More of the Fun Pants

So I managed to get some laundry done - surprise!  

I hate applique-ing letters.  William will probably never have his name on a shirt because his name is 7 letters long - suddenly rethinking my stance on nicknames.... ha!

The bug one is the only one where I used the extra energy to make contrast cuffs - they're cute but not worth the extra effort for me most of the time.  I'm head over heels for the red seersucker Georgia outfit - even Sam thinks it's cute!!

Not sure why this picture turned out so dark and the others didn't...but... the duck has brown corduroy pants - I can't wait for cooler weather.  The frog might be one of my favorites.  I had to redo his eyes - at first I had just put flat white buttons there and he, the frog, looked a little possessed...ha!  Not exactly what you want your cutie patootie one year old son wearing around town!  The elephant is Sam's favorite.  It's really soft brown and turquoise houndstooth and my mother-in-law actually thought we had bought his outfit!!  One point for me!

So - there's William's entire fall wardrobe (haha - just kidding - this kid has a better closet than me!)  Now go sew something! ;)

I'm Obsessed

Sam will be the first to tell you - I am 100% obsessed with making pants at the moment.  I've never been able to pattern shorts/pants that I'm totally happy with - believe me - I HAVE tried!  I've gotten close many many times but something was always a little off about how they fit and then it happened.  MADE BY RAE made her Big Butt Baby Pants pattern available for sale on her blog.  Now normally I am morally opposed to paying more than $2 for a pattern but these were so cute and I could print off the pattern that very second and all my pants woes would be over - so I paid $10 for the pattern and haven't looked back.  I am pretty sure that if I paid retail price for pants I would've already made my money back, easy.

So - what I'm saying is - if you sew - go buy the pattern!!  Now!! Or in a second.  Or maybe just eventually.  But seriously, go do it at some point!

What's so great about it is there is so much room for adding special touches, especially for girls, the leg is wide and cute, she told me how long to cut the elastic!! (a personal issue of mine...), and the pattern is graded - you can use it from birth to 2T!!  I've already made 3 gifts, two newborn and one 24 months, that turned out darling - this is in addition to the seven pairs I've made pepito and one sitting on the cutting board!  Oh - did I mention that I can cut, sew, and finish these pants in less than an hour?!  Now you really NEED to buy this pattern!  haha!!

I've been loving them so much, that there only three clean outfits I could take a picture of, all others have been worn and sitting in the neverending laundry pile....

Oh - and my other obsesseion?  Applique T-shirts.  I swear, William is going to be in a million variations of this particular outfit for the next two years.  Not even kidding.  Including the T-shirt (Garanimals from WalMart 3.00-3.50 depending on sale days), the whole outfit usually costs about $6.00-8.00.  Insane for a matching top & bottom, appliqued and ADORABLE!  Heat and Bond has changed my life.

After I do laundry - maybe I'll get to it this weekend - I'll post pics of the other outfits.  Seriously too cute not to show you!  You will die.  And then go spend $10.  If only I was getting paid for all this advertisement.... Seriously - I'm just THAT excited!!

Happy Sewing!  (JoAnn's is having a pretty awesome sale with great coupons this weekend...just saying..  AND Hancock's has all notions 50% off!!)

New Boy, New Overalls

No - I didn't get a new boy - but he did just become a bit of toddler and not so much baby.  And with that comes new overalls!!  Well, not really overalls, but romper? jumper?  I never have figured out the "correct" term for children's clothes...oops!  Anyhow.  I finally found a pattern for little boy's clothes that was on sale and in stock and I love it.  4 easy pieces, plenty of ways to dress it up, and it's oh so cute.  It's cut a little wide for my sweet squirt (and he still has some room to grow taller) but I'm going to pretend it's part of the charm because I'm way to lazy to figure out how to take in the facing pieces appropriately.

the ONLY picture I have of him standing still in it...

birthday cupcake applique, green piping on the top edges, fun green buttons = love

how cute is my family?!

turquoise/white linen plaid, pineapple applique, white buttons = classic

OH - and the pattern for those that want to know - Butterick 5439.  And the great part is - this particular pattern also has great girl stuff - it's perfect!  Granted, I haven't made anything but the romper as of yet, but if the rest of it is as simple, I'm 100% sold.  Now - go buy the pattern - when it's on sale for $1 of course! ;)

Put a Lid On It

haha - no - I'm not suggesting that you break out your pots to cover your tot's head... though I'm sure that would make for some very funny candid pictures - I might try that with pepito...

My stepmom "ordered" a pink seersucker dress for someone important at her her school, she's a counselor, and asked if I could make hats.  I said no, I hadn't tried and wasn't really into sewing in triangles, but then, as the week went on I thought "everything else that I haven't had the courage to sew has been super easy - so why not?!"  So I did.  Not too long after - there was an adorable bucket hat with a pink ribbon!!!  So cute!!  

Is there anything sweeter than matching outfit & hat?!  Pepito will have several of these shortly, sans ribbon of course. ;)  And I'm loving the eyelet ruffle and flower buttons!!

Who Wears Short Shorts?!

Well, actually - no one in my house wears short shorts - we don't roll like that.  But, I did discover that making shorts is crazy easy.  It started as a project to make those attached shorts to the cutesy huge collar shirts.  I bought one for pepito that was darling for 99 cents but he has nothing to wear with it because the collar looked so weird under things.  Well - that was a bust.  I got the proportions wrong and it looked crazy.  So - I folded over the top where I had put all the button holes and, voila, he had regular shorts.  And because of the button holes, it was incredibly easy to thread the elastic through.

I ended up removed the collar and plan to have the shirt monogrammed to wear with the blue gingham shorts for a "dressy casual" outfit.  I know - I find myself ridiculous for even saying that about an 8.5 month's wardrobe...

And in the name of easy, my bestest's little boy has the same problem as William - they're squirts.  No shorts/pants in their true size fits their waist.  I can't tell you how many pairs of adorable pants don't fit either one of them.  So - this is doubly awesome - cute shorts for summer and I can tailor the waist measurement to fit.  I am RIDICULOUSLY excited!  And Robbie got some to match!!

Turns out that buying too much green seersucker frogs was the best thing that ever happened to us!

Now - it was on my list all day to take a pic of W in his blue gingham shorts - but the day got away from me and he ended up with no pants on for most of the afternoon.  Oh well.  But here are Robbie's shorts that I took pics of last week.  And I'll have to say, I love that it requires so little yardage - less than 1/2 yd easy.  Oh, remnants, how I've missed you - we will meet again very soon!!

They're just so cute I can't stand it!

And I labeled this post with 'girls' as well, because how cute would these be in pink with a monogrammed tshirt?!!

How I Felt

heehee - punny - yes, I am THAT dork!

I was at a bit of a loss what to do for William's Easter basket.  I mean, seriously, what does an 8 month old really care about?  He'd rather play with the shredded paper inside than any toys we would fill it with!  But I still felt the need to make him one - being his FIRST Easter and all.  I bought some extra pacis, cute bunny eggs, an Amanda Remembered outfit on super sale at the consignment store, a new sippy cup that he still refuses to drink formula out of, and some soft blocks.  But there was nothing in there from me.  (insert sad face here)

I was completely running out of time on Friday, and also out of groceries, so we were at Walmart picking up the essentials.  The frozen pizza JUST HAPPENS to be right by the baby/toddler section of clothes - so I peeked in, of course.  Don't tell Sam - but I always "peek" in.  And there it was - the perfect weight (slightly heavier), perfect size (12 months), white tshirt.  Lightbulb moment - FELT!!  

I have a couple small pieces of felt floating around the fabric bins, stitch witchery in tinier pieces I could use to keep it in place, and then I just had to decide whether hand-sewing or machine sewing was easier/better idea/cuter.  I googled, blogged, and decided on a blanket stitch.  Now, let me go ahead and mention, this project is by no means an original - it's ridiculously easy - so it's everywhere.  But it's the first time I did it, so I'm still pretty excited...

I winged the letter (though I think next time I'll print out a fun font) and the dots and then studied the blanket stitch.  I happened to already have green embroidery "floss" (is that what it's called?) - so I sat down - caught up on my DVR - and it was done in time for early Sunday morning.  

Now - like I said - this is super easy and I know that you can do it!!  

Items needed:

TShirt that fits your tot

One/Two colors of felt (8.5x11 sheets will be just fine)

Some kind of stitch witchery to hold felt in place while you handstitch

Embroidery floss, thread, whatever it's called

A needle 

Interesting TV/Movie so you don't get bored

A really good tutorial or two on blanket stitching

Seriously - you  can be totally done with this project in under two hour, assuming you don't get distracted...  Because that NEVER happens with little ones running around...ha! 

Stay tuned for a machine applique project - I think I'm going to try and get up the courage to try it soon!

Dots for Two

I was contacted by one of my childhood friends last week.  She has an adorable little girl and just gave birth (seriously!) to a precious little boy.  It's kind of wild - we used to ride the bus together and we took gymnastics from the same gym - and now we all have babies!!

the fabrics

Anyhow - she needed outfits for both her children that coordinated for the summer.  And she just happened to LOVE the orange polka dots I had posted.  Which made me so happy - because I was hoping that they were go to the same person with two children!

And done!  ...please excuse my kitchen, I promise it's clean... ;)

She wanted to bring in some green, instead of the standard blue, and I got to choose the accent fabric - whatever I thought would look best!!  Oh - and I did good - it's an adorable floral citrusy print - so cute!!

I absolutely adorable the free form dots with just a small green accent for little C.

And I'm not sure that this dress could be any cuter!! I made a sash for just in case cute little E is a little small in the waist for the dress still.  I didn't stitch it on so her mommy could remove it if need be, but I love how the print is carried up the dress and then we accented the same green on the bodice for consistency.  Love Love Love!!!

S - I was tickled pink (orange!!) to be able to sew some pretty things for your little ones!!  I still can't get over how grown up we've become!! I look forward to seeing the pics of your little ones grow up (and wear the dots with style!!)  Much love and thankyou!!