Booster seat update

When I made the booster seat cover I realised that the part where the straps came out was messy, and it has not held up well with time. I started making another cover out of PUL material and realised that it didn't need to be so hard. Here are some pictures with a much easier way to do it:

Sew strap onto wrong side of fabric as before

Fold strap back over fabric

Add second piece of fabric to be joined on top - right sides together with loose bit of strap folded back in the middle

This shows strap from wrong side folding over and going through the seam to the right side

This is the result - no hole this time

Baby gifts

This cute little guy is for my good friend who just had a little girl. I sewed her initials onto the feet, just as I did with a little green version for her boy when he was born. Thankfully I had knitted him up a while ago, and he has been waiting for the perfect little one to come along.


The other thing which I am going to try and make is something I saw on Pinterest - a hooded car seat blanket. It looks great as it stays in the capsule and the belt is done up under the blanket which is a lot safer. I have picked up some merino for the inside layer and some flannelette for the outside layer. Looks simple enough, just have to do it!

Brain Waves Beanie

I recently picked up a crochet needle again to see if I liked it better than knitting, and for some things it is great. Top of the list has to be beanies as it is much faster to whip one up, and easier to work in a round. I saw this pattern by Playin' Hooky Designs and had to do it. I love that it has an adult and childs pattern as I am hopeless at adjusting patterns. I already had some black and cream wool so just got some red for the alternate waves (red and black are Canterbury colours).


Hubby keeps saying that he feels like he's wearing a tea cosy, but then insists that he really likes it. I must admit that the 2 boys look really cute when they wear them together, and Alex knows that he has the same hat as daddy and loves it.

Magnet Board

I found this one on Pinterest and have wanted to do it since I saw it. I am a bit tired of not being able to use the fridge when the kids are playing with the magnetic letters. This way they have their own space to play and my fridge can become less cluttered - that's the theory anyway.


I got myself a oil drip tray from an auto store (unfortunately they only had skinny ones). I gave it a light sand then 2 coats of white undercoat. I already had some magenta wall paint but thought that might be a bit much in a big block so I taped off some stripes before doing the top coat. The edges looked like they may scuff the wall so I put some black utility tape over the edges to give a little buffer.
Finally I added 4 small bulldog clips to the bottom with the hot glue gun so we would have a place to display all the wonderful pictures Chloe does at kindergarten.


It is hanging with the 3M velcro picture hangers as suggested in the original blog.

I had a bit of a find while we were in Whitianga to use on the board. In a $2 type store I got a sheet of printable magnetic paper for $2 (surprise!). I only got 1 as I wasn't sure if it would work, but it did. It's quite thin and the magnetic part isn't great, but I got heaps on an A4 sheet and I'm not going to be worried if they go missing.

The cut out shapes and numbers

It was very easy to cut out

Scrap monsters

Alex has been having long naps recently, so the other day I thought Chloe and I could make scrap monsters. I had made one a while back when I was bored and he was named 'Eyeses' or 'Isis' as he only has eyes. 
I got our my scraps of material and Chloe chose what she wanted to use, what sort of limbs/features her one would have and what shape he would be. She helped me sew on the buttons and pressed certain buttons on the sewing machine so that it was a joint effort. The body is about the size of my palm.

Isis, Patrick and Icy

The back

I then made one as she wanted me to use the pink fleece. When he was inside-out he looked a lot like the starfish on Spongebob Squarepants and so he was named - Patrick.
A bit of fun for an afternoon. These could make fun beanbags as well.

Polar Bear

I got one done!! Tick!!
I finally sat down and sewed together the polar bear that I had already cut out and pinned. It really didn't take long which was great. Chloe had picked out a fat quarter of this material one day and decided that I would make her a soft toy with it. I found a book of patterns at the library and this is the result. It is designed to lie down so looks a little funny when being cuddled, but she loves it. It's name is Spotty.

The bell around his neck is from an easter bunny. At least he's not gonna sneak up on us. 

WIP's

When I first saw the term 'WIP' I had no idea what people were on about. It took me a while but I worked it out - work in progress. I am a little depressed that I have accumulated a number of WIP's and also a couple of W-to-be-IP's. I thought if I listed them then I could work through them, hopefully one at a time. I have this bad habit of starting something and then seeing something else cool to make so starting that at the same time. I'm just glad the quilt is done! 


 *beanie for Beanies for Babies (to be given to hospitals and such for new babies and kiddies who need them. BFB Facebook page) 
*singlet for Beanies for Babies 
*soft toy for Chloe from some material she chose at Spotlight one day *PJ's for Alex for winter *PJ's for Chloe for winter 
*cover for second seat cushion so we have a spare 
*fluffy knitted bolero for Chloe 
*knitted dragon hats for friends having babies in the Year of the Dragon 
*quilt for Alex (in design phase, material purchased) 
*cushion to match Chloe's quilt (designed, won't be started until I get this list smaller)


 Hmmm, I thought of more as I went. I just don't seem to find the time at the moment to get them done, or the motivation after the kids are in bed. Maybe if I finish one then I'll be inspired to do the rest. Right, off to do some knitting!