A Little Strawberry Goodness

I recently acquired a little MP3 player, which has been very nice. But, I felt it needed a little case, so I went in search of a pattern to make one. I found this cute little pattern for a Happy Star, but the pattern needed a little tweaking, and I wanted a slightly different shape. So, I made a strawberry shape, and cut down the size of the batting pieces by 1/8", making it much easier to sew and assemble. I also altered the size to fit my player, and turned it upside down so that I wouldn't have to make an extra hole for my earphones. Much less work that way.

Etsy

I've updated my Etsy site with all sorts of goodies, so go check it out!!!

Flirty Skirts

I just got this pattern a few days ago, and I absolutely love it. It is the Miss Twiss Hustle Bustle Skirt pattern. It is a very simple skirt but it turns out beautifully. Check out her site for more examples.

Here are my examples. The first one is a black skirt with very dark grey flowers on it. The flowers show up the closer you are, but they are a nice shade of charcoal. I made this one for Valentine's Day, so I would have something cute to wear on my date :) (and I apologize for the slightly wonky pictures, my 9 year old son took them because there wasn't anyone else available)



This next one was made from a recycled vintage sheet. I love the fabric, but it needs a slip. I had thought about flat-lining it, but it's done so I can't do that. I may have to figure out how to make a simple slip or break down and buy one.



This last one is from some material a friend gave me. I had planned on passing it along as it wasn't my favorite, but now that it's in skirt form, I love it.

Little Village And A Baby Blanket

Well, I finished the corset, and managed to somewhat deal with the sizing issues. I took in the sides a little, creating a bit of a flat felled seam. It works, for now. The pictures aren't much different, so I won't bother you with those. I do, however, have pictures of my next projects that I finished up.

Here is a baby blanket I made for a friend of mine. The embroidery was so cute and easy, and it just cried out, "Stitch Me!". Audibly. I swear.

I just did a simple two layers of flannel, one side brown and the other side pink (she had a girl). Then I did the embroidery on a scrap of muslin, and appliqued it to the blanket. It was much easier than trying to embroider onto such a dark piece of flannel, plus it gives a nice contrast.

A closeup of the birds


Now for my next little project, some Little Houses. These are so darn cute, and such a quick way to use up scraps. I made several, using a scrap piece of linen, some felt, and some calico fabrics. These are little ornaments, that can easily be made by just about anyone. You don't even necessarily have to have a sewing machine, they'd be easy enough by hand. I did some embroidery on mine to make them extra cute. I plan on making several more with a plain muslin for the house, so that the kids can draw on them as a great little crafty, handmade Christmas present for certain family members (shhh.... you don't know who you are!). The kids will love the project, and I will love the quiet. I almost forgot to add, but the instructions for these great little ornaments can be found here. I can make one of these babies up in about 20 minutes or so (if I'm not being climbed like a mountain goat), and they are so fun to embellish!

So here are the little houses. I'll start with my favorites, and go from there.

Almost Done...

I am almost done with my new short corset. However, it happens to be a little too big. I really need to work on those sizing issues....

But anyway, they turned out so pretty. I almost hate to sell them, but if I want to make another pair, I will likely have to. Plus, I hate to have them sitting around not being used.

Anyway, here are some pictures. They turned out so pretty.....




I used this embroidery pattern, which was so pretty. I had a hard time keeping it to only three colors, but it's so pretty and simple, that now I can't touch it. I usually have a hard time sticking to simple designs, because I always want to add more, but I also love the look of the simple designs, because they are so pretty.

So if anyone is interested in buying this, you can email me for the details.

Cute Little Cloth Diapers

I made these last week, in an effort to start potty training. I had heard these were good for helping the little ones feel when they're wet, teaching them that they need to use the potty sooner. So far, not too bad.

Here are some pictures of what I've made: (for some reason blogger keeps turning the second pic on it's side, but you get the idea).

A little sewing on the side

I have been making some of the cutest little skirts. They are so easy to make, and when you start embellishing them, they get even cuter. Here's the first one I made for my daughter. She absolutely loves it.



Here is my embellished and slightly smaller version. I had a lot of fun with this one, and it turned out so cute.




I'm hoping to sell the second one soon. You can see it in my Etsy shop, too.

Wow, It's Been Awhile

I really need to get back into this blogging thing again. It's been such a busy summer. We had a nice long visit to my mom's in Kansas, which was very nice. I haven't gotten to spend that much time with her since I moved out a long time ago, and while distance has been our friend, it was nice to hang out for a little bit.

When we started out, we just barely made it through all the flooding through Iowa. The water was mere feet from the road in a few places, and they closed I80 the morning after we went through. With all the kids, plus my mom, grandma, and two vehicles, it took us two days to get there, and two days to get back. Not too bad over all. The kids weren't too thrilled about the long car ride by the end of it, but they did surprisingly well.







I managed to get a little sewing in while I was there, and made this little dress for my daughter. You can't see the details very clearly, but I tried to do something like this on the front panel, and it turned out cute. The tucks were a little too close together, but it still looks nice.



I also finished my husband's blanket (finally!). It only took over a year to do it, though a lot of that was because I just didn't want to go near it for a little while. (Long story). The picture is a bit washed out, but you get the idea. It's a really nice throw size.



We started our home schooling this last week, and the kids are excited about getting back to it. At least they were the first few days, now they're getting a little more whiney, but we'll have to work on that.

We've done fairly well this summer in the injury department too. Considering all the boys, we actually didn't do too bad. 2 staples for Ethan after he cut his head, antibiotics for Sam after a nasty bug bite that swelled his whole leg up, and split lips for Aaron and Sam, neither of which required stitches thankfully. Eric managed to sprain his ankle, too, so I guess he was feeling left out :) All in all though, not too bad for a summer with 5 boys.

Well, that's all for now. I have a few goodies I'm going to post later, but that will have to wait :)

Sewing In Small Doses

I've been working on some small projects lately, and having all sorts of fun doing it too. I've been making some dresses for 18" dolls, like the American Girl dolls. They are turning out cute, and they work up so quickly that I love making them. I like quick projects. They're so much fun to do and see through to the end without major commitment.

So here are the three I've made so far:





These are all for sale on my Etsy shop too.

Sew Busy......

I've finally finished some of my daughter's projects up. I still have a few more things to finish, but we're getting there.

First up is Ariel's Easter dress. She absolutely loves it. I made it from Jennie's Girls' Romantic Dress pattern, and did a few things a little different. I reversed the interfacing at the bottom of the skirt, and added some ribbon to cover the raw edge. I used some white satin covered buttons on the back. I'm also planning on adding a white satin sash from the sides of the dress to pull in the waist just a little bit. That's the only thing I haven't "finished" on the dress, but it was an afterthought anyway, so technically the dress really is done.








Now, onto the jammies and matching slippers. I actually got the ideas for all of these from Kara of Thought and Thimble. She has the cutest ideas. The jammies are from a vintage Simplicity pattern, #8488, the slippers are from a Japanese pattern book that was just too cute to pass up, and the embroidery (I did that by hand the week before I had Zach, I just wish I had used some darker thread), was from a cute little book called Doodle Stitching. Quick word on Doodle Stitching. I loved the book, it gave me some ideas to free up my talent, but it was all a little elementary for me. It was very cute, but I've been embroidering for so long that all the stitches were easy. It did, however, allow me to realize that I don't always have to follow the pattern exactly, and I can actually create my own designs. Hence, the kitty. I did base the pattern off of a bunny pattern from the book, but I made it my own and made it to match the jammies. (You can see the rabbit pattern done up nicely here.)

Girls' Romantic Era Dress

I made the most adorable dress today, from the Romantic Era. I made it in a size 2, which I know my daughter won't be able to wear, but it was the size I had fabric for. I used a beautiful vintage fabric in browns, creams and greens (and I found a little blue while I was working with it too). It'a cute little twirly dress. It's from the Sense And Sensibility Girls' Romantic Dress pattern.


A close up of the cute little green buttons on the back.



So far, I think this is one of my favorites. It's small, it's cute, it was relatively easy, and it's just flat out adorable! I intend to make some cute little pantaloons to go under, and then hopefully I will be able to sell it for a good amount. I'd love to make one of those pettiskirts to go under it too, since it has such a great flare to it, but I can't seem to find any decent patterns yet. I'll have to figure something out.

Tiny Happy Purses

I found this pattern yesterday, and I knew I had to try it right away. I found a really cute home decor remnant at JoAnn's, which was also on sale for 75% off the original price. It is a really cute cream colored, with a diamond pattern woven in, and little dots of green, pink and purple in the middle of the diamonds. As usual, my camera does not do it justice. I then found a really cute farm print for the inside, complete with barns and chickens. Somehow they just seemed right together. Now I just have to decide whether to sell it, keep it, or give it away! I'm definitely going back for more fabric though.

Just a quick note, I did change the pattern for myself. The remnant I bought wasn't quite wide enough, so I made the straps and the purse body separately. I reinforced the straps with a good couple of passes with a zig zag stitch, which worked nicely. I also made a covered button with fabric from the lining. And while you can't see it (because of course, I forgot to take a picture), there is a pocket on the inside that is made from the outer fabric.

H/T to Thought and Thimble for linking to the pattern in the first place :)

Quilting Projects

I thought I'd share some of my past projects that I've completed, since I haven't been blogging as much lately.

This is the envelope quilt that I made for a great charity last year. The Delafield Walmart here does a quilt drive and contest every year for the Waukesha Memorial Hospital NICU. Last year they took in the most quilts ever, with well over 100 quilts. I don't remember the exact number, but there were tons, and they were all displayed from the fabric department all the way to the children's clothing department. All quilts must be 36"x36", and the judges check for how well made it is, and if everything is just right (however that works, I'm still a bit new to this). While they loved my quilt, (they really liked the envelopes), I wasn't quite good enough to win anything. But there was sooooo much competition, that I don't think I stood a chance against some of those ladies. I'm working on another one for the next contest, but I haven't started taking pictures yet. I'll get those up soon.




This next quilt is a little thing I did, which started out being for the contest previously mentioned, but I had a little trouble getting the size just right. So I ended up making it much smaller, and giving it to a little girl from our church who was just getting out of the hospital by the time I finished it. She thought it was great. It has the cutest little ballerinas on the fabric, and I would have spent time highlighting those, but I didn't have enough time for that.


This is about it for my quilting projects. I have one more that I have to take some good pictures of, because it really turned out great. I did a small crazy quilt for my mom, complete with hand embroidery, and she brought it up here on her visit so I could take pictures of it in the frame she found. It turned out great, they managed to find the perfect frame for it. I'll hopefully get those up this week.