I'm Fast!

Not to long ago Joel decided that he was fast. Anytime there is an area that he deems wide and long enough to run he will ask to go fast. As soon as he started doing this my mind went to The Flash. I knew that I wanted to make him a shirt with the flash logo on it. At first I thought that I would use freezer paper and paint it on but then changed my mind and decided to applique it instead. I really wanted to get the two colors and didn't want to take the time to make two stencils or wait on the paint dry.

 

I started with a red shirt from Walmart. Next I pulled up some images of The Flash's shirt on the internet. I had the basic image in my head, but wanted to get the details right. It also made the lightning bolt easier to recreate. Using PowerPoint I made the basic shape using straight lines. This helped me play around with sizing without having to redraw it over and over. Luckily I had a yellow t-shirt in my stash that was the right color. I then traced the images on to the paper side of Pellon Wonder-Under transfer web paper. After that I cut out the image and ironed it onto the backside of the t-shirts for the circle and lightning bolt. I knew that I wanted the edges to curl up a little so I cut out the pieces about a quarter of an inch outside of the transfer paper. (I still haven't mastered the satin stitch on the edges of an applique, and I wanted this to be a quick project.) Then I ironed down the circle and stitched around the outside about a quarter of an inch inside. Finally I did the same with the lightning bolt. We call this Joel's fast shirt. If you ever catch him wearing it, he might just tell you the same. Sorry all the action shots were to blurry to post. ;)

Grandma Camp!

I have the best parents in the world. Every summer my mother hosts a week long Grandma Camp for the grandkids. Yes, a whole week with just the kids. This year we decided to do it in shifts with an overlapping weekend for the grandkids (and kids.)

To celebrate I decided to make shirts for the grandkids. I wish I'd thought ahead and made one for Grandma too, but there is always next year. I originally was planning to use freezer paper to stencil the words and design. I jumped on the computer and played around with some ideas in PowerPoint until I created something I liked. First I came up with the saying. I kept playing around with the idea of Hanging Around with Grandma, but ended up settling on Monkeying Around at Grandma Camp. After choosing the idea of a monkey, I looked at different clipart. While looking at them, I decided to applique the face of the monkey in the middle of each shirt. I knew I would need some brown and tan knit. When Hobby Lobby didn't have any tan, I thought I would try Savers. I could always use the rest of the fabric for a future project. So I bought two t-shirt in the right colors to cut up. Thank goodness that Savers is color coordinated. Next I scoured Walmart to find the shirts. I wasn't able to find ones that I like for all the kids so I dyed white ones instead. While at Hobby Lobby I did pick up some dye just in case. I like how the color turned out slightly variegated. I didn't stir constantly so the dye soaked in differently across the fabric. (It is hard to tell in the picture, but trust me it's cute.)

The one and two year olds have matching plain t-shirts. For the almost five year old I bought a single shirt with a little more detailing. The top is a little gathered giving it a feminine feel. I was not getting the look I wanted with the freezer paper for the letters so I choose to embroider the words instead. This also allowed me to curve the letters around the face of the monkey. I think they were a big hit!

The kids all wore them to the animal park. It did rain on us while we were there, but who lets a little rain ruin their fun? I think the rain was Joel's favorite part.

Now I just have to figure out next year's shirt. Any good ideas?

Name Change

I made a messenger bag for one of my nieces for Christmas and it turned out so cute I decided to make another one for my other niece. She is a big fan of dolphins so I wanted to appliqué a dolphin on the front flap.



Here is the detail on the dolphin. I used felt and embroidery floss to attach it. Felt is one of the materials I've been experimenting with lately. I was really pleased with the way it came out.




You may recognize the corduroy for the bag from the roof to the doll house below. I had just enough left to make this bag. In fact I had to get creative in the way I made the strap by piecing the parts together in a way that it would not look odd. I extended the middle by putting a strip that ran against the grain of the rest. You may be wondering why I'm sharing just how little of the main fabric I had left. Disaster struck on the night I gave the bag. I love my husbands grandparent, but I forgot about an important character trait of his grandfather. He puts his name on everything and feels that everyone else should too. Before I knew what was happening he had convinced my niece that her name should be put inside the bag in permanent marker. I didn't know how to stop it. After all it was not my bag anymore.






Needless to say Kylie was not thrilled with the execution of the labeling of her bag. To her credit she did not let it show in front of grandpa. I was trying to come up with a way of fixing the bag. Like I said I had no more fabric to make a new pocket, and I was not thrilled with the idea of taking the entire bag apart to redo the pocket as it's the first step in the process. I decided to add some additional felt appliqué. After embroidering her name and a few water drops so it would be wide enough to cover the original name I attached a large piece of felt across the marker. Much improved if I say so myself. This way she was able to keep the pocket and still have a stylish bag.


I also made a bad for my nephew, but his was more military style with a helicopter painted on the front. His dad jumps out of Blackhawks in the military so I thought he would like that. The name did not look as out of place on his bag so his mom and I decided to leave it. Sorry no picture. Somehow I forgot to take one.

Welcome Home Racoon and Rabbit

I had a lot of fun decorating Annie's cottage. Just your basic plants and window for the most part. I also put a door and mailbox on the front of the house. Since I used a flower print for the inside I added a stone pathway and small pond too.

Of course I wanted to include a few creatures to live in the house. I modified a finger puppet pattern for the two animals. When she is older the felt bottoms can be taken off if she wants to use them as finger puppets.