LTTSA - December

All right then, I'm ready to call this crafting slump officially over.

I'm back on the bandwagon, making up for lost time by finishing up a little gray's Little Things to Sew-Along project for December. With a bit of a twist.

Poor Mr. Man. Someday in the not-too-distant future he'll probably hate me for these photos.

But they're hilarious.

You see, Mr. Man has a one-man-show classroom production coming up. Each kiddo in the class was responsible for memorizing a beloved piece of children's literature/story and then reproducing the story in front of the class using one prop. Mr. Man (obviously) picked The Three Little Pigs.

He requested a full-on Big Bad Wolf Costume, but I told him that, being short on time, what if we just did the head? And, then we brainstormed a bit. Okay, I brainstormed, he played Legos, but the result was a slight alteration of the Cozy Winter Hood from Little Things to Sew.

The only alterations I made to the original pattern in the book were to make the hood fully reversible and adding a second set of ears on the "pig side" of the hat.  I braided up some gray yarn from my stash, rather than using ribbon for the dangly ties. Mr. Man insisted ribbon was "girly". I hate to break it to you, kid? But you have a pig hat on. Ribbon isn't gonna make it worse...

Because I cut both the pattern transfer and my materials all out a few nights ago, construction was simple and smooth and really enjoyable. In just about an hour I had completed the whole thing!

LTTSA - November

Chugging right along on this month's LTTSA.

Determined to finish on time and with this month's actual project...

I've decided on some minor alterations to the designated Puppet Theater Project this month.

Because I have THREE Munchkins, I'm completely certain that ONE opening for the puppet theater simply will not do, so I've altered the design from house to castle (because knights and princesses and Rapunzel have all been big favorites at my house so far this year) with three towers...and three openings for puppets to peek through.

And, because my fabric stash is currently threatening to overflow the small, under-the-stairs cupboard to which I have resigned it (and I've promised myself no new fabric purchases of more than $10 until after the holidays) I'm determined to use only fabric and scraps that I have on hand for this project.

I even have (random, random, random) a spare tension rod to use when putting the puppet theatre between the doorways of bedrooms!




I've started compiling the fabrics and colors in my head and need only get some to-scale measurements done and start cutting and appliqueing everything...

So here's a quick sketch to let you all know I'm at least thinking about the construction, even if I haven't started sewing on it just yet.

Little Red... and a continuation of the sew-along

I. Have. Been. Slacking.

Seriously.

But I'm making up for lost time.

I've completed my second (of the three months I'm supposed to be participating in! Typical.) project from the Oliver+S Little Things to Sew sew-along over at a little gray!

Huzzah!

Also typical? SO not the project everyone else was doing this month.

Don't get me wrong, I had the material all picked out and the pattern pieces all transferred over to freezer paper for the Bias-Trim Apron, it just got set aside at the last moment in favor of a Halloween-Emergency Little Red Riding Hood Cape.



Here's me furiously stitching the lining in last night.
I used a deep crimson, thin-wale corduroy for the exterior and the cherries quilters weight cotton for the interior. I used a snippet of bright blue grosgrain ribbon for the button closure and just an old antique-y looking button from my stash to finish things off.

Also? I apologize in advance, dearest daughter, if the bottom hem falls out at some point during Trick-or-Treating. You see, I snapped my last machine needle clean off when I stitched right through a pin. Argh! So that bottom hem there? The bit that should have taken me another 30 seconds to stitch up and turn and be done with? That bit took me nearly an hour in hand-stitching. I would never complete anything if I hand stitched everything!


Still. It looks pretty awesome.
(Tooting my own horn)
And I'll have completed pictures tonight once the eldest Munchkin gets her grubby little paws on it.
(It was completed sometime around the 2:30am mark last night. *yawn*)

Huzzah for procrastination and last-minute projects!



*****************update!****************

The Biz loves her new capelet.
She wore it to school Monday, Trick-or-Treating, and I caught her wearing it randomly around the house the next day as well. I'd call this one a successful project!

Oliver+S Bucket Hat Sew-Along

Okay. Okay. I've finally got fabric picked out, and this weekend I'll cut out my pattern pieces & start piecing things together. I've managed to garner myself a few kid-free hours (even though, let's be honest, I do my best sewing furtively at around 2am, praying the machine-gun bursts of my machine sewing don't wake up The Munchkins...)

Anyhoodle, here's what Mister Man picked out for his first hat.

I'm repurposing an old pair of khaki's from last year's school uniform to use for one side of the hat, and a funky little bit of remnant I had on hand for the other side. Mr. Man was a big fan of the animals, but he wants them on the inside...apparently the concept of reversible hasn't quite sunk in for him yet...

Frankly, though. I'm pumped. And from what I'm hearing from other people on the sew along this isn't going to be as terrifyingly difficult as I initially feared.

Here's to bucket hats...lots of 'em.