Long overdue but hopefully worth the wait!  The next installment of the little girls room – the reading nook!

Read part 1 here.

What started in my mind as a reading nook has since turned into just a hideout cuddling corner because she keeps taking the books downstairs.

The canopy is from Ikea. Initially I had planned on DIY but knew it would cost way more then $20. It’s hard to see in the photos but I did add a little DIY touch to it by tying long strips of ribbon to the inside (on the hoop and center) and adding some yellow and green tulle. While putting away the Christmas decorations I thought she might like to have some twinkling lights added to the canopy and sure enough she loved it when I showed her that night.

The photo wall began with the name poster we got from my nephew. He’s only 9 and a great artist! I picked up the three bird prints on the right from JoAnn’s in the clearance section for a a little under $3 each. The two pics in the green frame are from Oohmoon.com. The smaller frames have photos from her 12 month photo session.

I would love to say that this fabric inspired the colors of the room but I actually found it way after we had painted the accent wall but knew it would fit in perfectly the moment I saw it.

The pouf (or floor cushion) in front was made using this tutorial from Living With Punks. I skipped the piping part partially because I was chicken to try it and partially because I couldn’t find the piping section in the store since I was in a hurry. Maybe next time!

The pouf in the back was made from this tutorial from Design*Sponge. The only thing I had trouble with was adding the tuft. I didn’t have a needle long enough and didn’t want to invest in one just for this. I attempted it with a knitting needle (the one to sew up seams) but it was difficult to push it through without loosing it inside!

Eventually I would love to add more pillows and a blanket to make it extra cozy.

I think she likes it!

Apparently I have a thing for red and tops with hoods. One of our best sellers is the Little Red Riding Hood Poncho. I made the first one when my girl was only 2 weeks old! Grandma had come over for the day and spent most of it cuddling with her on the couch while I got to rest and knit. Fast forward three years [sidebar: oh wow 3 years already! how did she get so old?!] and with a need for some new fall outerwear I made her a new Little Red Riding Hood-esq jacket.

Oh how she’s grown!

In true “Cathy” fashion I completely winged it using only a old hoodie of hers as a template. It seemed daunting at first and I cut the pieces way to large fearing it would be too small. I now have tons of strips of fleece in my scrap box! There was a mis-cut for the length of the jacket but it turned out for the better. I added an extra 4 inches or so by making a bottom “trim” that goes around the whole jacket. I think it gives it a nice finishing touch. Yay for unintentional mistakes!

She was super excited to model it for me (or maybe just excited to be outside!?) and was a total ham for the camera.

Here’s a close up where you can see the ribbon trim around the front edge… that was added to cover up my wobbly seam. I may add the ribbon around the sleeve/cuff too but those seemed pretty straight.

The extra large buttons are great too. Within a few days of wearing the jacket she figured out how to unbutton it. Using fleece was a good choice because I didn’t have to worry about sewing button holes or how to manage the inside seams. Pinking sheers did the trick. I’m already planning the next one… this time in green. Her favorite color.

Last month our boy was Baptized. My mom being the sentimental type saved my younger brothers baptismal outfit and has passed it down to us kids. I had intended on having our little guy wear it but when I tried on the onesie was way too large which kind of makes sense because my brother towers over the rest of our family. (We don’t know where he got it from! We’re all shorties.) It also only came with a vest, bonnet and shoes – no pants or some lost pants?!

Luckily I’m armed with a sewing machine and a few great online tutorials to whip up some last minute pants and bow-tie.

Initially I wanted to find fabric to match the vest but was unable to find the right shade and texture fabric and went with a cotton bottom-weight fabric in cream. I think it made a nice contrast to the white onesie and vest.

For the pants I turned to one of my favorite bloggers Prudent Baby who has a great tutorial for sewing pants (when are the tutorials not great?!). But because it’s been a steamy summer I made them shorts instead of pants. I also went with an elastic waist instead of drawstring.

Since this was a big occasion I added a cuff to the bottom of the shorts to make them a little “fancy.” I had to do quite a bit of seam ripping for the cuff because I made the legs too tapered, but love how it turned out.

I also had this bow-tie tutorial from Shwin&Shwin bookmarked in my “for the boy” folder and thought it would add a cute touch to the outfit. It was pretty quick to put together. Hubby thought it was a little big but I think it looks darling with the vest. For everyday wear I do agree that it’s a little big and would probably go smaller on the next ones.

So there he is our handsome little guy on his big day. We went without the bonnet because he kinda has an oily head and I didn’t want him to be smelly with all our family there!

Newborns always get tons of “oohs” and “ahhs” when going out but I’ve noticed that we get a lot more whenever the babe is in a sling.

Many moms inquire about the Moby Wrap and how we like it. Others comment on how he looks so snug and comfortable. I’m a huge fan of our Moby and am so glad my cousin sent me hers to use when we had the Little Peanut. My daughter was a fussy newborn and loved to be held. Being first time parents we kinda catered to it and definitely carried her more then necessary. The Moby really helped during those months!

This time around we’ve gotten lucky and have only used it while out and about. Since I’m not fond of dragging around the car seat or stroller in the store I’ve been using it pretty often. I really enjoy having him in my arms but it takes a little work to put it on and get him snug inside the Moby. Plus with the summer humidity it gets really hot for both of us, not to mention it makes my bangs stick to my forehead as you can see in the picture (Shh, don’t tell my hair cutting lady. She would have a fit!) With that in mind I started looking for an over-the-shoulder-but-not-a-ring-sling-sling and came across this pattern from Karma Baby and decided to make one.

And so for a total of $5.09 (yay for being thrifty!) and a few hours of sewing we had ourselves a sling.

The pattern itself is pretty easy to follow. I, however, had to complicate it by only buying one yard of fabric and wanting to make it reversible. Measure twice and cut once right? Well for some reason I kept thinking it was one yard and didn’t bother to double check while at the store. Thankfully you cut it at 22″ lengthwise so I was able to piece it together to make it long enough.

The reversible part threw me for a loop because I couldn’t figure out how to sew it to turn it correctly. After some seam ripping I got it right and thought “duh” that was obvious.

I love the fabric pattern and colors and it was on sale! It usually takes me ages to pick something but this was love at first sight. I think I’m going to have to get more to make a blanket or pillows for the little guy. The only downside to it is that it’s flannel and doesn’t slide very well. I have to be sure to put it in the right position first before putting him in. There’s also the possibility of it getting hot but I’ve only worn it once so no verdict on that yet. The opposite side is cotton.

He seems to enjoy it and fits snugly inside. In fact, he fell asleep pretty quick when I put him in the kangaroo hold. I do feel that I have to support his body and head a lot more in this one then in the Moby.

There is also a little pocket to put small items like money, tissues or s toy. It’s kinda hard to see since it’s the same fabric though.

Little Peanut’s closet is full of adorable sleeveless a-line dresses that haven’t been worn since winter hit. After seeing this Cropped Fleece Jacket from Shwin&Shwin I knew I found a solution to our problem!

While hers was military inspired mine took on more of a vintage swing jacket look (probably due to my lazy “lets just eyeball the measurements and cutting” technique!) I still love how it turned out and see endless possibilities for different variations.

Here’s the Little Peanut all dressed up and ready to jump on a plane to Paris:

This photo (below) shows a more accurate color to the jacket. I love the asymmetrical front and the cuffed sleeves. The flowers were added on after I finished because as I looked at it, I thought, it needs a little something extra!

I opted to do a button hole instead of the loops (because I didn’t have two matching buttons) but think it looks great. Plus it’s easier to put on a moving kid!

Here’s a closeup of the flower (below). I just cut out 1 black flower and 2 red flowers from fleece and sewed them on using french knots.

With this being my first jacket I’m thrilled with how it turned out. Working with fleece was so easy. Shwin&Shwin instructions were great. I did have to cut the front piece twice because I failed to read ahead (I cut the neck hole in the wrong place) and had some trouble with step 8 but I think I fudged it well enough to pass. Definitely plan on making a few more in various colors to match all her dresses!

Christmas has long been over but I finally got around to snapping some pictures of my 11th hour crafting on Christmas Eve Eve (we open gifts on Christmas Eve after Church and a late late dinner. Some years you could say we open gifts early Christmas morning… say at 1am!)

So there I was trying to think of some stocking stuffers for Little Peanut when I remembered this:

We were at the Doctors office and had an antsy pants on our hands. Luckily there was a notepad and pen on the desk to keep her occupied. I remember thinking at the time, “It would be nice to have some kind of crayon roll for these moments.”

So I pulled out the sewing tools and fabrics, got to work and came up with my “On-the-go Artist” pack.

It holds 5 crayons and a small notepad (that you can find in the dollar section at Target).

It closes with a button and elastic loop.

I designed it so you can leave the notebook tucked in while coloring. There’s a 2 inch slot that you put the back flap into. It’s not quite a pocket but could easily be turned into one by sewing one side down. (Which I would do next time to tuck in some stickers!) Try as I may I couldn’t get Little Peanut to stand still long enough to snap a shot of it in action.

It fits great into my purse and is even useful for my own notes when I’m in a bind! (Shhh don’t tell the kiddo!)

It’s based off of this Crayon Roll tutorial from Prudent Baby.

The Little Peanut loves to cook. Especially to make soup for her daddy. We got her cooking pots and pans for Christmas and I figured she needed her own kitchen to go along with it.

Living in a condo leaves little room for big toy items such as a real kitchen (which I would LOVE to get if money and space were no issue!) I went for second best: Making one!

She's saying, "Let me cook in peace mom!"

The top has 4 stove-tops along with 4 knobs. There is also a oven panel with faux buttons and the time.

One side has a pocket for holding additional kitchen tools (You can see it in the very first pic). The opposite of that (in the picture below) has slots to hang spoons, spatulas and a cloth. For the oven I made the “window” out of felt because I have grand plans of cutting out felt food shapes so she can “stick” them on and pretend to cook. It’s been three months and I still have no felt food cutout….. someday!!

This was inspired by one made from Froken Skicklig’s blog. She’s taken down her blog but you can see a picture of her version on the tutorials page.

I used an ottoman as the base and opted to put the knobs on top since the height was right for the Little Peanut. I love that we can easily take off the cover and throw it in a drawer when we have guests.

She loves to put in play food and use the salt/pepper shakers from her cooking set (Educo Gourmet Chef Cookware) to season. A note about the set: the pot and pan were a bit smaller then I thought they would be.

It took me a whole day of intense work (I’m not the fastest sewer!) and was so proud to show it off to the hubby when he came home from work that day. It bummed me out to have to put it into “hiding” until Christmas!

Little Peanut has a lot of fun play cooking by pulling out all the tupperware and pantry items. Her favorite item to cook is soup for daddy. I always try to get her to wear her Little chef apron but she puts it on for a few seconds and then wants it off. She’s no stranger to watching mom (or grandma) cook but aprons have never been apart of our cooking attire so when I saw this tutorial from Prudent Mama I knew I had to make it so Little Peanut could see mama wearing her apron while cooking and do the same!

The tutorial is great and easy to follow. All you need is a fat quarter and some trim. I didn’t have any cute trim so I tried my hand at making a ribbon ruffle. For the ruffle I did a hand basting stitch about 1/4 down from the top, pinned it onto the apron and then machine sewed it on adjusting the ruffles as I went along.

I hit a few snags (more like user issues, but we won’t talk about that!) along the ruffle but it turned out great.

Here it is in action!

I never realized taking self photos using the camera timer would be so difficult. It took at least a few dozen tries before I got one that was in focus and had all of the apron in it!

Before our daughter was born we put our condo on the market. During the de-cluttering and staging process we decided that not everyone was as geeky as us and would want 3 desktop computers and 2 laptops in their bedroom. So the mini lab was packed up and I switched to using my husbands Macbook Air. Being a PC person I thought the switch would be hard. It wasn’t. I was in love and I haven’t turned back since!

In fact I’ve become even more of a geek  by getting my first iPhone this month. It was a long and agonizing wait for it to be shipped but it finally arrived and being a crafty person I knew it needed a cozy… not just any cozy but a handmade cozy!

It took two tries and four long nights of cutting and sewing but I did it. It has a little pocket in front for credit cards/cash and headphones for quick trips out and a wrist strap for carrying.

It only took so long because I got stumped on how to sew the lining in and tried a handful of ways until I finally got it. I even took a picture so I wouldn’t forget, which was a good thing because when I went to make the second one I forgot!

Why did I need two? Well in the process of figuring out the lining I made the cozy too short and the phone stuck out about a centimeter. My husband said it looked like it was wearing a hand-me-down and insisted I make a proper one for my beloved new phone.

Oh I’m also a little embarrassed to mention (being in the IT field and all) that I used a magnetic closure at first and then totally freaked out after realizing the magnet could damage the phone the same way they do to computer hard drives. The second one has a proper snap button to  secure the phone and cards.

Any iPhone users out there? I’m always on the lookout for cool new apps to try. Let me know what your favorites are!

Beauty begins on the inside. What does that have to do with sewing? Check out this sewing tip from Make It and Love It and learn why a little trimming on the insides of your project will make it even more beautiful on the outside!

* Image from Make It and Love It.