Getting Cozy: Comfy Cowls

 Welcome to day 1 of our 31 Days of Getting Cozy! I get to start off our series today with something that's very near to my heart! Ha, I just couldn't resist that extremely corny joke. Ok, I'm done now. 

 Nothing says "cozy autumn" like a cowl. It can instantly dress up your outfit and take you from a simple t-shirt and jeans to looking put together. Add a pair of drop earrings and suddenly you look like you got some time to yourself that morning instead of just being a referee for your kids.

I put together a few of my favourite patterns for you to try. If you don't knit or crochet, I put together a few sewing ones as well :) And if you don't do any of those, check out all the beautiful ones on Etsy!

1) Large Button Cowl 2) The Fluted Cowl
3) The Heidi Cowl 4) The Barbara Cowl

1) Woven Cowl  2) Bandana Cowl
3) A Grey Loop Cowl  4) Grey Lace Cowl

1) Cotton and Curls  2) Winter Warmer Cowl
3) Lightweight Infinity Scarf 4) Easy Sew Infinity Scarf

Another option is to take an existing scarf and turn it into an infinity scarf like Heidi did here.

Now let's go show the world that we can be stylish along with the rest of them.. or at least cozy :)

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{To read the introduction to the series, click here}

Stuff Those Stockings

I never remember stockings being a big part of our Christmas mornings, but for my husband, they are the highlight. So with merging our different traditions, we decided to do stockings for our girls. I was going to buy them.. but then I made them instead. There are so many great tutorials out there and I found a free pattern by Amy Butler. I love her stuff. I used fabric I had on hand and in 1 hour, I was done!

Here are a few more ideas in case you're brave enough to attempt your own stockings this year. Oh, and they're all free patterns :) (Please go to the original source to "Pin")

                                                                                           Source: lionbrand.com via Melody on Pinterest

                     

                                                                                      Source: amybutlerdesign.com via Melody on Pinterest

                    

                                                                                 Source: camilleroskelley.typepad.com via Melody on Pinterest

                   

                                                                                         Source: marthastewart.com via Melody on Pinterest

Has anyone else made their own stockings? Did you sew, crochet, knit or make them some other creative way? Share your ideas with us!

Day 1 - Homemade Car Wallet for Boys

Welcome to day 1 of our series! We're really excited for this and I hope that it will help create a restful Christmas season for you and give you a few ideas.

For my first gift, I decided to make something for the cutest nephew in the world, Gavin.

Isn't he adorable?!

He has a bit of a rough time being the only boy among so many girl cousins, not that he complains, but when he starts walking around with dolls because there are no "boy" toys for him, I knew it was time to make something for him.

This project took me about 45 minutes from start to finish and the total cost was $0 since I used fabric that I already had in my stash.

The wallet folds up and has a nice little pocket that's the perfect size for storing cars. I used strong felt to give it a little more structure. To make your own, you'll need two types of fabric plus two strips of black for your road, coordinating thread, and elastic to close it (or you could use buttons or a snap).

Cut two pieces of fabric 11"x 22". Use a cup to round the edges of one side of both pieces of fabric. Sew your black road pieces onto the interior fabric. Use yellow thread to create your road lines. Place your two fabric pieces right sides together with your piece of elastic squeezed between (If you're using a snap, attach it before this). Sew your pieces of fabric together with a 1/2" seam. Trim the corners and Turn right side. Cut your felt or whatever you use as a stabilizer into three different pieces. Place in the newly made pocket. Fold your bottom pocket over and top stitch around the top of the pocket. Topstitch around the whole wallet to give it a nice crisp edge and to keep the felt in place. Fold up wallet size and you're done!

If you have any questions about the steps, feel free to email me, but I hope I've made it clear enough for you!

If you're planning on joining us for our series, feel free to grab our button to place on your blog!

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Selfish Sewing

I don't often get much time to make or create things for my own house. I love making things for other people but sometimes I just want to be selfish. So this weekend I sewed a few things for myself on the weekend.

Making some new pillows has been on my "sew list" since August. Pathetic right? From the time it took me to drag out my sewing machine until I poofed (that's a word, right?) it on the couch, it only took me 30 minutes. Not too shabby!

I like to make all of our pillow covers removable since I have two toddlers and there is no way that I can keep that baby stain-free. If you are unsure of zippers, then envelope style is for you.

I have a few more pillows that I'm wanting to make before the end of the week. Hopefully my week won't get away from me too much!

Have you done any "selfish" crafts lately? Come share with us!

Turning One Dress

This Saturday, my little baby is turning one. I can't believe it! Where did the year go? Now she's walking and babbling and has a little personality all her own. I love her so much!

I decided I wanted to make her a special dress for her first birthday. I ordered the fabric from fabric worm (love them!) and decided on the dress that I wanted to make. I have a McCall pattern that lets you customize your dress and I've probably made about 8 different dresses from this pattern. It was definitely worth the money!

The dress that I made has sweet little cap ruffle sleeves (who doesn't love ruffles?!) and is lined for extra warmth. I made the length Shirley Temple length so we could see those sweet, chubby knees of hers.

Instead of adding a zipper like the pattern suggested, I covered some buttons with the same fabric and added them on instead.

I couldn't get any good pictures of her in the dress since she's just discovered walking and is lightning fast but look at those cute ankles!

The total cost of the dress was $10. Not too shabby! I find it's always cheaper to make dresses than buy them. Plus you get to customize!

Has anyone tried Heidi's recipe for pumpkin spice lattes yet? I was in Starbucks today and they had run out of the flavouring!! I might have to try that recipe tonight :)

Adventures in Clothes Making

I love to sew and make things for my girls. Last night, I pulled out my sewing machine and decided I was going to make a romper for Sienna. Rompers might be the best baby article of clothing ever.. besides the diaper.. or onesie. So maybe the third? But they are so comfy and cushy and just plain comfortable to for baby's to wear. I had bought a few from H&M for her a few months ago, and I love how you only have to grab one thing out of the drawer in the morning when you're doing a mad scramble to get ready.

I used fabric that I already had on hand. When I'm trying new things, I don't like to waste my "pretty" fabric, just in case I ruin everything. The pattern was pretty simple for me to follow and the only unfortunate part of it, was that it had buttons. I hate making button holes. I'm not sure if it's me or my machine, but I just can't get them to look pretty! They are my nemesis. Thankfully, you can't see my terrible work when everything is buttoned up. Two hours after starting, I was done!

Now that I've made one, there are different ideas floating in my head of how I can make them even cuter. The total cost of this new outfit for my little girl was $0.

So what do you think? Have you ever tried to make clothes for your children? Let us know!

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My Weekend Wishes

Here are a few of my wishes for the weekend:

[Source]

That I would get lots of coffee for energy

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That I would get to spend some time with my hubby

That I would get a chance to sew with some of my beautiful fabrics. 

Hopefully this weekend I'll get lots of stuff done. I hate being sick because then I have to catch up on things! The pile of fabric in the last picture is of my crafting to-do list. There are blankets, dresses, backpacks, and baby slings that all need to be made within the next week (ack!).

We also have a bachelorette party to plan and execute for our little sister this Saturday. Should be a lot of fun and you'll get to see pictures of that on Monday!

Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!

Maxi Skirt How-To

A little while ago, our friend Sophia asked if I would help her make a maxi-skirt. She sent me a picture of what she had in mind, and since skirts have to be one of the easiest things to make ever, I agreed.

When we were younger, our mom taught us all how to sew and make skirts. I'm pretty sure the first thing I learned how to make was a skirt. It's so simple, just sew a couple of seams, insert an elastic and away you go!

The skirt that we found for inspiration can be found here. She has a great tutorial on how to do a maxi dress, but we just wanted the skirt portion of it. We followed her directions for cutting out the skirt, but then we veered off and kinda made up the rest as we went along. The whole process took us about 1 hour from start to finish and the result is a beautiful skirt (the fabric she picked is gorgeous!)

Instead of doing an elastic all the way around the waistband, we decided to put the elastic just at the back so it doesn't pucker the whole skirt. If you'd like to make it this way too, simply cut the elastic two inches smaller than half your waist size (your waist size / 2 - 2 inches = your magic number) Sew the elastic into the back panel of your waistband and there ya go. Easy peasy, right? 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We will probably be working outside for most of it and thankfully the weather is supposed to cooperate and be beautiful! 

Also, I'll have some exciting news to share on Monday :) Trust me, it's freaking amazing!