lonely little vinyl tablecloth was snatched up during an after-Easter clearance sale.  It did it's best to do its duty and all that, but tablecloths are just not suited for families with little hands that can't leave it on the table, or refrain from attacking it with a fork at every meal.

 

After a good month of dedicated service the little tablecloth, worn just slightly, was folded up and shoved in a closet, awaiting a time when one day it could actually be useful.  

 

Little tablecloth, today is your day! 

One of my biggest frustations as a mother of two toddlers (holy cow, when did that happen?!) is keeping clothes clean.  I'm no Kate Gosselin, freaking out over the littlest speck of something on a shirt, but I really hate seeing my kids get food/dirt/worse-things-that-I-won't-talk-about all over their clothes.  Perhaps if I had the amazing laundry finesse that my mother-in-law does (she can get a stain out of ANYTHING!  Just don't let her near anything with her bottle of bleach) I could be more relaxed.

Or, I could get crafty and create a waterproof cover-up.

Like this one.

"Thumbs up for popsicles right before dinner, Elmo sunglasses that are almost too small, and an awesome mom who doesn't care about either!"  (Obviously, since she's just barely two, she didn't say all that, but I'm sure she was thinking it!)

(the only back view I could get)

I threw this together while my daughter was sleeping, so I just grabbed a t-shirt of hers to get an idea for the sizing.  I wish I'd made it bigger through the chest so I could have velcro-ed the back, but then again she has a tendency to suddenly "pull a Hulk" when she gets mad, so maybe a tie is the best.  I'm going to add another one at the top too.

I used a leather needle on my sewing machine because I wasn't sure how a normal needle would handle it, and my machine has gotten a lot of abuse lately so I'm trying to baby it.  Kind of.  Also, do you notice how in the back view half the ruffle has horizontal stripes and half has verticle?  That's because the ruffle was a last-minute addition...completely unnecessary but oh-so-girly.  I scrounged to get enough pieces for it that had the finished edge of the tablecloth, so I wouldn't feel the need to hem it (because it doesn't really need a hem, its not going to unravel, but hems look nicer).

I originally thought of making this hit my little munchkin at mid-thigh or so, but I'm glad I went with a longer length.  Because messes rarely confine themselves to the upper half of her body.

Success!  Look at all that popsicle stickyness, that grape stain-yness, all on the easily-cleaned surface of our little cover-up!  (Okay, not all, her hands and face were pretty messy, but hey!  Her clothes are clean!  And that's what the garden hose is for anyways, right?)  All you have to do is take a damp cloth and wipe it off.  Or if you get lazy (like me) and let it sit a bit before cleaning...alright, let it dry completely before you remember it needs cleaned, you may have to use a little elbow grease, and perhaps some running water and then let it hang dry.  Hmmm, I think this little monster is begging for me to make him one too!

Now, lest you think it took a whole tablecloth to make one little cover-up, let me show you what I first started doing with that little striped beauty.

This is our $15 garage sale high chair.  It was in fair condition when we bought it, and it was freestanding so we wouldn't have two little kids grabbing at everything at our table.  The previous owners even cleaned it before they sold it!  After just a few uses, though, the cover started showing some real wear and tear.  The worst part was the top split from the bottom, leading to this:

Mmmm, leftovers!!!!

We've used it for almost 6 months like this now, and it finally hit me that I could made a new cover!  I (briefly) considered making a cloth one that I could just throw in the wash machine, but lets be real.  I know I would wash it once a month maybe.  And my kids are too messy of eaters to wait that long between washings.

Enter lonely little tablecloth...easy to wipe off, inexpensive so if I messed up the dimensions I wouldn't be in the hole a ton of money (I briefly considered buying laminate fabric, or the vinyl stuff you put on fabric to make it laminated, but it would have cost about as much/maybe more than we paid for the high chair to start with).  Again, I used the leather needle and it sewed really well, I was mildly concerned that puncturing little tiny holes in it with a needle might lead to ripping but its holding up well.

My favorite part of the new cover is the fact that its two pieces on purpose.  I figured if I made it one piece it would probably just tear again.  So there are little elastic loops on the bottom of the top piece and the top of the bottom piece and they go nicely through a slot and over a hook that happen to be right there.  It makes me wonder if maybe thats how the cover was supposed to be to start with.  Hmmm.

I love looking in my crowded little kitchen/dining room now and seeing this lovely bit of thriftyness.  So far, I can only see one problem with this delightful project:

The current occupant of the high chair is, in fact, a boy.  All that pink in the stripes makes this a rather girly high chair cover.  Currently this little man doesn't give a hoot.  And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when Baby #3 makes its appearance in August we'll have a reason to keep the pink cover!

So, there you have it.  Two projects, less than $3 (if you include the cost of the elastic and ribbon I already had on hand; the tablecloth was closer to $2 when I bought it) and two satisfied little customers.

My work here is done. 

For now.