Pre Road Trip Check-in

Lists are made, laundry is caught up, toenails are painted, my house is a disaster and that means we are going on a trip!

• We leave after breakfast in two days and I decided that I "needed" to sew today. I was planning what my boys are going to wear to the wedding and thought they needed ties. I quickly found this tutorial, thanks to Pinterest. I decided to cut down the size a bit for Micah and I think they're adorable. Of course, I think it's this little model that clinches it for me.

• I usually sew myself a bag when I go away, but I don't really need a new bag. I do however need a jewelry case, so another Pinterest save (tutorial here)...

• I also whipped up a new coffee cozy (no picture). 
• As you can tell, it was all extremely necessary *wink*

Summer List Check-in #3

Here's a shot of all three of our littles crammed into the back of our car. We're thankful we can all fit, but will be glad to move into a van.

What a summer it's been so far! I can hardly believe how fast it's going. We have been having family adventures, but not necessarily working on the summer list. Here's what we've hit since our last check-in:

• 5 Winnipeg Landmarks: the landmark we chose was a return visit to the oldest tree in Winnipeg. It was a crazy hot day, but in the shade of the tree and with the breeze off the river it was a nice place to go. We stopped a couple of ladies who were walking their dog to take a picture of us after we had taken a self-timer shot. Both turned out quite nicely. The littles then ran around for awhile until...

as always, click to enlarge

• Surprise ice cream runs: an ice cream truck happened to come down the street. Yum!

• Craft time: this was supposed to be a family craft time, but I snuck in my own craft time. I made myself a jewelry holder. I've been waiting to find a specific frame at a thrift store, but decided to make do with what I had. It will work for now. I am pleased with how it turned out, though the frame still needs painting.

This is a bracelet holder that I made forever ago and never showed. It's an old oil reed infuser glued to a candle holder. It works great!

Remember these signs? Well, I turned ours into a key hanger. Easy fix, just add hooks underneath and add extra hanger to the back - if you hang it from the one in the middle, the weight of the keys tip it.

Bloomers!

I made two pairs of bloomers today. I practiced with a thrifted t-shirt and then with a stained t-shirt of my own, I came up with these.

This tutorial combined with this tutorial gave me all I needed to work it out. Simple, simple, simple!

and cute, cute, cute!

A Flower Girl Needs Some Flowers

So Abigail has the honour of being one of the flower girls for her Auntie Crystal's wedding in August. A wedding that she is continually convinced is actually her wedding. Well we found her a sweet white dress, but it came with a black belt. It was cute enough, but not working for me. I decided that she needed a sash belt to wear with it. I hunted online for tutorials and decided on this technique. I really liked how it turned out and so I also made an extra one and made it into a hair clip.

(Click to enlarge.)

Now I need to make her some bloomers. Three year olds need help in the modesty department. 

My New Mei Tai

Here's what I did with the fabric I got with my gift certificate from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I had just enough to purchase one yard of each colour and cover shipping. David came up with the idea for the design. I was showing him fabrics that I liked and asked him if I had to make it boy friendly to carry a boy. He suggested the black with the green stripes (so it wouldn't matter if I carried a boy or a girl) and I love it. Then when I got my two yards of fabric, I quickly realized that it was going to take some very careful calculations to make the mei tai. David to the rescue again. Remember how much money he saved me on my diapers, just by making great calculations? He did it again. I knew that I wanted the straps to be mostly green and I really wanted the stripes and we made it work. Straps, by the way, take a long time. They are meticulously sewn and pressed and these are probably my favourite straps that I've sewn yet. What a difference slow and careful sewing makes. I admit that I often get impatient on long stretches of straight sewing, but I'm so glad I took care with these ones.

In the details: the body of the carrier and the top of the shoulder straps are double lined with fusible fleece. I don't have any quilt batting, and the fleece stays still for me while I put it all together. I appliqued the stripes on the front. The shoulder straps are green on top and black underneath, while the waist straps are all green. That's all thanks to David's creative math. Perhaps my favourite feature is the fact that I used green top thread and black bobbin thread when sewing the green and black straps so the stitching isn't the first thing you see, but rather a neat and professional finish. They are double top stitched and the padded section has six rows of topstitching. A lot of thread and a lot of time.

I was asked if I had considered selling these. I don't think I'd mass produce them, but perhaps some custom orders. Unfortunately, they are not cost productive due to the amount of time it takes to sew them. It wouldn't be any cheaper than store bought mei tai carriers, but it would be amazing in your personal choice of fabric. I love being able to sew my own things like this and make them the way I want.

Like the last carrier, this one is a combination of an old pattern/tutorial that I downloaded off a blog that no longer exists and the instructions from Jan Andrea on the web. I am much happier with the way this one is assembled compared to the first two I made years ago. Micah has already been in here and slept quite nicely.

Oh and in case you want to know, the fabric is: Lizzy House Hello Pilgrim Jewel Green and Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Black