Sewing: Book Pocket For Glider

Until recently, we would sit on the floor to read to The Boy, this being his preference. But recently, he's decided he wants to sit in the glider and rock while we read. The benefit of being on the floor is that you would have a stack of books in easy reach. Not so when you're in the glider....

So today, I repurposed the dust ruffle from his Classic Pooh crib set into a book pocket. I just took one of the long side ruffles, folded it in half, sewed around three sides and affixed some ribbons to tie it to the chair. Looks great, works great and now the dust ruffle has a new life. Since this one turned out so well, I'm going to make another one for the other side of the chair. (We can go through a lot of books of a night.)

The Love Rat 2.0

I promise that I'm not going to just rehash every blog post I did a year or two ago. It only seems that way, now.

Anyway, you remember The Love Rat, right?

Well, since he was supposed to be a bear and not a rat, I thought I'd try to make him again:

Yep, still very much a rodent. Maybe it's the pattern. Maybe I just haven't been able to master curves on a sewing machine.  I mean, look, the ears aren't as rounded as the first go-'round.

I tried tweaking a little at the neck to give the head more definition. And, as you see, I've given her button eyes and even embroidered her a little nose and mouth.  And I sewed joints for the arms and legs (just a strait stitch across after stuffing).

Still, she's cute. Wonder what The Boy will name her.

Also, while I'm here . . . bonus sewing show-offery!

Check out these cool pillows I made out of remnants! I just did a patchwork of fleece squares that I had laying around from having made a bunch of those tie-together fleece blankets, and then I made the back out of some t-shirt knit material I had left over from making infinity scarves for Christmas. (Thank you, Pinterest!) Then I basically just sewed them together the same way I did the baby blankets, only I stuffed them with fiber-fill first before I sewed them up and did the trim.

Fun.  Cute.  Easy!

Simple Sew Together Fleece Baby Blanket

I made a blanket for my nephew-to-be for Christmas. (Thus, I have waited until after Christmas to do this post so as not to ruin the surprise.) I have made a lot of those tie-together fleece blankets in my day, and they look great! But I end up getting blisters on my fingers from tying all those knots, and they seem to take forever.

So I decided to try my hand at sewing a fleece blanket instead. This one you see below (my nephew's) is actually the second one I've sewn, the first one being for my son. I find that the blanket comes together in about two hours and looks quite neat.  It's nothing but simple straight stitching and turning right-angle corners, which is right up my novice seamstress street.

So, here we go!

Step One: Buy two pieces of fleece. You can get whatever size you want for your blanket, but I get two yards of 60 inch fleece. This makes a nice sized blanket big enough to make a pallet on the floor, and it will still be a good size for a bigger kid to cuddle in later on. I chose a pattern and a solid color for my fleece.

Step Two: Cut off the selvedge edge from each piece.

Step Three: Pin the two pieces together with the "right" sides together.

Step Four: Sew the two pieces together, leaving a six to eight inch opening in the seam.

Step Five: Clip squares out of the corners. Be sure not to cut too close to (or through) your seam.

Step Six: Turn your blanket inside out. Be sure to push your corners out so that they're clean and "pointy."

Step Seven: Turn the edges of your opening in and begin sewing around the blanket on the outside, leaving about an inch of an edge. This does two things. It closes the hole where you turned the blanked inside out, and it creates an instant trim edge.

That's it! You're done! Happy sewing and happy new year!

The Love Rat

You would think that what with being a full time trial lawyer and a full time mommy, that I wouldn't have a lot of free time to do stuff.  And you would be right!

Still, one wants a hobby.  One wants a little fun thing to play around with.  In truth, I have a few of those. Occasionally, I will play the piano.  (But my hubby is the real pianist.)  I also like to birdwatch, cook . . . and then there's the cloth diapering (but that's for another show).  Recently, I took up sewing.  I'm not great, but it's fun.  Rather than wax philosophical about the art and craft of sewing, I'll just show you what I did this afternoon . . . .



Ah, well loved, well worn pajama bottoms.  Alas, the waist and drawstring are so worn that they have lost their usefulness qua pajamas.  What to do?  What to do?

"Hey!" thought I, "I can cut them up and make a little bear!"

First, I pinned the front pattern piece to the leg through both layers of fabric, and then cut through both layers at the same time to make two mirror image pieces.  Then, I did the same with the back pattern piece.  

All done cutting, I had two front pieces and two back pieces, which I then sewed together to make the front and the back of the bear.

Next, I sewed the front to the back.  (Sewing around curves is hard!  At least for me . . . .)

Last thing to do:  fill him with fiber fill and sew him up!

Finished!

Hmmmm.  Doesn't look much like a bear.  More like a rat . . . .

A love rat . . . .

The Boy still like him, though, bear or love rat.

And that means that this mom had a successful Saturday afternoon.