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.

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.

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.

Handmade Gifts

One of my favorite things about learning to sew is that I can make things for other people. There was a time not too long ago that I never would have dreamed I would give a handmade gift. Now? It's the first thing I try to give.

My friend Nicole had a baby boy in December. Drew received this tassle hat and scarf to wear next winter.

The mom board I'm a part of sometimes has swaps. You can make a gift or buy a handmade gift. Now? I can make a gift. It's so much more fun now! We recently had a love themed swap. I found some adorable fabric (once again on Pink Chalk Fabrics), and made this apron for my friend Tara.

Here's a close up of the fabrics. The little scooters are so cute!

And because I always like to use a pattern more than once, after all, the first time I'm blindly making my way through, I made another apron for my friend Trish's birthday. The fabric wasn't as nice, seeing as how I waited too late to order it online. I popped by Joann's and just went with "cute." Other than the spot on the bottom where I left the iron on it while I rescued Little Bird's fingers from the drawer he had closed them in, I think it turned out well.

My most favorite gifty project lately though, is this birthday shirt for little Pippi. She turned one this past Sunday, and she is sporting a cutie pie birthday shirt. Her mom picked out an adorable little t-shirt from Old Navy and the two pink prints for the "1" I think from Joann's. I thought the shirt turned out well, but I am probably mostly looking at the model. She's such a sweetie.