The Professor's Present

It's the end of the world! And Xavier's birthday, so I thought I would shake things up this year.

I don't normally get Abby some birthday presents, so this year, I am starting a new tradition (I have been trying to create traditions for a few years now). I am going to take something of theirs, and revive it into something else. 

To kick this off, I converted a playmat, made by my mom, into a quiet book. 

Here's how...

 This is what the blanket looked like... 

First, I took the backing off (the bottom left-hand corner shows it), then I seperated the squares into strips, which is how my mom originally sewed them...

I had my awesome Mel to help with any seam ripping and creative layout...

 We took some of the squares off of the 3 piece strips, because not all of them had something the baby can play with. These are the first pages of the book, when you open it, which I left how they were...

 For the third page, I added a few buckles and will add a few buttons to hook onto...

 For these pages, I just added a piece of ribbon from another square, with a fastner, and sewed the velcro on that was ripping off...

 This is the front (or back, but I think It should be the front) which I got Mel to fringe a collar from a modified shirt, to create and X...

And this is the back, which I left as is (and if some of you recognize it, B, it's because it's from my 2002 Prom dress :) )

All in all, this was a pretty simple project for me! I'm very lucky to have such a great semstrest as a mother because all the ground work for this was already done! As a bonus, this was a lot of fun to put together for The Professor! Hope he enjoys it!

{Daily Odd Compliment: Is heaven missing an angel? If so, I'm sure you could find it.}

Tie into Wristlet

It's almost the end of the year again - crazyness! It means birthday party in 3 weeks and Festivus soon after!

So, now that we aren't knee deep in renovations, or scrambling to put our own house back together, I am getting into the gift making spirit! 

Here is what I did tonight... (here is where I got my inspiration)

First, I folded the tie to get an approximate idea of where I was going to sew it, then I cut off the excess.

Then, I sewed the unfinished edge of the tie...

Next, I folded the tie over, added the piece for the wristlet, and sewed it in place, to create a double pocketed wristlet... 

Buuuut.. the tie isn't wide enough, so when I sewed it, it no longer fit my phone and plastic. Oops.

Yup.

Oh well, it was practice! Off to Value Village to find wider ties! I will keep you posted!

{Daily Odd Compliment: You make me happier than when I see a well-groomed moustache. On a man, though, not a lady}