Fascinator

Last month I made a fascinator to wear to my husband's fancy Christmas party. It is made of store-bought feathers, and my very own chicken feathers, and the sparkly part on the bottom is made of vintage rhinestone buttons. I did my hair, which is momentous for me, from instructions I found on Pinterest! Maybe by the year 2019 I will be applying my own eyeliner, but don't hold your breath.

The Quilt

It's done!! I took my jolly old time getting it done, but it's DONE!!

I quilted it with my new machine using a stipple stitch and a vine stitch and veriegated green thread. It used a whole lot of thread, but it adds a really nice detail.

The kid is very pleased with it. If he wasn't, I just might have had to keep it for myself.

The bottom is hand-embroidered with 'Be Strong and Courageous' from his favorite verse. When he was beginning school and feeling scared, he asked me to write it down for him to keep in his pocket. :)

P.S. Here's a tip for you that will save a lot of money on a quilt: use a flat sheet for the backing. I had a really nice, soft sheet that my aunt gave me. It was like new and very good quality. I didn't have to piece it together or anything, and if you can find a good price on a sheet it is a lot cheaper than buying yards and yards of fabric.

Simplicity 4669

Here is a little outfit I just finished for my daughter. And by just finished, I mean I sewed the sleeves on this morning before church. Oh, yeah! I could have easily finished them last night but I threw caution to the wind and played a game of Qwarkle with my husband instead. I made this outfit in a size 6, just in case, and it is big on her. That means it will fit her for a while. Yay! The skirt and bias trim were cut out of this dress. It seems sort of sacrilegious to cut up something I made, but I never quite liked the way it fit on my shoulders and didn't wear it anymore. The jacket is made of brown baby-wale corduroy with tiny aqua dots I had picked up on clearance long ago. The top and jacket lining are just some solid blue I had around that happened to be the perfect color. 

McCalls 6713

I've gone to the dark side. I can now say I enjoy sewing with knits. They are not scary. I repeat, they are NOT SCARY! I found a really nice knit at Joanns, nice and not flimsy. The nicest part of this dress is the inside, as I used the overcast stitch on my new sewing machine. It looks nearly like I used a serger! To quote my husband, 'it looks like what you buy at the store, only nicer.' My new machine also has a triple stretch stitch which is a nice strong stitch that is still able to stretch. Now, if only I can get my photographer to let me know before he takes the picture so I can avoid this deer in the headlights look.

Mom's Wallet

My MIL needed a new wallet that would fit a small purse. I took the one she already had and through some trial and error, made a pattern and created a new one with a few tweaks. I added an invisible magnetic closure and added some decorative stitching to the fabric. I fought the whole way though with the weave of the home dec fabric that I picked which was frustrating. It was a very loose weave and the stitches didn't sit as perfectly as I would've liked. I really like the size and simplicity of the original design and am planning on making one for myself. I would change the fabric next time though and use a heavy weight quilting cotton instead of the loose weave home dec. I will say that the invisible magnetic snap is my new favorite thing though because they work really well without the bulk of an external snap.

Spiderman Cake

My little guy, looking longingly at the cake. He got a piece later!

I made this cake for a little friend who loves Spiderman. I used this tutorial and it worked nicely. Spiderman is made entirely of frosting, no fondant required!

Another Journal

Florida Necklace

A few months ago I was able to go visit my Grandma in Florida. We spent the day in St. Augustine and I picked up this gold-dipped shell in a really cool jewelry shop there. It has been sitting on my craft table since then, waiting for inspiration to strike. I just used beads from my stash: fake freshwater pearls, amethyst nuggets and gold pearls. I also bought a green shell pendant there which is waiting for a similar treatment.

Mawmaw's Apron

 A little while ago, I was aimlessly trolling fabric.com for new yardage. I say aimlessly because if you're like me, you go to that site with one thing in mind then spend 45 minutes drooling over a million other prints that are totally unrelated to your original intentions. Happily though, this is how I came across this cow print. As soon as I saw it I knew that Mawmaw 'needed' an Amy Butler (Domestic Goddess 1/2 Apron Pattern) apron with white piping. It has pleats, a towel loop and of course piping was required!

PS - As usual, the Amy Butler pattern sewed up perfectly. I love her patterns because there isn't a raw edge left when the project is done.

Mom's Towels

This year, I decided to monogram some tea towels for my awesome MIL for Christmas. I went with basic colors but used sparkly, gold thread to outline and highlight parts of the letter. These are fun to make because I enjoy how tedious they are but they don't actually take a lot of time when you get into a rhythm and throw a movie on in the background. Plus, everyone needs monogrammed tea towels...right?