Big Sister Bag

Hi Friends!

I haven't been sewing much more than pajama pants lately.  I've been a little preoccupied growing a human.  But I just finished this bag this morning and it is possibly the coolest thing I have ever made.

Junebug chose the ice cream fabric and I picked out the purple polka dots to go with it.  It just screams little girl and I love it.

I had originally intended for it to hold all the items she would need when I went to the hospital to have her little sister- diapers, wipes, presents, pajamas, her bottle, the works.  But it's way to freaking small for that.  The pattern did not have dimensions listed so I gambled when I bought it.  It's small, like two disposables, wipes, snack, drink, and barely squeeze in a change of clothes to run to the grocery store small.  I figure I'll just pack the presents I plan on getting/making her in there and she can use it as a diaper bag for her dollies.

There weren't many details listed about the pattern and I should have realized it was a sign.  While the design is lovely and buying the pattern saved me time drawing it out and calculating yardages and such, the directions were NOT detailed and I had to guess my way through as lot of the construction.  I've never made a bag before but I might have been just as well off winging it.

I now have daydreams of making my own bag gigantic enough to cloth diaper two kids for a whole day.  We're talking ginormous with tons of pockets.  Unlikely that it will happen but I can dream right?

Housewife- an update

I think I'm finally getting into the swing of this housewife thing!  It was tough at first, trying to establish a schedule that worked for us, getting the house clean after a year and a half of filth, and getting out of the hurry up and just make a freakin dinner routine we had when I worked.

I am slowly remembering why I enjoy cooking things from scratch.  It's an amazing feeling to make something that looks beautiful and tastes just as good, like this pizza.

Exhibit A

I also made homemade noodles for chicken noodle soup last night and holy cow were they tender and delicious.  I may never be happy with dried store noodles again.  Putting the dough through my pasta roller turned out to be easy and mildly entertaining, like playdough for grown ups.

Our house still needs a ton of work.  The cupboards are pretty much chaos but I can finally see that I'm making a dent in the mess.  I organized my sewing cabinets recently and just yesterday I sealed the linoleum in the bathroom, it's so shiny now.  And I should be able to get even more done soon.  I've been watching a friend's baby and my last week with her is next week (they're moving up North).

I've also figured out what chores need to be done everyday in order to keep Ryan happy.  He likes the floor and the kitchen to be clean so as long as I vacuum and do the dishes he thinks I'm working hard, lol.  He never notices a dirty toilet or dust.

Finding a schedule that works well for us has been the toughest part.  I started out trying to clean first thing in the morning but I ended up wasting time and just taking too long to do anything.  It works best if I start cleaning about an hour before Ryan gets home.  Then I have a time limit and just fly through the cleaning.  So in the morning we just kick back and play lego and have fun.

It's best if we don't go anywhere in the morning either.  Junebug will fall asleep in the car and even a couple minutes of that will ruin her nap and she'll be whiny for the rest of the day.  It's been a dream staying home with her.  I love almost every minute of it (she's not a good sleeper, those minutes I don't love) but I'm so happy we did it.

Summer Girl Outfit

I made the Blackbird Top from Shwin & Shwin.  I just had to!  It has the look I was going for originally with her Easter shirt and then I saw this dot fabric at Joann's that went really well with some linen I already had at home and I couldn't get it out of my head so here it is...

Ta da!

It has the one shoulder button like I wanted and a wide collar (yoke? what is that part called?) with piping detail that makes it much more substantial looking than the collar on the Snappy toddler dress pattern.

I love the shirt, but the tutorial was not that great.  It wasn't very detailed and the pictures were not helpful.  But it was free so you can't expect it to be perfect, they're not getting paid for their time. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner, but if you are comfortable with your sewing skills and just winging it from time to time the shirt is amazingly cute.  My one complaint is that, if you follow the pattern, the shirt part is just sewn onto the back of the collar.  If I had properly read through the pattern before I started I would have tucked it in between the layers of the collar, despite how much work it would have been.  Junebug is very sensitive to tags and itchy things and I think she will hate it as is. 

 Which is why there are no pictures of her wearing it.  If she doesn't like a piece of clothing the first time I put it on her she will never let it near her again, no matter what I do to fix it so I need to resolve the scratchy problem before I even show it to her.  I'm thinking I will cut a piece of linen and hand stitch it on to cover up the unfinished edge because it would be a bear to unpick the seam with the piping to insert the shirt pieces, the thread I used is nearly invisible in the linen.

See, just a rough edge.

I made the Honey Pie Bloomers again out of some linen to go with the shirt.  Practical Mandee wanted them to be plain so she could wear them with any shirt but I really wanted to make the outfit matchy-matchy so I made the inside of the waistband out of the dot fabric so it matches but is generally hidden from view.

Peek-a-boo!

I managed not to break any needles during this sewing project!  That has been my curse lately.  I switch feet but forget to change my stitch setting before sewing and then sew onto the metal and break a needle, or two...  In truth I think I have gone through a package of needles this month doing that.

Green Faux Chenille Blanket

Ta Da!!!  Another one.  I love this one even more because I used a darker fabric and the ruffles really stand out.  Plus I used satin blanket binding at Turtle's request so it's double soft.  See...

I also need to give Turtle credit for picking out the fabric.  I always ask him to when I make something for a boy and he did good again.  Turns out the recipient's nursery is in these colors.  My husband is psychic.

We gave it to a family friend for her baby shower.  It was well received and the baby boy was so adorable.  It was an after-he-was-born shower, which is my favorite, then everyone gets to meet the little one.

Junebug modeled it for me.  I can't believe how grown up she is getting.  She looks so much like her dad.

I used this tutorial by made again.  Someone please tell my husband Santa to put one of these chenille cutters in my Christmas stocking this year(and tell him to use a coupon while you're at it).  I got a sore on my knuckle where the scissors rubbed from cutting all those little lines and it won't heal because I'm a klutz and keep banging it on everything.  I know, I know, someone call the wahmbulance...

Bloomers to go with her shirt

I made these bloomers to go with her Easter shirt so she can have a little outfit for summer.  It's been relatively nice here so I put them on her, hoping to get a picture, but they got covered in Oreo Blizzard before I could get one.  So here they are right after I finished them, just no cute model to wear them.

Aren't they sweet?  I used the Honey Pie Bloomers Pattern from Shwin Designs.  It was well written and easy to follow, and very aesthetically pleasing.  I want to try a couple more of her patterns like this one, and this one.  They're cute and I can't wait for her to come out with more.

I even made my very first pocket!  See

Gorgeous, isn't it?

Here is the whole outfit, sorry there's no model.

And she wore it without asking for me to take it off, so I think it was a success!

I quit my job

Old news to everyone, but I felt I needed to make it official on my blog.  As of right now I will be staying home with Junebug.  We had a dry run a week ago (I had already planned a vacation before I gave my notice) and it was amazing.  Our house has not been this clean since before Junebug was born.  And when my mom came back to watch her my last few days of work, she cried when I left.  She used to cry when my mom left so I think she liked it too.  Hip Hip Hooray!

The real Easter outfit

This is what she actually wore on Easter.

Even though it wasn't a dress, she liked it and I got to sew it so everyone was happy.

I even made my very first buttonhole!  My machine makes it pretty easy.  But I wasn't afraid either so that probably helped.  I've only never sewn one because I haven't yet made anything that needed one.

See my awesome work?  I rock.

I used this free pattern and tutorial from Prudent Baby, but what I wanted to/ended up making is a lot more like this top from Shwin&Shwin.  I have both pinned on my Patterns To Sew board so it must have been late when I was trying to get started and I didn't see the other one.

For the Prudent Baby pattern I printed it out tiled at 110% and it's about a 24 month size.  I wanted a wider collar part so I added seam allowance to the pattern so it would end up the same size as the printed pattern cause that looked about right to me.  I sewed the collar together on one side and added the buttonhole to the other.  

What I wanted is more similar to Shwin&Shwin's Black Bird Top.  Actually, I'm kicking myself right now for not seeing that pin and making that one, it's even the right size.  But I still love the shirt anyways, and I'm really proud of it. 

For Easter she wore jeans but I did make some shorts to go with it after Easter so it could be a summer outfit for her.  I'll show you that another day.