captain crackers

yar! check out me new shorts, matey or i'll make ye walk the plank.

a new hat for cole

cole is a maniac for hats. we have a big basket in the living room that contains a number of novelty hats - two cowboy, one pirate, a green robin hood/yodellers cap (depending on your pov), a fireman's helmet, an archaeologists hat obtained at the natural history museum in oxford at great peril to my sanity (gift shop was full of children on a field trip), a knight's helmet from the monstrously cheesy warwick castle and a yellow construction hat that says, nonsensically, "tool boss". i think that's it. he likes to run over to the basket all day long, pulling out hats, putting on hats, putting hats on us and the dolls and lining them up on the table.

well just got a couple of new sewing books in the mail and had to make this hilarious and potentially functional winter hat, despite the fact that it's july:

for more info on the books, please skeedaddle over to my other blog, hudsonny. ;-)

cole and his silly playsuit...

last fall i made cole a rather silly playsuit in a size so large he only recently grew into it. so what better to do than to dress him in an embarrassing homemade outfit, take him to the public park and photograph it for posterity?

lucky for me, this was the day he felt like sticking his tongue out from morning 'till night a few weeks back. ;-)

cole's new shorts...

check 'em out! details over here at my other blog hudsonny, you know, cause i have so much spare time that i had to have two blogs.

A plethora of pincushions

Because I'm having fun hand-sewing and feeling crafty lately, I've been thumbing through my books looking for ideas. I kept seeing pincushions, so I got out the scrap basket and made a few new ones that used up little treasured bits of various fabrics that I can't ever seem to part with.

First up, the quick and adorable tartlet pincushions from Zakka Sewing. You can find these little tartlet tins at any kitchenwares store and truly - the actual project takes no time at all.

And have been wanting to make this other one from Last Minute Patchwork for ages. It looks far more complicated than it turned out to be. Although the pattern didn't call for buttons, I have a small handful of lovely vintage ones from my Mom and I have been keen on adding them to some projects lately. This one was too good with these fabrics (plus it covered up the fact that the points didn't match 100% perfectly on the top!).

I don't need all of these, so I think I'll use the button one for myself and save the others... Yay - I can finally retire the pincushion that I've been using for ages! It has a number of needles stuck inside, so I am randomly poked when I least expect it. It will be nice to avoid that.

A new use for beans

The title of this post implies that a) I already have many uses for beans and b) I had some spare ones lying around the house collecting dust. Neither of those things are true. We do love us some beans & wieners here on occasion, but I'm talking about the dried kind of beans. The ones you put in beanbags.

Randomly the other day I was reading about how to create your own beanbag chair and thought that I hadn't seen any actual beanbags lately. I have fond memories of them from childhood - it seemed that beanbags were involved in many of the games played at school and I thought we could use a few around here...

They were a really fun project - easy and a great use of fabric scraps (boy, do we have a lot of fabric scraps!). And if you did have copious amounts of dried beans to get rid of this would be a great way to use them up. We didn't have any, so I bought a $3 bag of small white beans. Very descriptive. For 900 grams they are a much better deal than the polystyrene beanbag filler available at craft stores, and my theory is that if Cole manages to gnaw a hole in the bag I'd prefer he ate actual dried beans rather than plastic or whatever...

Although to greatly reduce the chance of that happening at all these are triple sewn. They're lined with plain, sturdy white cotton (which has double-sewn seams) and then that little bag is enclosed in a little case of heavier weight fabric. A little beanbag pillow case, sort of! The little beans will have to break free of three separate barriers if they want to escape, and I'm just not sure they're that smart... Check out step-by-step photos & instructions of this project over at Flickr, if you're interested in making your own. So easy.

One thing I've found lately is that I really enjoy hand sewing. In the past, I would do anything to avoid hand sewing, but I've discovered that it's such a methodical, slow process that it's actually very relaxing. Spending a lot of time at night now watching old British mystery shows and slowly hand-stitching things.

Anyway, Cole loves his beanbags! He likes to crawl around with them hanging from his mouth and patting them. I made him two sets. The first was out of an upholstery-weight ikea fabric but then I couldn't resist making 5 more in awesome Japanese cotton/linen prints and they're very popular here. They make a lovely rattling sound and have a really pleasing weight to them. Oh, and they do have that authentic beanbag smell. Mmmm....

Oh, and I guess we do have another use for beans. Cole is trying them today. But the baked variety and I didn't make them. Thank you Amy and your organic canned goods. ;-)

Update!

New stuff is in the shop! Just a few things so far, but more are in the works. Hope nobody minds me posting these things here, by the way... This blog started out mainly about Cole, but it's also about our daily lives and crafty things are a big part of that.

These bunnies are my new favourite thing. They're called 'pajama bunnies' since I picture their little faces peeking out from head-to-toe pajamas. They're scrappy and fun and not store-bought perfect but I think that's part of their charm.

And the hot water bottle cozies use the Spoonflower fabric that I ordered a million years ago. They have six different sayings related to the fact that bottles are hot and you climb into bed with them. ;-) I kept forgetting to take the photos... The light in our place is really bad but I figured it wouldn't get better for a while so I might as well just go for it...

PS - Canada Post, I dislike thee. Your employees are helpful (and all the women at the central branch love Cole) but the rate for sending parcels in this country is absurd! It costs half as much to send a stuffed bunny to the US than it does to send something to Toronto. Why? Sorry, fellow Canadians. My goal - making things that fit under the 20mm thickness so they can all get sent at cheap letter rates. The bottle cozies fit into that category... I'll make it up to any friends & family who order from me, if the postage is high... ;-)

My hope is to get a bunch of stuff into the shop and then apply for a table at the craft fair someday. Eeek - intimidating!

Hip hop...

Bunnies are coming. Is it Easter already? Nope... Just finished a schwack of soft stuffed scrappy bunnies and am in the process of changing my mind about the Etsy shop. The holidays derailed a bunch of plans to create things for v-day and such and of course I changed my mind about the look, the possible contents, whatnot. I wish I was not so wishy-washy. Or do I?

Anyway, photos of the bunnies coming soon. A preview first. I love these squishy little guys and gals.

I have to march off to buy a fun paper backdrop for their photos today. Well, "have to" is perhaps a stretch, but "am going to" is the truth.

Hip, hop, hippity hop

Finally - have found time to make something new! It's been a long time, what with the Christmas holidays and whatnot... I thought I'd get lots done while Jamie was home for two weeks on vacation between Christmas and New Year's, but of course I just spent whatever leisure time we carved out watching really terrible old mystery shows and making hot chocolate...

Found a great book - Aranzi Cute Stuff - by two crafty Japanese sisters. The book itself is fantastic - really quirky and full of translated glory. And it has a ton of terrific projects. Good basics, too, even if you don't want to applique everything with characters. I have at least half the pages dog-eared with projects for Cole (and myself too)... They have a Baby Stuff book coming out next month that I'm preordering now - can't wait!

First up though: this cute bunny for Cole.

It's from the "long doll bag" pattern, and is supposed to be a little purse with a zipper in the back that you can carry on your wrist, but I modified it a little and just stuffed the torso. I'm going to try making it a friend in a different fabric. Cole was instantly a big fan - grabbed it off the doorknob where it was hanging before I even had a chance to photograph it.

He chose the vintage fabric from my scrap stash himself! The eyes and mouth were supposed to be appliqued felt, but I figured he would just chew them off so instead I used non-toxic fabric paint.

He is a big fan of bunnies in general lately. He loves turning the pages of I am a Bunny and pointing out Nicholas, the little bunny who lives in a hollow tree. He also gets a big kick out of Mrs. Bunny, a weirdo hand puppet that we found at Yoko Yaya at Christmas time. He smiles from ear to ear when she pops out to give him a little talk. She seems to have a good opinion on most matters (as voiced by yours truly). Her bunnies always eat their veggies and take their naps.

Getting ready, one bit at a time

We're super excited for Christmas 'round here. The Christmas tree is up now, sparkling away. We use just a smallish table-top tree because we can't really spare an entire corner for a huge one, but I love it. We missed it last year, when we elected not to set it up since we moved in here five days before Christmas, six months pregnant, and we spent Christmas eve, morning and day with family anyway...

I went down to our storage locker on P2 after the Santy Clause parade to fetch the tree box and decorations. Thankfully I was thinking last time I reorganized down there in the summer and they were oh-so-wisely placed right at the front. Genius, right? I opened up the tree box and went about bending the branches to resemble a realish-looking tree and strung the white lights that were magically not tangled at all. Still, thinking I was so smart... So easy! So quick! Logical! Then I opened the box marked "decorations". It was immaculately tidy. Took out the first ornament box and... empty. No ornaments in it. Just the empty case with it's little glass-ball protecting plastic tray. Same with the next box and the next. There were no ornaments in the entire box! Then I started to vaguely remember balling all the ornaments up in a paper Whole Foods bag two years ago. Apparently I thought I didn't have a few minutes to spare from my life of relative leisure back then to put them away properly? Now they must be somewhere in one of the boxes still sealed with packing tape, not strategically placed near the front of the storage room but presumably under the old chairs, old dresser, boxes of wall-matching touch-up paint and saucer sleds and ugly lamps and extra wineglasses...

So yesterday I went out and bought new ornaments. I am so against the concept however I figured it was sadly worth another $35 to not have to dig through that whole mess. It's a very neatly Tetris-stacked mess, but still, a lot of work... Good news! The Bay downtown had great ornaments and they were all 40% off! Why is it so complicated buying ornaments, by the way? I spent probably an hour in there debating. It's not that hard, I kept telling myself. Eventually Cole got annoyed at me and I figured it wasn't worth spending any more time figuring out which snowflake thing we 'needed' at the top of the tree.

Cole loves the ornaments and the lights. Especially the awesome family of silver owls!

I also spent an hour yesterday morning while Cole was napping making him a stocking. Couldn't resist the chance to see if he fit inside too of course... It's totally reversible - inside is the same Amy Butler fabric in red and white. I love the super soft minky fabric cuff but damn, that stuff is the dickens to sew with.

Today we were out and about in Kerrisdale and I stopped at Moore's Bakery for some sustenence, in cookie form. I bought a gingerbread man and for some reason picked out exactly 12 cookies to-go. I don't know why - we certainly don't need to eat more cookies around here and I plan to do some baking. Perhaps it was subconscious, buying exactly 12 cookies when I have a cookie-exchange to go to on Thursday? I realized the handyness of this in the car after I had bitten into a delicious cherry icebox cookie. So, realizing I couldn't use them for the exchange with only 11 (plus I hope to make some buttertarts tomorrow for that anyway) I figured I'd bring them home for us. Well, eleven cookies would never do, uneven number and all, so I ate another one. I thought about evening it out some more by eating two birds nest cookies too, but realized that having a latte and five cookies for lunch wouldn't make me very smart and stopped... ;-)

YAY!

My custom fabrics finally arrived yesterday from Spoonflower. I've been checking the mailbox every day (well, I ususally do that anyway) and did a little mental jig when it was in there. Not an actual jig - I'm sure that would have creeped Cole out... I'm so happy to see that the quality of the print is fantastic and Kona cotton has a good hand.

The colour turned out a little different than I had intended - the red has more of a yellow undertone than a blue, making my hot magenta more of a warm red, but I actually like it better like this. Can't wait to cut it up for it's intended use. Unlike when I randomly buy fabric in general, I designed these two yards for a specific purpose. The fabric is in the dryer right now and I'm tipping my toe waiting for that infernal baby-waking buzz to tell me it's finished. We have very demanding appliances - even the toaster won't chill out when the toast is ready. Five beeps? That seems excessive...

Will post the results asap and hopefully will have some stuff online in the shop within the week!

Supremely exciting!

OK, so perhaps that is a little exaggerated, but I am really stoked about a big new project. Yes, yes, I do have all those other projects going on. I am a bit wonky, you might say, to be adding new stuff to my list considering that I keep bemoaning the fact that I can't get anything creative done. But, this new thing is super cool.

I'm getting a couple of yards (yes, yards - you Americans and your outdated measurements) of custom fabric printed over at the totally rad Spoonflower. Not finding exactly what you have in mind at the fabric shop? Well, you can design your own fabric and print it for a mere $18 per yard. I'd been stewing for a while about what to print and then BAM - yesterday inspiration struck... I can't say what it is yet, but I think it's hilarious and can't wait to see the fabric and put it all together...

All this is part of a larger plan, to start selling handmade baby & home textiles stuff on Etsy, the online craft marketplace. I've been meaning to for ages, and have a closet full of material (partly sourced for this use!) that I'm finally getting to. Today I spent a few hours sewing a stack of baby bibs as a start - a simple project that I find really relaxing. I also ordered business cards, labels and packaging materials too. I don't know why I'm mentioning all this before I can show anything (NaBloPoMo, that's why!) but in the next couple of weeks once everything arrives I'm going to be sewing like mad. My very own sweatshop! :-)

Wish me luck!

Just in time for winter

I am a big fan of the hot water bottle. I like a lot of old-lady things - making jam, drinking tea, knitting, cardigans... Complaining about my back pain (seriously - Cole weighs 18lbs). But the hot water bottle is one of my favourites. Perfect for when you're feeling under the weather or just cold even, there's something so old-fashioned and slow about it that's instantly relaxing.

But who likes to actually curl up with just the plain rubber bottle? Ours were wrapped in the most disagreeable jackets - one in an old flannel sack that was rapidly disintegrating, the other jammed into the much-too-small terrycloth case from a bath pillow. Replacing these had been on my project list for a while.

So voila - one nap time later (my new favourite unit of time measurement) we have two lovely new bottle covers. The Paris one is for me the manly(ish) floral is for Jamie. They were so easy - just a big pocket really with a tie attached to one side for wrapping.

Bring on the sniffles and cold winter feet - we're ready.

Embarrassing clothes for babies

I've finished my first item of actual clothing for Cole! Not an easy task, actually. The sewing part was certainly manageable, but there really is a lack of simple, modern sewing patterns out there for baby boy clothing. And the fabric selection tends to veer to either extreme, either girly or very truck/car/puppy related... So, one must get creative...

Here is Cole's new playsuit! The size is 12 - 18 months, so he can wear it in the Spring/Summer.

It's from the amazing line of Oliver + S patterns and uses Amy Butler's fabric for the shorts, with the most hilarious lucky cat fabric for the top. Technically, it's a Japanese dishtowel from Daiso that I added to my fabric stash a little while ago while shopping with Cole for bento supplies. And it uses buttons! With actual, functional buttonholes!!! This was a big step - until now I've only used snaps on anything and grudgingly accepted zippers in the case of skirts. Buttons open up a whole new world of options.

Cole loves Lucky Cats - otherwise known in our house as "bathtime kitty". We have a lucky cat (Maneki Neko) piggy bank in the kitchen that Cole is mightily amused by during his bathtime. Here is the inspiration:

The timing was perfect to finish this project. I just received two new Oliver + S patterns in the mail - the sandbox pants and kimono pajamas. I can't wait to start - pants should be a cinch. And I have many more hilarious/embarrassing/unique fabrics ready for Cole.

Baby bumpers

Cole is a master roller and he can really get himself around now. He does a lot of hunching up and launching himself sideways (perhaps unintentionally!) along with the rolling. In the places he plays most often down on the floor - the bedroom, the hall between our room and the bathroom and in the living room - there are a number of not-really-dangerous zones, but areas that I am nervous about him whacking his head on while he practices his new moves. Baseboards, the bottom of his bookshelves and long sliding mirrors, to be exact. I know Cole will certainly get his share of bumps as he gets moving, but part of our babyproofing plan included making some of these corners are little safer for his early explorations... Voila - baby bumpers!

I don't know if these exist already, but they are a cinch to make. I've made two that we cart around, depending where we've put him down to play. One is smaller, one is a little taller. Both are great toys as well - he likes to kick them and roll into them...

Baby quilt contest!

All you crafty Mama's out there who've made something special for your wee one - take note: there's a baby quilt contest on! Not competing for competition's sake, mind you, but for free fabric! Ahh - I do love the sound of those words... $100, $50 or $25 in fabric from Superbuzzy, source of always-inspiring Japanese import fabrics.

I've entered Cole's baby quilt in the hopes of scoring some free fabric - check out the entry, entitled Something old/new/blue.

If you like, leave a comment and a good rating! I don't know if it's judged by the public or whatnot, but can't hurt, I guess.

OH MY GOD - A NEW SEWING BOOK!

So, can you tell I'm excited about this book? All capitals and an exclamation mark! I am eagerly salivating at the prospect of Amy Butler's newest sewing book, the just-released Little Stitches for Little Ones.

I love Amy Butler's fabric collections and her book In Stitches. I even tackled a seemingly difficult project - the diaper bag - last year with great results using one of her stand-alone patterns. I am usually an "is it rated easy?" kind of sewer. I like my projects, but I like to tweedle along improvising and am not a big pattern reader. But, when things are cute enough, I'll make the effort to pay attention to the fine print.

I'm marching off later today to get this, post-haste. Since I'm already spoken-for today for our daily late-morning constitutional, I know where I'm taking Jamie for our evening walk.

Coley works the kerchief

Cole, I may have mentioned lately, is a big drooler. I think it's the teething. It's very cute but also very wet. I don't mind getting drenched, but when we're out in the Bjorn his little face gets cold, which can't be very comfortable for him. Hello, adorable solution to that:

Voila - drooling kerchiefs. I've seen this idea elsewhere, so I'm certainly not inventing the wheel or anything. I'm actually very proud of these for another reason, other than their functionality and cuteness; they are the first sewing project that I've actually done since Cole's arrival!


I've made four so far, and I'll make a bunch more once I replenish my supply of snap buttons, since they're just so cute. They really jazz up an outfit... Maybe I should make myself some drool kerchiefs to solve my own fashion dilemmas? I went shopping today in the vague hope of finding "something to wear" for Fall and after visiting all my favourite places came home with only a scarf, an awesome pair of leather gloves and a t-shirt that I may or may not keep. Oh and pants, socks and a toy duck for Cole.

Stoller blanket

Finding new uses for more of my favourite fabrics! I just made this stoller-sized blankie (the one on top) for PJs. It's thicker upholstery-weight cotton on the patterned side and super soft plushy minky fabric on the back. It's the cuddliest, coziest thing ever!

Hand made stuffed giraffe

I love the line of stuffed toys (and pretty much everything) by Dwell, but due to a combination of sometimes-thriftyness and the fact that I like to sew, I am always pondering whether to buy their stuff or just try to copy it...

Jamie helped me to draw out a similar giraffe and I used more of the blue dots fabric (four metres went a long way!) and another coordinating fabric that I happened to have on hand. And lots of fibre-fill stuffing. The Dwell version is a little boxier - I bet they use foam inside rather than stuffing. The back leg has a bit of a wonk, but I think it turned out pretty well!