One more for the family (4)

I had no idea what to make for a six-year-old.

So I made him something that hopefully he can use with his other toys (trains, cars, whatever). I also made one of these for my nephew's birthday. 

I picked out this fabric because he plays a lot of baseball.

It unzips on the sides and becomes a play mat. 

This is a pattern I bought online, and I really like the way it turned out.

The cubes are 4" by 4" squares, sewn together like a cross, leaving 1/4" on both sides of a seam so you can sew between them. Fold the cross up into a cube and keep sewing. Leave one side open to turn it, but be sure to back stitch on either side of it. I bought a giant piece of 2" foam and cut it into 4" squares. I stuffed and wiggle and fit 2 squares on top of each other into each cube, then hand stitched closed.

The little balls are just pentagons that I created on Word again with different sizes (be sure to lock the side ratio to size it) as a pattern. I cut 12 pieces the same size. I sewed 6 together like a flower (one in the middle, five around), and sewed the five sides together as well. I did that twice, and then sewed the two halves together. Leave one side open to turn and stuff (and stuff and stuff and stuff) until it's the right density. These are my brother's and nephew's new favorite indoor toy, now that it's getting cold outside. 

This is my nephew's box-mat before I finished it. 

Family of toys keeps getting bigger (part 3)

I was wracking my brain trying to think of something a little 3-year-old boy with a 3-year-old attention span with a new baby brother would want or need or tolerate that I could also make (because making things is more fun), and I decided to try a quiet book. There's tons of ideas for different pages on Pinterest, but I settled on these four spreads:

The "My name is ..." page

I had already made these cute little alphabets, so I sewed some letters on the page and two strips of Velcro. Then I picked out the letters needed to spell the names in the family this is going to, and sewed little pieces of Velcro on the backs. I was planning on just sewing in the zipper pouch, but mom suggested using ribbon so the letters don't get lost. In hindsight, mom didn't like this idea, and o don't know if I recommend it or not. You'd have to ask the kids and mom it's going to. They can always cut the ribbon off.

So I backed the two pages with fusible fleece, sewed the zipper to the page and the front of the zipper pouch to the zipper. Then I folded under the sides and top-stitched them. I pinned all those ribbons and put the front cover and first page right sides together and sewed three sides. I made the stitches teeny tiny over that ribbon area. Then I turned right-side out. I realized it would have been better to think about doing page spreads with pages 1&8, the. 2&7, and so on, rather than the way I did it, so I'm not going to break down how I ended up binding it. I don't recommend it. 

The "Tying and time" page

A lot of baby books have a shoe that you can lace and tie, but I sorta think that's lame. So I did a football instead. And since this is a baseball family, and since the football wasn't as big as I expected, I added the baseball. I just found football and baseball outlines (or coloring pages) online and cut them out. I alternated using fusible fleece and thinner interfacing so the pages didn't get too thick, so this page spread has the interfacing behind it. I zig-zag stitched around the football and baseball, and then used decorative stitches to get the effect I wanted. Found shoestrings at Rack Room that were the rights size for the little round button holes in the football. 

The clock face I designed and embroidered. I zig-zag stitched around it, made the two hands and stuffed them with a little Polyfill, then put a tiny round button hole in them. I sewed a button to hold them there so they could move but not come off.

The "Count to ten" page

This might be my favorite. I love the beads my mom found (little Noah's Ark), because they fit the theme of the cover fabric with the little animals. I had some numbered sticky notes that I used as stencils for the numbers, and I quilted them directly on the back without finishing the edges in any way. I used a lot of tape to keep the ribbon and beads in place when I sewed them on, again, using the tiny stitches. I also, per mom's suggestion again, sewed tacks a little closer to the beads, so the ribbons wouldn't flop around too much. The beads can slide about an inch or two. 

The "Shapes and matching" page

This page is fun and colorful. 

I used the Roy G. Biv rainbow color scheme, and I printed out my own shapes just by using those default shapes on Word. I have tons of buttons, and I wanted it to be sort of a matching game. I like how it turned out. 

This is he cover and back fabric. So adorable. 

Family of toys 2

The next thing on my to-do list was the stacking rings. I've already shown you one version. But here's the set for this family:

To go with them, I also made these stuffed animals. 

I found these patterns on some Swedish or Russian website that I could no understand at all, and google translate couldn't really, either. So I just printed out the pictures and did it myself. I put interfacing on one side, cut out two right sides together about 1/4" away from the edge of the pattern. I sewed the eyes and other facial features on first, then sewed the two pieces together. Obviously, I learned how to make the eyes and mouth a little more cute and less creepy on the second try. The tails are made out of shoe strings that I had bought for another project. 

A whole family of baby toys

I've already said that I've been on a baby toy kick. I've been working on a family-wide gift for this family that I love but rarely see. They just had a new little one around the same time my new niece came along, so I've made some duplicate things. I've been working on these things for a few months now, so my proud level is much higher than your average project. 

The first thing I started (and almost the last thing I finished) was a crocheted baby blanket. 

I started with a gray Bernat baby yarn. I did a row of half double, and then a row where I did two doubles in one stitch, and then skipped a stitch. I alternated that throughout the blanket. The color change progression goes as follows:

12 rows 1st color

1 row 2nd color

3 rows 1st color

3 rows 2nd color

2 rows 1st color

5 rows 2nd color

1 row 1st color

12 rows 2nd color

Then bring in the third color and repeat that pattern. I brought the first color back after the third color.

The. I decided o try something new.  Sure, I had crocheted baby blankets before, but sewing something to the back? Noooo. Why not.

I got some gray minky fabric (I doubt I will ever spell that right), and I washed both the crochet fabric and backing together on delicate. I stretched the crochet out on a towel and let it dry. 

I went over to mom's to use her handy-dandy quilting table and clips and pins. I stretched the backing and clipped it to the table and placed the crochet over it. I pinned all around the edges very closely and a little throughout the middle. I took a needle and thread and hand-tied about every 2-3 inches in the middle. Then I used a walking foot and bound the edges by machine. I actually really like the way it turned out, the weight and sturdiness and everything. 

I'll be finishing a pink version for my niece before Christmas.