ripped pants

I was really excited for naptime today.  My plan was to make some pants for Brice to wear at Christmas.  I even thought I'd be able to do a tutorial on pants with a knit waistband.  I used black corduroy and they were coming together great!  Then RRRRR-I-P!! 

The pants tore right down the side seam!  And it was the fabric, not the stitching.  Turns out, this corduroy can tear everywhere -  the pants are now in shreds, in the trash can.  Each time I tore it, I imagined Brice crawling around at Christmas Eve mass, ripping his pants every time he moved!

This corduroy isn't new.  My mom gave it to me and it was probably from when she was making clothes for us kids.  It might be 20 years old!  So maybe the age made it less durable.  I'm going to blame it on that, and move on to the jeans...   

easy christmas garland

Over the next few weeks, when I'm not making Christmas gifts, I plan to add to our decoration collection.  And just in case you're in need of a few ideas, I'll share some here.  First up, Christmas garland! 

I'd seen this Fall garland on Cluck Cluck Sew and thought it would look great for Christmas too! 

Supplies:

felt

scissors

circular objects (I used a wine glass and a kids cup...does that say something bad about me?)

trace a bunch of circles and cut them out

 

sew them, down the middle of each circle, in one long line, keeping them very close together, but not overlapping

and hang it up! 

You could probably do this with paper, or I thought it would be cool to use felted Christmas sweaters.  Let me know if you try it!

Now I'm off to finish some t-shirt quilts...

quilted coasters

Last month, I participated in a coaster swap with the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild.  The pattern I used can be found in Joelle Hoverson's book Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts.  (If you haven't seen her books yet, check them out.  She has two wonderful knitting books and the sewing one is just as great.) 

 Anyway, here are some coasters similar to the ones I brought.  I made two sets, thinking I'd save the other for a Christmas gift...they just need to be finished! 

Here are the coasters I got in exchange!  Aren't they adorable??  I just love the print- it reminds me of a Christmas book we read when we were little. 

Thank you Barb!!

And I can't keep them away from Ella.  So, if you're at our house and need a coaster, check the playroom!

infinity scarf pattern

Wow, how many knitting projects can I have going all at once?  Today I counted 5! 

There is a dark red sweater vest for Brice's Christmas outfit, a scarf for our church donation, an unfinished infinity scarf and the new infinity scarf.  Not included is the hat I've slowly been making myself!  Hmmm...do I start projects and not finish sometimes....yes. 

But here is a pattern for one I did finish!  Have you seen or heard of infinity/cowl scarves?  Basically they are a long, wide loop.  Super comfortable and easy to wear.  Here's a pattern that I made up. 

For a scarf that is about 80" around and 8 inches wide you will need:

size 15 (10mm) circular knitting needles

a chunky ball of yarn - I used a super bulky acrylic yarn.  It called for size 11 needles and had 104 yards.

basic knitting/purling skills. 

Cast on 120 stitches.  Place a marker and join, careful not to twist.  Knit 2 purl 2 all the way around (and around and around!)

Be careful when you are going to cast off.  I recommend ending with WAY more yarn than you think you will need - definitely don't want to cast off halfway around and run out! 

new headband designs

Yesterday I was up at 5:30 am unable to sleep because I had so many ideas in my head!  (There are definitely worse reasons for being up that early...)  But I took advantage of the extra time and made some new designs for headbands.  I'm so excited about these!! 

Ella was such a good model this morning!  All it cost me was one hershey kiss :)  I hope to have these in my etsy shop this afternoon.  Happy Friday! 

old chairs, new look

Over the summer I found 3 of these chairs at the Loveland Vintage and Thrift.  They were 3 for $15 - what a steal!  I thought I'd find super cute fabric and cover them right away. 

 Well, I did one of them that day...

I covered the first chair in a fabric called Freebird by Momo for Moda.  I love the print, but wasn't sure I wanted three of them.  (It's not home dec weight fabric at all - just quilting weight.  I put some thick interfacing on it which helped make it more durable.  Although, who knows how long anything will last around here with our two kiddos racing around!)

 

I finally brought the other two in from the garage this weekend.  I was waiting for the perfect fabric and just couldn't settle on one, so I found a $3 curtain panel at Target and again thougth, what a steal!  But it was horrible!!  The fabric was so slippery and had no give!  They look fine now (just don't look underneath them!)...

 

 

 but next time I will use better material, even if it's not "a steal". 

 

a little shop

I finally did it!!  An Etsy shop!  Check out naptimecraftime.  Ok, so there's not a whole lot there yet I know - I wanted to put up just a few things and see what happens.  Also, my plans to take pictures have been ruined by the gloomy, rainy day we're having here in Cincinnati.  But it has been the perfect day to sit down and get serious about Etsy.  If you check it out, please bear with me, I'm still learning! 

All this worrying and thinking about whether our not I should do a shop has left me pretty far behind on my blog.  So hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow and allow me to do some catching up!



a quilt for us

I'm finally getting around to making a quilt for our bed.  Our bedroom has become pretty pitiful - kids toys on the floor, laundry that needs to be put away...so I thought a quilt would make it all better!  I decided to go with greens, blues, purples and greys with a little brown.  The pattern I'm using is Amy Butler's Lotus Brick Path, which I just made larger to fit our queen size bed.  

The problem with working on such a big quilt in our house, is that there is no where to leave it laid out while the kids are awake!  So I laid it out during naptime, then placed each row in its own plastic bag.  This way I can work on it when I have the time.  (And hopefully finish before Christmas!)    

Meanwhile I'm working on some more felt things and considering using Big Cartel or Etsy to sell a few headbands and hair ties.  Maybe I'll have some for next week...  Better get crackin' 

library books

It's been a long week!  I feel like we have had sick kids on and off for the last 3 weeks and this week topped it off with a trip to the emergency room.  Turns out Brice is allergic to penicillin and he had a bad reaction called serum sickness.  Yuck! (He is doing much better now!)  Last night everything hit me and I was wiped, so during today's naptime I sat on the couch and browsed my collection of library books.

These are just a sampling of all the books I placed on hold! 

My favorites:

The Homemade Home by Sania Pell

Found Style by David and Amy Butler

Handmade Living by Lotta Jansdotter

Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Guifts by Joelle Hoverson

Stitch by Stitch by Deborah Moebes



And my absolute favorites!

Little Birds by Stash Books

Dare to be Square Quilting by Boo Davis

I think I am fully motivated again.

headband winner!

Congratulations to Maggi!  She is the winner of the yellow headband!!  (But thanks to everyone who entered my first giveaway!)

And because I felt weird posting without a picture, here is a little gift I made for a friends baby.  Please excuse the running late to church, about to wrap it up picture! 

more felt things and a giveaway

Some things I've worked on in the last week...

hair clips and ties...

 more adult friendly hair ties...

 and finally headbands!  So here"s the scoop.  One person will win either the yellow or red flower headband.  All you need to do is leave a comment telling me which one you like better!  I'll pick a winner Monday evening  - using a random number generator, or  old-fashioned drawing a number out of a hat!  And I'll ship it within the US!

Goodluck and have a great weekend!!! 

toddler tunic

On Monday night I had it in my head that I wanted to make Ella a tunic.  My piano students left, we ate dinner, put the kids to bed and I set to work.  (Thankfully Brent understood that I was on a mission, and was content with watching the World Series without me!)  For a pattern I used an outgrown sweatshirt and a ripped apart Old Navy t-shirt.  I cut a hair tie in half, and used the pieces as button loops because, I confess, I do not know how to make a buttonhole!!  (Wonder how long I can get away with that?)  At the end of the night I had this!

I thought it would look cute as a jumper, but decided to add some sleeves.  When it was a jumper, Ella refused to try it on.  Once I added sleeves though, no problem!

She was in it by snack time. 

toddler yoga pants tutorial

A while back I said I'd post a tutorial for toddler yoga pants.  Well here ya go!

I started with a black knit dress (so I wouldn't have to hem the pants of course!)

1.  Trace a pair of pants that fit your child well.  I used leggings and added a slight flare at the bottom.  If you look really really close you might see my chalk marks.  Make sure you trace the front side, and also the back side.  (You don't need to allow for a hem here since you will attach a waistband later.)

2.  Measure your child's waist, keeping in mind that the pant waist should fit snugly.  Take the waist measurement and add a seam allowance (I use a 1/2" seam so I add 1" to the waist measurement.)  Cut out a rectangle:  waist measurement by the doubled height of band.  Confused yet?  My waistband was about 13"x7". 

You should have 2 front pieces, 2 back pieces and the waistband rectangle. 

3.  Sew pant legs together as you would any other pair of pants.  I match a front and back at the inseam and sew, ending up with two sets.

 4.  Match right sides together at the crotch.  Front on front and back on back.  And sew around the crotch.

5.  Rearrange the pants so that the fronts are in front.  They are beginning to look like real pants!  Sew the side seams, right sides together.   

6.  Flip right side out and you have pants! 

 7.  For the waistband, join the ends and sew.  Than fold the band in half and iron.  You should have a double layer tube (like the neck of a turtleneck, which I have also used instead of making a waistband!)

8.  Last step!  Line the raw edges of the waistband up with the raw edges of the pants, placing the seam in the back.  Pin in place and sew around. 

And you have little yoga pants!!!

 They make great playtime pants!  If you try this and have any questions let me know! 

a forest family

There's Ella the owl, Brice the gnome, Katie the mushroom and Brent the wolf!  I loved the way the kids costumes turned out!  And it's even nice that Ella can continue to wear her hat, and Brice's hat will be great at Christmas.  Poor Brent.  My idea for a wolf costume obviously didn't turn out great, but he played along and wore it anyway.  (Doesn't it look like a floppy-eared hyena/pig creature?)  Oh well, we all had fun though! 

(I put stickers on our faces because I'm still undecided about showing our kids on the blog.  If you're friends on Facebook, head over there for a better pic!  Thanks!)

little clips

I have fallen in love with felt.  (And forest animals.)  So I attached them to clips so I can look at them in Ella's hair all day!   

new towels

I needed a break from Halloween costumes, so I made some new towels instead!

It was about time - except for Christmas, we've been using the same towels we received for our wedding!  I was a little hesitant of the colors at first, but wanted something fall-ish.  The actual towels are from Ikea. 

And don't you love these flowers?? 

Jenni, my good friend and college roommate, sent them to me!  They are from Paper Source, so of course made from paper.  It took a little while, folding and gluing everything, but thankfully they cut it all out for you.  They are adding some much needed color to our very blank bedroom!   

owl

Ella the owl!

Made from t-shirt scraps.  There will be a hat later.  Right now I'm just happy she was excited to wear it!  It looks a little shabby, but owls are shabby aren't they?

inspiration

Some things I've been looking at... 

Clockwise from left to bottom:  Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn Kids, Boden - Women and Mini Boden.  

I love getting holiday catalogues in the mail!  Crate and Barrel is my favorite for modern holiday decorations - especially Christmas ornaments.  Check out these pillows too...they would be great in all sorts of colors!   

 

Crate & Barrel

I don't even know where to start with Pottery Barn.  Halloween costumes, trick-or-treat bags, Thanksgiving decorations....can I have make them all? 

PBKids

And have you seen or heard of Boden?  I LOVE their clothes!   A little out of my price range, but maybe someday...  I find myself referencing the children's catalogue when I make clothes for my kids.

Boden

 

But there is only so much time and money.