Baby Changing Pad

Yippeee!  I finished another project.  It was close though...it sat on my coffee table 95% done for ~5 days.

I got this tutorial from Jill and it was VERY easy to follow, even for me.  It's the first time I've used iron-on vinyl, fusible fleece, and binding tape.  All very simple in the end but quite ambitious when I wasn't sure how it would go.

Here's what I did...sorry if it's not super detailed but Canada just went on the ice to play Russia!!!  GO CANADA!!

Ok.  So this is one of the things I did different from Jill.  She was lucky enough to have some really cool pre-laminated fabric.  Unfortunately the stuff they had at the local Fabricland was uuuugly.  That wasn't too big of an issue anyway because it meant I got to use two versions of the same pattern (interior & exterior):

This finished product is for my friend who has a baby boy on the way.  Her wedding had a tree theme last year so when I saw this fabric I just knew I had to use it to make her something she could use when the baby arrives.  I like this pattern as well because it's not the traditional 'boy' baby colours.  It's pretty but not too pretty that it can't be used for a boy either.  I also like it 'cause it doesn't scream baby, which I think is good because it's mommy that has to carry it around...and screaming baby needing to be changed screams baby enough already so you're accessories don't have to ;-).

Back to what I did different.  As I said, Jill used pre-laminated fabric.  I used the iron-on vinyl variety shown below instead. 

The instructions were pretty straight forward and while I doubted that it was really sticking when I peeked at it, it never did end up peeling so that was good.  I really like the grid (PAUSE CANADA SCORED, 1-0 CANADA!!!!) for ease of measuring and cutting the pattern.  I ironed on the vinyl and then cut the material.

In my doubting-it-really stuck state, I re-ironed it and it kind of splooged over one of the sides.  Not bad and really nothing to worry about since there would be binding tape added later.

Next it was time to add the two layers of fusible fleece:

I struggled with the fusible fleece momentarily.  You see, when ironing the vinyl you're not supposed to use steam so I assumed the same must be true for the fleece.  I tried ironing both sides to the fabric and it sorta stuck but not like I thought it should.  In a fit of frustration I decided to blast out some steam and woo hoo it stuck.  Yeah for me.  The fleece also spread out a bit, which meant I ended up with a little more on one side and a little less on the other.  I trimmed it off and it didn't make any difference to how my pattern looked.

Then I sewed the vinyl interior to the fleecy outside - wrong sides together.  You want to keep a very small allowance.  Otherwise you either end up trimming a bunch off or seeing the seam even after you add the binding tape.

Jill's next steps were to add the closure (sewing that was messy but thankfully my thread truly matched my webbing so it's not terribly noticeable) and to sew the 2 vertical lines where the folds would be.  Instead of pinning them while the pad was flat I decided to fold it and then pin it.  This way I ensured that the pad would actually fold in a nice way when it was done.

I'm getting quite excited at this point since I've done a bunch of work and it still looks like my example.  One of my fold lines wasn't very straight but in the end after trimming and then sewing on the binding tape you could hardly notice.  Phew!  Oh whoops, it's called bias tape not binding tape...that's what we call it on our skydiving gear.  Got my hobbies confused there for a sec.

Next was the bias tape.  I love this stuff.  It hides the ugly edge and makes it look very profesh :-)  Here's how you pin it on:

and this is after I sewed it on the vinyl side:

 

Then it was time to hand sew the bias tape to exterior.  I did little bits at a time since I'm not very good.  Honest to God my hand cramped after the first 10 minutes.  I did a little bit each night...that is until I didn't...then it sat, unfinished, mocking me.  Grrr.  Then the library came to my rescue.  A book that I ordered on another type of craft arrived (2-0 CANADA!!!!! WOOP WOOP!...bet you didn't think you'd get an Olympic play-by-play during your baby changing pad tutorial but I can't help myself - I'm Canadian and it's hockey for crying out loud - what's a girl to do).  Anyway, I told myself that I absolutely was not allowed to start the new thing without finishing this one (3-0!!  Out of Control!).

And I did finish it.  Good girl.  Here it is ready to go:

And here's a view of it unfolding:

 

I hope she likes it :-)  And that Canada keeps kickin' Russia's butt!! 

Skydiver Parachute Toy

I'm posting this parachute stuffie toy simply because I am actually a skydiver and this is so cute.  I might have to make a few of these and send them out to my friends' little boys. 

...after I do a couple of other things first!

Sun Safe Swimwear Giveaway!

I love these swimsuits from Panga Swimwear!!  They're hot and they will keep my pale, nearly transparent, skin from burning.  I wish I'd had one of these when I was in New Zealand in Dec/Jan where they can have 7 minute burn times in the height of their summer heat.  I wore SPF 75 the whole time.  As much as you like your tan ladies - skin cancer is NOT something to mess with.

"The Annie" is my favorite.  This photo is also my new workout-and-eat-well inspiration!  I know I would look waaaay better in this swimsuit over any bikini ;-P.

And lucky us, TheRubberPunkin is giving one away!!  Go check it out and enter to win.

Better late than never Valentine's treat

This finishing act was a bit of a cheat since my partner, Dan, is a chef.  Some of my favourite time spent with him is in the kitchen baking or cooking.  Mostly baking.  I like following a recipe so baking works for me.  We meant to make these on the weekend but ended up having friends visit from Toronto so we went skating on the canal and played our favorite Cranium Family Edition instead. 

Last night we dove into the cocoa, yum, and made our nanaimo bars.  Dan is from New Zealand and had no idea what nanaimo bars are or where Nanaimo is! lol.  A special Canadian treat indeed & especially nice to eat while watching all those Olympic athletes in BC (where Nanaimo is located as well) burn off 1000s of calories every second ;-).  And even though Valentine's day has passed we decided to make them pink anyway like these.  The recipe comes from Barb at http://vinolucistyle.com.  I have a really great recipe for raw brownies, which I'll have to post at some point, so I used the very, very, very expensive but SCRUMPTIOUS Raw Chocolate Cacao Powder that I had on hand.  Barb used a vanilla pudding powder but I used vanilla custard powder since I actually made my grocery list from the mybakingaddiction website instead but I would imagine that both would be fine.

Aside from eating the final delights, the highlight of the night was that Dan let me use one of his chef's knives to chop the almonds.  He hasn't sharpened it in awhile thank goodness as I am more likely to cut off my finger than actually chop the almonds!

In the end, we were sat in front of the tv with a cup of tea and these delicious little treats.  Dan liked them & requested that next time we flavour the middle layer with mint.  I'm thinking I'll try that for St. Patrick's Day!!  They were also a big hit with my co-workers during our coffee break this morning.

Did I mention I'm an amateur photographer as well?  If anyone has any feedback on how to improve my pictures, please advise.  I know, I know.  I should start with taking the picture in focus ;-)  But today let's just be thankful that I made the darn cookies!

My first post...beer!

Sooo here we are, my first post.  My apologies but it's not actually about beer.  In skydiving, whenever you do or have a first (first malfunction, first 100 jumps, first kiss in freefall, etc etc) you have to buy a case of beer for the dropzone.  This is a universal truth in skydiving and after you buy your first few cases of beer you start to learn that whenever you say "that was the first time I did 'blank'" it will shortly be followed by a chorus of "beer!!" from all the skydivers within earshot.  Of course, all alcohol is consumed post skydiving for obvious safety reasons!  Lucky for me, I am not skydiving at the moment and can enjoy this glass of wine as I write my first post instead.  Still, as a skydiver, I could not help but shout it out when I caught myself saying "My first post."  Good times.

If you have read my "about me" then you already know I'm a great starter but a not so great finisher.  Then it should come as no surprise that even though I was VERY excited to get started on setting up my blog (a task I know very little about) last night...that I woke up this morning thinking "ugh, there is no way I'm brave enough, creative enough, or interesting enough to keep this blog up."  Well I'm sorry to tell you this Mrs Self-Doubtfire but I am bound and determined to do this.  I'm brave and creative and interesting enough to keep myself entertained a few hours each week writing this blog and that's good enough for me, for now!

Right now, my goal is to finish the things I start out to do.  I am very good at this at work.  I often fail at this at home.  I'm not setting out to invent my own new and crafty ideas just yet.  First I need to lean on my blogs o'inspiration to show me all the beautiful examples of what I could be making.  I guess that means I plan to copy...in my own way.  They say imitation is the best form of flattery, right!  I know there are other women out there like me that want to 'make stuff' but don't have ideas of their own or the confidence to try to make their own designs.  This blog's for you ladies!  Enjoy.