dIY Cardigans

Hey friends... I know I have not posted for awhile. I just haven't been crafting. I blame it on the season... but now that the sun is out more I feel my energy level pepping up, so hopefully I will be posting my own crafts soon. But until then here are a few cardigan embellishments that love so fun...

Scrunchy Hem

Heart Back

Lace Pockets

Blue Flowers

Flowers and Lace

Sweater Mittens

I got this idea from this lady's booth at the St. Norbert Market. Her's were made with felted sweaters... but I just happened to have a knitted sweater I picked up at the thrift store (I was planning to make a sweater pillow but never got to it) so I used that. I made a lining for the mittens out of fleece.
The trick to making mittens out of fabric is that the thumb is not on directly on the side of your hand. It took me a few tries... but you have to make the back of the hand a little bit bigger then the front. I used the cuffs of the sweater as the cuffs for the mittens. One thing I didn't really like was the seam between the cuff and the mitten. It was pretty thick and bulged out.
It was a pretty fast craft... minus figuring out the pattern, but I think for the 10$ it costs to buy a pair of mittens... I might just recommend that : )

DIY Touchpad Cover

I just purchased myself a touchpad! It's so fun... I now know what angry birds is : )
I saw a cover for it online, but it just wasn't my style, so I decided to make one. My first try was a failure. (pictured below) I thought I would pad it... but it ended up being so big, and the point of a touchpad is that it is small and portable. Another mistake with my first try was the way I tried to hold the touchpad in. I did two folds... and it was just too precarious.


With my second one I thought of the idea to use a book cover. I bought a book at the thrift store that fit my touch pad. If you want to make one yourself make sure your book's spine is thick enough for your device to fit into. I then took out all the pages.


Next I sewed my cover with a pocket on the one inside cover and four elastics to hold the touchpad in place and one elastic to close the cover together. The tricky part was putting the last piece on... the inside spine. I ended up sewing it on the side that has the four elastics and then hot glueing that seem to the book spine, then folding the other side over and glued that down to the other end of the book spine. In the end my hot glueing was a little messy... I should have taken my time, but Max was crying and I wanted to finish the project... but besides that I love it!

Great Pillow Tutorials

So I am looking into making a few pillows... I am trying to bring a little more gray into my living room... and I found a few great tutorials so I thought I'd share them:

Hello Beautiful

Persia Lou

Persia Lou

Warmth in the North

Alisa Burke

Creative Little

V and Co.

Painted Curtains!

It's time for my true heritage to shine through... guess how much these curtains cost me! Oh bah, my Mennonite family will be proud. Did you guess? ... and I don't Derek guess. (Side note= Derek is my brother, and whenever I think I found a good deal on something I would ask him to guess the price, he always guesses a ridiculously low price just to wipe the proud smile of my face) Answer: 4 dollars! All I had to buy was a 4$ flat sheet from the thrift store.


I first cut it in two then sewed it along the cut and a seem at the top for the curtain rod to fit through. Next I penciled on a stencil, then I painted it on. Super easy. My only regret is that I should have bought fabric medium to add to the latex paint I used. (I used the same paint as on the dresser) Honestly, I was too lazy to go to the store and too excited to start painting. ... yes, I was excited and lazy at the same time.... it happens. But all in all, totally pumped at how they turned out!

Max's First Wedding

Max's first big outting was an important one... he got to go to a wedding! And it was so fun to dress up my little man. I bought a black tie and a plain white onsie to make his undershirt. Then I really wanted to find him a v-neck cardigan, but i had no luck finding one, so I made one. I took an old sweater of mine and cut it up. It worked out so well... I just might have to try it again. He looked like a stylish old man!

Tie One

One month! My little boy is one month already. Time flies... but at the same time I feel like I have known this little man for way longer then one month. Being a mom has been tiring, but oh, so amazing!
This latest craft I have to share is one I did for Max. I had a plain onsie and decided to spiff it up... and thus this creation:

My First Baby Blanket!

My first baby blanket! ...I should clarify, I mean the first one that I have made for my baby.
Yesterday I had a little extra time in the evening and a little extra fabric. I love it! I just want to make more! I have been looking at alot of crafts online where people have been using vintage fabrics... like retro sheets and pillow cases, so I am thinking about trying incorporating in my next project.

Bassinet

So I bought a used bassinet, thinking I would just use it as it was. Then I got a little excited and decided to recover the bassinet. This turned out to be a way bigger project then I thought... luckily I had so much help from my mom! In the end it turned out way too cute and I love it! While laboring away (oh so pun-ny), it was fun to dream about the baby that will soon get to sleep in it! (Below is a before picture)

Baby Booties!

When me and my mom were looking threw my old baby stuff we came across a pattern for baby booties! These were so fun to make. Choose the fabrics to go together was my favorite. Above is a pair I made for a friend of mine, and her cute little baby is modeling them! Below is boy pair I made. I have made a few pairs now... there is definitely a learning curve, as my first pair took me hours and hours and I had to get my mom to finish them... but now I got it down and it's such an enjoyable project. Once I know if my baby is a boy or a girl I will make some more.

Love Love Love

I love handmade gifts.
I love my new diaper bag.
I love love love my grandma!

My grandma made me this bag, she has amazing seamstress skills! I love all the pockets and I can't wait to fill them up with baby things!

What was old... is now new again!

I love upcycling because it is such a green idea. You save the world from the by products of creating a new product and possibly save the landfill from having to store one more item... plus you get to be creative in how you revamp your treasure.
For my birthday my mother-in-law offered to upcycle a rocking chair for me. What a lovely gift!
Here are the before and afters:

Baby Bonnets!

My first baby project was inspired after my mom and I took a tour through the boxes of our (my sibling's and mine) baby clothing. I saw all these cute bonnets, so I decided to try to make a few. Notice all the random sizes... one turned out way too small. The most fun was choosing the fabrics to go together.

Quiet Book

My labour of love, which in no way compares to the labour my friend went through to deliver her beautiful baby, was to make a Quiet Book. I have always wanted to make one, so in spring, when my friend told me she was pregnant, I believe the second thing out of my mouth.... after being speechless and excited and finally saying congratulations... was "I am going to make you a Quiet Book!" This project is a definite time commitment, but a super fun project.

The Cover

Valcro Clown Face

Lace Up Football and Botton On Flowers

Pocket Train

Snap On Balloons and Close-Pinned Clothes

Match the Shapes and Mitten

Zipper Lady Bug with Babies