Nursery and Toddler Rooms….Finished!

Seeing that we wanted to keep our “guest” bedroom, we had to make a plan to (eventually) put the older boys in the same room. We finished this about 3 months ago but I’m just now getting around to posting about it.

Took Troy’s room (before)

Painted it and turned it into the new “nursery”. My mother helped paint and do a whole bunch of other stuff.

So we basically turned the “nursery” into the toddler/boys room.

Before (this is where Justin sleeps)

Now it’s a boys’ room:

Huge kudos, thanks, you’re the best, etc…goes to my mother who helped with these rooms. Of course Brian helped a ton as well. The framed initials above the beds cost $12 for the frames, $4.99 (with a 40% off coupon) from Hobby Lobby for the blue mat, $2.00 for the stencil material and $4.99 for the paint. Not bad and I love how it turned out. The frame in the middle is a shadow box, cost $19 and I used the same materials (stencil paper and white paint)  to make the saying. The words and letters were cut out with my Silhouette (which I LOVE)! I had already made the pillows for Troy’s other big boy room as well as the curtains. Purchased the comforter from Pottery Barn Kids and the sheets from overstock. I love how everything came together!

When the cat’s away, this little mouse will…..SEW!!!

I’ve been dying, well not really dying but I’ve been chomping at the bit to get some much needed sewing out of my system. Months ago, I decided I wanted to make baby Justin a few little things for him before he arrived. I thought I’d try and get them finished before the holidays so I’d have plenty of time to sit back, relax and tackle other fun projects. Uh…that didn’t happen. What did happen included a few other things I thought were a bit more on the front burner. So the fabric I bought for Justin got put on the backburner.

B has been out of town a good bit. What does that mean for me? I can sew like a mad woman! As soon as T has gone down for the night, I’m sewing up a storm. Why not? I love, love, love it. So although it probably doesn’t seem like I’ve accomplished much, it has been enough to keep me satisfied. The day after the half marathon, I picked up the outfits I had already cut out and began to finish the smocking and shadow work so I could actually assemble the rest. I hope I’m not the only person in the world who despises backsmocking. I mean, I know it’s a necessity but UGH! Not fun at all – and neither is cutting out patterns. Anyway, I had to get that stuff done before I could finish the little outfits.

The outfit below is a blue and white gingham gown with smocked lions. Buttons are vintage or antiques or something. They’re over 50 years old – thanks to Mamama (my grandmother). All of these outfits have buttons straight from her cupboard.

Simple boys’ daygown in blue cotton with ecru hand made tatting. Buttons are vintage pearl. They are VERY old and don’t match exactly which I love – makes them more special, right?

Boys’ bubble with smocking insert. Ecru pique with brown piping and tiger smocking.

A simple bubble, I love babies in bubbles!

Same bubble; reversible.

I love the below outfit. Single pleated top in blue gingham with matching blue cotton shorts. I especially love the shadow work on the top. I enjoy doing shadow work much more than smocking!

I also threw together a reversible longall for Troy on Saturday while he was napping. Used some old red pique and a big plaid I bought at Ikea for $6 a yard. I’ll post a photo of that outfit later.

By the way, this baby in my belly is HUGE! He has to be at least 15 pounds or so. I don’t want him coming out any time real soon but I also would like for him to stop making my stomach get bigger. Dear Justin, please keep incubating and getting fatter but please don’t stretch my stomach anymore. It is frightening when I walk past a mirror and see myself.

Fall Jon Jons

Some recent little jon jons for some special boys:
I love this madras:

Auburn football

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Making Easy Peesy Panel Curtains

I have a separate sewing blog. Did you know that? Well, I haven't been great at keeping up with it (even worse than this blog). So, I've decided that, for now, I'll combine them both.

As was the case when we announced to our family about my pregnancy with Troy, I made bedding, curtains and pillows to announce the upcoming arrival of our second child.



I did make some pillows, pillow shams and curtains for Troy's soon-to-be new room. Our plan is to put him in the new room when the baby is a few months old and needs to go in the big crib. I'm praying and crossing my fingers that he'll cooperate in a full size bed at around 22-24 months old...

While I was making these curtains, I thought it would be fun to share with you how easy it is to make panel curtains. Here goes:
First, you should choose your fabric. Below is a photo of when I was trying to decide on the bedding, pillows and curtains for T's new room. Oh, and this is how I "announced" to Brian that we had another baby on the way. Surprisingly he "gets" my sewing mind sometimes and knew I was telling him we'd have to decorate the room:

Step 1: Measure your window. The width of the fabric of your curtains should be at least twice the width of your window. For my window, it is 6 feet (or 72 inches) wide. Double that and I would need two 72" panels. Honestly, I used two 64" panels (the same width of the roll of fabric). When purchasing the fabric, the length should be however long you want your curtains to be PLUS 10 inches (8 inches for the bottom hem and 2 inches for the top hem).

Step 2: Square up your fabric (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of this). Using a rotary cutter with a cutting mat and grid, cut each width and length straight (don't tear the fabric, sometimes it makes panel curtains more difficult - hopefully your fabric is heavy enough to where you can't rip it). Don't cut the selvage - that is your straightest edge.

Step 3: Cut the panels the length they should be (don't forget your extra 10 inches to add into your length).

Step 4: Lay out one panel and turn up the bottom 4 inches. PRESS! Turn up another 4 inches and PRESS. PRESS!!

Pin along the bottom hem. Straight stitch along the top pressed edge. Step 5: LINING. Yes, your curtains will be lined. If you've never done this before, don't freak out. To me, lining things is easier than not. Your lining material should be equal to the length of your finished curtains PLUS 2 1/2 inches. Also, the width should be SIX inches narrower than the width of the curtain fabric. Cut as appropriate using a rotary cutter to make it square.

Step 6: Turn up a 2 inch double fold hem (similar to the bottom hem of the curtain fabric). Press and pin in place.

Stitch along the upper fold for your hem.

Step 7: Place your curtain and lining fabric with the RIGHT sides together. Your lining fabric should be placed exactly 1 1/2 inches ABOVE your curtain fabric. Stitch along the outer edges.

You will have to manipulate the lining fabric a bit since it is narrower than your curtain fabric.

Step 8: Turn the fabric right side out.

Step 9: You will now need to press your curtain. Lay it all out and make sure that your curtain fabric extends 2 inches beyond the lining material on the BACK side of your curtain. Photo is below. Press the whole curtain. Be patient because your panel will be large and you will have to work with the fabric to make sure it stays even in the back.

Step 10: Time to finish the top edge. Lay out the top edge of your curtain with the lining fabric on top (see photo below). Make a double fold 1 inch hem. Your hem should extend just a little over the top of your lining material. Pin and sew.

By this point your child has probably decided to wake from his/her nap.

Get back to sewing the top edge and finish before your child becomes annoyed with you not paying close attention to him.

Allowing your child to play with your sewing box is acceptable, under close supervision.

Once you have finished sewing the top edge, you should mitre the bottom corners of your curtain. I'll try and post this at some point. This time, I wasn't able to finish due to the child in the photos above.

Here is the room before:

And after: See the curtains hanging? I used curtain pins with loops to attach to the rod. This is my preferred method of hanging curtains.

I hope this was helpful! Trust me, it is SO easy!

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Sewing in September 2010

Mostly appliques and monograms were completed in September. Here are a few:
I'm slowly but surely making little creations for our son due in February. I think 5 burp cloths are enough for him (plus all of the others he'll use from Troy).
A few bibs - so easy to stick monograms on these.

Some very good friends of ours, D and M, just adopted a beautiful little boy. Yes, his name is Connor. Here are a few things for him.

MJ, another little girl born to some friends, will have these things I made below. Her mother probably doesn't check this blog so the fact that her wrapped gift is still in my car (oh, for 3 weeks or so) is probably okay. A bad trait of mine: I'll make, or work on something but am not great about giving it to it's intended user quickly. Something to get better at.

Monogrammed receiving blanket for Connor.

I love this little helicopter I appliqued onto a striped shirt of Troy's.

For Troy -

For a friend's little boy. I think it's so cute! The thing I'm not crazy about is that you cannot see the gingham fabric in the stripes that well. The stitches are made so that they are very thick, something I don't have the software (yet) to change.

For a friend's little boy for Christmas:

Red pants and top, for Christmas:

Pants. These are so easy and cute.

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Troy is Six Months Old

So when you think of a human being at 30 years and 6 months, it isn't a big deal, right? Or, someone at 19 years and 6 months. 5 1/2 years old (by the way, when did we stop saying we were x-and a half years old?)...I now know that 6 months is a big difference from, say...6 weeks. A person changes more in the first year than any other year of their lives. Amazing.

So our little, or rather chunky, Troy is 6 months old. Below is a photo of his amazing, wonderful HALF birthday! We celebrated with pureed carrots - yummy. It's much more difficult to photo him....I hear it gets much, much more difficult. I made this little outfit with the bubble gum machine applique. It is also reversible. It has a giraffe on the other side. I thought I ordered a crocodile. I figured I might as well use it anyway. Oh well!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 20 pounds (90th percentile)

Height: 28 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 17.2 inches (50th percentile)

He's a ham STILL. He still loves to smile, he's learned to "tap" as we call it but it's more like hitting. Not sure what to do about that yet. He puts everything in his mouth, including as much of a person's face, hair, etc. he can fit in his mouth. He's started saying 'ba' and I just heard him say "DA" tonight. It's about time. We've been saying 'da da' to him daily for at least a month. Of course "mama" is his favorite and he seems to say it mostly when he's hungry. He sits up pretty good for several minutes, rolls over like crazy, loves his jumperoo and his Lamaze butterfly.

He sleeps about 10-11 hours at night. As I am typing this, he has discovered the keyboard and wants to type. If only I could take a picture of me restraining him with my elbows as I type and he puts his mouth on my arms...I think that's it...

I've been busy sewing. The outfits he is wearing (minus the Auburn one) are ones I've made recently. I just love sewing for him! Or maybe it is that I love sewing, I don't know. I'll have to post some photos of what I've made recently. Selfishly, I've made things mostly for Troy. There are babies born who I want to make things for but haven't made the time. I will one of these days. After all, most of the things I make aren't for newborns anyway!

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I hope this video works!