Just for fun : Baby bag

The disadvantage of being the youngest sibling is that sometimes you don't get stuff because it is presumed that you play with your older siblings toys.
Two things struck me this year, first I had forgotten that baths were fun - not functional. Having moved to a house with a working shower we have moved away from baths, washing the girls in the shower is just so much quicker and easier. Then after a cold muddy walk on New Years Eve Annie asked to have a bath, thinking it would warm her up I agreed and filled a bubble bath for her, she had a great time with her plastic tea set playing for ages. So I guess baths are going to feature a bit more often now!

The second was that we had never bought her a working baby doll, we had meant too, when she got older but somehow had never got round to it. So with her birthday coming so soon after Christmas we thought this was the opportunity to put that right. After some discussion as to how old is too old when it came to dolls we ordered an Annabel at a reasonable price. The accesories were so pricey that I looked at buying second hand, but fell fowl to not checking before I bought and ended up with something shabby and too small for Annabel. So plan b was to make some which to be honest is what I should have done in the first place.
I didn't have a pattern but had an idea of what I wanted to create, so I used a paper template to cut out the pieces, pinned it together to check it worked then hit the sewing machine!

Change bag
The letter were attached using a permanent iron on adhesive, and the base included a pocket for a piece of card to give shape to the bag.

The pocket was made by sewing together two pieces, turning them right side out, pressing them then attaching the piece to the back of the bag using a decorative stitch.
Change mat

I also chatted to Rebecca about giving some of her stash of dolls clothes as a birthday present to Annie, she was happy to do that and in the processof getting all the dolls stuff out she and Sophie's dolls suddenly became the toy of choice! Dolls are back in vogue! To be fair Rebecca's doll has always been in the picture but hers and Sophie's are now dressed and actively being played with so Annie is now desperate for one! And the selected items have been washed and ironed ready to be wrapped.

Just for fun - Christmas present for a frozen fan!

This gift was inspired by the fabric! I saw this material on-line and knew Annie would love it, so I ordered a metre then had to come up with a project to use it!
Pinterest is a great source of ideas and I found a tutorial for a lovely full skirted apron, which would be perfect.

http://www.annkelle.com/tutorial-childrens-apron/

The tutorial is straight forward and easy to follow, and there was enough fabric to make two so I was able to make one for my niece as well as one for Annie.

She loved it, and it helped to keep her dressing up clothes (which needed to be worn all day!) clean.
She folded the bib down on Christmas Day and wore it over her jeans as a skirt, which does make me wonder if that might be a potential project for the summer! Though what's the betting if I make her a skirt she won't wear it!

Just for fun : Bean bug toss...

I'm not sure what prompted this present, but it began as an idea of making a bean bag game, where you would throw the bean bags on to a numbered mat.

As I pondered on it, probably at a rediculous time in the morning I wondered if I could adapt it to be a bee on a beehive.

This progressed to a bee on a flower, so I ordered some felt and fabric. But decided to go step further - how about doing bugs on a flower, and so the idea was now formulated.

I always think about recording patterns, measurements and step by step photos after I finish a project so apologies! But essentially the flower was created with fat quarters. I used a dinner plate so make the pattern and sewed them with a sheet of wadding in the middle.

The numbers were attached using a permenant iron on adhesive. I combined fabric to make the centre rather than use another pattern, and edged it with giant ric rac as I felt it needed something to finish it off. I also backed it with a circle of green felt to strengthen it and this helped give it more structure when folded up, the buttons were added to secure it with a piece of elastic as the fastener.

The bugs were cut freehand and the body pieces sewn by machine to ensure the filling was secure and then edged with blanket stitch as a decorative finish.

I tested it out on my 5 year old who loved throwing the bugs and adding up the numbers, so it is definatly a game that can evolve as the child develops.

It's been a while ...

Well after a lovely Christmas it's back to 'normal ' life ....

it's been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately...
The last 3 months have mostly been taken up with adjusting to life back at work with new routines and settling into the new role.
I am now working as a TA in a local school, and loving it. Being involved in education has been a long held ambition so when it came to looking for work once Annie started school it seemed a good time to try to make the switch!
I am enjoying using my creativity in my job as well as continuing to craft for fun ... mostly during lunchtimes!
I am hoping to post some Christmas crafts over the next few days beforeI get stuck in to preparations for Annie's Frozen party!