"Thomas the Tank Engine" post round-up

I hadn't planned on posting these cupcakes from my son's Thomas the Train first birthday party, because we all know I'm no baking expert, or cake-decorating expert.

But then a lot of people started landing on my blog by Googling variations of "Thomas the Train DIY Birthday Party" and the like, so I thought it might be helpful to share what we actually did. I also thought it was a good way to round up my previous Thomas posts...  
My husband baked these cupcakes, and then we decorated them together. He made the cake batter from scratch, but we cheated and used store-bought frosting! We're kickin' it on the "Semi-Homemade" tip. The frosting was a white (so likely vanilla, buttercream, or creamcheese?) flavor from Pillsbury or Duncan Hines. I know, helpful.

We didn't use foodcoloring on the frosting, opting instead for Wilton frosting coloring (available at WalMart and Jo-Ann) in red, blue, and black to create gray, light blue, and hot pink red cupcake tops.

I sprinkled some with red and white sprinkles, some with red only, poked some Thomas the Tank Engine Party toothpicks, and placed sugar Thomas icing decorations on others. We bought the toothpicks, sugar decorators, and lots of other decorations from Party City. Some plates and cups were purchased from Target.

For our DIY Thomas the Tank Engine Smash Cake, we just picked out one of our smaller rectangular cake pans and backed it in there. Once it was baked, we cut a good-sized circle from the rectangle (pictured in the collage above). Husband frosted it with gray frosting and I used a Wilton black icing tube to draw Thomas' face on it.

Links to my other Thomas and Friends posts:

Thomas the Tank Engine First Birthday Quilt

Thomas the Train Tank Top for Mommy

Thomas and Friends Fabric Bunting

Thomas and Friends Paper Bunting

Thomas & Friends birthday party bunting (paper)

I hadn't planned on making two sets of bunting for the young mister's birthday party, but when I saw this book for just a buck at the thrift store, I thought it should come home with us.

It's one of those books that makes sounds... but this book was pretty old and beat up, so the sounds were less children's book and more creepy horror movie-- all scratchy and hard to hear.

I thought I could rescue it by giving it new life-- Thomas the Train Book Bunting! I used thrifted bias tape for the project as well.

I actually made this one before the Thomas the Train Fabric Bunting, which is now hanging in his room. I decided that hanging this one too might be overkill, so... I'm actually going to disassemble this one and use it in a different project! This Thomas the Train book is getting more lives than a cat.

I used a fancy paper punch around the edges, which kinda gave it a Papel Picado feel.

Thomas & Friends Book Bunting

Materials: Thomas the Train Book ($1 - thrifted), bias tape (.50 cents - thrift store), thread

Total cost: ~$1.50

Colette Sorbetto: Thomas & Friends

This is my second go at Colette's Sorbetto.

Yes, it is Thomas the Tank Engine, and yes, I am a 31-year-old woman.

Normally, my frugal ways would have me turn away from a top I can only wear once (my son's birthday party). But I actually justified the time and money put into this top by deciding that I'll also be that nerdy mom who wears it to Day out With Thomas in the Santa Cruz Mountains later this summer, whenever we take the baby to Sonoma Train Town, and when we get around to riding the Skunk Train with my in-laws. Heck, I've never ridden the Niles Canyon Railway, and it's in my own backyard-- maybe it's time I took the kiddo there in my Thomas shirt, too. Are there any other train excursions in the greater Bay Area/NorCal I left out?

Onto the top: I cut a size smaller on the sides and shoulder this time, but left it an 18 on the length, armholes, and neckline. It fits much, much better than the Granny Shorts Sorbetto, but there's still room for improvement. I know what many people like about the Sorbetto is the hip room, but even though I'm plus-sized, I find the hips too roomy and will cut it straighter down the sides next time.

For bias tape I used the stuff I intended to be quilt binding here, so the exposed bias facing is pretty wide and very stiff... it kinda makes the neckline and armhole sit up strangely, which I don't mind. What bothers me more about the bias tape is how the polka dots are just kinda a couple of rows here and there. Oh, well.

Oh yeah, I also sewed the bias tape down either side of the pleat, like flat piping.

Only two more Thomas posts to go-- I promise.

Thomas & Friends Tank Top
Pattern: Colette Sorbetto (free)
Materials: Thomas & Friends quilting cotton (~$6/yd - WalMart), red polka dot fabric (free - Gramma)
Total Cost: Under $10, probably around $8

Completed: Thomas the Tank Engine Toddler Stack and Slash Quilt

Are you sick of seeing Thomas the Train here yet? Because I've got about three more posts to go after this.

But the LO's Bday is today, so I promise we're almost done!

Also done: the quilt! Last seen here and here.

I didn't end up using the dot bias tape I showed you here; I decided it was too narrow. I scrapped together some of that same fabric and the red leftover from this to make the quilt binding instead. I like how the two turned out together.

There are loads of mistakes, but it IS my first quilt in a good 15-20 years, AND my first one all by my lonesome (without Gramma's help). I'll get better... hopefully.

There are six "stacked and slashed" fat quarters, with the seventh FQ providing sashing in between each row of two. It's a combo of tied with red yarn and machine quilted.

Thomas & Friends Stack & Slash Toddler Quilt
Materials: Thomas & Friends FQ Bundle ($7 - WalMart); pillow ticking, yarn, and red fabrics all from Gramma; extra Thomas fabric from here for the border; batting (~$7 - Jo-Ann sale)
Total cost: Under $20, but we all know quilts cost waayyy more to make than just the materials!

Thomas & Friends birthday party bunting (fabric)

Here's some bunting I made for the LO's first birthday party! As I mentioned before, his party theme is Thomas  & Friends.

Not going to write out a tutorial, but here's the method I used:

• I did some light math and determined how many triangles I wanted, how far apart, and how large they should be.
• Based on those measurements, drew and cut out my Isosceles Triangle pattern.
• Cut out twice as many triangles as I wanted to end up with, so that each would have a front and back.
• Sewed down each of the longer two sides, right-sides together.
• Turned them right-side out and pressed.
• Pinned and sewed them into thrifted double-fold bias tape, one seam at the top and one at the bottom of the tape.

I used a red paisley fabric from Gramma's stash. I was hoping it would  give off a train engineer's bandanna vibe, but truthfully, it was the only red in the stash. I bought a yard of the only Thomas cotton that Jo-Ann's had (before I found these fat quarters), but some of it ended up getting used in the quilt anyway. Yellow bias tape was the best match I had, and goes with Thomas's painted on number "1".

It'll hang in his room when the party's over.

I made a paper bunting too (haven't taken pics yet), and the quilt is actually done (camera died with pics on the cam's "hard drive")... watch for both here soon.

Thomas & Friends Fabric Bunting

Materials: red fabric (free - stash), Thomas the Tank fabric ($9.99 with a 50% coupon ~ $5 - Jo-Ann), bias tape (.50 cents - thrift store), thread

Total cost: ~$5.50

WIP: Thomas the Tank toddler quilt

I know what you're thinking... isn't there another quilt for my son I'm supposed to be working on? I'll get to his Space Robot Quilt soon enough, but always intended for that quilt to be twin or even full-sized. Considering his one-year-old birthday is coming up on May 7th, a toddler-bed sized quilt is more age appropriate.

And I actually hadn't planned on making him a toddler quilt. But I was at Wal-Mart and saw a Thomas the Tank fat quarter bundle on clearance for $7. It just so happened we were planning a Thomas and Friends themed birthday party, so I brought the bundle home even though I wasn't sure what I'd do with it. I'd already made Thomas Train themed bunting (I'll post pictures of that in a couple of days).

So I decided to just go ahead and make a quilt. It's a "Stack and Slash", which I knew about because it was the last kind of quilting my Gramma told me about before she died, and she had one in progress. I have her plans, which called for squares of fabric. But when I Googled "Slash Quilts" as Gramma called them, I came across one tutorial that called for hacking away at fat quarters. Works for me!

Again with the iPhone pictures... perhaps my PhotoShopping will distract you from the dismal picture quality.


This is one busy quilt. Some of my Thomas FQs were duplicates, which didn't help the busy-ness. Plus it's a lot of the same colors.

I already have one regret... can you guess what it is? All of that stripey coordinate seems to've ended up to the right of the quilt. That's the last time I ask my husband how he likes my quilt layout before I sew it.

Here's a shot after I've added some of the border. I like the contemporary look of a sans-border quilt, but I'm adding one to the quilt to both add size and in an attempt to neutralize all of the busy-ness.

Why I picked stripes to take away "the busy" I have no idea.

Oh wait, yes I do, that's another husband thing.

I was cutting this pillow ticking I had from Gramma's stash in order to use it as a muslin for a pair of shorts, and husby remarked that it looked like railroad overalls. So when it came to this quilt, it fit all of the requirements; it was free, I had tons of it (a whole bolt), and it fit with the railway theme (well, kinda).

Overall, I like this "Stack and Slash" method and may make another, more colorful, one. It looks like a lot of work, but was actually one of the fastest and easiest quilt tops I've made (this is my first return to quilting since probably middle school). I like that it doesn't waste a lot of fabric-- I was able to use the entire FQ except what I lost when I was squaring up my blocks. That said, your blocks do shrink a lot as you go along thanks to all of the seams.

WIP: Thomas the Tank toddler quilt

The Thomas and Friends Toddler Quilt is chuffing along nicely.

Incidentally, I'd never heard the word "chuffing" until watching Thomas the Tank Engine. Not even sure if I'm spelling it correctly.

Must be a Brit thing.

Onto the quilt progress.

I've finished the back (yes, I know it needs pressing, it's that obnoxious pillow ticking)...

...and made some continuous bias tape from the polka dots used on the back. I'll bind the quilt with that.

I've never binded bound made a quilt with binding before. Gramma always had me sew the quilt right-sides together, like a duvet cover, then flip it right-side-out and insert the batting, before tying it and stitching the opening closed.

And speaking of tying quilts, I'l do a combo of tying and machine quilting here. First time machine quilting too.