Snow Day

Maybe I should call it a rainy snow day. We got a lot of snow overnight, but it turned to icy rain during the morning. Now it's just all-out rain. (Yuck.) I'd much rather have inches more of snow than rain on top of snow and temperatures below freezing.

But really, who am I kidding? I'm just happy we had snow before the rain. I love snow, and I love snow days. I haven't had a job in years that required me to drive when there was too much snow, so I still like it. I'm sure if I had a job where I had to go to work regardless of snow accumulation, or if it really interfered with my schedule, I'd begin to feel differently. But that's one of the great things about having been a teacher and now being at home full-time. Here's how we stayed busy today. 

Uncovering the car

Jumping on the "trampoline"

Making applesauce

Taking sunflower seeds out of a dried flower head

Miscellaneous Sewing Projects

I've spent more time at my sewing machine in the past few months than I have in a long time. It's been a lot of fun and met my need for a creative outlet. However, I like to be useful and practical when it comes to sewing too. Here are a few things I've spent time sewing recently.

Tote bag made with
miscellaneous fabrics from my stash.

Small cloth napkins. 

I used home dec fabric from my stash.

I made a skirt for my niece last summer when she came for a visit, and this little skirt 

was for her American Girl doll. It matches my niece's skirt. 

Apparently it makes a nice hat too.

One of my cousins got married last fall, and

I wanted a new dress for the occasion, so I took the plunge and sewed one. 

It's the first dress I sewed that I feel really fits me well (thanks for the help with the fitting, Sis!). 

Unfortunately, I don't have a better picture of it. 

I'm not good at getting pictures of my completed clothing projects.

(Just ignore those water spots - it was a rainy evening.)

Pillow for Edwin's room.
I made him a duvet out of scrap fabric last year,
and this coordinates.

Cloth reversible bibs. 

She may be potty trained, but she still needs a bib.

Plastic bibs get gross, so I used old towels and fabric from my stash. 

The pattern is the reversible bib from "Growing Up Sew Liberated" by Meg McElwee. 

I love this bib pattern.

OVERALLS

The title deserves to be capitalized because of how much Edwin wanted new bib overalls. I would look (at his request) every time we stopped at a thrift store, but I never found any his size. So I decided I might as well make some. Let me just say that I have a lot more respect for whomever it is who sews my jeans. Like jeans, overalls have a lot of top stitching, and that part was more difficult than the actual construction of the clothing. Now I understand why overalls cost what they do in the store. Chances are the people sewing them don't get paid what they should. I've been thinking about that much more since making these overalls.

It might seems strange but these were Edwin's Christmas gift. He was pretty happy with them, except that he didn't like that it was a surprise. He wished I'd have told him I was making him some for Christmas. Go figure.

This pattern is Kwik Sew 3948. I used the same denim as my Lisette Traveler dress, but this is the right side. It's too lightweight for overalls, I think, but it worked well enough, and they certainly aren't too heavy for him to wear comfortably. Because of the thinness of the material I had to reinforce the areas where I attached the metal buttons. I almost ruined the overalls when attaching one of the buttons. They can be tricky, especially when it's midnight and you're trying to finish them the day before Christmas Eve. Thankfully, it all worked out, and no one sees the patched hole beside one of the buttons. I'm glad I made them, but I won't be making another pair any time soon.

Birthday Backpack

Elena turned two in December, and I'm finally getting around to mentioning it. We keep birthdays fairly simple around here, because I am not a party planner. The thought stresses me out. We gave Elena a gift on the day of her birthday and then had both sets of grandparents over for a birthday dinner and cake the following day. (The cake is a whole stressful story of it's own. All I'll say is that I made twice as much cake as I planned and none of it turned out the way it should have.)

Anyway, here are some pictures of Elena's birthday backpack. I had made one for Edwin when he turned two, before leaving for Botswana. Elena had been wanting to wear Edwin's, so I figured it was time for her own. Plus, she's out of diapers now (!!!), so we've retired the diaper bag and use the backpack instead.

Many thanks to indietutes for the free toddler backpack pattern. I made some changes to the pattern that includes a small zipper pocket on the back, open pockets on the front, velcro closure, and I added about 1/2" all the way around. Plus, I lined the backpack and use fleece as a padding in between the outer fabric and lining.