Little Boy's Apron

My son loves to help me cook. He watches all my cooking shows with me and likes to pretend he has his own cooking show called "Aiden Makes Cooks". When he plays with his toy kitchen, he pretends to be The Next Food Network Star, or a contestant on Chopped. I bought him an apron from a farmers market, and I was going to buy another for my other son, but then I just decided to use up some fabric I had leftover and make my own. I traced the apron and added elastic to the neck strap, but left off the pockets.

Holey Jeans Fix

These ones are mine.Used white thread.

My son is constantly wearing holes in all his jeans. This is the coolest knee patching idea I have seen. The patch is on the inside, and the zigzag stitching on top secures the hole, while looking super cute. It was very tricky doing this on such small jeans. I really had to make sure I was not sewing through more than one layer. I'm not sure this will work for me on my younger son's jeans which are even tinier, but I know my husband will like this, since he never wants to part with his favorite worn-in jeans. I found the tutorial at I Am Momma- Hear Me Roar, but she found the tutorial here at Katie s Secret Blog. LOVE IT!

Little Boy Pants

Sewing has become my new favorite craft. I still love knitting, but my wrist pain keeps me from knitting as much as I'd like. I've been learning sewing techniques from my favorite craft blogs. I have become so obsessed with Dana's kid pants tutorials at Made , that after making 3 pairs, I bought fabric for 3 more. I feel like I have to keep making them in as many fabrics as possible. They were so simple and so flattering on the boys. Her tutorials let you customize the design. One pair has elastic all the way around, and one has a flat front with optional pockets. I was not a huge fan of the seersucker I used on the first pair. Maybe it was the quality of the fabric, but it unravels so easily. I do not have a serger, so I opted for a zigzag stitch. On the second pair, I chose a cotton-linen blend (which also unraveled easily). Note to self: buy a serger. For the 3rd pair, I rummaged through my husbands drawers to find a red thermal he never wears. I have been reading a lot of tutorials on using men's shirts for knit fabric. This was my first attempt at sewing knit fabric. I used a zigzag stitch, a ballpoint needle, and a walking foot. It turned out well, but I will not lie and say it was easy. It was definitely tricky, but I would love to try it again. For the pattern, I downloaded Dana's from her site and adjusted accordingly. My older son is 5 1/2 and wears a 4/5 in boys, so I added a 1/2 in. all the way around the 2-3T pattern. I added 6 in. to the length. For my younger son who wears a 24m- 2T, I took off about 3-4 in. on the length, and used a pair of his pants that fit him, to trace. You can find Dana's basic kid pant here. I love her fabric choices and the way she styles her boy. She has a great eye for color combinations, even down to the shoes.

Outdoor Place Mats

We bought a new patio table made of aluminum and tile. Our last one, which was glass, exploded! It had been very hot for a week, and then my husband set a cold 6-pack on it for a couple of minutes, and it just cracked into a million pieces. So I decided I did not want another glass table. The tile on our new table is beautiful, but we were afraid it might get scratched by our dishes. My hubby suggested I make some place mats since sewing is my current craft obsession. I found some bright fabric at walmart for only $3 a yard.

Boy's P.j. Pants

This probably took less than an hour. They are so cute! I might make a pair for my toddler and maybe some for myself! Thanks Prudent Baby! You can find the tutorial here.

Top Without a Pattern

I fell in love with this plaid fabric I found at Joann's and I knew I had to make a tank out of it. I stumbled upon Sew Mama Sew and found a cool tutorial by Rae from made-by-rae. Her Spring Ruffle Top can be found here. This is my kind of tutorial. I am an "eyeball it" girl. I love simple projects that don't require a pattern. I had to try it on several times to get it just right, but I love the finished project. I think I will make another one with some embellishments next time.

Deconstructing a Garment to Make Your Own Pattern

I was ironing a couple of my favorite summer tops the other day and I started to get sad,  because I realized they were starting to get those awful pit stains. One I love because of the fit, and the other I love because of cute cotton print and little pleated pockets. Then I thought, maybe I could learn to make my own. I decided to deconstruct one of the tops (the one that had the worst stains) and use those pieces as a "pattern". I first tried to use a seam ripper, but got too impatient and just decided to cut along the seams.
APRIL 6- Just found a tutorial for this method from Dana at Made . Find it here. She says to remember seam allowances (which I almost forgot).

Machine Quilting

I have always wanted to learn to make a quilt, but the thought of doing it all by hand was very daunting. So I decided to give machine quilting a whirl. And I also did a "cheater" quilt. I did not piece squares together like a traditional quilt. I used one large rectangular piece of fabric and just sewed a criss-cross design, by first sewing parallel lines in one direction, and then more parallel lines across the first set. I made my own bias tape from a great tutorial here and also learned how to bind it.

Knitted Necklaces

I love a good quick knitting project, and both of these can be whipped up in a day.  The twisted necklace is a pattern on Ravelry called Knit Your Pearls. The knotted necklace is called the Gilded Knot Necklace by Nicky Epstein. It was published in Vogue Knitting Winter 2010/11. I was able to use old stash yarn on these (which I love) cause I hate to waste yarn.

Yarn Jewelry

I always have several knitting projects going at once, and sometimes when they are all time consuming, I start to get bored. So, for a little instant gratification, I will make a very small project. I came across a cool bracelet pattern on Ravelry, and I was inspired to make yarn jewelry. It also got me excited about doing crochet again. I tried a new technique of pre-stringing the beads on the yarn. It worked out great. I am hoping to incorporate more beads into my knitting. I have been considering getting into jewelry making for awhile, and this was a good step in that direction. The first bracelet is called the Beaded Chains Bracelet. The pattern can be found on Ravelry. The second, is one I call Island Bracelet. It is my own design.

Fabric- Covered Buttons

I never knew how fun this could be! This past winter, I made a hat that required fabric-covered buttons. I definitely want to do this again. The hat I made, didn't turn out so flattering, but the buttons are adorable. The button cover kit was very easy to use and only cost a couple of dollars.