Crayola Creation

Brynn and I spent a rainy afternoon making a great art piece for her bedroom. It was super easy and looks great, too. We glued crayons onto a canvas with craft glue (hot-glue didn't work as well for some reason). Once the glue was dry, Brynn used a hair dryer on warm heat and low wind level. We angled the canvas so the wax dripped down onto it as it melted. If you use a high wind level, watch out for flying wax! The wax will drip as far down the canvas as you wish, just follow it down with the dryer. I got this idea off of multiple kids' crafts sites (so I'm not sure who to give the credit to, sorry!).

Pillowcase Nightgown

I used the pillowcase nightgown tutorial from Gingercake as posted on the Prudent Baby website. I'd had my eye on this tutorial for sometime and finally got around to picking up a pillowcase from Value Village to test it out on. I am really pleased with the end product, but had some hang-ups along the way. The flutter sleeves were just a trial and error process that ended up working out okay, but the shape of the sleeve was difficult for me to figure out how to attach. Once the nightgown was put together, the last thing I attempted to do was a rolled hem along the neckline - this was a major fail. The curved line made it very difficult to get it to roll properly. So I picked up some double-fold bias tape and used extra long ends for a tie in the back. What a wonderful invention the bias tape is - it made the finishing so much easier and I like the added bit of blue. Brynn is thrilled with it, she loves that it is so long. It will be nice on our warm summer nights, which we've already had a taste of!

She was not being cooperative for the photo shoot - so this is as good as it gets.

Flop to Top

I had some leftover material from making Brynn's birthday skirt, so I thought I'd try to piece together a summer dress for Parker. I bought a bit of coordinating green material for the bodice and used a pattern to make it. According to her measurements, I needed to make it a large. After cutting and sewing the bodice together, I taught myself to gather using this technique. It was really simple. I really enjoyed putting this dress together, but even prior to trying it on Parker, it was clearly too large.
 

It make a really cute top for Brynn!

Parkers Pinafore

This pattern was one that I've had my eye on since before learning to sew. I used the extra material that I had from Brynn's dress. I love this top. As the tutorial states, it was a pattern written for ages 6-12 months, but it would fit for longer. Parker is 16 months old and it's a perfect tunic rather than dress. I think she'll be able to wear it throughout the summer months. I'll definitely make a couple more for her, I really enjoyed the process and the outcome!

To make your own, check out the Smashed Peas and Carrots website.

Sewing from a Pattern

I did it! I finished a "real" sewing project. Although there were some uncertainties and "fudging" along the way, I'm pretty pleased with my end product. Brynn loves the lady bug buttons and trim. She wore the dress all morning even though it is not nearly warm enough to go without sleeves nor leggings or tights. I began this project on Saturday afternoon during Parker's nap time. During that hour or so, I placed and cut the pattern onto my fabric. Oh, by the way, the main fabric (blue and white stripes) was bought at Value Village for only $1.99 = score! I even have enough left over to do something for Parker if I want. I began the sewing last night after the girls were in bed, around 8:30 and finished the buttonholes right before midnight - thank goodness for Spring Break! The steps that were challenging for me included: lining up the pattern pieces where the notches were cut - it was close for most of them, but none were perfectly in line; I didn't have interfacing, so I just used more fabric and had no idea how to sew the side seams of the interfacing together (I fudged and just folded them over and tacked them down rather than sewing - I'll have to figure this out, though); making buttonholes; and sewing on the buttons. I'm proud to say that looking at the finished dress, when it's on Brynn, you cannot tell that these things gave me any problems! The one thing that bugs me a bit is seeing where the interfacing stops - I wish that I would have lined the whole dress. Nevertheless, it is really fun to see Brynn wearing and loving something that I MADE! I'm excited to try more patterns now that I have my fist one finished; I hope to employ some of the things that I learned and hope that they give me less trouble.