what we did yesterday

Please excuse this post in which I didn’t make anything, but am I the only one who didn’t know about these things? I discovered them at our “Science Tots” class at the Children’s Museum – we basically signed up for the class because you can play for free at the museum afterwards, and the class fee is way cheaper than the admission fee….but I digress. Anyway, last week they had a tub filled with something slippery and squishy and very satisfying to the senses, which turned out to be “water beads.” Lila (and every other kid in the class for that matter) loved them, so we went out yesterday to get some of our own.

Water beads are little polymer “marbles” that store and release water – they’re designed for floral arrangements and are sold in floral departments everywhere. Our Joann’s carried a brand called AquaGems. The website says they’re colorfast, non-toxic, and biodegradable. Not to mention beautiful little translucent spheres of eye candy. And really fun to touch.

We bought two 1-liter bottles (one would’ve been enough to dig her little hands into, I’m just a bad judge of volume and wasn’t sure, so went with two). I couldn’t find a big tub at home, so we got out a bunch of clear containers (clear is a must to showcase all those lovely colors – and wouldn’t a light table would be amazing?) and played with these things for most of the morning. Lila chose the rainbow mix, so in addition to digging and scooping and feeling, she also sorted them by color into an ice cube tray.

When it was time to clean up I found an old Ikea pitcher to store them in, and Lila painstakingly transferred the beads from her ice cube tray into the pitcher’s spout, one at a time. I think I got about 25 minutes of quiet time during this process, and she played with them (alone again! this is huge, because she always wants me right by her side) before dinner for another half hour, and asked for them first thing this morning, too. I’m not sure how long the beads last, but they’re already totally worth the $7 I spent on them.

I must disclose:

• While they’re pretty sturdy, if you squish them between your fingers they’ll crumble. And the little pieces aren’t that easy to pick up. That said, only a couple broke apart while we were playing – they withstand regular handling just fine.

• They bounce like crazy, which is pretty cool, but when they hit the floor they tend to scatter. And they’re wet, so if your floor is anything like mine, they pick up a bit of debris when they fall. We just rinsed ours under water and they were as good as new. I think a large tub would contain spills better than these little containers did.

Today she discovered that the water beads are perfectly sized to shoot out the spout of her new teapot in a very satisfying manner. Good times, I tell you. Good times.

P.S. Hope everyone had a very happy Valentine’s Day. We celebrated in the classic way: heart shaped PB&J and pink milk.

another installment of tiny: tea time

Lila’s little kitchen is pretty well stocked, but we’ve been lacking a tea pot for some time now. So for Valentine’s Day this year she’s getting her first tea set.

And I thought play tea bags would be fun, too.

The idea to make tea bags came from here, but once I got started, I went a little nutty with the details. Not that Lila will notice (or care) how closely they ended up resembling bona fide tea bags, but I get pretty excited about creating tiny versions of real things, so I went for it.

It was easy enough to do – I just deconstructed a real tea bag and made a mini version out of muslin and felt. A tea bag, as it turns out, is just a long tube with a seam down the center, pinched at the bottom, and folded in and over at the top.  I had some silver thread on hand (purchased for a Christmas craft that never materialized), so I used that to mimic the metal staples that close the bag and attach the string to the tag.  And since they’re for Valentine’s Day and all, I embroidered little heart tags in Valentine-y colors.

I hadn’t planned to fill the bags, but since I’d already destroyed two real tea bags in the process, I figured all that tea shouldn’t go to waste. Lila’s past the age where she puts things in her mouth, so it seemed safe enough. And it gives the bags a nice weight and smell. I sewed the bags up very securely by machine before adding the silver “staples” – that tea isn’t going anywhere.

At the last minute I decided to make some little felt sleeves for the tea bags (with the exact same labels as my Valentine envelopes) – no details on these, just two rectangles sewn together.

I think that about covers this installment of tiny. Here’s everything packaged up. I covered the top of one of those $1 Joann’s craft boxes with washi tape. Always looking for an excuse to use my washi tape.

Happy almost Valentine’s Day!

P.S. I’m going to sew some clothes soon, I promise.

be mine

These are the tiny felt Valentine envelopes I made for the Winter Wolle series at Clever Charlotte. My first guest post! Lots more photos and details on the Clever Charlotte blog – I hope you’ll go check it out!

linen and kokka (and princess pull-ups)

This is one of those projects I’ve wanted to try forever, but couldn’t find an excuse. Finally I decided I’d just make a few to have on hand for new baby gifts as the need arises. There’s always a baby being born somewhere, right? And babies wear diapers. And if those diapers don’t have a cute little pouch to live in, well, then there’s trouble.

I love Anna’s linen version of the diaper pouch – like everything she makes, it’s just so easy on the eyes! You can find the tutorial here.

The pouches will fit a couple diapers (I had hoped for some nice, unbleached 7th Generation diapers in my photos…turns out all we had were tacky princess pull-ups, so you’ll have to use your imagination) and a full package of travel wipes, plus there’s room on the sides for diaper cream or a little bottle of hand sanitizer (this one’s my all time favorite – spearmint lime by Cleanwell. Smells soooo good, and it’s alcohol-free).

This is such a quick and simple to project. I could’ve gone on and on, but since the first two don’t have homes yet I figured I should hold off. They were fun though. Plus, it was my first time boxing a corner! Not that it was rocket science or anything, but it’s always fun to add a new skill to your repertoire.

Both prints are Kokka cotton/linen blends. The Heather Ross print was a much too generous gift (a whole yard!) from Kristin for using our reading nook for her Project Run and Play photo shoot this week. I’ve been living vicariously through her during the PR&P excitement and was thrilled just to be part of the photo shoot action, but she insisted on fabric payment, because she’s sweet like that. And while we’re on the subject of PR&P, check out her glorious design for the Special Occasions category this week:

image from skirt as top

Aren’t those petals amazing? Voting is still open through tonight – if you haven’t done so already, go check out her Japanese Tea Party entry and VOTE!

the tiniest pants you ever did see

While getting her babies dressed the other morning, Lila asked me why Baby Girl doesn’t have any pants. I was stumped. We pawed through the doll clothes and it was true – nary a pair. I told her I’d take care of the problem by the end of the business day.

As it turns out, a pair of doll pants take about 15 minutes from start to finish, so I easily made good on my promise. I used the pattern that has furnished Baby Girl with much of her wardrobe – McCall’s 4338.

After that first pair I made some tiny cords with a miniature back pocket. And no wardrobe is complete without denim, so the jeans came next, dressed up with some scalloped top stitching.

Lila suggested adding the back tags – a girl after my own heart. I ended up swapping out “baby girl” for “tiny pants” to complete the trifecta.

Since I had the doll clothes patterns out I made another little pinafore dress (McCalls 5347) in a print I ordered from Hobby Lobby awhile back.

And transferred the “baby girl” tag over there.

I chose fabrics to coordinate with the rest of her wardrobe so she’d have lots of mix-n-match possibilities….which, face it, is just what every 12-inch doll needs.

Most of the clothes fit her other stuffed friends, too.

A lot of these doll clothes were made over a year ago, but for the longest time Lila preferred her babies to be naked. She’s into them now though, and I’m pretty excited that I no longer have to play dress up alone. While we were trying out Baby Girl’s new duds, Lila fashioned an Ikea tray into a little over-the-cradle diaper changing station, kind of like the one that used to sit on her crib. Then she added the polka-dot tin to collect the dirty diapers.

Almost three is such a fun age…

a lotta lotta

I’ve got a decent stack of sewing-for-babies-and-kids books, with pages flagged.

And while I’d love to say I’ve made a least one of those flagged projects from each book, it just isn’t true. I’m working on it, though. I finally broke in Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing for Baby, a book I’ve had on my shelf for well over two years.

There are lots of great options in that book, but with a baby shower for twins coming up next weekend I went with the Snuggler, which is a velcro swaddle wrap.

Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to make those poor twins share – I made two, of course.

I needed something gender neutral, and my local Fabric Depot just got the Lotta Jansdotter Echo fabrics in, so I went with that. An obvious choice.

The only changes I made were using flannel inside rather than microfleece (I can’t seem to sew with Minky without it shifting all over the place), and topstitching the whole thing rather than slip stitching the turning opening. Otherwise I just followed the directions and had no problems at all. Simple sewing for baby indeed!

Here’s how they work:

And my neighbor was kind enough to loan me her super happy and cooperative three month old (recipient of the bonnet and booties I made back in August) to try them out – she was maybe a tad long for them already (and strong enough to eventually find her hands!), but she was the sweetest little model ever.

P.S. As I was looking at snuggler photos in the Simple Sewing for Baby flickr pool, I discovered that the pattern is also available here as a free download. If you’re so inclined, you can make a snuggler, too!

pasta party

A good percentage of the fun that goes on around here happens in Lila’s play kitchen. The kitchen was a first birthday gift – stocking it has been an ongoing process, and such fun – there are so many fabulous (and amazingly realistic!) play foods and kitchen accessories out there to help fuel the make-believe. I recently sewed up a bunch of felt pasta, and Lila’s been slaving over a hot stove ever since.

Here’s a peek inside the pot:

And the rest of the felt pasta smorgasbord!

I had this pasta on my list of things to make for Christmas, but only managed to get as far as the bowties. Then a few days after Christmas my dear Flickr friend Beth posted a photo of her lovely pasta (we somehow always end up making the same things for our same-named daughters), which inspired me to press on and make the others.

If you’ve got some felt, a pinking shears, a little stuffing, and a needle and thread (or a sewing machine), you’re well on your way to cooking up some play pasta. This stuff was quick and easy. Just google “felt pasta” and you’ll find several tutorials for all of these pasta shapes. I used this one for the bowties and this one for the ravioli. The rigatoni is just a two-inch square rolled up into a tube, whip-stitched closed by hand. And for the tortellini I watched this video (it’s in Spanish, but it hardly matters) – they use glue, but I stitched the sides of the tortellini by machine, then folded them up and held them closed with little clothespins before tacking the ends together with a few hand stitches.

Time for the pasta party! Pasta for each little friend…

And pasta for each little finger.

new year, new undies

That’s right, I decided to kick off the New Year by sewing up some toddler undies.

I’m pretty sure this adorable little bum was my introduction to the That Darn Kat underwear pattern, and I knew immediately I couldn’t pass up on that level of cuteness. Can you blame me? They’re just so….irresistible. And ridiculous.

As I started writing this post I realized it’s been almost a year since my first attempt at sewing with knits. It’s not that I was traumatized that first time – my biggest issue with knits is that the selection is so disappointing. I mean, the number of gorgeous woven prints out there could easily send you to the poor house, but it can be pretty challenging to find knits that don’t fall into this genre. Nothing against “LiL FooTBaLL PaLs” or anything, just not my style. Michael Miller has a decent line of interlock knits that includes some cute dots and stripes, but other than that, I’ve found the yardage selection for knits to be pretty uninspiring. The pattern suggests re-purposing knit T-shirts for the underwear, so I went to Old Navy and found a girls’ XL shirt on clearance for $4.94.

I cut three pair of undies from the shirt, making them well under two bucks a piece, which isn’t half bad if you ask me. Yeah yeah, I know I could probably buy them cheaper at Target, but we all know that sewing has nothing to do with saving yourself a dime and everything to do with watching your kid prance around in handmade underwear.

The pattern was great – really simple construction and the end results were highly satisfying. It comes with a little boy version as well (they’re pretty cute, too – check these out for proof). And while a serger would’ve been nice, it’s not necessary – I just zig-zagged all my seams using a very short stitch length.

Never fear, I wasn’t about to deprive you of my own child’s adorable bum (doing some of that aforementioned prancing, no less):

Also, this is surely obvious to those who sew with knits more than once per year, but it turns out you really do need to use a cotton/lycra blend for the the waistband and leg bands, just like the pattern says, and not a 100% cotton interlock like I accidentally used for my first pair. Otherwise you end up with saggy baggies.

And for anyone interested in sewing with knits, you might want to check out the “Knit-erviews” going on right now at Made by Rae. I’m looking forward to reading them myself, and possibly avoiding more mistakes of the saggy baggy variety in the future.

happy 2012! (or, hey, take a look at some stuff i made in 2011)

It’s been a pretty fruitful year for sewing. I made Lila a lot of clothes…that she mostly doesn’t wear. It’s okay, I had fun making them (or selecting the fabric at least), and each garment improved my sewing skills as well as my confidence to tackle whatever I wanted to make next.

This was my first time playing around with Mosaic Maker, and I couldn’t stop at one. Or two. So I separated my photos into Oliver + S clothing, other kid clothing, and just plain other. And then the clothes are in chronological order over on Flickr, just as an excuse to make another mosaic.

As it turns out, there was a decent amount of Oliver + S sewing going on this year. Here’s a sampling:

Next up: more kiddie clothes.

And I made some non-clothing items, too. I know the invites are a stretch, but there was a sewing machine involved…

I think my favorite project of the year was the Oliver + S baby carrier in the middle of the last mosaic. For some reason that thing still makes me smile every time Lila puts it on.

Hope everyone has a very happy 2012!

fabric trays

I realized pretty early on that I wouldn’t be making much of a dent in my project list for Christmas this year. It’s okay, it was a little ambitious. Most of my ideas were gifts for Lila, so I’m hoping to work through the list at a leisurely pace and end up with a few handmade goodies to give for Valentine’s Day and her birthday. But I did manage to do some grown-up gift sewing last night and make a few fabric trays, which have been on my list since I pinned them back in October.

These little trays from Anna’s tutorial were so much fun. Once I tracked down all the materials (I didn’t have fusible fleece or the heavy weight Peltex on hand) and got started, they were really quick and easy. Maybe 30 minutes each, and the fabric is all scraps. I ended up making two sets to give away.

The fabrics from top to bottom (below) are Heather Ross fishes from Mendocino, a random spotty Michael Miller scrap, Lizzy House’s Pearl Bracelet, and some Heather Bailey Nicey Jane. I copied Anna and used linen for the outside of the trays.

I made the small “pencil holder” size and the medium “spare change” size, and immediately envisioned both sizes holding sewing tools and supplies. Because I have a one track mind like that.

The bigger tray can also keep you organized while you catch up on your correspondence.

Especially during Christmas card season.

Which is actually New Year’s card season around here – I always end up choosing a New Year’s design due to the off chance they’ll still look like they’re on time when I don’t get them out until a week or two after Christmas.

Of course Lila immediately thought the trays were for her babies. She has a one track mind, too.

They also work well for serving bonbons and tea to stuffed friends.

So yeah, lots of options!

I hope the recipients find something fun to put inside. And if either of you happen to look at my blog in the next couple days…sorry. Just act surprised.