new taggie ball

I love these things! Great go-to gift. And, isn't the cutest thing of all that little blur of a girl?

Black apple doll - Princess Wanda

I've finally made enough of these Black Apple Dolls that I feel like I can whip one out pretty fast, especially with my little helpers stuffing the limbs! I use the pattern, but lately, I always use fleece instead of felt. The felt ones I made for my girls looked ratty and pilled pretty fast. The fleece is also very soft and machine washable. WINNER!

This is my favorite black apple doll yet, and if I can manage to get it done, I will be making one exactly like this for this sweet little baby that could come any day now.  We made this little doll for a friend's birthday. It was a princess party, so we thought it was only fitting that she should have a nice crown and skirt.

The crown was pretty easy and is stretchy and removable. If you are dying to make one, too, post a comment  or send me an e-mail about it and I'll try to put up a pattern. (Wouldn't it be cute to make one matching for your big girl, too?)

Here she is without her accessories. Still lovely and demure!

Snail Pillow

This is another fun item I made for the baby's room. I'm trying to go with the color scheme of my favorite scarf- warm pink, peachy orange, yellow, and cream. In my nursery so far, I had pink things, orange things, yellow things, and cream things, but nothing that pulled it all together. I made this pillow in hopes of that, and I like how it turned out! When I finished it, I ran upstairs to find my husband asleep. So, I woke him up and showed it to him. His eyes cracked open and he said, "It's a snail." Then he went back to sleep.

Hopefully, whoever is reading this is slightly more enthusiastic about it.

If you're curious, the shell is made of cotton print scraps I had around. I sewed them all into one big tube, then ruffled them and pinned and sewed them onto the pillow. The sluggy body is made of fleece (very snuggly and easy to throw in the washing machine if anyone decides to spit up on it.) The antennae aren't sewn down, which makes him a little more 3-D. The body of the pillow is made from the

bottom of the curtain that was trimmed off. It has a folded closure in the back.

I know it's a longshot, but I'm entering this fun pillow in the pillow contest at Sew, Mama, Sew. Luckily, the photos don't show my less than perfect craftsmanship. They are having a pillow month, so if you're thinking of pillows, you can visit them and drool over the beautiful diversity of pillows showcased this month.

homemade toddler nightgown

 

My Daughter, Miriam, loves to dance. She is a ballet fanatic. The hilight of her week is her ballet class. When we go to the library, we go up to the non-fiction section and pick out a ballet on DVD. That is her favorite thing to watch at home! The above picture is her watching ballet.

Anyway, this girl loves ballet. I got this Angelina Ballerina Fabric for a nightgown and finally have gotten around to it in this super nesty phase I'm going through. I used the tutorial and pattern at gingercake. Hers was a pillowcase nightgown, but I just made a couple of adjustments to make it work for normal fabric. I made the sleeves longer because it's winter and COLD. (I still intend to gather the sleeves at the bottom when I get my hands on some really skinny elastic.)  I also did the back fasten with a tie instead of a button. I just had the bias tape go long in the back on each side.

 As you can tell from the picture above, she's thrilled about her new nightgown... (no, really, I just loved this picture- this is a classic pout from her. Why don't more people post pictures of their kids being grumpy? It's not like mine is the only kid who makes this face...)

 I'm especially glad to have made this for Miriam because her only other nightgown is really a hospital gown that the hospital let her keep when she got stitches this fall. It's kind of drafty.

I love my little girls and was really happy to take a break from baby stuff and sew something for this little princess.

Nursery sneak peek

Can you guess what these will be for? I've been wanting to make one for a long time now...

Card holder

I have two different types of business cards- my photography cards and my music cards. I thought it would be fun to have a snazzy holder for them because everything that falls into my evil diaper bag/mom-purse ends up bent, crumpled, colored on, and wet. So, as a protective measure, I made the little card holder here to keep my cards looking pristine. I think if I'd do it again, I'd make it a little more snug on the cards. If you like it enough to want a tutorial, let me know. Otherwise, I'll let you just enjoy the yummy tangerine colors of my favorite Heather Bailey print.

Book Recommendation- Fanny by Holly Hobbie

Fanny by Holly Hobbie

Okay, if you have storybook aged kids, love to sew, or are just a little old fashioned, you will love this book! It's about a girl and her homemade doll. Fanny goes through some self-discovery while she learns to enjoy the work of her own hands. I like how she figures out that what everyone else wants doesn't necessarily need to be what she wants. It's exciting to imagine a 9 year old girl discovering this when most 30 year old girls are still struggling with it.

Then, if you like it, you'll probably also love the sequel, Fanny and Annabelle. This is more of an adventure in art and honesty, but it has that same genuine, old-fashioned girl vibe.

Kimono baby booties

Well, here is the link to the cute kimono baby shoes pattern: http://myhomespunthreads.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-kimono-shoes.html  I really like this pattern, and it seems to me to be slightly easier than the stardust pattern. I made three little pair of girl shoes, but I forgot to take photos before I gave them away. So, here are some boy ones that I made.

PS- I'm really exited about this pregnancy thing and busting out of my clothes, so don't be surprised if you find some new maternity ideas soon.

Kimono baby booties