Hey, Mr. Dinosaur!

OK, so this post is mostly for my mom so that she can see the sweet stegosaurus I made for my soon-to-be-a-big-brother nephew. I actually missed his birthday back in April, but I'm sure he'll forgive me (as if he cares!) when he receives his stegosaurus.

I started off with this image and enlarged it with a handy-dandy enlarger/projector thing that my mother-in-law found at a garage sale. I wasn't sure what I would do with the thing, but I think it's pretty awesome now that I've played with it a bit. I traced the enlarged image and cut out all the different pieces to make my pattern. The most challenging part was the gusset for the legs and belly so that he wasn't just flat. I'm quite proud of my first stuffed animal!

I haven't taken the stegosaurus's exact measurements, but I think he's around 30 inches long and 18 inches tall (without measuring his spikes).

That's all for now, but I am working on another stuffed toy for my almost 1 year old boy. I'll post pictures of that once it's done! :)

~Regina

Swaddle Baby

When I stumbled across BeccaMarie's tutorial for a swaddle baby, I knew I had found not only the perfect gift for my just-turned-one-year-old niece, but also another idea for Operation Christmas Child boxes! It's a little more involved than the Nubbie dolls, but it's still pretty simple. I made it more complicated by adding arms.

BeccaMarie also has a wonderful tutorial on how to paint the face. I went with a more anime style eyes but I think I'll try the smaller, round eyes next time.

See the cute little arms? I totally cut those out free-form and they turned out great. I don't recommend doing that, but it worked this time.

The back.

And the layers still separate!

If you haven't done yarn hair before, then BeccaMarie also has an awesome tutorial for that! I've looked all over the internet for simple tutorials on sewing on doll hair and this is one of the best I've seen. :)

Hope this gives someone some good ideas for crafting!

~Regina

Re-evaluating

I haven't posted anything recently. I've thought about it, but I haven't done it. Why? I'm tired and busy. Writing posts is hard work! Originally, I set up this blog to just show off projects every once in a while, nothing too strenuous. Somehow, I got sucked into the idea that I MUST post at least once a week. I began to find crafting stressful because I had to keep up with taking photos and writing a post. I'm giving up on that. I want my crafting to be fun and leisurely, not driven only by the need to write a post. I guess I'm just not cut out to be a crafting blogger. I will post when I have something to show off or a tutorial to fill in a gap I perceive in the internet world.

Happy crafting!

~Regina

T-Shirt Painting with Toddlers

Our 3 year old had a distinct lack of summer clothing in this unseasonably warm weather. We picked up some t-shirts from the thrift store--some cute, but some very plain. I immediately  made plans to spruce them up, then got the idea to include our daughter, hoping she was old enough to handle it. She was, in fact, absolutely wonderful.

She even had her own idea about how to decorate one of them.

 She had her heart set on the flowers and fairy from Harold's Fairy Tale.

 I cut freezer paper to the size of the front of the shirt and traced the pictures straight out of the book using a sharpie. The moon was the finishing touch--also suggested by my daughter.

 I cut the shapes out going along the outside of the lines. Then I went back and cut along the inside of the lines. I ironed the main shapes onto the shirt first, then carefully added in the inside shapes so that only the space that used to be lines would be painted.

 Then I managed to spill a bunch of water on it and I had to take some time to cry it out. The blowdrier worked pretty quickly. :)

 Finally! Time to paint! I set her up outside with some nice purple paint and let her go to town.

 She was so excited.

 She decided she was done once she got here, but she came back later and filled up the rest of the white space, just for good measure.

 She really layered on the paint, but it barely soaked through the other side. The newspaper in between the layers of the shirt was just in case it soaked through badly.

 It turned out wonderfully! Here's the fairy...

 And the flowers!

 Sooo cute! Our daughter did such a great job. :)

~Regina

Simple Spit-Up Cloths

...And, well, I'll show off some pretty spit-up cloths, too. :)

I'm sorry for posting late, we've been taken out by seasonal allergies. I've hardly done any sewing this week.

I finally finished my friend's spit-up cloths for her baby girl. I had tons of fun picking out fabrics and playing with the gorgeous colors. This sweet baby girl is going to have not only great, practical spit-up cloths, but also soft terry-backed cloths with ruffles and ribbon tabs. She also got the chenille cloths I made a while ago.

These more practical spit-up cloths are made from a panel of flannel sewn onto a cloth diaper. How big you make the flannel is up personal preference, but I like to cut my flannel to 19 inches long by 7 inches wide. This is just big enough to cover the center, extra-layered part of the cloth diaper after all the raw edges have been turned under.

 Iron the long sides under and attach a ribbon along the edge. I like to use satin 3/8inch ribbon, but wider ribbon could be fun and grosgrain works well, too.

 Then attach the whole thing to the cloth diaper. Easy as pie! Make sure your bobbin thread matches the cloth diaper's color. If your tension is balanced, then neither should show up on the other side.

 Pink on top!

 White on the bottom!

 All done! So easy and cute!

 Here's my stack!

 The other set has ruffles and ribbon tabs--perfect for little hands to enjoy.

 So fun!

Which one is your favorite?

~Regina