Tag Archives: boy

UP

Posted in Kids, sewing by

As a family we started Saturday evening movie nights with Zac. For my husband and me it’s been a great chance to catch up on children’s movies we’ve missed over the past decade. A couple weeks ago, the move we watched was Up. Seriously- this movie needs to come with a warning to parents that it’s a tear jerker, and now in the typical Disney movie way. If you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading now- spoilers ahead! From watching previews I knew the old man’s wife wasn’t going to make it, but was not prepared for the topic of infertility/miscarriage. Before Zac was born, we suffered two losses so this part of the movie (while brief) hit close to home. Thankfully Zac didn’t ask questions about why the couple was decorating a nursery and then the wife was crying in the doctor’s office. My husband and I just glanced at each other and then he went and got me some tissues.

The next morning, I was going through my stash of knit fabrics, and Zac saw my Up fabric. He was pointing out the balloons and characters and he asked me to make him a shirt. How could I say no to that? Zac always gets excited when I make him outfits or pajamas out of character fabrics, but I think this is the first time he specifically asked for something. I got right to work.

I decided I wanted to make a hoodie. Previously, I have made the all ears hoodie by Max & Meena and knew I could do the hood easily (not sure why that was intimidating to me), but I wanted to add a pocket and this pattern doesn’t offer that option. I then remembered I had a hoodie pattern from Brindille & Twig (free btw) and decided to merge the two. The Up fabric is really colorful, so I wanted to use it strategically.

I decided on using grey fabric for the body of the shirt and the Up fabric for the pocket, but first I added an appliqué. IMG_3668 IMG_3676

I decided to do the arms and the inside of the hood out of the Up fabric, and make the outer hood grey to match the front (and back) of the shirt. I went back and forth on what to do for the arm cuffs and the waist band, and decided on a dark grey and I’m glad I did. I absolutely love how this hoodie turned out, and Zac does too.IMG_3682 IMG_3689

The following day was Columbus Day and there was no school. My friend and I decided to take the boys to the Yellow River Game Ranch. The weather was gorgeous and it was a great opportunity to take some pictures of Zac in his new hoodie. Earlier this year my husband and I purchased a Sony a6000 camera and a 50 mm lens. It was a splurge, but I absolutely love this camera and the pictures I’m able to capture with it._DSC3092 _DSC3101 _DSC3127 _DSC3092

Got Dirt?

Posted in Kids, sewing by

Recently, I discovered the wonderful world of knit fabric, and the secret society of knit Facebook groups. In these groups, you get fabric for cheaper prices by placing (and paying) pre-orders and then waiting anywhere from 4-10 weeks for your fabric to arrive. These groups sell fabric by the yard, but many also sell panels. I wasn’t sure what these panels were at first, but OMG- they are fabulous, and compliment the fabrics they’re designed to match perfectly. Last month, I ordered a yard of the mighty machines fabric from Peekaboo Pattern Shop and a matching panel. The panels from this shop are different from most others because they’re twice the size of most (20″ by 28″), providing fabric for the front and back of a shirt. IMG_0515 I mentioned this shop in a previous post, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you must. I purchased the Maui Muscle Tee pattern to use and both Zac and I are in love with the finished product. The shorts are from Brindle & Twig, and are one of my favorite patterns at the moment. They work great for boys and girls, and use no elastic- only lycra/cotton jersey fabric. Super comfortable and I think we’ll get 2 years wear out of the 3t/4t size for Zac. IMG_0474 IMG_0477 (1) If you want to try out any of the patterns from Peekaboo Pattern Shop, use my referral link for 15% off your first purchase. Happy shopping!! IMG_0512

The launch of Maxaloones

Posted in Kids by

Today is the day!!! Maxaloones are now available for purchase in my Etsy shop. I love these pants. Seriously, they’re the best. My son is tall and skinny, and the size 1’s (with some added length) fit his skinny bum perfectly. They’re designed to be adjustable in size, where the ankle bands fold and unfold, providing additional length.

I have issues where I like my son to be the best dressed one in his class. There is no competition or award, but I feel like I need to be the winner. A few weeks ago I found this shirt at Walmart, and then splurged on this organic jersey knit fabric from Spoon Flower. I thought together they’d be perfect for Valentine’s Day, but would work for pajamas too.

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The fabric arrived Saturday and I wasted no time cutting it up to make pants. I’m in love. Seriously, this fabric is thick, stretchy, and oh so soft!! The pants are darling and they’re now up for sale on Etsy.

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This weekend, my son brought home his class pet, Pete the Pony. He came with a notebook for us to journal about his weekend with us, so we took him to the park on Sunday. Zac wore his maxaloones that I finished up earlier that day. They were great for climbing, running, jumping, and sliding too.

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I swish my cape at you!

Posted in Kids by

I am the mom of a 2-and-a-half year old boy. My house is filled with planes, trains, and automobiles. We are also a lover of the Disney movies Cars and Planes. I’m not ashamed to admit that I often bribe my son on shopping trips, “if you sit nice, we’ll walk past the toy aisle on our way out…” Well, on a recent trip to Walmart, they had all the new figurines for the Planes 2 Fire & Rescue movie. I think the folks at our local Walmart took this as an opportunity to clean out their storage room because they also had figurines from the first planes movie too. Let me introduce you to El Chupacabra.20140730-122442-44682694.jpg

Next to Dusty Crophopper, El Chu is my son’s favorite character from the movie. I have been looking for the El Chu toy for awhile and with the release of the new movie, haven’t been able to find the toys from the old movie. Needless to say, we haaaaad to buy him.

Zac and El Chu were inseparable for a few days. Everywhere we went, he came with us. During this time, I was working on a superhero cape for an Etsy order and showed it to Zac. His face lit up and he said “Cape!!! I, I swish my cape at you” (a line from the Planes movie). I made two capes for Zac last summer and he had no interest in them whatsoever, until now. Now he wants to wear a cape because it makes him like El Chu.

He’s worn this cape multiple places over the past few weeks. It’s been worn to a birthday party, grocery shopping, on evening walks, and today he wore it to his Gymboree class. Zac’s latest “trick” is running circles around the house and making his cape fly. Secretly, I love it!!

Shameless plug- the red superhero capes are available for order in my Etsy shop. Today I also added a superhero onesie. I think these would make an adorable combination for a big brother/little brother photo session. Use the code SUPERBLOG for 15% off any order.

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Pinterest Inspired Bathroom Makeover

Posted in Interior Decorating, Kids by

I love Pinterest. I feel like I need to write Pinterest projects into my budget, because I am notorious for looking at pictures online and then recreating them in my own house. A few months ago, I pinned this picture an an inspiration for my son’s bathroom-Image

I love this nautical theme because it is fitting for a little boy, but still looks sophisticated for guests who will also use the space. I also like it because my son won’t outgrow this like he would if it was decorated in the Lightning McQueen theme I was previously pondering.

When I get an idea, I usually run with it. That was the case here. I showed my husband this picture and he said, “looks nice.” I took that as his permission to order fabric. I quickly ran upstairs, measured our existing shower curtain, and ordered 4.5 yards of madras fabric online that very night. I don’t think I would have been able to make my own shower curtain had the fabric not been a true madras. Because the fabric was actually patched together, you cannot see the seam. I used navy fabric that I had from a previous project as my strip across the top. I actually laid that navy piece of fabric under my old shower curtain to use as a pattern for where the holes needed to be for the shower curtain hooks, and sewed button holes there.

Once the curtain was finished, I got to work on the towels. I used scrap pieces of the madras on the bottoms and embroidered appliqué crabs on the hand towels- it is a child’s bathroom after all. Next up was artwork. I searched pinterest and etsy for inspiration and decided that I wanted an anchor and a wheel. A good friend is a graphic artist and she was kind enough to turn my inspiration into a reality and even took my barter of an infinity scarf over payment.

My very talented husband is a talented woodworker. If you’re interested, check out his blog! He made the stool for the bathroom, and I painted it. The final touches were a new trashcan and bathmat. I love how this space turned out and hope you do too! Image

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Worst. Blogger. Ever.

Posted in Uncategorized by

I have said it before. I’m sure I will say it again. I am horrible with blogging, but I spent today revamping my blog and am now energized. Because nobody wants a recap of the last 3 months in one post, I’ll do like I have in the past and write several over the next few weeks recapping what I’ve been up to. Most recently, I’ve had fun using my embroidery machine to make burp clothes. My mom was here for a weekend and we made some for a friend of hers that has a new baby boy. New projects mean an excuse to purchase new fabric for me. I am part of an embroidery group on Facebook that’s served as a great inspiration for projects and a valuable resource for questions with my new craft. Somebody there posted about an the Stitch Stash Diva shop on etsy. OMG, I was in fabric heaven!! I have a small addition to shopping online, but fabric can be difficult because typically you can not order less than 1/2 a yard. In the world of embroidery, that is a lot. This shop let’s you buy fat quarters (1/4 of a yard of fabric), and that is the perfect amount. Fast forward to this week and my order arrived. With my new treasures I created some burp clothes for my cousin who just had a baby. I need to get these listed on etsy. Hopefully that can be a project for this week.

While I had fabric spread across my dining room, my son came in and found a piece of construction truck fabric that he attached himself to. He carried this square of fabric around all weekend, so I decided to sew that into a blankie for him. I love project that don’t cost me any money. The construction fabric was leftover from his birthday shirt, and the orange minky fabric that I backed it with was left over from another project.

Here are a few snap shots!

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D.O.N.E. done!

Posted in Quilts by

I finished the quilt! With time to spare!!!!! As you know, I started on the binding yesterday morning, but because we went to IKEA, I didn’t have the oh-sew-important nap time to work (see what I did there? haha). Last night, after Zac went to bed, I curled up on the couch with my husband, a drink, the quilt, needle & thread, and got to work. 2 and a half hours and 3 beers later, I finished. I love this quilt, and while I know that my 2-year-old has no idea the time and energy that went into it, one day he will. For now, he can look and say “tuk! car! go!!!” and I’m OK with that.

The binding, while time consuming, was not as terrible as I anticipated. I stabbed myself repeatedly with the needle, and I now know why seamstresses wear thimbles on their thumbs, because pushing that needle through three layers of flannel was painful. The finished product though was worth the extra effort.

This quilt measures 41″ by 53″. I used 6 different flannel patterns for the blocks of the quilt, grey flannel for the sashing, aqua blue flannel for the back, and the yellow polka-dot flannel for the binding. The batting is 100% cotton. I had extra car fabric because I got 1 yard instead of the 1/2 yard I ordered (yippee), and because I’m me, I used that to make a pillow case to match.

Not sure if I’ll blog again before Christmas, so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope your holiday is filled with joy, and wish you all many blessings in the new year. 2013 was an amazing year for me and my business. I did over 200 sales on Etsy, made 15 quilts for customers (maybe more, I lost count), and purchased the embroidery machine. I am so excited about what’s in store for 2014, so stay tuned!

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Binding the quilt

Posted in Baby Blankets, Kids, Quilts by

Because of an impromptu trip to
Ikea to have lunch with my sister and parents, I didn’t finish the quilt today. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel though, and hopefully I can curl up on the couch with a beer after Zac goes to bed and knock this out.

This morning, I sewed the binding onto the front of the quilt, and I’ve begun hand stitching it to the back. Definitely more tedious that is anticipated.

Here are pictures of today’s progress.

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The truck quilt… Almost DONE

Posted in Baby Blankets, Kids, Quilts by

I am amazed at how quickly this quilt came together. I am forever indebted to my friend Emily who helped coach me through text and Facebook. She sent me pictures of her work and YouTube videos explaining the quilting process. I could not have done this without her.

This morning I ran to Hobby Lobby and picked up batting for the quilt and as soon as Zac went down to nap, got to work. I laid the back of the quilt down in my entryway and taped it down. Then, I used spray adhesive to baste the batting and again for the front of the quilt. I used safety pins around the border for added security.
I was most nervous about the next step, petrified my machine would crap out or I’d get a lot of puckering. I didn’t think things through completely as to how I’d stitch the borders. I stitched down the center of the grey sashing strips as opposed to around each individual block. Oh well, I’m pleased with how it turned out.

No sooner did I finish trimming the excess fabric did Zac wake up. Not really though. His new thing is to come downstairs and snooze on me. I’ll allow it. I hope to finish this quilt tomorrow, so stay tuned!! 20131218-144722.jpg20131218-144733.jpg20131218-144742.jpg20131218-144750.jpg20131218-144756.jpg20131218-144804.jpg20131218-144815.jpg20131218-144900.jpg20131218-144907.jpg20131218-144915.jpg20131218-144921.jpg

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Christmas 2013

Posted in Baby Blankets, Kids, Quilts by

Quick post this morning, mainly to hold myself accountable. Growing up, each year my mom made one of my Christmas gifts. One year, she made the most amazing doll house ever, another year it was a ballerina wall hanging for my room. I’m not sure if I fully appreciated the gifts until starting the same tradition for my little guy.

I’m a fabric hoarder, and often buy fabrics without a planned purpose. Over the summer I purchased a flannel fabric with trucks and cars. Zac is always pulling that fabric out of my stash and carries it around, pointing and saying “tuk, car, tuk, car…” I knew months ago that it would be part of his homemade gift this year. What I didn’t know (till yesterday) was WHAT that gift would be.

After searching Pinterest for recipes, I came across this- a quilt pattern. While I make t-shirt quilts all the time, I’ve never attempted something like this before. I’m anxious, excited, and petrified I won’t finish in time, but ready or not, here I go! I purchased this pattern, and ordered my fabric last night. I will check in periodically and update as I go. (The fabric pictured top right is what I already have.)

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