PJ Pants for Mike

Yesterday I made some pajama pants for Mike. I used a Simplicity pattern that I bought a while back when JoAnne's was having a sale. It was a fairly easy project and they turned out really well. I was very pleased with the fit of the pants and how easily everything went together.

On this project I learned how to make a buttonhole (for the drawstring) and how to make a drawstring. Neither was hard, but I am always excited to learn new things. I plan to make him another pair soon since he seems to really like them. Overall I would definitely call this project a success!

The "Lazy Days Skirt"

Tomorrow is picture day at Kelsie's school and they want the kids to wear spring attire, so I decided to make Kelsie another skirt. I wanted something easy, yet cute and I found the perfect tutorial on oliverands.com for a "Lazy Days Skirt". It is a simple elastic waist skirt that even takes advantage of the selvedges, so you don't have to finish the seams. I also really liked that the skirt has a little extra detail because the bottom hem is encased in ribbon. It turned out really cute and Kelsie liked that it had flowers and she could twirl in it. To me that makes this project a definite winner! :)

Kelsie's Easter Skirt

A friend from our sewing circle gave us all a pattern she got out of her Quilting magazine for a twirly skirt. It looked so adorable that I had to give it a shot despite the fact that I am not exceptionally fond of gathering. I am so glad I did. I discovered that gathering is worth the hassle when done with the right amount of fabric. Unfortunately on my last gathering project, The rodeo t-shirt dress, I only had a little over the circumference of the shirt, so the gathering really didn't show making it more of a pain that it was worth. The opposite was definitely true with this project. I really love the gathering and the two layer effect, although if I make another one I will make the second layer a little longer. I just would like it to show a little more.

Kelsie liked the material because it has bunnies and ducks on it and she seemed to like the way the skirt fit. I am pleased with it and it turned out even cuter than I expected, because again I was afraid of the gathering. I would definitely make another skirt like this for Kelsie. It was relatively easy to make, although it does take some time (at least for me). I think it took me about 3 hours give or take to get everything done. Of course that was my first try, so it may take less time on my next attempt.

My New Machine

I finally bought a new sewing machine. I originally thought I wanted one with embroidery and lots of other bells and whistles, but I decided against that for now. After much contemplation I decided on a Brother Innovis-40 machine. I am very pleased with it so far and I can't get over what a difference it makes to have a speed control and needle up/down capability. I only bought it yesterday so I haven't used it much, but I have been very pleased with it so far. I can't wait to take the guide class to see what all it can do!

The Rodeo/T-shirt Dress

Kelsie's MDO had a rodeo day today at school. They brought in a petting zoo and they did lots of rodeo inspired activities today. The kids were supposed to wear something western or rodeo inspired and since Kelsie didn't have anything I decided to make her something. I went out and bought some bandanas and a white t-shirt and decided to try making a t-shirt dress. I found a great tutorial at Waldeck Dry Goods. I decided to make the waistline at the waist instead of an empire waist, but other than that I followed the tutorial.

It turned out OK, but the bandana material was not quite as wide (even with 2 sewn together) as what the tutorial required. The skirt of the dress came out a little big and less gathered than I would have liked, but I still think it turned out cute. To add a little extra something I got some iron-on lettering and put Cowgirl Cutie on the front. The big test was whether Kelsie would wear it or not. To my surprise she didn't fight much when I asked her to put it on and she even said she liked it when I asked her what she thought of the dress. In my book that right there makes this project a huge success!

The "Super Cool Wallet"

I have been wanting to try to make a wallet ever since I saw some of the ladies in my sewing circle make a tea wallet. I ran across a tutorial for one at Craft Bits that looked straight forward, so I decided to give it a try. It was a fairly easy to make. The only real issue I had was sewing on the velcro. She has you put both card holder strips on before you sew on the velcro, but doesn't specify that you shouldn't sew through both strips of fabric. Of course I made the mistake of doing that, so I had to resew the velcro strips. Other than that I didn't run into any problems. I think this particular wallet is more useful for cards than holding money, so I plan to use it for either gift cards of membership cards. I am hoping the next one I try will have places for everything, but overall I like how the "Super Cool Wallet" turned out.

Wet Bag

I got the idea of making a wet bag to match the diaper and wipes case I made for my brother and SIL from Make Baby Stuff.com. I had a couple of problems with this particular tutorial. One PUL fabric is not easy to find and two the tutorial doesn't explain how to sew in a zipper, so I had to improvise.

The first problem was kind of hard to overcome, because I wasn't sure what to use as a lining. I tried using regular vinyl material for the lining, but I wasn't pleased with the result. I then tried using iron on vinyl and loved how it turned out! It was easy to apply to the lining material and still much more flexible than the vinyl material making it much easier to use. I definitely will use that anytime I can't get PUL fabric in the future.

The second problem was easy. I just used the tutorial I used for a zipper pouch I made from Flossie Teacakes and enlarged the dimensions to make it big enough for soiled clothing. I really like how she covers the ugly parts of the zipper, so this worked out great. I was pleased with the result and I am starting to feel much more confident about zipper insertion now that I have done it a few times.

Once those two problems were resolved the tutorial was easy. You just have to make sure that if your fabric is directional you account for that and sew two outside pieces together instead of folding one large piece of fabric or you will have one side upside down. With or without the lining there are so many uses for bags like these. I am sure I will be making more in the future.

Travel Tissue Case

I needed a quick project to try for sewing circle, and I had nothing in mind. I went online searching and found this cute travel tissue case at Fireflies and Jellybeans. When I first saw the tutorial I assumed it would take me much longer than it actually did, because I got done within an hour (maybe less) even with cutting the material!

The tutorial was easy to follow and it turned out really cute, but I was a little disappointed that it wasn't big enough to hold an actual travel size set of tissues. It is only meant for a couple of tissues stuffed inside. Next time I think I will make it a little bigger, so that a travel size set of tissues will fit inside. I just think that will be much more useful than the one I made.

The Diaper/Wipes Case

My brother and SIL just had a baby, so I decided I wanted to make them something. I found a cute diapers and wipes case pattern on the Internet and gave it a try. My nephew's nursery is decorated in a Dallas Cowboys theme and my brother loves the Cowboys, so logically that is the theme I used for the main material.

The first pattern I tried was from All Crafts. While I thought this pattern was easy to follow and was well written, I wasn't pleased with the way she did the flap on the case. I just didn't think it looked as good in person as it did online. I probably would have just gone with it anyway, but I made a mistake when I sewed the flap on in an attempt to keep the wording the correct direction and it turned out smaller than I would have liked. In her finished product the pattern on the flap is upside down and while it still looked OK with the material she chose, I knew it would drive me nuts trying to do that with the cowboys material so I made another one. If I ever used this pattern again I would add a couple of inches to each side.



You can see in this picture where I messed up when sewing on the flap



The second pattern came from Tipnuts: 41 Free Baby Patterns & Projects. I really liked how the flap turned out on this one and the way she had you cut rectangles instead of having to print out a pattern. I decided to avoid the debacle of having to sew the flap on by just using a navy material on the outside back of the bag. I wasn't sure if I would like it as much that way, but I was pleasantly surprised that it looked really good that way! I would definitely do that again if I made one of these with a directional fabric. It is so much easier! I decided to add a couple of inches to this pattern as well, since it seemed about the same size as the first. I am so glad that I did. The finished size was almost the exact same as the one I bought for my daughters diapers and wipes when she was a baby. I wish I had known how to sew then!





Overall I think both patterns are easy to follow and were well written. However I would keep two things in mind next time I make one of these. First, add a couple of inches to the dimensions listed in order to be able to fit a few more larger diapers in the case. Second, if you use a directional fabric I would definitely use a coordinating fabric on the backside to make it easier. I think these are very handy little cases as we used the heck out of ours. They also make a great gift for a baby shower or for new parents!

The Zipper Pouch

The moms in my mom's group started a sewing circle and while I have attended before this was the first time I decided to actually join in on the sewing part. They were making various projects, but the one that I thought I would get the most use out of was a zipper pouch from a sewing blog we found at Flossie Teacakes. I thought I would get it cut out and maybe get it started that night, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to finish it within a couple of hours. Including cutting and having to run to the store for a zipper! Zippers have always been made to sound like a sewer's nemesis, so I always assume that zipper projects will be very hard and time consuming. This tutorial is very well written and while I would love to have a couple of more pictures, I think it makes inserting a zipper a fairly easy process. I love the way she has you cover the "ugly bits" of the zipper on the ends. It makes the finished project look professional. I can't wait to make another one.