Happy Valentine's Day!

I love to celebrate holidays, but I don't like to buy a ton of crap just for the sake of having something to open.  I also have a small stuffed animal addiction.  My Mom still has more than one garbage bag full of them in her attic.  TJ's bed is inhabited by more then a few stuffed animals.  I also think I have high standards in animals.  They have to be cute and they can't be made out of that crappy fur that falls apart when you touch it.  So one day I decided to make my own. 

For Valentine's Day, I wanted to make something that would involve a heart, but not be too girly.  So I sketched a heart and just stared at it for a little while.  Something made me turn it upside-down, and I knew they just had to be little monsters, because what little boy doesn't like monsters?! I've made enough of these that I knew what I was doing and what little extras I wanted to add, like arms and spikes, plus I've got some new fabric paint that I wanted to give a whirl - since my machine free-hand embroidery isn't the best and I wanted these to look great and go together pretty easily.

I think they came out great!  And so do they. =)

Library Bag

Here goes another Celebrate the BOY post.  I have a ton of those free advertising bags, and I've never had an inkling to actually carry them but I certainly won't throw them away, that would be wasteful.  My husband wishes I would be more "wasteful" but that's a whole nother post. I've seen those freezer paper stencils all over the blogosphere, and it's been filed away in the back of my head in my things-to-do list.

Then I saw another awesome made post on 1.19.2011 about book bags, and I was again motivated.  What better way to get rid of those pesky bags and try out some of that cool freezer paper stencils? Once I got my freezer paper TJ and I went through some coloring book line drawings and picked out the perfect one, one he liked and one I thought I'd be able to cut out with an exact-o knife without too much trouble.
Voila! What a great new use for a bag that's just been hanging out in the basement.  Now we have a great way to transport our mass amount of library books.
I am now addicted to freezer paper stencils.  I have a few witty t-shirts in the works for the twins, because really is anything cuter then a baby in a The Dude Abides t-shirt?  I have also made towel labels for everyone so I'm no longer trying to keep track of mine in our tiny bath room. I also plan on monogramming the boys' chenille blankets.  I wonder what else I can make?  I wish I had one of those Silhouette machines...

He's so proud =)

Celebrate the BOY

So over on Made By Rae and made, they are celebrating an awesome thing, BOYS! They are bringing an excellent point to light, there aren't a whole lot of sewing projects for boys...but there are!  You just have to think and their awesome site is putting out lots of fabolous ideas for things to make for BOYS!!  Seeing as how I now have three, I had to do my part of showing some fantastic things that you can make for BOYS!  I don't nearly have the artistic ability as many of these fine sewers, but I do manage to make some cute things just for my boys that they love, so I thought I'd start to share a few.

I follow a lot of fantastic crafting blogs.  They give me the inspiration I need to get out from in front of the TV and behind a sewing machine.  made is AMAZING!  I wish I had her creativity and her photography skills!!  On 11.30.2010 she posted a tutorial for a faux chenille baby blanket and it struck a chord with me.  I have always wanted to quilt, but there have been many things holding me back.  I cannot cut in a straight line, there's a lot of picking coordinating fabrics involved, I don't really have the space to lay it all out and I really can't even begin to look for someone to mail it out to "quilt" it for me.  But then I saw the made post and I knew that that was a quilt that I could make and it would rock!  I had yet to make anything for the twins - time and inspiration were holding me back. But I knew I wanted to make these for them ASAP.  Right after Christmas, Joann gift card in one hand, coupons in the other, off I went and bought everything I would need for two chenille blankets.  I had a lot of fun picking out boy-ish, and hopefully not to baby-ish, fabrics with the aim that I wanted them to get the long haul out of the blankets and since I bought 1 1/4 yard of fabric of each type I didn't have to worry about cutting straight lines!! 
JP and JR are color coded.  Any of you with twins probably understand, I needed something that didn't involve thought, that would allow me to tell them apart at 4am.  Since it worked so well when they were itty-bitties, I've just kept it going.  So JP uses the green clothes, bottles, toys, and now his new baby blanket.  JR is my blue boy and if you've every seen his eyes there really wasn't any question that blue is his color.  I figure it will work when they're older too, towels, backpacks, storage containers, they all can being in the assigned colors. 
They LOVE the blankets!  Sometimes I catch JR playing with the cut side like he holds on to the tags of everything.  I didn't think JP noticed it, until the other day I caught him stealing JRs too, I guess he likes it so much he wanted them both.  They both came out so beautifully I already have the fabric bought for two more special little boys' blankets.  I can't wait to get started!

Now We Play The Waiting Game...

Eh, the waiting game sucks, lets play Hungry Hungry Hippos.  

My transfer was last Wednesday and I don't get to take my office pregnancy until this Monday, so needless to say, anything I can do to keep my brain busy is a blessing.  Ever since I became a Mom I've been making things.  There's a cute Winnie the Pooh rug outside my son's room that I started years earlier, but I didn't finish until shortly after he was born, I guess you could say I had some free time on my hands.  It's evolved some since then.  I think since I don't work anymore my making things is my own way to contribute to the family in a way that's just for them.  I've made both my husband and son cross stitch Christmas stockings and have been in the process of making a tree skirt since last year that I'm hoping will be done by next Christmas.  I've also been making my family's Halloween costumes since we moved to Pa.  

With my new search for things too keep my brain busy, I've been on blogger.com a bunch thanks to all my blog feeds being here.  I got to read all that Threadbanger.com and BurdaStyle.com had to offer.  Those two fantastic website have led me to crafty bloggers by the tons.  [Not to ignore my two great friends whos blogs I also get to read, but we're talking about crafting here =) ] So I've been led to some great blogs like, Just Tutes, The Purl Bee, purse-onality, Kender Crafts, and Cotton Monster News.  All of these sites have really got my juicing flowing!  So although I've been making stuff for awhile, it's time to start blogging about it.  I've already blogged a little bit about the only Christmas presents I sewed this year.  I'm happy to report that not only did they fit the girls pretty good, but they loved them!

So with the Winter strongly with us, I've been pushing fleece to the max!  I don't know if you've ever tried to buy gloves or mittens for a three year old, but it's virtually impossible to find ones that actually fit.  So thanks to Just Tutes I made my son some awesome mittens, that I can actually get on him and he likes to wear!  But I just couldn't stop there.  For sometime I now I've been making my son monsters.  

   '

There really is no better toy than one that comes from your own sewing matching.  Well, he loves them so much it got me thinking, how about Monster mittens?  So on BurdaStyle I found a pattern for mittens, and me being me, I had to make test mittens first.  And as a semi first, I made them for me.

  

Good thing too, since they boys were a pain since they were so much smaller.  Unfortunately, the pictures don't do them any justice, and they look a little ragged at this point since my son has been enjoying wearing them so much, but he's constantly getting compliments on them, and if there's one thing my son likes, it having a reason to talk to people.

  

I should never have made myself the cammo mittens, because I started a, "what can I make for myself next?" kick.  

Christmas three years ago, I made my husband and two of his brothers, fleece pj pants.  Then I edited the pattern a little and made myself awesome Trix flannel pj pants.  So I knew the pattern was usable for me, and with the Eagles game coming up, I knocked these out in an evening.

Too bad the Eagles lost, but we won't talk about that.

And lastly, well most recent I guess, I found this great tutorial for glittens.  I luckily found some cool fleece at Jo-Ann's, and my new glittens were born.

  

  

I did things a little different than she did.  I made my thumb slits in the side seams so there would be more seam allowance to sew the thumbs back on with, and I handstiched my top piece to the bottom piece rather can cutting a slit in the mitten.  I also haven't really decided on my closure for keeping the top up, but I'm sure it'll come to me one of the days I'm wearing them.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I added a new monster to my son's posse!  I can't go making so much for myself without giving a little love to the boy.

  

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at all the stuff I've been making to keep myself busy as heck.  There's more to come, I promise! =)

SAVE HANDMADE

Since I've become a stay-at-home Mom I've rediscovered my love of sewing.  My Mom taught me how when I was about 12 and she was sick of making me my Halloween costumes.  After making that first Halloween costume with her, a dog costume, my need for sewing waned.  I became an obnoxious teenager and making an animal costume wasn't really the in thing.  Back then, without the Internet, I didn't realize all the cool things that people make for themselves.  If I knew then when I know now, I would have spent a lot of time sewing in my teens!  Thankfully now, my little boy allows be to have some precious time in my sewing room, while he plays in his room.  And since his birth not only have I made things for him and my family, from elephant and clown costumes, to hats and pants, but I've also made things for a few of my friends as gifts.  I make a mean baby bib, cute layette and adorable hats and mittens.  But soon, I will be breaking the law. 

Due to all the problems with lead and other horrendous things put in children's toys The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act has been established and takes effect at the end of this month.  Now, it's all in legal-ease but to the best of my understanding it mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number. Which is beyond fine and understandable for all the mass marketed toys that are made in China, which is most of them.  I was one of those Moms checking all of her sons toys against the list of recalled toys last year, and he has 40 Pixar Cars!!  (Thank goodness I never allowed any Thomas The Train crap in my house!) It was scary and the fact that it became such an epidemic is insane!  The act covers more than just toys too, it regulates all products for children under 12.  Clothing, school supplies, cloth diapers, car seats, --everything.  But what the CPSIA has ignored, is all the individuals out there that make wonderful things for children with their hands.  The irresponsibility of  mass-market toy makers is being solved with a one-size-fits-all solution for dozens of industries totally unrelated to toys.  I really don't even mean myself here, there are thousands of people out there who help to support themselves and their family by making things for children.  I know what joy I get from making things for my son, friends and family, and this one blanket of an act should not be fixing the huge and incompetent by effecting the small and heartfelt.  

If you're better at reading legal-ease here's the CPSIA's website, and here's the Handmade Toy Alliance.  And here is were you can Vote for a change!!

So it's a good thing I'm all done with these because if I was giving them to the girls any later, they're be black market night gowns! 

Thanks for listening to my rant.  I'm not even sure if I made any sense, but the whole thing just gets my nerve up!