Easter parade part 1

I was happily sewing my way through birthdays and planning summer wardrobes, when I realized Easter was less than two weeks away. How did I miss that? Yikes! Time to start sewing in double time.

My first projects were dresses for the girls. A friend had given me a huge bag of adorable Daisy Kingdom dress panels. I was so glad I sorted them all in December when I was making Christmas dresses. There were two prints that would be perfect for K and A. I already had a busy day planned on Sunday, but I stayed up late and finished both dresses. Yeah! Finished with Easter sewing!

Not so fast. M's first words when he saw the dresses on Monday were, "What will D and I wear? We need special Mommy clothes too." Time to start sewing again. When I pulled out the dress fabric for the girls, I noted a couple of prints that would work for camp shirts for M and D. Since I wanted to make them a little different than the shirts I made for Christmas, I decided to add a contrasting pocket, cuff and collar. Fortunately, I could use the same patterns, so I didn't need to alter another pattern.

Monday and Tuesday I worked on the shirts. (I'm really not an extremely slower sewer, I just have 5 kids to "help" me.) The whole time I was working on them, I couldn't stop thinking that I needed to applique t-shirts to match. I could see exactly what they needed to look like.

This morning I started on the t-shirts. I just could not stop myself. Unfortunately, I tried to save time by using a store-bought pattern instead of drafting one myself. I guess God wanted me to practice patience and self-control today. I had to tear out the collar in both shirts twice, and I still think the fit could be better. I have added drafting t-shirt patterns for the boys to my to-do list. I was so glad I had been collecting old  t-shirts. I didn't need to purchase anything at all. You have to love free Easter outfits!

M was so excited to see his new outfit. He truly is a joy to sew for. He showed it to everyone that stopped by today, and made sure they were very careful not to get it dirty. It has to be just like Mommy made it for Easter morning.

D was too filthy from playing outside for me to get close to him with his new clothes. I am hoping to try them on tomorrow before he eats breakfast. He isn't too picky. As long as they don't poke, squeeze, or fall off, he will be happy.

Did you notice that I didn't post any pictures from the girl's dresses? Well, I decided that they should have new shirts and purses to go with their Easter jumpers. Guess what I am doing tomorrow. If things go well (meaning Granny takes the kids to her house for a few hours tomorrow afternoon), I should be able to get the girl's things finished and posted. Maybe then I will have time to take pictures of the pillowcase dresses for the girls and pencil skirt for me that I made last week, or sew the last three tooth fairy pillows that I have the embroidery finished for, or work on the doll clothes for the Spingjita auction, or the capes for the auction, or recover the glider, or.... I'm sure you understand.

Linked to:

Wardrobe Wednesday at Brown Paper Packages

Pattern blocks buttoning activity

D's pattern blocks were finished just in time for his birthday. (One of my dear friends was sewing the bag for me as the party was starting!) I am so excited about how they turned out. I combined the floor puzzle from Mer Mag with a Montessori-style button snake I saw on Gingham Cherry. D hasn't spent much time playing with them yet, but the other kids have enjoyed them. I need to find a time to sit with D and show him how they work without any "help" from his siblings.

The blocks were very easy to make. I cut triangles from scraps of brightly colored fabric and old jeans. I marked the size button hole I needed on the triangles before I sewed them together, so I could leave that space open. After sewing the colored blocks to the denim backs, I turned through the button hole and then top stitched everything. The ribbon with the button is sewn to the bottom of a drawstring bag. 

The only thing I might do differently is to use a different backing fabric.  The denim adds the body that I wanted, but I wasn't able to get nice sharp points on the corners. It might be best to use interfacing cut to the finished triangle size, so it isn't in the seams at all.

Mail bag and envelopes

Since I made D the table tent with a mailbox, I had to make him a mail bag and envelopes. I started out planning to just make rectangles with the names and stamp embroidered on them, but at the last minute decided to go ahead and make the envelopes where they could open. 

Each family member has a letter addressed to and from him. All of the kids have had a great time sending each other secret notes. 

Linked to:

Whatever Goes Wednesday on Someday Crafts

I built a house and a barn!

With only 4 days to spare, I finally finished one of D's birthday gifts. YEAH!

I wanted to make a table tent for the kids for Christmas, but ran out of time. Fortunately D has an early birthday. I made our tent to fit my dining room table. My devious plan is to use it as incentive for the kids to help keep the dining room clean. The table has to be cleared and wiped and the floor swept after each meal so the tent can be set up. The toys have to be put away before the next meal or the tent will be in time out until after the following meal.

Since I am trying to use up my stash of fabric and spend as little as possible on gifts this year, I decided to use wovens instead of felt. The only things I didn't have in my stash were the silver for the watering trough and the red for the barn. I found a sheet set at the thrift store with 3 red pillowcases and a fitted sheet for $4.99. Score! My wonderful mother-in-law gave me the perfect fabric for the trough. The only downside to using woven fabric is appliqueing every piece to make sure it doesn't ravel. I think I used more thread on this one project than anything else I have sewn.

With two girls and three boys, I had a very hard time deciding on one design for our tent, so I chose two. Each "building" has one long and one short side of the table. It worked out great. All of the kids have declared it a hit. (I am so glad D is only turning two, and I don't have to hide his gifts while I am sewing. It makes life so much easier!) E even had to climb in for the photo shoot.

mmmcrafts: the basic messenger bag

Even though you can't tell from my last week's posts, I have been crafting. I am working diligently to make gifts for D's birthday. I am now in panic mode because the party is on Friday and I don't have any gifts finished. YIKES!

One of D's gifts is a mail carrier's bag and some fabric envelopes. I promise it will make better sense when you see one of his other gifts. I have the mail finished, but haven't even started on the bag. Maybe tomorrow will be the day I can get this great messenger bag from mmmcrafts done.

mmmcrafts: the basic messenger bag

Fabric roads

733 features a guest blogger today with a tutorial on making fabric roads. What an awesome idea!

Slippers

A received some slippers for Christmas, but M and K have been feeling left out. These bear slippers from Instructables will be awesome for M and D.

K and A would both love these adorable ballet slippers from ikat bag.

Busy book

Here is another great idea for D's birthday - a busy book. Little Hands, Big Work has a great tutorial to get me started.

UCreate has another great quiet book idea. 

Floor puzzle

I have been searching for things to make for D for his birthday. Mer Mag has this great floor puzzle on her blog. What do you think? Would D enjoy this? Since I have TONS of fabric, what do you think about making them out of fabric? Things that are quiet and soft are a definite hit with me.

Dining room table tent playhouse

I have been wanting to make a play house tent for our dining room table since before Christmas. Righteous Lou has several pictures featured on her blog. I think I can get this made for Dalton for his birthday.

String piecing challenge

Loft Creations string challenge is just the push I need to work through my enormous stash and actually make quilts for the kids. (I have been "planning" to make them for several years now. Why didn't I start when there were fewer kids????) It may be a hard to get anything finished before the deadline, but without the deadline, I never seem to get started.

Guilded lace crowns

Bitter Betty has a super tutorial for making crowns. These will definitely be a hit with all of my kids!

Disguise kits

Look at the Box of Mysterious Disguises on Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! I think this would be perfect for K to make for M or D for birthday this year.