Kids Swimming Outfits

With a vacation coming up, I needed to get swimming outfits ready for the kids.  I initially planned on making them both shirts and bottoms, but I then I decided to cheat a little.  I found Caleb's shirt at Target for $9.99, and Rebekah's shirt came with shorts for $12.50, also at Target.  I added a white skirt on top of the little shorts for Rebekah (see picture below), and made Caleb a pair of pants out of black swimming fabric.  Can you tell that they are excited to go swimming? 

You can make your own pants by following this tutorial here. 

Welcome Baby Shower Cake

Another baby shower cake, this one for a little boy.  I used the same idea as the big one I made about a month ago(here), and put baby blocks and booties on it.  The block are made out of chocolate cake, these small ones were much harder to frost than the big ones.   Instead of frosting them first and then decorating them, I had to just use the bag and start making stars on them.  Everyone at the shower said it looked nice and tasted great! 

For the guest of honor, I also made a diapers and wipes case that matched the nursing cover I posted about a few days ago here. 

Girl's Ruffled Purse

This is the most adorable thing I've ever made!  I think my niece, who is turning 4, is going to love it!  She's also getting a few Hello Kitty trinkets, because I can't give a purse as a gift without filling it with something.  I found the idea from this blog: The Tip Junkie, which has free tutorials for 24 purses!  I mostly followed this tutorial on The Project Princess, although I didn't have the directions in my sewing room, so I improvised a little bit.  She recommends using canvas or denim to stiffen the purse, but I used rip away interfacing, which did tear a little on me, but works well enough (it was the only kind I had!).  I also used a magnetic snap as a closure.  I can't wait for her birthday party! 

Diaper Cake for a Baby Shower

Underneath that blanket are rolled up diapers!   I used rubber bands to keep all the diapers together, and then covered it with a yellow fleece blanket tied with blue ribbon.  I used safety pins, ribbon, and tape to hold all the baby items onto it. 

Reversible Nursing Cover

This is a reversible nursing cover, made as a baby shower gift.  I made myself a single sided nursing cover when I had Rebekah and I loved it.  I thought a reversible one would be perfect.  I also made this one a tad bigger than my old one, just to make sure it covers everything you want to keep covered.  I followed (loosely) this tutorial on Shannon Makes Stuff, except I used a D-ring for the strap instead of tying a knot, and I used more fabric.  I bought 1 1/4 yards of each print, I think I made the main body 40" x 30" (before sewing).  One side is a cute little boy fabric with cars, planes, trains, etc.  The other side is a more grown up pattern, brown with white swirls.  I think my friend will love it! 

Summer Twirly Jean Skirt - Girls

I am super excited about this skirt!  I got the jeans for free at a garage sale this weekend because the knees were really dirty.  It just so happens that it was a perfect fit for the little girl at church I've been making skirts for, so she's getting a bonus one!  The fabric and ribbon was already in my stash, so I didn't spend anything to make this!  The picture below is the jeans after I cut the legs off, then I turned it into a mini-skirt.

Below is a picture of the three tiers before sewing them together.  I gathered the top of each tier by sewing a basting stitch on the top and pulling the loose threads.  Then sew the three together and then onto the jean skirt.  When it was done, it looked a little plain, so I found some yellow and orange ribbon that went perfectly.  I sewed that between the fabric and jean with a zig zag stitch.  I think it turned out adorable, I can't wait to give it to her!

Here is the finished corduroy skirt.  I think the pink fabric looks great!

Swimming Skirt with Matching Shirt

This is my new swimming attire!  I made a swimming skirt with attached legging underneath that come just above my knee.  This is a two piece, skirt and shirt. 

I made my own patterns using clothes that fit me.  The most important things are to use a zig zag stitch so the fabric can still stretch, and to try it on often!  It's much easier to make changes as you go instead of waiting until it's finished.  I started with the leggings underneath the skirt.  I traced a pair of my own pajama pants to get the pattern.  The picture below shows them pinned together.  Sew the outside and inside of each leg, then sew the two legs together.  After trying the leggings on, I had to take them in a couple inches.  For the skirt, just sew the back and front pieces together.  Once the leggings and skirt were finished, I put the leggings inside the skirt and sewed around the waist, just to keep them together.  Then I folded the waistband over to make a casing for the elastic.  I found that I needed much less elastic than expected, you want it to be tight enough on your waist so it won't fall down in the water!  Talk about embarrassing!  I also should mention that I put a piece of black swimwear lining in the front of the skirt, which was sewn with the front piece like it was just one fabric. 

For the shirt, I traced a T-shirt that I had, which you can see.  There are 4 pieces to the shirt, the front (which is actually a patterned piece and a black lining piece sewn as one), the back, and each sleeve.  This was my first time ever making a shirt and it was much easier than I expected.  The whole outfit took me around 5 hours to complete.

Now summer can begin!  I'll give you an update after I pool test my outfit, which will be tonight or tomorrow at the gym.

Are you wondering why I choose to wear an outfit like this instead of the normal swim suit you see at the beach?  There is a great little book called The Girl in the Dress by Lori Wagner that explains why modesty is so important to God, as well as giving some great tips.

Fabric!

I have a lot of new fabric ready for projects!  I just bought the black and green swimwear material today so I can make a swimming skirt and matching shirt!  I'm so excited to start it.  I'm hoping there will be enough material left over to make Rebekah a swimming outfit too.  I bought 2 yards of the green pattern, 2 yards of the black, and 1 yard of black lining fabric.  (Note: I bought it at Hancock Fabric and they took a JoAnn coupon.  They also had a great selection of knit fabric, way better than JoAnn's stock, I'll be going back.)  I also have the corduroy skirt that I haven't done yet, and some black vinyl to make another cover for my dad.  The pink butterfly material and the tulle edging are going to become a birthday present for my niece, you'll have to wait to see what it is.  The purple, pink, and daisy denim are going to be skirts or jumpers for Rebekah, I haven't decided.  I found them at a thrift store for a dollar each, there's about 1 yard of the daisy print and at least 2 yards each of the others!  I also have a pile of clothes with stains that I want to re-purpose into corsages or embellishments, or anything else I can think of.  Keep checking back for the finished projects! 

Another Mini Book for Mother's Day

I made a second mini book for my mother-in-law.  I had a really nice picture of her with both of my kids, but it was larger than the 4 inch picture square, and I didn't want to cut it.  So, I made this book larger.  I started with 12 x 12 paper, which made the picture squares 6 x 6 inches.   Because these pictures were colored, I opted for fun, colorful patterned papers.  Look at my previous post for the directions and the photos of a smaller mini book:  Mother's Day Mini Book / Card. 

Mother's Day Mini Book / Card

This beautiful mini book is going to my mom for Mother's Day.  I learned about this technique from my old crafting friends, Jamie and Amy.  I have no idea where they got it, but the credit goes to Nancy Church.  I'm attaching the paper they gave me so you can have the directions too. 

**Edited to add the directions:

It was very easy to make, the folding was a tad tricky, but you can just fold it in the other direction if you make a mistake.  I filled the book with photos, stickers, quotes, and a personal message.  The quotes were:

"Mothers hold their children's hands for awhile - their hearts forever"  ~Unknown

"Grandma's are moms with lots of frosting"  ~Unknown  (I love this one!)

Do you like my black and white photos?  We received a pack of 4 x 6 photo paper with our printer, so I decided to try printing my own photos.  I was really happy with the results, I think I will buy some more paper next time I am at Walmart.  I used Photo Paper Plus Glossy II from Canon.  I could see a few lines on the pictures after printing, but nothing major, and nothing you can see until you look hard.  I also left a small fingerprint or two while cutting and gluing them, I think I should have waited a little longer to use them.  

PS:  No one tell my mom what she's getting!

Another Cricut Scrapbook Page

Just another scrapbook page using my Cricut.  I really like the Plantin Font cartridge, it's so nice to not worry about how many stickers I have left in a certain color.  

Today's simple joy was getting to spend 2 1/2 hours shopping by myself!  My awesome mother in law called this morning and asked if I would like her to come over and watch the kids so I could have a break!  The amazing thing is that yesterday I was wishing that I had time to shop for a new outfit for a ladies retreat coming up, then the next day God blessed me with this!  God cares about the little things that we don't even pray about!  (I bought two shirts!)