Quilt: Baby Dinos

It seems like the only projects I've been making lately are car seat tents, because what else are my friends doing but having babies! And lots of them!

I realized that I never posted about the baby quilt that I made for my sister in law.

It is the first real quilt that I've made, and I even quilted it on my sewing machine!

How fun is that?!!

I used a simple pattern that I found online and adjusted it to be a square 

(I like doing a larger square for lil' babes)

My fabric wasn't wide enough to just use one piece on the back, so instead of just having a seam, I did an accent stripe on the back to add a little fun.

It isn't perfect, but I was tickled with how it turned out.

And this is how it sat in my house for a good month and a half until I was able to hand deliver it during my trip home this summer.

I'm sure you have someone in your life having a baby... or maybe it is you!

Craft. Me. This

Quilt Pattern: Zoo Dwellers Quilt Tutorial

Rag Doll Dress

My sweet friend gave my girls some rag dolls she found at the thrift store. This lil' doll was in a little red dress that didn't really match. It has bothered me ever since we got the cute dolls (over a year ago). I have been toying with the idea of making my own little rag dolls when I remembered this lil' doll and decided to make her a new dress instead.

Her tights and shoes are sewn on, so it was obvious the red christmasy dress she had on didn't go (sorry, I forgot to take a picture before I ripped it apart to use as my pattern). 

The fluffy white trim was so fun I decided to keep it and add it to this dress. 

I also made a lil flower and sewed it to a bobby pin to stick in her hair.

This costume sateen moved a lot, and could be tricky to work with...BUT because it was just a dress for a doll I wasn't too particular in my accuracy and I melted the edges to keep it from fraying (instead of serging...which is hard to do without a serger). 

It was awesome and saved so much time!

It was a quick project to get my craft fix for the day.

I'm pretty sure the dollie is much, much happier. 

Doesn't she look so?

Have a lil' doll that needs a fashion update?

Craft. Me. This.

Christmas Advent Calendar

This is an Advent Calendar that took TWO years to make. 

I actually didn't work on it for two years, but two Christmases ago is when I made the calendar, and was resolved to finally make my ornaments this year. 

They were time consuming to make, but oh so worth it!

Many of the ornaments are random, but they are copies of the ones I grew up with.

(mouse, ice cream cone, sheep)

When I was little I always wanted the heart to be positioned between the two ginger people.

They are after all in love. 

I always felt that the star had to be the last ornament on the tree, but my girls have already decided that they have to start placing ornaments at the top of the tree and work down.

 Doesn't the tree look so full and happy?

Now... here are some close ups of my hard work.

The color is off on some, and the details are hard to see... but you'll get the idea.

 Bell, Star, Present

Sugar Cookie (or pie...), Penguin, Snowflake 

Gingerbread Gal, Gingerbread House, Gingerbread Man 

Sheep, Heart, Black Sheep 

 Owl, Wreath, Mouse

Snowman, Santa, Angel 

Mitten, Christmas Light, Candy Cane, Ice Cream 

Bird, Stocking, Peppermint

Well, there you have it folks!
Really, should it have taken me a month to get these all made?
I don't know.

So... if you're feeling wildly ambitious...

Craft. Me. This!

Baby Blanket, Shoulder Straps and Pacifier Clips

I made a car seat cover for my sister-in-law who is having a baby in August, 

(sorry no picture, but it is the floral print on the outside and the polka dot on the inside, with big cute buttons on the straps)

and how could I resist using the extra scraps for some coordinating accessories. 

Like a car seat blanket,

perfect size for taking out and about.

Some shoulder straps, to keep those chubby checks and neck-rolls nice and comfy.

And some pacifier clips all dolled up and girly.

Oh, having little girls is oh so much fun!

And I had quite a bit of the yellow minky fabric left over... so how could I resist.

Have to send along a gift for the new big sister to snuggle up with, right?

Do you have a baby shower to go to?

Craft Me This

Oh and Deb... just pretend you didn't see this and try to act surprised, K?

Tutorials

Shoulder Straps: HERE and HERE

Pacifier Clips: HERE and HERE

Partner in Crime

Well I'm back... for the hand full of those who actually check in on this blog. 

I was off visiting family and decided to give up my virtual-side of life for a while. 

I'm excited to introduce you all to my new partner in crime...

MY NEW SEWING MACHINE!!!

I'm so stoked. 

I've been using a lil' machine that I bought off of craigslist for practically nothing... 

which is about how much it did. 

I'm excited to broaden my horizons and try new things... like quilting. Eeeee!

Want to meet my new best friend?

I have a feeling she is a night owl... just like me. 

Check out all of those stitches!!!

And what was that... did you notice the name of this model?

How perfect. 

We were destined to be together, or so the salesman convinced me. 

It has a variety of features that I'm tickled to now have, like the needle up/down, a "never miss" automatic needle threader (very rad), a reverse button in a handy location, being able to position my needle anywhere (like a scant 1/4 inch), automatic button-hole maker, and my new favorite feature, built in scissors that cut my thread at the needle. So awesome!

Can't wait to start whipping out some projects.
But first things first... got to plow through the mending pile. *sigh*

Felt Laptop & Case

I stumbled across THIS laptop tutorial by Kiki and fell in love with it!

Doesn't it just look so cute sitting there?

We had to make it just like Daddy's... so we added this to the back.

Fun huh?

I'd been dying to make it for weeks but had one small problem. 

She recommending using rub-on letters for the keys... and well, out here in Pittsburgh, my craft store options are... non-existant very limited, and I couldn't find any. 

I was really frustrated, and on a whim decided to put a piece of stiff felt right into my printer.

It WORKED!!! I was so excited!

Made it even more fun because I could pick any font I wanted. 

I didn't really care for the handles straight on the computer, so I decided to whip up a laptop case.

I didn't use a pattern, but there are tons of tutorials out there.

There is a small little pocket inside for the felt screen images... that are yet to be made.

I even got to make my first felt flower.

I now understand the obsession... they are so fun and easy to make!

She loves it.

Makes her feel so big and grown up.

How fun is that. 

You know you want to...

Craft Me This.

Spring Dresses

I was brave and decided to make my girls dresses for Easter this year. 

Really brave because I only had a couple of days to get them finished before I left on a last minute trip. 

What do you think?

I roughly followed THIS pattern. 

I really love the strip look, but I got exhausted thinking about finishing all of those edges, and I needed to be done quick
(my friend did hers this way and it turned out darling). 

One of these days I'm just going to buy a real pattern and make life easier on myself.

But on the other hand, it is kind of fun to just make them up.

I added a flower like shown HERE.

 Since this flower has raw edges, I needed a way to remove it. 

Pins don't seem to stay closed around my girls, 

so I sewed a simple snap on the back to be able to remove it for washing... 

now to train my girls to take it off before placing it in the hamper. 

The trickiest part was adjusting the pattern to make it fully lined. I wanted the girls to be able to wear their dresses with out undershirts. 

I was planning on adding a ruffle (to match the flower) to the lining so that you could see it poking out from underneath, but ran out of time. I also wanted to put pockets on, just because my girls love pockets. 

Maybe later...

This dress I also learned how to do smocking... check out how the straps turned out too. 

Cute, simple and just enough of a sleeve.

Wanna see how they look on my cute, lil' models?

Love it!

Be brave, try new things and...

Craft Me This!

Simple Car Seat Tent

I know, I know. These are everywhere.

But I really liked how the fabrics matched. 

I always do a cotton fabric on top and a flannel underneath.

Isn't that polk-a-dot fabric so cute?

I know, I could have put buttons or flowers or something fun on the straps, 

but it needed to be simple and sort of gender neutral. 

Anywho...

I guess what I really wanted to share was a cute way to gift it. 

I used some leftover fabric to make a little tie. 

Perfect for that lil' girl, 

or baby boy.

And eco-friendly, right?

Have a baby shower you're going to?

Save your paper gift wrap and...

Craft Me This