New Slippers

Even though our winters here aren't that cold I still get a little chilled, especially in the mornings. I'm not a big fan of getting out of a nice warm bed and walking on cold tiles with bare feet! So when I'm at home, I usually wear slippers. I have several pairs, one of which quacks! :)
If you've ever heard the saying, "Mom's cold so everyone put on a sweater," that's kind of what it's like with me and Parker. When I'm getting him dressed in the morning I think that since I'm cold, he must be, too. Right? Poor little guy...I'm sure there are days when he wonders why he's wearing fleece pants and long sleeves when his father is walking around in shorts! And although he always has on socks, sometimes I carry him outside for a few minutes or put him in the car and don't bother with his shoes. But I don't want his little feet to be cold, so I made him a pair of slippers today! I made him a few pairs when he was a baby, and we put them on his feet all the time! They were so soft and easy to slip on and they actually stayed on his feet. The style is somewhat similar to Robeez, having elastic around the ankle. I found them on a blog: http://www.stardustshoes.blogspot.com/2006/10/cloth-shoe-pattern.html
The Stardust pattern is only size 6 months, so I found another baby shoe pattern here that was a size 12-18 month and I enlarged the Stardust pattern until the sole was the same size as the 12-18 month one I had found. Next I went through my pile of fabric and picked out some blue flannel with a dog print for the outside and blue fleece for lining. Then once Parker was down for his nap, I started sewing...

This pattern is super easy to make. It's only three pieces, so it sews up pretty quickly. I finished cutting out the pieces and sewed both slippers during his nap.







The sewing is finished and now I just have to add the elastic.

And they're done!

I wanted to put them on his feet when he woke up, but I decided to wrap them up for Christmas instead. :)

Christmas Sale!

Oops--didn't realize it had been a month since my last post! :) I've spent some time over the last few weeks sewing baby accessories! My sister-in-law went to a craft bazaar last week and had asked if I'd like to take anything to sell along with some cute little baby hats and headbands she had made. I couldn't actually go to the sale because it was a weekday (and she lives in Sacramento), so I gave her a box of stuff to take and sell for me. I made burp cloths, bibs, pee pee teepees, shoes, and coloring wallets (a small fold out mat that holds crayons and a notepad). She called after the sale and told me I sold a few things, so I'm happy for some extra Christmas money! :) And now I can use the rest of what I made for baby gifts or sell it online.
There was a Christmas craft fair here, too, last week. I didn't go to sell anything, but I went with a friend to look around. I love looking around at craft sales--it's a great place to get ideas for making gifts!
I was only planning to look, but I ended up buying a fabric book for Parker, and a necklace pendant. I kind of hate that I bought a fabric book, which is something I could easily have made but I haven't seen the fabric panels for it in stores. We like to read the story of Jesus' birth every Christmas, however, Parker has a hard time sitting still while we read from the Bible. So I thought it would be nice to get a book that has colorful pictures along with the story. And the best part is that because it's all fabric, he can grab it, bend it, chew it, etc., and he won't damage it. :) AND it's totally washable! Yes, it's the small things that make a mother happy! It is pretty cute, though...