target brand beach towel refashion into kid pool robe

 beach towel made  into :

kid pool, beach, bath robe 

if you would like to make one of these, head to MADE for the pattern!

this was a fun, messy project to finish in a day. the terrycloth is an interesting fabric to work with but it leaves little bits of itself all over you and your house. still need to get going on violet's version of the same robe, but clover's is all finished. here are the details:

the towel came from Target's beach towel section. the selection was less than i hoped for, but we found this lime green striped towel and a pink striped one for violet. my heart was set on polka dots, but there are really cute too. the robe is perfect for going to the pool, beach, or using after a bath.

the hood lining is made of seersucker, which is my new obsession. the feel and look of it is delicious. perfect a beachy piece of clothing!

 the strap is sewn on to the back to avoid toddler meltdowns over it being dropped (for the millionth time) and throwing her world out of balance. 

the bias tape being sewn on the seam for the hood was a great idea, and i'm glad it was included in the pattern. i am so obsessed with seersucker now.....

spending a nice mild morning out on the deck

clover's shirt happened to match the trim on her robe 

t-shirt refurb: little dickies top

little dickies shirt refurb

 this is a little violet sized t-shirt made from a little lady sized original

  

still working through my stash of lemon yellow cotton ribbing

i wanted to embellish with something girly and pink, but didn't want to mix my wovens with my knits, so in the end i did some stitching with some pretty flamingo colored thread my mom sent me. the neck seems a bit loose and the armpits a bit tight, but it should work ok. looks like it's time to move on from my 3 month sized onesie scraps i have been using as a pattern.

the tag sticking out from the side needs to be excavated. apparently you aren't supposed to iron that material....violet is in bed now (thank you Jesus), so live pics to follow tomorrow

my sewing machine and i had a bit of a skirmish with this one. i prefer straight lines to be sewn and it prefers to toss everything off to the left and sew in semicircles. when it really doesn't want to work, it just won't feed the fabric through the feed dogs at all, thereby bunching up lots of thread in one spot and making a big mess. or my other favorite, when the thread gets thrown off the spool at the top, gets caught in the mechanisms and snaps off after ruining a row of stitches. at the very least, i believe i deserve a higher quality seam ripper. rant over.

repurposed shirt scraps to baby capris

repurposed shirt scraps to baby capris

having scraps left over from this project:

repurposed shirt to kid shorties

i wanted to do something with the remaining pieces of shirt. there were some good raw materials to work with - some cuffs and a collar - which seemed like they could go places

so.....

with some sleeves, a collar and some scraps from an old project i got started

 i used an old pair of cotton knit pants that i have stashed away as a pattern. really, i only need two of those four pieces but i have kept them all anyway.

here i have the sleeve opened up. originally i was going to leave the cuff on and just cut them out that way, but it was too hard to get everything to lay right so i ended up cutting them off. and on the left i have the shirt collar with extra left on for a seam allowance

 i folded the ends of the pants up to create a more capri length pant, keeping in mind that i would be adding the cuffs back on too. i just lined up the tip of the crotch area on the pattern pieces and folded up equal amounts to make them all fit together right. the back piece is pretty easy to tell from the front since the rise is so much higher. my sleeves are folded in half, right sides together so i get two opposite pieces from one cut

here is everything cut with seam allowance

and here you can see that i cut a slit in in the inside (wrong side) of the shirt collar so i could string a violet sized elastic strip through it. it's already all sewn in and i just stitched the hole shut at the end. and here you have a ready made waist band! sweet....

and then i stopped taking pictures because i needed to get it done while the miniature person was sleeping...so here is the final product below

after your typical construction of the shorts themselves, and appliqueing the yellow dots on before sewing up the sides, i stitched the waist band on wrong sides together, and then topstitched to make everything lay flat. it helped to tug on the waistband to lengthen it as i attached it to the body of the shorts in order to get the length of everything to line up

  

then i ran a basting stitch around the leg holes and gathered my fabric enough to make the shirt sleeve cuffs fit nicely over them - right sides together of course - and then gently pulled it all open a bit to make sure they would have enough stretch when it was all said and done. i didn't want the basting stitch to be restricting. this undid a lot of the gathering i did, but left just enough to make it all come together without big puckers and gaps. after turning it out and ironing i did a topstitch to reinforce everything and make it lay nicely

 

 after stitching shut the hole from the elastic i added a little tag. it looks better and helps you see which side is the back easier

 

they are a bit longer than i was hoping, but it's hard to size anything that well when you have to make things while the girl you're sewing for is sleeping 

quilted playmat project - finished

 despite all that joann fabrics or the children could throw at me, the playmat gift has been completed. i like how it turned out - a nice combination of solidly made but with quirks that say a human made it

 big enough for a roll out in the lawn for a baby to play on or tuck under them on hard floors, while not being unwieldy

 

the project i followed had you hand embroider for the quilting, but it is not time efficient for me as a mom with young children. i like how the circles show up on the red fabric. 

although it is meant as a playmat there is nothing really stopping them from using it as a blanket. with the natural cotton batting being pretty thick, it is cushioned for laying on but it could easily end up just being something to snuggle with. i hope they like it!

website discovery - pinterest

i am probably woefully late to discovering this website, but i wanted to give it a shout out anyway, despite how uncool my just discovering it makes me look....

here is the link to my pinterest so you can get an idea of what it looks like

http://pinterest.com/girllikethesea/

 an example of a picture i pinned to my wall

From etsy.com via http://pinterest.com/girllikethesea/

especially if you like to look at blogs and sites like etsy, where you constantly see pictures and ideas that you wish you could remember, pinterest is a great idea. you just add a button to your browser toolbar that says "pin it" and when you are on a page with a picture you want to remember you click the button. a window pops up with the image and options for where you want to put it on your pinterest wall, like which category it goes under (art? food? craft? design?), and the option to add a description

by doing it this way you don't even need to navigate away from the page you are on. you can find all your facebook friends through pinterest and choose to follow their pinboards, giving you an idea of their taste and things they like. if you have a friend who is particularly tasteful this is an opportunity to mooch their style ideas....by clicking on the picture that is pinned to the board you are taken to the original web page it came from too, rather than just being an image severed from its source.

if you are planning on redecorating this could be a great tool for compiling pictures of ideas. 

etsy.com via pinterest

 

it could even act as a wedding registry for examples of your personal style or even websites to guy gifts at. 

 etsy.com via pinterest

you can use it to compile ideas for craft projects. 

 made.com via pinterest

an online bookshelf of what you have been reading - or a visu

al representation of the music you enjoy. 

 added via pinterest

 added via pinterest

by looking at somebody's pinterest wall you can also get a better idea of what they will really appreciate in a gift. 

pretty neat!

 

tara's citrus red cabbage slaw for fish tacos

Red Cabbage, a photo by Daveidaho on Flickr.

this is the very simple recipe i use for cabbage to go in my fish tacos. pair it with a grilled or pan seared white fish, some trader joe's salsa verde, and a little extra sour cream and you have a very delicious dinner.

citrus red cabbage slaw

half of a small to medium red cabbage  - about 3 cups 

juice of medium lime

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 c minced cilantro

optional add in:

chili powder 

minced garlic

splash of a mild vinegar

with a knife or the grating blade of your food processor, finely shred your cabbage

it goes super fast in the food processor.....

dump it out into a mixing bowl and juice your lime right into the bowl over the cabbage

take a few pinches of sea salt and a sprinkle of black pepper and add

toss the cabbage up well and taste - add more seasoning if desired

add your sour cream and cilantro and toss well again

it's best if you do it first and let it marinate a little bit while you prepare the rest of dinner...it's also very good on its own the next day, as i can attest to since i am currently shoveling leftovers into my face as i type

 

home made tortillas - food processor creation completed

tortillas turned out tasty! we ate salmon quesadillas sandwiched in them last night

as we ate, i mentioned to tim that they were made with lard. his reply was "this is a virtue right?"

 

in progress

http://www.purlbee.com/cheerful-quilted-playmat/

purl bee quilted playmat

note: the above is not my project. mine is awaiting its photography session and shall remain a mystery.

here is a link to my current project - a quilted playmat for a neighbor who is about to have their first baby. heavy on my heart has been the desire to bless them with something. they are such a friendly couple, but i don't know how much community they have in the area besides a few family members. after a joann fabric debacle, going back to secure enough fabric to finish my project, and coming home shooting enraged housewife steam from my pores, i have constructed most of the mat and am currently hand embroidering the finishing touches. here is a little preview of some of my materials. a bold red floral and some natural cotton batting.

unfortunately i am unable to upload any pictures of the progress right now because i am on tim's computer. mine is currently unusable, but for a very good reason. we are trying to finish migrating my info off of it onto a brand new computer. after holding onto our tax return for a while to test the financial waters, tim made the move and our much needed new computer arrived as a surprise yesterday. i was under the impression that it was something else that tim had ordered a while ago. tim had me open the box and as soon as i saw the font of the letter "c" peeking out of the box i knew what word it was connected to and shrieked. 

i am so grateful for the gift of a new computer. after lusting after a new iMac for a while, frustration with my poor old laptop reached the point that i was fine with literally anything as long as it was faster. tim probably tired of me saying "please, anything....just faster!" as i saw on my stool at the laptop waiting....and waiting....and force quitting....and waiting some more for the most rudimentary of tasks. 

props are in order for the macbook pro though. i have been using it daily for all my tasks since before we got married - our 6 year anniversary is next month - and it has required no real maintenance. aside from the power cord having to be replaced, it has held up remarkably well, especially considering the abuse i put it through. it looks like homeless war veteran, complete with missing teeth (keys). i'm happy to see it being moved along to venerated elderly status in our household. 

this also means that i can take up making videos of our girls again, which the real venerated elderly will appreciate. yes, my parents, i am talking about you.

food processor project: tortillas

these whole wheat tortilla dough balls are resting and awaiting their transformation into delicious husks to be filled with fish taco filling, burrito guts etc.

somebody can't keep her crusty little toddler fingers out of my cooking

lard from my farmer provided the fat for these little experiments. weston a price would be so proud....once i get back from the fabric store, where hopefully my mangled yard will be replaced, i will be toasting these up in my tiny cast iron pan.

milestone and annoyance

starting with the milestone, sweet violet took her first step yesterday. she was standing facing her sister and decided to go for it. she managed a step and two jumps that got her a little further before sitting down. compact and springy, her little body looks so cute moving around our house.

on annoyance, the lesson i learned yesterday is that you need to pay attention to the way the batting brained lady at the fabric counter is cutting your bolts. especially if both your girls are dressed in pink and she still calls them boys. after dragging the kids through joann fabrics, listening to them whining, waiting forever behind somebody who was buying the whole quilting department in one go, getting my one yard of fabric cut, and listening to violet cry on the way back home, i am going to have to return again. so crooked was my fabric cut that i lack enough length make the last two squares of a quilted playmat i am making as a gift (and a gift means that i can't fudge it and be find with it looking wonky). it looks like it was cut with a chainsaw, or in homage to the great depression stock market

projects - repurposed shirt into kid shortie

i love my new outfit, mommy!

one of tim's old long sleeved t-shirts became this little summer shortie for clover....magically over naptime! if anyone is interested in a pattern for summer dresses and this shortie, head over to MADE http://www.dana-made-it.com/

she has some cute patterns plus free tutorials that have really helped me get the guts up to do some sewing

clover is working her female charms, freshly tuned in her new threads, to get a new neighbor boy to come out and play with her. he is and older man of 4(and 3/4) and she is just like her mommy

what's that over there? trouble? 

i like the way knit shirrs up with the elastic thread. although my machine is still incapable of doing a normal job of shirring anything, we are working through it. i did the stitching in thread that contrasts with the charcoal of the fabric, and i like how the flamingo pink and cream worked out. at the last minute i decided to use the teal knit to make the straps instead of leftovers from the shirt i cut up. i should have enough of the shirt to make something for violet too.

i like that the shortie is in essence like a dress, in that it is fitted up top and loose at the bottom, which allows lots of freedom to move. but since it has an extra piece sewn between the legs, closing it off, she doesn't have to wear anything under it or drag her diaper all over everything.