Toddler Swimsuit

Summertime is fading, and to be honest, I'm pretty sad about it.  Normally I'm ready to welcome in cooler weather, but this year my oldest will be entering kindergarten.  It will be a new phase of life for our family.  Our schedules will never be the same.

In an attempt to make the most of the remaining summer, we hopped in the car a few weeks ago, and had a big summer road trip.  We started out camping at one of our favorite lakes, and ended up spending some time in the sand and sun in California.  With all of the swimming and sunshine, a second suit was in order for August.  

I had purchased this adorable swimsuit material about a year and a half ago, and finally put it to use.  I absolutely love the little lobsters.  The red athletic knit for the rash guard was purchased at Wal-mart of all places.  I used a combination of the knit and the swimsuit fabric for the hat.  My little Gus and an anything but little head, so having a nice knit on the sides provided the stretch that his head needed.

The bucket hat was made using Abby's (Sew Much Ado) free pattern.

Refashion: Sweater to Leggings and Slouchy Beanie

Are you wondering what happened with Kid's Clothes Week?  How did I manage to go on and on about how I was going to participate, and then only post a few little items?  Well, I didn't finish as much as I'd hoped to, but I did manage to do more than I've posted.  We had a death in the family, and family time trumped KCW, as it should.  I still have a couple of things to share with you today, and a half finished pair of pants that might not ever see completion.

First up, another sweater refashion. This time it was my husband's old sweater. It never fit him right, and was starting to show signs of wear.  So rather than throwing out the sweater, I took advantage of the sweater knit material, and made a slouchy beanie for Gus, and a pair of cozy little leggings.

The beanie was made using Max California's free pattern.  The pattern is for a toddler, but my baby has a MASSIVE head.  I used the waistband of the sweater to serve as the cuff of the beanie. Super easy.

Free Pattern Here

The leggings were made using a pair of existing pants as a guide.  Also a very simple project. 

 I cut the pant legs out of the sleeve pieces, and the cuffs of the sleeve serve as a fold up cuff for the pants.

 Super fast, simple, and free projects.  

Free Pattern Friday: Crocheted Elf Hat

I've shared projects from this pattern before, but I just love it, and had to share it again.  We recently took a little family road trip, and on the way I was able to make up this cute crocheted elf hat for my Sister In Law.  She is a photographer in North Dakota (Jessica Marshall Photography), and I thought an adorable elf hat would be a great addition to her prop collection.

I love the way it turned out!

You can see my first project in action as a prop for my friend Kandice McDermott Photography.  They make the cutest props.

Hop on over to Oodles 4 Noodles for the free pattern.  It's a great little project.  I love the pom pom, and the faux ribbing at the base of the hat.  Nothing but sweet.

Crocheted Hats

I have a favorite animal.  Do you?  Forever, it seems, my favorite has been the giraffe.  So charming with their spots, long eyelashes, longer necks, and purple tongues.  I love them.

I had to make up a little newborn giraffe hat.  I used the free versatile earflap hat pattern from Micah Makes, and then made my own adjustments to turn it into a giraffe.  The ears are slightly enlarged versions of the lamb ears from Repeat Crafter Me.  Every thing else was pretty much winged.  I really need to start taking notes as I go, just so that I can repeat projects in the future.  I don't know how many times I've referenced my own sewing tutorials for my personal use.  

I also had the opportunity to be a pattern tester for Warm Fuzzy Boutique.  I got to try out her great little Turkey Hat Pattern.  It is available for purchase in her Etsy shop, and would make for some festive attire in the coming months.  

I also tried out Micah's Bear hat pattern.  Just add ears to the versatile earflap hat pattern, and you've got an adorable little bear hat.  I added a cute peach bow, and handed it off to Kandice as a photography prop.

Free Pattern Friday: Crocheted Apple Hat by Micah Makes

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I love a free pattern, and an easy one at that.  I've been in a bit of a crocheting mood, so I couldn't resist trying out the adorable Crocheted Apple Hat Pattern by Micah Makes.  

It worked up so quickly, and the addition of a simple stem, and leaf really make this hat.  I think it will make an adorable photo prop for a little babe.

You can find the free crochet apple hat pattern on Micah's website, along with several other free patterns.

Make It Work: Taking In A Hat

My little family decided to take a quick little last minute trip last week.  We weren't very prepared for our summer outing, and I didn't have any hats for the boys.  We stopped at Wal-mart to see if we could find anything, and the selection was very limited, especially in the baby hat department. Clark and I found this little drivers hat, and it was by far the cutest hat they had.  Unfortunately, it was too big for Miles.  I knew that it would be, but I also knew that it would be easy to adjust.

 The hat had about an inch and a half extra room.  So I cut a piece of elastic that was 1.5" long.

Luckily, the hat band wasn't tacked down to the lining.  I opened up the band, and pinned the center of the elastic to the back center seam of the hat.  I then measured 1.5" away from the center seam in either direction, and marked those points with a pin.

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Sewing For Baby: Baby Animal Hats

Source: Moth and Sparrow

Moth and Sparrow offers adorable free (for personal use) patterns for knit baby hats.  When I stumbled upon the image on Pinterest they were instantly added to my list of things to make to welcome baby. She offers patterns for A Fox, Raccoon, and an owl.

I couldn't resist turning the little owl pattern into a penguin hat.  I tilted and elongated the beak, and slightly altered the face shape.

The hats are easy to sew up, and don't take much time at all.  I left all of my raw edges unfinished....laziness mostly, but you really don't have to worry about knit fraying much.

If you're expecting a baby, or simply can't resist sewing up cute little things, then I highly recommend trying out this project.  I used scraps from my knit pile, but you could certainly cup up a soft old t-shirt or two to whip these up.

Knit Baby Squash Hat

Early this season, I mentioned a few of my knitting goals.  One of which was to learn how to knit in the round.  I am by no means a pro, and my stitches leave much to be desired, by I have successfully completed two baby squash hats that are knit in the round.

I used some cream peaches n' cream yarn, and followed the pattern outlined in 101 Designer One Skein Wonders, by Judith Durant.  The pattern calls for circular needles, but my only set of circular needles was too long for this particular project. I ended up learning how to work with double pointed needles....which took a bit of getting used to, but wasn't all that difficult to pick up.

 

One of the biggest difficulties for me was  keeping my tension uniform as I worked around the circle.  I don't think that this yarn is ideal for a beginner project when knitting in the round, it really doesn't camouflage the tension issues at all.

I love this little hat.  It is intended for newborns,  but I'm guessing that it will only fit newborns with small to average size heads.  There's no way that Clark would have fit in it.

Are you interested in learning how to knit in the round, or use double pointed needles?  You can check out the youtube instructional videos below.

Thanks for reading.

Lined Fleece Hat

Yesterday I promised a tutorial for the lined fleece hat that accompanies the fleece neck warmer.  Here it is.  It is fairly easy and fast to make. Now, this hat is almost 100% inspired by Cheri's upcycled t-shirt hats.  I modified her pattern to adjust the ear flaps, and line the hat. I'm not going to give you a full tutorial on the hat itself, but will show all of the adjustments that were made to end up with this. I'll refer you to her tutorial for the basic construction of the hat.

 This is obviously a different hat than the green and brown hat pictured yesterday.  Hopefully it will prove how versatile this hat is. This cream on cream hat was made for the little girl that I babysit during the week.  I love the flowers and the sequins.

 Rather than put a pom pom on the top of the hat, I opted for another flower.  I think that it is a nice touch.

Here's a quick shot of the hat that I made for Clark.

Now onto the tutorial.

Upcycled Hats from T-shirts

Cheri's Upcycled T-shirt hats seem to be spreading through blogland like wildfire.  Her versions are so cute and I absolutely love all of the little details that she added. When I saw her post I knew that I had to try it out.

So here is my attempt at making the upcycled t-shirt hat.  I think that it turned out fairly well. I wanted to make it to go along with his new raglan sleeve shirt.  I didn't zig zag all of the edges like Cheri, and I don't miss it all that much. I used knit ribbing instead of t-shirt "tape".  It seemed to adjust to the curves well.

I was really pleased that Clark left his hat on as long as he did.  Normally they are ripped off and thrown to the ground in three seconds flat.  Yesterday he wore it the entire time we were in the post office.

After making Clark's hat I started wishing that I had one of my very own.  So I repurposed a couple of shirts and made one for myself.  I used this covered button tutorial from No Big Dill.  For my hat I cut down on the length of the ear flaps (I could have cut them down much more).  My hat strips were about 21" long and the domed piece was 4 1/2" tall, and the middle section was about 21/2" tall.  Visit Cheri at I am Momma Hear Me Roar for her full tutorial.

Check out these great link parties.