Tag Archives: Patterns

Allsorts of Love Crochet Baby Blanket

I adore crochet, and while pregnant, I seem to have super speed with it. Jax homeschools, but I enrich his learning with outside classes. That means I have times when I’m waiting outside classrooms – sometimes twice a day. Our nursery bedding was so cute with its fun colors and patterns, that I felt inspired to design a blanket to crochet to match.

Let me preface this by saying I can’t write crochet patterns. I’m terrible at keeping track of what I do while I’m crocheting, as I tend to make it up as I go along. I’ll be giving an overview of what I did for each pattern area, as well as the basic materials and starting size I went with.

Big thank-you’s to two Instagram friends who helped me name this pattern after fun and colorful licorice allsorts candies!

What I Used:

I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in: Black, White, Lemonade, Mango (Brites series), Chartreuse, and Robin’s Egg. I ordered mine from Joann’s during a sale for under $3 each. I used 2 each of white and black, one each of the colors. I did buy an extra skein of each, and have been doing small projects with those. I used this exact 4mm hook, ordered from Amazon. Very comfy! I also used metal yarn needles to weave in the 10 bazillion ends.

Stitches I Used:
sc, hdc, dc and bobble

Starting:
I started with a chain of 102 in black. (I actually did my blanket with a chain of 100 and the dot pattern divided awkwardly, so in the second blanket, I used 102. These instructions assume a starting width of 102 chains.)

Stripes:
The stripes are made with two rows of hdc, alternating black and white. I did 4 black and 3 white. To transition to the zigzags, I did one row of white sc under the final black stripe.

Zigzags:
The zigzags are V-stitch. I already had a row of white sc. V-stitch is made by doing 2 dc in one stitch, skipping a stitch, and repeating. In the following rows, make your 2 dc in the space between the 2 dcs below. (I like to start my dc rows with a chainless dc.) I did 5 rows of white and 5 rows of aqua/lime. After the last row (aqua or lime), I did a row of sc in that color.

Dots:
A note about the three dot rows: I carried the white yarn along as I went so I could switch colors, stitching overtop of it with the yellow/orange until I needed it. To switch colors, I’d do all but the last yarn-over of the stitch before the color change, then switch threads to the next stitch’s color and do the final yarn-over. (In the linked video, she doesn’t enclose the carried thread in her stitches as I did.)

I started this section with a full row of dc. Row one of the dots was 2 dc in the color, followed by a white bobble stitch and 5 colored dc, repeated across. I ended with 2 colored dc. The middle dot row was 5 colored dc and a white bobble repeated across, ending on 5 colored dc. The final dot row is the same as the first. I ended the section with a full row of dc.

My Layout:
Here is what I ended up doing (from the bottom up).

Black and white stripes
White and lime zigzags
Yellow and white dots
Black and white stripes
White and aqua zigzags
Orange and white dots
Black and white stripes
White and lime zigzags
Yellow and white dots
Black and white stripes

Border:
For my border, I worked white sc all the way around. How many you do isn’t a big deal. You just want good coverage and to be consistent. I then did three black rows of dc. I ended with a row of aqua sc. (In all the rows, I did 3 stitches in each corner. In the next row, the corner stitch will be the middle of those three.)

This blanket came out so colorful and fun! And it is a very versatile pattern in terms of colors and the order of the sections.

I was so excited to have the opportunity to also make a girlie version of this blanket as a gift. Being on my second boy, there isn’t a lot of pink in my life, so this one was a lot of fun!

I made the body of this blanket the same way as the original, but changed the colors around. Black was swapped for grey and pink for the orange. I rearranged the colors so pink and yellow were featured. The yarn for this one is Knit Picks Brava Worsted.

The biggest change was the border. I started with a row of grey sc, followed by two white rows of dc. I made 3 stitches in each corner, as with the original. My final row was time consuming, but super sweet! I did a pompom border, modified from this tutorial. For mine, I did 4 sc in between each pom. I started the pom with 4 chains, then did the step for 3 dc in the 3rd chain from the hook. I made the second cluster as instructed and after I slst’d it to the bottom of the pom, I chained 1 and then made one sc in the same stitch that the whole pom started in. (I hope that makes sense!)

You really could do anything on the border to change the whole feel of the blanket!

I hope you enjoy this crochet blanket pattern. Please share with me here, or Facebook or on Instagram if you make your own!

Want to share the love? Here’s an image ready to pin!

Felt Gumball Machine Ornament

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I love sewing felt ornaments every year to hang on our tree. This year I picked the theme of sweets! This simple but colorful gumball machine sews up in just one evening but will make a big impact!

I used wool-blend felt and colorful sequins from American Felt and Craft. I chose a color palette that was slightly retro with honeydew, poppy, pink and teal.

What I Used:

The Pattern
Wool Blend Felt
Clear Vinyl
Assorted Sequins
Baker’s Twine
Felted Ball or Pompom
Stuffing or Batting

Step 1: Layer the honeydew felt dome between the two vinyl dome pieces and sew from A to B with a blanket stitch. Fill each side of the dome with sequins as desired. Sew the top closed.

Step 2: Sew the curved top to the two poppy cap pieces together with a blanket stitch, then place it over the top of the dome and sew across the cap’s bottom.

Step 3: Sew a row of red sequins down the side of each poppy machine piece. Sew a pink heart to each side and add sequins. Sew the hatch to the front machine piece and add a silver sequin.

Step 4: Sew the machine together from C to D with a blanket stitch and fill with stuffing. Stick the dome inside the open end and sew the machine pieces closed.

Step 5: Thread a large needle with baker’s twine. Attach the center of the twine to the top of the cap then run the tails through a felt ball or pom. Tie off and enjoy!

Gingerbread House Advent Calendar

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Last year I had so much fun sewing Jax a Christmas Tree Play Set and 24 Mini Advent Ornaments, but I didn’t have time to make a calendar to put them in. This year I started off my Christmas sewing season by creating a hanging gingerbread house advent calendar.

Thank you to American Felt and Craft for all of the beautiful supplies used in this project!

What I Used:

The Pattern
Two 31″ x 17″ Felt Pieces in teddy bear
Assorted Felt (in white, flamingo, lipstick, orange juice, lemon meringue, key lime pie, fresh cut grass, sparrow and lavender)
Assorted Sequin Colors (in classic red, goldfish, buttercup, dragonfly, orchid,
grape soda, baby pink and crystal)
Glitter RicRac (red)
Hook & Loop Tape (I used brown and yellow, but any color works.)
Pearl Button
Felt Glue
Scissors, needles, thread
(sewing machine recommended for pockets)
Hanger (full size)
Optional:
Advent Pre-Cut Adhesive Number Set

I started sewing this project before I had the brown background felt, so I began with all the smaller pieces. I will list the tutorial sections in an order that makes sense, but there is definitely some flexibility.

The Roof
I created the advent calendar with the ability to come off the hanger. The roof is a separate piece that sits on top of the hanger like a hat with a hole for the hook. I cut my roof pieces out of 9: x 12″ sheets, so each side is made of two halves sewn together. On the front half, I decorated it with crystal sequins. When sewing the two sides together, I only sewed the tops, leaving a 2″ hole at the center-top for the hanger hook.

The Calendar & Pockets
There is a diagram in the pattern showing how I cut and laid out the calendar body. Once you cut two rectangles that are 31″ x 17″, lay your hanger and the top and trim off the corners, leaving a 0.5″ seam allowance. Set aside one calendar piece to use as the back. (Optional – leave an extra bit at the lower right corner if you want the Christmas tree to extend a bit past the edge. Once the tree is on, you can trim it down. Otherwise, just cut off the extra tree.)

Attach your numbers to the pocket squares. I used adhesive numbers, which saved so much cutting time. If you are cutting them yourself, gluing them on with felt glue will work just fine. On pocket 1 (a rectangle), layer white swirls on top of a red circle to make a peppermint swirl candy. Sew it to the pocket and add red sequins. On pocket 19, sew on the red heart and add some red sequins.

Take your time laying out and pinning all the pockets. I’ve provided measurements for between each row. Unless you have many hours to fill, you probably want to use a sewing machine for all the pockets. I got mine done in under an hour that way. One pocket without a number goes at the center bottom of the calendar. It will be behind the door. (The tree pocket – 23 – is sew separately.)

Snowy Sills
Cut out 8 snowy window sill pieces and sew sequins on them. Using felt glue, tack them on to the bottom of the blue pockets. I glued mine on before sewing on the pockets, but you can do it either way. Sew down the tops of the snow pieces, leaving the bottoms hanging loose.

Fruit Slices
For each fruit slice, tack down the white rind with a light layer of glue (too much and it is hard to sew though) then sew it down. Add matching sequins to the colored parts, then sew them down directly over pockets 3 and 5.

Candy Sticks
For the red and white candy sticks, tack down then sew on the red stripes, added red sequins. Sew them down above pockets 8 and 10. For the pink and red candy sticks, tack down and sew on the thinner red stripes. Using a back stitch, sew a stripe on each side of the red felt stripes. Add a few pink sequins, then sew them down above pockets 18 and 20.

Jelly Beans
I tacked down the jelly beans directly onto the calendar. White sewing them down, I alternated their direction and added matching sequins. Four jelly beans go over pocket 13 and pocket 15.

Door
On the front piece of the door, sew on a green peppermint swirl candy (using the same technique as the red). The number 24 goes below that with room for a pearl button door knob on the right. I added yellow sequins to the door. On the back door piece, I sewing on a piece of hook tape. I sewed it on high enough to be above the pocket on the calendar. On the calendar, I sewed down some loop tape lined up to close the door. I sewed the two sides of the door together starting at the left side of the curved top. When I got around to the straight left side, I stitched both layers down to the calendar to make the hinged side of the door.

Candy Canes
The candy canes are sewn the same way as the red and white candy sticks. I provided a pattern for all of the stripes around the cured part, then one stripe you can repeat down the straight part. I sewed the candy canes down on either side of the door at a slight angle.

Christmas Tree
The tree sticks out a bit past the lower right edge of the calendar. You can either cut your calendar to have a matching bump-out like I did, or trim your tree to fit the corner. Using felt glue I attached my glitter ric rac down and folded the ends behind the tree. It held really well once dry. Once I decided the position of the tree’s pocket, I glued on more ric rac to the pocket square to match what was under it on the tree. I added assorted sequins to the tree and the pocket, stuck the number onto the pocket, then sewed on the pocket and tree by hand. The tip of the tree extends a bit onto pocket 21.

Gumdrops
The stack of gumdrops overlaps the right side of pocket 22. I tacked them down in a tospy turvy pile, sewed them down and added sequins.

Lollipop
The lollipop stick is glued down to the calendar. If you plan to sew it as well, use a light layer of glue. I didn’t bother sewing mine. On the lavender circle, sew a purple sequin to the center. Add sequins in a line making a spiral. (To add sequins in a line, bring your needle up through the felt beside your first sequin and through the hole of sequin 2. Come back down through sequin 1. Repeat, coming up beside sequin 2, through sequin 3 and down through sequin 2. Repeat. The last sequin gets a second stitch to tack it down.]

Construction
When sewing the back on, I used a sewing machine. I sewed the left, bottom and right sides completely, but only sewed halfway up each slope at the top. On either side of where the hanger hook goes, add some hook and loop squares. The snowy roof just slides on top.

All done! I hope you enjoyed this free pattern. You can find the rest of my Christmas projects here. If you make one of my projects, please share a photo! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you follow me on Facebook but are not getting my post, I apologize! FB is only showing my posts to 10-15% of those of you who have liked the page, and wants me to pay to show it to more. I can’t afford that, but feel terrible that many of you miss out on advanced copies of patterns, sneak peeks and polls for new projects. You can set your account to get notifications when I post (no more than once per day) by clicking the “like” button a second time and setting your notification preferences. Hopefully that will help.

Thank you for all the well wishes for Jax as he recovered from pneumonia. We are finally back to normal here! If you’d like to support this site of send a little surprise to Jax, you can find his wishlist here. We are saving up to surprise him with a Wii U from GameStop.

Halloween Costume Match Quiet Book Page

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This is a fun quiet book page that would be a great addition to a holiday, seasonal or month activity book. The free pattern comes with 4 mix and match costumes, and you can easily make you own. There is a jack-o-lantern pocket for storage and two ghost friends that snap off.

Children can sort the costumes into their matching sets or have fun making silly combinations. This page would work great with my Halloween Jack-o-lantern page!

What I Used:

The Pattern
Felt (in Wild Blueberry, Favorite Jeans, White, Black, Bisque, Orange Juice, Lemon Meringue, Honeydew, Limeade, Monkey, Ice, Lavender, Gold Nugget, Tobacco, Sweet Potato and Big Apple)
Backing Felt (in Embossed Pumpkin) optional
Scraps of gold trim
Sew-on Snaps (two for ghosts; you can add snaps to the clothes and body if you’d like)
Felt Glue

Are you ready to sew a fun Halloween costume match page?

Background
I started by cutting a 12″ x 4″ strip of denim blue felt into a sloping hill, then I sewed it down to the background. (When adding details to your page, be mindful of the way you bind your books. My way requires 2″ of width on the binding edge.) I then sewed down the moon and two clouds. Sew two snaps down where you want the ghosts to be. Pin the body and undies in place and sew them down. If you’d like to add snaps or Velcro to the backs of your costume pieces, sew them to the head, torso and groin of the body. (If you use Velcro, I recommend the snag-free kind for use with felt.)

Ghosts
For each ghost: Sew the other half of the snap onto the back of the ghost. On the front, make two French knot eyes and sew down the mouth. Sew the front and back together with a blanket stitch.

Pumpkin
To make the pumpkin pocket, I cut a scrap of yellow felt large enough to go behind the cut-outs of the pumpkin face. I tacked it behind the face with a bit of felt glue, then sewed it on around the eye and mouth holes. I then layered another pumpkin piece behind the yellow to hide it, and sewed both layers together across the curved top with a blanket stitch. I positioned the pumpkin onto the page and sewed through both it and the background the rest of the way around. This makes a pocket that is open at the top.

Costumes
To finish each costume piece: cut out a piece of backing felt to match the shape of your final piece, then sew it on with a blanket stitch, matching your thread colors to the felt. (If you are adding Velcro or snaps, do it before the blanket stitch.) I used the same “wild blueberry” dark blue felt as my costume backings.

Princess: I started by stitching on her face. I made aqua French knots for her eyes with tiny stitches beside them as shown. I made two peach stitches together for the nose. I used red-brown for her eyebrows and made a long, loose stitch and tacked it down into a curve with a tiny vertical stitch. Using pink I made two small stitches together for the bottom lip, one longer one for the upper lip. On the upper lip, I made a small “v” of stitches in the center as shown. Using a light layer of felt glue, I tacked down her hair and crown. I stitched the hair down around her face. I took a small piece of gold trim and stitched it down to the crown with the ends tucked under. Then it was ready to attach the backing.

For her blouse, I made a series of French knot pearls, then attached the backing. On the skirt, I stitched the skirt puffs on, then stitched more gold trim along the hem. I glued the feet to the back of the skirt after confirming their positions by laying it on the body pattern. I tacked down the shoes with glue then stitched them on. I then attached the backing.

Witch: I started by stitching on her face. I made purple French knots for her eyes with tiny stitches beside them as shown. I made two peach stitches together for the nose. I used lavender for her eyebrows and made a long, loose stitch and tacked it down into a curve with a tiny vertical stitch. Using pink I made two small stitches together for the bottom lip, two longer one for the upper lip. Using a light layer of felt glue, I tacked down her hair, hat and hat band. I stitched the hair down around her face and stitched down the hat band and where her hat meets her hair. Then it was ready to attach the backing.

On her blouse and skirt, I glued and sewed down the two patches using large, uneven stitches. I continued on with the skirt by positioning her stockings using the body pattern and gluing them and her shoes into place. On her stockings, I made long horizontal stitches to add stripes before attaching the backing.

Cowboy: I started by stitching on his face. I made brown French knots for her eyes with tiny stitches beside them as shown. I made two peach stitches together for the nose. Using the same dark peach, I made teenie stitches for freckles. Using pink I made two small stitches together for the mouth. Using a light layer of felt glue, I tacked down his hair, hat and hat band, then stitched all the inner edges. Then it was ready to attach the backing.

On his shirt, I tacked down the vest and then the scarf. I sewed down all the inner edges, then attached the backing. On his pants, I layered the jeans and shoes behind the chaps, using the body pattern for positioning, and tacked them with glue. I tacked down the belt buckle, sewed all the inner edges, then attached the backing.

Skeleton: For all parts of the skeleton, I tacked the bones down into place with a light layer of felt glue and them stitched them down. I added the red heart on top of the ribs because it was easier to see. I then attached all the backings.

And there is something that makes it even more fun… Flocked pumpkin felt on the back of the page! The jack-o-lanterns are fuzzy and a little glittery. Super cute!

I hope you enjoy this free pattern! The commercial license for selling completed products from this pattern will be available in my Etsy shop.

Do you have a special pattern request? Stop by my Facebook Page or my Instagram (@iolstephanie) and let me know! Happy Halloween!

Recycling Quiet Book Set & Free Printables

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I’m always looking for ways to teach Jax about what we can do to help our planet. I knew a “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” theme would make a wonderful quiet book theme. Trash and recycle trucks are so much fun for kids to watch, so I had to add one in to expand the project into a fun recycling set.

This is a pay pattern available in my Etsy shop. Purchasing my pay patterns will let me move towards making a living at crafting and give me more time to devote to both pay and free projects.

The 6″ square quiet book features 3 double pages: Reduce teaches turning off lights and faucets to save resources. Reuse promotes using reusable cups and bags whenever possible. Recycle introduces sorting recyclables (and compost items!) into their bins. The cover has a recycle symbol and an earth with a heart.

All of the sorting items can be used with the recycle truck that features a working back hatch. Pull the loop to open the hatch, then pull the ribbon to close it up again. There is also a recycle bin and a felt doll that is compatible with my other dress up felt dolls (fire station and dollhouse.)

I hope you’ll find the pattern files to be beautiful and helpful. A lot of time went into them! The pattern includes a stitch guide and full tutorial with photos and illustrations. You will also receive a coupon for $5 off at American Felt and Craft to help you get started on your felt stash.

You can purchase this pattern for $8 in my Etsy shop, Imagine Our Life. If you would like to sell the finished product, you can purchase commercial licensed version for $20. This is a one time fee, and you’d be able to sell as many recycle quiet books as you’d like after purchasing it.

As a free add-on to this felt set, I am providing my matching 3-part cards and recycle sorting game free for educational use! Click here to download the pdf.

The cards and game include the same sorting categories as the felt set, giving you an additional way to teach the new vocabulary. (I include both the North American spelling on “aluminum” and the world spelling of “aluminium”.) The game features illustrations that were hand drawn by me.

To assemble, print out the cards and cut them out. Glue them to card stock backs, then laminate and trim. I use this laminator. To make laminating a bit easier, you can try adding a dab of glue stick to the cards when you position then in the lamination sleeves. It keeps them from wiggling and overlapping.

I purchased two 3-packs of blue drawer organizers from Dollar Tree to use as my sorting bins.

If you liked this free homeschool printable and want more homeschool ideas, visit Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now.

I hope you enjoy this pattern! I can’t tell how much your support means to me. Big thank yous to all of you who are a part of our Facebook page. You have given me so much inspiration! Please feel free to comment here or on Facebook if you have suggestions for new projects. I am sketching patterns and ordering felt for all my fall projects this week. I’ll post some sneak peeks on Instagram. Come follow along!

Recycling Quiet Book Pattern

Sock Penguin Tutorial

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When I found an old pair of rainbow striped socks, I knew I wanted to make a sock animal. I asked Jax what he would like, and wasn’t surprised to hear him request a penguin. They are his favorite animal! I wasn’t sure how a rainbow striped penguin would turn out, but he’s really cute! This works up very quick and easy. It took me about 2 hours of hand sewing to finish.

You could use any size sock, but would need to scale the pattern pieces to match. One knee-high sock is perfect (mine were thigh-high and I had 7″ leftover before the cuff. (See my sock measurements on the pattern as a guide.) I can use two socks if yours are shorter.

Other materials needed are: the pattern, poly fill, felt (white, orange, black and an eye color) and needle/threads.

The tutorial is included in the pattern file, as well as a stitch guide. (The stitch guide is a new feature in my pay patterns. Let me know what you think of this sample!)

If you sew a sock penguin from my tutorial, Jax and I would love to see yours! Show us a picture via our Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram.

Pirate Island Tic-Tac-Toe Quiet Book Page

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Tic Tac Yo-Ho-ho!

Jax has recently taken an interest in learning how to play tic-tac-toe (Noughts and crosses, Xs and Os, etc…) so I thought it would be a fun and quick page to sew up. This project would also work great as a stand-alone 9″ square felt tic-tac-toe set. We’ll be going to the beach in September, so I thought up a pirate island theme!

This page can be made as a stand-alone game by sewing it to a 9″ square background.

Pair this page with: The Treasure Quiet Book Page

What I used:

The pattern
Wool blend felt from American Felt and Craft in pastry, doe, gold nugget, big apple, ice, black and white. I also used some dark brown 100% wool felt for the chest because it is very thick and sturdy. Mine was a few dollars at the craft store. You can use thinner felt, but I recommend doubling each side of the pocket.
Felt glue
Stuffing or batting
Sequins: small blue crystal iridescent and large/XL gold
Faux pearl buttons
One small sew-on snap

Sewing the Island

Following the template, sewing the tic-tac-toe grid onto the island piece.

Pin down the island with a bit of stuffing or batting underneath for dimension. Sewing it down, then embellish it with French knots and tiny stitches to show the sand texture.

Decorate the water’s edge with blue crystal sequins. Decorate the sand with some pirate’s treasure: gold sequins and pearl buttons.

Treasure Chest

Stitch two gold bands onto each side of the treasure chest. I used thick 100% wool felt, so I didn’t line the chest. If you are using regular felt, place a blank chest piece behind each side of the chest and sew them together along the long top side.

Place the two finished sides together and sew the right sides and bottom together, then place it on the page as shown and sew the left side together through the page. This will make a pocket that is hinged to the page. You can flip it out of the way when it is time to play. Add a snap to the back of the chest on the loose side, then sew the matching half to the page. This holds the pocket still while you flip through your quiet book.

Cross Bones

Using a light layer of felt glue, tack down two of the bones into a cross shape onto black felt. Once it is dry, cut it out and sew it all around the outside. Repeat so you have 5 X’s.

Ruby Rings

With on strand of pink thread, sew the gem lines onto each felt ruby. Start with a long horizontal line, then make two V’s above it and one large V below it. Use the template as a guide.

Using a light layer of felt glue, tack down a gold ring onto brown felt. Glue a ruby on top as shown. once it is dry, cut it out and sew it all around the edges. Repeat so you have 5 O’s.

Arrrrh! Have Fun!

Learn and Play with the Learning Laptop

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Quick Links: Purchase this pattern for personal use or commercial use!

A colorful, handmade invitation to learn & play…
The Learning Laptop!

Introducing the newest pattern in the Imagine Our Life Etsy pattern shop.

The Learning Laptop project makes a laptop-style quietbook with multiple activity sheets that pull out of a storage pocket and attach to the screen. The “keyboard” is made of letters attached by hook and loop tape. Activities include: the alphabet, numbers (quantity, addition & subtraction), colors (matching & mixing) and tangrams (two difficulty levels). The keyboard lifts up to reveal storage pockets for all the loose parts and activity pages. This book is perfect for a broad range of ages, but I recommend children under three have adult supervision due to small parts.

All the wool blend felt and vinyl in this project was provided by American Felt & Craft. The colors are all so beautiful, and I have a lot of leftovers to create more projects from. You do use quite a bit of hook & loop tape in this project. So much that I ended up not putting it on any of the loose parts beyond the alphabet. I used white Snag-Free Velcro for the screen and keyboard, then gray and black for the case. The only other special supply that is used is an assortment of colorful mini buttons. Mine were 7mm Favorite Findings Basic Mini Buttons in Ocean, Fun, Primary and Clean. I collected mine in craft stores, but I generally can find them online too. I have plenty leftover for other projects.

Alphabet

The first thing you see when you open the Learning Laptop is the alphabet. It isn’t in qwerty, as it is meant to teach alphabetical order. (You would need to scale your letters down a bit to convert it to qwerty, as you’d need 10 instead of 9 on the top row.) The letters can all be pulled off and put back in the correct order, or used to make works on the screen. The basic pattern calls for one of each letter, but you can make extras and store them inside. I’d recommend extras if there are double letters in your child’s name.

I chose two shades of aqua for my letters, separating the vowels with a darker shade. You can change them to all the same, or perhaps the classic Montessori red and blue combination. I added a little heart to fill in our extra space.

$Learn and Play with the Learning Laptop$ Numbers

There are two sets of number tiles that range 0 through 9. One set has buttons to show the quantity, the other has written numerals. I chose not to match the felt colors between the two sets so that a matching game will be harder for my 4-year-old. A younger child who is just learning number quantities might benefit from having the felt colors correspond.

A math page is included in the storage pocket to introduce addition and subtraction. It includes one line for each, with space to have up to two tiles as the answer (for example when using the 1 and 0 to make a 10.)

Colors

The Learning Laptop has three simple color puzzles. You could create additional pieces and add more button combinations if you wanted to. Included is a page that lets the child either sort the three primary colors into three puzzles, or they can follow the mixing equations to make the complimentary colors.

The outer pieces are the same primary color on each side. The inner pieces are primary colors (red, yellow and blue) on one side and complementary colors (orange, green and purple) on the other.

Tangrams

The tangram puzzle are Jax’s favorite! The pattern includes two sheets of full-size puzzles that have guide lines and two pages with smaller color examples of additional puzzles. This gives the child two difficulty levels to work through.

The tangrams are colorful and fun. Jax started out struggling with the easier puzzles, but after working out how to rotate and flip the pieces, he soon was able to move on to the harder puzzles. Now he is showing interest in creating his own!

Everything tucks away into the storage section to keep it safe, though I help Jax clean up so we know nothing is missing.

Jax in his Montessori homeschool room. Learn more here.

Jax really adores this laptop quiet book and was so anxious for me to finish it! In honor of the tangrams being his favorite, I created a free pdf file with 12 additional puzzles in matching colors. Download it here.

I worked hard to really make the pattern and instructions look beautiful. I’ve included a full tutorial and a brand new stitch guide! As an added bonus, there is a $5 American Felt & Craft coupon to help you purchase beautiful felt!

The Learning Laptop pattern can be purchased for personal use for only $8.00 here. Your purchase helps me towards my goal of making this site my full-time job so I can share so many more projects with you. And, don’t worry! I will be mixing in plenty of free patterns!

Plan to sell the finished product? Purchase a commercial license for $25 and sell as many as you like! You will also be listed on my Authorized Sellers page.

Felt Sandwich Set

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Have you caught the felt food bug yet? Felt food is super adorable and quite easy to make. I’ve been dying to design some for Jax, but needed to wait until he was old enough to keep them picked up. We have a golden retriever who would find felt food equally as fun!

I had so much fun designing and sewing a felt sandwich set for Jax, that I wanted to share the free pattern with you all. This set includes all sorts of goodies for your sandwich shop: breads, proteins, cheeses, veggies and spreads. And don’t forget chips and a cookie!

I’ve also been sewing a lot of sliced fruits to go along with the sandwiches. Follow my Play Kitchens & Food Pinterest board for many of the tutorials I followed. I did create some of the fruits on my own. I can share those later if there is interest.

What I Used

I used a hodge-podge of felts for this project – whatever I had on hand! Some is wool blend felt from American Felt and Craft, some is cheap craft felt by the yard from Joann’s Fabric and the chip bag is thick 100% wool from the craft store. Here is the pattern I made.

Breads

For the pita pocket, I placed two layers together and sewed them together along the straight edge with a blanket stitch. I repeated this with the last two pieces to have the two sides of the pocket. I placed them together and sewed through all the layers along the curve.

For the sliced breads, I cut two strips of crust for each slice. Using a blanket stitch, one strip got sewn around the top curve of one bread piece and the other around the square bottom. The strips were trimmed and sewn together at the base of the curves on each side. I then blanket stitched the other side of the bread on, pausing halfway to lightly stuff it with poly-fil.

I used artists’ pastels to add shading to the brown toasted bread. I colored lightly around the edges of each side, then “set” it by getting the colored felt wet and drying it overnight. We haven’t had any rub off yet, but Jax is gentle. I do not recommend doing this if any felt food will be in someone’s mouth! And do be sure your pastels are non-toxic.

The cookie is very simple! I cut little chocolate chips and glued them down with a dab of felt glue. I sewed mine down as well. I then sewed the two sides together with a blanket stitch, pausing halfway to lightly stuff the cookie. (All of the items in my breads section were done with cheap craft felt.)

Spreads

For each of the spreads, I sewed the front and back pieces together. On the guacamole, I also glued then sewed down little scraps of red and green felt before sewing the whole piece.

Cheeses

I made three kinds of cheese, but you could easily add your favorites. For each of them, I sewed the front and back pieces together. On the pepper jack, I also glued then sewed down little scraps of red and green felt before sewing the whole piece.

Produce

Being a vegetarian, I wanted lots of tasty, colorful fruits and veggies for Jax’s sandwich set. They take a bit more work but add so much!

For the lettuce, I cut mine out with pinking shears for a zigzag edge. I sewed the two sides together with a running stitch (a dashed line stitch that looks the same on both sides.) I pinched the base together into a tiny dart and stitched it to make the stem. I used a running stitch to add veins.

To make the spinach, I stitched three leaves to one of the base pieces using a back stitch up the center vein of each. I then blanket stitched the front and back together.

When sewing the avocado, I started by sewing the two sides of the avocado flesh together along the straight edge with the pit hole. I then blanket stitched the back piece on to make a wedge, pausing to fill it with stuffing.

The tomato takes a bit of embroidery time. I laid each side of the tomato down onto one of the inner pieces, then sewed down the holes. Using gold thread, I stitched the seeds with a lazy daisy stitch (Bring your needle up and down at the same spot, but before you pull the loop tight, make a tiny perpendicular stitch at the top to tack it in place.) Once all the seeds were done, I stitched the two sides together with a blanket stitch.

For the red onion, I made two rows of dashed running stitch to each white ring. I then sandwiched the purple skin piece between the white rings and blanket stitched it together. The purple will show a bit as though you sliced the onion thinly.

The cucumbers started with seeds that were tacked down with glue, then stitched on. I sewed 3 to each side. I then layered the skin piece between two flesh pieces and blanket stitched it all together, the same as with the onion.

Proteins

I know olive loaf is pretty yucky in real life, but it sure looks adorable made of felt! Jax like olives, so I thought he would find it fun. I cut whole and partial olives, red square pimentos and random pink scraps. I glued and sewed them down to both pieces of a really lovely pale peachy pink felt, then stitched the two sides together with a blanket stitch. I did the salami the same way as the olive loaf, using pink and white random scraps for the little bits in it.

For the two sandwich meats, I simply sewed the two sides together with a blanket stitch. On the turkey, I used the same pastel technique as the toast to add some shading.

The fried egg is simple. I stitched the yolk down to one side, pausing to add some stuffing. I then sewed both sides together with a blanket stitch.

To make the bacon, I cut two wiggly pink strips for each side. I glued and sewed them down, then sewed the two sides together.

Chips

I used a very thick 100% wool for my chip bag, so it did not require a double layer of felt. You can double up the same way as with the pita pocket if needed. I also cut my bag on the fold so I didn’t need to sew the bottom. I used back stitch and a french knot to make my chip label. After stitching the lettering onto the label, I stitched the label onto the bag front with a blanket stitch. I then stitched the side of the bag closed into a pocket.

The chips were made by simply blanket stitching two layers of felt together.

There are so many fun combinations you can make with this felt food set – especially if you add some pieces of fruit! Which piece is your favorite?

Felt Weather Station Pattern & Free 3-Part Cards

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Learning about the weather is always fun for kids. It is easy to relate what you learn to what is going on outside the window.

I knew I wanted to create something for Jax to let him explore and learn about different weather conditions. I decided to go with a felt set that can both be used to learn new weather words and to post the daily weather.

This pattern is my very first pay pattern. I hope you find the pricing reasonable! I am really hoping to turn my crafting into a career that lets me both be creative and have time to be the best mama I can be. I will still be offering free patterns. At this point, I expect 50% will be free. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

You can purchase this pattern for $6 in my Etsy shop, Imagine Our Life. If you would like to sell the finished product, you can purchase commercial licensed version for $20. This is a one time fee, and you’d be able to sell as many weather charts as you’d like after purchasing it.

This pattern included instruction to sew both a felt weather wall chart and a quietbook version. The wall chart is perfect for classrooms, while the quietbook is a fun way to make learning portable. There are 12 adorable weather condition pieces, along with matching labels printed on photo fabric. (You can also print the labels on card stock and laminate them.) There is a slider that can be set to the current temperature. A special pocket allows children to post the current weather conditions.

As a free add-on to this felt set, I am providing my matching 3-part cards free for educational use! Click here to download the pdf. The cards include many of the same weather conditions as the felt set, giving you an additional way to teach the new vocabulary.

If you liked this free homeschool printable and want more homeschool ideas, visit Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now.

I hope you enjoy this pattern! I can’t tell how much your support means to me. Big thank yous to all of you who are a part of our Facebook page. You have given me so much inspiration! Please feel free to comment here or on Facebook if you have suggestions for new projects. I’ll also be posting sneak peeks at this week’s free pattern on my Instagram. Come follow along!

Felt Weather Station Pattern

Animals of Australia for the Montessori Wall Map & Quietbook with Printables

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At last, the final sewing installment the Montessori wall map! It’s hard to believe I’ve finished sewing the whole world (just about)! The next and final post in this series will feature the world landmark printables. If you haven’t been following our Montessori wall map and quiet book yet, you can read all about it here. This post is for the continent of Australia.

Every continent (and the oceans) will have landmarks and animals. Australia has so many wonderful animals, but is too small on the scale of this map to fit more than 4 pieces I ended up choosing 3 animals (thanks to your votes on Facebook!) and one landmark for this continent. The landmark, the Sydney Opera House, is the only landmark I chose in this project that doesn’t have a matching Safari LTD figurine. It was so iconic that I couldn’t not make it, though. I included: The Sydney Opera House, and Emu, a Koala and a kangaroo.

Overview and Map Patterns • Africa • Antarctica • Asia • Australia Europe • North America • Oceans • South America

Our finished map!

This project is totally free for you to use (though commercial use requires a license.) If you’d like to support my designs, one way is to make a purchase off of Jax’s Amazon wishlist – he turns 4 on February 5th! I use his list to bookmark school and craft items until I am able to get them. For more ways to contribute to this site, visit my support page.

Materials I Used

The Pattern (see the first post for the main patterns) Felt from American Felt & Craft – pastry [golden taupe], chocolate [deep brown], fresh linen [off white], monkey [red brown], honeydew [light green], sparrow [light blue], ice [aqua blue], rocky point [heather taupe], elephant [charcoal], gray, white and black. Hook & Loop – I used white snag-free Velcro on the backs of all these pieces and brown hook & loop (loop only) on the front of the Australia puzzle piece. My brown hook & loop was from here. Felt glue to tack down the pieces before sewing, printer fabric for the continent label, embroidery floss in colors to match the felt and micro tip scissors.

Animals of Australia for the Montessori Wall Map & Quietbook with Printables

For the Australia quiet book page, I sewed a running stitch (dashed) outline around the Australia pattern piece and sewed down snag-free Velcro to line up with the Velcro on the back of the Australia piece.

Australia: (Felt used: chocolate brown) For the Australian continent puzzle piece, I sewed down pieces of brown loop Velcro. On the back, I sewed strips of white snag-free Velcro to correspond with the Velcro in the quietbook and the wall map. I finished it by sewing the two sides together around the edge with a blanket stitch.

Label: (Felt used: chocolate brown) For the continent label, I folded under the edges (just a tiny bit to hide the rough edges) and creased it with my nails. The printer fabric held the folds nicely without ironing. Then I stitched the label to some brown felt and trimmed it down to be a border. I cut a matching felt rectangle for the back, sewed snag-free Velcro to it and then sewed both sides together.

For all of the animals, I started by gluing the pieces down to a scrap of background felt with a very light amount of felt glue. I glue multiple animals at a time to give them time to dry. I sewed them down, trimmed the background and cut a matching backing piece. I sewed snag-free Velcro to the back and sewed both sides together with a blanket stitch.

We love this animal encyclopaedia!

Emu: (Felt used: rocky point heather beige and chocolate dark brown for the body, grey light grey and elephant charcoal gray for the head and legs and honeydew light green for the background) For the emu, I tacked everything into place with felt glue. I then sewed all the pieces down around their edges. I made little dashed stitches with brown floss to make his feather texture. His eye is a gold French knot with a tiny black stitch in the center. His mouth is a black line.

Kangaroo: (Felt used: monkey red-brown for the body and pastry beige for the background) I started by tacking everything down with felt glue. The joey’s head and kangaroo leg go on top of the body. I stitched everything down around the edges, the back stitched the line of the kangaroo’s elbow. There is a straight stitch in her ear and the pouch. Both eyes are black French knots.

Koala: (Felt used: gray for the bodies, white for the ears, black for the noses, chocolate dark brown for the tree and honeydew light green for the background) I started by tacking everything down with felt glue. Then I stitched everything down around the edges (except the white of the ears). The eyes are brown French knots. Their nails are brown straight stitches. I back stitched the mama koala’s mouth.

Sewing the Landmarks

For all the landmarks in this project, I started by sewing the front piece. Then I cut out a backing felt to match the final shape and added some snag-free Velcro to it. I finished sewed around the whole edge, switching colors where needed. For all of the detail work, see the photos for a sample of where to stitch.

Sydney Opera House: (Felt used: pastry beige and white for the building, ice for the water and sparrow blue for the background) I glued down the building pieces and stitched down the edges. Using three shades of brown floss, I made many straight stitches to add details of the building. I looked at photos online for reference. See my close up for exactly what I did.

These animals are from Safari LTD’s Down Under TOOB

Montessori Australian Animals 3-Part Cards

The series of 3-Part cards I am making for this project is something that Jax will be using for many years in homeschool. I have been focusing on the animals in these posts, but the next post will feature all the landmarks we sewed. Eventually, we will expand our collection of cards even more to include cultures, more landmarks, and so much more. Three part cards are extremely flexible learning tools.

Click here to download my free pdf file to make your own animals of Australia cards. To make mine, I cut them out, glued them to brown construction paper (to match Australia’s Montessori color) then laminated them. I use this laminator and I’ve been very happy with it. It makes everything so shiny and strong! My photos come out slightly faded from the printer (I use normal paper) but turn gorgeous after lamination. (Quick tip: Add a dab of glue stick on the back of your pieces before you place them in the lamination pouch to keep them from sliding around as you feed it through the machine.)

I know many of you are sewing along (or plan to after the holidays!) If you are, stop by my Instagram @iolstephanie and leave a comment on one of my photos (I can’t see your photo if it you are private, but I can request to follow you temporarily if you leave a comment on mine about it) or share photos on Facebook. You can also email me. I love seeing what others make from my patterns!

I know many of you are sewing along, or will be soon. If you are, stop by my Instagram @iolstephanie and leave a comment on one of my photos (I can’t see your photo if it you are private, but I can request to follow you temporarily if you leave a comment on mine about it) or share photos on Facebook. You can also email me. I love seeing what others make from my patterns!

Montessori Monday is a fabulous resource of Montessori and homeschool ideas! Please visit for more great projects…

Polar Family Felt Ornament Patterns – Narwhals & Penguins

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Time has been flying by with lots of projects on my plate. I can’t believe it is nearly Christmas! But I finally have the last two polar family felt ornament patterns ready for you to enjoy.

This year’s theme is Polar Families, inspired by some of the animals Jax and I have been studying in homeschool with our world continent project. There will be four designs: a penguin daddy and chick, a narwhal family, a pair of penguin mates and a polar bear mama and cub. The latter two are featured here.

What I Used

I am listing all the supplies I’ll use for the 4 ornaments, noting the ones not needed for these two.

The Patterns: Narwhal Family & Penguin Daddy & Chick
Felt (in white, fresh linen, poppy, orange whip, lemongrass, blueprint, dolphin and sparrow)
Sequins (in crystal, coral, mermaid and dragonfly)
Red Ribbon
Stuffing or Batting
Felt Glue

Penguin Daddy & Chick

I cut a rounded strip of white felt for the snowy ground and tacked it down across the bottom of the white background felt with felt glue. After I cut out all my pieces, I tacked them into place as well. Then I trimmed down the background felt so there was just a small edge around the penguins.

For the penguins, the heart and the top of the snowy ground, I stitched all the edges down with matching floss. (I use 2 strands.) I stitched crystal sequins randomly onto the snowy ground using 2 stitches each. I also added them to the heart. At the end of the scarf, I made upside-down V stitches as tassels. I made French knot eyes on the chick.

On the white background, I stitched snowflakes: a plus sign shape of four stitches, all stitched towards the center, then four more longer stitches on the diagonal in between.

I cut a length of red ribbon and a piece of orange whip (coral orange) felt to fit as the ornament’s backing. I stitched all the way around, adding stuffing halfway and catching the ribbon loop in the top. I used a blanket stitch.

Narwhal Family

I love narwhals! They live up in the Arctic ocean, so I was happy to include them in this polar series. Narwhals are brownish grey, and they turn speckled white with age. I stuck with my color scheme, as they look blue gray under the ocean water. I had intended to use two shades of brown sequins for the adults’ speckles, but I ultimately decided to skip them. I found them distracting. [ You can see what they look like here and decide for yourself. ]

There aren’t a lot of narwhal pictures out there. I was very inspired by this drawing. Narwhals don’t typically stay in family groups, but I wanted to show all of their forms in this ornament.

I started by tacking everything down to a dolphin teal-gray background with a light layer of felt glue, including a pointed strip I cut out of lemongrass to be the male adult’s tusk. I cut the tusk into two pieces and layered part behind the heart and part in front so that it looks like the heart is pierced. I stitched around all the edges, and added sequins to two of the hearts. The eyes are French knots with little stitches in one corner of each. The tusk was done with diagonal stitches running across it.

After sewing everything down, I cut around the outside of the ornament to trim it down, then sewed crystal and mermaid sequins on as bubbles. Add as many or as few as you’d like. I overlapped and grouped mine.

I cut a length of red ribbon and a piece of blueprint (blue-gray) felt to fit as the ornament’s backing. I stitched all the way around, adding stuffing halfway and catching the ribbon loop in the top. I used a blanket stitch.

Are you an Etsy or craft fair seller? Would you like to sell these ornaments, or any other item sewn from an Imagine Our Life pattern? Visit my Etsy shop and contact me for custom commercial licenses. All authorized sellers get featured on the website.

If you make one of these ornaments, I’d love to see it! Stop by our Facebook page, or mention me @iolstephanie on Instagram or Twitter. (If you are private on Instagram, I’ll have to request to follow you to see it.) Happy Holidays!

What I Used:

What I Used:

What I Used:

What I Used:

Tic Tac Yo-Ho-ho!

What I used:

A colorful, handmade invitation to learn & play… The Learning Laptop!

Alphabet

Numbers

Colors

Tangrams

What I Used

Breads

Spreads

Cheeses

Produce

Proteins

Chips

Materials I Used

Sewing the Landmarks

Montessori Australian Animals 3-Part Cards

What I Used

Penguin Daddy & Chick

Narwhal Family

A colorful, handmade invitation to learn & play…
The Learning Laptop!

$Learn and Play with the Learning Laptop$ Numbers