Dinosaur Backpack

Micah's cousin is turning one this month and I wanted to send him something fun. 

It took me a little while to come up with it but I finally settled on a back pack.

His nickname is G-Rex and dinosaurs are a favorite. 

The pattern is from MadebyRae with a fair amount of modifications made... because that's how we roll... 

I really can't believe I am doing so much pattern sewing...it wouldn't be at all possible if it weren't for mum!

Fireplace Redo and ♥ Garland

Jessica-Wow until seeing this picture I had completely blocked out just how ugly this room started out! -Sorry Mum!- But HEY look at that freshly vacuumed carpet! 

Corinnea- Ugly doesn't quite describe it....

J-It was an immediate improvement when Dad took off the cultured pink marble... no joke... it took a little while to get the new one up and yet, the unfinished, patched, unpainted drywall made the room feel cleaner! 

C- Um, yeah, I think it took about three weeks to complete the project and the whole time I thought how amazing it was that getting rid of that pink surround made the whole place look cleaner. 

C- Ta Da! My clever husband strikes again, and Jessica helped do the tiling. The hearth is a four inch tumbled marble and the surround is a small polished marble subway tile. The mantel was put together with a few different mouldings and pine boards. I'm very impressed with You Know Who's workmanship...

J- See the Valentine decoration? Yes Mum's super favorite awesome daughter made her, her very own V-day garland- Isn't she awesome!? Don't forget about our nifty Valentine Garland Tutorial - in case you didn't make yours last year!

C- Last time I checked, Jessica, you are my only daughter and yes, you are awesome! Thank you so much for the garland. I'm glad my demanding begging finally paid off.

For those of you longing for a Micah moment, here it is. This boy loves his dog!

Tutu Update

This is my first cousin once removed. I love family relationships don't you? Her Grandmother is my aunt who feels more like a sister. Anyway..... I sent her the first tutu I made and according to her Grandmother it makes her feel like a princess. 

I made a sweet girl feel like a princess, how fun is that?

No moose were harmed in the making of this post....

Mum bought this moose for my little brother sometime 7-10 years ago. I stole it 4-6 years ago and it has been hanging in my guest room. It's awesome. For some reason I was thinking I would probably get rid of it.... I am very confused by this train of thought...what's wrong with me? Thank goodness Micah took notice of it a few weeks ago and  he LOVES it! He likes to talk to it and give it hugs and kisses. 

 So I decided he needed some garland- I've been looking for an excuse to make some felted ball garland for ages. I'm still not sure how I want to drape it over his horns. But I guess I have time to figure that out.  

I can't wait to start setting up the new rooms... unfortunately since I am not ready for Micah to sleep in the twin bed it will probably be another two months... I would feel bad decorating the nursery in pink and making him sleep it it- he already has enough issues- haha. It will be here soon enough though so I don't feel the need to rush it!

Pillow Talk

A few weeks back we had a sewing with friends day at my house. I was helping one young woman sew some pillow cases. We'd done it once before, but since then I came across the hotdog pillow case method. Where has this been? Why can't I think of these things on my own???

Anyway, I made one so I could show her the results. Of course, you can't just make one pillow case, can you?

I used a couple of Michael Miller fabrics from the Citron Gray line, Gray Lil' Plain Jane and Citron Play Stripe. The accent strip is Kona charcoal.  I will eventually do a quilt that coordinates with these........

 Normally I wouldn't choose big flowers for something like this but they make me happy. 

Nap time!

A Dress For The Girl

Not long after finding out that she was having a girl, Jess found this fabric.  It's one of the Lisette fabrics sold at Joann's. It's a sweet pink (slightly salmon) lawn, that's very easy to sew. She let me choose Simplicity 4243 for the pattern. 

It's a very simple pattern. Hopefully easy for a wee one to wear. I did change the back closure to three buttons instead of a zipper.

The sizing was kind  of aggravating. It's one of those xxs, xs, s, m, l deals, I'd rather they use pounds or months or something like that.

The front has small pleats that give it just enough fullness without being fussy. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against fussy. I'm sure I'll indulge in fussy later.

Toy Bags

I bought this fabric a few months ago intending to make toy bags for Micah. Somehow, I never got around to it. I may or may not have bought him a toy at Christmas that has pieces. Pieces that can get lost. Pieces that need a bag. 

Remembering that I meant to sew bags, I finally pulled this fabric back out and did it.

 I really love these little robots.

 I bought what ended up being a very scant half yard. I used it all. The drawstring bag is unlined with a clean finish seam. The zipper bag is lined with Kona cotton. I wasn't sure there would be enough so I even use the selvedge edge for the strap. Instead of hiding the writing, I let it show. 

This was my first splurge on Kokka fabrics. It's a linen/cotton blend and sews beautifully.

soft things for Isabella

I've been holding on to this fabric - All Cotton by Alexander Henry - for almost 3 years just in case I was lucky enough to have a little girl I could use it for-- so I finally turned it into a yummy blanket. 

 It has yummy polka dot minky on the back.

 Mom made Micah a similar blanket and it continues to be one of my favourites to pull out. Looking back at that post it seems impossible Micah was every so small and quiet.... and still! 

And while I was at it I made up a bunch of spit cloths- because flannel was on sale and what better way to get the need to buy something girly out of your system then a few half yards of fabric.  

We have so many more things in process for this new little one- we just need to focus and get some of them completed... and I probably need to stop ordering more fabric... ahem!

Tutu

I feel that an essential part of my preparation in having a grand-daughter is making her some tutus. I may be over doing things here but I really don't think this one is quite full enough.... It definitely won't fit her as a new born, so back to the drawing board there.....

(Thank you Micah and Gramps for telling me the skirt was glowing)

I'll be making another soon but wanted your feed back on this one.

I chose three colors. Two shades of green and one blue. I cut them in strips, layered the strips, sewed and gathered, then sandwiched it between the satin ribbon. I threaded the elastic through and finished sewing it up. 

I've seen that most people choose to tie the netting on an elastic waist band. I liked the idea of a ribbon adding more texture. I wasn't careful enough with the ribbon on this one so the seam in back is a bit rough. It'll still make a fun dress up skirt for a 2-3 year old.

What do you think?

Interestingly enough I made Jess plenty of princess outfits when she was a little girl but never a tutu. 

Which do you prefer for your girly-girls?

Initial Love

 I decided it would be fun to add a little decoration to the kids doors.

So I picked up giant letters at Joanns the other day and covered them in some Denyse Schmidt fabric I had at the house alla the Anthropologie style I've seen about on Pinterest. I used an interfacing under the fabric to get rid of the cardboard look and opted for grosgrain ribbon on the side instead of wrapping the fabric. Instant gratification is awesome I barely do any projects that take just a few minutes and glue!  

Gratuitous Micah shot... he does have other clothes it just so happens I did all of my picture taking the same afternoon... and he's such a ham I had to share a few! Also the pink on his face is strawberries which he stole off his Dad's birthday cake... 

Walls Go Up lll

This should be the last in this series..... There's one other possible wall change but that's down the road a bit.

So this first picture is the way before. 

As soon as I saw this area I knew I wanted to change it. The open spaces at the top of the closets is such a dust catching area. I was never, ever going to put any thing up there so closing it in was a great idea and while we were doing that, why not make an arch over the bathtub area???

You Know Who, being the ingenious guy that he is, did some research and came up with this plan. 

I do think he is rather clever.

Very determined too.

I was very anxious to see it done.

I think the wait was worth it.

My view when I indulge in a bath. 

Oops, I keep forgetting to fix that broken chain....

Birdie Mobile

I am so excited to show you Isabella's mobile! I had planned regardless of the sex that the next baby's mobile would be birds. I started this two days before we found out for sure it would be a girl and was happy to get to come home and make crab apple blossoms for my tree branch!

 I seriously love felt - it's so much fun to work with because you can make anything out of it! 

A barred owl. I really think owls are some of the prettiest birds... of course they can also be pretty scary so I decided he should be sitting instead of flying!

 Hummingbirds are Uber's Mom's favorite bird so I knew one had to be included. 

 A blue bird - my grandmother is always taking pictures of these in her backyard... among other things but these are the cutest! 

 Cardinals are my Mum's favorite bird. 

 This is the only one that I didn't choose for a specific reason I just wanted another color of bird and a yellow warbler was the first yellow bird that popped up on my google search... 

 I went back and forth on how to do the branch in the end I used my only crochet skills to make a branch out of roving yarn and then felted it. I am really happy with it and so happy that the felting process made my ridiculously imperfect job almost invisible or possibly intentional!

Micah is absolutely infatuated with it. He wants so badly to play with it and will go into the guestroom where it's hanging and point and babble about it. I am pretty sure he is plotting ways to get to it... since I've caught him on his way into the room with things like a hanger! Hopefully the baby will enjoy it half as much!

And a big fat P.S. I finally got my act together and started selling on Spoonflower -- I still haven't finished the Color Book (soon hopefully) but my Zoo fabric and Number Book are up. Thanks!