Crafts To Give! Kids Craft Round Up

I am always on the lookout for quick and easy crafts to make for our shoeboxes. I have posted several craft ideas in the past, and here's a round up of great kids crafts that would be perfect for adding to a shoe box, giving to your favorite kids charity, or for gifting to the special little people in your life!

 Fabric Hair Bows from Momtastic

DVD Coloring Case by staceyvaughn

Boys' Toolbelt by One Hip Mom

Braided Headbands from recycled t-shirts from Make It Love It

Paper Doll Kits from This Mama Makes Stuff

Washer Necklaces from Small For Big

Flannel Picture Sets from Happy Hawkins

Clothespin Airplanes from Paint Me Plaid

Checkerboard from American Crafts

For more ideas, click here. 

Quick and Easy Belt: Vintage Trim

All my kids are skinny little thangs. In fact, my youngest perpetually hikes up his pants even when they are not falling down. He's just used to his pants slowly creeping down. My daughter has the same problem and not all jeans have the wonder that is the adjustable waist. To solve the dilemma, I made her a super quick belt from a piece of vintage trim I found at the thrift store. I hemmed the end, sewed on some D rings and voila! The pants stay on! This technique would also work for an adult, but I think it would be best to stabilize it with a webbing or fabric base.

Closet Flashbacks: Toddler Sized Bucket Hat

Tomorrow my firstborn turns 8. Eight! I can't believe it. Way back in ye olden days, when he was but knee high to a grasshopper, I made him this little bucket hat. It is made from some cute firetruck fabric and he wore it a lot until he grew out of it. The hat has floated around and been worn on occasion by my littlest but he has never had a particular fondness for it. We recently went on a camping trip and the hat made another appearance. It is way too small for him but he loves it. I asked him if I could make him a new one in his size but he declined. The boy is a sucker for nostalgia. I am happy to say that there are no design quirks or sewing mishaps that would make my blood pressure rise every time he puts it on, so I can't complain. It has lasted 6 years, closet flashback indeed!

Girls Jacket: Burda 9487

About a month ago, Joanns had Burda patterns for sale. This pretty much never happens so I went in and took a look. I ended up buying 2. I have previously sewn Burda online patterns with mixed results but I figured it was Burda and it should be good. Things started off well and I was sure it was going to be the most adorable coat ever! The pattern sizes on their children's patterns are American which is easier to decipher than the women's pattern I bought which lists European sizes.  I decided to detail the collar with piping and a contrasting lining. I used french seams and carefully mastered the welt pockets. If you have never sewn a welt pocket, you should! If you can get past the mental gymnastics involved in figure it out, they are really nifty! It wasn't long, though, before I started to have doubts about the general shape of the coat. It seemed a little, well, boxy. And short. Really short. The pattern illustrations show the coat as hitting at the hip and long enough to be belted. I figured I was just overthinking it and kept sewing. I should add that the instructions can be a little vague/confusing/confounding so if you are a beginner you might want to attempt with caution. Moving along, I set in the sleeves and did the collar facings, etc. After another look and a quick comparison to one of my daughter's t-shirts, I realized that indeed, I was not crazy and the coat was too short. I ended up taking a cue from the other pattern view and adding a ruffle on the bottom. I added piping in between because it seemed like the right thing to do. Then the buttons...oh, the buttons. The last pea coat I made had button holes for all the buttons, and in the absence of concise directions I winged it. Oops! That didn't work out too well and I should have considered that 3 buttons would be a lot easier for a 6 year old than 6. Oh, well.  This is one of those projects that looks cute but the inside drives me nuts! Like never let her out of the house nuts!! The corduroy was too thick for french seams in some areas, and the facing didn't lay flat and bla, bla, bla. I don't really know what to think at this point. I am over it. P.S. I can't even try the jacket on my daughter yet, because it is for her birthday next week! I am hoping it fits better than I think it will. It better.

On a side note, my 4 year old (who just graduated from naps to quiet time) is loudly proclaiming that he is 'ABOUT TO DIE!!!' from waiting in quiet time. I replied with great sympathy "Oh, that's too bad" while in my head I'm thinking 'Mama needs quiet time as much as you do, kid, so be QUIET!!!' ;)

Sleeves To Pants

This is a project I completed a while ago and have never posted mainly because the intended recipient is not interested in them at all for reasons I can't quite pinpoint. The legs of these capris are made from sleeves. The shirt I used had 3/4 length sleeves which turned out to be the perfect length. I added a yoga-type fold over band at the top that was cut from a pair of knit pants. Because I used the existing hem and just sewed the sleeves together, this was a very fast project!

Simplicity 2907 Boys Shirt

 A few months ago I stumbled upon this awesome twill robot fabric at Joanns. It is such a nice weight and the print is really fun. I bought it thinking that would make my youngest some overall shorts out of it. But apparently, people don't sew for boys and it was nigh on to impossible to find a decent overall pattern. I made this shirt instead and it will get longer use anyhow. I made it pretty much exactly as directed (shock!!) and I am happy to say that this was my best attempt so far at a collar.

A while back I saw a dress with mis-matched buttons and I have been wanting to do that ever since. I figured this was a good project to try it out! The fabric has a lot going on and I wasn't sure if it would be over the top. And it is. But so is the kid wearing it so I am OK with that. :)

I appliqued a wool felt robot peeking out of the pocket. It's hard to tell, but he has free-moving rick rack arms. Yes! I can even work rick rack into a project for boys. Thus is the depth of my skillz sickness. My only beef with this pattern is that the sleeves seem a little bit full to me and I am either going to a) press the heck out of them to get them to lay flat (as opposed to slightly poofy) or b) rip 'em out and trim them down a little. Other than that, it is a nice pattern to work with.

And the recipient is very happy!! 

More Upcycled Tank Tops

These projects are rather boring, but useful nonetheless. Sadly my sewing machine and I have been unable to spend much time together due to VBS decorations looming over me (and invading every corner of my house). These two tank tops were made from t-shirts my neighbor gave me. And it is here I would like to add that all these fancy bloggers who post gorgeous pictures of their children...well...I am pretty sure getting those kind of pictures must involve copious amounts of bribery and a sprinkling of death threats. I skipped the bribery and death threats, and these are the pictures I came up with.

(This shirt is my favorite! You can't tell, but it has glitter and little tiny gems to bedazzle it)

Patty the Stickhorse

My son had a stick horse named Patty. She went everywhere with him. He loved her very much. So much, in fact, that she came apart at the seams. She was no longer structurally sound. A while back I convinced him to put her out to pasture and get a new stick horse. Incidentally, the new stick horse was 'not as fast' as Patty, and kept bucking him off. They have since learned to work together quite nicely. But still, Patty had been around for so long and my son didn't want to part with her. Since a stick horse doesn't really fit nicely into a memory box, I surgically removed the stick and mounted it on a painted plaque taxidermy-style. Now Patty can reside over the boys' room in style! 

Upcycled Tank Top

My neighbor brought me a big bag of womens clothes last week that were all in great shape. To make this tank top I traced off one of my girl's store-bought tank tops and cut the pieces out of one of the shirts. It was quick to sew up and after a few modifications, I think I can come up with a good pattern to work with. I have several other shirts out of the stack that will make great tank tops for my daughter. The picture below is a good example of what I usually get when I ask her to stand still for a picture!

Kite!

My son has been asking for a kite. I finally made him one and it turned out to be very easy. I finished the edges with bias tape and sewed little folded fabric pockets at the corners for the dowel sticks. We didn't get it to fly very high, but that was mainly because the poor kid's delinquent mother couldn't remember how to fly a kite. I feel like a doofus, but I am going to have to google this and get it figured out.

Another Heart Dress

Twirly Easter Dress

After all the sewing for the farm, I was happy to make a dress for my little girl. A while back, I had bought several yards of this Amy Butler fabric for a dress, but it wasn't quite what I was going for. It was, however, perfectly suited for an Easter dress. I used the same bodice I have been using, with the heart cutout, and used a circle skirt to add twirly-ness. 

The flower is just pinned on, because I am not quite happy with it. You can't tell, but I made her a matching headband. 

She didn't want to stand still, but can you blame her?

This is my favorite part: the rick rack!

Another Heart Dress

Here is one of my latest dresses for the farm shop. This one is a size 8 and hopefully someone will be happy to find a bigger size. I think they usually have smaller sizes for sale. I used the same idea for the top, with a heart cutout in the back. This time I used a circle skirt instead of the box-pleated skirt. There are pros and cons to the circle skirt. The cons being you have to do math, and the hem is a mile long. The pros are that I am married to an engineer who specializes in math, and there are no side seams to sew. And a circle skirt makes for a happy little girl who can twirl to her heart's content.

Farm Shop Dress

Here is the latest dress I made for the farm shop. I am happy to say it sold within 5 minutes of arriving at the farm! The fabric is some cute vintage stuff that I loved, but wasn't sure if others would feel the same way. The lining and flower are from one of Dad's dress shirts. I guess I will be making more dresses for next week!

Dresses

I made these two dresses for my work-share at the farm. I had seen a cute dress online with a heart cut-out in the back. I could have bought the pattern but didn't feel like paying 10 bucks for something I knew I could easily do. Now that I have it figured out, I plan on making my daughter's Easter dress with a heart in the back. I kind of felt bad making her try it on for pictures then giving it away!

And yes! You better believe I put some rick rack on it! :) I used jumbo rick rack to make scallops around the waist.

This one is from Made By Rae's Itty Bitty Dress pattern. It is fun and easy to sew up, and stinkin' cute! It is teeny-tiny as you can see from the next picture. It is sized for a newborn. 

And the good news is both dresses have already sold!! That was fast! I guess I know what I'll be making this week. The clothespin bags also went fast. I think they only have one left.

Knit Purse!

I have always considered myself knitting-challenged. My grandma tried to teach me to knit a scarf and it took me over a year. I also couldn't figure out the whole casting on and off business, which is slightly problematic. And yet....those beautiful yarns and patterns are so tempting. I finally decided after some encouragement to try it again. I figured out how to cast on all by myself. Woo! I decided to make a purse for my daughter since it seemed simple enough. I am pretty sure I broke all knitting protocol but it works. I hand-sewed the purse together and the handle is a strip I knitted and sewed into a roll. I wanted magnetic snaps so I installed them on two wool felt hearts and blanket stitched them in. My next project is a hat, but I probably ought to do a little research before I start...since I only know one stitch, and I couldn't even tell you the name of it!

Dr. Seuss Hat

I made this hat for my son's Dr. Seuss party at school. I used my very limited math skills to determine the circumference of the hat, and I 'eyeballed' the rest. And it fit! I used white felt and sewed red felt stripes to that. The reason the hat stands up is because I did a welt seam up the back and it did the trick.