Day 15: A Photo a Day 365

Naptime productivity, start to finish.

Upcycled Baby Jeans

 I made these jeans out of a pair of Mr. Sir's old work pants. Mr. Sir's pants had a rip in the crotch and that is almost impossible to thoroughly mend. So I cut them up for these cute little pants. I did a little bit of embroidery on them and added embellishments. The fabric inserts were supposed to be pockets but I messed up the pattern so now they are just decorative panels. There are also black suspender straps but they blend in with his black shirt really well. They are too big on James right now because I made them a 2T for him to grow into. He is only a year and a half right now. 

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Day 10: A Photo a Day 365

A work in progress.

New shorts for the little guy

So I have a pair of jeans that give me a saggy butt. Quite the saggy butt too. So I finally cut the legs off and turned them into summer work shorts. That way I am not tempted to wear them in public.

The leg fabric was perfectly good denim though. To use it up I made James a pair of little boy shorts. I whipped them out in about 20 minutes by cutting off a strip  of fabric from an old T-shirt for a soft waistband and adding 1/2 inch elastic. For the shape I just traced a pair of his other pants to get the crotch right. They are a little snug because (not thinking) I used a pair of 12 month pants, and though he is a little on the lean side he is still almost 17 months old and growing.

They are still pretty darn cute on him.

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Capes, bruises, and soul-sucking horns.

About 4 times a year my sister and her other half host a LARP (Live Action Role Play) in the woods on their property, appropriately named "The Myth Wood". Essentially there are characters, quests, storylines, and lots of lots of foam weapons to beat each other with. This was just a short explanation.

I was asked to make some capes for the LARP. They wanted something short and loose so that it was possible to fight in them and they most definitely had to be green. The dark green fabric was originally a table cloth and the light green fabric was, once upon a time, window blinds. I was able to get three capes out of the fabric. I made the capes reversible so they are multipurpose.

 

My character is a Succubus. Meaning that I can suck the soul of a living person making them my thrall (ie. throw a ball at them) and then I cannot die until my thrall dies. So I can run into the fray and cause as much chaos as possible. It is awesome. My sister is a Succubus too and she decided that the colors for the succubi should be red and black. So I showed up wearing this.

I made the corset a few years ago and haven't had a chance to wear it yet. So I was really excited to wear it for something. Honestly, I feel a little bit silly wearing it in public. I also made a set of horns to go with the costume. The horns are made out of a headband, red felt, and cardboard from a cereal box. Oh, and sequins to make it glittery. Perfect for a soul-sucking Succubus.

I am sore, covered in bruises, and full of fight stories.

Yes, it was worth it.



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Woodland Romper

  Haven't made too much lately. But I found this adorable woodland fat quarter at a Quilt Show that I just couldn't pass up. I only had a fat quarter, not enough for the whole thing but I think that I like it better this way.

It was just a simple romper pattern that I had. It is a size 2T which is why it is pretty baggy on my little 17 month old. But this way he can wear it for quite a while!

 

Of course, I can't post to the blog without a couple of selfies.

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Colorful Diaper Bag

I have been missing for a little while. I just haven't done anything much to write about. With Mr. Sir gone, I have been keeping really busy. Visiting family, cleaning, reading, working, etc. etc.

But last night I needed to do something with my hands and for a while now I have been going crazy with my diaper bag.

 Yes , it is a big blue backpack. I wanted something that Mr. Sir wouldn't feel weird carrying around, it was big enough for cloth diapers. It worked and it was free. Win, win win. But now that I am doing all of the diaper bag carrying. I want something a little more.... well.... less blue backpacky. Also, 90 percent of the time, it has been a dumping ground for anything needed carrying.

So, to solve my problem of lack of pockets and blue backpackyness, I made a new bag. JoAnne's had this fabric on sale and in their remnant bin. I don't know if you realize this but anything in the remnant bin is 50% off the sale price of the fabric. So I always go scrounging through the bin, I like scraps. There is a lot you can do with 1/2 or 3/4 of a yard of fabric which is what a lot of the pieces are.

 

I came across this tutorial on Pinterest for a DIY messenger bag, I liked it but it didn't have enough pockets for me so as I went along, I added extra pockets.

I really like how it turned out. There are a few things that I would definitely change about it if I made it again. But honestly I whipped it out in about 4 hours and 2 of those hours were also spent distracting James. So for the time and money involved it is well worth it. It's also a bit classier than a big blue backpack.

 

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Mending For Mr. Sir

I should clarify that yes, I am mending for Mr. Sir. But not his clothes. He has had a quilt for many years, used it in high school, brought it to college and then brought it into our marriage thoroughly loved. We haven't used it in a couple of years because it took root in my 'mend' pile. 

Fear no more. It has been mended! I still have a little bit of some machine sewing to do on it, but I did all the hand stitching as a rainy day project. 

When he gets home he will be able to snuggle up in it. It's not my best mending job because the fabric is thinning, so I did the best I could with a little munchkin tugging at it.

 Just one example of the many area's that needed 'doctoring' up.

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Rain and Capes

Here in Minnesota we are supposed to get five day's of rain. Most people would balk at this and despair about the rainy weather. If you know me well, you know that I love thunderstorms. Now don't get me wrong after the bitter winter, I could use some warm 70 degree sunny days. On the other hand as long as I have a hot drink and a cozy home, give me a good thunderstorm any day. So five days of falling asleep to drizzly wonderfulness sounds awfully nice. The only thing that would make it better would be to be able to share a teabag with my husband.

My latest project wasn't actually my project. My 11 year old brother in law pestered me for a while to help him make a cape. I finally relented and his mom and I picked out an old black shirt and an old green pillowcase to upcycle. We cut off the sleeves and front, sewed on the green lining from the pillowcase, finished the edges, and added velcro.

He loves it because with the collar down he is a good guy, and with the collar up, he is a bad guy. Imagination nation. Although, I think it will be a while before I start my next project with a young person. My patience is only so thick.

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Red and Grey Stripey Butt

I haven't been very good at posting lately. With a new part time job at an assisted living center, I have been adjusting to my new schedule. I love my new job. Of course I have lots of spare time though, and what do I do in my spare time?

Watch the Olympics of course! Have you seen those crazy snowboarders! And of course I need to hide away in my sewing room once in a while.

The latest project coming out of the sewing room is a new diaper cover. My mother in law had an old shirt where the colors were bleeding into one another but the fabric was still wonderful. My first thought was "diaper fabric!".

A snip here and a stitch there and James has a new diaper cover. Which is a good thing because his cheap covers that I originally bought him are wearing out and leaking. Four out of five have been sent to my scrap pile. So one diaper at a time  to rejuvenate his stash.

Just a quick little update for you. For now just Live and Love

An Upcycled Sweater for James

Mr. Sir had a sweater vest that neither of us liked on him. So I took the fabric and upcycled it into a sweater for James. It consists of an upcycled sweater vest, some scraps of black wool for the sleeves and is lined with black fleece. I still need to apply the buttons but I had to post it because it was super cute. It is a Kwik Sew pattern.

 I don't have a picture of it on him because it is way too big for him yet. It might be a 2T. I am not quite sure. It should fit him this fall though.

 I just know that it is adorable.

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Owl quilt and funky moster doll.

One day a few weeks ago, I got the urge to create. I didn't know what I wanted to make but just started cutting and sewing. I came up with this funky monster doll. Stuffed with some poly-fil and has fake pearl button eyes. I thought she was a cute little monster.

This owl panel I found on a sale table at a fabric store over a year ago. I knew that I wanted to do this with it. Just hadn't finished it yet. It is just a cute panel that I quilted with my machine. I love it and gave it and the monster to Bug (my 5 year old niece) for Christmas.

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Twin Twin Gifts Gifts

I have two of the most adorable twin nephews ever.

We will call them Tim and Tom for the sake of Green Socks with Polka dots.

Two adorable nephews need semi-matching pajamas, right? Earlier this year I made them each 3 pair of pajama pants that I hoped that they could grow into. Well, the way those two wear (other fitting words might be 'play in', 'destroy', and 'grow into') their pajamas they needed to have another pair each 'on dock' to move into. So here are the finished products.

 Two playful boys also need playful pillowcases. Tim is in love with Mickey, and Tom likes robots. So this Auntie had fun playing around with pillowcase ideas and came up with these.










The mickey was a panel on a little pillow that I reused. Also, the robot I just made using leftover fabric from the pajamas that I made earlier this year and some wonder-under, zig zagging on the edges so they stay down.

I might add that the inventor of wonder-under is a genius.

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