The Art Smock

Maybe it's because I grew up during the '80s, but I just LOVE  those old reversible raincoats.  In my constant search to find materials to salvage and make into something else, raincoats are one of my favorite finds.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what I can make out of which materials.  I had this brainstorm about making an art smock for my daughter, because she's forever painting with those so-called "washable" paints, that always seem to leave color in her clothes.  But if you know Ally, any smock would have to be pretty special to go over whatever her outfit-du-jour is.  Old raincoat...washable...perfect art smock!

Lucky for me, I found this amazing opalescent purple girls XXX raincoat at the Salvation Army.  It had a few stains on the INSIDE...how perfect is THAT?  So I paid a whopping $3 for it, and brought it home.  The result was the new "FAB" art smock.

Now, leave it to Ally to wear it over a chicken costume...but the good thing is that you an see what it looks like. It was a simple kids apron pattern, Simplicity pattern 3802 (Which I got on sale at Joann for $1!!).

Just three pieces and some double fold trim. I must admit, I used new trim, not reclaimed. I was too excited to finish it to wait to find just the right one. I also stole the pockets from the front of the raincoat and put them on the front, which was a bit different than the original pattern.

 

I'll have to have Rob take some better pictures, but if you look closely, it's been used already, and has been christened with some blue paint near the collar.  And Ally loves it.  Mission Accomplished!

Rrrrrribbit!

Well it's finally finished!  This is what I've been working on for the last 2 weeks.  It's a baby blanket for a co-worker (and neighbor!) who is having her second baby very soon!  She had mentioned to me that she and her husband bought a frog stuffed animal for the baby, and I remembered this great flannel that I had for the back...

 

I'm actually at the point where I've made enough blankets that I'm ready to move on to something new!  I've got some ideas all ready and the fabric all purchased.  Now all I need is for my new Pfaff to get here!

Come on Baby Light my Fire

I've been busy doing a whole bunch of things other than my usual sewing projects for the last few weeks.  I did make a second doggie sweater, but then I was on to a baby hat, and these...some flame pajama pants for my step-son Schuyler.  We had been in JoAnn and he saw the flame fabric and his eyes just lit up "what could we make with THIS?" he said.  So pajama pants it was.

When I went back to buy the fabric, the woman at the cutting counter said "you must have a son, that's the only people who like this!" Pretty funny, but he loves them, so I guess that means they're perfect!

Sid Vicious or Sid-Licious? UPDATED

Now THIS I am really excited about.   I was at Joann Fabrics yesterday, decompressing from a week spent sick myself, and home with flu-laden Ben.  I was flipping through the pattern books, and came across this.  It's by Simplicity, and it's from their "Go Green" line.  It's specifically designed to use an "upcycled" material.  They suggest using sweats or even a...sweater!  

So my mind flashed to a great argyle sweater I had just recently felted.  PERFECT.  Then I had to think of a doggie I knew, small enough to need a sweater, but big enough to show off this fab pattern.  Who do I know?  Who do I know?  Ah-HA! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have ....ready....nine dogs.  They are wonderful dog-rescuers and have the most adorable pug named Sid.  PERFECT.

The result of my brainstorm is this:

So, now the fun starts. Here are some pictures of Sid taken at Christmastime:


Of all of the nine dogs that Dave and Lisa have, my kids LOVE Sid the best. We're home this week for February vacation, so we're hoping to give him his new sweater this week. As soon as we do I'll be sure to add it, so you can see Sid as his alter-ego Sid-licious.

So we have an update.  We went to see Sid and his family yesterday to deliver the sweater.  He loved it!  But we have some alterations to do.  As you can see from the photo, his sleeves are too long, and the back needs to b shortened, too.  Unfortunately, his weight and his length don't fit the pattern perfectly, but that's what's so great about making things.  You can FIX it!

Once the alterations are done, we'll take a few more pics. But overall, I'm THRILLED with the result.

 

A whale of a bag!

I'm hoping that all my friends who grew up in the 80's will appreciate this as much as I do.  I am back on my kick of re-purposing old reversible raincoats.  I can't help it, I just think they are so cool.  

This one I got at a Salvation Army store for $.99 because one of the pockets was torn.   This bag was made out of the back only, and a free pattern I found on Simplcity.com.  It's only two pieces of "fabric" and easy sewing.  The challenges came in when I tried to incorporate the snaps for a closure instead of using velcro like they suggested.

You can see where I tried to sew the snaps on, and the bottom line is all crooked from the foot of the sewing machine hitting it.  I'll definitely have to work on that, but I have plenty from this one coat (and it's a kids size!) to make a second one.

The kids are already arguing over who gets to use it!

It's Out of This World!

I found this wonderful flannel fabric a few weeks ago and have been working on this since then.  It has aliens and space ships, and really great colors.  Including orange, which is my absolute favorite.  (Side note, what does it say about me that orange is my favorite color?)

The blanket itself is actually pretty basic.  Felted sweaters, cut into squares or rectangles, with little patches on top in random places, and my friendly alien in the upper left corner.  Much to my dismay, neither of my usually camera-hoggish kids would pose with the blanket, so I was left with Stella (the doll) as my model.

My wonderful, patient photographer-husband let me try all different things to get the pictures how I wanted them...The last two pictures are ones that I took, just so you can see the whole thing and the great fabric on the back.

Cupcakes from Betz White's "Warm Fuzzies"

The book that started me off and running on this whole craze of cutting up felted sweaters to craft with came from purchasing a book called "Warm Fuzzies" by Betz White.  Her signature item is a cupcake pincushion, and I made one for myself and one for a friend.

They were really actually not that difficult to make. One of the reason I love Betz' book so much is that there are great, step-by-step picture instructions.  You can see how she puts things together, in addition to reading about it.

Her website is www.betzwhite.com.  She's got an amazing blog, too.