Ruffled Pants

I finished another pair of pants for my daughter. Are you sick of seeing pants yet? These were made from a pair of my old jeans. One average sized pair of pants will make one pair of toddler pants, or two pairs of infant/12 month sized pants. The ruffles and pockets are from a scrap of fabric I had left from another project.

Countdown

For Rachel's Christmas gift this year, I am making her an epic Christmas present countdown. Most of the gifts are handmade, and I'd love to tell you what's in them....but I won't! Not until after Christmas, that is. Each gift is wrapped in the funny pages, and I used plain ol' Elmers glue and glitter to add a number to each gift.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Quickie Coasters

I made a batch of coasters back in January which you can see here. They are very easy and quick to make and help clean up leftover fabric. For these, I used 1 layer of Soft and Natural batting with different cotton prints from the Robert Kaufman Metro Cafe series (I love, love, love these prints!) They can be infinitely customized but I chose to go simple with only a little top stitching. I've been sewing a lot of Christmas projects lately which I can't post until after after the big day so it was nice to selfishly make a little project just for me :)

Back Into Beads

I used to do a lot of bead work when I was in college and before I had kids. I really enjoy it, but some of it is a little tedious to do while being distracted by three kids. However, I made the mistake of walking through the bead aisle at the craft store. Oh, my! They really have some pretty things! I got a handful of strands for making Christmas presents, which I will post at a later date. This necklace I made for myself. I used wire, which was new to me, but I am happy with how it came out. I took apart a necklace I never wore for the chain and clasp.

Round Two

Here is my second version of the One Yard Wonders house. This one went a little more smoothly than the first, and of course now I have even more ideas of how I would improve it. I used velcro closures for this one as I think it will be a lot easier for little hands to navigate. The rug is embroidered with my daughter's initial. The flower garden is made of vintage buttons from my stash. I kind of want to play with this myself! I am debating whether I will make some sort of little furniture for it. Hmm....

Pants!

I realize I have made about a zillion pairs of pants from the Willow Wayfarers pattern, but why mess with a good thing? The pattern is perfect for my tall, skinny kids. My preferred method is to cut apart a pair of adult pants at the inner leg seam, and refashion them into kid pants. I embellished this pair with a vintage doily that came from a lady in Australia. I appliqued the butterfly and pockets with some fabric scraps. The plan is for these pants to have room for her to grow into...but at the rate she is going she'll probably outgrow them in two months!

Another Amy Butler Cabo Halter Top

I've now made 4 of these halter tops and I will probably make A LOT more during the winter to get ready for next year. I unfortunately do not have a serger :( so I decided to take an alternate route to finishing the seams. I used French seams to make the inside of the top nice and neat and I think I will pretty much be universally applying this technique for every garment I make until I procure an actual serger. It's time consuming but I like how the finished piece looks so much cleaner. I used a nice cotton print from Michael Miller's Honey Bee Honey Vine collection and I really like how it turned out. My only issue is that I ran out of thread half way through hemming the bottom! I wish I lived next to a fabric store....

Food Craft - May the Force Be With You

I've been a Star Wars fan ever since I was a little kid. There's just something wonderful about the feathered hair, imaginative creatures and the frequent defeat of the Death Star. So when I recieved these William Sonoma cookie press/cutters from my Aunt and Uncle (Thank you!!!) as a surprise, I was thrilled. Now I can have the force and eat it too...(yup that was just bad)!

More Christmas Presents: A (Not-So) Riveting Tale of Planning Way Ahead

Long ago, in a land far away (California to be exact) I was a teenage girl who couldn't get enough of sewing. I would spend hours in my room churning out all sorts of sewing projects. Back then, my siblings (won't mention any names..........) used to tease me mercilessly about sewing. They thought I was such a dork for my sewing habit. My, how things have changed. (Again, won't mention any names...;) So back then I would practice on anything I could get my hands on. I sewed a lot of doll clothes because they didn't use much fabric and I figured I could save them for 'someday.' Also, I think I was trying to fill some sort of American Girl Doll sized hole in my heart. Well, the doll of my dreams still hasn't shown up on my doorstep, so I went to the craft store and bought a cheaper knock-off for Katie for Christmas. I have resurected the doll clothes of my youth, and plan to add outfits between now and Christmas. The lavender skirt is one I made recently. The lace part is the edging from a set of linens. The doll dresses of yore are made from various vintage fabrics I happily inherited from a really sweet old lady from our church, Daisey Harrel. Like the vintage labels? I used to cut them out of vintage clothes and sew them into my stuff because I liked the way they looked. I would have never guessed way back them that someday I would be wrapping up those dresses and giving them to a sweet little blond daughter for Christmas. I hope she likes them.

Shhh...Christmas Present Posting!

Here is a play barn I made for my son for Christmas. You'll never guess where I found the pattern...One Yard Wonders. Shocking, I know! I have to say that this is by far the most tedious of all the projects I've made from the book, although now that I am working on the second one I feel that I am getting some of the kinks worked out. The instructions in the book are not the clearest, and I have made a few modifications in the construction of it. The front panel attaches with some vintage buttons from Grandma and Aunt Phylis. Yay for old buttons!! There are handles at the roof line for carrying. I used the blanket stitch to connect all the pieces. Bonus points for working rick rack into yet another project!! :)

Amy Butler - Blossom Bag #2

As soon as Amy Butler's new book "In Stitches" came out I bought it and sewed myself a Blossom bag and matching pleated coin purse (see here). I loved how it turned out so much that I made this one for my mom for Christmas. It may seem strange that I am posting it 2 months in advance BUT since I can't keep secrets and my mom wanted to see it early, here it is! For some reason this material was a bit cantankerous and I snapped 3 needles in the process but it turned out alright in the end :)

P.S. Have you ever had a project where no matter how many times you ripped out a row of stitches you just couldn't get it straight? Attaching the outside flap was a nightmare on this particular project for some reason and despite trying and trying again (and almost breaking my sewing machine a couple of times) I just could not get it under control. I guess the idiosyncracies are what make it unique :)