Waitressing Kit

This was the gift that Abby and I put together for her best friend's birthday this past weekend. Aside from the normal preschool favorites - dolls and princesses and such - her little friend loves to play restaurant. She wears many hats in her restaurant - taking orders, preparing and serving the food - so we made her a little waitressing kit. It includes a lightweight tray, personalized menu, name tag and apron. You might recognize the apron as the same style that I made a week or two ago. The menu is laminated and the name tag is actually painted with chalkboard paint so that the name can be changed at the whim of the proprietor or to reflect staffing changes at the Cafe.

Dot to Dot

Goodbye knee high socks, hello toddler scarf!

I saw the tutorial for the Toddler Scarflette on Living With Punks not too long ago and thought it would be perfect for my two girly girls. BUT, I'm supposed to be working on Halloween costumes so I needed a very good reason to bump the project up on my list. An educational, I'm-really-doing-this-for-the-well-being-of-our-child kind of a reason.

Like any creative person, I made one up. I offered my preschooler a positive incentive (my mom's code words for 'bribe') and said that if she learned more than a dozen sight words, she could earn a fabulous new accessory. As I expected, my little smarty pants quickly did. Win-win.

She loves her new scarf and is very proud of all of the input she had on the embellishment - sock selection, trim, button. She is so enamored with it that she brought it to preschool the day after I finished even though the weather was expected to be in the 90s. She may have only carried it or stored it in her cubby most of the day but it was still special!

Can't wait to finish baby sister's coordinating scarf. It's a different color but it has dots too!

Ahoy! A Starboard Skirt

Ahhh, the Starboard Skirt. I had planned on sewing a red/white stripe one up for myself before I made something for Abby but the Ikea Sofia fabric that I had want to use is out of stock at my local store. I'm still going to make one for me but when I saw this cute corduroy on sale at Joanns, Abby's skirt was bumped up on my list. I think the cord is perfect for fall.

I really, really love the way it turned out. The Simple Simon tutorial is easy to follow and it fits my daughter well. I took her measurements before she went to bed, followed the instructions, and was able to sew it up without trying it on her a thousand times (hard to do anyways since I sew when the kiddos are sleeping). Other than using a smaller seam allowance, about 1/4" with my serger, I did as I was told.

Cute, inverted pleat

Just as cute from the side too.

Apron for Abby

I had the best intentions last weekend. I was going to make a darling little apron for a birthday party the next morning. Fabric? Check. Tutorial. Check-itty check.

BUT then I had doubts on the fabric. I started over-analyzing Abby's little friend. Is she really a roses and red polka dot kind of girl? No. I remember her mother saying that she loves pink. She must have something pink or - worst case - purple. I then made the interesting discovery (after going through my entire stash) that with the exception of one or two prints, I don't really buy pink fabric. I don't discriminate against it but my daughter usually owns plenty of pink clothing without me adding to the mix. Erghhh!

The back and forth burned up valuable time and by the time I committed to something (not pink), I was really tired and only had about an hour of steam left. Soooo, Abby's friend got something from the toy aisle at Target and Abby got a new apron about a week later. Win, win.

The apron was inspired by the Nae Nae Apron from Craftiness Is Not Optional and the Dating Diva's 'Flirty Apron' that my sister-in-law made for my niece. I used the Nae Nae apron measurements as a jumping off point for the straps and I love her tutorials. I've also been dying to add a heart shaped pocket to something - anything - after seeing some pop up on Pinterest so that made it on there too. I love the pocket even if it is really small. I didn't want the tie at the waist to cover it up so I intentionally kept it teensy.

Back view of the apron.

My lawn has never looked so good. Seriously. If I covered the lawn with aprons you wouldn't be able to see any dead patches at all.

I heart this pocket. Ha ha ha! Were you waiting for that one? It's just big enough for a pen or maybe a mini scraper if she's playing 'baker' instead of 'waitress.'