A quilt in a day....

I pinned a picture on Pinterest and the title was "Quilt in a Day."

 

 

There weren't any directions because the link led nowhere....annoying.

 

But it was obvious from the picture that it was just strips of fabric which made a quick and simple quilt.

My kind of quilt!

 

I thought I'd try it out and get started on Preston's "Big Boy Room" at the same time.

 

 

I LOVE this John Deere fabric and have been hoarding it to use for his room.

I figured I wouldn't be able to find it when I needed it....so I have quite a bit of it!

But that's a good thing because I have big plans for it.

 

 

 

I just used big strips of the John Deere fabric and small strips of the solid white.

If I'd had some light blue or a navy blue I would have used that instead of the white...but I didn't have any!

 

I think it turned out pretty cute!

 

I used a solid yellow flannel on the back and it's super cozy and warm.

 

Preston drug it to his room as soon as he saw it and it's now in his bed where he insists on using it every night.

 

 

I did get it done in a day but it's not a very big quilt.

I would call it "crib size."

 

I think we'll use it as a throw on his John Deere furniture and we can snuggle with it during story time!

 

Not sure why this is so small but this little couch is going to look really cute in his room!

Pajama pants for the boy!

So, I went through Preston's dresser drawers this week...

and discovered that he still had a bunch of 18 month clothes in there (oops)...

and that for some reason I have a bunch of 3T pajamas but only a few size 2T!!!!

Must have skipped getting 2T's on my shopping trips.

 

 

I went to my box of "I know these old shirts will be good for something" shirts and got to work!

 

 

I used the pajama pants pattern out of my "Sew Liberated" sewing book.

It's a quick and simple one that I've used quite a bit.

 

 

 

In about 20 minutes I had 2 new pairs of jammie pants for my boy!

 

 

 

I love the stripes!

 

There is a matching shirt pattern too in the book, but one men's shirt isn't enough to make both pants and a shirt.

So, we'll just use a t-shirt to go with them!

 

One thing I always do when I make pants for my kids is to add a little tag of ribbon in the back.

It helps them figure out which is the back and encourages independent dressing!



Upcyled "Corn Fed" T-shirt!

I love it when I make somthing cute for Preston!

It doesn't happen nearly as often as the cute stuff for Peighton.

I found an XL Mens shirt that said "Corn Fed."

Perfect for my little farming man.

I am choosing to ignore the fact that this shirt is in black and gold and a bit hawkeye-ish.

We're just going with it.

I did pull out my pattern for the Made by Rae skinny T, but then just grabbed a shirt he had that I knew fit him and used that instead.

It was much faster.

It really only took me about 10 minutes to make.

I used the neckline from the original shirt and the sleeves as well.

The only part I had to hem was the bottom!

He cracks me up.

I asked him to sit and show me his shirt....instead he tried to see himself in the lens of the camera...

 

He calls it his "Zorn" shirt!

Love it when I make something he likes!



Getting ready for the State Fair!

The great Iowa State Fair will be here in just a few weeks!

We love the state fair.

Peighton can't wait for Cotton Candy.

Preston enjoyed the Corn Dogs last year but he was pretty young so who knows what he will pick out this year!

Of course we need cute themed clothes when we attend the fair.

We have our 4-H shirts and our "locally grown" shirts but we needed just one more...

Peighton chose a Cotton Candy shirt.

I would have done the fabric differently and had 3 different colors but she wanted just pink and blue "Because that's what color my cotton candy is!"

So, the middle remained white.

And since Preston doesn't yet have a favorite fair food we made him a show calf.

Dustin will have a calf there to be shown and I'm sure Preston will be helping out so we thought a calf would be fitting for him!

If I had a bigger machine I would have put "Ford Cattle Company" on it!

Maybe next year!

A few things for my little farmer

It is so hard to find things to make for Preston!

Boy stuff is just not as easy as girly dresses and skirts.

I found some adorable new designs for my embroidery machine though!

Super cute little tractor in John Deere colors, of course.

Love this little piggie!

I should have made the "P" blue or a brighter color though.

He LOVES them!
He popped over to see what I was doing while I took pictures.

He was very excited to see a "dac-tor" on his shirt!

This is what happens when 2 kids go to the fabric store with me...

We come home with random fabric that I would never pick out on my own!

Preston is currently in love with Elmo.

No one really knows why because he's seen Sesame Street like 3 times...ever...in his whole life.

It could be worse, I guess.

Peighton loves Strawberry Shortcake and all of her Berry Friends.

At one point my cart was piled with all sorts of characters
 but they were each allowed to pick ONE.

And what does one make with their random choices?
Pajama pants of course!

I guess it wasn't all bad...they are both growing so quickly that they do actually need some pajamas!

Travel Tractor Tote

Preston's first word was "Tractor."

He is now OBSESSED with them.

When we drive anywhere there is a lot of shouting in the backseat when he sees "Dac-tors."

I had seen some travel car mats on a few different sites and thought it would be really cute to have a traveling farm for my little guy.

Here is what I came up with:

Had to have his name on the front of course!

One side has a field for planting, plowing, picking corn or letting the cattle graze.

And the other side has a road for driving his trucks and tractors to the field.

Lots of room for farming on the go!

 

The back has a large pocket for holding all the trucks, tractors and livestock.

When Peighton saw it she thought she needed one....I am thinking a travel mat for her princesses is coming up next!

Colors Book for my Boy!

Take a look at what I made for my little guy!

A COLORS book!

The cover had to have a Tractor of course!

I was sure to include a bit of Cyclone stuff on the Red page!

Preston's favorite color might be green someday with his love of John Deere tractors!

I love this project for SO MANY reasons:

1. I used old T-shirts Dustin was going to throw away for the pages.

(I had to put interfacing onto the backs to give them stability since knits stretch a lot.)

2. The various textures in it are so wonderful for a toddler.

3. Every bit of this came from my scrap box!!!

4. It's a book that Peighton can read to him and she loves to spell things too!

So, she can learn to spell the color words while he learns the colors!



For the binding I made two button holes in each page and tied with ribbons.

This was a SUPER easy project that I know is going to get lots of love!

Pillow Lounging Mats

Peighton and I saw THIS on Pinterest and she thought they would be fun.

I agreed.

We made a quick (yeah right) stop at the Hobby Lobby to pick out knit fabric and got started.

Peighton picked leopard and we went with camo for Preston!

She has some great directions on her site and I did it pretty much the same way.

I am thinking about adding velcro to the openings in the back but haven't done it yet.

It was a very quick project that I got done in about an hour.

They are both enjoying their new lounging mats whenever we have movie night!

Sometimes they share the same one...which is kinda cute.

I kind of want one a bit bigger-they always look so comfy watching thier movies!



Sweatshoppin' it.

Dustin calls my sewing room "The Sweatshop."
He thinks it's funny.

Well, lately it has kinda felt a bit "Sweatshop-ish!"

I signed up for quite a few vendor shows and events this season....I thought it was a good idea at the time!

I have one more this coming Sunday and then I am DONE.

In addition to my usual kids clothing, baby blankies, soft toys and handbags I've added some new fun stuff.

Here are some of the fun things I've added to my booth lately:

LOTS of American Girl Stuff!

Dresses, pajama pants with matching pillows, and just today I whipped up a few Sleeping Bags to match!

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

There are even a few matching girl and doll Christmas dresses!



This is "Nora" my resident model. 

 We call her our "friend from the other side of the tracks..."

I do not travel with Nellie as I'm afraid she might get stolen! 

So, Nora does the job!



Come see me this Sunday from 12-4 at the Sleep Inn in North Liberty to see all my goodies!

Let's Hear it for the Boy!

I totally have the Footloose song in my head now...

Anyway, I have been making some fantastically cute things for my boy lately!

Here's a few:

Toddler Sized backpack from Made By Rae.

Utterly fabulous.

We keep these in the car with small toys, crayons, etc to take into restaurants or other places where we need something to do for a bit.

I love Preston's with the little cars on it!

Peighton picked out her bright fabric of course.

I added a few outside pockets to the pattern and I left off the piping. 

I'm just not into piping.

The original pattern also does not include lining. 

I don't like that.

I don't want to see the seams.

So, I did add a lining which is a bit more difficult with the zipper but I made it work and I like it a lot better now. 



I also made one for our little cousin who has a birthday coming up.

I actually made this one first.

I figured practicing on Hawkeye fabric would be good because if I messed up I wouldn't be too sad about the runied fabric!!!!

But it turned out great! ;-)

Can't wait to fill it with some fun stuff for his birthday or Christmas!

Peighton thought she should model hers for me.



My absolute favorite thing I have made the past few days though is this fabulous shirt:

It means I love Iowa State Fair!!!

And we all know how I love "hearting" things...

I found the adult sized shirt at Goodwill for a couple dollars!

The pattern is from my new Ottobre magazine.

LOVING this magazine.

So many fun things to make in it I have a hard time picking something.

And a couple more quick ones:

Same pattern, but I added long sleeves.

And here I will show you that even I make mistakes.

I was trying to make sure all of the design fit onto the shirt and in the process the neckline just got too big.

So, yes there are a few puckers in it.

But I don't think Preston will complain and it will make a great jammie shirt!

So there you have it.

I love making cute stuff for my boy!!!!

Sew Liberated

Got a new sewing book in the mail a few weeks ago.

Big surprise, right!

Growing Up Sew Liberated

So many great projects in there for kids!

Some are clothing and others are toys or activites.

A lot of the projects encourage creativity for your child.

Some are designed to get them to help with household tasks.

And just lots of open-ended play opportunites like a teepee, a homemade doll, a cape that reminds me of Little Red Riding hood....the list goes on of the things I can't wait to make!

I have been trying to use up some of my massive knit stash....it's out of control.

But cute.

I knew this first project would be quick and easy and who doesn't need another bib?

It's called "The All By Myself Bib" because it has no fasteners/velcro/snaps of any kind.

So once Preston is a bit bigger he can put it on by himself.

Right now he is in the "rip-off-my-bib-as-soon-as-mommy-puts-it-on" stage.

But this one DOESN'T COME OFF!!!!!!!

It's a pretty great bib and covers most of his front.

I did make a note to add a pocket next time which is the only way I think it can be improved!

And for my next choice I was needing to use up this RANDOM purple camo knit.

Whose idea was it to buy this?!?!?!

Her daddy will like it though.



This is the "Crossover Tee" and the "Pants-I-can't-remember-the-name-of."

Both super cute.

I did shorts instead of pants so she can wear them right now.

I should have put the pink trim on the bottom of the shirt and the bottom of the shorts though.

Oh well-next time!

I like the clothing patterns in this book because most of them are pretty unisex!

Can't wait to try some more out of this book...or maybe the 3 others I bought with it....

I can! I CAN sew for boys!!!!

So many friends with sweet little boys are always asking....

"When are you going to start doing boy stuff?"

Well, boy stuff is HARD!

It's so easy to do girly stuff.

Fabric is girly.

Ribbon, lace and ruffles are girly.

Not to mention fun.

The boy stuff I have tried in the past has usually ended up looking like something girly...but in blue!

Or with airplanes, robots, tractors...you get the idea!

But today, I made some adorable jammies for my little guy.

And they are cute.

Surprisingly easy too!

I would have liked to use a contrast fabric for the cuffs and the neck trim but I didn't have any today!

And since I decided to do this project about 5 minutes before naptime there just wasn't any time!!!

So I just used the same fabric for the trim.

I did have a tiny bit of brown ribbing that I used for the waistband so I didn't have to do an elastic waistband and I really like how that turned out!

I think it will be quite comfy too.

Wish I would have had more of the ribbing-just another reason to head to the craft store.

I like this style of shirt a lot for little ones.

Since there isn't an actual neck it makes dressing them so easy.

Preston HATES to get dressed/changing clothes, etc.

He does not like things pulled over his head.

I think this  might make it just a little bit better for him!

This was my trial run.

 I have many more to make seeing as how my little man is getting low in the jammie department!

Next time I will take pictures and make a little tutorial-it was really quite easy and I would love to share!

As I was making it I was thinking of all the ways it could be super girly too.

Wouldn't a tiny little ruffle be adorable in the seam between the leg cuff and the leg!

Sure would!

Boys Romper!

I am finding that making things for my little guy is SO FUN!

Making stuff for girls is easy. 

There are a million and one different things to make for girls.

Dresses, skirts, leggings, shoes, necklaces, bracelets, little girly toys, blankets and on and on and on.

I have probably made most of them. And loved every ruffle and bow that I sewed.

But it's quite a challenge to find something cute for the little boys.

Things that aren't actually for girls but they made it in a "boyish" fabric and tried to pass it off as "this is for boys too!"

Nope.  Not buyin it. You can't fool me.

When I saw this tutorial for a BOYS romper I just about squealed with excitement! 

SO CUTE!

I love dressing Preston in knit one piece rompers.

Makes changing diapers super fast and they don't ride up like t-shirts do.

Had to have one. NOW.

My grand plan is to take these:

and make them into this style of outfit.

How much do I love the middle one that says
"I farm. You eat."

Perfect.

I'm thinking that even the orange striped Polo one might make a good summer romper.

Anyway, I had this pattern for a raglan T that I've used a few times for shirts for Peighton.

It's cute and I like the raglan style.

So, I used that one instead of the one that is used in the tutorial.

Here is what my process looked like (and it was actually pretty quick!):

I used the raglan pattern to do the top part and then layed down one of Preston's 6-12 month rompers from the Gymboree under the pattern to get the leg part right.

These are my front and back pieces.

I also saved some long strips that were scraps from cutting the big pieces. 
At this point I wasn't sure how I was going to do the leg openings and thought those might come in handy-they did!

The arms were cut right from the raglan pattern as well as the neckline.

Then I put it together according to the directions.

I hemmed the front part of the leg opening.

For the back, I attached one of those strips folded in half. I might do this for the front next time as well.
We'll see how this one turns out!

So far it is perfect, the legs are a bit long according to the gymboree romper but I do still have to hem them.

That will be last after the snaps are added.

Which brings me to my next step...but I don't have snap pliers!

I do have a snap press, but it applies colored resin snaps and I really want the metal ones for this.

Guess I have to go to the store!!!

I will update with a picture of my little guy wearing this once I get the snaps on!

I think when I make another one, I am going to use a solid color for the body part and the printed one for the sleeves. 

Then I am thinking I could do some sort of applique/shape/letter on the front in the same fabric as the sleeves.

UPDATE:

Got my snapping tool.

Went to work attaching snaps...with this crazy tool....and a hammer.

There were a lot of words I don't normally say spoken as I proceeded to try to put these snaps on!

I ruined quite a few of the snap pieces before getting it right-good thing I bought plenty!

I must say I have a newfound appreciation for all onesies, rompers, etc that have snaps on them!

I made a big mistake with the very first snap I put on.

I put it on the opposite way that I intended to put it on....which led to swear word # 1.

Once you put a snap on though you're kind of commited and I couldn't change it.

So, I just went with it and continued knowing that it was going to be backwards!

Many tries later and quite a few of the pieces tossed into my trash can I did get it finished and then hemmed the bottom.

It is cute.

And I'm probably the only one that will actually see the mistakes.

This picture is not much different than the last, but the legs are done.

I need to put it on my little guy and then take a picture!

The next one will be better.
I just found the pliers I wanted at Amazon!  They look MUCH easier to use than my hammer thing!
I can't wait to make another!