Mom's Potholders

Here are some funky potholders I made for my momma :) I really like the red, white and blue one!

Summer Upcycle 2

I've had this linen dress in my closet for years but it was a strange length. It fell a couple of inches above my ankles and it made my short legs look even shorter which was no good. Anyway, I loved LOVED the detail of the fabric and wanted to utilize it somehow. So, I chopped it in half, hemmed the top and added elastic to make a skirt. Now don't judge me and the elastic because I tried various pleats and any other detail just added too much superfluous texture...plus, elastic was just easier and gets hidden by whatever top I wear with it!

The Three Eggs, Sunny Side Up Skirt

Someone passed along a cute dress for my daughter, but it was too small for her. I almost put it in the thrift store bag, but decided instead to do a little up-cycling. I chopped off the skirt, gathered it and made a waistband. Voila! New skirt. I will say that after seeing the construction of this store bought dress, I am not impressed. The hem is just a serged raw edge. Scandalous! I think I will stick to sewing my own.

Summer Upcycle - Dress to Top

I found this paisley dress stashed in my packed up summer clothes. I wasn't thrilled with the fit as a dress anymore so I chopped several inches from the bottom and finished it off with a rolled hem (which makes me feel smug). Now it looks really cute as a light summer tank top! As a bonus, the seams were already serged so it looks like I actually bought it this way :)

Cake!

This cake is called 'Lemon Lovers Cake,' which I made for our early Easter shindig. Basically, you add lemon zest to the batter, zest and juice to the frosting, and top it with lemon curd. The flowers and lemons on top are real, brushed in a mixture of meringue powder and water, and sprinkled with sugar.

Birthday Bunting

This weekend was my husband's birthday and at the last minute I decided to make some bunting to be extra festive. It was so easy to make and used up lots of scraps. Basically, all you do is cut the triangles (mine were approx 9 1/2 inches at the base and 10 inches from the middle of the base to the point), sew 2 triangles together (1/4 seam allowance, clip point seams then turn right side out and press) and wedge them in between a long piece of double fold bias tape. Then all you do is sew one long seam down the bias tape to lock all the flags in. EASY!

Spring Shirt

This top was made from a toddler dress pattern. One thing I have noticed with girls clothing is that often an outgrown dress can be used as a top, and so I figured it would work with a dress pattern as well. There was originally a wide ruffle along the bottom, which I omitted. This fabric is one of my favorites and I was excited to use it. When my daughter saw it, she said that the fabric was 'disguuuuusting' and she wasn't wearing it because it has bees on it. (The number of bees in the design is very minimal) This is the first item of clothing she has not liked. I decided to spice it up a little and add a flower broach, as well as a matching flower barrette. The flowers are from the scrapbooking section of the craft store. Not really sure their original purpose, but the are a nice, velvety material and look vintage-y. We'll see whether it gets worn when the weather gets a little warmer!

90% of the pictures I tried to take had this, or similar, expression :)

The barrette

Hurry! Hurry! Read All About It!!

A while back, I made a newsboy cap for my oldest son using this tutorial. For a while, he wouldn't wear it. Then, he decided that if Chappy (Grandpa) had a 'nettie boy' hat, it must be alright. He also decided it was 'farmer-ish,' thus fitting his qualifications for clothing. Somehow the whole 'newsboy' got lost in translation, becoming 'nettie boy.' Since he has decided to make friends with the hat, it has been pretty much glued to his head. Someone asked him the other day if he slept in it too. Almost. He puts it on his pillow. Now that my youngest son's noggin is larger than a grapefruit, I decided that I could probably rig one up to fit him. I had just enough remaining from the shirt to make another one, and all I did to 'downsize' it was to use a 1/2 " seam allowance instead of a 1/4". It fits perfectly and he likes it because its the same as his big bro's.

Note the scrumptious little tufts of baby hair!

Look, Ma! We match!

Mini-Chimney Sweep

Table Scarf-Thingy

For lack of better terminology, I made this quilted table scarf-thingy for a friend recently. This block was hanging around in my scrap drawer and I finally made it into something useful. It is machine quilted with Warm and Natural batting. I also had the remaining yardage I had used to make the quilt block, so I used it for the backing and binding.

Free Apron Tutorials

Click here for a whole bunch of free vintage apron tutorials. I saw it today and thought I should share!