Portable Racing Car Play Mat

The three year old boy of the house has recently gone through a sudden change. Up until now he has happily played his big sister's games while wearing an old dress that belonged to me as a child. But now a fascination of all things with wheels has arrived and a collection of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars has materialised out of what seems like nowhere.

The racing car mat began on a Sunday afternoon as a few ideas that looked something like this below.



Some felt and cotton fabric (how cute is that racing car fabric?!?!!) and a little refining and it became this -

Three cars can be parked in the pockets at the top. They can line up at the starting line and drive around in laps, stopping off at the pit stop to refuel along the way.

Pack it away by folding over the car pockets (this stops the cars from falling out in transit) and then folding the whole mat over twice and tucking away in a bag to carry out with you.

Check it out in my etsy store.

Pinterest - Most Recent Pins - Sewing for Boys

I love sewing clothes for my little boy. I love making toys and play accessories for him the most, but comfy shorts and pants for play and childcare days are my favourite clothes to make for him.

Here are five of my most recent pins to my Pinterest board "Sewing for Boys".

1. Jaden T-Shorts

This idea is great - turn a favourite adult T-shirt into a pair of shorts! I love ideas that encourage re-using and upcycling.

2. Baby Yoga Pants

Along the same lines as the T-Shorts. Recycle an old T-shirt to make some comfy pants. So simple!

3. Toddler Tour Pants

Cute pants with a patchwork insert down the sides of the legs and a really easy to follow tutorial.

4. Men's Shirt Baby Romper

Along the themes of upcycling - turn a cotton button-through shirt into a summery romper for a little boy.

5. Free Boy Patterns

A great collection of exactly what it claims to be - free patterns for boys. Heaps of easy to follow and easy to sew clothing for little ones.

Please share any great finds that you have below in the comments - I would love to find more!

July and August

I recently looked back over my posts and found that a year ago, I'd finally started again on the blanket I had started making for Mia when I was pregnant with her. Going through a knitting phase back then, I had started knitting a multicolour striped blanket, but of course ran out of time (I couldn't stay awake long enough in the evening during pregnancy to get anything done on it). For this baby, I decided I wanted to make something that would be finished before the birth, so I found some ideas for a baby quilt online (I'm now addicted to Pinterest - it's awesome for finding craft ideas). Late in July we found out that our November baby is going to be a boy, so I chose some fabrics from my leftovers pile and powered through making this simple quilt (http://befickle.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/you-can-make-quilti-have-proof.html). It's not huge, but it's the perfect size to fold up and take with you to put on the floor at a friend's house for bub to lie on, or to keep baby warm in the pram.

Another find that I was keen to try out when I found out we were having a boy were these pants (http://www.made-by-rae.com/2010/10/free-raes-basic-newborn-pant-sewing-pattern/). Super easy, but so cute. There are some great free patterns at this site - my sister made the little premmie dress for Mia after she was born 4 weeks early and very small. It was so cute.

And I made a couple more backpacks. This time to add to my Etsy store which was looking a bit empty. I'm still working on a couple of quiet books to add too.

Recently, I've also been putting together a craft box for Mia with lots of different supplies. In the process of trying to work out what to include I've found some really great ideas, like the coloured pasta for threading and using contact (clear adhesive) as an alternative to glue. I had searched everywhere to find beads large enough and with big enough holes for Mia to use for threading and all I could find were really expensive ones from educational supply shops. It should have been obvious, but I didn't even think of using pasta. A much cheaper alternative and we had a fun craft lesson just doing the colouring.