My New Sewing Crush - The Buttercup Bag

(Designed by Rae...see link to free pattern below)

This is made from vintage houndstooth that I found in a furniture store in Austin and the lining is made from scraps leftover from my junior Prom dress!
The pattern was designed to be made out of 2 fat quarters! Random scraps work well too.

I LOVE polka dots. I made a dress and an apron with these fabrics and I had just enough left to crank out this bag.

http://www.made-by-rae.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html

The Dress of Gloom and Despair

So Rachel had this pattern. I loved it and decided to trace the pattern and make one for myself. (Rachel likes when I do this so that I can work out all the kinks and see if its a good pattern before she makes it. Clever girl she is.) So, I found myself some fabric and got to work. My observations are as follows:

• Vogue patterns are made to look very professional, inside and out
• Making a dress look professional includes french seams on EVERYTHING, and linings and facings so that there are no exposed seams
• While that may look all fine and dandy, its a major pain in the behind!!!
• Invisible zippers are a pain
• Especially when they break after you've installed it for the third time
• Having your mom install the zipper is way easier than doing it yourself
• Piping is really fun and a lot easier than I thought!
• Using a hand-me-down shirt to make the piping will make you feel very cheeky
  
• Spending hours and hours on Vogue dress that makes you look like you are smuggling watermelons is very un-gratifying; lets just say the the top part is not, uh, flattering for those who are a little busty ;)

Pillow Makeover

I had some old pillows that were still in great shape and I wanted to give my bedding an earthy remodel for our new apartment. After doing some googling I found this tutorial:

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/ss/cordedpillow.htm

So based on the instructions and using some fat quarters for inspiration, I cranked out these decorative pillows!

Another Apron

As soon as I got back from Austin, I sewed this flashy little number. I had found the funky banana fabric in Fredricksburg, TX in an old school 5 & Dime store. As soon as I saw it I knew it needed to be made into this apron! It's an Amy Butler pattern from the book "In Stitches".

Tea Towel

There is nothing like a nice embroidered tea towel to help your bread rise. So, maybe it doesn't really help your bread rise but I'd like to think it does. ;) The lesson learned from this one is that you should NEVER buy the cheaper tea towels like the ones they sell at Walm@rt or T@rget. Get the nice Aunt Martha's ones the sell at Jo@anns. Its worth it in the end. The weave on these was so loose that it was hard to get nice even stitches.

Tea Wallets

Oh, the wonders of the internet. You can find more inspiration and tutorials then you will ever have time for. Here is a project that can be completed very quickly and with very few supplies. Now I have a nice handy way to bring tea to church. The one with the yellow button was made from a vintage handkerchief. The elastic cording, which I used in place of the self-fabric loop, was hijacked from some sort of packaging we had in the house. Now the only question is...what to do with all of them since I only have a home for two of them. Anyone want one????

For the directions, click here.

Easy Project

Here is another headband I made from this tutorial. They are really simple and use very little fabric. This one is made from one of Grandpa's ties.

Easter Finery

For Easter I made my daughter a simple skirt and matching headband. The skirt is from...you guessed it...the One Yard Wonders book. Instead of using bias tape to finish the hem, I used rick rack. The piping was made from a linen shirt that was passed on to me, and some cording I inherited from a friend's grandma. The cording was not made for this use but it worked out just fine. The headband was made using this tutorial. I modified it by covering the elastic for a more finished look. I also added some rick rack to the edges. The headband manages to stay on pretty well, much to my surprise! And as you can see, I got to wear the dress I made for myself for the first time! Yay! And yes, I am in desperate need of a little tan.