super Ella!

One of the crafty projects on my "surviving summer" list was to make Ella dress-up clothing.  I've so far created patterns for a crown, several masks, and a cape.  And, after watching Ella wear a blanket over her shoulders around the house several times, I thought the cape might be a hit; so I'm tackling it first.

I picked up one yard each of two colors of felt (the cheap stuff) - one for the outside of the cape and another for the lining - from a local craft store.  I also grabbed a few of the small 9"x12" sheets in several colors to create a custom super logo on the cape.  I made a cape pattern by taping a few larger pieces of scrap paper together and, using a string tied to a pencil, drew an arc with a radius of approximately 24".  I then created another arc, concentric to the first, with a radius of approximately 4".  Because I didn't have a huge roll of paper to create my pattern, I ended up just creating one smaller "pie piece" of the cape, and then cutting three "pie pieces" from each color of fabric to create the fullness required for an awesome cape. It was a happy accident that I decided to construct the cape this way because my fabric wouldn't have been wide enough to have just cut the cape as one large piece.

I stitched together all of the "pie pieces" (3 for the lining and 3 for the outside) and then, wrong sides together, pinned the lining to the outside fabric, and top-stitched around the perimeter, about a 1/4" from the edge.  This allowed me to trim the edges about 1/8" after all of the sewing was done in order to ensure that the front of the cape and lining of the cape aligned.

Oh, and let's not forget the grosgrain ribbon neck tie - I pinned these in between the lining and the outside layer before stitching the perimeter.

I'd like to officially introduce Super Ella!

surviving summer

So here we are, t-minus three days until our return to Ann Arbor, and I'm trying to figure out how to pack as much into our last three days as possible!

In addition to my CLE to-do list, I created a personal list (titled "surviving summer" - can you tell I was pretty apprehensive about this little adventure of ours this summer) of crafty projects and activities that Ella and I could do this summer on those days where, inevitably, I'd wake up and not feel like battling crowds at the zoo or sweating it out in the heat at the playground, or to occupy rainy mornings and gloomy afternoons.  

On this list: 

1. homemade popsicles

2. picnic in the park

3. picnic in the backyard 

4. make an indoor/outdoor tent (so I could check this off my Love To-Do List)

5. plant seeds to start a garden at home

6. make a doll house

7. make dress-up clothes, including a cape, masks, and hats

8. work on Ella's ABC photo book

Yes, yet another list to remind myself how LITTLE I've actually accomplished this summer . . . or, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge myself so poorly!

So, Ted and I can check off the first item - we made our own pops one evening after Ella had gone to bed.  They were good, but we just used fruit juice we already had in our fridge.  I guess we've picnicked in the park, though we dined on take-out.  We have the definite beginnings of an herb garden in the backyard (holy crap, I grew something), in a planter we can take back to Ann Arbor with us.  And, I have sewn together the pieces for a cape for Ella, complete with a "E" in script, appliqued onto the back.  I just need to trim it out and add some ties at the neck (post to come!)

OK, so I guess we've done more than I thought.  What's on your summer-to-do list to help you survive the long, hot days with your kids?