Revamping the Baby Room Pt 2

So you remember from a previous post that I've been "growing" up my little boy's room.  Out goes Winnie the Pooh and here come the tractors!

My parents came to visit last week and my mom decided to help things along a bit.  She gave me a little nudge to make a new valence for the window and some pillowcases for the little pillow on the bed.

The previous valence was celery green on top with a border of white with green polkadots on the bottom.  I didn't quite measure right (go figure) and the valence just went straight across, it didn't wrap around the the brackets.  Oops.  We originally wanted to use denim and a bandana print, but of course couldn't find it.  The next best thing we could find was a red and white check.  Turns out, it's perfect!

There's a basic white roller shade underneath with a scalloped edge.  I think it gives the window a little extra character.  I also love the ric-rac edging :)

When we converted Rowan's crib to a bed, I pulled out the little pillow I had used when I was his age.  Of course, it had a rather girly cover.  So this seemed to be a good opportunity to make a new one since I had extra fabric.  I even had enough to make two!

I think they're very farm and go with the tractor theme nicely :)  Rowan really couldn't care one way or the other, but I feel better now that his room is a little more matchy.  

My parents also helped do a few things in my craft room.  I've got a few more touches to do, and then I'll do a post on that!

But It's Too Cute NOT To Wear!

My darling little baby boy turned 2 in May and apparently is already having opinions on what to wear. This is exciting, but breaks my heart because I made something darn cute and, of course, he won't wear it!

 Last summer my mom bought Rowan this cute little white jacket from Carters to wear after swimming (naturally, I forgot to take a picture of it before I hacked it up). It was made of terry cloth, had a hood, and a little zipper that only went half way down (so you had to slip it over his head to get it on). It was an 18 month, so it was pretty big. This year it fit perfectly, once you got it on. Apparently his head is a bit big and pulling it on a squirming 2 year old was a nightmare.

 So I had this flash of brilliance! I'll take out the zipper, cut it down the front, and add buttons instead! After copious amounts of ripping out stitching that I could barely see and a quick cut job with the scissors, I had an unfinished, open jacket.

Seriously, the ripping out of the zipper was the toughest part of the whole project.  Carters sewed that sucker in there for good!  The next step was to serge those two raw edges, then turn them under a half inch and sew.  I also top stitched near the edge to make sure it laid nice and flat.

I rummaged through my horde of buttons (every seamstress needs a horde of buttons!) and just happened to find these 3 enormous orange buttons.  But how to close it?  Button holes seemed like a bad idea due to the ravel-ly nature of terry clothe and I really didn't want to lose any girth in the jacket.  My mom jumped in and suggested using bias tape to make loops.  So back to the closet I went and happened to find some bright teal bias tape that looked really striking with the orange buttons.  

Then bippity-boppity-boo, the jacket was done!

Of course, having developed compulsive-embroidery-syndrome, I then decided it needed a little something on the right shoulder.  Enter my favorite website for cheeky patterns, Urban Threads.  There was this awesome little pirate ducky that seemed only too appropriate for a swim cover-up.

Not sound too smug, but seriously, how cute did this thing turn out?  I finished it the night before Rowan had swim lessons and was all excited for him snuggle up in it when he was done.  

WRONG.  This jacket is like the plague or cooties him.  Every time I pull it out, he practically runs in the other direction.  Hence why there is no picture of him wearing it.  Sigh.  Good thing it didn't take 6 months to make!  Maybe I'll get him in it yet this summer....

Craft Room - Take 2

So my craft room drives me nuts.  It's really just a hodge podge of stuff and I've never really done much with it.  Mostly because eventually that room won't be mine forever.  Someday we might have another baby and then we'll have to play room shuffle, and if not, then eventually that will become Rowan's room.  With that in mind, I just haven't had the heart to put much effort into it.

However, the other day I finally had enough.  The closet in particular made me want to pull my hair out.

I decided to roll up my sleeves and tear in to that sucker.  First thing I did was pack up all the bellydance costumes on the bottom shelf.  Since I'm sort of in bellydance remission, they rarely get used and I could really stand the closet space.

Then I took everything out and sorted.  I even *gasp* threw some things away!  I was very proud of myself on that one :)

Next, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a few cheap fabric bins and a large jar.  Here's what I used the jar for:

Isn't it pretty all full of buttons?  The little jars from Ikea have sequins in them.  Seriously, these jars make me pretty happy.  I plan to get more of them :)

My next big project was my fabric stash.  Holy Moly Cow.  The pink and green bins in the top picture were just overflowing with fabric and there was more on the floor.  Big pieces, little scraps, cotton, denim, felt...

While procrastinating on Pinterest one day, I ran across this awesome tutorial on a blog called Smashed Peas and Carrots that shows you how to make mini fabric bolts to store your fabric.  Brilliant!  Now all my big pieces are wrapped on bolts and out where I can see them.  Currently they're horizontal because my shelves are wire and I'm waiting for my husband to cut a sheet of something to cover them.

I know it looks a little sloppy now, but once they're vertical I think it will really clean up nice.  And I adore how I can see at a glance just what I all have!  As for the little piece too small for bolts, I used the fabric bins to stow them.  I also decided not to wrap the felt on bolts.  I just chucked all of that into an empty plastic box with a lid for now.  

My goal was to cut down on all the random, loose, stuff floating around that closet.  Most everything (at least the little stuff) is corralled into either a jar or a basket.

Not perfect by a long shot, but at least I don't cringe or run screaming every time I open the door.  I have several more ideas I'd like to implement.  The next one is also a Pinterest inspiration.  I'd like to find a couple wood spice-rack shelf thingies to store all my little jars of sparkies and doodads.

Give me some time, and we'll see what happens!