So my mother called me up this morning to ask where the hell my next blog post was. Well, actually, she was much nicer than that, but that was the jist of it. I've been away too long, I guess?

We actually have been away. To New York, no less!  Even though we got back last week, I haven't really returned, you know?

I shouldn't give my mother shit because she came down and looked after all the kids, while my husband and I traipsed off to Brooklyn to eat and drink and stare at buttons (that last one was just me).

and we drank ridiculously good coffee and saw long lost friends and discovered said friends read this little blog (hi christina!).

damn, now I want to go back.

You get two for one today. That is, if you are not sick of looking at pillows yet. You probably think I'm crazy for making all these, but I had been thinking about making a bunch of pillows for ages. It's amazing how much time I can waste just staring at fabric. This week was a nice kick in the pants to just decide already, they are only pillows you know.

To answer a few questions:

• yes, I'm using pillow forms.
• yes, zippers are really easy. I used this zipper tutorial, but erin has a fancy dancy video tutorial that will talk you through each step.
• yes, I'd love a cup of coffee, thank you.

I got these two pairs of PINK! and YELLOW! cords at the gap this summer for 3 bucks each and knew right away I wanted to turn them into pants for my kids. Last year I made pants for them out of my husband's old jeans (sort of like this) but the rise was too low and they never wore them--my son called them, without any malice, his "falling down pants."

I wanted to get the fit right this time, but the stinkers were sleeping when I made these so I got all fancy with the pockets while I waited. There are two patch pockets on the back of each pair and a little pocket in front--a star for my son and a heart for my daughter.  When they tried them on they both complained that the pocket was too small. Wouldn't you be excited to have a star pocket on your pants? Whatever. They fit.

I used a pretty bit of printed corduroy for the elastic casing on the pink ones and this crazy awesome vintage scrap I had for the yellow pair. This is a super easy way to make use of those jeans you never wear, but can't get rid of for some weird reason. Cute recycling. My friend Mary Jo over at Five Green Acres put a little upcycling twist to kids clothes week; check it out if you are making big clothes into small clothes this week.

Made by Rae Giveaway!

Today's giveaway is from the fabulous Rae from Made by Rae. She is hilarious and down to earth and a damn fine seamstress. She kindly offered up two patterns for kids clothes week: the big butt baby pants and the toddler backpack. Both patterns are PDFs, so you could even add them to your list for this week (ha!). Just tell me which one you would rather have in the comments and I'll choose two winners! The toddler backpack is full of nice details: pockets and piping and padded straps and little loops for hanging. And the big butt baby pants, while also being extremely fun to say, are versatile and useful and super cute. Decisions, decisions.

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The winners are

big butt baby pants: #10 Shannon

toddler backpack: #55 Stephanie from neuroses galore

Congratulations!

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I'm really not one for the whole princess thing. And I thought we had avoided it, until on her fourth birthday my daughter wished that "all princesses would be sparkly." There has been a health dose of princessness since then, even though I rarely ever buy princess paraphernalia--and wow you can buy just about anything save for major appliances with a princess slapped on it.

It's not so much the prince saving the princess that annoys me, it's the total lack of substance on the part of the princess. Well, that and the rampant consumerism of it all (see above).  For the most part the princess just lies around looking pretty all day long. Because of that I rejected them outright until I found myself looking at a fashion magazine in the check out line and realized it was just grown up princess crap. So I guess if I can indulge in pretty girly things, I can indulge my daughter a little too.

And so the princess dress. It's not sparkly or even very flooffy, but it's pink and princessy and she loves it. The pattern is from Carefree Clothes for Girls and with it's quilted bodice (that's for you nan) and raw edges it's more Cinderella before the ball than at the ball. The pattern was easy and a lot like the other dress I made from the book. The only part I couldn't figure out were the button loops. There was a diagram on how to make them, cut I couldn't decipher it out, so I just crocheted some chains with quilting thread and sewed them in. And it worked out well, washes up nicely, and gets dirty often. For me it's a dress with a silly amount of baggage, but to her it's just a pretty dress to pick flowers in.

Tell the great thrift store gods what you need and you will receive (sometimes). I said I needed more color in my life and shazzam! A bunch of bright, awesome prints in the bargain fabric bin at my local thrift store. A buck a piece, not bad seeing as the management likes to jack the price up whenever her little heart desires. Sometimes they're $4 a piece, sometimes they're tagged with outrageous prices, and it's always the same shit. But I'm very happy with what I gots, now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with it.