Yarn wrapped Christmas trees

Every year, the moms board of which I'm a part does a holiday gift exchange. It has to be something handmade and cost under $20. 

I remember the first year I participated and shook in my shoes thinking that I had to make something for someone else. Something that didn't suck.

I've survived without hitting up Etsy so far, but this year, I drew Gail's name. 

Now, Gail is the queen of craft and beauty. Her photography is art. She can sew anything without a pattern. She makes amazing things from paper.

If you can dream it, Gail can make it.

I was nervous.

I commiserated with our mutual friend, Constance, who gave me some wonderful ideas, but best of all, reminded me that Gail would love whatever it was because it was made by a friend.

With that reminder, I settled on something that I thought at first was too modest and easy.

Yarn wrapped Christmas trees. 

I found the tutorial on Pretty Ditty awhile back and have been dying to make these ever since.

They are so simplistically beautiful. The texture, the muted colors, the bright pop of the berries. I just love them.

But they are SO EASY to make. I wasn't sure it was the right gift for the woman who can do anything.

I think though, that she likes them. She took this picture of them, and makes them even more beautiful than they really are.

Then again, that's what her gift is. She brings beauty to the ordinary. Every day.

Merry Christmas, my friend.

Pants, pants, and more pants

Holy cow. I cannot take pictures. Seriously.

But, here are some pants. And a hat. 

I'm an awesome craft blogger.

Long version: I always make Christmas pj's for the family. Little tradition that started the year I got my sewing machine. 

They have gotten progressively better over the years - of course, that isn't saying much. The first pairs were hysterical. Huge - as in, Kevin and I could both fit in one pair.

Not that we tried.

Nope.

Not us.

Anyhoo, this year, my pal Nita requested some matching jammie pants for her crew. I made her a pair last year for a Secret Santa swap. It was the first time I had sewn something for someone to wear when I couldn't have them try it on. Made me really nervous.

This made me even more nervous. Especially after she bought the fabric and realized that it can be pricey to make your own stuff. Eek. Don't waste your friend's money! 

I got some measurements and went to work. We'll see. I'm hoping the Christmas photo turns out like she wanted it to.

The picture is of her son's pants and the little hat I threw in because there were some odd pieces of extra fabric left over.

Oh, and someone remind me next year that fleece isn't as wide as flannel. Because if Nita hadn't ordered extra material? I totally wouldn't have had enough.

Next up? MORE PANTS.

In which I go on about Shutterfly's awesome photo cards

I'm no liar. This post will result in Shutterfly giving me 50 free cards. Which is awesome.

In exchange for their generosity, I'm writing at least 150 words on how awesome they are. Which doesn't mean that I don't believe it. Because I don't jump through hoops for hardly anything - you know I really like Shutterfly. And free Shutterfly is even better.

For the past two years, I've used Shutterfly to create our family's Christmas cards. I've made books and calendars too. Their Christmas party invitations have inspired me to check into invitations for the boys' birthday parties in January. It's quick and easy, and my favorite part is that all of your work is saved and your photos stored. 

That means that when you are in the middle of your project and the kids start swatting the ornaments off the tree, you don't have to worry about leaving what you are doing and coming back to it later. I need that flexibility.

This year, I'm looking at a bright, bold design, or if I can get just one perfect picture, I'm leaning towards a lovely gift wrapped look. Of course, if you get one of these fabulous cards from me, act surprised please.

This post was totally sponsored by Shutterfly's Christmas Promotion. Yay for cute cards!

Big Butt Baby Pants

I am in LOVE with this pattern. Made By Rae designed the most adorable wide leg baby pants with a special panel in the bum for cloth diapered babies. It's amazingly brilliant, and I can't stop making them.

When I needed something for Colin to wear at his baptism, I went shopping. I only had a couple of days to figure it out, and all I found was a sweet little cardigan. So, I made some pants. Voila. I'm telling you, this pattern is awesome.

A few months ago, I bought some of this brown and blue collection, not having a pattern in mind, but knowing that I wanted to do some cuffed pants for Colin with it. I think this was the perfect pattern for it. And quite by accident, it coordinates cutely with this elephant sweater that I found at a consignment sale. 

The picture of him wearing the outfit? Is the best picture I could get. That child would not be still. Plus, we all know by now that I am a terrible, horrible, awful photographer. Which isn't a great quality in a craft blogger. At least this time I remembered to actually take pictures. Bonus.

You can buy the pattern licensed or unlicensed so that if you want to make the pants to sell, you can. You just have to give Made By Rae credit for the design. You can add pockets easily, and if you've got a little girl, you can add ruffles to the butt panel. It's the cutest! 

Something else I love about this pattern is that it only takes a half a yard to make Colin a pair of pants. Less, if I'm doing a contrasting cuff and bum panel. So I'll be able to destash a lot of fabrics that I have just because they are adorable.

I've made some monkey pants with a polka dot bottom, and I have several other combinations picked out and waiting to go. I'm obsessed. Baby bottoms are already cute enough on their own, but these pants just send me right over the edge. Darling.

Halloween costumes: Super Why and Baby Toga

I'm not sure at what point I decided that Christopher would be Super Why for Halloween this year. It was sometime after he began running through the house singing the Super Readers theme song, and sometime before he creatively turned baby Moses into a clothespin version of Super Why.

My initial vision of the costume went something like this:

• Find green leggings and long sleeve green shirt.


• Purchase a gold belt.


• Make a cape.


• Use a blue gDiaper over the leggings to complete the look.

Reminds me of the year I was going to be a Smurf. I figured we could just add blue food coloring to some lotion or some Crisco or something. I was only eight years old, but I was already incredibly lacking in my ability to see a craft all the way through . . .

Thankfully, while I was searching the internet for a how-to on making a cape, I came across Georgia's blog, Puking Pastilles. I was then introduced to the beauty of the buy now, download now, print now, business of patterns. 

How could I have not known about this?

Georgia has the most brilliant super hero costume pattern available for purchase in her Etsy shop. You can make it out any combination of colors that you like, and she even has free pdf's of many of your kiddo's favorite hero emblems. 

Thus was born the most non-crappy Super Why costume that I could possibly achieve.

Seriously. I had no idea that I could make anything like this for my sweet boy. As soon as I even mentioned it, he started asking to wear it. The poor dear was tortured every time I made him try on the different pieces of it. He would come close to tears each day I told him it wasn't ready yet.

Finally, on Wednesday this week, I finished. Of course I didn't take pictures along the way because I am the world's worst craft blogger. but I can tell you that the blue shiny fabric ain't so swift for sewing, but it makes a beautiful cape. 

The appliqu�0160;was tricky. I used gold ribbon for the strands around the book. At first, they held on with just Heat and Bond. Slowly but surely, it started peeling off though. Last night, I was hand stitching all of the ribbon on with some clear nylon thread - invisible super hero thread. 

My only complaint with the costume is that it fits so well. As soon as he grows a smidge, he's not going to be able to wear it. I did have to cut the pants twice, as the pattern definitely wasn't designed with tall boys in cloth diapers in mind. 

For the life of me, I couldn't remember what was on the back of Super Why's cape, and I wasn't about to make a second book applique because I was starting to feel lazy. So I put a green question mark. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but Christopher is thrilled with his "mark cape." 

He's a happy Super Why, that's for sure.

 

As for Colin, one day I was staring at his beautiful bald head and the very large ears which protrude from it, when it hit me. Those ears and that head were crying out for a laurel wreath. Thus was born the inspiration for the Baby Toga.

I actually took the pattern for the top of the Super Why costume as a guide to draw my own pattern for the toga gown. I liked the way the back split open and closed simply with a piece of velcro. The end result was a little too short, but seeing as how he'll be sitting in a wagon with a blanket over him, I think it will be fine.

The wrap ended up a little more elaborate than I intended, but I'm quite pleased with it. Again, I have no close up pictures of it, and one of the gold ribbon trim would be quite impressive here, but you'll just have to take my word for it. I hemmed all the edges of the wrap, even though I probably didn't need to. It's not like Colin is going to be requesting to dress as Caesar for the next 12 months of his life.

The laurel was the trickiest, and I'm not 100% happy with how it turned out, but it's alright because he won't wear it anyway. Hats and socks. The boy hates both. Anyway, I covered some craft wire with the gold ribbon trim and then hot glued some fake leaves to it. Today, at the church's Halloween parade, I figured out that if I was holding Colin, he would use one hand to hold onto me, and I could put a cookie in the other hand - thereby leaving him unable to yank the laurel wreath from his head. Brilliant, I tell you.

Not nearly as many people thought Colin in the baby toga was as funny as I do. Meh. It made me laugh, and these days, that's worth a lot.

So there you have it. Halloween craftiness for 2010. Maybe I'll post the treat bags I tried to throw together today. They are horrible. I'm so not ready to go pattern free on a bag. So. Not. Ready.

Teacher Gift Rose Arrangement

I admit. I saw this in a magazine with fake roses, liked it, and thought I could do better with real flowers and a lot less money than $130. The best ideas are often ripped off, are they not?

These arrangements were put together with roses from Trader Joes, some moss and flower foam stuff from Joann, and some tin containers from the dollar section at Target. I paired them with gift cards to Starbucks to make end of year gifts for Christopher's preschool teachers last May. What? I know I'm awfully behind on things here. Forgive me.

Anyway, super affordable, and i think they turned out kinda cute. Not sure I'll be delving much further into flower arranging though.

 

Personalized Signs for the Boys' Room

One thing I don't do is draw. As in, most first graders can draw better than I ever will. I have a few doodles in my pocket, and I can do some decent lettering, but I DON'T draw. Seriously. Terrible at it.

I always wanted to paint though. I love paint. I love the way oil paints smell. I love the way watercolors dry on the paper. I love all of the metal tubes of acrylics. On Saturday mornings, I used to forgo cartoons in favor of Bob Ross and his happy little trees and the mountains they lived on. I wanted to cut in with some Burnt Sienna and highlight the crests of the waves with whatever magical mixture of blues and whites he used that day.

Alas, I also suck at painting. Who would have figured? Of course, Bob Ross isn't actually that great of a teacher. He goes too fast (lightening speed if you are 10), and he doesn't ever answer any questions. And he's dead, but that's not really his fault.

Yes, I do actually have a point. Or a project to share.

These personalized signs for the boys were fun and a great way to release my inner painter in the form of my outer doodler. That sounded a little ick, sorry.

I bought the wooden letters from a shop online that I'm too lazy to find right now. They were super nice though, and had great prices. So if you need wooden letters, ask me and I'll find them for you.

The canvases are 30x10, which is apparently a weird size. It fit the letters for Christopher perfectly, and when I bought it in 2007, I didn't plan ahead for Colin. So, when it came time to make Colin's sign, I had to special order a whole box of that size canvas, leaving me with 5 extra. I guess I'll be blogging about what I did with those at some point.

The painting was done with acrylic, and I used regular wood glue to adhere the letters to the canvas. For around $30 (not including the extra canvases I had to buy), we ended up with what I think are some cute name signs for my boys.

Any ideas for those extra 10x30 canvases are welcome.

Birthday Shirts for Two Year Olds

Whoa. It has been MONTHS since I last posted here. That makes me sad. I really love this little blog. My little web space as an accidental crafter. Which I just typed "crapter" and had to correct. HMMMMM.

I haven't been making much. Well, I did make a baby, which is not exactly crafty, but it is hard, time consuming, and far more fun. Since he came along, I haven't been doing too terribly much in the way of anything.

Of course, before little Colin made his arrival in January, I made a couple of birthday shirts for the CC's. The "2" was a little big, especially for Pip, but I kind of like that it was so very very "2."

Christopher's birthday shirt:

The red and white striped arms are actually just another shirt underneath the black t-shirt. I order all my blanks from Jiffy Shirts. They are super cheap and fast, but the Rabbit Skins brand runs really small, so beware.

Here is the shirt for Pippi. I always make hers and Christopher's at the same time, so they always match. I say that like I've been doing it for decades. They are two. So twice. I'm such a dork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I tried out a new design for a new neighbor down the street. She turned two in September, so that makes this almost a current post. Almost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I didn't know when I made this one was that this particular birthday girl said, when referring to her birthday, "Happy Cupcake!" It was pretty cool.

There you have it. The birthday shirts for 2010. I do love some birthday shirts. I think if I ever started an Etsy shop, that's what I would do first. Birthday shirts. 

Family Christmas Stockings

This is a re-post from Don't Take the Repeats. It's the origin of the massive amounts of felt that I now own, and by far my favorite project to date. I just wish I had kept the pattern I made so that I could easily add another one for Little Butterbean next year. Oh well.

Over the past year or so, I have developed a love of handmade things. Esty is a website that should be banned from my computer. I've spent entirely too much time and money there.

Those who know me in real life know that I am not creative outside of music or cooking. It's just not in me.

Or so we thought.

I
now present to you, the family Christmas stockings, made by moi,
because I was too damn cheap to purchase personalized stockings. Well,
that, and the ones I found that I liked wouldn't allow the 11 letters
in my son's name.

I do believe I am officially crafty.

Felt Tree Garland

This adorable garland has been tempting me for a couple of years in the Land of Nod catalog. However, being the cheap cheapo that I am, I refused to drop $30 on some felt tree garland.

Thus began a valuable lesson in crafting. Sometimes, it's worth the money to just buy the darn thing.

I had a ton of felt left over from my Christmas stocking project last year. I'm not so good on the estimating, and since I was making them from my own imagination, I bought "a little extra" just to be sure. I could now wallpaper our family room with felt, but that's beside the point.

I figured the felt wasn't really a cost, because if I didn't use it for this, I was just wasting it anyway. However, I probably spent $15 on sequins and other decorating doodles for the trees. Then there was the expense of the ribbon and glue.

Not to mention, the expense of the time involved. It was time consuming. Just ask Lovely, my stepdaughter. She spent about an hour gluing the trees onto the sequin strands.

So, meh. Felt tree garland. It's cute, but I would just buy it from Land of Nod.

Turkey Hand Shirt

From here, Kevin claimed to not see any turkeys. He may have been right, but he wasn't wearing his glasses as usual.

From here, you can almost see the very first French Knots I ever successfully completed.

And from here, you can see that it is indeed a very minimalistic turkey made from Little Bird's hand, and there was another one made from Mama's hand.

It was my first foray into using embroidery thread to accent an applique. I have decided that I need a hoop if I'm going to try it again. I might also need someone who doesn't refuse to wear his glasses to help me gauge whether or not there is actually a turkey on the shirt.

Zipper Pouches

This is the first year that Little Bird has had teachers. He goes to Mothers Morning Out one day a week at our church, and he has four teachers. Halloween was my first excuse to try something handmade for them.

I found some very cute fabric on sale at Hancock's one morning - just so happened to be on my "Morning Out." I bought a couple of yards of each because I didn't know how much I would need. Let's just say that Bird's teachers from now until he's in middle school will likely be getting the same zippered pouches for Halloween. Ahem.

My friend JC told me about these pouches and gave me the link to the instructions.  My first two attempts were quite disastrous. What I have found about sewing though, is that if I don't give up - if I plow through and finish something, that I will usually figure out what I've done wrong and how to do it right the next time.

Since I didn't take a picture of any of the pouches, I cannot offer any proof that in fact, I did figure it out and whip out four of those puppies in about 90 minutes. But I did. I just had to get the knack.

What I learned in this project is that I can cut out a straight line to save my life. I have a cutting board. I have a self healing mat and a rotary tool. I have the right tools I think, but I always end up with a random rhombus. Lovely.

Another lesson for another day, I suppose. But you would think that I could cut out a straight friggin' line.

We put some Halloween candy and a gift card to the brand spanking new Trader Joe's in each bag and gave them to his teachers the week of Halloween. Again, I may be setting the bar too high to live up to in the future, but that's alright. I'll just keep doing what I can when I can.

Teddy Bear Costume

A few months ago, Little Bird started saying the word "Bear." It was so cute with the w at the end of the word, instead of an r. Right then, I decided that he should be a "beaw" for Halloween. Just so I could hear him say it over and over.

Sometime in August, I bought a Butterick's pattern for 99 cents on sale at Joann's. I hadn't used one of their patterns before, and while the zipper instructions rocked, there were some other things seriously lacking. As in, it never told me to sew the inside legs seams. I mean, I figured out to do it, but I wasted quite a bit of time worrying about when to do it.

Really though, it's the best looking zipper I've ever done. I think I finally feel like I know how to do one now.

The costume had four components: the body, the hood, the mittens, and the spats. I wanted to add a round belly in a contrasting color, but I ran out of time, and I also didn't want to mess with my fabulous zipper.

The mittens and the spats were easy enough. I left off the elastic strap that was supposed to hold the spats to the bottom of the shoes. It just seemed like overkill. The spats stayed on just fine without them. I never tried to get the mittens on, because it was so hot here for Halloween. Of course, the year I decide to dress my poor child in a fake fur suit, it's 80 freaking degrees on Halloween.

 The body was pretty standard, and other than them leaving out the inseam instructions, I didn't have any trouble with it. Well, until I got to the neck. I really need a good lesson in finishing a neck. Especially when it comes to bias tape. I cannot figure out bias tape to save my life.

The hood was the biggest disappointment. He looked like a cross between a very cuddly teddy bear and a fuzzy cone head. I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm sure it wasn't supposed to turn out so, well, pointy. I lined the hood in some material that would have been better suited for a really soft baby blanket, but I wanted it to feel good on his little baby head. Aside from almost causing him to have a heat stroke, I think it did feel good. I was surprised at how willingly he wore it, honestly.

I guess this is now a tradition. The homemade Halloween costume. Let's just hope my children have simple tastes.

Halloween Costumes, the Pirate Family

Last September, I decided that I should make Halloween costumes for the family. Little Bird and his daddy would be pirates, and I was to be the pirate maiden. It was the biggest undertaking of my short career as a sewist.

I cut the taffeta for my dress wrong the first time and had to buy more. The whole affair probably cost me more to make from scratch than it would have to buy it, but it was a very satisfying venture.

I also made the pattern for Kevin's vest from an old dress shirt of his. That was a first for me, designing something without a purchased pattern.

The biggest mistake I made was setting the bar WAY too high for future Halloweens. Kevin was such a good sport last year, that I didn't expect him to be eager to join in again this year, but he was. Unfortunately, I'm just not up to taking on the whole family challenge again. I'm planning on making Little Bird a little bear, and that will be that.

Birthday Mail Sack

It's intimidating to sew for a seamstress. But seeing as how she has inspired me quite a lot, and seeing as how she is one of my favorite people in the world, I gave it a shot.

For her birthday, modeled by my lovely stepdaughter, a mail sack. It's a pattern from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I swear, there probably isn't a post on this blog that doesn't link to Kathy's shop. I love it.

The base fabric is by Alexander Henry and is called Noguchi. I made myself one of these bags and used this fabric as well. The thing is, I didn't notice HOW cream the cream in Noguchi was. I put my whole bag together with mismatching creams and whites, and it bugs the crap out of me now.

I literally spent months trying to find the perfect fabrics to go with Noguchi for this purse. I don't think I ever did. I finally chickened out and went with the solid black for the yoke and strap. Kathy kindly sent me a big swatch of another fabric that was black and cream, but next to the Noguchi, the cream just ended up looking like white. So solid black.

The interior didn't quite go as planned either. I ordered some fabrics from my fabric co-op for the lining and the pockets. One of the fabrics didn't make, so I was out of luck there. The one that did make, again, was too white to use for the lining. I still really liked the fabric though, so I decided to use it in the pockets.

Then it hit me. Find a print that didn't have any white in it. I know, so simple. But I have a way of making things complicated. I found a cute green and black print at Joann's that could tie the whole project together. Unless you are Kevin, because he really hated my fabric choices on this one.

I don't know. They aren't the perfect fabrics, but I think it turned out better than the one I made for myself.

Better, if you ignore the fact that I cut the straps while completely drunk, apparently. The strap lining was a good 1/2 inch too short, making the edge of the bag uneven all the way around. But hey, there's a zipper that works, which always impresses me.

Besides, isn't it the thought that counts? I hope so, because way too much thought went into this simple purse. Well, way too much for just the purse. Not nearly too much for the recipient. Happy birthday, Girl. I'm sorry it was a week late.

Blast Off

The tale of the rocket pants. These pants have been in the making for months. I found the fabric in the sale section of Pink Chalk Fabrics and bought a yard, not knowing what I would do with it.

When the fabric arrived, I immediately knew that it had to be pants - with the big rockets around the cuffs.

Instead of buying a pattern, I decided that I could make a pair of simple pants just by tracing some of Little Bird's current pants. I wanted them to be skater length with a simple elastic waist.

I put the pants together in no time. I was so excited to try them on the little guy. The length was great, but the waist was way too small. We sent them to our friend Carter, in hopes that he might be able to wear them, but the waist was still way too small. Maybe some teddy bear might wear them some day.

Not to be outdone, I got online and ordered some more fabric. This time, I also purchased a pattern. I'm obviously not ready to start creating my own projects. The fabric arrived, and I chickened out for awhile.

I really wanted these pants to work. I knew that I had to adjust the pattern some in order to get the border around the cuffs. That made me just nervous enough to stall for about a month. Or two.

Finally, last week, I tackled the rocket pants. They turned out a little longer than I anticipated, but overall I'm pleased with them. The best part is that Little Bird loves them. We learned this little song at our library's Rhyme Time that goes like this:

Zoom, zoom, zoom,
We're going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom,
We'll get there very soon.
5-4-3-2-1
Blast off!!!!!

As soon as he saw his new pants, he held his little hand up and started counting in his own Bird way, and threw his arms up in the air, crying, "Oooooooooff!" It was awesome.

Another thing I didn't really plan was what Bird would wear with his rocket pants. I found some really inexpensive blanks online though, and they arrived in about two days. This afternoon, I appliqued a rocket onto the shirt and completed his outfit.

I think he really likes it. I know I do.

Superhero T-shirt

Once again, the model makes the shirt. Super J to the rescue!

A rag quilt for Bird

Last year, I made a rag quilt for each of my nieces' and nephews' birthdays. They were varying sizes, and were a great way for me to get a good handle on using my sewing machine. I think they liked them, and I enjoyed giving them something handmade. Of course, I neglected to take pictures of said quilts, because I'm flaky like that.

While I was in that rag quilt phase, I stockpiled flannels from Joann's when they would go on sale. Over a year, I've had flannels picked out to make Little Bird his very own rag quilt. I finally got around to making that quilt this summer.

This time, I cheated a little bit and ordered some pre-cut squares of quilt batting off of eBay. That saved me a lot of time and effort. I really hate cutting quilt batting. I pieced the quilt together at home and then took it with us on our trip to the mountains to get the ragging done.

This week, Bird snuggled up under his quilt for the first time for a little Elmo's World. I think he likes it, and I'm one proud mama.

What's your favorite ice cream?

My poor neglected craft blog. My poor neglected sewing machine. There have been a few projects here and there, but mostly, I've just been collecting patterns and materials and building my to-do list. Currently it stands here:

1. Three handbags. Mail sacks from Pink Chalk Fabrics, to be exact.


2. A pair of pants for Little Bird. With a rocket ship border at the hem.


3. A fleece blanket for Lovely.


4. Two rag quilts for Lovely and Luke.


5. Hand puppets for a new miracle baby's big sister.


6. An apron.


7. Pillowcases for Birds' little crib pillow.


8. Three more t-shirts to applique for him.


9. A birdy quilt, my first foray into real quilting.


10. Some stuffed bunnies.

That's enough for now. I'm sure if I walked up to the sewing room, I would find a dozen more, but anymore on that list and my hobby will start feeling like a weight around my neck.

 I have finished a few things, but forgot to take pictures. I made a tu-tu for Bailey, one of my favorite little princesses, and I made a "Super Juni" shirt for our friend Junius across the street. I thought that one turned out pretty okay for being hand sketched. I am so not an artist.

One of my favorite applique projects was a whim. I almost waited too late to work on this little romper. Bird actually only got to wear it twice before it was just wedgie city. In honor of the ice cream party from Edy's that Cyndi won for our neighborhood, I whipped up this little cutie while Bird napped. Three scoops on a sugar cone, please!

A Robot and a Puppy

I actually have been doing more than just appliques, but I have forgotten to take pictures. I've been making some drawstring bags, just the right size for shoes, as gifts. I like the simplicity of the project and the fabrics I can use. Plus, I just really like bags. All sorts of them.

Another thing on my plate other than appliques is a fabric co-op that I joined a few months ago. It is pretty overwhelming - I don't know exactly what is going on, but I finally decided to just jump in. They were filling bolts of Timeless Treasures, the maker of the pink scooter fabric I used for Tara's apron. I put in for several different fabrics, some of which I have a plan and some of which I don't. I think though, if the bolts don't fill, that I won't get those fabrics. I'm not exactly sure. Did I mention overwhelming?

And now for the pictures. These are the other two t-shirts I bought from Old Navy for $4 each. The first one had the Stratocaster on it, and now to our applique collection, we add a robot and a puppy. The robot is a self-design, which is why I had to tell you it was a robot. I do really like the button eyes, and the zigzag stitch mouth. I also like how he's a little lopsided. I did have an issue with my sewing machine going wonky on one of the arms. Trying to remove all the knotted thread left a hole inthe shirt. Instead of panicking and cursing (well, I did curse a little), I just cut out a new arm, positioned it on top of the hole (slightly lower than the original placement), put some interfacing on the back of the hole, and voila. A wearable robot t-shirt for Little Bird. Only slightly ghetto.

The puppy you can find here on Anna Maria Horner's website. I think it's a very cute puppy. The fabric choice for the puppy took me by surprise, but I love it. I think it goes really well with the shirt, and the pointillistic pattern is reminiscent of fur. It's a fabric I bought on sale at Pink Chalk Fabrics, and had no idea what I was going to do with it. Of course, I still have a lot more . . . I'm going to have to work on knowing how much fabric to buy. It's becoming a problem. A fun problem, but a problem. I was debating on an eye for our puppy, but I think I like him just as he is. The fabric is pretty busy, and the shape is obviously a puppy, so he's going to stay just so. His name is Pupstar.