The boy wanted a lab coat for his 7th birthday. Since Halloween was long gone, there was little to no hope of finding one in the stores. Being the last minute type that I am, I dug out a kid’s costume pattern, Simplicity 3997. I used the shirt in view A, added length to the sleeves and hem, and placed the buttons lower down on the placket. I also embroidered his name on the pocket, which I should have done before sewing on the pocket, but I was in a hurry and didn’t think of it until I was done. He seemed to like it but as is his way, he tried it on, then promptly took it off and went on his way. I know he will wear it later since he takes awhile to warm up to new things.
Category Archives: kids
Starving
Posted onI feel like I’m starving- ok, not really but I had gum surgery on Wednesday and a diet of soft foods just doesn’t seem very filling. The hubby had to go back to work today so I’m trying hard not to yell at the kids too much. It’s not working 🙂 Marissa has already had a major meltdown over not being allowed to play the iPad. It’s a good thing that girl is cute otherwise she would have been given to the gypsies a long time ago. 
Birthday Presents
Posted onIt seems spring is the season of birthday parties. A has been invited to two so far, one of them for boy/girl twins. I like coming up with handmade gifts since if they are anything like us, they have way too many toys. I made them each tote bags with their name stenciled on them along with a fun design. I only got a picture of one of them. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out contact paper to use for the stencil and painted onto tote bags I got at Michaels. I filled the bags with arts supplies like window markers, coloring books and other fun things.
Happy Birthday M!
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I can’t believe it’s already been a year since M was born. It has gone by so incredibly fast; except for the whole no sleeping part. She is such a silly baby. I can already tell that her favorite phrase is going to be “no, I want to do it!”. She is super independent and will fling something if it isn’t what she wants: food, toys, your hand. She has the army crawl down to an art form. I think she likes that better since she has her hands free to carry stuff around. Happy birthday baby girl!
Last summer sewing- Jump Rope Dress
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 I finally got the Jump Rope Dress pattern from Oliver + S this last summer. My mom found it at a quilt shop in Paradise, I think. I took a chance and didn’t make it out of pink fabric but instead, navy blue with white polka dots. The buttons are pink, though. A is so hard to make stuff for lately. I had to bribe her a couple weeks ago to wear it to church. I hope M is not nearly so picky and maybe a little more girly.
And because my daughter is a nut:
Aprons
Posted on I’m trying to keep the momentum going of finishing Christmas presents. We went to visit family for Thanksgiving so I didn’t get any sewing done, but I did buy more fabric 🙂 I finished the aprons last week and didn’t get around to taking pictures until today. I used the Montessori apron tutorial from Sew Liberated as well as this tutorial by Stardust Shoes for Michael Miller. I made A’s bigger to match the second pattern but used the neck and waist strap from the first tutorial. I took a picture of them both together but it was blurry and I just didn’t have the energy to set everything up again.
Little late- Halloween Costumes
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I have a huge backlog of sewing that I haven’t put up on the blog because, well, three kids keep you pretty darn busy. Who knew? Anyway, here is A’s Little Bo Peep costume that I made. I finished it about midnight the night before she needed it to wear to her preschool Halloween party. There is also an apron and lace ruffled bloomers to go with the dress.
Bean was a sheep, which I did not make, and M was just her adorable self in a little pumpkin sleeper I bought last year on clearance before we knew boy or girl.
And I just had to add this pic of A being a total goof. She is doing her “Scary Pumpkin” face.
My Handmade Christmas List
Posted onMy goal this year is to make the majority if my kids’ Christmas presents. Here is my list so far and links to the tutorials or patterns I plan to use:
A- apron, portable tea party, reusable snack bags, superhero cape, doll diapers, jacket
I- apron, car caddy, reusable snack bags, superhero cape
M- wooden teether, round stacking rings, fabric balls,
Some resources
Snack bags:
Montessori apron: http://sewliberated.typepad.com/Montessori%20Childs%20Apron.pdf
Portable tea party:
Superhero cape:
Car caddy:
http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/12/cozy-car-caddy-tutorial.html, http://mygratitudeattitudes.blogspot.com/2009/09/car-cozie-tutorial-and-etsy-re.html
Doll diapers:
For both:
Floor cushions:
For friends:
Gathered clutch:
Baby M!
Posted onSo finally, baby M decided to grace us with her presence- 10 days late. She was born July 20th, 7lbs 15 oz, 19 in long. She has an interesting personality and has a mind of her own, already. But, when she’s not screaming, she is all smiles and giggles. And rolling over from front to back- at 2 months!
My friend Anne took these pictures when M was 2 weeks old. I love Anne’s photography and M’s picture is even the main page on her site right now!
Doodle Purse
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My daughter had a birthday party to go to, so I made a Doodle Purse based on this tutorial at MaKC Creations for a birthday present. I had bought a pad of paper and Pipsqueak markers at Target to go in it and sort of modified some of the dimensions. The individual pockets for the markers didn’t work out, so after three tries and a lot of seam ripping, I decided to make one big, pleated pocket to hold them. The pleats keep the outside lying flatter and I closed the pocket with two pieces of velcro. I really wanted the individual pockets for each marker but I think this works out better because now the birthday girl can put whatever markers, crayons or pens she wants in there.
I used a button and a hair elastic to keep it closed.
After way more time than it should have taken, I think it turned out pretty cute. Next time I might have the marker pocket opening on the end closer to the pockets so when the purse is closed, the pocket opening is upright, instead of upside down. I like going for more useful presents for birthdays since I never know what to get for A’s preschool friends.
