Thursday 27 September 2012

Library Book Bag

A while back I decided to make a bag that my daughter could take with her to the library.  This bag would need to hold the books that we would take home as well as a place for her library card.  I had previously used this pattern to make a similar bag for my daughter's friend.  I used this pattern again to make the bag for my daughter but rather then put an apple applique on the front, I used various fabrics to write "Books".  The letters were made using interfacing and were stitched onto the front pocket using a blanket stitch on my sewing machine.   I used an accenting colour to each letter for the thread.  


The fabric that I chose for the letters is from various children's classics.  The Lorax, Winnie the Pooh, Richard Scarey, Berenstain Bears and Arthur.


On the strap, similar to the Mo Bedell pattern, I included a small pocket, with an elastic closure to hold her library card.  


Overall, I was really happy how this bag turned out.  The canvas exterior makes it sturdy enough to fill with books.  The pattern is really easy to follow, and the bag looks really good when it's finished.  I love how polished the french seams are inside the bag.  The lining of the front pocket allows you to put any applique that you want.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Birthday Owls and Swim Bags

Back in May, my daughter turned four and for her birthday party we had a slumber party with two of her best friends.  The theme of the party was a Night Owl party as I figured that none of the kids were going to get any sleep (I also loved this idea from SnowyBliss)!  The girls ending having a great time, they decorated cupcakes, painted and slept in a tent in our living room.
To go with the theme of the party, I made a few favours for the girls.  One of the things that I loved from the SnowyBliss party was the owl stuffy.  I decided to buy the pattern and make each girl their own owl, which would hopefully help them to feel comfortable enough to sleep in a strange house!  I made all of the owls the same, giving them each a frilly skirt and altering the colours just a bit between all three.  I ended up using fleece to make the owls as I figured it may be necessary to wash them at some point and in my opinion fleece is just a bit more cuddly then felt.  I also ended up using my machine to blanket stitch around the eyes and stomach.  I figured it would save me tons of time.  Below is a photo of my daughter's little owl.


At the end of the party, I gave each little girl a treat bag.  I ended up making little bags that I filled with a few things that the girls would enjoy.  The bags themselves are simple with a quilting cotton on the exterior, the lining is waterproof.  All of the girls have done swimming lessons together and I figured these bags could be used to put their wet bathing suits into after going to the pool.


Here you can see the inner lining of the bag that is waterproof.



Thursday 6 September 2012

Sleep Sack


My second little one is quite the kicker, while she sleeps.  Ever since she was born she kicks her blankets off as soon as you lie her down and they somehow manage to get from her feet up to her head.  A good friend of mine, made her a lovely sleep sack, it was lined with minke, making it so cozy. This was the perfect gift for my little kicker!


I've since tried to make 2 sleep sacks of my own.  The first one has snaps on the shoulders and a zipper that goes along the bottom and up one side, much like the style of the gift sleep sack.  I was trying to make this sleep sack larger then the original gift and I wasn't thrilled with the way it turned out.  I found it difficult to get the shoulder snaps to match just perfectly and I feel like I made them a bit too wide in the end.


The second sleep sack that I made was for my newborn niece.  For this one, I used a store-bought sleep sack (from Babies R'Us) as the prototype.  I decided to try to have the zipper come up the middle.


This one was much easier to put together, the only tricky part was completing the zipper at the bottom.  I had chosen a separable zipper (which I had never sewn before) and I made the zipper zip up towards the neck so that the opening of the sleep sack would be wide enough to fit the baby in.  After a bit of fiddling I managed to get this to work and it looked pretty good, unfortunately I didn't take a photo up close.

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Snack sacks

My little family is heading out on an adventure this coming weekend.  We are flying to Toronto to visit with family.  It will likely be a busy few weeks but we are all looking forward to it.  I thought that it would make things easier if we had a few reusable bags for snacks, this would help cut down on Ziploc bags and also save space because I wouldn't need to carry Tupperware everywhere.


I used some quilting cotton scraps that I had on hand, some nylon for the lining and 7" zippers.  I figured the lining would keep the bags semi-waterproof, but would also allow for the bags to be washable.  My eldest daughter helped to choose the zipper colors, they weren't what I would have chosen but in the end I think they look pretty good.  Perhaps next time I will add a little tab on the end of the bag to make it easier for little hands to open.  Overall, these little bags were really quick to whip up and they should come in handy for our little vacation!

Monday 3 September 2012

Tea and Crumpets Apron

I have a friend who is just one of those women who in my eyes, does everything beautifully in the kitchen!  It was her birthday (a million months ago) and I wanted to make her an apron that would be fancy and frilly!  So, I did some internet research and chose the Anthropologie Tea and Crumpets Apron.  I was delighted to discover that there were others who had tried their hand at making this apron, and I even found a free pattern that was available.
I used the pattern and other blogs as suggestions for my own apron design.  I decided to go with a darker colour as my aprons are usually covered in food whenever I cook!  I chose a Kona black for the main body of the apron.


I loved the ruffling everywhere it makes it so pretty and dainty looking. 


After making this apron, I realized that there were a few things I would change...
For the neck strap, I only used one continuous piece of fabric, these means that it isn't adjustable.  While I thought that would be ok, it would actually be nice to adjust that piece to make it tighter or looser.  Perhaps a clip of some sort would be good?
The original apron is quite gathered in the skirt part, I was intending on doing this as well but ended up getting swept up in the sewing and forgot all about it.  My next apron will take that into account.  
I really love the way the white piping around the waistband looks.  This part was super finicky and it was really hard to get it so that just the right amount of white material was showing.  I had to play around a lot with the waistband, in the end I was happy with the way it looked, but I used my seam ripper A LOT!  Overall, I was pretty happy with the way the apron turned out.  I would likely do it again but be sure to include those minor adjustments.