I finally sewed a boy thing!

About time too! I have been wanting to sew something for T for ages, and given the amount of things I've made for L, it's well overdue. However I have so far been stumped by a fear of trousers and a fear of sewing with knits, which rule out the overwhelming majority of boy outfits. I know these fears are irrational and I will get over them, but not just yet.

So what would it be? Well T is not usually a jealous child, but ever since he saw the bags I bashed out for L the other day, he has been clamouring for his own one. Ping! Lightbulb moment. The ever-obliging internet quickly turned up this tutorial, and T kindly kept me at home for a day by feigning sickness (I have never seen a less ill sick person). So I set to it.

This bag was fun. And not just for the sewist. Here are some of the things T was doing while I was making it.

Making a train with crayons:

Charming his mother:

Hiding:

Spotted him yet?

Phoning: 

Practising breakdancing moves on the Fisher Price garage:

Phew! With all that going on it's a miracle I ever finished it. But lo and behold, I did:

It opens with a flap at the top so he can get into it easily:

I only had a fat quarter of the car fabric so I used a plain grey cotton for the back and the reverse side of the straps. There was one car picture left intact after I'd chopped the fabric up, so I appliqued it onto the back to liven it up a bit. The edge is a bit wobbly which I'm not very pleased with, but then it doesn't exactly matter.

I'm also not very pleased with this square patch which covers the seam at the top here. It's supposed to be aligned in the middle, but it's not (I forgot about it when I was pinning the side on). No-one except me will ever notice or care though.

The thing I am most upset about is that I forgot to add one of my brand spanking new labels to it! Rather gutted about that, as I would be very happy to see T toting around his "Made by Jo" backpack. But it is nonetheless very gratifying to see him with it anyway - because he LOVES this bag.

Here are some things T did straight away while wearing his newly made bag. (Photos may be blurred - I don't actually believe there is a camera with fast enough exposure to catch him without moving).

Cooking:

Climbing:

Exploring the kitchen cupboards:

And the drawers:

Somersaults: 

Choosing a dvd:

Putting chosen dvd in the dvd player:

And finally, sitting and watching the dvd:



After all that, he was ready for bed.

He wore the bag for most of the rest of the weekend too, and proudly strutted into creche with it this morning.

And after such an instant success, I am now on a mission to find more boy fabrics...

Bakery recovery

 

Soda bread and strawberry squares (adapted).

~

It's been a busy crafty week at rue Niellon (see the two previous posts, and the two next ones...).  Deciding to cook bread and cake as well could have backfired and left me with a too-much-domesticity hangover. Fortunately, however, the weighing and mixing and stirring made a pleasant change from measuring and cutting and sewing - and the smells as they baked didn't hurt either. Nor, needless to say, did the eating (damage to the waistline excepted).

Suitably nourished, I've recovered my energy for the next lot of projects from the perma-queue of ideas.

More school stuff

This time it's an art apron.

I had to take pictures in the dark so you can't see the details (made it last night, packed it off to school this morning). In summary: elasticated neck band and velcro-attaching waist strap = L can get it on and off easily by herself. The ideas came from this free pattern which I read through but didn't exactly use.

And it has a great big pocket. Which I added mainly so I could do this:

My own name-tape labels! I love how they look all back-to-school retro.

I should probably get round to ordering some with L's name in too, and stitching them into her clothes and school-related possessions. But that would be a Sewing Chore, and I don't do those.

Sunday night sew-a-thon

So the weekend went a bit like this...

Friday afternoon: L finishes her first week at kindergarten. The nieuwsbrief informs us that for Monday she will need a gym bag and a book bag.

Friday afternoon, a bit later: we head down to the countryside for the weekend. Shopping possibilities: limited. Shopping attractiveness compared to other more countryside-related activities: very limited.

Sunday night: last-minute panic and bag sew-a-thon.

And for once my random stashing of cheap fabric stuff pays off! This is a set of four napkins I bought in the cave of horrors that is Kruidvat, for the knock-down and irresistible bargain price of One Whole Euro:

Now they are this, filled with gym clothes:

And this, for L's trips to the library:

The bags had to be named. So, they are. In the least subtle way possible:

She likes. She went to school this morning enthusiastically loaded up with all of these (it looked like she was sherpa-ing us to the metro):

The other bag is her backpack for snacks and other sundries such as her school diary. It was a present from Grandma and Grandpa. So far there were no books in the book bag, just a giant cuddly snake (bring-and-share letter of the week: S).

Such fun!

Now of course T wants one too. Watch this space...