Peace

Lately I've been feeling a sense of balance and calm in my life. Things are moving steadily along at a manageable and enjoyable pace. Often in the last several years I have felt like one aspect of my duties is suffering - like the housework or responsibilities to the kids or making good dinners or checking in with dear friends or any number of things. It seemed I could only be good at one thing at a time while the others suffered. But lately I feel like hours I didn't know existed have opened up to me and things are just getting done! I can't explain it except that I spent a lot of time in thought and prayer about it, and things seem to have fallen into place. A little organization and prioritizing have gone a long way. I've even found time to enjoy guilt-free crafting and sewing. Awwww, sewing time just is that much more enjoyable when I don't have a nagging feeling that I really should be doing something else.

Or, that nagging feeling that I really should be finishing a custom order before I start any more projects :). So I tackled this one recently: (sorry about the lousy lighting in these pics - I took them first thing in the morning just before they were picked up.)



I was asked to make a few items for a little girl's room. I made a comforter out of some gorgeous butterfly fabric picked out by her mom. The original plan was to make a toddler-size comforter, but later Mom decided a twin-size would allow her to grow into it. I agreed, and set to work making some changes to the original design. I added a piece of mauve fabric to the middle, but I thought it was a touch boring. A few pintucks and an appliqued butterfly later, and it looked just right. I hope she likes it as much as I do!

The mom also asked if I could make a little pillow for her bed too. The lovely satin-like fabric she picked out inspired me to make something with gathers to show off the sheen. After some playing with the fabric, I decided on the pillow above. It's the first decorative pillow I've made, so it was a fun new project.



Next up is a little chair to match the comforter, but sadly I bought the wrong kind of Velcro (FYI, don't buy adhesive Velcro for sewing...gummed up needles are no fun...), so I have to wait until my next trip to the fabric store.

So....onto some more guilt-free sewing for Sweet Pea!

I've been eying some darling little fabric boots on Flikr. I bookmarked them months ago, but now that my daughter is walking, I think she's ready for a pair :). I made a muslin mock-up first, made some changes and then made this version out of some vintage fabric that was given to me. Gotta love a pair of (almost) free shoes!



The main part of the boot is a Robeez-style, but I added to the height to make them look like boots. There is elastic around the ankles and a Velcro strap around the upper part so they stay on nice a snug. Sweet Pea has been walking around in them for an hour now with no problems!





While I love this fabric and have decided to make her a little dress out of this same stuff, I'm not sure if I like it as a boot. I'm thinking it's kind of busy. My plan is to make another pair in brown or black, which will be much more versatile. What do you think?

Wedding Fun!

After weeks and months of preparation, my sister and her fiance got married last week. Congrats you two! While they honeymoon in a beautiful, sunny place, our little family is gradually getting things back to normal. I finally tackled a few custom sewing orders (sorry ladies...I appreciate you understanding the busy life of a young mama). I also decided to check in here and update y'all.

In late September I hosted a bridal shower for my sister. It was so much fun preparing and decorating for the party! I actually get a little giddy when I'm planning a party. I love thinking about all the little details from the menu to what candles I want to light. So fun!

A few months ago I discovered the website of Amy Atlas. Wow, she makes dessert tables look gorgeous! So, I got a some inspiration from her and set up a "Sweet Table" at the party. The theme was pink, brown, and cherry blossoms. It was fun planning a 'girlie' party.


I've seen cherry blossom cakes on Flickr, and I've always thought they were lovely. I was excited to use my sister's shower as an excuse to make one myself. My sister-in-law, a talented cake decorator, nicely allowed me to borrow her supplies and taught me how to make the blossoms. It was a fun project to tackle and I was so happy with how it turned out!


I also tackled chocolate-making for the first time. I used a mold called "Birds and Blossoms" and purchased melting wafers online. I didn't realize how simple choclate-making can be! I expected a big chocolate mess on my stove and in numerous pots and pans. But I was able to melt the chocolate in the microwave and used a spoon and toothpick to fill the molds - easy peasie!


I didn't take as many pictures at the wedding as I would have liked. The role of "Matron of Honor" and "Mama" kept me busy enough. My sister has amazing taste, and everything was lovely - you'll just have to take my word on that :). Everything was black and white damask with hints of burnt orange and gold - gorgeous!

One last minute sewing project was a jacket for my little Sweet Pea. I found a black and white dress at Old Navy that fit the wedding theme perfectly. The only down side with the dress was that it was a summer dress and had very small cap sleeves. It was much to cool for an October wedding. So last week I decided to whip up a cute little jacket for her to wear. I made a pattern from one of her dresses out of muslin. The jacket ended up being a little snug, but at least she's a baby and doesn't have to move around too much :). This isn't the greatest photo, but at least you can see most of the jacket and a bit of the dress.


We had a lovely day and I hope my sister and new brother enjoyed themselves too! Now on to some sewing projects. Next up is finishing a diaper bag as well as some aprons. I have a few aprons that will be ready just in time for Christmas gift giving, if you are interested in purchasing one or more just let me know. I'll post them as soon as they're finished! Stay tuned!

A monkey for my little monkey

Peanut is growing up so fast! He's about ready to be moved into his 'big boy' room. *sniff* *sniff* The upside to this is that I'm having a blast planning projects for his new room. Too many ideas, actually :). I'll have to tackle the major ones now and get to the other ones over the next year or so.

This is just one of the many projects I hope to complete for his new room. I bought Amy Butler's "Little Stitches for Little Ones" last year, and ever since I saw the "Cheeky Monkey", I knew I had to make him a part of Peanut's new room. I'll be venturing out of the theme a bit (the quilt and most of the decor will be bug and nature related), but I couldn't resist adding this cute laundry bag.



The brown stripe fabric will be incorporated in the new quilt as well. I thought the chocolate brown would wash out Mr. Monkey, so I used it for the lining fabric instead. I also LOVE the blue diamond fabric for the outside fabric. I'm so glad I could put it to good use. The monkey is made out of micro-fleece, so he is cuddly and soft despite his inevitable home on the bedroom door. :)

A scarf AND a hat...in one!

I decided I was in need of a break from sewing for Christmas. I've had the idea for this project in my head for a while. All the materials I needed were on hand, so I decided to give it a go!

While this is my own design, I got the idea from this blog. I can't remember why I decided a giraffe variation would be cute, but that's what it ended up being. Now I have ideas for making these scarf/hats in different animals too. Wouldn't a monkey be cute? Or really any animal with cute ears? If you have any ideas I'd love to hear them!


This could be a new 'thing' for me. Too bad I'm a little late for Christmas, but maybe I can whip up a few for January, since that's when it really starts getting chilly around here.

One Down, Four to Go...I Think...

I just finished this custom order apron. My friend gave me an idea of what she wanted, and I went from there. She knew she wanted solid black for the main part of the apron. She also thought pink and polka dots would look cute, but was willing to let me see what I could find. Well, I found the perfect pink and black polka dot fabric for her. I think she's going to be thrilled, because I was having trouble finding the 'just right' fabric for her.



I changed my apron design up a bit to allow for adjustments around the neck. Since this apron will be a gift, I wanted to make sure it would fit the 'giftee'. I also think the two bows in the back make it look extra cutesy. I also added knots where the black and pink fabrics meet around the neck. The knots seem to finish the apron off as well as make the fabric transition a little more clean.



I hope she likes it!

All these apron orders for Christmas keep reminding me about my own Christmas shopping...or lack there of...

To Do List:
Finish aprons (by Christmas)
Finish Christmas shopping (by Christmas)

Custom Baby Items - Finished!

I finally finished a custom order for a stroller quilt, matching stroller bag and a change pad cover. These are all for the same friend who had me make the pink and brown crib quilt.





She wanted the stroller bag to fit a water bottle and a few small baby items. I used plastic canvas between the layers to keep it nice and sturdy.



The water bottle compartment has an elastic band since water bottles seem to vary in size. I also thought if she's jogging the band will help keep her water bottle in the compartment :). The other compartment just has a flap to keep things inside and dry.



All the snaps are reinforced with plastic canvas. I've never made anything like this before, so I wanted to make sure the snaps could handle the weight of a water bottle.



I also made her a change pad cover to match her crib quilt. I used just about every scrap of fabric to make this cover. I hope she's happy with how everything turned out!

Better than nothing!!!

So, it turns out the camera that needs to go in for 'repairs' just needs a good cleaning. Well, I don't mind a few specks on my photos if you don't! Hopefully I can get it cleaned this weekend, but for now, this will do.

I am excited to show you my latest project - Mary Jane slippers! I picked up this pattern last week at Quilt Essentials great sale. It's a pattern for 'Ballet Slippers', and you can make basic slippers or add cute straps (i.e. Mary Janes, cris-cross straps, and pretty ribbon straps). I've needed slippers for so long, but I was waiting for something cutesy. As soon as I saw the pattern I knew I wanted Mary Jane slippers :).




I love the little tab on the back - such a cute detail!



I've also been working on a custom order quilt. My friend (who ordered the pink crib quilt in previous posts), also requested a stroller quilt. With the fall weather coming upon us, she wanted something to bundle her baby in while they go out for crisp fall walks. She picked out the two main fabrics and the fuzzy backing and gave me free reign with the design. How trusting of her! :) After I made a few of the quilt blocks I realized it was going to be a bit busy, so I purchased the gray fabric to break it up a bit. I hope she likes it!


The quilt is actually a nine patch, but it's hard to tell from the photo :).

I'm disappointed I can't show you the quilt I finished or the apron I made for my sister-in-law, but I was camera-less and the projects are now out the door to their 'new owners'. At least I was able to post a couple of pictures and give a quick update. Hopefully, more projects will be finished soon!

Cutesy Apron

I just finished this apron for a friend. It's an apron pattern I designed and have made a few times. I had one of my aprons for sale at a fair, but my friend didn't like all the pink in the fabric :). So we managed to find a cute fabric in green. (There is a little pit of pink on the cupcakes, but she still approved. :)) I love cupcake fabric! This fabric is by Robert Kaufman and it was great to work with.

Originally the apron was going to be all the same fabric. But I found a lovely coordinating fabric in my stash in brown and green polka dots. I thought it would break up the busy-ness of the cupcake fabric too. I hope she likes it!




Peanut walked by and gave me a 'leg hug' :).


Close-up of the fabric.


Close-up of the gathers and big top-stitching.

A Chain of Giving

I'm a fan of reusing and recycling. I have a tough time throwing things away when I think they could have a new and better purpose. I try not to be a junk hog, but I do hang onto things that I think could have 'a second life'. If I can't find a purpose for it, then at least I can donate to a local thrift store or give things away.

This past week I was the happy (Happy HAPPY!) receipient of a chain of giving. This may be a little tricky to follow: My friend's grandma's neighbor is moving and decided to down-size her fabric/craft supply. She asked her neighbor (my friend's grandma) if she wanted the stuff or if she knew of someone who could put it to good use. My friend's grandma accepted the stuff and decided to pass it along. I'm not exactly sure what happened next. From what I understand 'Grandma' was talking to here daughter (my friend's mom) and mentioned the craft supplies. My friend's mom thought of me and so I got a call a couple days ago to come pick up some free stuff!!! 'Grandma' called it 'craft supplies' on the phone, so I didn't really know what I was going to get. But I love all things crafty, so I readily and greatfully set-up a pick up time.


Peanut and I made the trip to see my friend's grandparents. We had a lovely visit. Peanut ate some freshly picked peas straight from the pod - he thought it was pretty cool :). I was able to poke through one of the boxes a little, and I was thrilled that 'craft supplies' meant fabric. Woohoo! I couldn't wait to get home and dig through everything.

Well, I got home, put Peanut to bed, and got to work...well, more like 'play' :). I couldn't believe what I found! There wasn't just fabric - there were tons of different kinds of trims and ribbons, a Tupperware full of buttons, some lace, finished collars, and - perhaps the most exciting find - some vintage patterns! Not only were there some cute patterns, I found an amazing apron pattern - I can't wait to try it! I've been looking for a vintage-ish apron pattern for my sister-in-law. I actually gasped when I saw the pattern because it is perfect. Yay!
The icing on the cake is that for the price of a little gas I was able to get all these wonderful treasures. Now I just need to think of some projects 'worthy' of all these great things. I'd love to get some ideas from you. Thanks for reading!

Baby Stroller Cushion and Quilt

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you have fun plans to celebrate. I'm just glad the weather perked up a bit after the thunderstorm and torrential rain yesterday! I'm not going to complain about that bought of rain because we did need it, I'm just glad it's sunny today :).

Here's my latest completed project. It's a custom order for a stroller cushion. My friend recently had a baby and bought one of those great jogging strollers. She loves the stroller but thought it didn't have enough padding for her baby. There is a metal bar right under where the baby is supposed to sit - poor baby bum! So she asked me to make her a cushion.

She picked out the fabric which is brown, maroon, pink, and lime green. I found a coordinating minky dot fabric in pink. The cushion has two sets of holes for upper straps and a funky hole thingy for the buckle strap. I made it this way so it would fit both the stroller and the car seat as well as be adjustable for when baby gets bigger.

What my friend doesn't know is that I made her a matching stroller quilt as well! It will fit the stroller nicely and not be too bulky for carrying around. I hope she likes it!

Diaper Bag for a Friend

Yippee! It's finished! My friend just had a baby and wanted a customized diaper bag. We looked at different pictures and designs and came up with this:

She wanted a sturdy bag that could hold its shape, so I used heavy duty stabilizer. The strap is adjustable and has some polyester batting inside for comfort.
It's a messenger style bag, so we took advantage of the flap and added a zipper pocket for extra storage.
The back has a large flat pocket and the sides have bottle pockets.
The inside has pockets lined with clear vinyl. The bottom has clear vinyl too for easy clean up and spills. I decided to add a zipper pocket, because my friend wanted 'lots of pockets' :).

I hope she likes it - I can't wait to give it to her!

To infinity...and beyond!

I've always wanted to make an infinity dress. For those of you who don't know what it is, its a halter top style dress with very long straps that can be wrapped and knotted numerous ways. If you look at the pic below, the straps are attached at the waist and then come up over my shoulders, cross in the back, then they cross again around my waist and are tied in the back. It's fun experimenting with all the ways I can wrap this shirt.

Originally, I wanted to make a dress, but in my search for ideas, I found someone who paired a shirt with a skirt. This way, I have the option of wearing the top with pants, other skirts, or the matching skirt. Fun stuff!

Here's the tutorial I based my infinity shirt/dress on, but I did change a few things like the length of the dress as well as the length of the straps. I also added extra fabric in the band for modesty and I left the fabric square to get the hankerchief hem. http://rowena.typepad.com/rostitchery/2006/06/one_seam_conver.html



Here it is as just a top. The straps are quite wide so I can scrunch them up like a tank top or spread them out to get a cap sleeve.


Here is the infinity top with the matching skirt. I'm debating how often I will wear the matching skirt - does it seem a little 'too' formal to you? I was hoping to wear it to church, but I may save it for weddings or formal occasions. Hmmmm.

Thanks for looking, and I'd love to read your comments!