Small Sewing

One of the things that I like about sewing is the instant gratification factor. It's awesome that in an afternoon or in a couple evenings you can have something to show for your efforts. And lately, given the toddler situation around here, quick bursts of crafting time is all I really have. So it is no wonder, that I am going for my sewing machine a bit more lately. A couple of my more recent sewing projects, all though hardly timely, are below.

I made two of these 'He-Molly' Monkeys for gifts last Christmas. One I finished (in time) for my cousin's baby and the other was for Elliott...who got it closer to his birthday at the beginning of February. The pattern is basically a boy version of the Molly Monkey. I didn't realize at the time, given my more limited internet-investigating time as of late, that the designer has a boy version for sale, called the Mikey Monkey. Oops. I totally didn't meant to try and get away with not buying the boy pattern, I just saw this one, thought it was cute and thought I would improvise a boy one. However, because she does sell a boy pattern and out of respect to the designer's work, I'm not going to go into details here as to what I did to change things up. It will be more of a show and tell kind of post.

However, a couple of things I will tell you about is how I put the face and head together. Since I knew I wanted to embroider the face (easily), I decided to attach the face pieces first and do the embroidery flat, then sew the whole head together rather than the other way around. I also used some Wonder Under on the face panel and ear panels to stick them to the face and ear pieces really well, then embroidered the details on top.

I was able to get some remnant flannel at Joann's for the body and face, but otherwise his clothes are all from the scrap bin. I think the two monkeys together cost a whopping $4. :)

Another relatively quick and cute sewing project was a pair of Cutie Booties for Nonnahs's little girl, Bean. These came from Amy Butler's Little Stitches book and were pretty ingenious to put together. The only trouble I had was due to my decision to work on these after Elliott went to bed and being a little brain fried. With clear thoughts, these probably would have taken me half the time they did.

I made the six month size since she was approximately six months at the time these were gifted. And in looking through the scrap bin again for appropriate fabric pieces, I discovered the perfect selection: scraps left over from Nonnahs's wedding quilt! I especially like the red on the inside :)

Anyway, I can't comment at all on the fit, but they are super cute and would make a great shower gift for someone special.

Speaking of shower gifts (nice segue don't you think ;), I recently put together this set for a co-worker of mine. She LOVES (seriously, in all caps) Tinkerbell. She had even contemplated making a Tinkerbell bedding set for her baby's crib before deciding it just wasn't something she was willing to take on right now. She ended up opting for purple butterflies and I had a great time putting a little set together with 4 Tinkerbell print flannel burp cloths and a Tinkerbell "Cora blanket" (flannel on one side and regular cotton on the other). For both the burp cloths and the blanket I was able to pair a Tinkerbell print with something else so it wouldn't be 'too much' and also tie into their purple butterfly theme.

And I have to say, I think I may have turned a corner in my crafting. I used to rarely, if ever, make something for someone else that I didn't also really like myself. Not to say that I didn't make something specifically for them, just that I had to like it, too. Mostly this was because I had to enjoy the process of making it and if it wasn't something I liked, I used to have trouble getting through it. Anyway, I am far from a Tinkerbell person. I don't have any problem with Tinkerbell, I'm just more of a Winnie-the-Pooh kinda gal. But, I can't tell you how much fun I had with this project. I was so excited about it the whole time I worked on it. I just knew she would really like the prints and I think the fabric prints came together well. And the best part? She (and her husband!) ended up being as excited about them as I was! :)