I'm loving my sewing machine and creating new projects!  Aubrey is outgrowing a lot of her PJs and nightgowns, and I wanted to try to make her a nightgown.  Yesterday, I looked up some patterns and instructions and found this adorable nightgown!  I have a lot of extra and old white tshirts that my husband does not use anymore, soI used them for the nightgowns.  Besides, tshirts are jersey-knit cotton and have that nice cozy, comfy soft feeling to it when you wear them so it is perfect for a nightgown!  The shirts are also great for practicing and experimenting with!  The pattern I found, used an old vintage pillow case (which you can also use).  Anyway, last night I decided to make matching nightgowns for both girls, added a lil' finishing touch flower to the front and we have some nighties for the girls!  Aubrey prefers a nightgown to PJs a lot of times. :)  I plan to make more nightgowns similar to this, with nicer fabrics and heavier ones (with long sleeves) for when it gets to be cooler out.  This particular pattern/nightgown is very easy to make! :)

My girls loved it so much, they wore it all day today, not wanting to take it off up until we had to go out later this afternoon.

Anyone interested to try and make this nightgown, here is the pattern and instructions for it: http://gingercake.typepad.com/files/nightgownpdf.pdf

I have been enjoying making little baggies from different scrap fabric that I have.  They are so easy to make, yet so nice as well.  Prior to this, I have been using plastic bags to store stuff, or none at all!  These baggies also make a nice alternative to a more eco-friendly gift bag packaging as they are reusable, and washable!  Below are a few of the baggies I have made for different things.

This past DUB season, some of the women in our church was requested (and some volunteer) to make some unleavened baked goodies for our shut-in brethren.  They asked us if we could make seven sets and package our goodies already so they can just distribute them into individual baskets for the different people.  I went ahead and decided to make cloth baggies as a more eco-friendly packaging approach.  I enjoyed making the bags as much as I enjoyed baking the unleavened goods -- even my children helped in making/baking them! :)

I love Melissa & Doug products -- wooden puzzles and games sets, etc.  However, with all these sets come many little pieces with it.  Like before, I would use plastic bags, or nothing at all... and would have to constantly gather all the pieces that go laying around or knocked off their case.  So, this little baggies I made are perfect to keep this little things in one place, stored and organized in its own spot.

Melissa & Doug See and Spell

Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards

My girls love wearing dresses, and Aubrey especially kept asking for a summer dress she could wear outside to play in.  She has a few that still fits her yet, but I thought... why not try to make her one?  So... this is the result of my very first attempt of sewing a dress for the girls.  Whenever I go to our local Joann Fabrics store, I go through their clearance remnant fabric section and pick out all the fabrics I think I could use to for miscellaneous crafts and projects, or for practicing some sewing.  This is where this fabric came from -- and I even had enough to make a matching dress for Amberly too!

I have made some other projects (an apron, Superhero cape for Jordan, hooded shawl / cloak for Aubrey, but mostly crafts and play-things for the kids) already using my sewing machine, but nothing like this yet. 

Aubrey's dress is just a regular sleeveless dress, with a sleeveless top and shirred skirt, while Amberly's is a sleeveless pillowcase-style dress.  I did not have or follow any patterns for this dresses, so it was all verbatim!  I did however, use one of Aubrey's top to use a guide for the top of her dress.  So, you can see all the imperfections and all with it!  heehee  My workmanship is nothing close to being perfect or professional sewing at all, but in time and with lots of practice, I hope to get better with my stitches and overall workmanship.  Afterall, this is my first try for a dress and just getting to learn and get used to my sewing machine.  Also, good thing this is more of a play summer dress, so no one really has to see it but us.  I hope to make more dresses (and more elaborate ones too) in the future for my girls, and some nice outfits for my little man.  Who knows?  I may even be brave or adventurous enough to make myself a dress or two.

Here are a few more pictures I took of them wearing it (too bad it isn't nice and warm out yet for them to enjoy it outside... wish summer or even warmer temps come here very soon):

I happen upon this site and found some easy crafts to do for the kids.  This one in particular caught my interest, because of how cute, portable and fun it is.  It is always a challenge keeping noise down with the kids bringing some toy cars to church.  This way, the cloth makes low-noise and yet, it can store up to 6 cars in the mat itself!  I enjoyed creating this.  The Fiskars site have some pretty neat projects in it and I have some in mind for future projects that I want to make, among those is this:

Fun Felt Food

On-the-Go Car Activity Play-Mat

Four-sections play mat (pond, work site, gas station, car wash), with six pockets for storing your cars.

Car wash area -- bubbles are buttons!  (Note: if your use this mat for smaller children, keep in mind that the buttons may be a choking hazard)

Gas station area, with a black rope for the pump hose

Pond / Park area

Work / Construction site, with a mud pit.  The orange cone can be flattened or rasied up.

Close up of the roads.  I used an orange thick embroidery thread for the road marker stitching.

6 pockets for storing cars (or like a garage)

You can roll it up this way -- long way for storing / put away. OR

You can also roll it up this way -- short way (fold it in half lengthwise first), for a more compact size to stuff in a toy bag, or any bag.