Hungry Caterpillar Tutorial

Probably my biggest recent project was Olivia's 3rd birthday party! The theme was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and I got massively geeked out about it. I made cute invitations, my SIL made an AMAZING birthday cake, and we ate all the foods the caterpillar ate through (although, plums not being in season, the kids got prunes. It was not the most popular item on the table).

Anyway, Steven is a much better blogger than I am, and you can read and see more about the party here. (You're even welcome to comment - I promise that Steven is much nicer than me). However, one thing you WON'T get on his blog is a tutorial on how to make the central point of the party: my Very Hungry Caterpillar party favors!

These were totally my favorite part of the party - I dreamed them up one night and was just giddy about giving them out.

MATERIALS

Sewing machine and thread (I used green)
Scissors
Pins
Marker
Paper to make patterns
Glue gun
3 colors of knit (old t-shirts work great!) - 6" x 9" each. (I tried it first with cotton. Knit is MUCH better.)
cotton fabric for butterfly wings - about 6" x 9"
2 pieces grosgrain ribbon, each about 3" and beveled at the ends
4 eyes (I used google eyes, you can use buttons or even draw them on)



Step 1: Wings

Fold your paper in half to cut out a pair of butterfly wings that are about 6" wide and 4" tall - you can see how mine look. (I was going to upload it for you to print, but figured if you can't make your own paper butterfly wings, sewing them is totally out.)

Then fold your cotton in half with right sides facing, and trace your pattern onto one wrong side.


Sew right on the line all around the wings.


Make sure that you have a big enough corner, so when you trim the seam and turn it out the fabric won't unravel.


Trim about a 1/8" seam all around, making sure to clip all the way in to the corners (as shown).


Then, pulling the fabric away from each other on the inside, make a vertical cut in one side of the wings, big enough so you can turn them outside out.



Then turn it right side out.



Now set the wings aside for the moment.

Step 2: The body

Layer your knits like so:
Caterpillar fabric: right side up
Butterfly fabric: WRONG side up
Cocoon fabric: right side up



Line them up, then sew them all together across one long end.

(Note - when I made a bunch of caterpillars, I just sewed long 6" high strips of these, then cut them into 9" lengths afterward.)


Next, separate the butterfly layer from the rest, and use your marker to put a line 1/4 of the way in (in the middle of what will be one side of the body).


Now pin your wings there with the cut side down...


And sew them on, then trim your strings.


Now take the ribbon and pin it on in an X right above the center of your wings. Fold them up and pin them shut as well (so they won't accidentally get sewn into the body). Then bring up the green layer again so it's behind the butterfly body layer.


Fold all layers in half (your wings are inside). Pay no attention to the gnarled looking toes. (I've heard it's a Danish thing.)


Now, on the folded side, start at the base of the green (where your long seam is) and sew a 1/4" seam all the way up the side...


Curving around the top, stitching over the antennae...(Note: if you're not confident with your curving skills, make a rounded body pattern out of paper and trace it onto the knit, then sew over it, just like with the wings.)


And then all the way down the side, so it looks like this.


Trim your seam to about 1/8", being careful not to cut the antennae.


Now, starting from the open end of the cocoon, turn the whole thing butterfly side out, being careful not to stab yourself on the pins. Then take them out of the antennae...


And the wings...


And unfold the wings!


Use the glue gun to put eyes on the front of the caterpillar and the butterfly, and you're done! (I didn't put on a mouth because the kids can kind of make one with their fingers and the caterpillar eats things.)

So, here's the caterpillar (with the cocoon tucked inside)...


You take out the cocoon and wrap it around the body...


Then turn it inside out, and it's a butterfly!


Hooray! Let me know if you have any questions.

Today during lunch

Olivia: There's little things in my bread!
Me: Those are seeds. They're yummy! They're what little birds eat.
(pause)
O: Can I have a coat?
M: What? A coat? (I wasn't sure I heard her right - it's Spring in Houston, and she has imperfect Rs)
O (starts crying): Over there in the closet!
M: Oh, Olivia, why do you need a coat? It's warm in here!
O: I need a coat so the birds won't eat me! (tugs at her short sleeves)
M: It's okay. There aren't any birds in here.
O: RIGHT THERE! (points out the window, where there are birds flying around in the backyard)
M: But look, they're outside, and you're inside. And birds don't eat people. They just eat seeds and worms. If I went outside with my short sleeves, the birds would see my arms and say, "What nice arms. But I don't eat people." And then they would look for some seeds. They don't eat arms.
O: But they would try...

(She finally calmed down. But she wouldn't eat the seedy bread.)

Drink up

We just finished breakfast, and I asked Carmen, "Would you like some milk?"

Then Olivia asked her sweetly, "Would you like some beer?"


I have NO idea where that came from!

This just in:

Steven's a little late getting home today, so I just said out loud, "Where is our Daddy?"

From upstairs, a little voice answered me back, "Youw daddy's at wowk, Sweetheawt."

:)

Shameless Plug

My sister The Looney Writer has been writing a book as a serial on her blog. She'd love to have some more people read it and provide feedback. So, I'll refer you to her place and invite you to take a peek. There are 12 chapters now (don't let "chapter" scare you - they're all pretty short. I'm a lazy reader, and even I have time for this.) Let her know what you think!

Boo.

Potty training makes me want to pout. That's all.

Spare the meat

Many of you know that in recent years, our family has made it a priority to eat meat sparingly. To us, this has meant that we have meat meals less often, and when we do, we use less meat in them. While we make no claims of being any variety of vegetarian or models of healthy living, we have really enjoyed the less-weighed-down feeling of eating less meat. (I like killing fewer animals, too.)

When I discuss this with friends, many of them ask how we have balanced, filling family meals that do not include meat. Again, I make no claims of being a health expert or dietitian, but our family has been satisfied with our diet, so I thought I'd share this week's dinner menu as an example:

Potato and chickpea curry with naan
Butternut squash soup, rolls, salad and asparagus
Eggplant parmigiana with garlic bread
Clam chowder
Baked tilapia, artichokes, garlic bread, and patatas bravas
Paella
Spaghetti

Breakdown:
1 features meat (paella)
1 has cheese (eggplant parmigiana)
2 have seafood (clam chowder and tilapia)
2 have meat flavoring (squash soup: chicken bouillon; clam chowder: bacon grease in which to saute onions)

For me, the secret to meatless meal planning has been to emphasize what you CAN eat, rather than what you can't. We don't substitute tofu or soy or anything like that. We figure out what non-meat foods we like - vegetables, grains, legumes - and build meals that revolve around those things. One reason meat is so popular is because it has strong, delicious flavor. There are other foods that also have strong, delicious flavors, so when we make those the focal part of the meal, we honestly don't feel like we're missing anything (because we aren't).