Before Little Brother joined our family, I decided to put together a big sister gift for Sweet Girl. I figured Little Brother would be getting a lot of attention and maybe some new toys and some file folder games would help ease the transition. Sweet Girl is very into purses. She just likes something to put all her little things in, so I decided to make her a little bag to put her new file folder games in to take to church. I found the tutorial for this adorable bag from Stitches In Play. It really didn't take too long and I made it from scraps of fabric I have in my fabric stash. I am not a great seamstress, but I managed to do this pretty well and in one afternoon. And I think it turned out pretty cute.

Here is what you need:
2 pieces 15x15 inches for the lining
2 pieces 15x11 inches for the main outside piece
2 pieces 15x5 inches for the outside top strip
2 pieces 20x6 inches for the handles

1. Start with the handles. Fold each handle in half hot dog style and iron. Open it back up and fold and iron about 1 inch on each side. Fold it back in half and sew up the side. Don't worry about sewing the ends, you'll get then later.

 

2. Sew a top strip to each of the main outside pieces. Then place them right sides together and sew around the sides and bottom, obviously leave the top open. 

3. Place the lining pieces right side together and sew down each side and part of the bottom. Leave a 3 inch opening at the bottom.

4. This step is important if you want to give the bag a flat bottom. If you don't care you could probably skip it. You will do this with the 2 bottom corners of both the outside and the inside lining pieces. Open the bag and and pinch the side and bottom seams together, so it creates this point. Sew a straight line 1 1/2 inches up from the tip, and then cut off the point. I hope that makes sense.

5. Now it's time to sew the whole bag together. The most important part is pinning it together correctly.Start by pinning the handles in place wherever you want them. Double check that your handles aren't twisted at all. That would be really frustrating to have to pick out. Leave the outside piece facing right side out, but turn the lining inside out. Slip the outside piece inside the lining piece. You will need to repin the handles so they are pinned to both the inside and outside pieces. Now sew around the top of the bag, reinforcing the handles really well.

6. Now pull the outside piece through that hole you left in the bottom of the lining. Sew up that hole either by hand or with a machine. (I figure it's the bottom of the inside so I don't care if my seam shows.)

7. Stuff the lining inside and viola, you have your bag!

Not too hard right?  I really like how it turned out, and Sweet Girl loves carrying it around. Now she can help carry some of her own stuff around and I have more room in my bag for all of Little Brother's stuff. I forgot how much little babies need between diapers, burp cloths, emergency change of clothes, etc.

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The start of preschool is just a couple weeks away, and I am busy trying to make sure everything is ready. Our first unit is all about apples, so I made these apple bean bags to go along with it. Sweet Girl has already tested them out so I know they are super fun. After I finished them she placed each apple into a separate tupperware container. Then she put them into a bowl and then back in the containers, then she moved the containers around. It all looked very methodical, but I was not following very well.

These bean bags are very simple to make even if you don't sew well, and they are perfect for fall which is creeping up on us very quickly.

Here is what you need:
Felt- I found sheets at Walmart for $.23 each
Matching Thread
Filler- I used some leftover popcorn kernels I had
Apple Template

1. I cut a 5 1/2 inch apple template on my cricut. I'm sure you could easily find a picture online that would work. Then I pinned and cut out my felt apples. In this picture the stem and leaf are still on. Before I cut out the felt I just clipped the stem and leaf off and cut the out in brown and green felt.

2. Pin two apple pieces together with the stem and leaf pinned at the top.

3. Sew around the edge. I back stitched over the leaf and stem to make sure they would stay in place. Leave an opening to pour in the filler.

 4. Add the filler until it is as full as you want, but don't overfill or you won't be able to sew up the opening. Stitch up the opening.  You can turn it inside out before this step to hid the edges, but I don't mind the edges showing. I did trim them a little to make sure both sides met up perfectly.

Let the playing begin!

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Sweet Girl is such a little thing, but she has finally made it into a forward facing car seat. It was such an exciting day, except for one thing, the straps. They kept digging into her neck and leaving red marks, so I made these simple strap covers.

I put these together in about an hour using fabric I had at home. I didn't really measure them, so I'll do my best to just explain what I did. Hopefully the pictures can get us through.

1. First I used a tape measure to measure around the strap. I cut my quilted padded material (I don't know the technical term)  slightly bigger than the distance around the strap to allow enough room for the ends to overlap. Then I cut out my flannel with a little extra room to account for the seams. I used flannel to make it extra soft and comfortable.

2. Next I double folded each of the ends of the flannel and ironed them down in preparation to be sewn down.

3. Sew down the flaps on all four sides.

4. Cut a strip of Velcro. Be sure to use the kind that says its good for sewing on the package. Otherwise it is really tough to sew and not good for your machine. When you sew the fuzzy side and the scratchy side (those are the technical terms) make sure one goes on the front side and one goes on the back, it doesn't matter which is which.

All done! Wrap them around the car seat straps for Baby to enjoy. Doesn't it look like Sweet Girl is enjoying this? Okay, I hope this all made sense. Sorry I don't have any measurements or more specific instructions. The pictures are pretty clear and you're always welcome to ask for clarification.

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Okay, this may be my longest post yet, but it will all be worth it in the end. Before we left on our big trip to the other side of the country, I was frantically searching for toys to entertain Sweet Girl on the plane. I was terrified of her screaming and then we would all get kicked off the plane. I found a mini Magnadoodle (worth every penny of the $3 I paid for it), a notebook to draw in, a few books, her foam play makeup. I just needed on more thing, and I Spy Bag. I have always wanted to make one, so I searched for a good tutorial. Sew Easy Lemon Squeezy had the best I Spay Bag tutorial. I loved it! I made just a few alterations.

Here is my disclaimer. I am not an amazing sewer. I have never written a sewing tutorial before. I tried to write out what I did in a very clear way, and hopefully the pictures help. If I forgot something or it doesn't make sense, please be kind in asking for clarification. Don't make me cry. Thanks. Here goes.

What you need:
1/2 Yard of fabric- Probably even less, but better safe than sorry if you make a mistake and need another piece.
1 Piece of Plastic- I used a page protector.
Thread
Rice
20ish Small Objects- I found some of mine at Target in the dollar section and some in the button section at Joanns. These were the most expensive part, so watch for sales or coupons.

Step 1: Measure and cut out your pieces. 
The two 10x8 rectangles are the front and back. The 10x6 rectangle is the pocket on the back. The 20x 4 rectangle is the purse strap. I had to make this into a purse because Sweet Girl loves purses, plus it would make it easier for her to carry around.

 

 Step 2: Cut out the window and clip the corners.

Measure to find the middle point of one of your 10x8 rectangles. You will be making a 6x4 rectangle to cut out to make the window. From the middle point measure up 2 inches and down 2 inches, then 3 inches out to each side. Go ahead and draw right on your fabric because once it is cut and sewn you won't ever see it. Cut out the rectangle you just drew.

In each corner of the window you just made, measure 1 inch diagonally, and clip. Fold those new flaps backward and iron them down.

 

Step 3: Prep the back pocket.

While the iron is out, take the piece for the back pocket and fold it our twice, each time about 1/4 of an inch, and press it into place. Set this aside for a minute.

Step 4: Sew the plastic into the window.

You can use whatever plastic you have around the house. I just used a whole page protector because it's what I had. Pin on the full page to the back side of your window, you'll cut it down to the right size after it is sewn.   Sew twice around the window to make it extra sturdy. Cut off the extra plastic.

 

Step 5: Sew the pocket onto the back piece.

  Sew down the fold that you ironed down in step 3. Sew the pocket onto the back piece along the sides and the bottom, leaving the top open. I added a pocket for a marker by sewing a straight line down from the top of the pocket all the way to the bottom.

 

Step 6: Sew the Handle.

This step is totally optional. You can have a perfectly lovely bag with no handle if you prefer. To make the handle, just fold the piece in half with right sides together, and sew all the way down the side, leaving the ends open. Then turn the piece inside out (I always hate this step on any project. It's a pain.) Press the handle with an iron to give it a nice finished look.

Step 7: Sew this whole thing together.

Pin the front and back pieces together with the right sides facing in. Pin the ends of the handle into

the top where you want them to go. Than handle itself will be on the inside of everything.  Sew Around the top, 1 side, the bottom and half of the other side. Pull it right side out through the opening you left on one side.

Step 8: Fill it up!

Before I put my objects in I took a picture of them to print off and laminate. This is the check off sheet for what Sweet Girl needs to look for. I like this better than the list because it will probably be a few years before she can read, and this way she knows what to look for and can play independently (eventually I mean. She still isn't quite sure what to do with this besides carry it around and shake it.) 

I put in about 20 objects and then just added the rice until I thought it looked like enough. For an older child I would have added more, but I didn't want it to be too heavy for Sweet Girl to carry around.

Step 9: Sew it up and play!

Sew up the open edge. I added a flower with hot glue to make it extra girly. Time to Play!

 

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