Mimi, Author at Mimi's Lake Life

June 3, 2022June 3, 2022

Toddler Apron and Oven Mitt: Sewing Project

Inspire your little ones to get creative in the kitchen with their very own toddler apron and oven mitt. This easy sewing project will enhance your toddler’s pretend play as a master chef or griller.

Our Mr. Man loves to play with his KidKraft kitchen set and Step 2 Grill. So naturally, for Christmas last year, Mimi had to make him an apron and matching oven mitt for each. This is a super easy sewing project.

Find some fun patterned fabric. I used a hamburger and hot dog print for the grilling apron, and a fun breakfast foods print for the kitchen apron. To coordinate, I picked blue and red solid fabric and red quilted fabric for the oven mitts. I trimmed the oven mitts with the coordinating print.

Now, Mr. Man helps mommy in the big kitchen too. For messy projects, this apron will make the jump to the real kitchen just as well. See Toddlers in the Kitchen: learning through cooking for more great sensory learning experiences.

Supplies You Will Need

1/2 yard of fun print cotton fabric
3/4 yard of solid cotton fabric in a coordinating color
1/2 yard of medium weight fusible interfacing
coordinating thread
A 2-3 inch piece of Velcro fastener
Printable pattern here

The How To For the Apron

Following the instructions on the pattern, cut all of the needed pieces.
Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the patterned material following the manufacturer’s directions.

Pockets

Turn under a 1/2 inch hem on the top of the Pocket. Press and stitch to finish the top.
Place the Pocket on the printed apron front, matching bottom edges with right sides facing up. Pin in place.
If using the optional top pocket, turn under a 1/2 inch hem on the top of the Top Pocket. Press and stitch to finish the top. Press under a 1/4 inch on each side. Pin to right side of Apron Front in the desired location. Stitch around the sides and bottom edges of the Top Pocket. Note: If personalizing the Top Pocket, be sure to do so before stitching to the Apron Top.

Neck Straps and Waist Ties

Fold under 1/4 inch on the long sides of each strap and tie piece. Fold in half, press, and stitch close to the edge the length of each strap and tie piece. Press flat.
Pin one raw edge of each neck strap piece to the right side of the print fabric at the upper corners leaving just enough room from the side edge so that the strap will not get caught in the side seam (about 5/8 inch).
Pin one end of each waist tie to the right side of the printed front at the apron side approximately 5/8 inch down from the side corner. Pin in place.
Gather the straps and ties to the middle of apron to avoid getting them caught in the side seams when stitching.

Put it All Together

Place solid apron back, right sides together, on top of front, pocket, and ties. The pocket, neck straps, and ties will now be inside the two apron pieces. Pin the two apron pieces together.
Stitch around the apron in a 1/2 inch seam allowance leaving an opening at the bottom for turning.
Turn the aprons right side out. Press all edges. Stitch around the apron again close to the edge to finish and close the opening.
Finish the ends of the neck straps and waist ties by folding under a 1/4 inch hem and stitching.
Add Velcro to the last 2-3 inches of the neck strap pieces to make it adjustable.

How To For the Mitt

Place the two Oven Mitt pieces right sides together. Pin to secure.
Stitch around the Oven Mitt in a 1/2 inch seam allowance leaving the bottom open.
Press under 1/4 inch on each long edge of the binding piece. Fold the binding in half lengthwise and press.
Beginning at one of the seams, pin the binding to the lower edge of the Oven Mitt placing the raw edge of the Mitt inside the fold of the binding.
Overlap the unfinished edge of the binding slightly at the seam folding under 1/4 inch, trim if necessary, to cover the unfinished edge of the binding.
Stitch the binding to the Oven Mitt close to the edge of the binding, making sure to catch both inside and outside edges.

Final Thoughts

This is a project that you can be super creative with and have a ton of fun! I was able to use the embroidery section of my machine to personalize Mr. Man’s kitchen apron with his name. This will also help when Mini Man is old enough to have his own apron. There won’t be any arguments when they each have their own.

For the grilling apron, I was able to download and use a cute charcoal grill design from embroidery.com. A baking apron with a personalized rolling pin, or other kitchen utensils would also be adorable. I think it is time to make some more. Mini Man will be big enough before I know it!

I would love to hear your comments and ideas for aprons for your little ones!

Explore other projects in My Sewing Passion, find great sensory ideas with You’re Only Young Once, or just relax with Lake Life posts.

May 28, 2022May 28, 2022

Building Blocks Play Mat/Storage Bag: Sewing Project

This easy building block play mat/storage bag sewing project makes a wonderful contained area to play and instant storage bag for those pesky building blocks that are a literal pain to step on!

This is an excellent beginner project and can be used for the larger Duplo style blocks as well as any type of smaller blocks (Legos, K’nex, etc.). Our middle grandson is just starting to show interest in the smaller Legos. He is not quite three. So naturally, no matter how hard mom and dad try, the blocks are spread out and get stepped on. Mimi to the rescue! I made him this simple building blocks play mat/storage bag with a drawstring so when the playing is done, it is easy to capture all of those little pieces.

What You Will Need for this Project

1.5 yards of a fun patterned fabric
1.5 yards of plain fabric (make sure they are similar width)
Drawstring cord. Enough for the circumference of your circle plus 8 inches.
Coordinating thread
Eyelets (optional)
Iron-on hem binding (optional)
Fabric marking pen
String

The How To

I started with a fun building blocks fabric from fabric.com. This fabric was 45 inches wide, so I decided that I would use the full width for the diameter of the circle. A white midweight cotton for the inside fabric works great. Plain white makes it easy to see all of those little blocks!

Simply lay both fabrics on top of each other and pin them together to secure. Cut a piece of string that is a little larger than the diameter of your circle. Tie a fabric marking pen to one end of the string. Find the center of your fabric and pin the string so that the center to the marker is the diameter of your circle. Carefully mark all the way around your circle being careful to keep the marker straight up and down and the string taught but no pulling in the center. After drawing the circle, pin inside the circle to hold both layers together and cut on your markings.

With right sides together, stitch the circles together leaving a small opening for turning it right side out. Once turned, press it flat.

The Finishing Touches

At this point, I put eyelets in the patterned side of the fabric at the opening. This will be in the drawstring casing when the mat is finished. It would also work to use small buttonholes if eyelets are not available. Reinforce the eyelet or buttonhole area with a small scrap of the fabric. I used a small piece of iron-on hem binding to adhere it before attaching the eyelets.

Stitch the opening closed at the edge. Then stitch approximately one inch from the edge all around the circle to create the drawstring casing. Cut the drawstring the length of the circumference of the circle plus a little extra so it doesn’t get pulled back in. Feed your drawstring through the casing.

That’s it, you’re done! Your little builder will now have a contained area to be super creative and mom and dad’s feet are safe. 🙂

For more great sensory play ideas for kids, visit our You’re Only Young Once page.

May 14, 2022May 18, 2022

Spring Boat Cleaning

It’s spring boat cleaning day!!

Living on the lake is not all peaceful relaxation and boat rides. There is some work involved. This is the time of year when those living in the north are bringing their boats out of storage and prepping them for a summer of fun. Here in Florida, even though our boats are out year round, spring still brings the need for a deep clean.

We own a Sun Tracker 22 XP3 tri-toon. We absolutely love it! I will share another post all about this boat. But for this post, I am focused on what I have found super helpful for keeping it clean and in like-new condition.

Our property has cypress trees. They provide wonderful shade but they are messy. The little fronds attach to everything and are a pain to clean up. Not to mention, the nuts have a brown sticky substance that can stain if left too long. But the worst part of spring boat cleaning the boat for me is the spiders! So my first plan of attack is with the shop vac to suck it all up.

I have tried my canister vacuum and a big shop vac, but the one that I have found most helpful is the Home Depot Bucket Head. This little vacuum attaches to a five gallon pail. It is easy to maneuver and has lots of power which makes it perfect for cleaning the boat. But the best part for the boat, in my opinion, is the shape of the nozzle on the end of the hose. It is great for getting along the edges and in the crevices between the seat cushions.

After vacuuming all of the dirt and bugs, we used the power washer to clean it inside and out. It is amazing how much dirt was on the floor of this boat. But the power washer made quick work of cleaning the floor, outside walls, and pontoons.

Last step is to clean and protect the dashboard and vinyl seats. In order to keep your vinyl seats looking like new, it is vital that you clean and then treat the vinyl to keep it from drying out and cracking. Especially here in the intense sunshine of Florida! I have tried several products including dish soap, magic erasers, and Awesome to clean, but I recommend a three step approach to clean and protect your seats:

Clean the vinyl and your dashboard with Fantastik cleaner (This cleaner was also recommended by our boat manufacturer). This is the best product I have found to remove bug stains, bird stains, tree stains and any other stains of general use.
Once cleaned, protect your vinyl seats with 303 Protectant. In the intense sun of Florida, I apply this protectant every couple of months. A boat is too big of an investment to leave it unprotected!
Finally, especially in the humidity of Florida summers, protect your seats from mildew with 3M Mildew Blocker. This stuff works!! Even through the rainy season of Florida with 90% humidity, we do not have a mildew problem on our seats . Again, I apply this every two months because our climate is so humid. Depending on where you are, you may not need to apply as often.

Please share any tips and tricks that you have for keeping your boat looking like new.

For more information and experiences about life on the lake, visit our Lake Life category page.

May 10, 2022May 11, 2022

Infant Sensory Mat Sewing Project

An infant sensory mat is a fun way for babies to stay focused during tummy time to build core, neck, and arm muscles while also making neural connections through stimulating visual and tactile experiences.

The joy of sewing for my grandsons is that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be fun and functional. NO STRESS, only joy! I love that these projects allow me to be creative. There was no pattern or directions for this mat. I saw something similar on Pinterest and I wanted to take it up a notch. Based on how much Mini Man loves this mat, I think I nailed it…and you can too!

I decided to set my mat up in sections to look similar to a quilt pattern. But you could set yours up any way you want. A round mat may be just as functional as a rectangular mat!

Now comes the fun part! When creating an infant sensory mat, think about a wide variety of fabric textures and colors: soft, rough, bumpy, smooth, stretchy, beaded, etc. Be sure to incorporate different shapes to provide visual stimulation, but also vocabulary development as baby grows!

Next, I planned out the other sections of the mat. This is a great time to dig into your trims and accessories drawer(s), and of course, button boxes (yes, I have multiple boxes/containers of buttons 🙂 ).

Remember those old patches we used to put on our jeans? OK maybe you are not as old as I am! I had a cute sequin heart patch and a dinosaur patch that I just had to include.

I also found some soccer ball beads that I had from another project. Placed under some clear vinyl with enough room that a patting hand would make the beads move is tons of fun!

Mini Man Exploring How the Soccer Balls Move

I also have an eyelet kit. So I put a line of metal eyelets on a piece of teal cotton fabric for a colorful, textured strip. The idea is to be creative!

Finally, I just had to have the sequin flip fabric on one section. This is so much fun! If you rub the sequins in one direction, they are colorful. But if you rub them in the other direction, they change to a solid color. This piece was rainbow and silver. What great visual and tactile stimulation! It just had to be included!!

As I was finding all of these fun things to include, I was laying them out on my mat. I’ll be honest, my layout changed several times and that is OK! I pinned things on and moved them around until I liked the way it looked and it fit with the binding that I was putting on at the end. There is no pattern for this project because the idea is to release your own creativity. But the infographic below shows the steps to create a fun sensory mat for your little one.

For more information on sensory play ideas, visit the yoyoclub page on our site. Click here.

May 6, 2022May 6, 2022

Under Construction

The next project is on the machine. Check back soon!

May 4, 2022May 6, 2022

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I am Mimi, so named by my second grandson, Mr. Man (click over to You’re Only Young Once to meet him). I am so excited to share my lake life passions with you.

Join me as I share our experiences of living on the lake, my passion for sewing, and wonderful early childhood activities in partnership with my daughter.

Please use the navigation menu above to read posts in each area. Then leave us a comment so that we can continue to add information of interest.

April 27, 2022May 5, 2022

Welcome to the Lake

There is nothing like living on a lake! I grew up in Michigan and our family had a cottage on a lake where we would spend a month every summer. I grew up boating, skiing, swimming and fishing.

Living on a lake now brings back all of those memories. Memories that I want to build with my family.

Papa and Mr. Man taking us for a boat ride

We live on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. We have access to eight different lakes by boat. Our home is on Lake Eustis. It is a centrally located lake on the Chain. My husband is an avid fisherman and is always after the big bass.

One of my lake life pleasures is enjoying the peace of drinking my morning coffee by the water, watching my hubby fish and the birds visiting the dock and strolling through the yard. The egrets, ibis, and heron are fairly used to us being out in the morning. As long as we keep a reasonable distance and don’t make sudden moves, they go about their business feeding on minnows and small anoles. We also get some less welcome visitors in the morning. The gators like to feed by our cypress tree too! In most cases they are very afraid of humans and swim away as soon as they see us. But we have a healthy respect for them and take no chances.

I hope you will follow our adventures of life on the lake(s). I am excited to share it with you. Please comment on my posts and feel free to email me with any questions.