Baby, has it been cold outside here in New York! It all started last Friday with temperatures in the single digits and six inches of snow, leading to one of our infrequent snow days. Over the weekend, it remained cold. Then on Sunday it warmed up a bit but the the freezing drizzle started. This morning it’s almost hot outside but raining hard. And then tonight the temperature will drop by 50 degrees again, putting us back in the single digits. There’s only one word for this weather: Yuck!
Winter in this part of the country means more time indoors and less time at the playground. Which means we need to come up with activities to combat winter boredom. So I thought it might be fun to blog about fun sewing projects for indoor playtime. We’ll feature a few ideas to get you inspired. If you have additional ideas, please chime in by leaving a comment! We can all use a little sewing inspiration this time of year. (Those of you in the southern hemisphere, please do your best to not rub it in right now, OK? You can keep busy sewing Bucket Hats for days at the beach this month while we’re doing our best to stay warm.)
To kick the series off (and to start what we’re calling “unofficial fabric week”), I thought I would start with these tents that we have been making as gifts for S’s friends. Everyone loves them! The idea and instructions for this project comes from Cakies. You can find the the full tutorial by following the link.
This tent is really easy to make and requires only a few supplies. It’s also a great way to highlight a large piece of fabric featuring a fun print. (Or maybe to just use up a big piece of fabric in your stash that you haven’t been able to find anything else to do with!) And best of all, the tent comes apart for storage, so we even have room for it in our apartment.
S and I used some of the Lisette chevron twill from my newest collection for Spotlight to make our tent. I was planning to make myself a dress with this fabric, but I fear that I’ve used it all up now. We added a felt bunting for a little extra color and fun. (To make it, I simply cut a bunch of felt triangles and machine stitched them to a length of baker’s twine with a small zigzag stitch.)
Bear gave S a big stack of books for Christmas, so now she has a cozy spot to read them all. Bear has been joining her in the tent since he is learning to read now. And he’s still wearing his green underpants. He’s been wearing underpants for so long now that he looks naked without them when we take them off to do laundry!
Stay tuned in coming weeks for more fun indoor playtime projects.