hot stuff!

Hopefully you remember my chef attire I made a few years back.  They get lots of use, even played the role of a last minute Halloween costume.  Well, they normally get used in the real kitchen, but the kiddoes also have a play kitchen, and I felt they could use a pair of these:

They're extremely simple to make, other than how bulky they are.  Making a tiny little thumb out of material that thick was annoying.  I lined it in a white towel I bought at Walmart, which was super cheap, and then sewed a diagonal checked pattern before stitching it together.

However, they are dearly loved (Bugaboo hovered over me the entire time I was taking the photos, waiting for them back).  Plus the fabric is adorable!  I may or may not have bought enough for me to make an apron for myself out of it.  Photos to follow if that ever happens.

The technique needs a bit of perfecting, but they do the job.  Now my little chefs' fingers will be safe from imaginary burns.

PS - I have just noticed that I have not actually said what those are.  They're an oven mitt and a little potholder, just in case it's not obvious.

super-duper

Now this has been a fun little thing I've been working with of late.  Appliques!  Well, probably not by-the-book ones, but I'm loving throwing a little character or image on a project.  It started with flags.

 

  I wanted to make something for Bugaboo's snow-forts we built this winter (and because flags are fun).  While I was at it, I made a few extras.  They weren't perfect, but I really loved how they turned out (considering I really had no clue what I was doing).

This one for my little Bean,

and this one for Bugaboo.

Well, then I had a birthday gift to make for one of Bugaboo's friends.  I figured something 'super-hero' would be good.  I had wanted to try finger puppets, but I didn't have any felt on hand and they weren't starting out the way a wanted, so they evolved into bean-bags.

I loved making them, and giving them too!  Bean bags are a lot of fun.

And then I had another birthday boy, so I tried it again.  It was a little harder to pick something for this little guy (he's only 2, so not as obvious what he likes).  I was thinking cars or trucks or some-such, but I wasn't really feeling it.  They seemed a little boring.  I'm not much of a car person, but I do have one love in the automobile world; Super cars.  Bright, colourful, fast, fancy, oh yeah.  So I picked my five favorites, (a shiny penny to anyone who can tell what they are):

 

That would be a Caterham, a Shelby Cobra, a Koenigsegg, a Veyron and a Zonda (do I owe anyone?).  I've also been working on some animals, but a unique selection isn't so easy to come up with.  Any suggestions?

My method is simple.  I draw what I want.  Then I stick heat-bond onto the different colours of material I'll be using.  I transfer my drawing over to the material (or just re-draw it), and cut out all the fiddly bits.  I iron it onto my main fabric, and then I just have to sew along all the seams.  Actually, the sewing is the hard part.  Especially with anything that has a nice even curve to it (like wheels), or teensy-tiny bits.  However, I'm getting better at that, and I'm loving the outcome!

Tadaa!

a rainbow in my knitting bag

Just a quick post this week, so much to do.  This upcoming week is sure to be a big one, but more on that next time.

Sewing has taken up most of my crafty time lately, but I have been chipping away at my largest knitting project yet in my down time.

It`s certainly a colourful one, isn`t it.  I`m attempting the hue shift afghan from knitpicks, and I must say, as a person who has sworn to never again knit a baby blanket, I`m really enjoying it!  You see, it`s divided into little squares (what with it being an afghan and all), but it seems so much less tedious for it.  Instead of working away for an evening and having no real difference to show for it, you have one more happy little square.  I also love how you pick up the stitches at the beginning of each square, so I`m knitting right onto the main thing, not ending up with a hundred tiny squares to sew together (tying in the ends is another matter, but I`m no where near that yet).

So right now, this is my happy-for-me project, feel free to check it out on my ravelry.

a little soft to add to that snuggly

When Bugaboo was a baby, my mother and I put together a quilt for him and a little pillow to go with it.  

Well, I knew it would be harder to do one up for little Bean, but with a little vacation time, the quilt (seen here) now has its partner in crime!

All set for snuggles and fun

and I'd like to say how awesome it all worked out that the material I bought when she was about 2 months old (spoonflower) was so well selected; she's kind of obsessed with elephants right now!

Fun fun and more fun!  Take care!

bye!

...apologies and snuggles

where have I been?!

It's been nearly two months since I've last blogged. Man, time goes fast with two little kids. It seems like I've only just woken up and it's already time to be getting supper ready and then the kids are already going to bed. It's crazy times 'round these parts, I tells ya (Oh, and a brief disclaimer about the supper bit: my husbandito is the one who actually does most the cooking).

Well, I'll ease back into things. Ok, not that I exactly have a boat load of projects to unload, but I'll pace myself regardless.

Here's something that I'm especially proud of

Can you tell what it is?

Bits and pieces of it are rather disjointed,

but it's my quilt!

Well, actually it's the quilt I made for my baby daughter, but it's my very first quilt and I made it mostly by myself (under the expert supervision of my mother and with a good deal of assistance from her and my aunt).

*Blogger (or maybe just my compy; I don't know) is a little twitchy right now and I can't select so I can't make any fancy little links, like to Spoonflower, where I got most of the fabric, but I mentioned my quilt in my last post (here: http://my-cozy-life.blogspot.ca/2012/01/ribbit-and-also-choo-chooo.html), so check it out if you want any additional info. Also, sorry about the spacing between paragraphs. I can't seem to get that to work for me either right now.

It's getting a lot of use.

I hand quilted it, which was a lot easier than I expected. Anyone wanting to try it, I definitely recommend starting with a baby quilt (or a lap quilt for those without kidlets), because it's a reasonable challenge (believe me, because I'm prone to give up when I take on something that's too challenging). I also love the crazy colours and mix-matched patterns. They really suit my little girl; a little girly, but mostly bright, fun and energetic. Like I said, I am really proud of this project!

Special Delivery - August

Here I am, ambitious as ever, and have told my Special Delivery Group that I'd be good for August and September. Ok, see the baby isn't due until the end of September, so I figure if I get them both done now, I'm covered. I just know that it'll be next to impossible to get anything done once baby is here, but I just hate missing out on the fun crafting-swappy-goodness. Well, fortunately my August partner has little kiddies, and I have a mostly finished Picnic Pack (remember the one I started and then decided I didn't like the fabric)...see where I'm going.

Oh the cleverness of me! Well it took about an hour to dig up all the parts and finish it, and I'm really liking it!


I think the reason I never finished it (other than getting different fabric for Bugaboo's pack) was because I didn't have any fabric for the straps and wasn't sure what I wanted to use. Well, I have a bunch of orange and yellow scraps from a Princess Daisy costume I made years ago (and yes, I made a Princess Peach one for my friend, and our husbands were Mario and Luigi; it was a pretty sweet Halloween) and they turned out just dandy.

I'm really liking the primary colour combos here. Added bonus: she has a little girl and a baby boy, so this can be passed down no problem. I'm really hoping she likes this!


It's not as clear, but instead of grommets this time, I sewed button holes. They worked fine, but I'm curious so hear how they compare over time. It's got a layer of water proofing fabric too, so it can be put down on the ground and eaten off of.

Well, I know what I want to make for my September SD, so I'm gonna try and get on it!

Celebrate The Summer Boy: Day 3 - Summer Jammies

Woohoo! I'm loving the progress I'm making with this 'project-a-day' week. However, the downside it that I'm having a hard time photographing everything. That brings us to today's super simple post. Great project; fast, easy and money saver, but I don't have any pictures of it actually being worn! I'm just too bleary eyed to remember to get a photo of my little man in the wee hours of the morning. Whatever, I have another, even more amazing project (that I did not have any hand in making) to showcase as well. Yay, two for one, here we go.

Firstly, jammies. My little man is a skinny-minnie-miller, so he always outgrows things in length before he outgrows it around. Too easy. So what I've done is taken all his 1T size jammies that are too short and lopped them off into shorts and t-shirts. Save a little money on new jammies and it literally takes about 5 minutes to do, max.

(my 'before' and 'after' pictures are of different sets of pjs that both got the summer-treatment. Can't find the guitar ones anymore. Silly laundry.)

Now for the good stuff. It may not seem summery, but check out this super awesome poncho knitted by Grammie!

He loves it, and while it's still too big, he NEEDS to wear it (he gets testy about shoes and sweaters for some reason; everything else he could care less about). It's perfect for our Canadian summers, especially early in the morning, out playing in the yard before the sun has really warmed things up.

Thanks Grammie!