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Thursday, March 24, 2011

When You are Snowed In, You Sew

The past few days the weather has been yucky and the germs have been yuckier, but vacation preparation goes on nonetheless.
Last year, Brynn spent the nights of our vacation contained by a pack-'n-play, but this year she is free to roam. Which is a problem. In an effort to make the first few nights of our vacation a little more restful, I thought we should "practice camping."
The kids were all for it - especially Brynn who wanted to try out her new sleeping bag.

It didn't go well. At. All. Ian did fine - he'd sleep through an earthquake. Brynn was in, then under, then on top of her sleeping bag. Then she was wandering the house. Eventually, she ended up in her bed. We are going to need a LOT more practice.
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Since we were snowed in yesterday (the springy weather made some of the plow guys forget how to plow our road), I decided it was time to make some "Back of the Car Seat Storage Pockets." What a combo: sewing, vacation prep AND organization. What bliss.
My sister Tandis had sent me a link to a tutorial on how to make these, but when I wanted to use it, my computer decided it was taking a vacation day, so I had to wing it.
I dug into my fabric stash and found some canvas and some denim. I measured the van seats and roughed out a pattern.
I made different-sized pockets to hold different-sized stuff, but that concept might be too advanced for my kids...although Brynn does exhibit some OCD tendencies occasionally.
I used some heavy-duty seam-binding tape (don't know where it came from) to make a loop and ties. It's really amazing what you can find to use when a trip to the fabric store is out of the question.
(Sorry, I forgot to rotate the photo)
Then I tried it on for size. It turned out pretty well.
Oh yeah, I found an old dowel rod to put across the top to keep it from flopping over.
I have already decided to change one thing on the next one I make. Do you see that row of small pockets across the top? Too small. Oh well. Maybe it will hold Brynn's stash of vacation bling.

8 comments:

Tom said...

Dana, excellent use of things you have already in the home, and your creativity is top-notch!

Don't you feel pleased with such an accomplishment. The trip has definitely been prepared for:)

Dana said...

Thanks =) Since you are loaning me stuff, feel free to borrow these if you ever need to.

~ Tandis ~ said...

AWESOME back of the seat organizer. I am impressed as you said you "winged it"!!! I think it will be nice for this long trip. :)

Mindy said...

Great job! I love using a soap box for a box of crayons. I can't remember if it fits the box, or just the crayons, but that's what we used to use for organizing them in the car.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip projects!

Jamie said...

You have a very impressive fabric stash...canvas, denim and heavy-duty seam binding tape?! You just put my stash to shame.

Bassett said...

That little row of pockets at the top is where Brynn can organize not only her "vacation bling" but also her vacation staff of candy. They're the perfect size for that. =)

Jessica said...

My heart is going into overdrive with the thrill of what you are creating with your sewing machine.

Don't worry, Brynn will find uses for the small pockets. There will be treasures that need saving.

Rosina {Rosy ~ Posy} said...

Your back of the seat organizer turned out fantastic!! Such a great idea for holding all the stuff the kids want to bring along when traveling. We have pockets in the back our front seats but they're always overloaded with markers and books and this would be a great way to store it more nicely :)

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my Kimono :) Happy Sunday!