Birthday Crown

Yes, the birthday crown was finished in time!  It worked out exactly how I pictured it in my head, so I was really pleased with the results.  And Little Man LOVES it.  He wore it almost the entire day on his birthday.  It is nice when you spend a lot of effort on a project to have the work appreciated by the recipient.

I used two colours of felt for the body of the crown, and repeated this layout on the back.  Little Man loves nature and the outdoors, and I wanted to create images on the crown that would have a lot of meaning for him both now and in the future.  There is a cedar tree, a sun, and a mountain towering over the ocean.

 

Although I machine-sewed the body of the crown together, all the designs were hand-embroidered (both the detailing and in attaching them to the body).

 

I sewed velcro to the ends of the crown, both to make it adjustable (it even fits me!) and reversible.  The moon on the reverse side of the crown makes it a great wizard's hat.  I know we will have fun incorporating this crown into our daily play.

For more photos of the crown, including closeups of the detailing, please visit my Flickr site.

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First Serger Project

My first completed project with the new serger -- pajama pants for Little Man.  Although I started with a pattern, I had to heavily modify it to fit his skinny little waist.  I decided to make cuffs that are sewn with a wide stitch so we have lots of room to add length to the pants.  He has been on several growth spurts lately and is outgrowing things so fast.  I think they turned out really cute, and he was happy with them since he loved the monkey print.

It is really nifty to be able to make clothes that look professionally finished.  No more frayed edges, and much more comfortable seams against the skin.  Now to look for some time to make a matching pj top...

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Work In Progress - Birthday Crown

One week to go, and Little Man's birthday crown is a pile of mostly uncut felt.  He has decided he doesn't want to nap anymore, and won't sleep when it is bedtime.  So my crafting (and rest, and blogging) time has been nonexistent for the last week and a half.

Much to do, but still time for it to be crafted with love.  Now I must go so I can tuck someone in... again.

Inspiration for birthday crowns:
Ada's crown
Dieter's crown
O's crown

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New Toy!

Surprise!  It was for me too -- this little beauty was a birthday gift for yours truly this week.  Having never used a serger before, it was quite daunting to pick one out in the store.  I chose this one because it came from a store that will give me free lessons on it for as long as it takes to figure it out.  I figured extra stitches and features weren't really worth it if the machine sat in the corner gathering dust because I didn't know how to use it.

I have now serged a sample of just about every type of material I had on hand.  My sewing room is filled with serged bits of t-shirts, jeans, quilting cotton, fleece, flannel, linen.... well, you get the idea.

I also lucked into a 50% off one day sale at one of the local fabric stores on New Year's Day.  I bought three patterns for pajamas and clothes for Little Man as well as monkey-print cotton flannel for the first pair of pjs.  I also got three meters of ecru waffle-weave fabric for making napkins.  After serging the first napkin I am glad I have lessons waiting for me.  Although I was able to figure out on my own how to thread the machine (no small feat), how to do all the stitches, and how to adjust each tension, there is so much more to serging than what is in the manual.  The right stitch for the specific application, the type of thread that gives the best result for the project -- and things I don't even know about yet.  My napkin issue was that I did rolled edges that looked great when first complete, but looked ragged after the wash as little tufts of fabric came through the serged edge.  Apparently this is fixable with a different thread and a stitch that is more suitable to the fabric.

Expect to see more sewing projects in the near future!  I promise it will be more than just serged scraps next time.

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Denim Market Bag

I made this "market bag" as a gift this Christmas for my Dad.  I used a pattern from The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style.  The outside is made from blue denim.  The bag has lots of special touches just for Dad.  Like this tag that I salvaged from one of my pairs of jeans:

 

And this outer pocket (with red Levi's tab) from the same pair of jeans:

 

And a washable vinyl inside in a yummy ice cream print:

 

The bag also has a solid bottom due to a piece of bookboard cut to fit and covered with matching vinyl.

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Coffee Press Cozy

Yesterday was very productive.  I finished not one, but two projects -- start to finish.  I made another wristlet purse, and also made a coffee press cozy for a Bodum coffee press.  I got the pattern from The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style (yes, again!  I've made a lot of things from that book this season).  One thing I didn't like about this pattern was that it needed a photocopier that could enlarge the image 167%.  My photocopier doesn't do that, so armed with calculator I worked out the dimensions myself from the smaller image.  It worked out just fine for the Bodum I am gifting this season, but it would not work for my own Bodum.  I have a much older one and the handle is slightly smaller -- just enough that the cozy doesn't really fit.  I'm going to make another one for me after the Christmas crafting rush is over, and I will decrease the size of the tab by 1/4 inch on each side so it fits nicely beneath the handle.

It is rather hard to see in the pictures, but those are coffee beans printed on the fabric.

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Monkey Toy Bag

Another last minute project addition!  I am removing most of the packaging materials from store-bought gifts for our toddler before wrapping them for Christmas in order to make everything instantly accessible on Christmas morning.  It's no fun struggling with the thousands of twist-ties that are now used to optimally position toys within their packaging, or the tape that seals boxes like they have precious treasure inside.  It also makes things at least a tiny bit less commercial when you don't have all the packaging to deal with -- you just have the toy, ready to go.  So last night I was unpackaging a toy called "String and Beep", which is a set of wooden truck and car beads that come with a string to thread them onto.  And I realized that we would now have twelve vehicle beads with no home.  What to do?  Put everything else on hold of course so I could whip up a bag in which to store them.

I more-or-less followed the instructions in The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style for the zippered pouch.  I say "more-or-less" because it is so similar to the wristlet purse design (and I am now a pro at those after having done several) so I didn't really need to follow the directions.  Also, I increased the size so the bag would hold all of the beads.  As a finishing touch, I made a puffy little zipper pull doo-dad to make it easier for Little Man to work the zipper.  I sewed two sun shapes from the bag fabric together, stuffed them, and attached it to the zipper pull with a ribbon.  It's functional and makes the bag look extra cute.

I like the bag so much that I'm not even wrapping it.  It can be its own gift-wrap and save paper.

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Sketchbook Cover

This is a special gift for a special friend.  She is an amazing artist and I wanted to make her something she can use for her drawings, whether for clients or just for her.  I fell in love with this fabric as I think it suits her perfectly.  It's her favourite colour, she loves to garden, and she has an affinity for bees.

I used the pattern in The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style for the sketchbook cover.  I made some minor adjustments based on the size of the book that I chose.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I know my friend will love it!

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Christmas Tree Bunting

I saw a tutorial for making a tree bunting at Sadie and Lance and knew I had to make one.  Since I am just returning to sewing, I don't have a stash of fabric scraps on hand.  This can be a good thing sometimes! My local fabric store (which conveniently opened less than a month ago less than two blocks from my house) had these gorgeous batik fabrics that I had been eyeing.  I knew I had to make something with them and this looked like the perfect project.

I chose three different batiks and a matching flannel for the back.  I hung the bunting between two rooms, so the back is always visible.

This project was pretty quick once I had all the materials ready.  The hardest part was wearing out my hand from using the pinking shears for such a long time.  Are everyone's pinking shears this hard on the hand or are my ancient shears special?

The photos don't really do the trees justice -- it was hard to photograph in the location I chose to hang the bunting.  They are very cheery and welcoming and add a nice feeling to the space.  I will be sad to have to take them down when the holiday is over.  Perhaps a spring bunting is needed to replace them at that time.  There were some lovely yellow and pink batiks at the store...

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Treasure Bags

What child doesn't want to collect "treasures" while outside?  Little Man loves collecting fir cones, leaves, rocks, twigs, and yes... dirt.  Soulemama's book Handmade Home inspired this project to give him somewhere to store his treasures while out and about.  Of course I couldn't just make one bag -- somehow he ended up with three!  One for the beach, one for in the yard, and a little sock monkey print bag for walks (I keep that one handy in the car).  The main part of the bag body is made of a plasticized mesh, so they hold up well to sand and water.  I did the handles and edging (along the top and inside down both seams) with a wide cotton twill tape.

The verdict?  Success!  Little Man now expects to carry one of these any time he is outside.  Earlier this week we were getting boots and a coat on in preparation for an adventure in the yard when he turned to me and asked "cone bag walk?".  Magic to my ears, which heard "Mama I love the bags you made just for me.  Let's grab one and go!".  So away we went, bag in hand.

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Wool Felt Ball

Inspired by a tutorial at Duo Fiberworks, I wanted to make a felt ball for Little Man. I am so pleased with how it turned out. He really enjoys playing with it, which brings me great joy.  I will be making another one shortly for a Christmas gift for a friend's child.

I made it with 100% wool felt from Holland.  Using quality materials makes a huge difference with this project.  The wool has a completely different feel from the craft-store type felt I have used for projects in the past.  The ball is also stuffed with 100% wool batting.

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Wristlet Purse

I made this little wristlet today following the pattern in The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style.  It was my first time using the zipper foot on my sewing machine and I had to get out the manual to even figure out which direction to install the foot!  But once I figured that part out, it didn't turn out to be difficult at all to sew in a zipper.

This is the second project I have completed from this book and I have several more planned.  I really like the finishing details on the projects.  Everything is topstitched, which gives a crisp and professional finish.

This little wristlet is a gift, but I like it so much I may need to make one for myself.

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