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!