The Toy Society

Have you heard of it? I don't remember how, but several months back I stumbled across the Toy Society site and was intrigued. I forgot about it until today when I asked Autumn if I had ever shown it to her. We got the idea to sew a few simple toys today. I plan to find a fun place to drop mine off tomorrow. This is fun!

Easy Heart Garland

After seeing this heart garland, I had the yearning to make my own. It couldn't be easier, and it's very pretty!

Cut heart shapes out of felt in your choice of colors, and feed them through the sewing machine. (Thanks for sewing them Autumn!) The cutting out takes much longer than the sewing.

Our garland has been hanging for a week now, and I'm nowhere near tired of it. It's so cheery on a rainy February day, and even more adorable when there is snow on the ground.

A Case of Her Own

Can you imagine having to run to your neighbor's house to borrow a pot every time you wanted to cook soup? Me, either. That's why I made Abigail her own crochet hook case. It's so much more fun to work on projects when you have your own tools! She's been diligently picking up her hook and yarn lately, and I thought that deserved a little reward.

I went to my fabric stash and found the perfect candy-inspired fabric in colors that shout, "Abigail!"

And once it was all stitched up, I proceeded to fill it with goodies.

Cupcake Confectionary

Tired of pink confections yet? Me either!

Inspired by a wall hanging in Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle, I came up with my own version, making a cupcake pyramid instead of their suggested three in a row. These hand-appliqued fairy cakes can satisfy any sweet tooth!

Rather than plain white fabric for the icing tops, I used fusible fleece for a more three- dimensional look. I didn't bother with the holly leaves and berries, but used seed beads for sprinkles!

A few buttons in the upper right hand corner add a little more whimsy.

A certain someone is happy to have this gracing the walls of her soft pink bedroom.

Two hours, Two Skirts, Too Late

I often bite off more than I can chew, and leave projects unfinished for indefinite periods of time. It's been especially hectic this year with Autumn getting married and Mac heading off to college.

Earlier in the summer, I cut out three skirts for Abigail. I sat patiently with her while teaching her how to sew the first one, which she is wearing in the above picture. And then my patience wore out, or I got tired, or just plain distracted, and the other two sat on my sewing table. Until today. I got busy, and finished those skirts. What a good feeling! Especially when I saw the smile on her sweet little face.

She already has plans to wear the blue one for worship tomorrow, and the pink one to piano lessons on Tuesday. Now I'm off to see what else I should finish.

A is for Apron

... and Autumn. I love to hang my clothes outside in the sunshine, and have been doing it for years.

Several years back, I bought myself a laundry apron with huge pockets for carrying clothespins. It's so much more convenient than running back and forth to a bag of pins hanging on the line. This morning I made Autumn her own laundry apron with big pockets. She was thrilled when I gave it to her this afternoon.

A is for apron, Autumn, and Abigail. She's next in line so she quits stealing mine!

Sewing Seeds

My friend Randi at i have to say started a project two years ago when her daughter visited Africa. They gathered 118 skirts to take along for the children there. Many women joined together to sew skirts for these children in a far away country.  

Randi is at it once again, except this time the skirts are going to children in Costa Rica. If you want to help, you can read more about it here. 

"Sow the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you."---Hosea 10:12

I'm in, are you? 

Grey Skirt on a Sunny day

Adapted from Simplicity 2906

Fresh Squeezed Fun

The cabinets in Autumn's kitchen will soon be wearing a fresh coat of white enamel paint. She wanted lots of red accents, but with the open floor plan of their little home, and the living room furniture being a cream background with blue and green plaid, she's rethought everything a little. There's also a narrow berry stripe in the plaid. 

Autumn and I found the most adorable print from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics. It's just right to bring the living room and kitchen together. She can't wait to get started making a curtain for her kitchen window!

I bought two coordinates. I'm going to whip up a little something extra for her. Placemats? A table runner? A cutesy apron?

For me? You shouldn't have, but I'm glad you did! 

Randi's fabrics are very high quality, and are even more beautiful in person than they are on her site. She included these three beauties, and I'm keeping them for myself. 

Working from My Stash

I've wanted to take up sewing since I got married nearly twenty years ago. I'd buy fabric once in awhile, only to be too afraid to cut into it. I did manage to make a few simple things over the years, and my confidence slowly grew. And I do mean S.L.O.W.L.Y. 

Part of completing my UFO's means using my stash. This is another skirt from Simplicity 2906. It's been so long since I originally bought these two pieces of flannel, I've forgotten what I planned to use it for! 

Simplicity 2906

I've sewn a fair share of skirts in December and January, but this is the first one for me. I thought the pattern looked quick and easy. It was easy, and it would have been a whole lot quicker had I hung for 48 hours to let the bias stretch rather than 2 weeks! But hey, the hem looks great.

I lengthened the pattern to make the skirt end at the bottom of my calf rather than my knee, and I like how the skirt hangs at the longer length. The soft flannel will be perfect for these cold days.

I love the plaid on the bias, though Grandma thinks it's very loud. I'm wearing it tomorrow, for Super Bowl Sunday, with a royal blue twinset. It's the exact colors of the Steelers' hypercycloid!

Adapting the Pattern

Looking for a gift for the crochet/knitting enthusiast? Try my Crochet Hook Case. It goes together in a long afternoon or evening.

I adapted this one to fit long knitting needles and standard crochet hooks. Don't be afraid to lengthen the body of the case to accommodate your needs.



My adaptations were as follows:

Instead of cutting the fabric for the main body 20 x 34, I cut it 20 x 42. The fusible fleece for the main body was then cut to 20 x 20.



The large pocket fabric was cut to 20 x 30 instead of 16 x 20. The fusible fleece for that pocket is cut to 15 x 20.


The only other adaptation that I made to this case was to close it with three buttons rather than two.

When I started putting this one together I thought it was going to look dull with the plain blue and brown fabrics, but a few adorable buttons and some satin ribbon dressed it up nicely!
Have fun!

Quick Skirts

Supplies needed:
one pair of jeans or shorts
1-1 1/2 yards fabric
thread
rotary cutter and mat
straight edge such as a quilting square

Pre-wash your fabric, and depending on desired length cut fabric into two equal pieces. You can cut the fabric on the fold line OR for a fuller skirt/bigger size, cut the fabric cut you length in two.

Sew sides together. Hem bottom with a narrow half inch hem. Gather the top of the fabric.

Lay your jeans or shorts carefully on the cutting mat, making sure that the waist line is even on a cutting mark, and there are no wrinkles in the denim. Carefully cut straight across the denim about 1 inch below the zipper.

Placing right sides together, pin the fabric to the jeans, gathering the fabric to the denim. Stitch. You may want to stitch twice with a straight seam, or zigzag the edges.

Done!

Advance 5929

50's fashion made for today.

Mod Girl

While I prefer the styles from the forties and fifties, Autumn loves the sixties and seventies. When we found this pattern from 1969, we agreed that she should have a dress made from it.



I chose the fabric without her, knowing that she'd at least like the colors. This fabric is actually a forties print, but I think it lends itself well to this particular dress. She was thrilled when she saw it, and couldn't wait for me to get started.


The dress took me longer than it should have because there were some very tricky seams, but I'm thrilled with the way it turned out.

I lengthened the dress just a bit to make it more modest. Ahhh... the wonderful thing about sewing! You get to wear the styles you want, and make them suitable to your tastes!

Autumn seems pretty happy about it, too!

Sewing Spree

I cut out another dress, and sewed it up on Saturday.

Abigail was able to wear it to church yesterday.


I love the length and the Peter Pan Collar. So feminine!