My Little Valentine

I made Levi a new outfit for Valentines Day!   My friend Natalie McCain took these great pics of Levi for me, I even let her include me in a few. 


The top is a simple v-neck shirt with some added elements to make it more dressy without compromising comfort.    I added red hems to the sleeves and bottom of the shirt, they give it a layered look, and added a collar.    And then I added a heart argyle applique, which I'm using as inspiration to make a valentine lap quilt soon! 

The shorts are made with 2 shades of grey corduroy which were upcycled from pairs of pants.  I added a heart shaped pocket to the back, and heart shaped knee patches.  There are patch pockets on the front with a hand stitched heart.  They have red top-stitching as well!   They have a simple elastic waist, which makes them easy to put on, but a faux-fly for a more dressed up style. 

 

 What do you think????     

I'm really happy with it!  My only concern is that white shirts don't stay white for long on this kid, but for a holiday outfit, I don't need it to last forever!   He seems to like it!   

Also adding this to the linky party at Project Run and Play! 

I'm entering this outfit in The Sew Off at Nap Time Crafters. Wish me luck!

Project Run and Play Boys week - Chucks!

I made a boys outfit for Project Run and Play's boys week!  I wanted to play with my embroidery machine some more, and I had some new striped fabric, so I had to think of a way to combine them.   I had a hard time thinking of a specifically "boy" design, Levi usually wears gender neutral clothing.   But then I thought of a design I had for his favorite shoes, chucks!

And this is what I came up with: 

The embroidery design is from Lynnie Pinnie designs.  Everything I've made from them has come out really nicely. 


The shirt is a basic, long sleeve t-shirt with a bound neckline, I'd had it traced for so long I can't remember where it came from!  Its probably Ottobre.   The skinny jeans are "paperback writer" jeans that I made for him recently, and they seem to fit the look.   I want to make him another pair in red, as soon as I find the fabric!

And yep, my boy rocks his hot pink chucks!  He also has them in teal, red, purple/black plaid, pink plaid, and turquoise!   That's a lot of chucks! 

Kid Tested and Approved!

Barrier Island Field Trip

Today we went on a field trip with the Beachside Kids Explorers Club, to the Barrier Island Sanctuary.  We had a guide who led the kids on a 1 mile walk, to the beach and the hammock, and she told them all about the plants and animals in the area.    

The beach looked beautiful, but it was super windy!  

 She had the kids find stuff on the beach, and compare what belonged on the beach, vs. didn't belong there (trash!)

Heads bent against the wind! 

There was an interesting moment where the kids had to cross a road, and the guide asked them to line up.  These are homeschoolers, they had no clue how to form a single file line!  The guide was trying to tell them "get in a spot where you can see a person's head in front of you, one behind the other".  This was the best they managed:   (note the gaps, and clumps of kids holding hands!)

Then off we went into the hammock.

This is a "Gumbo Limbo" tree.  It has redish, peeling bark.  Its also called "the tourist tree".   Tourists often don't wear enough sunscreen on our Florida beaches, leaving them with sunburned, red and peeling skin, just like this tree! 

They checked out the water as well

We avoided this giant mound of fire ants: 

This tree was scratched up by a bobcat at some point, probably when the tree was smaller. 

After we had a windy picnic lunch.

And went inside, they have all kinds of things for the kids to look at, touch and explore.     This tree is decorated with sea glass.

Levi and Taylor did a little craft project. 

Taylor listened to facts about how sea turtles hatch, she likes to 'talk on the phone' 

It was a fun field trip!  Levi's favorite fact of the day is that "sand is made from shells".  


Then we finished the day with making some homemade pizza, with red sauce, pineapple and vegan rice cheeze.  

Archery Pants

Levi asked for a pair of pants with "those real big pockets on the sides".   I had my eye on this pattern for quite a while, so now I had an excuse to make it!   These are the "No Kung Fu" Ottobre pants.  

It took me a while to decide on fabric, and I ended up with boring navy blue.  I pepped it up with some light green top-stitching, to match the shirts I made to go with them.   

These have some really interesting pockets on the back, they go at an angle and are incorporated into the yolk.  And regular pockets on the front and the requested cargo pockets on the sides.   

They also have zips at the bottom which when zipped, make the ankle narrower.  The pattern says it narrows so that when the wearer wants to ride a bike, it won't get caught in the chain.   Because of that reference,  I made him a bike shirt with my new embroidery machine!   

But when the pants were done, Levi pointed out that his knee patches look like targets!  So I finished a UFO sewing project, and made him an archery shirt to go with these as well.   The place where he does homeschool archery classes had shirts, size HUGE only, and no kids sizes!  I got one anyway, and cut it up to make a Levi-sized shirt.   Its green, so goes with the top-stitching as well.  

I did the knee patches differently than the pattern called for.  Instead of turning the edge under, I cut a second piece for each from the same knit I used for the bike shirt - I put the two together, stitched all the way around, snipped a hole in the middle of the knit, turned it right side out and then sewed them on!   It adds an extra layer at the knee, a little more dimension, and the edge of the contrasting color.  And it was a lot easier!

And he tested out his new outfit at Archery: