Super Malcolm!

Malcolm was invited to a Super Hero party at a karate studio and was instructed to dress up as his favorite super hero.  I tried my best to explain to him what a super hero was, but he was wasn't really understanding.  It didn't matter.  He had a blast and was so sweaty when I picked him up.  When I walked in, they were having a marshmallow fight; adults vs kids.

Rather than be a specific super hero, I decided that I would just make him a cape to wear. I asked him what color he would like and he told me, "Light red." Great. In my head "light red" equals pink and I was trying to decide if I should just make him a pink cape or try to talk him out of it. Since it was a friend from school who invited him, I was afraid that there might be some of the older kids from his class there who might say something that would hurt his feelings.

My mental stress was for nothing. I took him to the fabric store and told him to pick a color from the rainbow of broadcloth. He again said, "Light red," and I had him show me which one he meant. As far as I can tell, it is red, red. Maybe a little on the orange red side instead of a blue red, but no where near pink. I offered that he could choose two colors, but he only wanted red. Did I mention that this was the day before the party? Nothing like starting a project early.

I looked at several online tutorials on sewing a cape, but none were really what I was looking for. I took a little bit from a couple I read and added my own ideas. I didn't want it to tie around his neck, so I used velcro so that it will come loose if he gets caught on something or someone pulls on the cape. I wanted the neck to have a little give, so there is hidden elastic cased inside the fabric. Then I sewed ribbon on to the elastic and put the velcro on the ribbon. I rounded the corners of the velcro so that it won't poke him in the neck. I also used a longer piece of the soft side of the velcro and a small piece of the sticky velcro so that it is more adjustable.

Lastly, I wanted to put an emblem on the back of the cape. I didn't want anything too violent or aggressive, so I settled on a lightening bolt (partly because the pattern was really cheap).


The finished product.



From the front. He said that it didn't pull on his neck during the party and that he wore it the entire time. I saw him do plenty of running around and it seemed to mostly stay in place.



The back.



From the side. I didn't want it so long that he would trip on it, but I'm glad I went a little longer than the suggestions I saw to have it stop at the lower back.

New Shirts

I finally made something for Malcolm!  I've been busy with making things for gifts and things for Dorothy and I haven't done anything for the boy in a while.  I like doing things for him too, but baby clothes and dresses are just so cute that I get distracted.

I had a few pairs of shorts with no tops to go with them, so I bought a few plain t-shirts and added my own designs with my embroidery machine. Overall, I really like how these came out, and it was much easier than trying to find something cute that would match.


First, I did a hot air balloon applique. I think this one might be my favorite of the batch I did this time. I had all the extra fabric in my scrap pile, so it was quick and easy to put together.




It looks so cute with his red shorts. He kept petting the white clouds because they are slightly fuzzy.





Next was a gecko on a grey striped shirt. This was probably the most detailed piece I have done so far. I should have used a darker color for the eyes, but it is too late to change it now. Malcolm says this one is his favorite.




Close up of the gecko.






How it looks with the shorts (he is wearing this one today).




Last, I did an anchor. I bought the yellow shirt to add a new color to his wardrobe, but then was stuck as to what to do with it. I love how this came out, though I'm not sure how he will look in yellow.




With the shorts.



It is getting easier (and faster) to do these, so I might be doing more of this for his clothes and buying fewer pre-done items.

First Birthday Gifts

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but I promise that I have been creating new things.  I'm just really, really bad about documenting my work.

Anyway, the little girl next door had her first birthday and I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  The problem was that I didn't even get started before my parents came to visit and we had the crazy birthday extravaganza for Malcolm. I managed to get one outfit completed just before her party (and by just before, I mean that the party had started and I was sewing on the buttons before we could go over there). Too bad I forgot to take a picture before wrapping it up. Maybe I'll see if her mom could take one or let me come over and take one. You will just have to trust me that it was a really cute deep purple with lime green and aqua elephants with polka dots and the bloomers had ruffles on the butt. I still have a lot of fabric left, so I might need to make something else for Dorothy (but Malcolm is next on my list, so she will have to wait).

A couple of weeks later, I finally got around to making her this beach towel.

Yes, you can see the hoop lines. If I don't take a photo right away, it will probably never happen. I have done several towels in the past and have found that the cheap towels in Target's dollar section work the best. Most towels are too thick to hoop easily, then I get all sorts of other issues, but these are thin and cheap. I did a couple last summer and was kicking myself for not buying more while they had them. This year I bought a whole bunch, but the only colors they had were pink and turquoise. I liked the royal blue and orange from last year better. I hope they have them again next year because I think I might start doing these for the 1,000 birthdays that seem to happen now that Malcolm is in school.


Last night, I finally finished the final project for Rowan. It's a good thing she is only a year old so that she doesn't know how long it has taken me to get her gift to her. In fact, they are currently out of town and have still not received it yet. I'm so excited about how it turned out though that I'm blogging about it now. Ruthie, if you are reading, stop now if you want it to be a surprise!

I love this one so much that I'm a little sad to see it go. I saw it sitting out this morning and thought about putting it on Dorothy, but didn't. I saw this fabric a few months ago, but didn't buy it because I wasn't sure what I would make with it. I just love the color and the vintage feel of design and it works great for a project like this.




The front. I have made a similar set before, but this time, I tried some new things. Usually, I use ribbon for the shoulder ties, but I couldn't quite match any of the colors, so I had to make them. It isn't hard, but it is time consuming. Instead of whipping this out in one or two nights, it took me three. I don't spend a huge amount of time each night in my sewing room, but it probably took and extra couple of hours with the changes I made. That, and I had to re-iron a lot of things once I realized that it wasn't hot enough. I should have known something wasn't right when I wasn't burning my fingers while rolling the hem.



back



Just the bloomers, front.



Just the bloomers, back. Note the adorable ruffles. Again, they weren't hard to do, but they did take some time. I have done ribbon in the past, and that goes much, much faster.  Instead of gathering them by hand, I tried a trick I had read about.  I used the same shirring method that I used to make the top, then just stitched them down  on the butt before sewing the sides of the bloomers together.  It worked great and is much faster than basting then gathering.  I'm glad I didn't use ribbon on this piece because I think the matching fabric is a nice look with this pattern.

I also have plenty of this fabric left over and Dorothy might need a little something too.  At this rate she won't have to wear the same thing twice all summer.  I probably shouldn't make her any more clothes.

Ugliest Pants Ever

I have been looking for some light weight long pants for Malcolm that can be rolled up and buttoned to a capri length.  When we leave for school in the mornings it is pretty cool, but it warms up quite a bit by the time we walk home.  I have looked everywhere for some, and they are hard to come by in the boy's section.  I have a pattern for some basic pants and thought that it couldn't be too hard to add a strap and some buttons so that they can be rolled up.

I had some fabric left over from a Halloween costume I made a couple of years ago, so I thought I would give it a try.  Since I was recycling the costume skirt into pants, I only had just enough length if I reused the waistband as it was.  Since it was already sewn as an elastic casing, I thought it would simplify things.  Instead, the whole thing was a disaster from beginning to end.  The only simple and straight forward part was adding the straps and buttons to make the pants convertible.  In the future, I might just add them to pants he already has instead of starting from scratch.

Lets look at a few pictures and count the ways these went wrong, shall we?

Long view, front.

Problem #1. The Fabric: I have no idea what this fabric is. When I needed it for my Halloween costume, it was the right color, a good weight, had a little stretch, and was on clearance for a good price. The odd thing is that sometimes it looks matte and other times it looks shiny. Ironing the wrinkles out and press the seams only made the shininess more prominent.

Problem #2. The Grain: Because I cut these pants from a skirt, I couldn't cut it on the grain. Each of the four pieces runs a different direction and as a result, one leg is trying to twist itself into a circle.



Long view, back.


Problem #3. Length: I knew going in that it was going to be a close call to have these be long enough. I wish they were a half inch longer, but that isn't really the problem. The obvious problem is that one leg is about half an inch longer than the other. After I had them all sewn and was ready to hem them, I realized that the grain problem caused the ends to be extremely uneven and needed to be trimmed. The twisting made it impossible to measure them accurately, and I didn't quite get it right.



Roll-up, front.

Problem #4. The Waistband: Using a waistband that was pre-done should have made things easier, but it added several complications.

First, when I made the Halloween costume, I wasn't particularly careful. Since the waist was going to be elastic, I didn't worry about it if there was a small pucker or tuck here or there. There were not enough unblemished spots to get all four pieces cut with a nice flat waistband.

Next, since the skirt was curved, it did not quite line up with the waist on the pattern for the pants.

I made the pants with a flat front and an elastic back. The front center seam for the waistband is not even. There are elastic folds on the side seams where the sides were sewn together. There is also a funny elastic fold in the back. Since the back casing was in two pieces, I had to thread the elastic in first, then sew the back pieces together. It functions just fine, but it isn't pretty.



They don't look as bad on as they do when spread flat on a table, but he still won't be wearing them out of the house. However, I did learn a lot and think I can do it right the next time if I follow the direction and cut the full pattern on the grain of the fabric. I have some fabric I want to try a second pair with, but in the meantime, I ordered a couple of pairs of roll-up pants that he won't be embarrassed to be seen in.

Shirred Set

So, remember the shirred dress that is really a top? Well, I finally got around to making the bloomers to go with it. My original plan was to have some adorable red ribbon ruffles on the butt to go with the red ribbon ties on the shoulders. The problem was that I didn't check my pattern before I started and I used the wrong one; so, no ruffles. It is still very cute though.

I ended up ripping out the shirring I did originally and doing it over again, and it is much better now. When I tried it on Dorothy the first time, two of my shirred rows started to pull out even though I had doubled back on them. The stitches were just too long to hold really well. I had read on some other tutorials that they suggested tying the two elastic ends together, so I still went over my stitches, but then I also tied them and they seem to be holding. Now, they also line up in the back, so it looks much better overall.


Dorothy shows off her new outfit.



Yup. Still two pieces.



She was moving around a lot, so it was hard to get a good picture to show off the outfit.

For the bloomers, I used the shirring technique to get the ruffles around the leg and it worked much better than casing the elastic like the direction say to. I did that last time, and they always looked a little funny. This time, I made the length about 1/2 an inch shorter, did a rolled hem, then did the first row of shirring just above the hem. I did the second shirred row very close to the first. It ruffles so much nicer without the added weight and bulk of the casing and elastic. I could get it closer to the hem too which is where I prefer it.

There are a few things I want to do differently next time.  First, I want to cut small curves for her arms.  This top is just a plain rectangle and I think it will sit better if it has just a little shape to it.  I will also put the straps on after the shirring instead of before.  The front straps are not even now, but they were before I shirred it.  Next time, I'll wait and see how it lays before adding straps.

I want to use this technique to make a dress and a long romper.  Hopefully, I will get both done soon.

Snack Bags

A couple of months ago, I bought these snack bags. I had been planning on making some, but saw these for a good price and decided to give them a try before making my own in case I didn't like using them for some reason. Well, they are constantly in the laundry because we use them so much.

I finally dug out some washable home decor fabric that has been sitting in my scrap pile for years and got to work. I made them just a simple envelope pocket. I hate sewing zippers, so I made these with snaps.


I kept the seams to a minimum by having a fold at the bottom instead of sewing two separate pieces together.  Yes, I know the fabric isn't the best looking, but it cost me $0.00 to make them.  I would have made them a little wider, but I used all of the width my scrap had.  I have another scrap of the same fabric and will probably be able to get a little wider bag out of it.



Snapped and ready to go. I'm hoping that the corners will lay better once they have been washed a few times and soften up.

These are just the right size for those bags of Cheerios or graham crackers I am always carrying. They won't work for wet snacks, like apple slices or grapes, but if they work out, I can make a few more and we will use a lot fewer plastic baggies.

Flower Fairies

I'm not going to make my goal of an entirely hand-made Easter this year, but there are going to be several hand-made items in each of the kids' baskets.  Last night I made these little flower fairies for Dorothy. They are just pipe cleaners, beads and artificial flowers, but they are sort of cute. I used the instructions on this page.


Here are all three. It took well under an hour to make all of them, and that includes the time I spent getting up and hunting down supplies I forgot to gather before I started.



This was the first one I made and I got a little carried away with her hair. I going to leave it for now, but she may receive a trim in the future. I have some more supplies and I'm wondering how one with really short hair would look. I might need to try that.



This one turned out the best of the three. Her hair is in proportion and her face looks nice. I vote that Dorothy will either ignore this one or lose her immediately.



This was my last try and I got a little creative. I had some small white flowers with blue tips, so I added one to the white mum I already had. It makes her skirt flip up in a funny way, but I sort of like it.  Unfortunately, her eye looks funny because the ink ran into the wood grain of her bead head.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this project both in how cute they turned out and how simple they were to make.