Little Ghost Trick-or-Treat Bag

Last year I sewed up this simple trick-or-treat bag for Halloween.  Mr. Carlee and I sketched the ghost together.  Since it was such an easy and cute project, I want to share the pattern.  I intended to post it at the beginning of October, but somehow October has gotten away from me.  Did that happen to you too? 

In any case, I have the pattern all digitized for you now.   I don't have a full picture tutorial, but I promise it's so easy to put together.

Little Ghost Trick-or-Treat Bag

You Will Need:

• Little Ghost Trick-or-Treat Bag Pattern
• 1/4 yard white fleece or felt
• scraps of black fleece or felt
• 14 inches of one inch wide grosgrain ribbon (I doubled up on my ribbon to make it a little stronger, so if you decided to do this, you will need 28 inches of ribbon)
• thread, scissors and sewing machine.

Step 1: Cut out pattern and tape together on the dotted line.

Step 2: Cut out 4 main body piece from white fleece or felt, two for the front, and two for the back.

Step 3: Cut out the eyes and mouth from black fleece or felt.

Step 4: Sew eyes and face to one of the ghost pieces.

Step 5: Pin the two front pieces together and the two back pieces together.  Edge stitch around each (you will end up with one front piece and one back piece that is two layers thick).

Step 6: Making sure to leave a large opening on the top of the ghost's head, edge stitch around the sides, arms, and bottom of the body.

Step 7: Fold your ribbon in half lenghwise (if you are doubling up on your ribbon) and sew along the edges.  Sew the ribbon on each side of the opening.

Step 8: Take Trick-or-Treating and fill with candy!

The finished bag will be 10.5 inches tall, and 7 inches wide.  Obviously this is a pretty small Trick-or-Treating bag, but I think it's perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, or even for my Kindergartener.  My philosophy is that a smaller bag means that you fill it faster and then you don't have tons of candy to worry about later. 

Download the Free Little Ghost Trick-or-Treat Bag Pattern

I actually have a few more Halloween posts that I am trying to put together, so you may hear more from me over the next few days.  But maybe not too, since the weather man is telling me that we are having another crazy pre-Halloween storm this year.

P.S. Do you like our Jack-o-Lanterns this year?  The boys wanted scary ones.  The small pumpkin that is being eaten by the bigger one actually had a face carved too, but I came outside yesterday to find a squirrel had just eaten it's face off.  All those pumpkin shreds on the ground are bits of his face.  Creepy!  Kid 2 was so scared by this that we turned the pumpkin around so he didn't have to see the missing face. 

Toddler Mittens

I'm getting close to the end of my pregnancy, and I haven't been feeling so motivated to work on my sewing projects lately.  Instead I've spent a few evenings with my knitting.  You already saw how I redid a little red hat, but in our winter gear was also one lonely mitten that was just the right size for Kid 2 and had a matching hat.  I knit this set years ago, and sometime along the way one of the mittens went missing.  I am not a very experienced knitter, but I can knit simple things, and mittens fall into this category for me.  Knitting mittens for small people is a nice project because it doesn't use up a lot of yarn or time.  Both are pluses for me.

This is a pattern I made up as I went along, so I am happy to share it with you.  Please let me know about any problems so that I can fix them.  As I said, I am not an experencienced knitter, and there is probably a better way to knit mittens, but this is what I did and they turned out rather well.

Click "read more" for the full pattern. 

Jack Rabbit Softie - Free Pattern

I love Spring! I love seeing new flowers, green grass, hearing birds outside my window, and being able to play at the park again. Spring naturally makes me think of Easter and that leads me to my Jack Rabbit Softie Pattern! One of the very first things I made for my son after I really started sewing, was a set of two rabbits for his first Easter.
Like I said, this was one of my first real projects, and my husband and I made it as a team. Before Mr. Carlee decided he wanted to get a PhD in Political Science, he was an Industrial Design student.  He took lots of design and general art classes, and learned how to use programs like Illustrator and Photoshop.  I love that he is creative, and we like to make projects together.  Our usual arrangement is that he will draw something, and I'll bring it to life.

For the bunnies, my husband helped me draw the body, and I made the rest of the pattern pieces. I also did all the sewing. We have made a few projects with this arrangement, and it's really fun to work on something together as a husband and wife team. I'm excited to share the Christmas stockings we made for our boys, but I think I'll wait until it's closer to December if that's okay with all of you. April is a little too early for me to start thinking about Christmas sewing.

We made two stuffed rabbits, but since we changed the pattern to make the neck shorter after sewing the first one, they aren't a perfect set. My son has had these bunnies for 3 years now, and we have moved across the country since then, and somewhere along the way one has gone missing. Luckily the missing bunny was version A and not the revised and final version!

Jack Rabbit Softie

The Jack Rabbit Softie, stands about 15" tall, and measures 24" from ear to toe. He's a great size to cuddle, and easy to love with his big floppy ears. Do you want to make one too? These cute and cuddly bunnies would make a great Easter present, or a lovely gift for a new baby or small child. Maybe your husband would even like one? Lucky for you, I have done a lot of the hard work already, and the pattern and step-by-step instructions are free! All you have to do is round up some fabric, and start sewing.

This pattern is free, but please be considerate of my work, and don't sell toys made with my pattern. Also, I decided to offer this pattern as a google doc so it would be easiest for all of you to view and download, but this means that I don't know how many of you have printed it. I would love to know how many people are using this pattern, so please leave me a comment if you have downloaded the Jack Rabbit Softie Pattern! Making a pattern takes a lot of time, so this helps me to know if I should keep making them to share with all of you.

Click here to download your own copy of this pattern.

If you are wondering how your own Jack Rabbit Softie will hold up, here he is after sleeping with my son for the last three year. He's been washed, dried, and loved, and he still looks great!

Soft Rattle Tutorial

I am in the stage of giving baby gifts to many of my friends for their second or third baby.  I wouldn't consider sewing my strongest skill, but I still like to make something handmade for those little babies.  My go-to gift for any new baby is a baby toy.  Today I'm going to share with you a simple, easy and quick soft rattle toy that anyone can make (regardless of their sewing skills).

This is a soft taggy rattle that includes all of the elements that babies love:  a jingly noise, lots of colors and patterns, and lots of ribbon to chew on.  It also appeals to parents: it's handmade, you can never have too many small toys, and it's soft, so little babies won't bonk themselves in the face like they always do with plastic baby rattles.

This rattle is super simple to make, but to make it every easier for you, I've created a pattern that you can print and use.  Find it here. 

This toy will take you good sewers 15 minutes, maybe.  Those of us with less sewing skills may have to allot half an hour, tops.  Okay, set your timer, and let's get started.