Car seat strap wrap

My little guy likes to fall asleep in the car from time to time and I always cringe when I see his soft little baby neck marred with the red line of his car seat strap. That can't be comfy! Using the quilt as you go method, I made a velcro wrap to cushion his head and neck from the straps of his car seat.

It's all made from bits of fabric scraps from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope and some from Anna Maria Horner.  There are two layers of cotton batting quilted in the middle to make it cushy.

So far, so good, the little guy wakes up happy and mark-free from his car naps and appears more comfortable when napping now.

Market skirt

One skirt is never enough. There is a certain instant gratification that comes from sewing a skirt because it goes together so quickly and makes such a big colorful impact. It's hard to believe that a few strips of fabric like this:

Can so quickly turn into this:

I've been sitting on this Denyse Schmidt fabric for a long time. It's Katie Jump Rope from the Free Spirit line. When I found Dana's Market Skirt tutorial, I thought of this fabric right away. I love the greenness of it and the large pocket makes it perfect for wearing to the Farmer's Market or, in our case, to the chicken coop to collect eggs. It's hard to see, but I did some decorative stitching on the pocket in a green thread that matches the fabric. I also sewed across the 1" waist band in the front and back vertically. Even though I use the non-roll elastic for waist bands, I find it occasionally does roll, which is really annoying to the person wearing the garment and hard for the mama to fix. By stitching across the back, or back and front, of the waist band in a matching thread color, the elastic never rolls, bends in half or moves around, and it's still just as stretchy.

Here's my little sweetheart, happily modeling her new market skirt in spring green. I wish she could have modeled outdoors but we had rain for the first time in three weeks today! From now on, I must add pockets to more clothing. This afternoon she brought back two chicken eggs in her pocket and discovered it was even big enough to hold her stuffed snake, Somo. Pockets, gotta love em.

Pirate princess

When I saw Michael Miller's Goth Baby fabric, I knew I had to grab some of it for my pirate-loving daughter. Sweet ballet pink and skull and crossbones? The combination pretty much sums up my sensitive and kind but tough as nails and somewhat sassy little girl.

I used Dana's tutorial at MADE for a market skirt but lengthened it 3" for my almost six-year-old. (Hop over to her website if you're looking for some great patterns and tutorials.) For my version of the skirt, I added some ric rac, which I rarely use, but I couldn't resist the sweet simplicity of pairing pink ric rac with the black and white skull and crossbones. I really like that the shape and design of this skirt look so classic but the fabric is so subtly sassy and modern.

I embellished the T-shirt with a little skull and crossbones, framed in pink ric rac. She can wear the T-shirt with her black capri leggings or as a pajama top as well. And lucky me, I still have enough fabric left over to make some pajama pants or shorts and a bandanna for my little pirate princess.