FO 2012: Lucky 7 Napkins

I was on a roll one afternoon and pulled out a pile of unfinished objects. In the Summer and Fall I set my girls to work cutting out napkins. I can't recall now what blog I read this on, but I remember thinking that this would be a perfect way to merge my "green" mindset and let my girls begin crafting. I grabbed two 12.5" squares and tons of fabric a friend had passed down to me and set them to work tracing and cutting. It didn't matter if the lines showed through or the cuts weren't straight. The girls cut then I folded, ironed, and sewed the four sides. Voila! We had napkins.

They loved it and so did I. However, those little ones can do their part a bunch quicker than Mom can. So, I have a pile left to be sewn and with our expanding blended family I've found we need more sewn or we can't use them. So, when I was working on doll clothes one weekend I pulled a few of these out and sewed seven more super quick.

These turn out smaller than most store-bought cloth napkins would be, but they work just fine for our family. We love to be able to pick random patterns. No need to match. I know this may not work for all families, but it seems to just "fit" us. :)

FO: Doll Summer Sets

I have a few more WIP photos to share, but am too excited to do that tonight. So, I'll resume the "regularly scheduled" post a bit later in the week.

I have two little girls and last year purchased a ton of fabric and two patterns and was going to make them shorts. Well, a year passed and I was always busy with something else and never got around to doing anything. This year, for whatever reasons (for which I'm very grateful) I was able to cut into a piece of flip-flop fabric. I had planned to make shorts for the girls and a dress or skirt for me, but instead it morphed into shorts for my girls and shorts and tops for their dolls.

Everything around here needs to be done in two's even though my girls are not twins. They are just two years apart and still at an age where dressing alike doesn't bother them. I started with two doll sets then thought how my niece could use one for her doll. Then my eldest asked for one for her friend. Then...well, I ended up cutting six pairs of shorts and, of course, six tops. I sewed three sets today and posted to my Etsy shop. The other three are patiently awaiting their final assignments, as I ran out of elastic and ran out of time.

 

While all this craziness was going on I came upon the thought that a fat quarter would be enough fabric to make these outfits. What a great idea for doll clothes. I measured and the top would be an inch or two less around and I can only cut shorts or capris, not pants. Still...ideas are churning.

So, off to JoAnn Fabrics and for the first time I let my girls loose on the fabric. I showed them the rows of fat quarters and set them off to pick four each. It was so odd to watch their choices and so rewarding to hear their excited giggles and see them carefully put them back to pick a different one. I thought the youngest would pick some very "girly" fabrics but instead she picked some rich tones with small prints. The eldest shocked with a batik that looks kind of like cheetah markings and one that is tiger print.

This is going to be a fun summer if I can keep this crafting mojo going (knock-on-wood).

FO: Layla Blanket

This week was such a lucky one. I was blessed to meet my best friend's husband for the first time as she and Chris traveled half way across the country to visit family and friends. The reason for the trip? My BF's cousin had her first baby, Layla. She is an amazingly beautiful little girl and I couldn't resist the urge to make something. So, I spent Easter morning cutting and sewing a 42 inch square blanket to go along with my favorite baby parenting book. The perfect size to swaddle.

The fabric is 100% cotton so it is fully machine washable and dryable. The fabric on the front is school days as both Layla's parents are teachers. The back is a simple yellow.

Welcome to the world and to a wonderful family, little Layla!

Pillows

I know this is mainly a knitting blog, but I am not just a knitter. I am actually a crocheter first, but learned to sew a bit along the way and then to knit.

My girls were getting ready for a new visitation schedule and were hesitant for overnights. So, I pulled out some fabric I purchased more than a year ago (for them) and put together three complimentary pillows. Each girl has one to take to their Dad's and I keep mine with me. This way we share something even across the miles. I drew some basic designs on paper and let the girls pick which they wanted. Then I cut and sewed and they stuffed. It was a fun project to do together. Each of my little ones also has a smaller version for at home. Those are stuffed but I haven't gotten around to sewing the seam closed yet. Too much other stuff on my plate these days.

Here are the three pillows together:

and my favorite part of the blue fabric:

"May you always know you are loved." I purchased this fabric, full of inspirational sayings, to use as pillow cases of some sort for my girls, as they struggled with their life changes. I knew it would be something special that we could share and they'd be able to hear my positive voice even in the darkest hours, whispering from this fabric to their hearts.

Updates

I have been checked out for a while now on the blog, but have been plodding away with crafting. So, I'm going to try to fill in a bit now that I've uploaded some photos finally. I've been wanting to write but didn't think it would be the same without something to look at.

First, let me share my oldest daughter's 100th Day of School project. She's in first grade and came up with the idea to use 100 buttons on a shirt. I let her glue most of them on (except the ones with shanks) and then I went to work sewing them in place (so she can wear it at some point). In the process I made it to #50 (totally by chance) when my needle broke. This would not normally be a big deal, but for some reason I cannot locate my spare needles and that was the last one I had in the pin cushion. So, the shirt sat for far too long unattended to. Then I picked up a nifty case of $.97 needles and was off and running again (although I already broke one of those as well).

Anyway, all that silliness aside, LexiLou made a great design (don't you think?):

Oh, and in case you're wondering...I had all these buttons in my stash...and many, many more left over. (hanging my head)

Crafting for Kiddies (FOs)

I want my girls to be Gap girls! I can't help it and I don't know why. I was talking to a friend the other day and confessed that I almost spent $50 on a pair of non-waterproof boots after seeing the cutest commercial ever last year and wanting desperately for Star to "fit in". I am so NOT a Gap girl. Our family never had the money to shop there and even if they had I don't know as I would've quite fit in to their clothing or image. In fact, for years I'd wander in and check out baby stuff and get snubbed by the sales associates.


The last few times I've been in have been different and I've actually been helped. I still don't look a thing like a Gap customer, but they treat me nicely anyway. When we were school shopping I couldn't help but wander in. Star oohed and aahed at some jeans and when I asked her what she liked about them, if they were a "must have" she commented that she really just liked the belts. So, we looked around for just belts and they weren't selling any so we moved on and added belts to her shopping list.

So, from my trip to the Gap here is one of the pairs of jeans (hover over the patches) and here is one of the belts. Last night I pulled out the remnants of a pair of jeans that I had cut apart to recycle for a blanket. I took the seam ripper to the back pockets to use them for a doll skirt. When I removed them I noticed these were awesome. The very faded washed jeans had very dark spots where the pockets had been. This got me thinking that maybe I could use the remains as a skirt for Star. We talked and measured and picked patch fabric and today I sewed and tried on her and sewed more and tweaked here and there and then cut and ironed and starched and sewed and so on. Until, drum roll please.........I came up with this (my knock-off of the jeans and belts):

The back where the pockets had been.

Woven belt with D-ring closure. I wish the photo was clearer as it really is cute if I do say so myself.

Saved the best for last...the whole skirt, front view.

I'm usually pretty humble, but for these five minutes I'm feeling pretty good about the skirt. I wish I were young enough to wear it myself.

Back to humble, I knit two pairs of simple two-needle socks. Each of my girls got to pick her colors, so there is no intentional Red Hat Society reference. Unfortunately, even after measuring my youngest's foot and knitting to the "right" length, I got hers about an inch too long. At least she can wear them around the house and look forward to something to grow into that is all hers instead of a hand-me-down. She loves the stripes anyway.

The picot edge was my addition as the original pattern had a ribbed cuff. I like this one a bit more and will probably do more pairs in this style.

Happy Feet!

Both wanted short socks and this is about as short as I can go with this pattern or they start to slip off the back of the heel.

All this crafting was amazing and fun but I'm stuck wondering if I'm just a "too cool" Mom or if I'm sending my daughters down a road of loathing me and being mocked by classmates. I pray it is the former as my eldest is heading back to school with a handmade skirt from last year and a shirt I embellished to match. She's very excited, but I do worry.