18 December 2009

The Little Ones

In the daunting task of catching you up on my Christmas makings, I thought I would start with presents for the little ones. First of all, I need to offer up the confession that I did not make a present for Jesse. I labored over many very good ideas but nothing that was quite perfect. I was also a little stretched because I wanted to make sure he got to open his present on Christmas morning (even though his parents didn't get their presents from Jason and me until well after). So I settled on an astronaut outfit because the boy just loves to play dress up. We also sent him some stick-on mustaches. Jesse LOVES mustaches. He says that when he grows up, he's going to have a watch and a mustache and gum. Man, I love that kid!! So...even though I didn't make anything for that lovable little munchkin who has just about everything, I think he made out pretty well.

The other 2 little ones of the family did get handmades from me this year. They're both infants, so it's a little easier. For Josiah, I made my first ever complete crochet project. It's a hat loosely based on a pattern in The Happy Hooker. The pattern was for an infant head, so that's where I started, but Josiah's got quite the noggin on him so I added a few extra rows to the top, increasing stitches until the hat was about the size of a cantaloupe. I added a little gray stripe for interest. It fits him really well, but it doesn't quite cover his ears. So I'm planning on making a few granny square ear flaps, which look unspeakably adorable in my head.Isn't he cute in his little Christmas pajamas?!?

And for little miss Molly Grace, I made a little bird friend based on a pattern in Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. The pattern is for a bird ornament, but I wanted it to be a little bigger so she wouldn't swallow it or something. At first I tried to enlarge the pattern freehand. Bad idea. The lines wouldn't match up. So instead I took a picture and enlarged it on the computer and printed it out. Presto. Instant conversion from ornament to toy. I used fabric that was left over from the bedding I made for Molly back before she was born. Just about the time I was sewing this, I was feeling very confidant in how my sewing skills had progressed over the past year. Then I remembered that I've never sewn anything really 3-dimensional or rounded before. It was a bit of a challenge and quite humbling, but it turned out all right in the end.
I'm not sure why this picture is so blurry. :o/

(Disclaimer: yes, it is absolutely and unabashedly my goal to be the favorite aunt of all of my nieces and nephews. But I did not intentionally make this look like a robin. I'm not quite so narcissistic as to try to subliminally condition Molly to like me best via a stuffed animal. I was planning on putting green wings on it, but they looked dorky, so I left them off, which made this bird quite robin-like.)

So there we have it. 2 Christmas makes posted, many more to go...

5 comments:

  1. He does have quite the noggin! But your hat looks perfect on him. Nice work.

    Also, did you see that my little brother is making hats and scarves now? It's crazy. If you want to donate to Haiti (and have Jason perhaps GIVE you a gift instead of you making one), you should consider one of Jacob's...

    http://hannahrose365.blogspot.com/2010/01/2-hats-scarves-for-haiti.html

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  2. P.S. I'm not sure I believe that it wasn't intentionally made into a robin. I think it just runs through your veins... ;)

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  3. I did see what Jacob is doing, and I am so impressed!! I do have probably too many scarves and hats, but I'll keep him in mind if I need presents for people that I don't have time to make.

    I PROMISE it wasn't intentional. Those are the colors of her nursery. The green wings just looked SO dorky. :o/

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  4. These make me think of you. If they matched the themes in any of our rooms, I'd totally buy them. Sadly, they don't. Although, we still have to do the guest room.... hmm... you might just HAVE to come visit, then...

    http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3904641

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  5. Those are adorable! Sadly, they don't match any of my rooms either. That's it. It's time to buy a house. :o)

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