Children's Fleece Pajama Pants

Who doesn't love fleece pajama pants?  These are going to be Christmas gifts for my children, although, I may have to make myself a pair too!  I may try to make them matching shirts, and probably a pillow case too.  I didn't use a pattern, I used a currently fitting pair of jogging pants as a template.  This is what I did:

Trace only one leg of the jogging pants onto your fleece.  Make sure you go all the way to the crotch area, and the top.  You'll have to draw a straight line from the middle of the crotch to the middle of the top waist.  Add 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Cut out 4 pieces.  If your fleece is not the same on both sides, two of your pieces should be mirrored.

Sew the outside of the pant leg together, then the inside of the pants part.  Do not sew from the crotch to the top waist.  Pin the two legs together so that both crotch seams are together, then sew.  Be very careful here! 

Hem both legs.  Here the picture shows everything finished except the waistband.  Fold down the top 1/4 in larger than your elastic.  I used 3/4 in elastic.  Sew around the hem, leaving 2 inches not sewn.  Use a large safety pin to thread your elastic through the waist.  Sew the elastic together, overlapping an inch, using a zig zag stitch.  Close the hole with a straight stitch, and you are finished!

Vinyl Machine Cover

I did some manly sewing today!  This cover is going to be used in my step dad's garage to keep dust and dirt off of one of his many machines (actually the second one I've made for him).  It is made out of felt lined black vinyl.  I even added a handle on top so he can pull it off the machine easier and hang it up on a hook to get it out of the way. 

Thanksgiving Outfit, Corduroy Skirt

Here is me in my Thanksgiving outfit, I just finished the skirt tonight.  It started as a pair of corduroy pants.  I added some cream colored home decor fabric, you can't see the pattern in the picture, but it's really pretty.  I found the sweater at Goodwill for $5, it's from Charlotte Russe!  The pants cost $2.50 at Goodwill also.  I spent $10 on fabric at Walmart, but I only used half of what I bought (forgot that home decor fabric is wider than the regular stuff).  I think a cream colored shirt would look better under the sweater instead of the brown, but I had to work with what I had.

I will not be near my computer tomorrow, so tonight I give you my list of things I'm thankful for:

A family that loves each other and can laugh with each other
To be located closer to family, so we can spend more time together
A grandmother who is 94 years old, she has such amazing stories
Friends, new and old, they make each day better (and facebook to keep in touch!)
The gift of craftiness, it brings me much joy
Of course, I have to add turkey and pumpkin pie (and mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing.......)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Crafting at the in-laws (scrapbook pages)

We're visiting my in-laws this weekend.  Since the purpose of this trip is for hunting season, I knew I'd have a lot of free time, at least while the kids are napping.  I just finished two scrapbook pages that were partially done.  I went to grab my pictures out of the bag and realized I forgot to bring my pictures!!!  You'd think I would have made sure I had them before packing up my stuff.  Here's the pile of stuff I brought and the two pages I finished.  Fortunately, I also came with some knitting to do, a pair of pants to rip the seam, and some crafty books to read.

 

 

I'm joyful for my little hunters!

Flannel Lined Jean Skirt - Amazing!

A flannel lined jean skirt!  I am amazed at how much I love this skirt, I want to go get more flannel to make another one right away!  The flannel makes the inside so soft, it's like wearing a blanket.  I stitched the flannel pieces to the side seams.  Then on the top of the front side, I used the iron on hem tape so I wouldn't have a seam line there.  On the back, I sewed a seam on the waistband.  I bought 3 yards of plain blue flannel, and I used most of it.  I do have enough left to line one of Rebekah's jean skirts though.  If I would not have used flannel to add into the front and back outside triangle panels, I probably could have gotten away with 2 yards.  The total cost of this skirt was $15 ($3 for the jeans, $10 for flannel, $2 for thread).

Up-cycled Skirts and Hair Bows for a Little Girl

This green skirt started off as a cardigan that is super soft!  I loved it as a cardigan, but unfortunately it got a large white stain on the chest area.  So, I cut the sweater just under the stain and took the buttons off.  I sewed it together to make a tube, flipped it upside down and added an elastic waistband.  After hemming the bottom, it make an amazingly soft sweater skirt for my daughter.  I also made a matching hair bow using one of the pearl buttons.   I still have the sleeves and the upper part of the cardigan, so I need to figure out something else to make with it.  It's so soft I can't waste it!

This skirt started as a toddler pair of capris pants found at Goodwill for $1.50.  The flowers on the hair clips came from a pack of scrapbooking stuff that I bought for another purpose, they were leftovers.  

Lastly, this skirt was actually a toddler jumper that was much too short for Rebekah.  I cut dress just under the armpits and added an elastic waistband.  The hair bow is made from the straps of the jumper, and one of the buttons. 

Three outfits for $1.50, that's what I call a bargain.  I spent 2 hours making all that you see here, not too bad, especially since my kids were upstairs playing and I got the time to myself!  Now I want to go dig in the closets some more and see what else I can up-cycle! 

Lacy Poncho for Little Girl

My first hand made Christmas gift is completed!  This is a lacy poncho made for a 3 year old little girl.  I'm a little concerned that it will be too big and fall off her shoulders.  I am planning on having my 4 year old son try it on, but I keep forgetting, plus the fact that it's pink makes me want to do that when my husband isn't around!  The poncho knitted up very quickly because I was using size 15 needles and a bulky yarn (just yarn found at Walmart).  This is two knitted rectangles that are sewed together.  My rectangles ended up more like parallelograms, even after blocking them.  This was my first attempt at blocking, so maybe I didn't do it correctly.  The pattern is from the book Speed Knitting by Kris Percival.  This is what the picture in the book looked like:

 

I think I also need to work on my seaming, the picture in the book looks better than mine.  Fortunately, I also bought purple yarn to make another one for my other niece!