Easter Pants

My little guy loves his mama-made pants. And for that, I'm grateful. He's so opinionated about what he wants to wear it's sometimes a bit of a crap-shoot. Some mornings he wakes up and absolutely INSISTS he must change his pajamas immediately. And he refuses to just put on clothes. He MUST have a different pair of pajamas on. And then there was the perfectly nice pair of slippers I bought him that were refused and then were outgrown. Then there was the sweater I spent 9 years knitting and wore once, the second time around claiming "I don't like it."

Just last week we sat down together in front of the computer to pick out some sandals on Endless.com (Have you tried it yet? Free shipping!) on which there are ENDLESS numbers of shoes to choose from. He saw one pair he liked and when they didn't have his size, it was a no-go on any sort of second choice. Luckily by the time we dragged him into Sears, he had changed his mind and wanted car shoes which they had! And they lit up! Bless Sears for carrying them -- even though my son has never seen the movie (It's a movie, right?) he loves cars, and therefore loves the shoes.

That's how it is with him. All clothing must have some sort of vehicle on it. Train, truck, car, etc. Now pajamas are an exception. But this fabric I scored at Crafty Planet called Wheels by RIley Blake just fit the bill for an opinionated little bugger. I used McCall's pattern 5284 as a template and it was great. This one has cargo-style pockets that I just opted not to use. And the pattern also has dresses/jumpers which would be mighty cute and easy to whip up.

He loved the pants and wanted to wear them right away. WIth his John Deere sweatshirt of course. Good thing there are lots of great transportation-themed fabrics out there. And good thing we're having a new baby soon, because infants are considerably less opinionated about what they wear, right?

Another Christmas Gift Done!

Spoiler Alert: If you are my sister, stop reading now. Avert your eyes! If you are her kids, why in the world are you on the internet!?

I took a whole bunch of liberties with the One Yard Wonders pattern for a bunting. Okay, essentially I was just inspired by the photo but really made the whole thing up. This bunting is going to be a gift for my nieces for their new camping land -- I thought it could use a little "sprucing up" around the tents!

This is a fairly simple project to make. If you can find some big, bold typefaces that you can print out and cut around, that's the hardest part. Rather than fabric glue these letters on, I just appliqued them. It takes longer, but I like how it looks. And for a short word or phrase, one package of double fold bias tape should work. In retrospect, I think my fabric choice is too busy and the letters aren't bold enough, but I think the kids will like it anyway. The fabric does have a "woodland" theme, so it really was too perfect to pass up. Thank you, Crafty Planet!

On Christmas Eve we're packing up a 26 foot moving truck and chasing our fortune back in our home state of Wisconsin. So...I have been trying to get the house packed up in between my crafting projects, but it's been tough to really feel like I'm accomplishing much of anything. It may be the end of my holiday crafting...unless I get really inspired in the next week or two!!

What surprises have you been making? Do share!

Dress-up: the Perk of Parenting

Before we had kids we read this hilarious Onion article about these young hipsters who had a baby for the sole purpose of dressing the child up in cool outfits. Oh, we laughed. Then we had Little Pumpkin. Now it's all clear. Being crafty is an added affliction, as the cool outfits should of course all be handmade. Luckily, my attention deficit issue means I never spend too much time on any one thing, including making clothes for the boy. Here and there I whip something up and that seems to appease my need to be a young hipster craftster parent with an unflinchingly cool fabric store within walking distance.

Last time I stopped by said fabric store I picked up every single thing they had that had any form of cars, trucks, diggers, dumpers or airplanes on it. These "surfer dude shorts with pocket for your matchbox car" are the first in a series of things I plan to make featuring the wee ones most beloved things in life. And, whadda ya know, they make him look like the dress up doll of an urban hipster. Awesome! As an added bonus, I should make Mr. Pumpkin a matching pair.

I'm on the hunt for some new boy's sewing patterns. I'd like some summer clothing and I mostly see pretty basic stuff. Anyone sew up this Oliver + S sailboat top or pants pattern (above)? I think it's cute but I've never used this brand of pattern. Any other recommendations? I could use some new inspiration.

Spoonflower Front Page!

Remember when I was so tentatively at dipping my toe in the pattern design waters? No more! I just found out Spoonflower is featuring my design front and center on their redesigned home page. I have to say, I'm quite honored! The Flickr pool of Spoonflower designs is so amazing, I can't even believe that they chose me.

Now that I'm done gaga-ing over that, it's back to crafting! I just ordered a TON of holiday fabric, so stay tuned. The Christmas tunes are already on around here...it's so much fun!