A Very Go To Christmas: The Billy Car Mat

Have you looked around Go To Patterns yet? It's exactly the kind of place sewists like us enjoy browsing. It's all your favorite independent pattern makers at your disposable in one marketplace. And there is something for everyone- kid patterns, women's clothing, toys, bags, and even quilts.

It's all the brainchild of the very talented Andrea, and I was so pleased she asked me to be a part of the Christmas tour de go-to.

I got to make the Billy Car Play Mat and Roll-up by Handmade Therapy. This is a great pattern for a beginner who wants to make some adorable kid gifts this season, or an advanced sewer who wants to crank out a quick project. Either way, the payoff is great if you know a little car enthusiast. 

It's a mat with fun roads, but it also holds up to 8 cars securely. And it's only about 17" x 11" so it's a great travel toy and easy to slide into your purse or diaper bag.

It only takes about a fat quarter of fabric plus a few other supplies that you probably already have. I used a Michael Miller Vehicles print on the inside and a number print from Reunion from Moda on the outside. The pocket panels are scraps of a canvas from Ikea. 

Make sure to check out more amazing versions of the versatile patterns in the Go To shop by these talents on the tour, and enter the rafflecoptor below to win some wonderful fabric and pattern prizes.

Handmade Therapy Nov. 29

a pretty cool life. Nov. 29

Sew Much Ado Nov. 30th

Simple Simon and Co Dec. 1st

The Cottage Home Dec. 2nd

Sew country chick Dec. 2nd

Nap Time Crafters Dec. 3rd

A Little Gray Dec. 3rd

skirt as top Dec. 4th 

you & mie Dec. 5th

Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy! Dec. 5th

Me Sew crazy Dec. 6th

see kate sew Dec. 6th

Delia Creates Dec. 7th

The Southern Institute Dec. 7th

Enter to win a shopping spree at GoToPatterns.com and Sew Fine Fabric!

 

THREE WINNERS!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Pink-Haired Doll

She's so punk rock.

I made this doll from the Mae Pattern by Bit of Whimsy.  This weekend our best friends' kids had a big joint party for their recent 2nd and 4th birthdays. I watch them in our house twice a week, the kids play together even more often than that, we were there for both their births... They are just the kind of kids you love almost as much as your own. So Mae was made with love for little Miss Lily, who is also the sweetest kind of punk :)

I really need to learn at least some basic hand-embroidery. Sometimes I can pull off a little on my machine, but I knew the machine stitches wouldn't get the eyes as big as I wanted, so I just used fabric paint. Still cute, but kinda lame of me.

And she comes with wardrobe changes! Simple elastic skirts are just the right kind of dressing up little 2yo hands can handle. Looking at these pictures now, I think I also need to make some felt mary janes for those bare feet. Maybe a few cute collars to change out too. The accessorizing options are limitless on a girl like Mae.

I also ended up making a little drawstring bag to carry everything, but it was so last minute that I didn't get a picture.

Later this week I'll show you what the boy gift was. Hint: it's piratey. I don't know whose was more fun to make.


(p.s. This post has taken me what feels like 6.5 hours to write. I know there is really nothing of much substance written here, but my brain is not forming words. I'm picturing it now as a giant jello mold with a mouth that is screaming, "go to bed you moron!" Ok jello mold, chill out.)

Squid Softie

I made this from one of Bit of Whimsy's free patterns. I might have to also invest in one of their doll patterns because they are so adorable. But this free little squid was a fun find. 

A word of advice though if you try it. Those tentacles are pretty thin, so you would be wise to learn this turning trick. Actually, you should learn it anyway, because there are many sewing instances where the clothes pin trick makes life a lot easier. 

I felt pretty satisfied with myself after I had easily turned all the tentacles that way, but then I realized they still had to be stuffed. I'll be honest, that part was kind of a bitch, but it gave me a chance to sit and enjoy a couple old episodes of Arrested Development. (By the way, if you love AD, look at these paper dolls!) 

Lots of people use a chopstick for stuffing and poking out corners, but I prefer a bamboo grill skewer. It's longer, thinner, and sharper. 

I also added that ribbon loop on top so it can hang from her infant carrier or play gym. 

Less than 6 weeks left. Holy moly. 

Felt Food- Fresh and Lazy

I had a bit of a felt food veggie frenzy this afternoon.

Corn with removable husk, a giant eggplant (which Hendrix has never seen and probably won't in this house), tomato, cucumber, some carrots, potatoes, broccoli and summer squash. 

I didn't really use tutorials, I just looked around at some pictures of what people had done and then made it up. You can find a lot of inspiration right here. I decided I wanted to knock out a whole gaggle of veggies quickly, thus I didn't have time to follow directions and definitely didn't have time to hand sew. So that became my main guideline. I did everything in a pretty lazy way- machine sewed without turning and never worried about matching thread. The only one I did have to turn and hand sew was the tomato. 

I used a couple special stitches on my machine for little touches like the rows of corn and eyes on the potatoes.

This play kitchen was H's big Christmas gift and he loves it. We did get a little bit of play food from Ikea, but I always knew I wanted to try making a lot myself. Now I can't wait to make more. I think pizza and dessert need to come next- I mean, who am I kidding with all these veggies? 

Beanbags- a classic.

I remember loving the beanbags at preschool. I think anything you are allowed to throw is good by most kids. I made Hendrix a set of these for Christmas and they turned out really fun.

Of course, H doesn't know his numbers yet, (although he can count to "one, two, one, two, twooooo!") but we have fun tossing them into this elephant storage bin from Target. And when he's older it will be a fun way to practice numbers and simple math.

This is the last handmade Christmas gift I have to share. In fact, I haven't sewn a thing since the week before Christmas, but I'm itching to make some cute little baby girl things. Right now I have some sort of gorilla flu, so I doubt that will happen this weekend. Nick and I are both sick so my mom hopped in the car this morning and drove 5 hours to take care of us for a couple days. Nanas are the best.