Category: My Sewing Passion

Posted on

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.

Master Griller in Training
Mr. Man in His Kitchen

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.

Fun Breakfast Print for Kitchen
Hot Dogs and Hamburgers for Grilling

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.

Posted on

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. 1.5 yards of a fun patterned fabric
  2. 1.5 yards of plain fabric (make sure they are similar width)
  3. Drawstring cord. Enough for the circumference of your circle plus 8 inches.
  4. Coordinating thread
  5. Eyelets (optional)
  6. Iron-on hem binding (optional)
  7. Fabric marking pen
  8. 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.

45 Inch Circle
Cut with Both Fabrics Together

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

Opening for Turning

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.

Reinforced Area
Added Eyelets to Patterned Side
Eyelets for Drawstring

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.

Stitched 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.

Posted on

Infant Sensory Mat Sewing Project

Mini Man on His Infant Sensory Mat

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!!

Sequin Flip Fabric is So Fun!

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.