by Sherri Sylvester | Dec 3, 2012
Last year while walking to and from school I tried at least 7,000 things to keep a blanket on my youngest daughter. I didn’t really want to put snow pants on her if she was just going to stay in the stroller, but the blankets kept falling off and getting caught in the stroller wheels and one day I just got fed up with it all. This is what I made:
The Stroller Blanket
(Ta Da!)
Thankfully I had some warm fleece, some soft brown material in my stash and a large piece of pink plaid. As a side note: the stroller this was made for was not bright blue, or I would have picked something that matched better!
It’s the perfect place for keeping tiny hands warm,
and even the perfect place to dance!
I found a tutorial online, though I just looked and can’t for the life of me find it now of course! I used that as a sample for how to design the flaps, hauled the stroller into my house, and ran up and down the hallway measuring as I went.
The front flaps are held together with some pink Velcro I picked up the last time I was in JoAnn’s in the US. The inside has large button holes for the straps to come through. It is lined with the soft brown material and has a layer of purple fleece between the two layers to make it extra warm. I added the pink plaid to the front to make it prettier (and a bit more girl-like!). I was supposed to eventually use bias tape to cover all of the exposed seams – but life took over and it hasn’t happened yet!
It is held onto the stroller by a 1″ elastic that fits over the back of the seat. There is an adjustable elastic threaded through the top on both sides – so it can be made cozier in seconds! It also helps it to be more adjustable to fit both kids. I got to use the cutest heart button at the top (Thanks Mom!).
Now… how do I get out of this thing?
by Sherri Sylvester | Nov 5, 2012
The Art Smock
You will have to excuse the colourful front on this white art smock. It has been used well used! A fabric store near me was going out of business a few years ago and I picked up some waterproof-backed white terrycloth. The kind that is really nice to use for baby change pads. Turns out is is nice to use for art smocks too! They are lined with some brightly coloured random fabrics that I had in my stash at the time.
The pattern is based on one that I’m sure you are used to by now – the Burdastyle Sophia pattern that I use for everything. The three-quarter length sleeves are great because they have an elastic cuff and fit over just about anything – including rolled up sweater sleeves.
I just love the tiny toes peeking out in this photo!
The back is fastened with a long strip of velcro, so it is adjustable, and will hopefully make them last for a few years, size-wise. The tunic length is just right for our after-art tradition of “washing” the brushes and paint containers in a bubble filled sink. No more wet clothes hurray!
Messy kids with clean clothes = happy mom. Happy mom = more art projects without fear of disaster (or more laundry). More art projects = Happy kids! It’s good all around!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 26, 2012
I have been wanting to make this coat for a long time. I mentioned here that I have had the fabric for a while and went on a sewing spree when my daughter’s fall coat broke.
I love this fabric, it is so bright and colourful. The owl and bird design is so on trend – and since it is, (unfortunately?) I am bound to love it!
I bought just over a metre of fabric and used every spare space to barely scrape together the outer pieces. I added a contrasting hem in the matchy fabric and pieced together the centre of the hood, just to make everything fit!
Amazingly, everything except for the zipper was already in my sewing closet. The “fur” for the hood, the blue fleece (though I would have picked a different colour if I didn’t feel it was necessary to use up my giant stash), the buttons…
Here are a few om my favorite things.
The unfinished edge on the tag section.
The furry lined pockets.
The dart/tuck on the front, just over the pockets.
The cuffs with a strap and buttons.
The pieced hood.
The pattern is a mix of a few that I use all the time – the BurdaStyle pattern that I used to make the pattern for the heart shirts here and here and a 3T pattern that I upsized for her Cinderella costume. I also got a lot of my ideas for the cuffs and length from a super-cute coat that she received when she was a baby.
The great thing is that I now have the coat pattern on paper and can re-make it anytime! I see another coat in her future, maybe in the spring?!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 20, 2012
I finally finished my oldest daughter’s Halloween costume. I was a bit sad that she decided to be Cinderella like every other girl in her class, but I guess every kid has the right to be a princess for a few Halloweens. Can’t say it’s not “on trend” anyhow! I used the top of a 3T dress pattern that I upsized to a size 6, plus a bit of winging it. Hopefully large enough to fit over a coat, and small enough to wear to school with a long sleeve shirt underneath. Some inspiration from here also. I have had it mostly finished except for the zipper and gloves until today. Poor kid, she’s been dying to wear it. The photo shoot was full of many (many!) spins, smiles and “princess poses”. When she first put it on she said “Mommy, it’s perfect!” What more could I ask for. The perks of being able to sew!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 5, 2012
If you thought I was gone for good (and only when I just started – what a shame!), one thing seems to happen around the end of September – everyone get sick! That’s all I’m going to say, no need to bore you with the details. Though I am thinking that a few “backup posts” might be a good idea to have, just in case!
I found this shirt idea pinned on my friend Leanne’s board and just re-found it today. So, being spur of the moment as usual I decided to make two – just in time to wear on the last day of school before Canadian Thanksgiving. (Thanks Leanne!)
If you will excuse the wrinkles, I hate irons unless I am using them when I am sewing, I will add my photos to the amazing collection already on the internet (Just Google “turkey ribbon shirt”).
I would have taken a picture of the girls actually wearing the shirts – but one of them is still sick, so I’m sticking with the safer option.
If you want to plan ahead and make a Christmas related shirt for your munchkin(s) you could make one of these. I think they are definitely on my to do list – if I can spare some time between present making!
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 11, 2012
I needed a gift for a couple of boys and went again to the Celebrate the Boy archives on Made by Rae and MADE. Dana and Rae do a month long group of tutorials from all over the web once a year or so. It’s great if you need to sew for boys – there’s so much out there for girls, and almost nothing for the boys.
This is the second time I have made these Trinket Keepers from Amazing Mae. If you add in a toy car it makes a little cute gift that doesn’t take hours to make. I happened to have some scraps of car fabric hanging around that worked perfectly for this.
These are great because they can hook the carabiner onto their backpacks or belt loops and take all of their important things with them. The tutorial has different size options and suggestions for holding different things. Super helpful and super fast.
