For me...

I feel like I haven't done a lot of sewing for myself lately so I finally got down to it. Two hours later I had some curtains for my family room. I bought the fabric several months ago and it's been sitting in my closet just waiting. I love this light yellow fabric with green ticking stripes. It's so subtle and not too flashy. It adds to the cottage feel of my house. I still have a long way to go with decor and if we'd stop moving maybe I could get actually get one house decorated fully! I put a large green section at the bottoms to anchor the curtains since they are very tall. Next, I need more fabric to make valances (notice the ugly rods still showing) and some more matching pillows. I want to do something coordinating in the dining room and kitchen that are right next door but not be all "matchy-matchy" about it. Then I want to tackle the master bedroom!





And... I want something else over my couch. Something a little more modern and cottage feeling. Suggestions? I love iron, so maybe something with scrolls and maybe a monogram or something. I think I'll try to recover our glider rocker too since it's a sad dirty beige color because it's dirty and it's beige. So many ideas, so little money and time!

Orange and owl baby's room

So I had a big order before Thanksgiving that took a lot of time to sew and create but it ended up great! I love that I got to see the completed room after the mom added my stuff to her already amazing design. What a fun, modern, colorful, yet sophisticated baby's room! I contributed the puffy quilt, crib skirt, 3 crib sheets, diaper stacker, changing pad cover, pillow, and crib bumper. It's fun to work with people to find just the right combination of fabrics and colors that they envision for their project and then see it come to life!











I was excited to read her review also. She said, "We are really excited with how everything came together. We absolutley love it. Thank you for your beautiful craftmanship. The quality is outstanding."

What a lucky little baby to live in this room!

Ipad carrying cases

So our school district was lucky enough to have a donor donate enough money to buy every middle school and high school student their own Ipad to use for "educational" reasons. Initially a lot of parents didn't want them because that is one more thing to monitor for your kids, to lose, to break, to accessorize, to argue about. (if you have pre-teens and teenagers you know what I'm talking about!) Anyway, I have 3 kids in that age group so we have 3 Ipad that are leased to us from the school and we have to monitor, try to not break or lose, accessorize and argue about. They are not supposed to download their own apps (school rule) so we don't have to worry about that. It's mostly the touch screen fascination that we have to monitor and the mindless time wasting that goes on. But, my kids are good and we haven't had too many problems.

Which brings me to the point of this post- to post pictures of all the ipad carrying cases I have been making! Teachers need them, students need them so why not whip up 10 or 20 to sell and to give as gifts? They are easy to make and fun to play with different trims and ribbons to make them all cute. I've mostly made girl ones because the little handles make them look kinda like a purse. I did make one boy one out of camo material without the handles for my son and he says he likes it. I didn't put any cardboard or hard siding inside which is why I call them carrying cases rather than cases, because they should still be in a hard case first and then slipped inside this padded carrying case. They have made great gifts for my kids teachers and friends for Christmas! They have a coordinating lining fabric inside and close with a long piece of velcro that is sewed into the lining. I think I forgot to take pictures of 5 or 6 others I made.

So contact me if you want some made and I'll find some cute fabric for you!


I can't figure out why these ones are sideways, I've tried everything so you're just going to have to turn your head to see them right...

Puffy/Taggie/Texture Toy

I've never been one to make up a lot of projects. I follow a pattern or an example great but originality is hard for me. Also throwing away awkward shaped leftover fabric is hard for me too because I know something could be done with that leftover fabric. Having made tons and tons of puffy quilts, I wanted to make something we could take along and that more people could have. I know taggie blankets are popular with kids and they like to play with different textures. So I came up with a mini puffy/taggie/texture toy that is about a foot square.

It has 25 mini puffs, sewn together just like a large puffy quilt. Then ribbon tags are added and a minky back makes it even more fun to play with! Every time my little 1 year old son sees one of these around the house he immediately brings it to his cheek and rubs it on his cheek. Several moms at my first craft fair this weekend thought they were cool too and bought them! So I'm trying them out on my etsy site as well.

I'm so excited to have finally come up with something on my own! Now I just need a better name... which leads me my first giveaway! If I can get 25 name suggestions from different people, I'll pick the best one and send you one of my puffy/taggie/texture toys. Leave your comment!


linked to: http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
www.sewstylishboutique.blogspot.com
www.strictly-homemade.blogspot.com

Privilege

Sometimes we are lucky enough to use our talents to bless and help other people. I was honored to help a good friend and her family with my sewing talents last week. They had a preemie baby who lived a short 10 days then passed away. She was only 1 pound 1 ounce and born at 27 weeks. One thing my friend did not want to do was shop for a dress for the baby for the funeral. A doll dress would be too big anyway, a Barbie dress would probably be closer to the size, but not wide enough. So I offered to make one. It was a pleasure and a privilege to help them during this trying time.

I took a few doll dress patterns that I have a figured out how it would best fit on a such a little baby with the least amount of disturbance. I decided to not do sleeves and to make it a wrap dress that would fit around her how ever small she was. I put an adjustable velcro closure on the side so when you wrapped it, it could be wrapped tighter if needed. I made it long and with two skirts, two different colors of lace, and several ribbon bows. I think a girl needs a pretty dress no matter how small or for how short of an amount of time! It did not take long to make and I loved how it turned out. I do wish I had made it probably 1/2 the size after I saw the little baby at the funeral because I think it was way too big.

There aren't many options for parents with micro-preemies. After searching online there are several things you can buy for more than 50$ and they will ship the next day. I think it's a great option for a friend to make something because it'll mean more and be one less thing that a grieving parent has to worry about! Thank you friends for giving me the opportunity to give you a gift in your time of need.

Craft fair craziness...

So this is the first time I'm going to do a craft fair and all I can say is, "What was I thinking???" Actually I'm really excited but super stressed about getting everything done in time. Also if we'll have enough to fill up our table. These are some super cute apron and baker's hat sets that I've been working on. My girls all want one and if there are any left over, they'll get one for Christmas! I love these fun, bright fabrics. On my etsy shop as well.

Fries with that?

So every year I swear I'm not doing anymore Halloween costumes, but I always do. Mostly for my little kids because I figure the big kids can come up with something on their own. This year I saw a picture somewhere of condiment costumes and thought it was so cute. So I got a yard of red and yellow felt, stitched it up in the back, put a casing around the neck and added elastic, cut out some felt letters and glued them on. The hats were plastic from a round ice cream bucket covered with felt and a small pot I found in the garage. Wa-la! Ketchup and mustard bottles. Easy and cute. My boys are cute too.