New Look 6035 -- A Good Top for Swinging into Spring

Finally spring is just around the corner!  In eager anticipation of this happy event my daughter began making warm weather clothes in February.  She finished this little sleeveless shell from New Look 6035 view C.  I say 'finished" because she started this top over a year ago and stalled out because she didn't know how to do the binding.  The top languished waited patiently in a little bundle until her skills and confidence caught up, and she felt ready to tackle it.  Plus, sometimes you just want to get that project that's been hanging over your head out of the way.

The top is made of a cotton fabric covered all over in tiny white flowers that I've had in my stash for well over ten years.  I don't remember what I originally thought I would make but I'm glad the fabric is finally getting to be worn:)  The cotton does wrinkle -- these photos were taken after it had been worn all day -- but wrinkles are a second consideration to comfort and coolness when you live in a hot climate.

Here you can see the tone-on-tone flowers, which add visual texture to the fabric. The neckline and armholes are bound with self-fabric bias, and the neckline also has small pleats.

Here's a view of the back:

And here is a view of the side.  The side seams are finished off with a slit, which gives the top a little more movement.  She made a straight size 10.  The underarms are a little snug, so next time we will deepen the underarm seams half an inch or so.

It's a great top for summer, but also for cooler weather because it's perfect underneath a jacket.

An all-around do-it-yourself-er, my daughter also made the swing in the photos:)  She used these plans from Lowe's, spent an afternoon or so on construction, and then hung the swing in the huge live oak tree that is in my front yard.  It's very sturdy (supposedly up to 500 lbs.!) so any of us can enjoy it, not just small kids, something that all my tall people appreciate:)

New Bunny - "Cottontail"

This is another little project my daughter worked on this winter.  It is the "Cottontail" bunny from the  gorgeous book Storybook Toys by Jill Hamor.  We originally purchased this book because it has great directions for sewing beautiful doll faces and hair.  But there are other nice projects tucked within the book as well, and Cottontail was one of them.

My daughter has just begun a collection of china teacups (three so far) and we placed the bunny on a shelf next to one to give you an idea of his size.  He is about 9 inches tall.  He is made out of "fur" from Joann Fabrics.  This fur was very difficult to wrangle under the sewing machine, so my daughter resorted to hand sewing the whole thing. However, she was nervous about how durable he would be, so we stuffed him in a pillowcase and washed him in the washing machine on delicate cycle, then tumbled him in the dryer, also on delicate cycle.  Happily, he came out unscathed, which is good.

He needs to be sturdy and washable because he is a gift to a teacher's not-yet-arrived baby boy (her fourth boy, no less!).  Although the fur was tricky to sew, it gives him such a soft, squishy feel it was worth it.  Also, his eyes were made out of embroidered felt pieces, so you don't have to worry about little ones playing with him.

From the back you can get a tiny glimpse of his cottontail.

I also love his floppy ears.  My daughter has made quite a few stuffed toys before (you can see some by looking under the label 'toys' on my sidebar), but each one has its own personality.  This one reminds me just a little of the Velveteen Rabbit.  I hope he gets loved that much:)

Bunny (and Monkey) Love

The third installment of my daughter's summer projects is this adorable white bunny who, along with the previous post's rag quilt, is a gift for a soon-to-be-born baby girl.

Here's a close-up of Bunny's face.  I really like the droopy ears.

And a back view of the cottontail.   Yarn used is a DK cotton/linen blend from KnitPicks.

Directions for knitting this bunny are in the book Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson, a book which is chock full of cute little animals to knit.  Plus it has great directions -- this book gets the credit for teaching my daughter how to knit in the round.  My daughter has already made most of the animals in the book, however (which you can see here and some more here).  She is now on the lookout for some other cute patterns to add to her repertoire.

In the meantime, Bunny was a hit with the small fry at the baby shower, getting broken in with a lot of toddler love -- thankfully, said toddler was able to gracefully give Bunny up at the end of the shower:)

Taking a break before the baby gets here

And while we're on the subject of knitted toys, I just discovered a cutie that I had neglected to blog about:

This little fellow (also from the Itty-Bitty Toys book) was knitted back in the spring by my daughter.  He has now gone to a little boy who is a grandson of a friend of mine (her first grandson also got one of my daughter's monkeys).  It's hard to tell from the photos, but Bunny is a substantial size, while Monkey is fairly small (think good-sized baby doll to small baby doll).

I love his topknot

The yarn used for Mr. Monkey was sock yarn from KnitPicks.  He's cute as can be, but this is the third monkey my daughter has made in the past year, and she says it will be a LOOOONG time before she will be able to make another one;)

Well-satisfied with life at the moment

Some New Friends

These past few months my daughter has spent some time here and there sewing up some new friends.  This beautiful girl is from the Clara and Pearl pdf pattern from  Gingermelon Etsy shop.

With her jacket on:

A little close-up:

Showing off her shoes:

She is made of wool felt ordered from A Child's Dream Come True.  The trim on her dress is tatting left over from my smocking days.  She is entirely handsewn.

And now let me introduce you to the mouse family.  Mama Mouse (her cardigan was designed and knitted by my daughter):

Papa Mouse:

Son Mouse (he's a little large to be "Baby Mouse"):

The mouse family was the featured cover project on Issue #11 of MollieMakes, a great craft magazine

 full of cute projects.

All the mice were also completely hand sewn.  Their bodies are made out of white muslin and their clothes were from fabric scraps (of which we have plenty around here).

I love the little creatures my daughter makes (and so does she), but we don't really know anyone else who feels the same way.  We sort of keep this part of ourselves under the radar.  Do you love little dolls and animals?  Or do you have some parts of yourself that you don't necessarily share with "just anybody"?  It's somewhat ironic that we can share things with people we haven't met and yet feel funny about sharing them with people we know in real life, but I think it's because most people that read our blogs feel some identification with us and our interests -- otherwise they wouldn't keep reading:)

Toy-Making (and Other Gifts)

Christmas (and birthdays and other special days) always seems to catch me by surprise.  I'm one of those people that is not born with a good sense of time (my husband will agree with this:).  Every year I have lots of ideas of making gifts, but realistically I need to work on those ideas starting in May, and in May I'm usually busy thinking of other things.

My daughter, however, is wonderfully creative, productive and efficient, and not hampered with the curse of procrastination.  She had another good year of Christmas gift-giving.  In a matter of two weeks or so, she made three stuffed toys.  All of them were from the book Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals by Linda Carr.  This is a great book.  My daughter has made most of the animals in the book, (including a duck, walrus, penguin, dog, and a pig) and they have all turned out looking fabulous. 

Here are the three she made this past December, all destined for younger relatives:

A Panda

A Leopard

A Brown Bear

A better look at the bear's face

Then she also knitted this sweet baby for a little cousin:

Sleeping Baby

This little baby was made from the Snuggle Dolly pattern by Tina, who blogs at Tea and Woolly Socks.  The only change my daughter made was to convert the flat pattern to knitting in the round because that is what she prefers.

And look at the present I received from my friend Elizabeth of MrsThomasinaTittlemouse fame:

It's a wonderful zippered pouch to keep on-the-go projects in. I promptly filled it with my long-suffering hexagons and took it on my cross-country journey, where I was able to sew hexagons together in the car.  Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for your gift and also for your thoughtfulness xx

Meet George.....and Harry

These little monkeys were knitted by my daughter, using the directions in Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.  The first monkey, who we'll call 'George', was commissioned by a friend of mine who is expecting her first grandchild, a little boy, to be born any day now.  She and her daughter had seen my daughter's other toys (you can see some of them here), and they wanted one, leaving the choice of animal up to my daughter.

"George"

George turned out so cute that my daughter made another one for her younger brother.  We'll call this monkey 'Harry.'

"Harry"

Both were made using sock yarn from KnitPicks.  We ordered it from there because the only sock yarn we can find locally is variegated, which wouldn't give the monkeys the striped effect.  Because George is for a baby, he is stuffed with plain stuffing.  Harry is partially stuffed with plastic pellets, which makes it easier to sit him up, but the pellets tend to settle, so he is not as fluffy as my daughter wanted.

There are plans for a third monkey, but knitting those skinny arms and legs in the round got tedious, so my daughter had to take a little break before further monkey business.

Don't you just love the little topknots?

"Ah, this is the life!"

Knitted Toys

I am not a knitter.  BUT, my teenage daughter is.  Two or three years ago, a very nice lady from our church got her started with a dishcloth.  There was, as might be expected,  a lot of frustration in the beginning, and my daughter laid knitting aside for awhile to pursue other crafts.  Then she picked up the Klutz Knitting book and taught herself some more. (When you are learning a new skill, you cannot beat those Klutz books.)

She has made lots of scarves and hats, all impressive to me, but it is these little knitted toys that are SOOO cute.  The problem with them is they are knitted in the round.  As I said, I do not knit, so I couldn't help her figure this out.  But one thing about my daughter:  she is DETERMINED.  So she tried and tried until she finally figured it out for herself, and now there is no stopping her.

The book she used to learn how to knit in the round was Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.  All the following cuties are from Itty-Bitty Toys or from another of her books called Spud and Chloe at the Farm.  All of Susan Anderson's books are adorable.  She also has a very helpful blog called  Spud and Chloe, chockful of doable projects.  We love her stuff!

This ball is one of my daughter's first projects in the round, and is destined for a small boy cousin.

This little silver bear was a gift for a baby at church.

Isn't that a friendly face?

This cat was a present for a little cousin.

This hippo was for a friend's birthday.

The sweet little cousin who got this pig loved it as much as I do :)

What a personality!

Love, love the squiggly tail!

Here is Chloe herself:

A little Christmas mouse, one of the earlier toys:

A little brown bear that went to a sweet baby boy:

A little dog knitted during a car trip out west:

A giant giraffe that went to a special little girl at our church:

He was  probably the most complicated.

Back view:

It will be awhile before the baby is as big as the giraffe!

Santa  and his sack are the newest creations, and Santa is enjoying the holiday season right now on a shelf in my living room.

Here's a better look at his beard.  Hello, Santa!

My daughter doesn't have a blog of her own, so every once in a while I just want to brag on her!  I'm amazed at what she can do and I know when she's grown up she'll run rings around me.  I cannot take any credit for any of this.  My main job is to purchase the supplies :)  and to encourage and smooth things over when they get too frustrating.  Other than that, I try to stay out of the way and let her work her magic!