Gianna's Library Bag

  Whoa.  It's been almost 3 weeks since I last blogged.

That's really too long!

The good news is that I've got a LOT of fun projects to show off in the new year, and a lot of things I'll be working on in 2013!

Today I want to show you the library bag I made for my daughter's 9th birthday.  She will be so excited to head to the library with this bag sporting her favorite insect - a ladybug!  

 I found the pattern in Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee. 

 

Gianna has been asking me to make this bag for her since I checked out Meg's book at the library.  I hope she loves it!  

I thought it would have been fun to fill her bag with library books before giving it to her, but I didn't finish it in time.   So, she gets the joy of filling it up for the first time!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  See you in 2013!

What fun projects have you been busy working on?

Update:  She LOVES it!

 

Artist's Smock for Little Claire...

I've been really excited to blog about what I made for my youngest niece Claire for Christmas.

I'm excited because it's such a cute pattern, but mostly because I get to show off how STINKING adorable Claire is!

That's Claire getting her first haircut.

Adorable, right?

I bet you wish you looked that good in jeggings!

 "Yeah, I'm just hangin' out, bein' cute."

Are you dying of cuteness yet?

Trust me, I could post a million pictures of Claire, but there is an ever-so-slight-chance that you all would not enjoy that as much as I would.

But, you have to admit that a cutie pie as adorable as Claire really needed a super duper cute handmade Christmas gift, right? 

Then, read on...

As soon as I saw the artist's smock pattern in Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee, I knew I would be making one for Claire.

The smock is designed to fit ages 2-6, so it needs to last, which is why I chose navy blue kona cotton instead of white for the main color. 

Since Claire will be spending Christmas at Grandma and Papa's home in Italy, rather than embroider "L'aritiste" on the smock as the book directs, I chose to go with Italian and embroider, "L'artista".  

The pattern really was very easy to follow.  There were a few techniques that I had never done before and the directions made it very easy to follow.  

I would say that a beginner could definitely make this smock.

Here are full photos of the front and back:

I love how it just slips over the head with no fasteners to worry about.  It can easily be hung from a hook.  And, it grows with the child.

It's really a great pattern!

 I'm trying to do some re-usable gift wrapping this year and I thought the perfect little bag to wrap Claire's smock in is this one that I made using Jeni's Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial.

 

So fun!

I'd love to hear how cute you think Claire is too, so feel free to comment.  ;)