Special Request

Amy gave me some extra fabric this summer hoping I would make a pair of pants and jumper top for Little E.  I was excited to pull this together and love the fabric she chose.  Both prints are a lightweight corduroy perfect for fall.

Soft Texture Book

I co-hosted a baby shower at the end of the summer with a baby book theme, so the girls encouraged me to try making a fabric texture book as my gift. It was time consuming, but oh so fun and the new mama-to-be was just thrilled with it. She was secretly hoping I would sew something!

I combined the concept from two different tutorials to make the book. First, I used this tutorial from Everyday Celebrations as the inspiration for the theme using various colors and textures.

 

Then I followed the tutorial from Lella Boutique for the construction of the book itself. I chose 10 colors so I would have 12 pages total including front and back covers and then I did the rag edges to finish it. 

Jeans and Tunic Top

I knew I would sew something for Baby K's first birthday, but it wasn't until a few days ago when her mom commented on the ruffled jeans I made when I knew this had to be it.  I also made a peasant style tunic top to make it a complete outfit.

 

Although here is proof that I sometimes have to make this stuff up as I go along.  I misjudged the width of the sleeves and didn't have fabric or time to redo them.  I was ready to toss it in the trash when my best friend encouraged me to just figure out something because she knew I could.  I knew I needed to add a band of fabric to increase the width/circumference of the sleeve, but didn't want the inset panel of fabric to look pointless so I added these cute little pleats.  A contrasting fabric would have worked, too, but I didn't have anything that really went with this dark pink.  I am thrilled with how the pleats turned out.  I hope K likes them, too : )

Peasant Dress

I just love a sweet peasant dress as a tunic or dress this time of year.  I paired this one with her ruffled jeans in our family pictures yesterday and couldn't be happier with the result!  Thanks to Liz Davison of Yellow Umbrella Photography for this image.  Tutorial for the peasant dress found via Prudent Baby.

Valances

I finished two more valances for Mom and Dad's new house this week and Dad was kind enough to hang them right away. I'm sure there will be more at some point, but Mom is taking her time with decorating decisions. A blank slate gives you a lot of choices. I don't blame her!

 It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think this embroidered silk, slate gray fabric may squeak out the win. This is in the guest bedroom with the blue gray walls and white furniture. I love it.

And this bold indigo and off white pattern is in the little woman's room with its gray walls and white furniture. Very sharp. And yes, it's called her room : )

Pacifier Clips

Two friends requested some pacifier clips for their little girls and I was happy to make them!  I used this tutorial and it think it's one of the most versatile I've found.  The ribbon loop on the end makes these clips work for the Soothie style that doesn't have a ring.

Car Seat Cooler

Every good idea I have for baby gear or wish list type item is usually found through a quick Google search.  This time I just didn't want to pay the $50 plus shipping price tag!  I knew I could make one.

With our heat wave, I decided the little woman needed a car seat cooler.  I found a picture of exactly what I wanted, but she didn't provide a tutorial (she's now selling them herself, so I don't blame her!).  I did study her pictures and come up with a design that would work for our car seat.  It's basically a strip of fabric with pockets that each hold an ice pack.  I freeze the ice packs over night and bring the whole thing with us on our day out and about.  Whenever we park the car, we put the ice pack in the seat to keep it cold while the rest of the car cooks in the sun.  When we return, the ice pack comes out, and she gets in a cold seat.  SHE DOES NOT SIT IN THE SEAT WITH THIS UNDER HER.  It's either the ice pack or her, never both : )  Just wanted to put that disclaimer out there.

It's a few layers of fabric sewn together with bias tape around the edges and pockets on one side. 

I sewed the top layer with two pieces of home decor fabric (so it's thick and sturdy) with some fleece sandwiched in the middle for insulation.  Each pocket gets a frozen ice pack.

The back layer is a thin poly/cotton blend so the cold can travel straight to her car seat.

And the entire thing fits perfectly in her seat.

For the price of 6 ice packs, fabric from my stash, and a few hours of my time, the little woman is much more comfortable this summer!

Baby Gifts

We are well into the season of life where pregnancy announcements are made, baby showers are hosted, and sweet little ones are born. It may just be more fun than wedding season!  It also gives me plenty of opportunity to sew some gifts like these burp cloths, pacifier clips, tag blankets, and bibs.  I tend not to sew clothing items as shower gifts because babies come in so many sizes.  And sometimes the functional every day items like a pacifier clip or a burp cloth are just what a new mama needs.

Paisley Pillowcase

A pillowcase dress actually made from a pillowcase : ) This color scheme is a bit of a departure for me but the wedgewood blue is so pretty and I just love the paisley print. I found a new pattern for pillowcase dresses that will be my new go to although I overcompensated a bit on length for this one.  It will pretty through the fall, I suppose.

Romper

I was busy with my sewing machine last week so we have a few fun new outfits to model this week at the beach.  Tonight, we started with this romper and I can't wait to make more.  I found the pattern from a great little shop on Etsy (Pink Poodle Bows) and have another ruffled top and shorts pattern along with a dress to try from her.

The shorts are even.  I think she was just standing at a funny angle.  That, or it was all the running she did all night!  She didn't stop moving.

Shirred Dress

I combined a few tutorials (here and here) for shirring and came up with this cute dress in pink gingham. And really, nothing says summer more than gingham!  I decided to practice my french seams for the body of the dress.

And also added a folded band of white fabric to the bottom - first because I barely had enough pink fabric for my tall little toddler and second because I don't like hemming!

I think she liked it!

Thread and Bobbin Storage

I found this blog post for thread and bobbin organization at The Creative Homemaker via Pinterest.  The husband built the shelf for me, I painted it and added the nails for bobbins, and then he hung it for me last weekend.  Although my favorite part is the tip about using plastic tubing to wrap around those loose bobbin threads!  I found 5/8 inch (outer diameter) tubing at Lowe's for about $0.60 per foot.  I only used a few inches so far.

About 90% of this thread came with Grandma's sewing stash with her machine.  I think she liked blue and green, don't you?

Dresses for SJ and Little E

A certain little girl had her first birthday the other week. It was just the excuse to sew another dress. It's a tad tight on Delaney since Miss SJ is just now turning one. Cute nonetheless.

Little E got a new dress, too, but I didn't get a picture of Delaney trying it out first.

Tie Back Pillowcase Dress

I loved this navy and white polka dot fabric as soon as I saw it! I added some preppy kelly green accents for this first dress, but I have enough left over to do another one with red accents for summer.

 

 This was my first experience using bias tape to bind my sleeve openings (and I'm in love!) and also making my own fabric tie.  A lot of dresses call for ribbon ties, but once I used the green on the hem I had to make a matching tie.

Toddlers don't make the most cooperative models.

But at least the dress is cute!

My second version is coming soon, but it will have to wait until a certain little girl opens it on her first birthday before I can post pictures!

Sewing Projects

I was blessed with my grandmother's sewing machine and little by little I'm learning to do lots of fun things with it.  I originally bought our little girl a pair of denim ruffle pants on Etsy, but she was ready for a bigger size.  I used the old pants as a pattern and turned them inside out to figure out how to assemble them.  I am so happy with the result, but also plan to make the ruffles a bit fuller next time around.  Also, no contrasting thread.  I thought it would be cute, but it was such a pain to keep my "white lines" straight.

My next project today was this simple peasant dress.  I found this tutorial and just scaled down the measurements to what I hoped would be an 18 month size.

I don't plan to have her wear them both at the same time, but it was easier to model both at once.  She wasn't feeling very photogenic tonight!