Handknit Doll

I am sure I have talked about it here before, but every year we participate with Operation Christmas Child. They collect shoe boxes filled with school supplies, toys, toiletries, and treats and deliver them to children living in poverty around the world. I always try to put something soft and snuggly in each box and this year I was so excited to pack this:

This little gem was made by my friend Belinda to pack in a shoebox. Isn't it the cutest?! I absolutely love her hair, and her cuddly-ness. I am sure that the girl who recieves her is going to LOVE her! Belinda also made crocheted washclothes for the boxes and they were adorable too! All different patterns which is still beyond my comprehension. :)

 Katie packed her up along with pencils, a beautiful crocheted washcloth, stickers, a top, and a cute outfit. I was able to put a tracking label on the box so hopefully soon we will be able to find out where she went!

And Again....Another Apron

 Here's another one! I have so (sew) much fun picking out fabrics and trims and embellishments. I think that might be one of my favorite parts of the whole sewing process. Aprons are fun because you can get away with using a lot of fun/bright/funky stuff.

 Isn't this fabric the cutest? Snowmen, gingerbread and candy canes! It's so fun and cheerful.

 This one got a little wool felt gingerbread man on the pocket.

...And a little flair at the top! I have been using D-rings because they seem so much more manageable than tying and untying knots on wiggly kids.

Kids' Christmas Apron!

 I've had a spurt of random sewing projects lately, including Halloween costumes, birthday gifts and Etsy stuff. Perhaps one day I shall blog about it all, but no promises! :) I have about half a dozen kids aprons in progress right now. This one was my prototype and I love it! Basically, I want one for myself in grown-up size, but I have yet to find the justification to add yet another apron to my collection.

 I am working on a basic apron pattern with various 'customizations' so that each one can have its own personality. For this apron, I used this funky Christmas print as an accent with red bows and rick rack.

 I love that each apron can be unique and adapt to the style of the fabric, etc. Wait til you see the others I am working on! I have some fun ideas that will hopefully come to fruition. In the meantime, this cutie is up in the shop and ready to find itself a good home!

Rick rack and all....

Quick and Easy Chair Makeover

Years ago, I found this wonderful chair at a yard sale. Apparently the seller didn't find it to be nearly as wonderful as I did, and she sold it to me for two bucks. I have loved it ever since. It is sturdy, but old and chippy and a delightfully weird shade of green.

I figure the chair is fairly old, as the seat is covered in real leather, and the seat base is wood and not some funky particle board. And while I loved the chair, I think we can all admit the seat could use a little fancy-ing up. Fast forward to last month. I was on my way to my favorite annual yard sale when I saw a sign. It might as well have had a light shining down from heaven on it, because it read "FABRIC SALE". Here is where I flipped a U-turn and made a detour straight to the fabric sale. My kids were less excited than I. Much less excited in fact. The lady was selling big lengths of home decor fabric for ridiculously cheap prices. One piece I bought was a silk blend, which she told me was over $100 a yard, and I bought 1 1/2 yards for $2. Woot! I also picked up a funky hexagon-type fabric which I later realized was a perfect match to the funky green chair. Que the angels singing.

Recovering the chair was very simple. I removed the cushion, cut fabric a few inches larger, and stapled it under. If you don't have a staple gun, you should get one. You will feel like the world is your oyster when you use it. At the very least, you can give your chairs new life in no time flat!

 And now she lives on! A little more funky, a little more fabulous!

Clothespin Bags

 A friend recently asked if I could come up with a large sized clothespin bag. She needed one to fit on a regular sized hanger since she does a lot of laundry. Something about having four kids does that. :)

 I have this strange? helpful? efficient? weird? philosophy that says 'If you're going to make one, might as well make 6!' or something like that. Which would explain how I suckered myself into buying three bushels of apples yesterday. I decided since I was making one clothespin bag, I should make two so she can pick which she likes best.

 

I ended up making 3, but that's beside the point. This one...I'm in love. When I sewed the bag up, it needed a little extra something, and that is what it got! Pompoms and rick rack on the same project. I'm out of control.

Fortunately she saw the vision and liked it too! Now I am inspired to use up the rest of this trim. Technically, I am always inspired by something(s) and it gets kind of annoying sometimes because there are only so many hours in the day in which to do all these things. And speaking of inspiration... I just inherited a stack of vintage-y shirts from my friend Belinda who is my yarn enabler and now fabric enabler. I have lots of ideas for them flying around in my head. I'll keep you posted!

Gingerbread House Ornaments: Embroidery + Felt

Here are a few ornaments I made recently. I love embroidering on felt and it was great fun to work on all the little details of each house. The pattern is by Gingermelon , and I tweaked it a bit to size them up. The original pattern is adorable, but TINY. Like possibly too tedious even for me. Cute, but tedious.

 I used wool blend felt which is easy to cut and comes in all sorts of colors. That makes ordering felt a dilemma of 'should I choose the concord grape or wisteria or lilac or ????' All of the above should be considered a suitable answer.

 I had fun adding candy details to this one, and a little glass beaded door knob. On each of the ornaments, I added glitter to the snowy roof. I love how it looks, but unfortunately it doesn't show up in the pictures very well.

 And what could be more festive than a wreath and candy canes? This one has tiny red seed beads decorating the wreath. I had fun making these and am happy to report that I have already sold 2 out of 3, so I suppose there will be more in my future!

Vintage Yellow Floral Dress

I love to go thrifting and I am always on patrol for nice vintage fabric. When I saw this sheet set I squealed (quietly) and threw it in my cart. The sheets are in perfect condition, as if they sat in some sweet grandmother's linen closet for the last 40-50 years. Vintage sheets are great sources of fabric. If the sheet isn't the most beautiful design, you can use it to line dresses, or as fabric for making a muslin. If the print is fantastic, like this, the world is your oyster! I will be able to get 3-4 more dresses out of this fabric.

I embellished it with little yellow flowers and vintage buttons because we all know by now how obsessed I am with vintage notions. Seriously. Wait til you see the next project I made.....you'll laugh, and hopefully love it as much as I do.

I love using a contrasting lining in this style of dress as it adds a fun pop of color to the ties and some personality to the dress overall.

I also think this would make adorable bias tape or a great bag lining! Oh, now I'm full of ideas. Now who wants to come over and clean my house so I can sew? ;)