Gnawing on carrots

Aren't you jealous of me? 

I have a beautiful baby, a hansom hubby, a pool right down stairs and 80* weather! 

We have gone to the pool a couple times, but today daddy came with us. It was such a nice day and we had to go. I took sandwiches so we had a little picnic after a good swim. 

Daphne had her first taste of PB&J. I think she liked it even if it was only tasting and not eating. Those teeth just won't come, but I have a feeling they my make an appearance soon. Then she will be able to eat all sorts of things!

Stuffed Animals

So these little guys were my most recent project. They took me a little longer than my typical projects because I did them all on my own. I had to make the pattern for each of them, meaning I had to DRAW them out. If you know me, you know I am no artist so this was a big deal. I had to redo the drawings a few times, but they came out okay.

If you couldn't tell I am really loving using my sewing machine, but I'm running into a  problem. Well maybe two problems. Here they are: Funds and New Projects. I think the lack of funds is obvious. Fabric costs money and I don't have very much extra cash lying around. My New Projects problem is a little more difficult. I don't mean to say there are a lack of projects for me to do, but that there isn't anything we need right now that I can make. The more things I sew the more I think I would love to make things for other people. I keep thinking I should make stuff and sell it, but if I started a little sewing business I would rather do it by special orders than me making what I like and trying to sell it to other people. Another problem with that idea is that my sewing skills are still elementary. I also don't know many people and how how do I get the word out? So many issues. 

Time keeps rolling, just like me!

I know I have recently said this, but Daphne has grown in leaps and bounds this month. She is rolling all over the place. Her squeals have turned into talking. She says "dada" and "gaga" really well. She is blowing bubbles and sitting up on her own.  She loves to play on the floor and grab anything she can get her hands on. 

She loves to eat and some of her favorites are sweet potatoes and apples. When she is hungry she will smack her lips and stick out her tongue. She loves to get "eaten" and wrestle with daddy. She loves to exercise with mommy. She loves to listen to the vacuum and any music. She loves to roll under things (i.e. chairs, table). She love to play peek-a-boo. She loves her blanky from her Uncle Joey.

She is so sweet and so good. I know I say that (and most moms say that), but she really is. I'm not just jaded, she really is a great baby. Everywhere I go people say how lucky I am, I REALLY AM! She smiles at everyone. She rarely cries. She goes to bed well, she eats well. She plays by herself when I need to get stuff done, but loves to play whenever you want to. She is PERFECT!!! I hope she stays so sweet forever. I'm kind of scared of how she will turn out later, because she has been so good so far. Baby, mommy loves you to pieces.

Penefore

Hi, my name is Tracy and I'm a sewaholic. 

I know, I have a problem. After I finished the Bapron yesterday not only did I make a whole other bapron, but I also made this little top for Daphne. If you want to make it, it was super easy and came together fast. Go here for the tut.

Bapron

I know you are probably getting sick of the tutorials with the lack of real posts, but we really haven't had much going on We are either sitting at home playing or we are out walking around stores with no money to buy anything. So that is what is going on, now on to the tutorial!!!!!

This is again is a tutorial I got from Pinterest. This is the link I followed. You will need to go there for her pattern for the main part unless you thin you can eyeball it. It is free and easy to print so I would just get it from there.

You will need...

1/4 yard of your main fabric

1/4 yard flannel or canvas(this is for sturdiness)

One 34x1.5 inch for bias tape

One 31x1.5 inch for bias tape

Two 10x1.5 inch bias tape

1/4 yard plastic fabric

 (this is optional, the tut I followed didn't, but I thought it would be a nice touch so your child's clothes won't get wet)

Thread 

The hardest part of this is making the Bias Tape. I do have a little trick though. This may be a thing all real sewers know, but I thought it was pretty ingenious. Cut out a template from a cereal box. I made mine 1inch thick because I was making a 1.5inch Bias Tape. 

Now after you cut out your bias tape and you are ironing the bias tape you put your template in the middle of the fabric and fold over the edges an iron them down. Believe me it makes it much easier than trying to do it by hand just eyeballing it. 

After ironing the edges in then you fold them in half and iron them flat. You should end up with them looking like the strips in the above picture.

Now using the pattern found here you cut out one from all of your fabrics. Now sandwich them together, pin and sew around the edges to hold them together.

Now your going to take your two 10 inch bias tape and pin them in the "arm pit" part of your bapron.

Sew.

(Be careful to make sure when your sewing the bias tape you sew the front and back of it to the main fabric. I missed a couple time and had to go back over it. Oh and by the way if you don't know, you stick the main fabric into the open side of the bias tape so that there is the accent color on both the front and back of the main fabric. The bis tape is meant to hold in all the raw edges.)

The next part you need to pay attention. Take the 31 inch bias tape and pin it to the shoulder parts of the bapron. (make sure its NOT twisted). 

Then you need to fold the bapron in half to find the middle of the bottom and fold the bias tape in half to find the middle of it. Now pin them together and pin the rest of the bottom together. Should look like the picture above.

Sew around the entire thing.

Find the middle of the last remaining 34 inch bias tape. pin it to the neck part of the bapron. 

Sew the rest of it and you will get...

A Bapron! The baby apron!!!

Isn't she so cute in it! 

It was really easy and didn't take very much time to make.

 Sew enjoy!

T-shirt Blanket

So I did another sewing project. I have known I wanted to do this for awhile. I love all our shirts from Dominica, but they are not the type of shirts that I would love to wear for the rest of my life. So perfect solution.

Now I got the tutorial for this on Pinterest of course, so if you want to make t-shirt blanket too then head here for the full tutorial.

I do have some pointers. 

Be careful when your cutting out the t-shirts. They all have different fabric and some are stretchier that others. Also make sure you have a lot of seam allowance. You want to have wide seems so you have room to cut the fringe. Oh speaking of cutting the fringe. Make sure you cut the fringe when the tutorial says to. I didn't and it mad it so I couldn't cut fringe on the corners because they were sewn down.  

I think that is all. This was a very simple quilt. You really have a little room for error. For me this was just to save some memories more than having a "perfectly beautiful" quilt. So if the seams aren't perfectly straight or your X's are crocked. So have fun with it. That's why we sew anyway, isn't it?

X for stability.

Make your rows first then sew them together to get a.......

Quilt!

Scripture Case

We all know about Pinterest and I found this gem there. I wish I had better skills, some of the seems are not that straight, but I think it turned out pretty nice. It was really easy and someone starting out in the sewing world can do it, so if you have some scriptures that need to have a cozy place to call home, try it out.

One third of the way.

Our the time here is going by so quickly. I can't seem to keep up, but just so you know here is what we did this last week.

We'll start with Saturday. We woke up early so we could go to the Evergaldes. Katie and Dave had given us their pass, so we went. We took Brandi with us and we had a great time. We did get stuck in traffic on the way home, but it was great to sit and talk with a friend.

The beginning of the week was spent just hanging out, learning new things. Daphne seemed to have a few things click. She is rolling both ways as a means of moving around, she has started to blow bubbles, and She is sitting up by herself. I am a proud mama.

On Wednesday I did a little crafty project That I will post about.

Yesterday we went out shopping with  Brandi and then went shopping with Daddy. We went to a mall and to Joann's with Bradi then we got home and Daddy had found the biggest Outlet Mall in the USA was just a few miles away, so guess where we went. It was so fun to go out with Daddy and my baby girl. Daddy also took us out to eat which is a big treat. So yeah lots of fun.

Tons of fun

We have been having a GREAT week filled with tons of fun!

Our good friends from Dominica had to come to Miami because Dave had to retake the COMP. He and Katie decided to make a fun trip out of it. This included staying with us one night. I was so happy when she asked if they could stay with us. I was excited all day Monday waiting for them to get here. When they did we just sat and caught up with each other. We Skyped with their kids and played with Daphne while we ate some Chili's takeout. Can't beat it. We tucked in early cause Dave had to get up really early for the test. While he did that Katie and I went to a nearby mall and walked around. 

 When Dave got back all of us headed out to Shark Valley. We went there before when we lived in Miami. It was fun of course and the gators were out. There were tons of little babies and babies are cute, even if they are gator babies.

We had been planning on going to a buffet that had Chinese and a Sushi bar, but when we got there it was closed for reno, so we headed to a Sushi place close to our place. I have never been a Sushi person, but the California Rolls they made were awesome! Even though it was late the Taylors had to head to Orlando for the rest of their vacation. It was so good to see them. Katie has always been such a good friend. She was there for me when we lived in Miami before even though I'm sure she didn't want to spend EVERY day with me.

Daphne and I had a new experience. I have never understood how moms get sick of their kids, but now I understand. Though I feel guilty to admit it, I was so sick of her on Wednesday. She wasn't doing anything different, but I just need my own space for awhile. It took me 6 months of never getting a break from her to crack, but it happened, not proud. Once she was asleep, I took the opportunity to get out of the house and do a little fun shopping with no baby in tow. It was great and I came home and felt so much better and now we are back to being best friends.

Daphne and I took a trip down to Miami so she could get her 6 month shots. I am so happy that Ross moved from Miami to Miramar. It is SO much nicer here. The whole time we were there I was afraid someone was going to rob us or break into the car. The traffic was horrible too. It took an hour to get there and longer than that to get back. Daphne did great getting her shots. I was so nervous. I really think getting shots is worse for the mom than for the baby. I wanted to die when they were poking her. She cried while she got the shots, but as soon as they were done and I gave her a little hug she stopped and was a happy girl again. I couldn't believe it. I thought she would cry for a good 15 minutes, but no, she was perfect.

I knew Katie and Dave had to came back this way to fly back home, but was surprised they decided to go for one more sushi run and invited me to come along. So for lunch we went back to the little restaurant from the other night. It was as good as it was before. 

Busy

Between visitors, immunizations, and having to reset my Google account while trying to keep a needy baby happy I haven't gotten to post, but I promise I will do it tomorrow!