Dinosaur Tails

*Gasp* What's that hiding behind the couch? Is it a dragon? An alligator? A giant lizard?

No... It's just Amaani wearing her new dinosaur tail!  She moves fast-- this was the best picture I could get.

I've been wanting to make these for a few months now-- ever since Ishaan became interested in dinosaurs. I used this tutorial which was a little more fiddly than it looks. But I did end up making two exactly alike so the kids wouldn't have to fight!

This backfired on me, because the kids can't tell them apart, and are always convinced that "the one s/he has is MINE". Even if they already have a tail tied onto their back. From now on, I'm making different colors.

These took for.ev.er. to make. Literally hours of not so enjoyable drafting, cutting,  sewing and stuffing; and I found myself wondering if it was worth it. The kids rarely appreciate anything I make them (across all catagories-- food, crafts, siblings... ) and I certainly wasn't going to use them.

But Ishu loved it from the minute he saw them, and even uses his as a pillow sometimes. Amaani likes to chew on the end of hers and I've even seen Kartik playing with them; so of course, it's a favorite project of mine.

Hand Quilting

A few weeks ago during when I wasn't feeling well, I decided to see if I could to some hand sewing to keep myself occupied when I didn't feel like actually sitting at my machine. I worked on the first quilts I made for Ishaan and Amaani.

I sat down and did some hand quilting on Amaani's quilt. (you can barely see the stitching in this picture).

 And I also did their names on the bottom of the quilt.

Obviously, neither of them can read yet, so the additions have been unappreciated so far. I'm hoping when they go through that phase of wanting to put their names on everything, that they will be glad that these are already labeled.

 

Hand-stitching is something I've always avoided (not really sure why?). I've never been very good at it or had the patience; but now I find my self enjoying it. I'm pretty happy with the results-- in fact, I think the main problem I have is with sloppy handwriting!

Another A-line Dress!

Last week during a brief spell of health between two colds, I sewed up this dress for Amaani. The next chance I got, I dragged both kiddos to the park to photograph it so I could put it up on the Strawbazies blog. 

Nothing special about this dress--- except it has sleeves! My very first! The puff sleeves were a request by Kartik. I used this tutorial to alter the pattern, and it worked pretty well. 

The pattern is the same as the reversible dress, (simplicity 1890 again). I love how different it looks with just a few changes. The one isn't lined, and uses bias tape as a facing for the neckline.

 It came together so quick-- I'm definitely going to make more in the future. -- Even Amaani likes it!  I just had to put this photo up to show off her new, cute little teeth.

Reversible Aline Dress

A little while ago one of my aunts (I have so many) moved to Houston. (Hopefully, temporarily! We miss you guys!) Before she left, she left me with a bag of clothes to be re-purposed.  I was so excited to see this yellow print shirt! It's so shiny and happy! 

Although it's not pink, Amaani likes it! It's loose enough for all kinds of playing.

 

Because it closes with a ribbon the dress can be worn inside out.  The inside is just plain grey, but it can be reversed if the outside gets too dirty.

I have a tendency to rush through sewing things, but this time I took my time, wanting make use of as much of the cheery yellow as I could.

I added ruffles and and a pocket....

And pleating by the neckline.
 

 

 The bow in her hair is just a scrap of fabric with a baby rubber band cinched around the middle.

I used Couturier Mommy's reversible ribbon dress tutorial and (Simplicity 1890). 

Finally, here is a picture of Amaani *almost* smiling.  It's seems to be a rare thing to get on camera lately!

 

Blue Peasant Dress

Tired of making things that didn't fit, I tried my hand at making Amaani a peasant dress.  Because of the elastic, they are supposed to be pretty easy to fit (and last for a long time).

look! a matching sippy!

 I'd always thought that all that elastic would be uncomfortable. Then I saw this top, from Craftiness is Not Optional, which only had a gathered neckline. No itchy elastic on the sleeves! She has an amazing collection of dresses for little girls.

I think the length is a little long, I've noticed it gets in the way of running around. 

 And here's the back....

 (I think I like dresses better than tops becase I don't have to find any matching shorts.)

And here's the closest thing to a smile she had while wearing the dress. (She doesn't care for blue at all). 

Absolutely A-Line dress.

A few weeks ago I found this book, Absolutely A-Line, at the library. I was really excited-- it seemed like a neat idea; the same dress pattern made up in a bunch of different styles, lengths etc. I was so excited, that I decided to cut into this cute 'tutti frutti' fabric that I loved! 

I'm not to good with patterns in general, but these were pretty easy to follow. I trimmed out the neckline with vintage (ie, cheap) bias tape, and omitted the facing. And... I was so disappointed with the results. The neckline is supper gappy, and the armholes are way to large.

 

The back closes with a zipper which is placed to low. I'm hoping she'll grow into the dress.

I won't be using the pattern again, at least not without modifications.

And because she wasn't smiling in any of the previous pictures... Here's Amaani.

Car Caddy

Before I got my new sewing machine, I remember looking at this Car Cozy on Homemade by Jill (at work!) and wishing that I could make it. 

It turns out, I can!   It's just a little denim square that has little pockets for matchbox sized cars. The top half has a road applique for the cars to drive on.  The whole thing rolls up and ties, which makes it very self contained in your diaper bag or at grandma's.

I used a cute car print on the outside of the case.

This one was given away as a present, but I want to make one for Ishaan and Amaani, and keep it in our car to pull out at restaurants.

Mama Made:Diaper Pouches

One of the best tips I can give new parents is to watch out for the Babies R Us brand diaper sale on Black Friday.  Kartik and I have spent the last two black friday's packing our van full of boxes diapers and wipes. We save a couple hundred bucks, plus, we don't have to keep worrying about running out for diapers. We are really happy with the quality and fit of the diapers, but if you are going to get them, try and go to a stand-alone Babies R Us-- the Toy's R Us locations are crazy packed on black friday. 

Anyways, the only issue with buying the diapers in bulks is that all the diapers look exactly the same-- they don't have sizes printed on them. When you have two toddlers in diapers, this is incredibly frustrating. At home, we keep them in their packaging so we can tell the 4's from the 3's. But I' made up these diaper pouches from Noodlehead to keep the two sizes straight in our diaper bag.

Amaani's is just big enough to slide a package of half used wipes (from the same sale) into along with a few diapers.

Now I'll never get them mixed up!