Christmas Cards

Every year I forget to send my cards soon enough to all the people I'd like to. This year though, I want to be on time, I think I still am. I made cards to some special people and I just sent them today. Yes, I repeat! I made the cards... hahaha...

Have a look:

So, what do you think? 

Baby Leg Warmers and a little extra

Please excuse the mess behind us and the fact that I still was wearing my pajamas ;)

I just realised that there's a few things handmade in this photo, when in fact I only wanted to picture one. hehehe

That thing I was hoping to take the shoot to was the adorable leg warmers baby G. is wearing. They were made by my mother. This is the second pair, she actually made a pink/salmon pair before, but G. hasn't used them yet, and this one is by far much cuter. Mom had made two pairs before for my nice. She's a quick knitter. The same can't be said about me. I could only stitch one way, and it was straight, I never knew how to start, and easily forget how to end something. Not to say I would take months to actually finish anything i'd knit. 

Though a few weeks ago, I asked mom to  p l e a s e  teach me again (!), I wanted to make G. a scarf. And I have learnt how to start it on my own. Mom tried to thaught me but I was being a very slow learner and she quit. =( Shame one me. But then, I decided I was going to pull it through, and after a single try I made it. I finally understood how to make it. 

Only a couple of weeks after, the scarft was done. what?! But baby G. won't let me put it on her. Not even to take a single picture =( So I had no choice but to use a bear as a model. At the edges of the scarf I attached two pompoms. I didn't make a pompom in years, and I made them amazingly fast. Hurray for me!

My next goal is to make her a bonnet... f e a r  i t! 

I actually finished another knitting project right before I started the scarf, but it still needs a little button touch and then I will share it. 

Now let's get back to the beggining of this post. Let me just point out the other handmade stuff showing on the photos above. 

First thing is the hair clip hanger baby G. is holding on her hands. It was a blank canvas I turned into a clip hanger, and it matched the decor in her room. It is made of the same fabric I used for her curtains, bed cover, pillow, and crib protectors. 

Second thing is the sock monkey I have showed you here. 

Third thing, is the clip with the red flower on it. I made it a while ago, way before she was born. 

Christmas Ornament Tradition

Last year was my daughter's first Christmas. Back then I decided every year I would add something handmade to our tree. Which is a small one, the same I had for a few years before her. No plans on buying a bigger one so soon. 

For now, I am the one making the handmade something, but I hope next year she'll be joining me on this task, I want to share this magic with her. 

Last year I used a fabric angel I had made a couple of years before, it's on top of our tree (this year too), so, instead of making something new last year, I didn't, I just used something I had done before. That's not fair, right? So, to compansate it, on a sleepless night I cut and sew a pair of trees. I used blue felt on the front, where I stitched a few stars on each, and on the back I used a beautiful cotton red fabric, shame I didn't take any picture of the back. 

When I filled it, I added a few drops of my favourite essential oil, so, besides being an ornament, it leaves a wonderful smell when we enter the room where our tree is. 

Knock it off Girl Dress

Over at Elegance & Elephants blog, Heidi is hosting a Knock it Off Series. Where mom designers have been creating amazing looks, inspired by existing (and most of the times too expensive) pieces. I've been following it and loving and recently, I was just going through some picture albums, trying to organize all I have saved through the last couple of years, and I came across a picture.
This image was given to me by a costumer, she wanted me to make a dress like that one for her daughter's first birthday. I did try my best, especially because she didn't live close enought to come and try it on, so I just had to hope it'd fit well.
I couldn't help but to immediately think about making my own Knock it Off post. It's fun!

My costumer didn't like the light tone of pink, so I made it darker, which I personaly like better too. Besides, instead of making a white diapper cover with pink ruffles, I made a pink one with white ruffles. I soooo love mine better. I guess I didn't do that bad. The strips were too long, and the girl's mommy tried to fix them a little, bit they were still falling off. That's the bad part of this dress.

Here's how I originally made them, before she got it and fix the strips. I even thought about making a dress like this one for my little one too, but just using a different colour - I'm not a huge fan of pink! But I had so much to do at the time (4 dresses for my cousin's wedding, G.'s birthday dress, Flamenco outfits...) that I didn't. Maybe if we get to have a party or something to go I might think of that.

My first Sock Monkeys

I've been working on a charity project lately. Someone has asked their readers (portuguese blog, that's why I'm not sharing here) to make sock and glove dolls to share in some pediatric hospitals. I never made such dolls, though I would like to try sometime. I joined the cause. I started by making one only. But my precious little girl thought it was pretty cool to hang around all day, so I had no choice but to give it to her.
I made two more sock monkeys to make up for this one she kept.

Here's the tutorial I followed.

So, I bought new pairs of socks and started them. Here's how they ended up like:

And she was trying to make these two her own as well, she played around with them for a little, before they were finished and then allowed me to give the final touches. 

Aren't they so cute? And I'm very proud of my three first sock monkeys! Do you like them?

Baby Shoes

I tried a little refashion/recycling lately. My niece has a 5 months old (tomorrow actually!) baby girl, and I haven't been doing much for her. I guess I get stucked on doing things for my own little girl, and kinda forget about anything else. So, as I was saying, I tried a little refashion, I got a pair of V.'s damaged jeans and cut a piece from one of the legs to create a new pair of baby shes. These are not the first pair of baby shoes I make, but they are the first ones I make using this pattern. 

Here they are:

I would make some changes in this pattern if I'll use it again. I wasn't really pleased with it, but it worked anyway. I'll give them to the little one today... let's hope her mommy likes them. 

When Things go Wrong 2

I already finished the sailor inspired pants a couple of days ago, but still need to get some pictures taken. G. is actually wearing them today. I love to see her on these. But it's raining a lot outside, and it's dark inside, so pictures of it must wait for a better day. 

Since I hate waste and want to keep using clothes from my huge pile of clothes to refashion, I wanted to make her a matching vest. But I wanted to make a lined vest. I thought I knew how to make one. I did make vests before, but I suddenly had a black out. It went wrong and I had to come online, trying to figure out what was I doing wrong. 

I got it now! This tutorial has helped a lot! So, hopefully I will get it done by the end of the day.