A Dress for Me!

Sewing my wedding dress kind of burned me out in the clothing manufacturing department. Since then, I have sewn very little for myself, and mostly stuff for the kids. However, being inspired by Rachel's latest dresses, I decided I needed to make something for me! This dress was one of Vogue's easy patterns, and it was very simple to make. I lined it with a sheet I found at the thrift store. (so far I have also made pajama pants from it too!) The dress is actually not hemmed yet in these pictures, but if I wait to get a better picture it'll never happen. Pardon the cheesy grin.

The Mail is Here!

Who doesn't love to get mail? We do! Lately my kids have been making 'mail' out of all sorts of bits of paper, and they love to get letters. For Valentine's Day, I decided to make them their own mailbags. The pattern for the messenger bag is from the One Yard Wonders book, and I added the appliques. The 'mail' is made from felt, very simple. Of course, now that I made the mailbags they seem to have lost interest in playing with mail!

You guessed it...another apron!

This bottom of this apron was made using a pattern from Mary Engelbreight's new sewing book. I modified the waistband, making it wider and longer. The bib part was my addition. The fabric was left from a dress I made Katie, and I am pleased to say I worked a little rick rack onto this baby! Also, the whole apron is lined...with one of Jeff's old shirts. It was a nice yellow dress shirt that met its demise when a pen exploded in his pocket. There was enough fabric to line both sections, with still some leftover. Its amazing how much fabric you can get from one shirt!

Birthday Apron

We were invited to attend the birthday party of a little neighbor girl who was turning four. I made her an apron using some home dec canvas that never seems to get used up no matter how much I use it. I just made the pattern up as I went along, and my calculations on the neck ribbon were off. So, to fix the problem without tearing it out, I added a second piece of ribbon to make a casing for a bit of elastic. Voila! It worked. The applique is felt. We also made up a dry cookie mix to go with it, and the kids decorated the recipe for it.

Silhouettes

I wanted to jazz up my living room on the cheap, so I took the frames I already had, took out the outdated pictures and made silhouettes of the kids. They are really very simple:

• Take a few digital pictures of each child's profile
• Crop the images you like and print to desired size
• Trace image onto fusible webbing (such as Wonder-Under)
• Fuse webbing to black fabric and cut out silhouettes
• Fuse silhouettes to desired background fabric (make sure if your fabric is directional to line it up nicely)
  
• Trim fabric to size, leaving an extra inch or so around each side
• Use double sided tape or glue to secure fabric (I didn't use secure mine since the frames are pretty secure, but I think I'll have to go back and add a little glue later)
• Hang those babies up and you're done!

Amy Butler - The Weekender Bag

For many months now mom and I have been anxiously waiting to sew the Weekender. We finally procured all of the necessary layers of interfacing, template plastic and home deco fabric and spent several hours each just cutting all of the pieces out. We sewed our own piping and through the completion of many laborious seams, found out not only what stock our sewing machines were made of but how many pin related battle scars we could carry!

In the end, we showed the bags who was boss. Take that extra heavy interfacing and multi-layer, curved seams!

Amy Butler - The Weekender Bag

For many months now mom and I have been anxiously waiting to sew the Weekender. We finally procured all of the necessary layers of interfacing, template plastic and home deco fabric and spent several hours each just cutting all of the pieces out. We sewed our own piping and through the completion of many laborious seams, found out not only what stock our sewing machines were made of but how many pin related battle scars we could carry!

In the end, we showed the bags who was boss. Take that extra heavy interfacing and multi-layer, curved seams!

Sewing in Bulk

For Christmas, I made 9 pairs of these jammies in 3 different sizes. I have made this pattern so many times that I could make it in my sleep.

You'd think I had been drinking....

I found a really nifty tutorial for making a clothespin bag that I just had to try. I want to make several of them and hang them from pegs in my daughter's room so she can keep her little treasures in them. The prototype, however, is an example of why, even if you are desperate for a sewing fix, you should not attempt to sew while bouncing a baby on your knee. The finished product will come out lopsided, and full of mistakes. I do, however, really like the idea of it and I plan to make several more, sans baby. (He decided not to take a nap that day, thus the reason he was up with me)

Homemade Marshmallows!

If you have never tried to make yourself some homemade marshmallows, you should! They are delicious and very easy to make. You can add just about any flavoring you want, and cut them into cubes or use a cookie cutter if you're feeling fancy. All you need is sugar, water, gelatin, corn syrup and flavoring. I know, not exactly the most healthy sounding ingredients, but they are good. Here is the recipe I use. Normally I am not a huge fan of eating plain marshmallows (Rachel, on the other hand....:) but these are hard to resist. This time I decorated them with melted chocolate, all the better! That is why I plan on putting them out for small group today so they will get eaten!

The Folklore Bag - One Yard Wonders

The One Yard Wonders book has been so much fun to sew through. As a beginner, being able to actually understand and finish projects on my own has been encouraging and has only fanned the flame of my love to sew. With that said, this is the Folklore Bag from the book and I have been thinking about making it for months. The bag is mostly constructed from an Asian print pillowcase that was found at Salvation Army for .67 cents which not only is a deal but makes this bag that much more gratifying!

Swap Crafting: Another One-Yard Wonder!

Here is the Obi-inspired hot/cold pack from the One Yard Wonders book. I made it for a Valentine's Day swap I am in on Craftster. The pack ties around your back with a wide sash, keeping the hot/cold pad right up against your back. The pad is filled with rice, and comes out to either chill or heat up. I think I just might have to make another one for myself.

The Coffee Date Dress - My First Dress EVER!

This is the first dress that I ever made. I found the pattern on the BurdaStyle website (see the link below) and was very inspired by the completed dresses that other people had posted. I learned a lot when sewing this dress (hemming, facings, zipper installation) and am so excited to wear it when the weather gets warmer!

http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/coffee-date-dress-multisize-sample

Sewing for Summer

I am trying to patiently wait for spring......or not! The other day I went to the fabric store and found this Simplicity dress pattern for .99 cents and had to bring it home. I already had the fabric pressed and waiting longingly to be sewn into something so it was a match made in crafty heaven. The dress is fully lined and zips up the back thanks to the zipper wizard's (a.k.a my Mom...thank you!) firm encouragement to get in line.