No pictures today...

So I've been plugging away at the kindergarten readiness thing. The prototype lunch bag is done, except for the velcro closure. I'm not totally happy with it, as I couldn't find my Insul-Brite (used Warm&Natural batting instead), and it turned out way bigger than necessary. But at least it is ready for use. And I'm sure that I will make more eventually and tweak the pattern. I also bought two ice packs and two drink bottles to use in said lunch bag, so I think we're good.

And I found a nap mat at WM and made a cover for it, to match the pillow and blanket. So naptime is set. I have enough train print left over to make a tote to carry the pillow/blanket/cover to school and back, but I'm not going to worry about that this week. It's not on the urgent list.

I also made a trip to JAF on the way home from church to take advantage of the Founder's Weekend sale! I needed interfacing for DH's shirts that I've been promising him forever....and I bought the Insul-Brite I needed for the next round of lunch bags. And I found a dinosaur knit print that Ruth (of SewChic)used recently for jammies for her son, so of course I had to buy some - it was on sale for $2/yard!

Now I'm ready to cut a new pair of PJs for Thing 1, so that I can take advantage of orange serger thread. And I'm ready to start actually stitching the muslin for DH's shirts!

Getting ready for kindergarten....

Thing 1 is starting kindergarten next week - yikes! So there are a few items we still need to get together. I finished one last night, when the Art Smock was completed:

I used the SewBaby Art Smart Smock pattern and made the 5-6x size. (There are only two sizes, and that is the bigger one.) For this project, I used white PUL, red bias tape, red ribbing, and cotton scraps - all from stash! It takes just one yard of the main fabric, and it really works up quickly. I wanted to use the PUL so that the smock would be waterproof and protect his clothes better - wasn't so crazy about the white, though, which is where the Thomas the Tank Engine appliques came in. But at least I didn't buy more fabric to use in this project!

Thing 2 is pretty happy with his art smock, and I can see more of these in my future. Depending on how stained they get, I could envision making a new one every year for Things 1 and 2. I think this would be easy to size up, and it certainly went together quickly and easily.

New shoes....

Thing 2 needed new shoes, as he's worn holes in the heels of his current shoes....go figure - I hadn't added heel guards to those. I had cut this pair out several weeks back...maybe when I made the last ones, come to think of it....so I sewed them up this weekend. I also thought it was time to do an applique, and he (like his brother!) is really into trains and especially Thomas the Tank Engine. We'll see what he thinks in the morning!

These are from the Make Them Yourself pattern, and I think I used a size 7 again. This may come back to haunt me, since I added both toe and heel guards this time. I may decide that I should have gone up a size to account for the extra addition. I hope not, but I guess it won't be the end of the world.

I also need to get some more leather, I think. But first I'll make a pair from the black leather jacket DSIL thrifted for me. :) This pair is made with recycled jeans, once again; Toughtek soles; recycled white jeans for the lining; and scraps of leather for the guards.

A head start on winter....

Apparently I'm an optimist and am convinced that the hot summer will come to an end. :) Because I decided that now was the perfect time to make a new blanket for Thing 1. And not just any blanket - no, I had to make a warm blanket.



I bought the "car road" fleece for this blanket almost two years ago, during one of JAF's red tag clearance sales (everything on clearance goes to 50% off the clearance price). So I paid $2.50 per yard for it, and I bought two yards. (Thing 1 was 3 then, so I figured two yards would be astronomically long on him. Fast forward to 5, and it's not nearly as gigantic now, but still...) I then let the fleece sit for quite awhile before buying the hunter green fleece for the reverse side a few months ago. The blue fleece for the binding may have been purchased at JAF's Black Friday sale last year.

And here we are! I started putting this together Sunday, and I finished it Tuesday night. I used a basting spray to put the two layers of fleece together, then cut off the selvedges and evened up it all up, before binding the edges with blue fleece.

***Edited to add: I found this post lost in draft mode, when I was trying to finish up other posts! Poor post, lost for 3 years! This blanket is STILL in heavy rotation in our house.

Hooded towel explanation....

I'm calling this an explanation because "tutorial" is entirely too formal a word for what I'm doing. :) I made two new hooded towels, because Thing 2 has really outgrown the baby-sized hooded towels, but Thing 1 still likes to use the two which I made a few years ago, so it's always good to have more.

So I started with two bath towels and a matching hand towel. (And for the record, apparently I wasn't paying enough attention and bought bath sheets when they were on sale - because these new hooded towels are huge!)

1. I laid both bath towels (one at a time) on my rotary cutting mat, wrong side up, and cut the left edge off one and the right edge off the other (long edges, mind you). I also cut the top (short) edge off both of them. I then put the two towels right sides together and sewed the long cut edges together. Then I serged the seam allowances and stitched them down to one side.

2. I cut the hand towel so that it was about 12 inches wide, leaving the bound (long) edge on one side intact. Then I cut the top and bottom (short) edges off. Next, I folded the towel right sides together and sewed along the long cut edge, eyeballing a gentle curve up to the fold. (The picture below shows the finished hood right side out and attached to the towel. You can see that it's about 11 inches long after seam allowances.) Like with the main towel, I serged the seam allowances and stitched them down to one side - I did pay attention and stitch them to the opposite side as the towel.
3. Next I joined the two pieces together: I pinned the center seam of the hood to the center seam of the towel, wrong sides together. Then I pinned the hood in both directions. I stitched the hood down, then serged the entire edge of the towel, including the seam allowances at the join. I turned the serged edge down and stitched it in place.

4. Happy customer! You can see how much my tall Thing 1 (5 years old) swims in this new towel. Oh, well...it'll just last longer, right?
These don't take long to make up, and they are great baby shower gifts, too. I just bought a bunch of towels on clearance to make more (though I did buy smaller towels this time!).

Up next...white and orange queues....

So I thought I'd do a double-post today and show a bit of what's coming up next....Thing 1 starts kindergarten in the fall, and he will need an art smock at school. I could probably have come up with something suitable without a pattern, but....I bought the Art Smart Smock pattern from SewBaby instead. I've had my eye on this pattern for quite awhile but could never find it locally. However, with this motivation, I went ahead and ordered it. I cut the main piece out of some white PUL I had on hand, and I'm trimming it with red bias tape. I have to check my supply of ribbing - I'll either use red or black for the neckband and sleeve cuffs. Then I will applique a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine to it, as Thing 1 is a huge fan. We'll see whether I applique his name as well....But the pattern is simple, yet open for lots of personalization, and I think it'll make some great gifts, too. Also in the white queue are some slippers and a scrub shirt, though I may bump the scrub shirt for a later queue.

After that comes the orange queue. The next test PJs for Thing 1 (shirt from KS 3042 and pants from KS SFC) are a green and orange aligator camo-type print. There are two pairs of slippers, and then the test Hawaiian-type shirt for DH has orange in the print. (I'm really hoping to get that shirt done soon so he stops pestering me about it! And it'll take up 3.5 yards from the stash.) There's also a fall print scrub shirt. And I think that's it!

More finished items....red and green queues....

First up, the red queue!
I used red serger thread on these shorts so that I could get cracking on the other red stuff, and I think it looks fine. The shorts for Thing 2 are size T2, which I think fits him better and doesn't seem to pull across the front of the thighs. Both shorts have added slash pockets, using an old sheet for the pocket bags. I used KS SFT for Thing 2 and KS SFC for Thing 1, and the fabric is leftovers from boxers for DH (stash - yay!).

Knit pants and shorts for Thing 2. The shorts are size T1 from KS SFT again, but the pants are size XL from KS SFB. When I have a chance, I'll try these on him and also try on the blue pants (T1 from KS SFT) to see how the two patterns/sizes compare. The red interlock for the pants was purchased on sale at JAF, but the mystery knit for the shorts has been in my stash for awhile.

I had already cut out these pants for Thing 1 from the KS 3042 pattern prior to getting KS SFC. After sewing them up and seeing them on, I think this PJ pattern is just too wide-legged for normal use. I'm going to try the size S in KS SFC in another pair of PJs to see if it needs alterations before I start cranking out pants for Thing 1's fall kindergarten wardrobe. :) The shorts for Thing 2 are my now TNT pattern from KS SFT, and that fabric has been in the stash for almost two years now, I think. He's wearing those shorts today and they look great!

I added slash pockets to the pants. Instead of my usual plain white sheet for pocket bags for print pants, I decided to go with the seersucker fish leftovers. I think it looks pretty cute! Thing 1 likes it, so that's that. :)