Post Christmas Mayhem and Preparing for KCW!

So in the end of the Christmas craziness I made 9...no 10 pairs of the hanging dishtowels I posted about in the last post for a lot of different people. They were a great easy gift that I think was very useful for the recipients.







We took the little man to the Trolley Museum for a trolley ride with Santa.

 

Safe to say he loved it. They had a large train table and a large lego town display. He had cookies and hot chocolate after seeing Santa.

The trolley itself was just amazing, all restored and had wicker/woven seats and polished brass and wood everywhere. Very cool.

How about the guy in the last picture photo-bombing??

 

 

Now who is getting ready for KCW (KidsClothesWeek) at the end of the month?

I know I'll never get everything done I hope (wishes and dreams, amiright?) but I have high hopes.

Im getting ready now by prewashing all my fabrics. I'm pretty sure my serger was smoking by the end of serging over 20 yards of fabric. I need to get that thing actually serviced I think. I've never done it before so I don't even know where to take it!

 

I've picked out I think 6-7 patterns too. I know on my list is the recess raglan, another pair of skinny jeans, hipster Henley, nowhere man pants, multiple lazy day pajamas sets, the reversible zippy hoodie pattern and maybe if I get to it some more flannel pajama pants for my little mans Cabbage Patch doll. I made my own pattern for those and with scraps from his lazy days they are pretty

easy to whip up. What is on your list? What are you planning on doing? 

Happy Halloween...and Thanksgiving...

Well let's start at the begining I suppose.

The little guy was a viking for Halloween. For him I sewed up some faux fur boot covers and fur vest. It was raining and yucky out so we did not stay out long although he was pretty warm. He even had on a fake red beard and hair under his horned helmet.

Sorry this is the only decent picture I got that night; you can't really see the boot covers or the vest over his coat.  

 

Then I got started on sewing for Christmas...

5 Imke's for the neices/nephew and son.

This is after cutting but before sewing them up, of course, I have already wrapped all of these up. It is the same Imke pattern that I have used in the past but this time with long sleeves and made of fleece.

 

Then I had to pack up the entire sewing dining room for Thanksgiving. We had just over 25 people at our house and everything was fabulous. I tried out a few new recipes and they were really good.

I did my own homemade cranberry sauce which is SO much better than canned. It is also so easy so I don't know why I never tried it before. I also made corn casserole--also YUMM-O!

 

 

 

Okay so then black friday happened which was a little like this:

 

 

No not really...BUT I did go to two different Kohl's and JoAnn Fabrics as well as a few other stores. Yeah, I am that crazy.

 

 

Then back to the sewing.

I made a stinkin' adorable kimono pj set for my nephew, Baby Eric as my son calls him.

 

 

It is from the Amy Butler book.

Little Stitches for Little Ones.

It is actually the outfit on the cover. I made it with some of my JoAnn's $1.99 flannel from Black Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I made my neice a coloring book dress for her birthday. It is a reversible dress with a very light purple on the inside because it is her favorite color.

 

 

 

 

Last and not least I made some hanging dish towels.

 I used kleiosbelly pattern. That link takes you right to the PDF.

 I used another Black Friday score to whip these up. The towels themselves are The Big One hand towels from Kohls that I cut it half.

Total cost for each set $1.99 because of stashed fabric usage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that I only need to sew up some new PJ's for the little man

 and this mama is done Christmas sewing.

 

What are y'all making up for Christmas??

Simplicity 4760

Pattern Description:

Boys' and Men's Pants and Shirt. This is a basic button down shirt pattern but not a "dressy" shirt.

Pattern Sizing:

Boys S, M, L and Mens S-XL

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

I think so.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

I had no problems following along.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

It is a basic shirt which is just what I wanted. It is for my 3 yr old nephew and I know it will be trashed within a few wears. I did do a few special things to punch it up but nothing that was to crazy.

Fabric Used:

Thrifted Ikea 100% cotton top sheet. $2 bucks for SO much fabric!







Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

 

I did do a fancy seam on the shoulders and down the sides of the shirt. I don't know if it has a name but I folded the seam allowance to each side and stitched about 1/4" away from the seam. I don't think it is a flat felled or french. Anyhow I think it is pretty








Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes I still have a bunch of sheet left so I will make one for my little guy as well.







 

I like this little yoke on the shoulders with the seams I did for a little bit of interest. 

On a solid white shirt the detailing is what makes it special.

I specifically made this pattern so that my nephew could wear it with a little bow tie. 

My little guy loves them and has this same bow tie:)

Paint Laced Bag Tutorial

A quick tutorial

Supplies:

Elmer's Craft Bond (or similar)

Tulip Fabric Paint

Tote Bag Blanks (I got mine at JoAnns)

Not pictured:

Paper doilies-10"

Sponge dauber thingie

COVER your work surface with newspaper or paper bags! This stuff is SUPER sticky and will stick to your table for a VERY long time.

Take one paper doily and spray the back with craft bond. Do yourself a favor here; it is not more-the-better. Use just enough to make it stick. The first one I did I used way tooooo much and the doily ripped when I was taking it off and I had to remove bits of paper with a pin.

 

Place the doily sticky side down firmly

Starting from the edge of the doily start applying the fabric paint with the foam dauber thingy. 

Then fill in the rest and while paint is still wet gently remove the doily.

Ta-Da!

I am going to go back and put a letter in the corner of the bag to personalize the gift but it really isn't necessary. I also had a thought; what if you did a second layer of lace but in another color like a grey closer to the corner?

My 1600 Quilt

My 1600 Quilt...ONLY 15 months in the making.

Yea. I bought this fabric a LONG time ago and I've had it sandwiched but not quilted for 

many, 

many, 

many months.

It's done now though:)

I thought I would share it with y'all.

The front.

The pieced back.

My lovely handmade binding! See my post on how to make it in my post Bias tape? Anyone?

Here is my little man helping 

Daddy hold up the quilt. Good thing Daddy is tall!

Bias Tape? Anyone?

Yeah, you read that right. I am going to show you how. I have Christmas presents to finish and I'd rather not spend money on tools so necessity is the mother of invention (or so I hear).

So herrreee we go and I hope you don't mind this MILE long post with a lot of pictures!

First you need 1/2 a yard of fabric.

Wash, dry and iron it (if you must). 

I'm not saying you have to or anything, 

because honestly, I don't do it all the time. 

I ironed it before I got started using steam...

does that count??

I use a Clover erasable marker to mark my fabrics. I like it because it goes away when it gets wet. The only draw back for me it is that 

the ink is very light.

Okay in person not so much in pictures, hence my red arrows:)

You should be cutting off a triangle here people!

Measure twice--Cut once right?

Here is the first tool that I don't have and made myself--

a Bias Tape Ruler.

First use masking tape to mark the first section. For 1/2" double fold bias tape you need and original strip width of 1 7/8". I used the masking tape to make the first section 1 7/8" solid tape. Then take the ruler and line it up with the edge of the fabric and tape again at your marker pen line on the fabric. Repeat on the whole ruler.

It is hard to explain here but I will try:

Take the ruler's first taped section and line it up perpendicularly to the angled edge of the fabric and mark with pen and each side of the ruler.

THEN

Now if that was not confusing enough for you...
there's more...

Fold the fabric right sides together-it's wonky but then off set the lines as shown here:

Pin the long edges together getting the lines you drew on as close as you can. Don't worry if they are off a hair (ignore the little OCD monster if you can).

It is going to look CRAY when you are done but sew it up anyhow.

Lay one side as flat as you can and start cutting following the lines, starting at the offset bit (remember).

Now it is time to make the strip in to finished bias tape.

 Then you feed the end of the tape through the pinned section folding then edges to the middle and iron as you go. Then you fold the tape in half again and feed/iron it again.

This is a slightly tedious process. I'm not going to lie.

However, I do not have a Simplicity Bias Tape Maker, so this is what I came up with to fold and iron with out burning the CRAPLES out of my fingertips. I would love to have one but I just don't (donations?? Haha)

I was very proud of myself for coming up with this! It works beautifully.

Simplicity 2156 - Little girl leggings

Pattern Review:

Simplicity 2156

Pattern Description: Child's & Girl's jumper, jacket and knit leggings and dress or top sewing pattern. I made the leggings only.

 Pattern Sizing: Girls 3-14

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes it did.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Very easy only two pieces for the leggings.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked that they were so easy and quick as I had to make three pairs in three different sizes for three different little girls.

Fabric Used: Some kinda knit I got off the clearance-red tag rack at JoAnn's. I saw it and knew that it would be perfect for these girls ages 6-10

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: None.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I really did like the leggings but I would like to make the jumper or the jacket. The jacket has an adorable little ruffle detail at the back!


I really struggled with where to photograph these leggings! Plus I had little man jumping up and down in the background yelling "Take my picture Momma! Take my picture Momma!!"

I couldn't argue with that...he was beggin' me after all:)

I have one other thing I have sewn up recently (and it is adorable too!) but I can not share it until sometime tomorrow because it is a present for someone I work with and she might be reading this right now!!

Radio Silence

My bad.

 

It has been just crazy here but I beg your forgiveness!!!

 

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and successful Black Thursday/Friday shopping:) I know I did.

 

We had 20 or so people at our house for Thanksgiving and everything turned out great. Everyone brought a dish to pass and we had to make the turkey and ham. I also made an AWESOME Spinach and artichoke dip in the crockpot. The recipe can be found at the bottom of this post:)

 

Yesterday we took the little man to a parade with a marching band and a horse drawn sleigh with Santa! It was FREEZING though so the little guy was all bundled up! He was waving to everyone passing by, it was just adorable.

Then we went to Kraynak's in Hermitage, PA. Again we had to stand in line outdoors to walk through the Christmas land. It is basically display after display of Christmas tree's.

Then Hunter got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Can you guess what he said??

 

 

Toys.

 

I have not done much sewing/crafting until today. I had to tear down my sewing room to turn it back into the dining room which it really is. Big man was happy to have his dining room back-until I started bringing stuff back down today.

 

 He was hoping to have it clear until Christmas but I told him No Way, I have Christmas presents to work on!

 

I'm doing three pairs of super duper easy leggings in a hot pink and black houndstooth knit for three little girls. I love this pattern, so many cute peices to make later; if your wondering, I am using Simplicity 2156. I only worked on them for about 2 hours and have one pair done and the other two just need the waistband/elastic casing made. Told ya they were easy-peasy:)

 

Also--Little man is THISCLOSE to being potty trained. All on his own too. I think he just wants the skittles he gets as a reward. No going #2 but pee-potty all day long!!! YAY!!!! I know your as excited as I am. The day your kid is completely potty trained is a glorious day!



Spinach and Artichoke Dip

2 10oz frozen chopped spinach
2 8 oz cream cheese, softened. Regular or Low fat, NEVER fat free-it doesn't melt right.
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
3/4 half and half
2/3 cup shreadded monterey jack cheese
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tbs finely chopped onion
1 15 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Mix all together in a crockpot except  for 1/2 of the monterey jack cheese. Cook on high for a couple of hours. Top with remaining monterey jack cheese and cook on low for another hour.