We made bats for Halloween, thanks to the Heather Bailey free tutorial. So very cute, and pretty quick to make, too. We named them Bette Boo and Becca Boo, and maybe next year, we'll actually make them from Halloween socks instead of the old argyle socks my mom bought me 15 years ago. Hmm ... 
Today, though, on a whim, I learned how to do simple needle felting. I'm no expert by any means, but Miss E very much wanted a blessing fairy. There are gorgeous fairies on Etsy, made of wool roving, but I found a quick tutorial and grabbed the roving I have just received (a gift for Miss E, but don't anyone tell her) and the felting needle I ordered two years ago, and went to work. In about an hour, we had a cute fairy! Nothing too fancy like the ones I'd love to buy, but it also didn't cost more than a small amount, and that is fine for a four-and-a-half-year-old. She just wanted one to hug and play with. She treats things like this very well, but I still didn't feel she needed a $36 huggable fairy. Maybe someday *I* will buy one for myself -- they are gorgeous!
And little e? She wanted the simple flannel pillow I made for her sis that is filled with flaxseed, buckwheat hulls and lavender buds, so I took the small amount of filling I had left and whipped up the same pillow in a smaller size. We love them because they can be thrown in the microwave to be warmed up. The lavender scent is heavenly and very calm and relaxing for bedtime. Little e was elated to have her own pillow!
I have big dreams ... For those of you who wondered how I've managed to keep a 15-month-old busy, see for yourself. It didn't take that long to pick up after she went down for a nap, but it sure did make her happy to have all those fabric scraps to play with!
My 4-year-old has been pestering me for her mermaid princess dress for the last week or so since I came home with the fabric. I had hemmed and hawed over what to make her, and she has finally agreed to wear this for both an upcoming mermaid party and Halloween (or so she says today). Possibly for the fairies and unicorns party as well. She told me, though, that she didn't want the mermaid tail skirt because she was a mermaid who could come out of the water and look like a regular princess. Hmm. Okay, so scrap the pattern for the tail ... need glamorous princess gown instead. She did NOT like the idea of a tutu-style skirt over the tail. She wanted floor-length, drapey, and full-on glamor. I showed her several patterns, and nothing was clicking for either of us, but when she got her hands on the fabric and held it up, we started formulating a plan.
So I took Lex's idea and just made it strapless, per Miss E's instructions, adding a casing in the chest band for elastic. I used the basic fabric headband idea, stitching one end of the elastic to each end of the chest band, and making sure it was exactly the right size to stay up. The dress is a bit heavy because of the crushed velvet panne (yes, the cheap polyester stuff; this is a costume!). That's the underlayer, which is necessary because she needed something soft against her body, and because I didn't want a see-through dress. The top layer is from the special occasions fabric collection at JoAnn. I had another fabric in hand, and this one was at the cutting counter screaming "MERMAID" at me. It didn't let me down. I think they work together perfectly, leaving her with a flowing, absolutely beautiful gown.
I'm back to dolls again. I got hooked on Waldorf dolls last week and gave it a go to see if I could manage ... now I've got a bundle of supplies headed my way on a UPS truck and can't wait! (A book, too.) Here's a glimpse of my first, my little Chocolate Fairy. I haven't decided on a name for her, but she is beautiful. Her head is too skinny, I think, but I went with the materials I had at hand and have studied other tutorials now and see that I should have made it wider. So, I made up for it with ginormous amounts of crazy hair in a yarn I've been dying to use on a doll.
In the meantime, I updated Jessie. She is all glammed out now with new layers of hair, and, at Miss E's insistence, a new face. I made her a dress, and though it looks really cute, the details on the straps and buttons are so incredibly lame that I look like a remedial sewist. Yikes. I haven't sewn a buttonhole for 25 years, and I need a lot of practice, it appears. Overall, though, Miss Jessie is very cute now!
No, not organic cotton ... just pure, organic, patternless and somewhat seat-of-the-pants sewing. The kind I seem to excel at. One of these days, I will take a class to better my pattern-following skills. In the meantime, I will continue having fun!
Um. It was supposed to be a birthday gift for little e, who turns 1 next week. But ... it was only slightly big on Miss E, and after seeing it on her, I decided I'd be wasting too much to hack it up to fit little e, and besides, Miss E got so excited, it turned into her dress. I added brown ribbon straps and a really cool flower right in the middle, with a couple of her beads. I got the flower idea from the Made By Lex blog. She does some absolutely stunning refashions. I can only hope to be that good someday, but it has given me such inspiration! I will definitely be making more of these; they are way too fun and so simple.
Later, I had the revelation that this would be the perfect time to use the Riley Blake fat quarter combo I purchased a few months back. If I cut a full elephant from each fat quarter (there are four fabrics), then I could mix them up so that each elephant had each of the four fabrics used on it, representing that each girl (my two and the two moving away) has given a piece of herself to the others. A lovely way to show that we will never forget their friendship and the wonderful year we've had, watching all four girls (and the rest of the school) grow and learn and develop.
I also wanted to make a gift for the second teacher and her now-toddler daughter. With the leftover scraps of the fat quarters, I pieced together a little tiny toddler doll, also using all four fabrics. She got an orange flower for her hair, matching the elephant sisters. I sketched out all kinds of hair options, trying to recreate this adorable little girl that would be the recipient of the doll, and finally settled on a little hair flip that seemed to work. When I finally turned the doll right-side-out a couple of days later, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. She was perfect; exactly what I wanted for Little Miss B. Isn't she just adorable? (As adorable as Little Miss B ... almost!)
I photographed the new tiny doll with my Little e's doll from Christmas. Little e has put her mark on her doll, for sure! Hers shows lots of signs of wear, including some nice yellow spit-up stains. For months now, she has made me so happy ... her favorite toys for chewing on and sleeping with have been the ones I've made her; primarily this doll and the bird I made from the Spool Sewing tutorial. She knows how to make a mama smile!
For her birthday, we gave her three snail books, and I found the most adorable crocheted snail (named Leni) on Etsy. And about three weeks ago, I put together a cute snail t-shirt for her. The only thing I didn't get done was the sewing! Alas, the birthday passed and the unfinished shirt hung in my closet, begging for attention. Tonight, I finished it, so it's hanging in her room, waiting for her to wake and find it in the morning as a surprise. 
We had a blast with Miss E's fourth birthday this year. It took more time and effort, but cost less and was definitely a hit with the kids and adults alike. I don't really know how it all got started, but one afternoon, I was brainstorming and we came up with the idea of gnomes as a party favor and it took off from there. I studied the Waldorf gnomes I found on the web, and looked at a couple tutorials, then ordered a ton of people turnings from Casey's Wood Products in Maine. Worked perfectly! I did them in batches and I would estimate that they took about 5-10 minutes apiece.
The next fun idea that came out of brainstorming with the family was to make gnome homes as a craft project, at the party. That way, the children would adopt a gnome, then build a home for him or her, and take both to their home. It was a blast! My husband sliced up a bunch of cardboard that we had in the garage, making nice little 5x7 inch bases (or roofs, you choose!). I bought a bunch of cheap craft sticks in two sizes and 10 bottles of craft glue. The rest, we collected. We took bags, boxes and egg cartons full of sticks, bark, acorns, grass trimmings, pine cones, snail shells and more. The imaginations ran wild, and we saw all kinds of beautiful gnome homes. I'll include a few images as examples, but every single one was awesome.
To top it off, we had chocolate cupcakes decorated with snails (of course), and hot pink toadstool cupcakes that were strawberry. How the heck do we top this next year?
So it's been raining a lot around here. Most snails are still in hibernation, since it's a bit chilly for their taste. I happen to have a daughter who is quite enamored with snails, and it's driving her nuts. "When will the snails come back, Mommy? I can't WAIT." What am I to do? I can't change nature, can I? But I can sew ...
Henri crept into Miss E's room late last night, ready to surprise her this morning, and has been leaving his slime trails around the house all morning. He claims he loves French food, cooks better than Julia Child, and *should* have a mustache.
Sorry to leave y'all hanging, but now that the birthday girl has opened her present, I can show you how those tomatoes turned out and what they are for. I have been wanting to make a sandwich for a year now and found this fantastic tutorial from Tania's Myrtle & Eunice blog (tut is on her sidebar). Hers are beautiful, as is her photography. The tut is perfect, and though mine were not as lovely, they were fun to make and came out well. I just love the lettuce! Oh, and I added a burger and will eventually make some lunch meat as well since Miss E requested it.
To add to the fun, the sandwich inspired me to make s'mores. My daughter was only mildly impressed with the results, and then I realized ... d'oh! She's never HAD the real thing! My description only got her halfway to understanding, so I emailed the DH, who stopped at the store on the way home and bought supplies. After dinner, we fired the grill back up and showed her (as best as you can with a propane grill on the back patio) how real s'mores are made and ... better yet ... how they taste! She was instantly smitten and has enjoyed the felt ones much more since then!
And finally, I loved this idea I saw others making, and whipped up two, one for my daughter and one for the birthday girl: roll, cut and frost cookies! So simple and so cute; I need to have some small rolling pins and cookies cutters on hand for the next gift because these are truly fun. Both girls, mine almost 4 and the birthday girl just turned 3, knew exactly what to do and immediately had fun making their own decorated sugar cookies. What a blast! (I realize these are the plain cookies; perhaps better photos to come later on.) I boxed them up in cute bakery boxes. :)
Whoever thought that sewing up a few slices of tomato would be so challenging! I can't tell you what I'm working on, since it's a gift for a small friend (whose mom just might read this!), but the rest of the project has been pretty simple. But ... nice, perfect slices of tomato with neatly-stitched segments? Not so simple! My straight stitching is far from pretty, so I'm struggling through, and to make it more challenging, I have a 3.75-year-old who keeps bouncing up on the loveseat to see what I'm doing. Or, she asks me to thread her needle, tie a knot, trace out circles and hearts on felt ... because, in and around *my* projects, she has her own. Yesterday, she took off with the felt food making (wonder why?) and produced five sandwich cookies, a tomato slice, two blueberries, and a big strawberry donut. I think she has done great for a small fry!
I've been meaning to make doll clothes for Miss E's Bitty Baby for ... uh ... ahem ... well, let's just say a long time. The patterns are going to decay soon. Okay, so not that long, but a long time. I finally did, and they actually came out near-perfect! I am so very lousy at following patterns that this is a major accomplishment. Just a few hours of work, no swearing at all, and doll clothes that are so cute. The dress is really supposed to be a nightgown, but why would you just sleep in something so ornate?! It's a Simplicity pattern, 3517, view B. 
Best of all, the dress and hat coordinate with the dress I made last fall for Miss E, from one of the Portabello Pixie patterns from Sandi Henderson. That pattern just rocks -- I've made two dresses (her princess dresses, she calls them), extending the skirt length a bit to make them floor length (which won't last long at her growth rate), and also made a cute Santa shirt from it. Again, a pattern that I don't swear at and can get through in about 3.5-4.0 hours. YAY!