Wacky Creatures

Wow!  I really have been horrible this summer about posting.  Oops!  Guess it's time to play catch-up.  Well, this is a project that was finished over a month ago.  I have had the pattern (McCall 5826) for a long time - I know that I had it before we moved, so it's been at least 1.5 years.  Sadly, I had traced it before the move, intending to make some wacky snuggly creatures for the monsters for Christmas then, but obviously didn't do so!  The Pattern Stash Contest on PR prompted me to finally get around to making these up last month.

I had originally intended to use interlock from stash for these, just to make them softer and more snuggly.  Well, I still used stash, but these are batik-type cotton prints that I've had long enough to have forgotten where/when I got them.  The bonus is that Thing 1's favorite color is green, and Thing 2's is orange.  So this worked out well!  

The pattern has tons of options to customize your creature - two basic body shapes, and then different shapes/lengths of limbs, ears, etc.  There are also different options for facial features.  You do have to trace this pattern - I always trace mine, but here it's absolutely necessary - in order to put the chosen options together and have a pattern to cut.  Once you do that, it's a simple matter of cutting two pieces - front and back are identical.  Put your facial features on, sew around the sides, turn right side out, stuff, and sew your opening shut.  Voila!  Wacky creature!

The creature is a little larger than the picture looks - mine are about 13 inches tall and 12 inches wide (depends on arms).  Still a good size for a kid to hug.  The only quibble that I have with the instructions was that, despite telling you to put on most facial features before sewing front/back together (good!), they tell you to sew the eyes on after stitching front/back together (bad!).  They do take a LOT of stuffing, so keep that in mind if you make one.  Oh, and I machine stitched the lines for the teeth, and I used top-stitching thread for it.  I thought that made them stand out more.

All in all, these were fun to stitch up.  My boys loved them, though they have not so far become favorites.  However, they've only had them a month, and their favorites tend to rotate.

Repurposed sheets

One pair of PJ pants would normally not rate its own blog post, but I've been bad about posting lately and am trying to fix that. In addition, I just need to rave about these for other reasons.

I have definitely repurposed sheets before - I've made sheets into baby pack-n-play or crib sheets, I've made sheets into PJs for birthday gifts and Operation Christmas Child gifts, and I've made them into cloth napkins (not blogged). But I've never made flannel sheets into PJs before - at least not that I can remember, and definitely not for myself. I got this fitted flannel sheet at a thrift store several years ago, I think. Since I love snowmen, I thought this would be great for winter PJ pants for me. And between the PR Fabric Stash contest and needing to sew another pair of PJ pants (same size) for a friend's birthday, I had the impetus to do something about it. OMG! Can I just say how incredibly soft these PJ pants are? Soooo comfy. I love them! I'm guessing it's from all the use and washing they got in their previous life. At any rate, I would totally use old flannel sheets again for PJs. I may have to keep an eye out at the thrift store.....

More gift sewing....

Thing 2 was invited to another birthday party. As previously mentioned, there are 15 or so kids in his kindergarten class, so $$ for birthday party presents adds up! I decided to have him help me choose fabric to make an Art-on-the-Go kit for her, then add colored pencils, a notebook, and some foam door hangers and foam stickers for other art projects. The gift didn't get the same wild enthusiasm as the Barbies and such, but I think the mom appreciated it. :) And it's more the kind of gift that is appreciated later on, when the toys lose a bit of luster. The entire "art gift" probably cost me $10 in materials, but only $4 in actual money, since all of the fabric/notions came from my stash. (And I made 3 at once, so there are 2 more in my gift stash!)

I had previously made the green sheet in the top of the picture for my new niece's bassinette, which apparently is like a pack-n-play but an odd size. That one was my prototype, since I had no idea how long to make the elastic. Turned out I guessed a little short, and they had to cut the casing in 4 places to release it all so that they could verify the sheet itself was the right size. I then sent another one - same size, but 10 inches longer elastic - which fit just right. (That one isn't pictured, but it came from a jersey sheet that I repurposed.) But it took quite some time to get word that it fit - apparently checking the fit and getting back to me wasn't a priority until the baby arrived, and suddenly they wanted more sheets! ;) So I fixed the green sheet so that it was usable again, and I made 4 more sheets - 2 flannel, 2 cotton - all from stash. They have some Winnie the Pooh stuff in the nursery, I'm told, so I was pretty happy to have 2 Pooh prints to use. This brings the total up to 6 sheets that I've sewn, which should be pretty good for a bassinette.
A friend had a birthday earlier this month, and she loves the PJ pants I make her. She just got a snowflake pair at Christmas, but I saw this flannel on clearance last summer and just had to get it for her. I know that she loves the neon colors in the print, but I'm not sure how she'll feel about the skulls....hopefully she's okay with them. This is my TNT PJ pattern, M3006.
And I had made her a square corn bag last year at Christmas, but apparently she put it in the microwave too long earlier this year. Her mom relayed a deep desire for a new one, so I just had to oblige. ;) I squeaked the cover out of the leftovers from her PJ pants.

Think I'm done with shorts now....

I finished these shorts at the end of July but forgot to post a picture. These were the "blue" set - and two of the three fabrics were from stash of at least one year - yippee! The Cars print was purchased early last year, and there should be enough left for a pair of pants, I think. And the beach print was purchased before I left Mississippi, so it was 2006 at the latest. I don't think there's enough left for pants, but definitely one or more pairs of shorts. The Batman print was a remnant I picked up at HF recently - there was just enough for the shorts. These are all size S for Thing 1.

These are the shorts I finished this weekend. I found the soccer plaid at HF - Thing 1 picked it, but both Things liked it. And the construction trucks was a remnant that apparently I never logged into my spreadsheet, so I have no idea when I bought it. I really like it, though! Both Things wore their new soccer plaid shorts to the town's anniversary celebration last night, and Thing 1 wore his new trucks shorts today. The two bigger ones are size S for Thing 1, and again the smaller pair are size T3 for Thing 2.

The pockets are the first contrast color that I've used. I bought several colors of thin cotton broadcloth, on sale last week at HF for $1.99/yd. (I got more today at JAF for $1.66/yd, since I liked it so much!)

And I finally made more scrub hats! I've had these fabrics in my stash for months, waiting on time/inclination to make these. The Beatles prints are both a size M, for a friend who loves the Beatles (she got the Beatles pillowcase I made awhile back), and the cow and pig prints are a size L for me. These are from M4116.

So now I'm working on my fleece Cat in the Hat blanket while I wait for the french curve to arrive so that I can finish The Shirt. I had spray-basted the layers together several weeks or more ago, but I'd gotten stuck on the fleece binding, as I'd run out of premade binding. So last night I pinned black binding strips together and sewed them, and today I pinned the binding to the blanket. I still need to stitch it down. That will also help my yardage stats!

Finally, a picture!

This is a scrub hat from McCall 4116 - it's view G, in a size M. I've made it before, but this time it's for a friend who is graduating from vet school tomorrow. I hope that she likes it! I thought she'd get a kick out of the drinks fabric. This is actually the prototype for the "real" gift - scrub hats made with Beatles fabrics. But I need to be sure that the size M will fit her before I cut out the "real" fabrics. :) In the meantime, this also assured me that the hats for myself will need to be size L to cover all my hair. So it was good to get these done. I can't do any more on her hats until she tries this one on, so I'll work on the backpack for Thing 1 some more and maybe sew up the new seersucker summer pants I cut out for both Things....

Progress update....

Four scrub shirts finished! These are for some colleagues at work. The dalmation shirt is for a good friend and colleague - she used to have two dalmations, now only one. The Jeff Gordon shirt is for one of our vet techs - she's a huge Jeff Gordon fan. I think she'll light up the place every time she comes in wearing it. ;) The horse print shirt is for a fellow resident who is an equine vet, and the skulls print (a Halloween special at Wal-Mart - wish I'd gotten enough for a shirt for me!) is for our other vet tech. She seemed really into the fabric when I originally bought some to make a chemo cap for a friend, so I went back and bought more to have enough for a scrub shirt for her. (In case anyone's interested, I make my scrub shirts from McCall patterns - 9123 for sizes S-L and 2834 for XL-XXL - but I use the Simplicity pattern directions for attaching the V-neckbands.)

I pretty much followed the pattern on these, with the obvious caveat that I used contrast fabric in the dalmation shirt. And I have started lengthening the pockets so that I can incorporate the bottoms of the pockets into the hem - much easier! On these, I also used quilt basting spray to attach the pockets prior to top-stitching. I like that! I'll definitely do it in the future, but I also have to remember to allow enough time to wash the shirts before wrapping them. Otherwise people are taken aback to find that the pocket is stuck to the shirt. lol

I have made progress in the queue, but there's much more to go. My next projects (partially started) are 1 pair of adult PJ pants, 1 pair of toddler PJ pants, 2 pairs of boxers, 2 fleece chemo caps, and 1 pair of toddler fleece pants. We'll see how much I can get done today....