Birthday Girls! Baby Doll Sling, Diapers; Tea Crown and Pretend Teabags

So we are on a great schedule now.  Though it is sad that Elijah is down to just one nap a day now, it works out great when that nap is from 12:30 to 3:30 when Theodore is at school.  I'm allowed two to three hours of mama time that has been used lately in my "new" sewing room/office/craft room.  I really disliked this room when we first moved in, but I've finally gotten it all organized and it is now my favorite place in the house.

Reveal:

Inspiration and computer station on the left, sewing desk on the right.

The closet is packed full, with all sorts of crafty supplies, fabric, and tools.  I decided to use a bunch of glass jars I had to organize my materials slightly.  And the bags from Ikea were helpful in organizing extra fabric and all my "recyclables" that we keep for projects.

The striped box contains all of my stationary and different types of paper.  The boys craft materials and busy bags are housed in here as well.  Above the desk are some bulletin board areas where I post reminders, inspirations, Theo's homework, and announcements.

This wall is still blank, save for a temporary family tree print off.  I'm planning to hang some of my favorite old (50 years +) family photos here.  The bottom row of the bookshelf is full of my genealogy research.  Both of the wicker boxes here are stuffed full of fabric, with each kind wound carefully around a piece of cardboard to keep it all neat.

After Natalie's quilt was finished up, I got to work on birthday presents for two of my other nieces.

For Annalyn, who turns two, and is about to be a big sister in a few months, I picked some accessories for her baby doll so she can get some practice in.  The tutorial from Little Giggler for this sling worked out great, and the idea for baby diapers from Make It and Love it was perfect.  I may have to make some extras of these as my boys have always loved diapering their dolls and stuffed animals.

For Maci, who is now three, I gained inspiration from her recent tea parties with dinosaurs and grandmas.  I decided to make some of the cute little teabags that I've saw on pinterest.  And, of course, she needs a princess crown for when she is playing tea party, so I added that as well. Click on any of the links above for tutorials!

For the teabags, I basically just used pinking shears to cut out small squares and hexagonal pieces of fabric in the shape of a tea bag, and sewed them together adding a bit of stuffing inside and a bit of twine to connect the two pieces.

What has mama done to me now?

  Hoping they love them, and that their mamas send me photos since Eli wasn't the most happy model.

Miss Natalie Ann's Quilt

 As a second daughter, I have a special place in heart for my newest niece, who is also born into being a younger sister.  Having an older sister can be tough, but I would not give it up for anything.  And I'm glad to have younger ones as well-best of both worlds.

Wanting to celebrate her birth, I spent the week before she was born and a few days after (first baby on our side who came before her due date) crafting this beautiful quilt for her.  I must say it is my favorite quilt I've done, and I hope she loves it as much as I do.

Here she is at 11 days old!

I got the tutorial from Diary of a Quilter here, though I did modify the dimensions a bit (the squares are 4.5" rather than 5") when I decided I loved the Dainty in Red Aqua of the Scrumptious Collection by Bonnie and Camille for Moda print enough to make it the backing (but only had a yard of it).  I quilted by simply stitching around all fifty squares (in the ditch).  So cute!

Now I'm in the mood to start working on more...

With big sis.

Eli loved meeting the baby.

Thanksgiving Button-Turkey (Busy Bag)

I saw some of these button turkeys recently, and realized I had to make one for Thanksgiving.  Theodore is really at the age now where he is understanding seasons and holidays, and gets very excited by the changes in decor he sees with these, so I knew he'd love having his own little turkey.  And, he needs desperately to get better at all aspects of dressing himself, so practicing buttons in a fun way sounded perfect.

I couldn't really find any patterns or tutorials for this that were quite my style, so I went ahead and just free-handed the whole project, making my own changes as I went.  And I decided I would try and write up some directions for others to use.

Materials and Tools

Felt:  4 or more colors for feathers, plus two browns for turkey body, red for the wattle, yellow for the beak

Buttons:  4 or more colors to match feathers

embroidery thread and needle, thread

sewing machine, button hole foot
seam ripper, scissors, glue
eyes
stuffing

1.  Cut out feathers, turkey body, turkey head, beak, and wattle.  Here's a screen shot of my template, but feel free to contact me for the PDF file.

2.  Next I went ahead and put the button holes in all the feathers.  I haven't done a button hole in probably over ten years, so it took me some time re-learning how to do this on my machine (even had to break out the manual).  Once I figured it out, it became very easy to repeat.  You can search for how to sew a button hole, but basically you set your dial to 0.5, and then use the 1, 2/4, 3, 2/4 stitches on your second dial.  The machine does all the work.  I learned to make sure to keep the needle up whenever I turned the dial to the next stitch.  I then opened them up using a seam ripper.

I did not even remember what this foot was for.

3.  Next, I hand sewed on all the buttons using embroidery thread.  I'd love to learn how to do this on the machine sometime.

4.  Finally, I stitched on the turkey head, beak, and wattle.  I glued the eyes on.  I then hand stitched the turkey body closed, stuffing it before the last few stitches.

As soon as I stuffed it, Theo became excited for his "turkey pillow" that Elmo and Elizabeth now get to sleep with.  He is getting really good at buttoning all the feathers on.

I thought it turned out pretty well.  But apparently, I should have added wings.  Because Theodore has been brought practically to tears by the idea that a turkey is a bird.  He is convinced they don't have wings.... and don't get him started on penguins.  He thinks they are fish...