Pillowcases and a blanket

I made pillowcases for my boys this Christmas.

They both sleep with their soft blankets laid out on top of their pillows.

So I made them super soft pillow cases!

They LOVE them!

And I made a Buzz Lightyear blanket for my youngest. 

(the oldest already has a Mickey Mouse blanket)

Luggage tags and camera straps

A few more christmas gifts from this past year...

Luggage tags for one of my sisters.  She is going to India in a month. 

And she will be there for 4 whole weeks!

I wanted to make sure she knew that she HAS to come back home!

So I put a little note in her luggage tags.

Camera straps.  

I should have taken a picture with them on the camera... oops!

What to do with your old jeans? Aprons!

I had some old jeans lying around, (let's be honest, who doesn't have old jeans lying around?) so I decided to make myself an apron.  

Yes, I made it in the middle of making Christmas gifts for everyone else.  

Very selfish, I know.  Oh well.

So easy to make.  One pair of jeans will make 2 aprons.  Each leg makes one apron.

I folded and ironed material to make my edging.  But if you found some cute wide ribbon, it would be even easier to put your edging on.

I think I will be making more of these soon.

I made this half apron for my sister. 

She owns a bakery and hopefully she can get some use out of it.

While I was making my apron, my son wanted one too.

So I tried to make it look manly.  It's longer than a normal apron would be and it has boy print around the edges.  He loves it.  (even if he won't look at the camera)

Happy New Year everyone!!

Halloween Bags

I'm either a tad late for Halloween 2010,

or I'm really early for Halloween 2011... you pick.  

I made this fun halloween treat bags this year.  

The boys loved taking them trick or treating with them.

They were a lot of fun to make and pretty simple.

I just found a simple bag tutorial online and then added my picture cut outs on the front.

Movies while running?

And in case you wanted to watch a movie while running on the treadmill...

I made a holder for that too.  

I haven't tested this one out yet... so we'll see if it holds up while running.

Off subject... I'm a terrible runner.  Any tips for me?

iPod case for treadmill...

My husband and I have started running on a treadmill... which is great.

The problem comes when we put the treadmill in our unfinished part of the basement... no TV.

So we listen to the iPod... but where to put it?

I made this iPod holder for it.  Velcro on the back, so it holds nice and tight.

I had to make a hole at the bottom, so the earphones can disconnect, if we happen to get our arm caught in the wire.

I tried it today... works great!

Jedi Robe

My son loves those hooded bath towels.  And he loves Star Wars. 

So I made him a 'Jedi Robe'.... and he LOVES that too!

(I apologize for the sideways picture, Blogger and I are not getting along today)

I found pictures of an Imperial Walker, the Death Star and R2D2 (at my son's request)... 

cut them out of a cheap white fleece blanket from IKEA that was being ignored in my home and sewed them on the towel.

The hood is a hand towel - cut in half and then sewn on.

Here is my son trying his best to ignore the camera.

He really does love his Jedi Robe.  He wears it even when it's not bath time.

I wonder what type of robe I'll make next... fire fighter?  dinosaur?  pirate?  astronaut?  

The possibilities are endless.  Give it a try.  Your kids will LOVE it!

High Chair Straps

 My mom has this darling high chair.  But it has no straps.  

When ever we go over there, we've just used a belt to keep the kiddos strapped in.

The problem with that is they slide out the bottom.

So I found a solution...

 

 I measured the high chair and cut out the material to fit over the top.

Then I sewed two really long strips of material that would come from behind the chair, go under my baby's bum, up between his legs and tie in the back.  

(Did that make sense?  I can draw a diagram if anyone is interested.)

It works perfect!  When it's dirty, throw it in the wash.

Denim!

I have a super crafty friend, Carolyn.  She made all of these bags/purses out of old jeans.

Aren't they darling?!  LOVE them!

They inspired me to create something out of my old denim...

So I started cutting.  (I"m not big on patterns... I tried to make a pattern, 

but it wasn't working... so I just started creating)

I decided on a cute pirate lining.  My boys love it!

And now I have a new diaper bag!

I should have taken more pictures... but it's hard to photograph the inside of a bag.

There are pockets on both of the outside panels.  Pockets on the inside.

A zipper pouch in the middle - as a dividing section of the bag.

And I sewed in elastic loops to hold sippy cups or bottles.

It was fun to create something new out of something that would 

usually be thrown out or sent off to the local DI.

Thanks for the inspiration Carolyn! 

Baby Crafts

I've been a sewing maniac these days. I am not very good at it... but I'm addicted. Here are a few things that I've recently created.

Stroller blanket

Super easy. Sew 2 pieces of fabric, right sides together, with some ribbon sticking out about 1/3 of the way down (so the blanket can fold over onto the baby's lap)... leave an opening so you can pull the blanket right side out. Turn it right side out. Sew up that opening. Sew velcro onto your ribbon... and DONE!

Here is my 8 month old modeling it for me. ;)

Bottle/Sippy Cup strap

For the tutorial, go HERE.
I would use light colored ribbon next time. (or dark thread, dark velcro, and dark shelf material)
But I used what I had this time, and it works great.

We are getting ready for a trip to Disneyland... can you tell?

p.s. I have several other baby related sewing projects to show you. But they are for my cute sister in-law and her baby shower isn't until next week. So you'll have to wait, because I don't want to ruin the surprise. ;)

Shoulder Bag

I have NEVER sewn before. (Ok, to be honest I did sew 2 straight lines when I was about 12 years old)
I recently was given an old sewing machine. I have been wanting a church bag, but haven't been able to find exactly what I want in a store. I need it to be pretty big, to accommodate 3 ringer binders, toys, keys, burp cloths, etc. I came across this tutorial. With a few minor changes, it is just what I was looking for! (my bag is a lot bigger than the one she made and I put in 2 pockets)
I went online, watched a YouTube video on how to thread the machine (and wind the bobbin) and I started on my bag.

I LOVE it! I am so ridiculously proud of myself as well. ;) I show it to everyone. It's not perfect, but it is fabulous for me.
If I can make this bag (having never used a sewing machine or a pattern) then you can too!
Give it a try, it's super easy!