DIY Toddler pants out of old sweater

I am addicted to Pinterest! I have some of the fullest board out of all my friends, and I frequently get annoyed that no one is pinning anything new! So I decided to actually start making some of the things I have pinned.

The first thing, that I thought would be quick and easy, was a pair of toddler pants of out of an old sweater. Daddyman and I had just gone through everyone's clothing to take to a clothing swap, and I have salvaged some of his old sweaters to upcycle.

One of the sweaters is thick and soft and Daddyman has had it forever. We have both worn it on sick days and very cold days. So I grabbed it and cut the arms off!

As you can see I used a pair of Noodleman's pants to measure how long the arms should be. I used a pair that are a little big on him, as lately everything I make him is too small by the time I am finished!

Next I cut open the inside seam of the sleeve, down to the crotch of the pants. The picture isn't any good, as the sweater is black. I left the pants in place to make sure the crotch was in the right place.

Next I pinned the seams of opposite sides together. 

Once it was pinned, I sewed right sides together. You can turn your pants inside out for this, but I prefer to leave them. This is what it looks like sewn.

Next I turned over the waist. I didn't iron it, as I didn't think it would make any difference, but it may have been easier! Once the waist was turned over and sewn, I measured Noodleman's waist and then fed the elastic through with a safety pin. Thankfully, the knit is fairly close on this sweater, so the safety pin didn't slip through! This is the finished product...

The great thing about using the sleeves is you don't have to hem the legs. These are still a little big for my Noodleman, but he has room to grow and they fit great over his fluff bum (cloth diapers).

Here he is, in them...

I am excited for the next clothing swap, I will be on the lookout for other peoples hand me down sweaters to make more of these!

DIY for the Toddlers!

Lately I have been experimenting with making things for Noodleman to play with. He is more interested in pots and pans, and spoons and bowls, than your regular run of the mill toys, so I thought I would test my crafty skills and see what I could come up with.

The first thing I had to come up with was new bath toys. Daddyman and Noodleman have a shower together every night while I clean up dinner. This is a little relax time for me (about 10-20 minutes), however lately Noodleman is bored with the selection of toys in the shower, so he is signing all-done after about 5 minutes. This doesn't fly well with me as I like having a couple minutes alone before bedtime, and Daddyman isn't getting the time to soap up. So after racking my brain for what we could buy him for "Christmas"(but he would get before the day), I thought about my days working in daycare and the water play toys we had. We were on a budget and had to be creative with our budget. I went to the dollar store and bought 4 sheets of fun foam for $1.25. When I got home (and Noodleman was sleeping), I used my Cricut paper cut outs, to draw and cut out some shapes for the bath. That night I got them wet and stuck them on the bath wall to see how Noodleman reacted. He loved them! He put them up and took them down. He put them on the floor and stomped on them. We used squirters to shoot them off the wall! I made some dinosaurs and fishies, so we used them like felt board stories and sang songs with them. The best part is, if he rips them apart (they are quite thin), I can make a ton more!

Now onto our play-space!
I am home all day with my little Noodleman and another little LO, that we hang out with. They are only 3 weeks apart, so have a lot of the same interests...and are cheeky in similar ways! Lately both have been into zippers, buttons, string, belt buckles, clips, and everything else that opens and closes. I wanted to make Noodleman something really fun to use/practice all these skills with, without having him cart one of my sweaters all over the house! So I was going to make him a pillow, but as my fabulously creative brain got started with all the things I wanted on it, the pillow became HUGE in my brain. So I thought about it for a while and decided to make him a block, but a big one, about 11 inches square. So far I have created 4 panels, one with a zipper that opens into a pocket:

Clips:

And then I sewed together 2 pieces of felt (green and blue) to make him his own felt board. The last one I have so far, is a piece of minky to cuddle. I am excited about the last 2 sides. Daddyman is making big wooden buttons, and I will sew flaps and string to one side for those. The last side, will have some kind of sensory play. I would like to find a piece of burlap, fleece and maybe a piece of vinyl. I will of course post pictures once it is finished!

My last project was so easy, Noodleman was able to help. Daddyman also helped...by drinking the pop inside the bottle. Next I cleaned the bottle and gathered all the ingredients. I put a spout of top and let Noodleman add all the things he wanted in it. We used a base of rice, then added sparkles, buttons, tiny alphabet pasta and some beads.

That's all we/I have been working on lately. Christmas is coming and I will be baking up a storm so expect more recipes coming your way!