The Kids' Easter Outfits

Just a quick post to share the outfits I made for the kids to wear on Easter Sunday. I used Simplicity 2316, a skirt and jacket combo. Each of the girls got their own special little skirt and jacket, and I think they turned out so cute. Then I used the same jacket pattern to make a vest for Thomas. I just made it more angular in the front, instead of curved, and didn't add sleeves, and sewed on buttons instead of ribbons.

It was hard to get good pictures, the sun kept getting in the kids' eyes, leading to some funny facial expressions. But they were good sports about it.

I love Thomas' face in this one

Admiring our little cherry tree-to-be

Aahhh, so bright!

The kids were all pleased with their cute new clothes, and compliments abounded at church. It's so fun making clothes for the kids. :)

I made a podeagi

I love babywearing, especially with homemade carriers. I have a mei tai, a wrap, a sling, and now I can add podeagi to the list. I'm really excited about this one, because not only is a podeagi super easy to use, but come August when the baby is born, it will be nice to have a carrier that is very light and not bulky. The blanket portion, which is not weight bearing, is made of two layers of quilting fabric. The straps are made from some old curtains we weren't using. Since the straps are the weight bearing portion of the carrier, they needed to be made of sturdy fabric. The curtain I cut up is fairly heavy and sturdy, and also has a really pretty sheen to it that makes the podeagi extra special.

To make the podeagi, I sort of used the tutorial for Melanie's Podeagi Baby Carrier, though I used my own measurements to tailor fit my body and what I wanted. I used two different fabrics for the blanket. That way the podeagi is reversible. The blanket is about 22" wide x 29" long. The straps are a total of about 150" long and 2.5" wide. There is a layer of fleece padding in the straps along the blanket and extending out for several inches, to cover the shoulders. Much more comfortable.

Here are some action shots. Audrey absolutely loves being worn in a baby carrier. She gets so excited as I'm strapping her on. This is fun, but has a flip side - she always throws a fit when it's time to take off the carrier and put her down!

Linked to Tatertots & Jello.

Diaper Bag

I'm expecting a baby in August, and need a new diaper bag. Previously, I have used the black vinyl bags that came free from the hospital. Not very cute, but they did the job. This time I decided I was going to make my own so I could have something a bit more stylish.

I used this tutorial from crafty couple. Just a couple notes - She states to cut the side panels 6" x 13", but the rest of the bag is only 11 1/2" high. So the panels should actually be cut 6" x 11 1/2" to match the rest of the bag. Also, instead of using interfacing to stiffen up the exterior fabric, I just saved myself a step by using heavy home decor fabric. It worked great. Here's some pictures of my finished diaper bag.

Front outside of bag

A pocket on each side for stuff like bottles, sippy cups or keys.

Two pockets on the outside under the front flap, for stuff like my Kindle and wallet.

Very roomy on the inside, with pockets for stuff like lotion, ointment, cell phone, whatever.

I left the bag pretty plain, but it is easy to accessorize with decorative pins,
which makes it easy to change the decorations whenever the mood strikes.

I'm pretty pleased with how this bag turned out. It's always exciting to create something new and have it turn out just the way you want.

Christmas Goodies

I've been busy lately making stuff for the kids for Christmas. I'm not really big into commercialized Christmas; I prefer to give homemade gifts, and love to receive them as well. Of course we supplement our gift-giving with store bought things like books and a few toys, but I try to make as many Christmas gifts as I can.

I also love giving gifts that will actually be used. In our house, toys get played with briefly, then thrown on the floor in the bedrooms and tend to be forgotten about. That's why I try to keep toy-type gifts to a minimum and make/give lots of useful things that are also fun. This year I have spent the past couple of weeks making pajamas, aprons, and caps for the kids.

For the pajamas, each child chose a print of flannel for me to use, but they don't know what it's for. I made each a pair of flannel pants and a bought shirt with a personalized applique. I didn't use any patterns for the pants or appliques, I just traced around pants that fit loosely.

Zaylee's pajamas are covered with butterflies and flowers! I love this  butterfly print flannel that she chose, the colors are lovely and  butterflies are so fun.

Thomas chose this manly blue flannel. You can't tell from the picture,  but the shirts I got were from the girls' section, and I didn't realize  until later that they have slight gathers on the shoulders that make  them look somewhat feminine. I knew I had to counteract that with a  boyish applique - enter the stegosaurus!

Zaylee chose this pink paw print fabric for Audrey, who was taking her  nap at the time. Since Audrey is a little sweetheart, her applique is a  heart.

All together, a pretty cute bunch.

My next project was to make each kid an apron. My kids love helping out in the kitchen, and every time they see me put on an apron, they run to the apron bin and grab an apron to wear. But they have to wear my aprons, which are too big for them. So I though they would enjoy each having their own apron, made just for them in their own size.

Again, I didn't use a pattern. I just traced out a basic apron shape in an appropriate size, hemmed all the edges, and added straps. They were very simple to make, and are sure to get lots of use. I also decided to make each one using fabric with a vintage-y feel, because I just really love that look.

Zaylee, my girly girl, will love this pink apron with little flowers.

Thomas' apron has tiny green stars.

Audrey will look so sweet in the pale blue apron with pretty little flowers.

And finally, yesterday evening I used this super easy pattern to make each kid a warm cap to wear. It gets cold here in Utah, and the kids really need something to keep their heads and ears warm in the winter. The outside is simple cotton fabric, and the inside is fuzzy warm fleece. Ear flaps and chin tie straps complete these darling caps. Since the patten is sized for 10-16 months, I had to enlarge it three different times to make three different sizes of cap.

Zaylee's is dark pink with flowers. She really loves pink. And flowers.

Thomas' hat is made with this red plaid. He'll look so cute as a manly little lumberjack!

Audrey's hat is this classy brown fabric with flowers and paisley.

And here is Audrey modeling her little cap. I love that it's fitted so nicely and has chin straps - Audrey tends to not like wearing stuff on her head so it's nice that I can tie it on and she can't take it off! I also love that I can use her to model her own gifts, because for now she's still too young to know any better. :)

Look at those cute little curls peeking out! And those darling cheeks, I could just munch them up.

Makes me want to try to enlarge the pattern enough to make a cap for me - they look so cozy!

I'm sure there will be more homemade goodness to share before Christmas comes. I've got lots more ideas floating around!

Wire Wrapped Ring

I have a confession. I weigh about 30 pounds more than I did when Jeff and I got married (insert grumpy, pouty, embarrassed facial expression here). One of the many downsides of this is that my wedding ring just doesn't fit anymore. Quite annoying, since I really love my wedding ring.

So I decided that I need something I can wear at this larger size, at least until I put forth the effort to lose the weight. Trust me, making a pretty ring is much easier than losing 30 pounds! Especially if it's this ring.

I used this very simple tutorial I found on pinterest. I did have to buy some equipment for this - specifically a ring mandrel and some craft/beading wire. The mandrel I purchased on etsy (here) and the wire came from the beads/jewelry section at Wal-Mart.

After seeing my lovely new ring, the kids were super eager to have me make one for each of them as well. So here's one I made for Zaylee:

And one I made for Thomas (I used a miniaturized version of this tutorial instead, no beads. Tried to get it a little less feminine):

I can see myself getting hooked on making these simple rings. So quick, so elegant, so fun!

Halloween Costumes

Along with the cute little crocheted ears I made for the kids, I also had to make matching costumes. I'm all about doing things simple and inexpensive. We had a prowling kitty cat, and swooping bat, and a fluttering butterfly, and I was able to crank out all three costumes in three days.

The Cat

For Zaylee's cat costume, I crocheted a long, fuzzy tail and sewed it onto the back of some brown sweatpants. Besides the ears, the tail is her favorite part of her costume, and mine too! It's a long tube of double crochet, in Lion Brand Homespun.

Next I crocheted a large oval. This I hot-glued onto a brown turtleneck to act as the fuzzy belly. Add the ears and some kitty makeup, and the cat costume was complete.

The Bat

For Thomas' bat costume, wings were an absolute necessity. I used the basic instructions given at Alphamom (which I found on Pinterest, and can thus link this post to the pin-did challenge at The Modern Marigold, yay).

I did alter it a bit - I didn't use boning because they didn't have it at Wal-Mart when I did my quick costume supply shopping trip. Instead, I made the wings out of two layers of fabric, one of which was somewhat stiff, and that way the wings supported themselves and boning was unnecessary. Also, to attach the wings to the shirt, I cut out the side seams and resewed them with the wings, so now they're actually "built in" to the shirt. Again, I used a basic turtleneck and sweatpants as the base for the costume.

Ears and makeup, and my little bat was ready to fly.

 

The Butterfly

For Audrey's butterfly costume, all I had to do was add wings to a black turtleneck and pair it with black pants. And make an antenna headband that she wasn't too fond of wearing.

The wings are just two layers of fabric, with some interfacing to keep them stiff. I used a zigzag stitch to emphasize the shape of the wings. Then I sewed them onto the shirt. If I had it to do again, I would have just glued or pinned them on, because getting the shirt up onto the sewing machine enough to sew the top of the wings was really hard! And I would have used a bent clothes hanger or something to help the wings keep their shape - even with the interfacing they flopped forward too much and didn't really hold their shape well. But still, for a last minute project, it turned out okay.

Fun costumes!