Paper Airplane Stencil Shirt, and Shooting in Manual

I know you guys have heard 90239840238402384029 times about

by now, but seriously, if you aren't checking the flickr group, like, HOURLY for awesome boy ideas, you're missing out. I came across this awesome stencil idea there.Image can be found here, via Happy Stuff, who also made an airplane shirt.

Also, have you noticed throngs of bloggers encouraging people to stop using their fancy cameras as expensive point-and-shoots? Well, yesterday, I put the camera in manual mode for these photos. 

I think they came out pretty good, although I have about 402983409830948029 blurry ones and  maybe 30 good shots. Here is my question for you fancy photographers - how do you shoot a moving subject in manual without having blurry photos? Riley doesn't respond to "stand still". The constant focus adjustments were really challenging while I was taking these. 

The posing was all Riley. I think he thought he was being very cute with that racket.

p.s. Riley, stop getting so grown up. You're killing me!

Cell Phone Photo Urban Hoodie Zipper Tutorial!

I've been trying to sew another Urban Hoodie with the zipper since last week so I could take some better photos of this process for you, but alas the whole "having three kids" and "teaching college courses" and "trying to finish my PhD" and "finishing my Celebrate the Boy tutorial" thing has slowed me down a bit. 

So, in order to get this up so you guys can try it out, I present you with the Cell Phone Photo Urban Hoodie Zipper Tutorial! I guess you can call it CPPUHZT for short. :)

I used a 7-inch zipper in my 18-month size hoodie. I'm making a 5T now for Quinn, and I'm still using a 7-inch zipper. Use whatever size zipper blows your skirt up, but make sure it is NOT a separating zipper. 

1. Sew the pattern as normal through step 17, where you would normally sew the two front panels together.

2. Lay the zipper face down on the bottom front panel, right next to the edge where the front panel meets the bottom panel. Pin in place. I also pinned the extra zipper tape at the top and bottom in towards the center of the zip.

3. Sew straight down the wrong side of the zipper tape on the left side of the zipper.

It will look like this when you're done:

4. Fold the zipper back towards the center of the hoodie, so that the right side is now up and your stitching line in now underneath the zipper, and press.

5. With the zipper closed, pin the top panel of the hoodie to the left zipper tape. Again, I tucked the top and bottom extra tape in.

6. Now, starting at the bottom, follow your topstitching line (just like you would if you were sewing it with buttons) up to the bottom of the zipper. 

When you get to the bottom of the zip, make a turn with your stitches and sew right underneath the zip. 

Then top stitch down the side of the zipper that is attached to the bottom panel. 

Take your hoodie out of the machine and flip it around, and topstitch down the zipper to the front panel of the hoodie. Just follow the topstitching line that is already there. Basically, stitch the green line shown below, and then the purple line. Sew the green line from bottom to top, and the purple line from top to bottom. 

8. You're done! Finish the rest of the hoodie as normal. 

I hope you all don't hate me too much for presenting you with cell phone photos of the process, but I think you get the idea. Happy sewing!

Heidi and Finn Urban Hoodie - Zipped Up

Ever get an idea in your head that you think will be totally awesome and get sort of obsessed with it?

No? Just me?

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I got it in my head the Urban Hoodie would be AWESOME with a zipper instead of buttons. This week, I took a crack at it, and I LOVE it. Usually, when I go off-pattern with clothing, it doesn't turn out so well, but this turned out exactly how I imagined it would. I felt like an evil sewing genius when I was done.

 I used a pretty stretchy houndstooth (I think it is some sort of rayon blend) from Joann's for the outer, and the lining is a solid black interlock. I cut the 18 month size, and it is perfect for Sawyer right now, with plenty of growing room.

I really don't think I could love this pattern any more. I rarely make the same thing more than once, but this pattern is great, and I love to make it. It comes together quickly and is so stinkin' cute.

Sawyer and I took advantage of the warm weather (60 degrees!) to take some pictures outside. At first, he wasn't so sure about this "fresh air" thing.

Then he spotted some geese, and apparently, geese are awesome to a 7-month-old.

After that, he was a happy camper, and ready to show off his brand new teeth!

I took some pictures along the way as I installed the zipper, but unfortunately the only camera available was my cell phone camera. I'm going to try to make them presentable to show you how I installed the zipper here. Or, maybe I'll just make another one. That is how much I love this pattern.

Edited to add: I posted a tutorial for installing the zip here.

Last Minute Valentine's Printable

Need a last minute Valentine's gift?

Just right click on this picture below, save it to your computer, print it out, and throw it behind some glass.

Then grab a dry erase marker and write why you love your honey right on the glass. Change your mind? That's fine - just wipe it off and write something new!

I saw this idea somewhere awhile back, but I can't remember where! If you've seen this elsewhere, let me know so I can give proper credit!

 p.s. Happy 7 month birthday Sawyer!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

No, it's not Christmas, but almost as good for those of us with little (and big) boys!

It's

Visit Dana over at Made

and Rae at Made by Rae

for all sorts of boy crafty goodness.

For a month.

I'm a little excited.

I have it on good authority that the next month of boy goodness is going to be blow-your-mind awesome. In fact, if you keep your eye on the celebration, you just MIGHT catch a peek of your favorite blogger (hint: me) over on Made sometime in March.

As Char would say, yes, really.

I'm so excited for the fun to get rolling next week!

Let's celebrate our boys!






Because these guys TOTALLY deserve to be celebrated!

Love Skull Boy's Valentine Shirt Tutorial

Ever tried making a Valentine's Day shirt for an almost 9-year-old boy?

It's not easy. They are apparently averse to hearts and love. So I had to sort of sneak in the lovey-dovey part in the midst of a much more boyish motif - the skull and crossbones.

I changed the shape of the skull's eyes to be hearts. The heads of the bones are also sort of heart-shaped. I almost hoped Riley wouldn't notice. He did. He likes it anyway. Don't let his double-thumbs-down fool you.

Wanna make one? Here you go!

Supplies:
Love Skull Template - this is sized for Riley's 10/12 size shirt. Scale it down for smaller shirts.
Red shirt
Black knit fabric
Scissors
Freezer Paper
Pins - lots and lots of pins

First, I traced the template onto the paper side of the freezer paper. I then ironed the freezer paper to my knit and cut the shape with the freezer paper still attached. This stabilizes the knit and keeps it from stretching and curling while you're cutting.

After I cut out the shapes, I pinned them to the shirt - no fusible was used here. I want the edges to curl up and be sort of rough looking once they are washed, and since knit won't fray, I didn't use any fusible web at all. Instead, I pinned. And pinned. And pinned. I pinned this thing to death to keep it from stretching or moving while I sewed it on.

Then, I just stitched it down. Go slow, and be prepared to turn the machine by hand. Stitch right over all those pins. It feels wrong, but if you don't, the knit stretches and shifts. Make sure to remember to stitch around the eyes and nose as well.

You're done! Find a model.

Make him model against his will.

Try to get him to smile unsuccessfully.

And be prepared to dodge snowballs once he's sick of modeling. (This one hit his baby brother. Oops.)

Paper Toys for Big Boys

We spent the snow day inside making various kid-friendly crafts, including these adorable paper owl toys, found at 3 Eyed Bear.

They've got all sort of cute printable paper toys, including cars, trucks, and various animals. Just cut, fold, and glue. These are a fun craft for older kids (I'd say 8+), and I think these little owls would be ADORABLE table decorations for an owl-themed party. They come in about a million colors.

What are you doing to pass the time during the snow storm that is paralyzing half the country?