Pajama Pants

The other day i was reading Ashley at Make It Love It's post about baby leggings. While she said they are "boy or girl" I couldn't see past the pink and yellow to think of a boy. Until i was sitting with my son, putting on his pajamas, and i realized, these are the exact same pants! So i decided to make some of my own... and just a little differently...since i have a whole bunch of knit laying around that was meant for some other not done project :)

They are perfect for playing outside....

And of course wonderful for going to bed... (or just being boys in bed)....

I added a ribbed knit cuff instead of just sewing heming it. And honestly i didn't read the tutorial. She just inspired me when i realized that they were the same! That is how the boy's pajama's are and i liked it that way. Below is my tutorial for how i did mine. As you notice, I made them fairly large. I hate making things just right and two weeks later realizing they have outgrown them. AND with cloth diaper bums, they need LOTS of extra room! (my two year old still wears a diaper at night).

Soooooooo easy.... i am going to have to make another pair. OOO and i bought the pattern for Dapper Dillingers AND the Tee for Two. So excited! Coming soon... along with Halloween costumes... Oh so much to sew! :)

Playtime: Playdough

Happy Labor Day! To me, Labor day means the pool is closing AND I get an extra day with my husband. Oh... and it generally means my birthday is a few days away! 

So today we decided was the perfect day for a play day... with playdough. Is it bad to admit that my kids have never played with playdough before? well, they  haven't. But today, was our first day! Our one year old was pretty apathetic, but my two year old LOVED it. We had a blast. So here is the recipe:

Playdough:

1 cup Flour

1 cup Water

2 teas Cream of Tartar

1/2 cup Salt

1 TB Oil

food coloring

It's really easy and it stores really easily in a plastic bag in the freezer! I will definitely be making more!

Applique T-shirts

Our little Eldon has a lot of hand-me-down shirts from his brother. Well, actually, most of his clothes are hand-me-downs from his brother. And being such, a good few have quite a few stains. Not horrible ones (those mostly get thrown out) but ones that make it so it's not a "public approved" shirt.

So I decided to experiment. When Hayden was younger, as my first sewing project EVER my mom taught me how to applique a onesie with fabric and just a running embroidery stitch. I love love love doing it. So i decided to try to cover some of the stains with fabric and embroidery.

Since it is football season (and my husband is raving mad about BYU) I knew a football shirt was necessary, and then the blue shirt just called out to me for fish. I traced *and slightly modified* the images from the computer by placing a blank peace of paper against my screen. BEST WAY EVER to trace and image. If you need to make it larger, simply save the image and zoom in. Make sense? If you have any questions i can take pictures to help it make sense. After I just cut out my fabric, applied Heat-n-Bond to the back, and embroidered around them. I did figure out a trick though! *yay!* I always seem to get Heat-n-Bond onto my ironing board or my iron which is so not a good idea! Soooo... i have a solution!

I just love love love love love love the way they turned out! Now two NEVER worn shirts will become regulars in the rotation! I have a few more shirt i might just have to experiment with! Just a fun and EASY project!! Now it's your turn!

Ironing Board Cover

The other day I was cutting on my ironing board and I also cut my ironing board cover. I know i hated the other one and PLANNED to refinish it, but i was being lazy. Lazy no more. It was probably one of the easiest projects ever! If you have a serger it is a BREEZE! Really, you should try!

My nice beautiful tear

No-mess Bib II

I made another "no-mess bib." I also tried to throw together a bit of a rough tutorial for if anyone wanted to make one. I love this so much! It could easily be modified for any type of chair. If anyone wants me pattern i can scan it in, just let me know! The directions are in the pictures!

I'm so glad i found my bias tape! I love the bias tape version even better than the bib here. I had lost the tape before, but i really like both version. I made this one with a little more "extra" space because the last one was a wee-tight for my wiggling little guy. He kept popping the snaps off! I can't tell you how much i love this bib! If you have a chair like this... IT IS A MUST!

(i love my little model! :o))

Little Boy Short

Yesterday was our baby's birthday! So i figured here is the tutorial for his birthday shorts... and the other two pairs i have made! To see the original go here. Happy Birthday Eldie!!! We Love You!

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I made another pair of super cute Hayden shorts!!I love these shorts. Really love them. They are so simple to make and if you left out the pockets, they would be about 3 steps! Really easy. The pockets are a bit confusing at first, but once you figure them out they are a breeze {and super cute}. I love the Twill material! Really quality! He's darling!

Are you ready to make some super cute shorts? I know there seems like a million steps, but i wanted to make it SO understandable! It's really easy! Promise! You will need:

• about 3/4 yard main fabric for 3T
• fat quarter lining fabric
• 1 1/4 inch elastic
• (and normal sewing supplies)

1. Trace shorts-front, back, pockets {Or print out mine}
2. Cut out pieces. Set aside. {I like to keep them with their label on top-especially the short front and back. It can be confusing}
3. Take pocket pieces {all 6} separate one lining with two tops.

4. Iron top pieces over about 3/8 inch.
5. Place piece on top of lining and pin.
6. Edge stitch as close to the edge as you can {without missing the fabric, of course}
7. Trim Edges of shorts so the wlining and main fabrics match
8. Fold shorts so the “wrong” sides and facing {the two pure lining sides}
9. Pin and sew ½ from the bottom side {we are doing a French seam}
10. Now turn “inside out” {turn the opposite way} so that the two main fabric pieces on each pocket are facing each other. Iron and pin the bottom.  Sew 3/8" from the bottom {encasing seam allowance}{honestly, you don’t need to pin . Look at the bottom once you have turned it inside out. You see the ½ of fabric that is darker and about 3 times as thick. That is what you need to encase. Sew along this}

11. Set pockets aside.
12. Grab the front main pieces. Sew up the center of these pieces. Repeat for back pieces.
13. Press the seam to one side and stitch about ¼ inch from the center seam down the short piece.
14. Grab your pockets. This will be the hardest part of the tutorial. Take the front piece of the pocket and place it on the front of the short.
15. Now take the piece that is NOT touching the short and pin it. Sew about 3 inches.
16. Clip the top and bottom of the stitching pocket.

17. Flip around {creating a French seam} and sew about 3/8” in from the edge encasing the raw edges.
18. Now the next two steps are helper steps:
1. First, straighten up the front piece and pin your pockets in place This way they won’t move around when you are sewing the bottom pieces of your shorts.
2. Next, take your pockets and stitch a satin stitch at the top of the opening of the pocket and the bottom of the opening. This will keep the two pieces of the pocket together sturdily AND make it easier to sew with.
19. Now pin together the lower leg opening. Sew or Serge.

20. Next, match up the front and back sides of the shorts. Make sure to line up the back side of the pocket with the back. Sew down the two sides seams making sure to miss your pocket.
21. Check to make sure you didn’t accidently stitch the pocket. Serge Short.
22. Iron the seam allowance the opposite way of the pocket. Stitch ¼” from the seam.
23. Now to hem the short. Fold the fabric over 1/4" then again 1/2". Edge stitch along the INSIDE of the short. This guarantees you hit the inside and make a nice clean hem.
24. Now to the waistband. Fold the fabric over 1/2 inch. Then fold again 1 3/4". You might have to trim a little length of the top depending on how long your top piece was. You need you waistband to hit at the top of your pockets, so you sew them in as you sew the waistband.

25. Edge stitch along the inside of the waistband leaving approx 2" for the elastic.
26. Cut elastic to desired length (measure around child or pre-exisiting short). Stick a safety pin through the end of the elastic and thread through casing.
27. Overlap ends of elastic and zigzag together (zigzag has some give--making it better suited to elastic)
28. Sew casing shut.

29. No one wants their elastic to move around too much and if you look at most of your boy's professional shorts you will see a chainstitch running through the waistband. If you have a coverhem machine use that, but if not i will teach you how to make it LOOK like you did.
30. Grab your short. Change your stitch length to 5.0mm (the longest on my machine).
31. Using your foot as a guide, stitch 1/2 inch from the top of the short through the waistband. As you continue through the short, stretch the elastic and waistband fabric so there are no gathers. Go all the way around the short.
32. Repeat ever 1/2 inch until you have completed the waistband!
33. Cut your threads and TA-DA! You are done! Look at those awesome shorts you made! Put them on your babies and... as always... take WAY too many pictures!!



I really want to make a million more!!!

Simple Headband

I am about to be an Aunt... again! To a little girl! The first little girl since i started sewing {well, the first kid that wasn't mine since i started sewing...} and as you already know, i am super excited! SO of course i had to make some head wear from my beautiful little niece.

This headband was BEYOND simple! I just bought the flowered fabric from the trimmings section in Joann, added some elastic i already owned, sewed them together, and VOILE! I have a beautiful headband!

What you need:
Some sort of trimming
8" (for 3 month) 1/4" elastic
Needle and Thread

please excuse the hairy model... i happen to be the only girl in the house :)

I can hardly wait to see it on her {or to see her, for that matter!}

How to make a Paper Airplane

Airplanes are in our blood around the Tanner home. With a F-16/commercial airline pilot Poppa and a Aeronautical Engineer Father (aka Aeroenginerd) our boys are destined to be airplane LOVERS. 

My husband (Mr. Aeroenginerd) is really good at making paper airplanes. Hayden is ALWAYS asking for a paper airplane, and, well, i just don't know how to make them. So together as a family we created our paper airplanes. These planes fly AWESOME! So good ahead... make one (or a million) your kids will love you for it!

Sidewalk Chalk

I've recently decided that at least once but preferably twice a week we are going to do something creative with the boys like playdough {my boys have NEVER played with playdough} or painting or sidewalk chalk. So when i saw a post for sidewalk chalk on Pinterest I had to try it out.

Review: I wasn't the biggest fan of the consistency of the stuff. I actually own some of the Crayola sidewalk chalk and it didn't paint anything like it. It did better in the morning before our outside cement wasn't 100 degrees but still. I think it needs something other than cornstarch. I will do more research and let you know what i find.

Bowties too!

The bowtie happens to be my older son's favorite part of the whole "tie extravaganza". He is always asking for his "boo-tie." I'm glad he likes it so much!

Here is the photo tutorial for how to make the bowtie. On the pdf i kinda left out the first step so i have added it in here and i will alter the pdf soon.

Don't forget to check out the ties and their photo tutorial too! {Little Boy's Ties!}

Bowties, too!

pattern found here
*this pattern is for home, personal use ONLY*

1. Place bow tie right sides together. Stitch 3/8” away from edge leaving about 1 inch to turn inside out.
2. Iron on fusible fleece.
3.  Turn bowtie back inside out.
4. Iron and stitch opening closed {either by hand or machine}. Set main bowtie aside.
5.  Fold tie neck strap in half. Press. Now fold the raw edges in onto the middle line you just created {just like bias tape}. Stitch close to the edge.
6. Next take your bowtie center knot piece. Fold in half.
7. Stitch between ¼” and 3/8” from the outside.
8. Turn inside out and press so the center seam goes up the back.
9. Grab your bowtie again. Baste up middle of bowtie.{two lines close together work best}
10. Gather as well as you can without breaking your strings. Press.
11. Take the bowtie and the strap and place them together with the back of the bowtie to the front of the neck strap.
12. Take your bowtie center knot piece and fold in the ends wrapping it around your tie as tight as you can {or as tightly as you like}
13. Sew BY HAND the ends of the piece together.
14. Apply Velcro or snaps.
15. Place on your little boy and {again} take LOTs of pictures!

{i can never get enough of my sweet children!}

{taking all these pictures on my ironing board has shown me how badly i need a new ironing board cover... looks like one is on the way! :o)}

Little Boy Tie Pattern

The Little Boy Tie Pattern

(and bowtie too!)

Pattern found here!!
*this pattern is for home, personal use only.*

Haha! It's done! Feewph! *wipes sweat from brow*. That totally kicked my butt! Not nearly as simple as i thought it would be! But i learned a lot... and now i actually have a pattern. Yay! 

I added a bowtie part {thanks to my dad's request} so now there is a tie AND bowtie pattern. {my babies wore their bowties to church on Sunday. They were t.o.o. cute!}

Now here is the photo tutorial for the ties. I will add the bowtie photo tutorial tomorrrow:

1.  Print out pattern. Cut out pattern pieces along desired lines.
2.  Place pieces on a pressed piece of fabric {remember to wash and dry fabric first}. Cut out pattern pieces.
3. Take your two main tie pattern pieces and place them RIGHT sides together. Pin around edges. Stitch 3/8” away from the edge, leaving a 2 inch space to turn it right side out.
4.  Iron fusible fleece onto the wrong side of one side of the tie {the side with the fusible fleece will be the back side}.
5.  Clip the corners {otherwise your points will have excess bulk}
6. Turn Inside Out 
7. Stitch the opening closed {either by hand or machine}
8. Set aside main tie, and grab the neck strap. Fold in half.
9. Fold tie neck strap in half. Press. Now fold the raw edges in onto the middle line you just created {just like bias tape}. Stitch close to the edge.
10.   Place tie in U shape.
11. Place Neck strap on top.
12.  Fold Tie piece over and through the neck strap into a faux knot (see pictures)
13. Tack in place.
14. Attach tie tail holder.
15. Sew on Velcro OR apply snaps.
16. Place tie on your little boy and take LOTS of pictures! :o)

Coming tomorrow....

The Little Boy's Bowtie!

(photo tutorial)

Little Boys' Ties

So... i'm working on a pattern. For little boy's ties. Yes, there may be about a million, BUT i like mine best {smiles}. For my little sister's wedding i was enlisted to make 3 little boys ties out of 2 adult ties. I had to be creative because surprisingly two adult ties is just barely enough for three little boys ties.

So i figured i would work on my new tie pattern and turn it into a little tutorial of sorts. That will be coming soon. I need one more run at the pattern before i unleash it on all of you {haha, all four of you...three being my family! ;)}

Alas, i am excited. I think the ties are SUPER cute. They are from Pure by Sweetwater for Moda {that's a mouth full}. My kids are pretty darling too! I hope you enjoy!