Another Black Apple Doll

Ages ago I made Bug a Black Apple doll.  I modified the pattern a bit to make a boy doll for young Bug.

 Ever since I made the boy version I've wanted to make a a little girl version.  I finally decided that it was time to make Ladybug a doll of her own.  What fun!  I used fleece for the hair again as I wanted to be sure that the doll would be washable.  While Ladybug loves faces she also enjoys chewing on toys so washable is key! 

Easter Egg Hunt Bag

I thought it would be fun to make Bug an Easter egg hunt bag that would match his Easter basket. I made a square bottomed tote bag.  I learned to make lined tote bags by following this tutorial.  I used one long strap so it can be worn like a messenger bag.  I thought it would be fun for the top to be open like it would for a basket.  To ensure the top would remain open I added some boning to a casing made from leftover lining fabric.

It was easy to make the casing.
 I cut a strip of fabric three inches wide by twice the width of the bag plus two inches. 
I folded the strip in half right sides together to make a long skinny tube. 
I sewed one short side and the long side of the tube shut.
I turned the tube inside out and ironed it flat.
I measured about an inch and a half from the top of the outer bag and attached the tube beginning with the short end that had been sewn shut.  There should be a bit of an overlap.
I inserted the boning into the tube and cut it so it just fit inside the tube.
I slip stitched the opening shut.  
Because the boning is overlapped a bit it stays open nicely.

I'm hoping it won't look too much like a purse.  I'm thinking about adding an applique to make it a bit more boyish.  Does anybody have any suggestions?

Fabric Easter Baskets

Last year I made Bug an Easter basket.  This year I thought it would be fun to make coordinating Easter baskets for Bug and Ladybug.  I chose to make simple lined rectangular baskets because I like the modern look of them.  I also thought they'd be much easier to store than baskets with tall handles. Both baskets are polka-dots lined with the same green solid cotton.  
Ladybug has a pink polka-dot basket.

Bug has a blue polka-dot basket.

I made the base of Ladybug's basket 8" by 10".  I made Bug's just a smidge smaller (7.5" by 9.5") so that it would fit inside Ladybug's for storage.

They won't be great for egg hunts, but otherwise, I think they they'll do nicely.

Pinterest Inspired Chevron Stripes Brother and Sister Outfits

I seem to spend more time gathering ideas on Pinterest than I do actually making things lately.  I decided it would be a good idea to challenge myself to complete one project inspired by Pinterest each week.  I found a really neat tutorial for making Chevron stripe appliques  and decided to give it a try.  Bug loves it when he matches his little sister so I made brother and sister outfits. I think they'll like them.

Fabric Bunting

Sometimes I wonder where the time all goes. On Friday I noticed that I still had a pile of fabric sitting around waiting to be turned into triangles to sewn into a bunting to decorate my sister's home for Valentine's day.  I decided to sew it together even though I didn't know if I would be able to get it in the mail in time to arrive for the holiday.  I didn't enjoy the rushing very much so I decided to take some time this week to sew up buntings for a bunch of holidays.  I think I will probably send one for St. Patrick's Day, Flag Day/ Fourth of July, and Halloween.  Any ideas of other themed buntings to make?  I'm bad at sending mail promptly so I plan to send them all at once this month.  So far I've made one for St. Patrick's Day.

I decided that it would be a good idea to come up with a plan to store the buntings so they don't get all tangled. 
I thought it would be fun to sew a drawstring bag with some fabric leftover from the project.  I had some extra triangles so I decided to make it fun by decorating the bag with its own bunting. 

Advent Calendar Filling Idea - Simple Snowman Felt Board

I saw a great idea for making a build your own snowman kit at I Can Teach My Child! I used the template for the hats and scarves but cut my own circles.  I like the idea of the circles being cut sepeartely so Bug can practice sorting the size from small to large. 

Advent Calendar Filling Idea - Christmas Bib

Last year when I was unpacking holiday items I noticed that we had some holiday themed hand towels that we never use.  I thought it would be fun to turn one into a festive bib for young Bug.   I love being able to give old items a new life!  I like to use this hand towel bib tutorial.  Bug likes bibs like this because they don't have to pull over his head. 

Advent Calendar Filling Idea - Holiday hat

I'm a fan of silly hats on little kids.  It seems that it is a tradition for me to give a hat during the first week of Advent.  I like to knit so my hats have been knit, but there is no reason they would need to be knit or even need to be handmade.  I've done a Santa hat, and a red hat with a snowflake in the past.  This year I went with just a seasonal color. 

The Santa hat pattern is available for free online.  I modified it to knit in the round.  The snowflake hat isInca Snowflake by Susan B. Anderson from the book Itty-Bitty Hats. The green hat is Pointy Elf Hat by Joelle Hoverson  from the book More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  I added ear flaps to ensure that it would be warm and cozy.    

Advent Calendar Filling Idea - Christmas Tree Felt Board

This will be too big for my Advent Calendar.  I think it would be fun to make it a treasure hunt.

Last year I saw a tutorial for an magnetic Christmas tree Advent calendar.  I loved that it would give kiddos their own tree to decorate.  I thought it would be really fun to make Bug his own Christmas tree to decorate. I wanted to do something other than a magnetic tree.  After a bit of contemplation I settled on making a felt board tree for Bug to decorate.  I chose to attach the tree to the felt board rather than leave it loose. 

Supplies
Foam core board or cardboard
Felt for background (I used wool blend - it seems sturdier  than craft felt) 
Green felt for tree
small scrap of brown felt for trunk
steam-a-seam or your preferred double sided fusible interfacing
UGlu Dashes or other glue dots

Directions
1.  Decide what size you would like your felt board - cut foam core board to size my board is 9" by 11"
2.  Cut a piece of felt that is at least a few inches bigger than the board - my felt backing is 13" by 15"
3.  Center felt backing over foam board - if you use light colored felt be sure to remove the backing sticker from the foam board

4.  Adhere the felt to the board - I used UGlu Dashes this project seems to be made for glue dots. Attach both long sides and then both short sides - I cut a square out of the corner so there would be less bulk

5.  Make a template for the tree - I chose some clip art I liked - modified it a bit and enlarged it as large as I could and have it print on a sheet of paper
6.Trace tree onto steam-a-seam

 7.  Trim away some of the excess steam-a-seam

8. Peel of the backing of the steam-a-seam place the sticky side of the steam-a-seam on the green felt - iron to fuse in place

9.  Cut the tree from the green felt

10. Iron a steam-a-seam to some brown felt
11.  Cut a rectangle from brown felt
12.  Place the trunk sticky side down where you would like it on the felt board
13.  Place the tree sticky side down slightly overlapping the trunk
14.  Iron to fuse the tree and trunk to the board

I like that it doesn't necessarily look like a toy.  I'll plan to give the felt board and a few ornaments on one day and give other small collections of ornaments on other days.

 I made ornaments from small scale cotton Christmas prints backed with felt to use as ornaments for the felt board the same way I made the new sew fabric ornaments.

Advent Calendar Filling Idea - No Sew Fabric Ornaments

I wanted to include some kid friendly ornaments in my Advent Calendar. I thought it would be nice to find a way to showcase fabrics that I liked without having to sew an ornament.  While I love sewing, ornament sewing can be a bit more fiddly than I would.  I wanted to come up with a quick no sew ornament that I would like and not mind a toddler playing with.

Supply list
decorative cotton fabric for ornament
steam-a-seam 2 (or your preferred fusible interfacing)
felt (I use wool blend felt or a premium felt)
punch (I use a crop-a-dile)
narrow ribbon for hanging

Directions

Place fabric with the wrong side facing up on the ironing board

Peel backing off the steam-a-seam and place it sticky side down on your fabric - iron to fuse in place

Trim away extra fabric

Place fabric sticky side down on top of the felt - be sure it is flat - iron to fuse in place (you may want to use a press cloth when pressing the felt)

Trim away excess fabric

Punch hole at the top of the ornament

Add a ribbon loop for hanging