Pocket Pants

I recently made a pair of pocket pants from the Sew Liberated book my darling cousin sent me. 

The pant pattern is adorable and easy.  But, I'm feeling kinda "eh" about the finished product.

I think I chose the wrong fabric.  I love this fabric - I think it's perfect for a little boy, but the style of pant and the plaid make them them look kinda clowny.  A skinny pant may have been a better choice.

I might be able to pair them with a tiny black sweater vest for a wedding this summer. We'll see.



Second, I found the pockets to be a bit "poochy" in front. I ended up sewing down the top third of the pocket to the pant. Makes for a much better fit in the front. Unfortunately, these pictures were taken before that small edit.

All in all, I think I'll try this pattern at least one more time. Hopefully my fabric choice will make for a better pant next time.

Happy Love Day!

Last week Jude and I made valentines for his grandparents and great grandmas. It was a simple little design that incorporated Jude's drawings.

I pulled out red and pink watercolor pens, colored pencils and markers. I threw in a blue too just for a little more excitement.

He quickly went to work and even drew a bit on his belly before he was finished.

He preferred the technique I like to call "whack and splatter", which created an unfortunate looking valentine. Red watercolor pen + splatter = bloody valentine. Eek. Oh well. We sent them anyway.


I cut out a heart in red cardstock to wrap around his drawings.

Click on the picture below for the full splatter effect.

Nice. Hope you have a happy Halloween Valentine's day!

Attempting Some Winter Fun

Occasionally I have the energy to attempt some creative fun with Jude when I get home from work in the afternoon. For the days that I'm up for it I've got a pretty good track record for keeping him entertained - at least I think so. But, one day last week my efforts were a total bust.

We hadn't played outside at all this winter, and since we're experiencing the warmest winter on record (tied with the winter in 1918) in Iowa that just didn't seem right. So, we put on our snow pants and boots and went outside.

I was hoping for some puddle jumping or snow stomping and didn't get either. This 20 month old was just not interested. At all.

Weird. Was he in a bad mood? Is it a phase? Is he a total wuss? Not sure.

We went back inside and I tried plan B for creative fun.

I saw this recipe for Jello Playdough on Pinterest awhile ago and it looked like fun. We replaced the snow pants with an apron and got to work.

We made green and purple.


The recipe made a large batch of each. Perfect smell and texture. They turned out just as good as I was hoping. I highly recommend it.

But . . . Jude would have nothing to do with it. I don't think he touched either one. Literally. Didn't even touch it. Apparently the mason jars were more fun. Humf.

Don't say I never did nothin' for ya, kid.

I stored them in mason jars and they're still soft and pliable today. Not sure how long it will last, but hopefully long enough for him to actually enjoy it someday. No guarantees.