Loops and Pockets: Boy's Own Style

Just a reminder that you can find my post about adding loops and pockets to boys' pants over at Cook Clean Craft today. Here's a little preview:

Enjoy!

Mmm, Corn Dogs

When we have treats in our house, they usually come in the form of dessert. The other night, however, I was at a loss for what to make for dinner, when I spotted an email from allrecipes.com touting a recipe for corn dogs. I happened to have part of a package of wieners in the fridge left over from Canada Day weekend, so I thought I'd toss healthy eating to the wind for one night and give these a shot. Oh my goodness, they were delicious, on top of being fast and easy to make.

I only had three wieners left in the package, so I cut each one in half, and stuck in a popsicle stick. I mixed up half the batter recipe (using a whole egg, because I couldn't divide that in half), and dumped the batter into a drinking glass to make it easy to dunk the wieners. A quick fry in peanut oil (sticks and all), and the corn dogs were done. My kids devoured them, and I added some salad on the side to assuage any mommy guilt I may have felt about the questionable nutritional content of dinner.

Corn Dogs (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
2 (16 ounce) packages beef frankfurters
16 wooden skewers
Directions

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and baking powder. Stir in eggs and milk.
Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Insert wooden skewers into frankfurters. Roll frankfurters in batter until well coated.
Fry 2 or 3 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, about 3 minutes*. Drain on paper towels.

* My corn dogs cooked for barely a minute, instead of the three called for in the recipe. I broke my cooking thermometre last time I used it, so maybe my oil was hotter than I thought, but just keep an eye on them when you're cooking, and you'll see when they're done.

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Changing gears, I have some exciting news. Narelle from Cook Clean Craft has invited me to be a guest blogger next week as part of her Boy's Own Style series.



Check me out there July 9th, as well as the other great guest posters who will be sharing their best boy clothing ideas throughout the month.

Doll Quilt and Pillow

I've been into a little early Christmas gift making this year. Some of the little girls in my life will be receiving these miniature doll quilts with matching pillows.

(Sorry, I still haven't figured out how to stop my phone photos from cutting themselves off on one side.)
I love these little sets. They are made almost entirely with scraps, so are budget friendly, and they're quick to make. And, I think they're pretty adorable, too.
This one is a basic patchwork quilt, about 18 inches square. I cheated on the binding by just folding the backing over to the front. There are only two lines of quilting. Keeping it simple! The pillow is a rectangle of folded, sewed and stuffed fabric -- again, nothing fancy, but I remember loving this sort of thing when I was a kid. Feels like so long ago.

Bedtime Book Sling

My oldest son and I have gotten into the habit of reading a few chapters of a big-kid book together each night before bed.

Unfortunately, his books would end up all over the dresser or the floor. So last night I found a piece of denim-y canvas-y type fabric and stitched it into a nifty book swing. It attaches to his bunk bed with snaps.

I was going to make a full tutorial, but really, this is just a rectangle of fabric with the long edges hemmed and short ends stitched together. The strap were stitched on last, with a single snap added to each one. I was afraid that the sling might sag in the middle, so I stitched two lines through the rectangle to create three separate pockets. It works brilliantly

Sorry about the wonky and fuzzy pictures. They're from my phone and aren't orienting properly for some reason (you should be able to see the whole sling, not just parts of it!). Could be because I'm learning to post from my phone, too. Live and learn!

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It's That Time of Year: KCWC

One of my favourite blogs is elsie marley. And one of my favourite things about this blog is what is called Kids Clothing Week Challenge. The challenge is to spend an hour a day, for one week, working on sewing clothing for children. Fun, right?

I only have one specific project in mind for this challenge, and that's a little sundress for a friend's baby daughter, but I'm sure my own boys will be getting something, too.

Thread Holder for my Sewing Room

I have spools of thread all over my house -- which makes it hard to find what I need. There's a small plastic holder in my sewing room, but it doesn't seem to hold larger spools. They always pop off and roll across the floor.

Solution? Grab a piece of plywood from the garage, staple some fabric to it, and direct hubby to pound on a nail every two inches. Let the kids watch and call it craft time. (:

We used a drill to screw in a couple holes and mounted it right next to my sewing table. So handy! Small word of caution...careful when drilling through the fabric so that it doesn't tear (lesson learned!). It would be best to drill the mounting holes prior to covering the board with fabric.
I love it!

Knitting Needle Roll for Me

I'm finally starting to feel a little less likely to throw up every half hour, so thought I'd celebrate with starting a new knitting project. That lead me to a couple hours spent browsing on Ravelry, and finally a decision on this cute little shrug. I have a feeling this baby might be a girl, but until I know for sure, this shrug will be for a friend's little girl.

After all that, I realized I never posted about the new knitting needle roll I made for myself. My knitting needles were a mess -- scattered across every room, some left in abandoned project (some so old I don't even remember what I was making!), and so a solution was necessary.

I took enough photos for a tutorial, and will get that posted soon, but for now, here's a look at my sanity-saving knitting needle roll:

The fabric was from a cheap Walmart fat quarter bundle that I had in my stash. It wrinkles a bit, but overall, I have to say I love this roll, and feel so much more organized now.

Silhouette Dust Cover -- Char & Melanie Style!

Quite a while back, I saw that Char, from Crap I've Made, posted a tutorial for a Silhouette Dust Cover. I got excited and promptly forgot. Then, more recently, Melanie from The Crafty Cupboard, posted her version, which boasted a Velcro-closure pocket to store the extra blades. Brilliant!

So I got to work on this very fast project, and voila!

Isn't it cute?

Here you can see the pocket a little better. It's a bit lumpy because it's already loaded with the spare blades. My camera battery died at this point, so no more detailed photos. You can see I chose to use snaps instead of Velcro. I picked up a snap press off of Kijiji a couple months ago, and since then, I stalk my home looking for things to which I can add snaps. Kids' hat straps too big? Snap 'em! Dish towels falling off the stove handle? No more. Velcro coming loose on the dog's coat? Pfft! Snaps to the rescue. My husband thinks my admiration for this tool is a bit unhealthy, but I love it.

Last Minute Christmas Pajamas

It's become my little family's tradition to have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and then relax with leftovers and treats on Christmas Day. Last night, with my tummy full of turkey and trimmings and the dishes still undone, I decided we all needed matching pajamas -- before bedtime!

So with hubby and the boys snuggled up to watch a decidedly un-Christmas-y Star Trek movie, I headed down to my sewing machine to whip up some cozy flannel PJs. I didn't take any formal photos, but you can sort of see them in our photos from this morning.

The boys each got flannel pants and an appliqued t-shirt, while hubby and I made do with flannel pants and unadorned tees. The applique was a simple tree shape. The print is purple plaid, so it's Christmas-y without being in-your-face Christmas-y, and I think the boys will be happy to wear these for months. One last bit -- it's hard to see in the photo above, but I added a little lace edging to the leg bottoms of my pants, just to make them a little more girlish.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas.

Train Christmas Stocking

One of my favourite parts of Christmas festivities is opening stockings with my family. I also love making Christmas stockings, so when our local playgroup was looking for items to donate for an auction, I offered up two custom made stockings. The auction winner asked for a stocking like this one (sorry, I don't know the source):

Which turned into this stocking:

Each piece was drawn and cut freehand, and then fused to the stocking with Heat-n-Bond Ultra. I stitched around some of the areas, like the windows for accent and security, but I'm pretty sure this will never come apart.

In case I don't get around to posting again before the big day, Merry Christmas to all!

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241 Tote

A friend recently asked me to sew up a couple bags for her mom. It seemed the perfect opportunity to try out the 241 Tote that I bought ages ago. It turned out nicely, although I was working in a sleep deprived state, and put the side panels on with the accent fabric on the inside rather than the outside. Oops!

I also made a simple, lined shopping bag to go with it.

Overall, I think it's a cute and practical gift, and I have plans to make a more modern version of the 241 tote for myself after Christmas. I have a few more projects I'd like to complete before Christmas, so hopefully will have more to show soon.

Handmade Gift Exchange: sent & received!

One of the things I enjoy most about the holidays is exchanging gifts with loved ones. And now, thanks to the Winter 2011 edition of the Handmade Gift Exchange at Craftaholics Anonymous, you can add exchanging gifts with strangers to that list as well!
My exchange partner was Ana, a Brazilian woman who moved to Manitoba after marrying her Canadian husband. Brr, I think I may have tried to persuade hubby to move to Brazil instead. Ana blogs at Tropical Momma -- check her out there or on Facebook, where you can see more of her Custom Art!
In any case, Ana said she liked the colour leaf green, so I went through my stash and found some leafy green yarn (I actually went to a friend's house and matched it against some of her houseplants!), and knitted up a little scarfette. You've seen this pattern from me before here. It's one of my favourite patterns to make.

Ana also has a young daughter, so I made her a quick crayon and notepad roll. I keep one of these in my bag for use in waiting rooms, restaurants, etc. Keeps the kids amused, and is easy to carry around. Hope she likes it!

And now for the really good stuff...this piece of Christmas gorgeousness is what she sent me! I love it! It arrived this morning, just in time for decorations starting to go up at our house. Thanks so much, Ana! Your work is great and I will treasure it.

Crochet Hook Case Fail

Every once in a while, a friend asks if I will teach her how to sew. Of course! So, in anticipation of my next lesson, I found a cute pattern for a simple crochet hook case. I thought it would be a great beginner project, and would help my friend how to work from a pattern. I wanted to have a sample -- and let's face it, my crochet hook collection is a mess! -- so I made one of the cases this morning, using some cheap fabric I picked up at Walmart a while back. I cut the pattern pieces, and thought they looked a little small, so I grabbed a crochet hook and held it against the fabric. Sure enough, it fit with room to spare. So on I went. Here's the finished case:

See that crochet hook on top? I wasn't trying to be artsy-fartsy with my photo...it just doesn't fit in my case. In fact, none of my hooks, aside from the short one I initially grabbed as a tester, fit. Bad luck, but the good news is that this project whips up in a snap and I will definitely be making a larger one soon.

Pleated Swap Purse

I was recently invited to join a bag swap -- my first one! I've done other handmade swaps before, but not for a bag. It was fun, but a little nerve wracking when you look at all the fabulous bags the other ladies created. In any case, this is the bag I made and mailed.

The pattern is one I purchased from ithinksew quite a while ago, but never got around to making. Story of my crafting life! It came together pretty well, although I did struggle a bit with the handle, and I made some modifications to the pleating, and added some piping. Overall, I'm pleased with how it came out.

Part two of the swap was to include a bag of scraps. Sadly, I'm not one of those girls who has a ton of popular modern designer fabrics (fabric shopping options are really limited here, despite being a good-sized city & online options from the USA can take ages to arrive), so I included some pieces from travels and my stash. Hope my partner isn't disappointed.

In my haste to get the bag mailed out two hours before the deadline, I neglected to notice that my son had pulled out of the package the card I'd made to go with it, so I guess I'll be mailing that separately next week. Oops!

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Point of View party

Catch Up, and Beet Soup

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Fall is a flurry of activity and events for my family, and all that, coupled with trying to get the house and yard winter ready, testing the waters for working part time again, and some family strife, I just haven't felt like blogging. Or even crafting much, for that matter. I also forgot to take photos of almost everything, so here are some of the highlights: * goodies for a play group Hallowe'en party -- 'mouldy' popcorn (idea from Purple Chocolat Home), bean bags with jack-o-lantern faces, and pumpkin pie scented playdough.

* finished second butterfly quilt. I free motion quilted it like the first one, but managed to get a fold in the backing. Not a big deal...still pretty. * took part in a vegetarian soup swap. I made beet soup, from this Canadian Living recipe, and really enjoyed it. I never cared for beets as a kid, but as an adult, there's something about the vibrancy of beet flesh that just screams health and vitality to me. * baby hats, knitted and sewn. My friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl almost a month ago, and I knitted her a few simple baby hats and sewed a little bonnet as part of her baby gift. Love all that girly stuff! * Hallowe'en quilt -- I completed a couple rows of the quilt front, but this project is now officially on hold until next fall! * Handmade Gift & Bag swaps -- I haven't participated in many swaps, but t'is the season for me to procrastinate on making gifts for people I know, in exchange for making gifts for people I don't know. These projects are on the hush, so photos will come after mailing. And, um, completion. * Family gifts -- despite good intentions, I have very few Christmas gifts completed, and I foresee myself hitting the stores the week before Christmas. Yike. * Baking -- I've been doing a lot of baking lately. Cool weather response, I suppose. * And, the biggie, my youngest son decided it was time to stop using diapers. I'm so proud of him! I didn't 'potty train' either of my kids; rather, I put out a potty seat, told them what it was for, and waited. It probably took them longer than some kids (my youngest is almost three years, and my oldest was three years and a couple months), but the transition has been pretty accident free, even at night. That's it for now. I promise to be a better blogger the rest of November and December. It's not that I think anyone is sitting at home, pining away for me to post something. Rather, posting is a good way to motivate myself to get going on my projects, and a nice way to look back on all that I did manage to get done. Sounds silly, but I really am more productive when I think about blogging something. Have a great week!

Butterfly Quilt for a Baby Girl

After months of procrastination, the butterfly quilt I’ve been working on is finally finished. It’s not a perfect quilt, but I like how it turned out.

I attempted free motion quilting on an actual quilt for the first time. I definitely need to work on my design shaping, but it was a super quick and effective way to quilt, especially since I didn’t want to quilt through the butterflies.

This quilt is made entirely from scraps and fabric that’s been in my stash for over a year. To create the butterflies, I Googled butterfly silhouettes until I found a shape I liked. I literally traced it off my laptop screen onto a piece of paper (using pencil) and then outlined the shape with dark marker. I used the tracings to make cardstock templates, and then used the templates to trace the butterflies onto fabric backed with light duty fusible web.

I live in a house of boys, so my pink fabric selection is limited. I dug through the scrap bin and came up with the fabrics shown above, and then arranged them all onto a large sheet of fusible before tracing the butterflies. Then I cut and cut and cut. Big job, especially all the little ones, but on the bright side, I have enough leftover to make another quilt for another little girl, set to arrive in October.

Once everything was cut out, I spread out my three sizes of butterflies on a large piece of fabric and played with the layout until it looked nice.

Ironed everything down and stitched around the outlines. Another big job, but I don’t trust the fusible on its own, especially on something likely to be washed over and over.

I truly have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to free motion stippling. I’ve practiced on felt sandwiches in the past, but this time I just took a big breath and did it. I’m sure the pattern could be neater or more predictable, but the stitches are fairly consistent and the layers are quilted together, so I’m calling it a success. Next time I will try an all-over stippling; getting around the butterflies was tricky and it shows.
The backing is made from soft, pink plaid flannel. I just folded it over from back to front to form a cheater binding. I always struggle with the binding pulling in the direction I’m sewing, so that I inevitably end up with a bubble somewhere. Any suggestions from you more experienced quilt binders?

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 While He Was Napping Bundles of Baby