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Archive for the ‘Crafts’ Category
Sunday, October 23rd, 2011
It would be nothing short of an understatement to say that Little Mister loves Thomas the Train. Not a day goes by without him playing trains, watching trains, or somehow involving trains in our everyday life (…which right now means Thomas potty charts…yay). So when it came time for Halloween costumes, there was no question as to what Little Mister would want to be. Thomas the Tank Engine (I always say Thomas the Train). After flipping through costume catalogs and checking out costumes in toy stores, we didn’t really find what we were looking for. Mr. Parfait and I talked it over, and decided to construct our own costume inspired by that really useful engine!
I had a couple ideas, played around with some boxes, etc, but Mr. Parfait wasn’t having any of it. He had a plan and ran with it. He started this costume on Saturday at about 4:00pm and wrapped it up at around 2:00pm Sunday afternoon (including sleep, meals, etc! We’re too old to work through the night anymore haha), two hours before we needed to depart for the event! He constructed every single part of this costume. What did I do? Freaked out and told him it was never going to get done in time. And yes, the crow tastes just fine. 
The body frame is foam (the greenish foam you buy by the yard), cut and sewn together to form the train. The outer shell is all duck canvas (heavy fabric), and goes on top of the foam body almost like a slipcover on a chair. All of the details are appliqué, using Heat n Bond. There are two nylon straps attached, to slip over the head. My only contribution was the idea of sewing in reflective piping, for safety.
*Yes, there is no smoke stack or black bumper things, just ran out of time!
Please note that Thomas the Tank Engine Train is the property of its respective owner. These are fan created personal crafts inspired by the character and are in no way affiliated with official Thomas. This entire costume is a Halloween costume for personal happiness only!
Posted in Clothes for Little Misters, Crafts – General | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
My Little Mister is so funny. He will lay in his crib on his back, feet against the wall, and puuuush his crib over to his mini wall bookcase. I couldn’t figure out how he would have books in his crib in the morning, until I heard something strange on the baby monitor and went to investigate. He is going to have calves of steel!
I suppose soon I am going to have to stop referring to his room as “his”, given that shortly his little sister will share it as well! Since we are going to rearrange furniture to make room for a second crib, I wanted to make him a little floor cushion so he could sit and look at his books or play with toys. I found the perfect fabric, Alexander Henrys’ It’s a Hoot in Home Decorator weight, on Etsy one night. Then I found the perfect tutorial, Living with Punks’ Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion. And then in sat in my sewing bin for about 6 months. Maybe longer. While moving fabric around I discovered it again and got to work! Or I should say my Husband got to work. I asked him to draw me the 17 inch circle, went downstairs to fix Little Misters train set, and when I came back up he was sewing on the piping! I should probably tell you now that my Husband is fantastic at sewing. He can draft patterns, sew, and construct like it’s nobody’s business. He is also a handy carpenter, computer whiz, graphics guru, and takes care of pancake Saturday (and sometimes Sunday, too). So it was no surprise that while I stepped away he took over completed this project!
Posted in Crafts – Sewing | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Not a lot of sewing going on here in Parfait land, it seems that sewing in my third trimester is not as much fun as I had hoped! But on the plus side my sewing room is finally completed, tons of new projects have been cut out, and binders are full of baby projects! The dress above is one that was finished right before I found out about Little Mademoiselle, so it didn’t get too much wear last year. It falls right at the knee, has bodice front seams, and is sleeveless.
My Spring Palette Challenge might have to wait till my Little Mademoiselle make her appearance, with just a few (okay, maybe more than a few) weeks left I just can’t come up with the energy to sew an entire maternity wardrobe! And, every design I want to make I want to have for after my pregnancy, so I think I am going to hold off for just a bit, since I have no idea what sizing will be like!
Pattern: Butterick 4443
Fabric: Robert Kaufman (Pear) Fruit Basket
Cardigan: Tulle Cozy Cardigan in Clover
Posted in Clothes for Madame, Crafts – Sewing | No Comments »
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
For this post I wanted to show you the Where the Wild Things Are items I have made for Little Mister. These are from Halloween 2010, so I’m a little late on the upload! The first is another freezer paper stencil shirt, this time of Carol/Moishe, one of the main wild things. This one had soooo many small pieces I almost gave up, and I had to piece a couple of the parts back together before I ironed it onto the onesie.
And this was Little Mister’s costume! Max from Where the Wild Things Are! The entire thing was a self drafted pattern made by my Husband! The material is a white soft cuddle fabric, almost like a fleece but with a texture that looks like teddy bear fur. The crown is yellow fleece with a faux fur collar to match the tail. It has four fabric covered buttons on the front, and a Velcro closure to close the hood under the chin. The feet was a burlap remnant I found, and sewn into that was little felt claws. And finally the whiskers, they were made from the plastic strings that you make friendship bracelets out of! I am so in love with this costume, I think it was just perfect, and he had a great time in it! It now shows some wear (dirt, mud, blood, melted chocolate, little leaves stuck all over) but that just adds to the Max-ness now! Hopefully with the leftover material we can make another one that he can run around the house in!
To see the individual pictures, please check out my Flickr!
Please note that Where the Wild Things Are is the property of Maurice Sendak. These are fan created personal crafts inspired by the book and characters and are in no way affiliated with WtWTA.
Posted in Clothes for Little Misters, Crafts – Sewing | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
Not a day goes by that I do not hear those iconic words “Yooooooo Gabbbba Gabbbbba” coming from the T.V. It is by far Little Mister’s favorite show. And to tell the truth, I enjoy it as well! We’ve been lucky enough to see the live show twice, and had the great pleasure of meeting the (very nice) DJ Lance Rock. I wanted to get him some YGG clothing for the winter, but since YGG merchandise is a little difficult to find, I decided to make my own! The pullovers I purchased blank from a discount store, and I dove into my scrap fleece bin to create the appliqués. The character images were downloaded from the printable section on the Nick. Jr. website, and ironed on with Steam A Seam 2. What a pain! And, for the record, do not iron Minky. Just don’t! All the little bumps flattened and there was nothing I could do to pop them back out. Muno (the red one eyed one) was the easiest, and the first time I have tried embroidery on my machine. I set the zig zag stitch and length to achieve the satin stitch look, and used an open embroidery foot to sew around the appliqué. I think I need to work on my tension, I had some ripples with the last two. I had two needles break while working on Plex (the yellow robot), so I went out and bought some heavier needles and that fixed the problem!
To see the individual pictures, please check out my Flickr!
Please note that Yo Gabba Gabba is the property of Nick Jr., The Magic Store, and Wildbrain. These are fan created personal crafts inspired by the show and are in no way affiliated with YGG.
If you would like to see other fan created crafts for YGG, please check out GabbaFriends!
Posted in Appliqué, Clothes for Little Misters, Crafts | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 28th, 2011
We are huge fans of the show Mad Men here, so it was only fitting to craft some of Little Mister’s onesies and shirts using images from the show’s opening! The first image is of Don Draper, I found a photo of him online, tweaked it in Photoshop and printed it out as a size that would fit the onesie. From there I put it on top of my lightbox and traced it onto freezer paper. After I had it traced I took an exacto knife and cut out all the parts that were going to be painted. I carved quite a few fake pumpkins last year out of foam and a hot knife, so this was something I was used to. But it took *forever* to cut the portrait out! After I was done I ironed it onto the onesie and using a brayer, sponge brush and black fabric paint I printed it on. I let them dry for a few days then ran an iron over them to heat set the paint. Unfortunately Little Mister didn’t even get a chance to wear them; he grew out of them before I was finished! I am making a Joan one now for soon-to-arrive Little Mademoiselle!
There are quite a few freezer paper stencils on the web, but I highly recommend the tutorial from Made. She did a great job putting it together and it was a great help!
To see the individual pictures, please check out my Flickr!
Please note that Mad Men is the property of AMC. These are fan created personal crafts inspired by the show and are in no way affiliated with AMC.
Posted in Clothes for Little Misters, Crafts | 4 Comments »
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