Made-By-Me Monday: Special Edition!

Ok, so God gets all the credit on this one!

On Wednesday night, I gave birth to our fifth child - #4 this side of heaven. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 9 ounces, and was 21 inches long. I thank God for a fairly easy pregnancy, a safe delivery, and a healthy baby! I have yet to come up with a bloggy nickname for him - I'll keep you posted.

Made By Me Monday & Pattern Review

Today I'm going to share the nightgown I made for Super Girl for Christmas, since I haven't done so yet! I intended to make pajamas for all three kids. I got 1 1/2 sets done. There is a partially finished fleece footie sleeper in my packed-up sewing stuff - thankfully it's neutral, so I can finish it for this new little guy!

I started with a flannel I found at Walmart. When I saw it, it SCREAMED Super Girl at me! She loves these colors, peace signs, and doodles/graffiti. I went ahead and bought some, stashing it away for this project.

Next, I looked at the pajama patterns I have, and chose McCall's Easy Endless Options #5744, which is now out-of-print. I decided on View C, a long-sleeved, knee length night gown. Once I had my fabric washed and started cutting, I realized I didn't have enough to do the entire gown from the flannel. [That's what I get for not choosing the pattern FIRST!] I dug a small piece of black jersey out of my stash, which I'd picked up at a thrift store, and made a layered-style sleeve. After I got it put together, I realized that Super Girl would feel like the neckline was a little too low, so I added a triangle of jersey to the neckline to give a little more coverage. It kind of adds to the layered look, too.

Please ignore my door knob, and the slightly crumpled flannel.

I found the description of "easy" to be true to this pattern. There were not many pieces to cut, and it went together quickly. The instructions were good, and it came out looking like the drawing (aside from my alteration of the sleeve). The hardest part was trying to edge the sleeve hems with bias tape, which didn't work, and I quickly removed. The original pattern did not call for this, I just thought it might be easier than hemming the sleeves. I was wrong! I will definitely keep this pattern in my stash and use it again, as the largest size still fits Super Girl, for now. Since the pattern I bought goes from size 7 to 14, I can use it several times for Little Miss in the future, if I want to.

Note: I am not affiliated with McCall's or Walmart in any way. I bought my fabric and my pattern - though I did get the pattern during one of JoAnn Fabrics' 99¢ sales! I am not affiliated with JoAnn Fabrics, either. ;)

Made-By-Me Monday & Book Review

For Christmas, I decided to make a hoodie for Wonder Boy. I chose a pattern from the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love: Sewing Patterns and Instructions for Boys' and Girls' Outfits, by Nancy Langdon and Sabine Pollehn.** The book: I bought this book because many of the projects looked like things that Super Girl would LOVE to wear, especially if she had helped make them. I loved that it had a wide range of sizes, from 18 months to 12 years, meaning I can use the patterns for years to come, and possibly even make matching items for the two girls. It also has several chapters with great advice on how to construct quality pieces of clothing which are also unique. My absolute favorite page is the one where you can write down ALL of your child's measurements. However, this is also where my disappointment set in. I eagerly measured all three children, and recorded those numbers. I then compared those numbers to the sizes of the patterns. I discovered that Super Girl is just too big for the largest size of these patterns. At almost 10, she is 5' and 108 pounds. I didn't think about it in the store, because she was in a size 12 in commercial clothing at the time. Little Miss is still a bit on the small side for these patterns, as she is a little peanut of a thing. I also discovered that the patterns don't include seam allowances. However, I look forward to making items for Little Miss in the future using these fun and easy patterns. I will just keep in mind that these patterns go up to a size 10, more realistically. Lastly, while the book includes boys in the title, there were only two patterns I'd actually use for a boy.



The hoodie: I wanted something warm, so I chose a remnant of camouflage fleece, as well as a remnant of coordinating green fleece. I picked the fleece up on mega-sale the day after Thanksgiving. I used the "Imse" pattern, which had options for feminine or masculine styling. I chose a straight sleeve and sides, and rounded hood. I embellished it with a couple of old military patches that my dad gave me. The pattern went together quickly and easily, and I was pleased with how it came out. However, I made a size "large", and it will possibly not fit Wonder Boy next winter. Keep in mind that he is still a rather slight boy right now. He is just now growing out of size 10 in commercial clothing. If he has an honest-to-goodness growth spurt, it will definitely be too small.

**Note: This post contains an affiliate link. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I purchased this book with my own money (ok, I did use a 40% coupon).

Made-By-Me Monday

I submit to you today one of the two Roman shades I made for Super Girl's bedroom. I will not tell you what was hanging there before [***cough - black bed sheets - cough***]. We have lived in this house four years now, and I failed the one time I attempted to hang curtain rods in her room. My defense is that I did not have a good enough drill at that time. I plead the Fifth when asked about the time passed since then.

Since I am working on moving Little Miss into Super Girl's room, I needed to put something on the windows that would be safely out of reach of the crib. I began with the Roman shade tutorial at What's New?, and this VERY LARGE set of curtains (this is just one panel - it was as long as the twin bed!).


I bought them (and a matching valance set) at a church sale for $2, just for the yards and yards of crocheted cotton trim attached to them. My thoughts for the fabric was to use it as lining for clothing. I realized there was enough to use for these shades. I removed the ruffles, cut up the fabric, sewed the panels together, and added some panels of printed material. I also added sequined trim along the bottom, which I scored for 10 cents a yard. The end result was this, times two:


Super Girl is thrilled with them, and I think they turned out pretty well, too. I used some variegated purple thread to sew them, and I like the touch it adds. However, I think they still need something - like a valance. I still have enough of the printed fabric to make a valance for each side - I think I'll make a set. And, I still have the ruffles, both really long valances, and all that crocheted cotton trim to use for other projects!

If you have a project you'd like to share, post a link in the comments. Sorry - I haven't set the linky up yet!

Made-By-Me Monday

This week for Made-By-Me Monday, I present to you a pair of pants I made for Little Miss. I wanted some sky blue pants to go with a few of her shirts, but didn't want to pay for them. I rooted around and found a very stretchy maternity shirt I had worn while I was pregnant with her, but didn't actually care for the fit. The color was just what I was looking for!

So, armed with McCall's pattern #3665 and some elastic I salvaged from a fitted sheet, I hacked into the shirt. I came up with these pants, using view F.

Front:
Back:

After ripping out the waist band and making the elastic tighter, I'm pretty pleased with them! This was my first time making ruffles, and I think it would have been easier if I were not working with such a stretchy material - the machine kept flattening out the gathers. After ripping off the first row and pinning it a ton, it came out a lot better!

What about you? Did you find time to be creative this week? Leave a comment with your link to share with others (I'm still working out the Mr. Linky thing).

Made-By-Me Monday

Welcome to the first installment of "Made-By-Me" Monday, wherein I post pictures of things I have made in the previous week. This will serve two purposes: to allow me to brag about my crafting accomplishments, and to encourage you to post photos of your own! Because, if you are anything like me, while my dear daughter oohs and aahs over my endeavors, my husband and son are less enthusiastic in their appreciation, and I don't want to bore them with the details. So, let's begin, shall we?

First up, we have a pair of baby slippers. I used the FREE pattern at Stardust Shoes, along with a second-hand flannel receiving blanket and a remnant of fleece. I didn't get them made until Little Miss was already 6 months old, which meant that they were exactly the right length and they no longer fit her now. I have enlarged the pattern and am going to attempt a larger pair. And, you caught me - I didn't make these this week. But, I wanted to share them, anyhow!


Next is a tote bag. I tend to carry an all-in-one purse/diaper bag combo, but that leaves me in a bind on Sunday mornings when I leave Little Miss in the church nursery. I made this bag, and have a smaller matching zip-up bag cut out to use as a clutch which I can then pull out and carry with me while leaving the larger bag with the baby. I used two fabrics I bought on clearance at JoAnn (while they were on an additional 50% off sale), a bit of brown microsuede, and Simplicity pattern #2551, which I purchased for 99 cents on sale. I made view "A".


Here is a look at the inside. There are 4 pockets inside, 2 outside.


I'm fairly pleased with how the bag turned out, though I could have sewn the curves on the front and back panels better - I made the mistake of stretching them straight as I was sewing, so they don't lay quite right. But, it is functional, and it looks decent, by my own standards.

What have you made lately? If you have pictures of a recent crafting project, post a link in the comments (next week, I hope to have a Mr. Linky set up). Share your creative side!