Train Conductor Vest

I recently bought Oliver and S Little Things to Sew, and the first pattern I tried out was the Explorer Vest. Her version is so cute and whimsical...all teal and yellow and so perfectly vintage. One of the little boys I take care of is really into trains, as many little boys his age are. I told him I wanted to make him a vest, and together we came up with the idea for the Conductor Vest. I chose a grey pinstripe I had from a dress idea that I never got around to, and incorporated his favorite color: red!

I had the red lining left over from my attempt at making holiday bears a couple years ago (wow...a couple years ago. Sheesh, time flies!). The pattern doesn't call for lining fabric, but I wanted to give the vest a special touch!

I think it is perfect for a little conductor! He likes to pretend he is taking us to the North Pole on the Polar Express. :)

I added his formal title to the back pocket. ;) Sorry for the photo quality...hubby was switching lenses on his camera, so I had to use my phone.

I didn't have any bias tape, so I tried using ribbon instead. While very cute, it didn't work that well around the arms. Trying to mend that this weekend, since it started pulling away when he wore the vest. Overall, the pattern was pretty easy. I adapted it a bit to how I wanted to use it, but I definitely recommend checking out the book. There are some really cute ideas!

Dino Tails for Toddlers

I finally gave my sewing machine a little exercise and made a present for one of the little boys I nanny. He turned 3 last week. He's been pretending to be a dinosaur quite a bit, and I had seen this great tutorial at Running With Scissors that looked PERFECT! So I gave it a try...and it was AMAZING! So amazing, in fact, that I whipped up another one! 

I mean, he couldn't be the only dino at his birthday party, right? It's way more fun with two! (Sorry for the poor picture quality...I was in a rush and only had time to snap a picture with my iPhone). I used minky fabric to add a texture to the dino skin, and patterned cotton for the spikes. This tutorial was super easy to follow, and it turned out great! I really want to whip out a few more, maybe with some changes to make more variety. I definitely recommend you head on over and check it out. They're really fun and quick!! The kids spent most of their time wagging the tails back and forth...it was hilarious! :)

I've been focusing a lot of my extra time and energy on my health, and it is really helping. Not only am I feeling a little bit better (more sleep, less stress, time for yoga and meditation), I am able to devote more time to doctor's appointments and procedures that I need to have done. Last year, I never would have believed anyone if they had told me this is what I would be doing, but I'm learning to take life as it comes, and as long as I have support (namely from my wonderful husband), I can make it through all this hubbub. 

The biggest "news" is that I am having a second laparoscopy in June. We will be traveling halfway across the country for that. I spent a great deal of time researching the best endometriosis surgeons in the country to find just the right one. I am actually really excited about it! I've been having near constant pain, some a dull ache, some far worse than anything I've had before to the point I can barely breathe. I believe that this doctor has the skills and techniques that will give me more time without cysts and major problems, and will also give us the best chance as we move forward trying to conceive. Hopefully everything goes well. 

Hope you're all enjoying your first few weeks of spring! Hopefully I'll have more projects to share soon. :)

Wave Bottles - A Project For Infants/Toddlers

This is an off-topic post, but that's ok. It's not too far off, since it's crafty and it's for my job. I nanny for an almost-2 year old and a 7 month old, and I thought I would bring them a little present that I've used in child care centers before: wave bottles! These are really fun, easy, cheap, fast, and very versatile. I chose to do simple ones, although you can also add glitter and other goodies in the water to make it more interesting. I chose to do rainbow colors and leave it at that for now. The point of the wave bottle is that you basically have a wave in a bottle...children can experiment with all types of motions, speeds of shaking, and see what the water does. You can also make bubbles when shaking, because the water and oil can get trapped inside each other when they separate. Anyhow, onto the tutorial!

Here's what you'll need:

Water bottles, half full :)

Clear oil, baby oil works well

food coloring and any other goodies you want to add to the water

a hot glue gun 

I chose the small aqua pods because they have a neat shape and they are easy for little hands to hold. The wrapper also slides right off, so no mess with sticky residue! You can use basically any size, and 2 liters can be really fun for older children. The biggest thing to remember is to glue the tops shut. If you don't, you will have a HUGE mess on your hands if/when your child figures out how to unscrew a bottle cap.

Start by adding the food coloring to your water.

Next, add the oil. It may bubble, but don't worry, that will settle when it separates.

Heat up your hot glue gun. This should not be done with the children.

Apply a ring of glue around the cap of your bottle. I put mine around the thread so it would glue super tight. Screw on the cap, let sit until cool, and enjoy!

 It was a little hard to capture the waves with one hand, but they are a lot of fun. Larger ones allow for bigger waves, but I like this size for infants and young toddlers. My next project will be gathering natural materials for dry bottles to observe in the house. The little boy and I have been searching around the neighborhood for different types of tree seeds, talking about how the seeds are eaten by birds and little animals, and are planted when they fall from the tree or are left behind by a bird or animal after they have eaten it (in their poo, you could say). We have been talking about what seeds are used for, and investigating all the shapes they come in. It is pretty interesting!

As usual, Slinky is always checking out what I'm up to. As for sewing projects, I haven't had a lot of time with all the graduate school stuff, work, and some other things. I finally passed a kidney stone that popped up this past week, so today I had a lot of energy and worked on a lot things. One thing I worked on was a dress for our trip to Hawaii in October for our friends' wedding (which we will almost 90% be able to go to...if not, I will have some great summer dresses anyway!). I am patterning this after this dress:

(picture from our last apartment...I was really excited over the big closet!)

I bought this dress a few years ago on clearance from a White House/Black Market outlet store for about $10. It is awesome, easy, breezy and must be belted, otherwise it looks like a mumu. It has an elastic collar (weird! but cute) and little cap sleeve-like straps. I am struggling a little with that part, but I have the basic shape done. Right now it is a maxi dress that will have elastic sewn in in place of a belt (which can be hot and I want this to be cool and breezy). My boyfriend likes the idea of an asymmetric hemline with a big gather on one side...to show a little leg. ;) We will see how it comes together. It is taking me a long time but I am excited to wear it. :)

What are you working on? Happy Father's Day everyone!