Tutorial for Converting the Patrick Curved Raglan to a Hoodie
Just in time for cooler weather! I’ve written a tutorial for converting your Patrick Curved Raglan to a hoodie. The hood pattern is currently just for the Infant/Toddler sizes, but the Big Kid sizes are coming next week!
You can find the printable tutorial here: Hoodie Tutorial. Please let me know if you have any questions!
The Holiday Grand Plan – Week 2
Moving right along on the HGP. Anyone else out there decluttering with me? There wasn’t much work to be done in our living room. It’s one of the rooms that I keep clean so we can welcome drop-in company anytime.
I had mentioned cleaning my back porch, but it rained all weekend here, so I had to change plans. Instead, I tackled my pantry and laundry area. Before, the pantry had food, cleaning tools, recycling, some homeschool supplies (I think those have been there since we moved in 3 years ago), unmatched socks, handed-down cloth diapers and miscellaneous stuff. I took out the school supplies and diapers–putting them where they belong, reorganized everything, threw away a zillion empty boxes and matched up the socks–throwing away the holey ones and the ones with no matches.
Before pics:
After:
I filled up the recycling bin with all those cardboard boxes!
I didn’t get before pics of the laundry area. It’s situated in a pass-through, right across from the pantry. Some of the pantry contents had overflowed there, and it was piled with clean, folded laundry that needed to be put away. It’s all clean for now. Of course, I need to do laundry today . . .
The Little One Layette Pattern is Finished!
And, it almost sold out in it’s first day! And, I don’t even have it back from the printer yet! Can you tell I’m excited? There are a couple left in stock, but if you miss those, I’ll have more up in a week or so.
You can find it by clicking here: The Little One Layette Pattern
Some samples from my sewing:
This pattern contains sizes NB through 12 months. I’ve had a lot of requests for bigger sizes, so I’m working on sizes 18 months to 4T.
Made by Rae Backpack Giveaway!
One of my favorite bloggers, Rae, of Made by Rae is a doing a guest giveaway at Grosgrain. I love Rae’s backpack pattern! I used it to make these backpacks for three of my kiddos a few months ago:
The backpack that she is giving away is absolutely adorable and perfect for a boy or girl! Rae’s also giving away two copies of her pattern. Just click on the picture to find out more:
Jamie’s New Jammies
Sew Mama Sew is hosting a Pajama Party Sew-Along this month, and I thought I’d join in. My little ones all need warm and comfy jammies for the winter, and there’s a stack of neglected flannel in my fabric cabinet that is just yearning to be cuddled up in. The problem that I have with using flannel or other wovens is that I really dislike putting buttons, snaps, etc. on pajamas, so I thought I’d try out a v-neck top.
I drafted up this top yesterday afternoon, and I love the way it came out! It pulls on over the head really easily and doesn’t look huge in the neckline once it’s on. The pants are from my own AJ Bottoms pattern. (They’re my favorite for PJs!)
These new jammies fit so well, and Jamie loves them! He insisted on wearing them last night, even though it’s still sweltering here.
The Holiday Grand Plan – Week 1
I’m a little behind in posting my Week 1 accomplishments because of the weekend’s camping trip. Week 1 of the HGP is Lists and Front Porch. I’m making great progess on my Christmas lists. I set them up in a MS Excel spreadsheet on my laptop, so that I can add ideas as I think of them, along with links to tutorials, patterns or recipes when I find something that I’d like to make for a gift or a meal.
With our month-long trip in June followed by two months of morning sickness, my front porch had definitely seen some days of neglect. Note the flag left over from the 4th of July. It was nice to get out there and do a little work.
Before:
After:
The kids and I bought some nice fall plants and then repotted them so they’ll hopefully keep blooming for a few months. (We do live in Dallas, so it’ll be warm enough here for flowers for some time.) We also swept down the porch and the walls to clear off the dirt and cobwebs. Painting that bench red to match the front door is on my list–we just ran out of time to get it done last week.
This week is Questions and Livingroom. There’s not much to be done in my livingroom, so I may add another space . . . maybe my messy backporch.
I also got my IBOL packages shipped off yesterday right on the deadline.
That third box is for IBOL Guy’s Super Secret Project 3: Operation Old Mother Hubbard. I can’t tell you what’s in it yet . . . it’s super secret!
Labor Day Camping!
We had a great time camping with the Maxams and the Zinszers this weekend! I could have done without the ants that decided they should sleep with me, but overall, it was a lot of fun. My good camera is broken, but I did get a few fun pictures with a backup:
And, in case you ever wondered why Jamie adores Auntie Chris, it could have something to do with the fact that she lets him play with cool tools and feeds him yummy chocolate.
IBOL & a Good Start on an Organized Stash
Okay, first off, a challenge for my lovely readers! Is your fabric (or knitting) stash overwhelming? Does it need some cleaning out? Well, now’s the time to get working on that! You can have a beautiful organized stash, and give to someone else who loves to sew and doesn’t have access to the incredible fabric stores we have here in the US. Iraqi Bundles of Love is an amazing project that will warm your heart! Check it out here:
Yesterday, I went through my wovens stash and put together these two bundles:
(There are some knitting supplies hidden in these, too.) Aren’t they pretty? They’ll be heading out to Iraq this morning!
What did I get out of this, you ask? Of course, I don’t feel like I have to get something back for giving to others, but this time, I was rewarded with neat, clean, organized fabric cabinets . . . well, at least, my wovens and miscellaneous fabric cabinets . . . we’re not discussing the wardrobe that holds my knit fabrics. It’s on my list for next week.
I’m actually a little embarrassed to post my before pictures. Don’t judge me, please. I had terrible morning sickness and a house full of little ones to care for. Okay, here goes:
Cabinet #1-Cotton Quilting Fabrics. Before and After:
Cabinet #2-Flannels, Diaper-making PUL, some misc. fabrics on top shelf. Before and After:
Cabinet #3-Solid Cotton Quilting Fabrics, solid knit scraps for neckbands and such, misc. sewing supplies. Before and After:
In addition to the packages for IBOL, I packed up three paper bags of fabric for my church’s sewing group and a bag of fabric for the local thrift shop.
Now, it’s your turn! Clean up your stash and put together a bundle or two for IBOL and be sure to come back here and comment. If you blog about it, I’d love to see, so be sure to add the link! And, hurry! The deadline for shipping packages for this project is September 7th!
Upcycled Diaper (and Trainer) Swap
This was so much fun! I participated this month in an “Upcycled” Diaper Swap on a sewing moms board where I post regularly. The object was to create a diaper (or trainer, cover, etc.) for our swap partner that was made completely of recycled materials.
My swap partner told me that she would love trainers for her toddler son, and she said that he loves Sesame Street. So, I set out to find something SS that I could recycle into trainers. I scoured thrift stores, consignment shops, resale stores. I posted on my local homeschool yahoo group. I even looked at EBay. And, I found nothing! Then, I walked into a friend’s home for a church meeting one Sunday night and saw her 3-year-old daughter wearing an Elmo shirt. I said, “I need that shirt!” jokingly, of course, and explained why I needed it. She disappeared a few minutes later and came back with the shirt! (Thank you, Rachel! You’re the best!) I feel a little like I stole it right off of her child’s back. LOL!
Here’s the shirt:
And, the resulting trainers:
The rest of the swap is not nearly as interesting. Here are the things I started with:
Two used cotton knit receiving blankets and a cotton stretch terry baby towel . . .
. . . made one more pair of trainers . . .
. . . and a medium Fattycakes fitted diaper for my swap partner’s infant daughter.
The package that I received from my swap partner was amazing. Here’s what she sent to me! Two NB Hippy Hippy Snap fitteds (for the little one we’re expecting) and four wipes made out of recycled t-shirts. I absolutely love the simplicity of the t-shirt fitteds! I want to make some more.
And, a small wool Seraphim Soaker that she frogged from an Everlasting Wondersoaker and re-crocheted.
An Organized Christmas
Yes, I know, it may be a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but pregnancy puts me in a cleaning and decluttering mode. I should take some pics of the stuff that we cleaned out of storage closet earlier this week for you. We’ve been in this house for less than three years, and I’m amazed at how much clutter has built up. I feel like I need to get a handle on it before it takes over!
An online friend mentioned The Organized Christmas Holiday Grand Plan to me, and I think it looks awesome. It gives you an area of your house to clean out and organize each week, along with plans to get Christmas gifts, food, etc. done in advance. Next week, August 30th to September 5th, is Front Porch and List Week.
I’ll blog about my progress, and would love to have others join me. Anyone else want to have a clean, clutter-free home by Thanksgiving?
And just to get you in the Christmas mood . . . a sweet picture of my children from last Christmas:
Aren’t they cute? (And, wow, Jamie’s hair was really long!)
