Sewing For Me and Henry's Busy Day

I finally made a hat for myself that I think I like. I used the New Look Pattern 6024 that I used for a top last week. I copied the size and shape of the brim from my Tilley hat though, didn't want to end up with something too glam again.

And here's one of the clothing items that I sewed for myself in the past week, still need to get around to photographing the rest. This is 'J' from Happy Homemade, a Japanese pattern book that I bought for myself and that arrived last week. Here is someone else's version. It was a cooler day yesterday and my new jacket was the perfect thing to throw on over a T-shirt.

I made this from a crinkle cotton - why didn't anyone ever tell me to stay away from crinkle cotton!? I didn't realize at all how difficult it would be to sew with till I was ready to start. Going through the sewing machine across the crease lines stretches them out. So I had to sew almost the whole thing with the fabric sandwiched between 2 layers of tissue paper. And if that wasn't hard enough, it turned out to be very difficult to get rid of the little bits of tissue paper stuck under the stitches when I was done. I think if I had pulled the tissue paper out very carefully to begin with it would have helped but I just ripped it out thinking I'd clean it up later. Moving on, the pattern was very easy to follow even though I couldn't read the directions, only look at the very clear diagrams.
And here are some pictures from Henry's busy day yesterday.
Playing at the big playground at Victoria Park in Kitchener where we met up with some new friends.
A quick stop at the library, we would have stayed longer if Henry hadn't kept putting the pieces in his mouth while staring at me with a naughty look on his face after I told him not to put them in his mouth. I guess it was more fun to test Mom than to play with the puzzle.

Chillaxing in his stroller.Playing at another playground.
Here he is saying "caw caw caw caw caw caw caw"

A Hat

This time I made a hat for me. I followed this pattern from Lorenna Buck which was a great pattern, easy to put together and a good fit and all. But then I gave it to my sister. It just turned out a bit more glamourous than I had imagined and I don't think I will wear it. I might try making myself another one.


And here's Henry looking cute in his hat this weekend.

Another Sun Hat

Finally we have some sun so Henry can get out and wear his new sun hat that I made him. It is the same pattern I used here from Little Things to Sew. I always planned on making 2 because I know sometimes the other one will be lost or dirty or left at Nana's. So now we have a backup. And this time I used a light coloured cotton from some khaki pants and some navy blue with a cool fish pattern for the lining. Nice and light to keep him cool this summer, of course it is already dirty with soil and curry from our lunch outside.


We spent all morning outdoors today enjoying the lack of rain. We were in the backyard, then did some shopping, played at 2 different playgrounds, and wandered through dandelions. With all this rain the dandelions have been growing like crazy and the city hasn't had a chance to mow them down yet. We are hoping to get out and pick some for making dandelion wine before they get mowed.

A Sun Hat

This warm sunny weather we've been having meant I had to quickly make Henry a sun hat. Luckily I had a pattern for one from the book Little Things to Sew. See lots more examples of this hat here. I finished it up yesterday and he got to test it out today.

It is a really nice pattern, good sized brim and I like the seams on the side instead of the back. I didn't quite follow the directions because they involved a lot of hand sewing and I added the band of lining fabric around the cap. I couldn't make it reversible because I needed to put a strap on it. And instead of interfacing I just put a couple extra layers of fabric in the brim and it is plenty stiff enough.
We are having great weather this week and have been spending lots of time out in the backyard. Henry likes it some of the time but he'd rather be walking down the street.

I put sand in his sand box today hoping that that would keep him happy but he only liked it for about 5 minutes.

And while I'm posting pictures from the backyard, this bird showed up on our patio yesterday. We think it flew into the window and hurt itself. It lay there for a couple hours and then it was gone so we have every reason to believe that it recovered and flew away. I'm glad we got the chance to see it, it is such a striking bird and I've never seen one before.

One more Hat for Henry

I made one more hat for Henry last week. The warm weather actually got me thinking of sun hats. But since it is still February, I came to my senses and made him a winter hat instead. But I used this free sun hat pattern from McCall's. The only thing I changed was to add an inch to the height of the crown to get a little more forehead coverage. And sized up one for the added bulk of the lining.


I used a corduroy for the outer and fleece for the lining. And added ear flaps to the straps. So it actually is quite cosy warm I think. And I made the sides turn up cowboy-style using velcro so you can also take them down for added sun protection or a different look. Like so:


And now he's my little cowboy! So sweet!


PS - I am now labelling Henry-related posts as toddler instead of baby!!

New Baby Sun Hat

Henry has at least 3 sun hats already but he has a very small head and they are all much too big. So I decided to measure and make him one that would fit. It turned out a little big but still fits him better than any of the others.

Sun hat for baby

I finished this sun hat for the baby today. Now I really have everything I need for baby. I am so ready.