Halloween '09 Costume

(wiggly kid = super fuzzy pictures)

Busy Birthday Week

I'm still here. After the lizard bag, we took a quick trip to visit my sister's family in Dallas. When we returned, I had lots of birthday week stuff to deal with. So the only sewing I managed was the girl's birthday t-shirt, which has quickly become a must-have birthday accessory. This year we just had to fit in the green and lizard motif.

But that's all I have for now. This week I'll be doing a lot of minor sewing repairs that I've put off for quite some time. Mostly mending diaper Aplix and a few other clothing odds and ends. I don't even know what comes after that. No Halloween costumes this year, so I may get an early jump on Christmas crafting. I should have a better idea after I get reorganized later this week.

Kid's Bag with Top Flap

I meant for this bag to be a birthday present, but the girl needed it a little sooner. There are a few minor issues I would address in any future attempts at a bag like this, but overall I think it serves the purpose. Plus, the fabric is just perfect for my reptile-loving girl. The red dot lining was leftover from skirts I made for the girls, and I'm quite pleased at how it brightens up the bag.


Here's a shot inside so you can see the size. It was meant to hold a leapster, a few cartridges in the pocket, and a few chapter books, or a cd player and headphones.


It's much roomier than I intended, but I never complain about that. I put an interlining of fleece to give it a nice cushioning to keep the electronics safe. I'll have some pictures of the girl with it in the next few days, so you can see how it fits and how the strap is long enough to wear cross-body style.

Field Bag

At the beginning of the summer, I found these plans for making a field bag. I thought it was such a great idea to have a bag just for a field journal and pencils and little bags for treasures and such on hand and ready to go at all times, and I'm always looking for new ways to repurpose fabric. Here's the result . . .



Since it's for outside use and I don't want to worry about the bag getting muddied up when it's left on the wet ground, I used an old pair of my husband's work jeans. And important thing to note is that if you want to use a 5x7 spiral-bound journal (or anything larger), then an old pair of your kid's pants are probably not big enough for this project. I thought it would be great to use up all those pants that have holes in the knees but won't make a good pair of shorts, but Ella's pants were way too small to fit what we wanted in the bag. I even tried a pair of jeans that are way too small for me post-baby #2, but those didn't cut it either.

I'm sure I could make this a lot cuter, but for now it serves its purpose. Now, if we could just get our butts up and outside . . . it's looking much more promising now that the heat wave has subsided and we heard the mosquito abatement truck passing the other night. Just say "No," to West Nile.

Wet Bag

I've been meaning to make one of these . . .



Ever since I began our adventures in cloth diapering, I've meant to make a wet bag. But, one thing led to another and it just got pushed on the project back burner. The problem? I never left the house with a cloth diaper without a proper place to stash the dirty ones. So, when I finally braved to make the leap to full time cloth diapering, I decided I NEEDED one of these. Once you figure out the whole zipper thing and get your hands on some PUL (scraps leftover from diapermaking in my case, but you could also use some sort of washable vinyl), it really is a quick and easy project. I plan to make a couple more. Maybe a small one to hold just one for quick trip emergencies to through in my bag. This one happens to be a great size for day trips in the diaper bag. I may eventually make a larger one for wet clothes after trips to the pool or beach . . . if we ever get around to one of those places again.

Girly Girl

Happy 4th everyone!

I took advantage of some sales this morning and hit the fabric stores. Then, during naptime, I whipped up this quick, easy skirt for my girly girl . . .



So cute. I found this pattern a long time ago and stashed the .pdf for later. Then, last week during a craft playdate, a friend of ours from Mom's Club showed me one she made from the pattern and sent me the link. I figured maybe it was time to give making clothes a shot. See, I have this clothing-making phobia. But hers was so cute I had to give it a try. No kidding, it was super easy and SOOOOO cute!


I have enough to make a similar skirt for Ella, and I think I'll be making several more of these. Ella has already requested one with dinosaur fabric. Maybe I'll whip up a few more tomorrow. . .

Organizing Kids' Schoolwork

I decided to take control of all Ella's saved papers now, while she's in kindergarten, before they take over my office. I learned from moving my own things between several apartments and houses that the key is to keep everything in one single box. If you set a container limit, it really helps you focus on what is important to you, what you value, and toss the rest.

So last week I picked up a pack of two boxes (one for Ella and one for Harper later):


I keep a file folder in the office for papers to save throughout the year (like I did when she was in preschool), and at the end of the school year I can just put that folder in the box along with any yearbooks, class pictures, awards, etc. I would still like to create a scrapbook for each child, to showcase school pictures, a page of favorites for them to fill out, and whatever I can fit on one or two pages. But for now, it's in the box.

I wanted to get a plastic box (the flood taught us to put everything in plastic) that you can put the hanging files in, but I haven't seen any on sale recently, and I got tired of waiting. For now, they are stored safely on top shelves in closets. I can always trade out the boxes later.