Sewing:

I've been going a little crazy in the sewing department lately. Mostly stuff for M but a few things for myself (yay!). Maybe it's nesting. Maybe it's that I'm finally feeling like I have energy again. Either way, I'm taking advantage of it to get some stuff done.

Here's what I'm currently working on:

Maxaloones by Max & Meena. I can't seem to stop making these pants. So cute, so comfy, and they last forever! I can wax poetic about my love affair with these pants for a really long time. I have a lot to say so stay tuned.

Small Fry Skinny Jeans by Titchy Threads. Little M has yet to own a pair of jeans. This is about to change because I just bought some denim on sale and hit the jackpot and got the end of the bolt so now I have about a million yards of dark wash denim on my hands. Needless to say, I will be making multiple pairs of these.

The Jude Jacket by Shwin Designs. You have no idea how excited I am to make this coat. Andrew is totally jealous that it doesn't come in a larger size. 

I'm making it in a charcoal wool (see above) and lining it with that grey and orange lightning bolt fabric. Did you see it in all its glory? Hearts in eyes. I also just got him a lightning bolt shirt for the fall/winter. My Harry Potter infatuation is finally rearing its ugly (or awesome) head.

I've also got big goals as far as future projects. They include:

This Totoro costume. Because, well, did you see it? Must make now. I've already got M's Halloween costume all planned out but I may just make this to wear around the house. 

These ridiculously adorable coats by the super talented Little Goodall. She sells these beauties in her shop but also sells patterns to make your own. So, of course, that's what I'll be doing.

I've also got some other projects in the works, including those of the non-sewing variety:

• 2 maternity shirts for me
• Winter maternity leggings
• Newborn sweaters (more on those later)
• 2 winter sweaters for M
• Winter sweater for A
• M's Halloween costume
• M's annual homemade Christmas gift
• Baby bibs
• Headbands for a good friend to help raise money for her adoption

So, yes, I'm back and very busy. I wouldn't have it any other way, though and I can't wait to share all my projects as I work through them. 

While you were sleeping:

photo

Baby M's first birthday is rapidly approaching and I've been working like a mad woman to finish making a few things for him. Up first: a birthday bunting banner.

I have 52 pieces of fabric from his weekly photos (see here) and some of that is designated for a quilt but there is still a ton left over so I decided to pick a few of my favorites and make him a bunting banner. The idea is that he will have something just for him to pull out year after year to celebrate his special day. My hope is that even when he is grown with a family of his own, he will get it out every year and make it a part of his birthday celebration.

It was really easy to make -- just time consuming. Probably more so for me than it would have been because I kept changing my mind about things and adding fusible interfacing to everything at the last minute. But I'm happy with how it turned out and can't wait to string it up.

I've moved onto finishing that quilt --  here's hoping I can get it done in time!

While you were sleeping:

One of my dearest friends has a  little girl who is about three weeks older than baby M. This past weekend we celebrated her first birthday. I took this opportunity to make a cute outfit for such a sweet little lady.

I had so much fun choosing the fabric for this project. As I'm sure you know, one of my favorite things to do is shop for fabric. After I made my fabric decisions, I made sure I pre-washed everything to reduce shrinking. Then I cut out all my pattern pieces and got to work.

Next, I pinned the pattern to the fabric and cut out all the pieces. This is the most time-consuming (and my least favorite) part.

It all went together easily, although I have some issues with the pattern and directions.

I had some issues with the button holes as well but I fixed it all. And I'm really happy with the final product. Can't wait to see that little girl in her new outfit soon!

I made this outfit as part of Kids Clothes Week (see more here and here). Can't wait to share the rest of my week's creations soon!

While you were sleeping:

One of the traditions I started this past Christmas, my first as a parent, was homemade gifts. I loved the idea of having something under the tree that was lovingly crafted by me -- something that represented all the time and energy I put in to create a unique thing for my child. It's something that they will have forever as a symbol of my love. My plan is to do this every year so that each child has a few special and unique things from their childhood to look back on with warm memories. This was my first year to do it for Baby M. After brainstorming, I decided to make a stuffed turtle for him. Since we lovingly referred to him as the turtle before he was born, this seemed appropriate.

I found a free pattern on the Purl Bee blog (I love pretty much everything they put out) and some fabric that I already had on hand. I only needed to pick up some fiberfill. That's how much this project cost: a bag of fiberfill (that I got 30% off because I used a coupon).

I started by cutting out my pieces using the pattern and laying them out. That's one main body, two shell pieces, two tail pieces, two heads, two front legs, and two back ones.

Then I pinned all the pieces together and sewed the seams using a 1/2" seam (or maybe it was 1/4", I don't really remember).

Once I had both pieces completed, I pressed the seams to make sure they were nice and flat so it would lay right. Then I pinned the two sides together.

I had a little trouble making sure it was all pinned correctly (that little tail is tricky!). Once I had it right and was happy with it, I just sewed it up (leaving a small hole to turn and stuff), pressed the seams again, clipped the curved seams, and turned it right side out.

I was left with a sad, deflated, little empty shell of a turtle. It started to come to life once I started stuffing it, though. Then all that was left was to sew up the hole and add some eyes. I decided to embroider the eyes since it was for a baby and I didn't want to have to worry about buttons or anything like that.

I also embroidered M's name and the year on the bottom of one of the feet (flippers? paws?) so he will always know that his mom made this just for him on his very first Christmas.

And come Christmas morning, there he was -- waiting so patiently to meet his special new friend. 

M was pretty excited to meet him too. I get kind of teary-eyed just thinking about this kind of thing. I have such great memories of sharing special Christmas mornings with my childhood stuffed animals. I love that this may be that kind of relationship in the making for M and his little turtle. 

I have already started making a few special things for M's first birthday. I can't wait to share them with you.

While you were sleeping:

As part of our first Christmas in our new home and M's first Christmas ever, we all needed new Christmas stockings. So, I made some, naturally. I picked out fabric (see here) but when it came in, I didn't like the fabric for Andrew's stocking. It was weird and metallic so I went in search of a different option. After scouring the internet and local stores, I picked out a different plaid (actually apparel fabric) and after getting A's stamp of approval, I got to work.

I laid out the fabric and mapped it all out. I borrowed my mom's stocking pattern (all of our family's stockings are made using it) and gathered the rest of my supplies.

I cut pieces out of each coordinating fabric and the batting, which I used to give them a little weight.

I did the same with the cuff, sewed the ends of each side together to make rings, put the right sides of both pieces together, and sewed it up (while drinking tea, as you can see in the photo above). Then all I had to do was turn it right side out and bam, cuffs were done.

Then I basted and sewed together both the outside and the inside. I put the lining inside, added the finished cuff, and sewed around the top. Then I just flipped the cuff over and it was finished.

I brought the finished stockings to a friend to have them embroidered since I don't have a machine that does embroidery. They turned out lovely and were a hit come Christmas morning! I am looking forward to incorporating these into our Christmas traditions and seeing them hang on the mantle for many years to come.

While you were sleeping:

Today we're having M's six-month photos taken, even though he won't technically be six months until Saturday. We're doing it early due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday and in part to having to fit into our photographer's schedule. She's always very busy. Apparently, she's the celebrity photographer of the baby world here in central Arkansas.

For his shoot, I wanted to make something special for him to wear. After a search, I decided on this cowl. I picked up the yarn last week, before heading out of town for work and managed to find an hour or two to work on it while I was away but really got down to work this past weekend.

I followed the instructions pretty closely. There was one part where it says to crochet the button flap on the front, but seeing as how I suck at crocheting, I decided to go rogue. I just picked up a few stitches, knit a small flap, and secured it with a button. Looks good and saved me the grief of having to figure out that whole crochet thing.

I'm very happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to see it on his little face in his photos. For some reason, dressing babies up as animals makes them even cuter -- something that does not work with adults.

While you were sleeping:

This year, for M's first Halloween, we decided to dress him as Yoda. This decision came after much discussion and brainstorming. I wanted something that I could make but wouldn't be too labor intensive or demanding. I wanted to make his first costume but have fun doing it, too. So, Yoda it is.

I didn't really have a plan for how to go about this. After searching online, I found a knitting pattern for a Yoda hat that turned out to be surprisingly quick and easy. I think I finished it in just two evenings. As for the robe, I found a pattern but after looking it over, decided it was too difficult. Not that I couldn't do it, I just didn't want something that had so many steps. I didn't need it to be an actual garment because he'd only be wearing it for one evening. Finishing didn't really matter to me.

After scrapping my first attempt, here's what I ended up doing:

I laid M down on top of some tracing paper and drew around his body. I made sure to not follow too closely so the robe would be nice and loose. Then I cut out my pattern, pinned it onto some muslin, and cut it out. I went rogue on the sleeves and cut it even wider so the sleeves would be nice and wide -- sort of a bell sleeve thing going on.

After I cut it out, I just stitched up the sides, finished the edges, and added a tiny little hood. I picked up a plain brown long-sleeved shirt and brown pants to go under his robe. Baby costume done.

We went to a friend's Halloween party and M did beautifully. He was up past his bedtime but didn't fuss or cry. He just took it all in (and looked insanely cute while doing it).

I may have already said this but having a baby has really reignited my sewing. I have been having so much fun making little things for him. It's exciting and fulfilling. I am enjoying it immensely. 

While you were sleeping:

I used to spend the free time I had while M slept sleeping too. Now that I've mostly caught up on my lost sleep, I've started using my free time to pursue other creative endeavors. This is the time I have to work on the projects I've been meaning to get to but can never seem to find the time for. So, I'm starting a new series called "While You Were Sleeping" to share the things I make during these small moments of adult time throughout the day.

Up first, this darling little coat I made for M:

For my birthday last year, I was gifted this wonderful little book of patterns for children. I was immediately drawn to a cute little coat and even picked up the fabric for it but with the chaos of moving and having no energy towards the end of my pregnancy, it got put aside. Now that it's getting chillier outside, my mind turned back to this project and I picked it up again.



Since it was so small, it was very easy to do. I laid out the fabric and cut the pattern pieces. I wanted to make it a little thicker so he could wear it all winter, so I cut the pieces from some batting that I had in my stash as well.

Then all that was left was to stitch it together. It took longer than I'd like because somewhere during the move, I misplaced my seam ripper and had to wait while the new one I ordered arrived. And since this was the first time I had attempted sleeves, there was a bit of a learning curve. Once I learned how to ease a sleeve though, it was smooth sailing.

I sewed the wooden toggle buttons on one night while watching a movie with Andrew. And then we tried it on him to see how it fit. It's large (I made a 9 month size) but it is so sweet. I can see myself making this for him again in larger sizes for years. I've added other baby garments to my "to make" list for nap time because clothes are so much more fun to make when they're in miniature.