Box Bag

I really enjoy following tutorials on the internet, and finding new ideas to try. When I found this box bag tutorial , I decided to give my new zipper prowess a try.

Well, the lovely bag you see pictured here took a really really long time to make!

The zipper is hidden between the lining and the outer material, and the instructions left me a bit confused on this, and I had to rip it out twice.

Another error I made was in making it really long. I misunderstood which side of the rectangle of fabric I needed to put the zipper on, so I ended up with a rectangle more than a box.

I also had to re-read the directions on how to make the ends a few times. I am happy with their box-ness, though.

I liked how the handle went into the bag, but had to re-stitch it twice as well. I had originally followed the tutorial and made it twice as wide as needed.

This LONG exercise taught me that I should make sure and read to the end of the instructions and make it in my head before deciding to do the project.

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Pattern Review: Kwik Sew 2911 Vest

Kwik Sew 2911: Toddler Vest and Jacket

The other pattern I saw for a toddler vest was Kwik Sew 2911. I am really happy with the pattern, and have made six already. I made the one in the top photo using the pattern almost exactly. It calls for swimsuit material and does the binding this way. The material I found was striped and it didn't end up lining up exactly, so some of my binding is two-toned, and I'm not sure how much I like that. The directions also didn't specify to pull it tight or not, and I was happier with it when I pulled it tight, but it was still a bit wide. I found the zipper instructions fine-- they got me through it but I had to re-read them a few times to figure out how to cope with the excess length on the top. I loved how they have you do the collar-- by sewing on the inside-- but have yet to perfect it (I keep having it land in a crooked line of what looks like topstitching from the front side). I modified the 1Ts and 2Ts of the pattern I made to take out the pockets.

I made two renditions of the vest with a hood (from the hooded jacket portion of the pattern). This is because my little guy seems to take off his hat all the time and will leave a hood on from time to time. I really like these. They solve the issue of the collar stitching not going straight, since there is no collar stitching here. I am back and forth on how much I like the aesthetic of a hooded vest versus a collared vest. It uses a lot more fabric, and is larger to carry in a diaper bag, but then it is possibly warmer. The red vest is made of a higher quality fleece, and feels really thick and toasty.

After the first vest, I started using FOE (fold over elastic) to bind the armholes and bottom. The only issue with this is trying to figure out how to have the binding and zipper meet.

In the bottom photo, the camouflage vest is a size 4T. I did my first pockets here. The directions have a lot of overstitching on the inside, and I didn't find it all that useful. My guess is that it would be more useful if you were using something other than fleece as the material. All three of these in the photo are gifts.

Overall, I really like this pattern. The pieces are easy to cut, there aren't too many of them, and it stitches up nicely. It fits well, almost like an oversized sweatshirt. The length is nice, as is the size of the armholes and the collar. I went down in zipper length from the recommended length, and like the how the 12" zipper lays more than the 14" zipper.

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Pattern Review: McCall's 3416 Vest

With fall upon us, we needed a vest for the little guy. Instead of buying one at REI, I opted to find a pattern and make one. The first pattern I found was the McCall's 3416 in size XS/S. It is for a vest, shirt, and pants.

I cut out the vest pattern and realized the XS was WAY too big for us for this year. So I took it to the copy store and re-sized it to 75%.

With the fabric I chose, I decided to skip the pockets on the front. My 15-month old son doesn't use pockets yet, so I wasn't motivated to use the extra fabric required to make the pocket pattern match the underneath pattern.

I think it is an ok pattern. It has interfacing on the armholes and inside the zipper, and uses quite a bit of hand stitching (on the inside of the collar and around the armhole interfacing). The directions to stitch the inside of the collar were a bit confusing when I got to the part about attaching the front facing and the collar. But it was my first zipper ever and I found the directions quite easy to follow to put it in.

The fit is just ok as well. I am not sure if this is because I re-sized the pattern, or if that is how it is meant to be. In re-sizing, I kept the seam allowance as stated, so perhaps this complicated things. My complaints about the size are that it is a bit too short and that the arm holes are too wide. I like that it is trim through the torso.

Overall, I really like this piece and am disappointed that my little one has almost grown out of it and it's only been a few weeks. I will most likely not try the pattern again as he gets older, since I think the Kwik Sew one I found is a lot better (see next post). The advantage of this one is that the fit is more trim through the body and fits more like a shirt than an oversized jacket.

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Easy Baby TShirt Applique

This project was so easy that I feel bad calling it mine. But I did it, and it is an original, so here goes:

I got a long-sleeve white t-shirt on sale and thought it was a good quality shirt that would be fun to customize. My son has some t-shirts with a square of fabric in the drool zone, and I like them because they add another layer of absorbency before the shirt is too wet to keep wearing.

So-- all I did here was take a square of fleece and sew it to the middle front of the t-shirt using a wide and long zig-zag stitch and making sure one side of the stitch hit the fleece and one hit the shirt. I used fleece because fleece doesn't fray. If you would do this with a fabric that frays, you'd want to press under a hem on all sides before doing the applique.

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Reusable Produce Bags

In trying to live a "greener" life, I notice that our grocery shopping trips use a lot of plastic and a lot of packaging. I have been trying to buy less produce that is packaged (ie Trader Joe's-- which I LOVE for other things) and trying to buy our produce from a local market called Monterey Market that sources many organic local farms. It has been very eye-opening to learn what is seasonal and to try and cook more seasonal local fresh veggies. I have found they taste better and are cheaper.
But I digress. We use the plastic produce bags for kitty litter, but seem to have extra. So, after reading about them in "Sew & Stow" by Oppenheimer, I decided to give re-usable produce bags a try.
To make these, I used an old sheet. I cut it into pieces that were mostly 21" by 15". I hemmed the long edge and then folded them and made an inner seam and turned them inside out. I made a LOT of them, and some were smaller (hey, for chilies or something).

We took them to the store and used them this weekend. They worked fine as we were going around the store. When we got to the checkout, they also worked fine, although some had gotten wet from other produce that hadn't been bagged. Unloading the cart went a lot quicker than usual, because I bagged more than I usually do (I often just put loose items in the cart to save on bags). The checkout lady didn't flinch, and just peeked inside each bag. The bagger took a little longer because he had to look inside the bags to see what was delicate and what wasn't.

When I was checking out, I saw that they had re-usable produce bags for sale. They were mesh and had drawstring closures. They were 4 for $10. The mesh would be nice because they would probably dry faster, and you'd be able to see what was inside.

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Bikini with Boy Short Bottoms

So if I am making the baby a bathing suit, why not one for mama?

Well, it is actually a bit harder than it looks. I think it would have been easier had I chosen a color of fabric other than white. With white, I was concerned about not only the cut, but making sure it was not see-through... probably not the best choice for a first pass.

So, to make this, I traced a bikini top I had and underwear that I liked the cut. I traced them onto white paper and then added a seam allowance. When sewing, I used two layers of fabric for each. On the inside of the bikini top, I attached the straps using a box stitch (like you'd attach straps to a bag). On the bottom, instead of using underwear elastic, I folded a piece of swimsuit fabric in half and stretched it to fit (like when making baby trainers or pants).

I am happy with it BUT it takes way too long to dry. It would be better to use a liner material of some sort instead of two layers of swimsuit material. Had I done this, the pineapple pattern wouldn't be showing through from the back to the front like it does now. Also, I made a casing for the bottom strap of the bikini after turning and topstitching. I ran into a bit of a problem with the curve bunching the fabric. If I'd do it again, I would lace the bottom strap through-- between the layers-- and topstitch to form a casing instead.

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My Favorite Baby and Early Toddler Books

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Free Pattern Baby Boxers/ Trim Shorts

These trim shorts can also be used as stretchy baby boxers. In this photo, the sage ones are made of bamboo and the striped ones are made of stretch cotton/ lycra.

To make them, download the pattern: Trim Shorts. Instructions are on the pattern.

Please let me know how this goes! This is my first attempt at digitizing a pattern (I used Visio and a ruler) and sharing it. Feedback is appreciated.

I did a post in September 2009 about these Baby Boxers as well.

Note for all you bloggers out there: I just embedded the pattern link using Google Docs (here is how) and changed the name using these directions. How cool is that! Pin It

My Favorite Early Parenting Books

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My Favorite Pregnancy Books

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