Friday, June 24, 2011

A Pouch

 I discovered this pattern for a simple zipper pouch at Sew Much 2 Luv.  It is super cute and super easy.  This was my first attempt at a zip pouch, so I was pleased with how it turned out. 
 

I'm not sure what the fabric line is that I used.  It was a cute and retro part of my stash. I love the puppies on the lining.  They are adorable.  I cut another pouch that will be the opposite with the puppies on the outside and the flowers on the inside.  I didn't have another zipper on hand that was long enough at the time I made this one.  These would be so easy to whip up assembly line style.  Lucky for me my order from zipit arrived today with some fabulous zippers and ribbon. Jennie has terrific customer service and so many colors of zippers, not to mention some really cute ribbon!  If you ever need zippers, check out her shop.  You won't be sorry!



The inside shows the seams.  I zig-zagged them since I don't have a serger and they look okay.  A serger is high on my list of things to buy.  Any advice on purchasing one?  What brand do you have or recommend?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A bib and a burp cloth


I made two sets of these adorable Hooty Hoot bibs and burp cloths.  Baby M was the lucky recipient of one the other one is available in my little, neglected Etsy shop.  I hope to build my shop a bit this summer.  I was planning on lots of creating, but so far it hasn't really happened.  Babies sure take a lot of time, but they are so worth it!  I had forgotten how demanding they could be.


The bib is backed with chenille and has a velcro closure.  What do you prefer? Snaps or velcro? 
The burp cloth is also backed with a cream colored chenille.  Baby M loves his.  He is always checking out the owls.  I wanted to post a pic of him modeling his bib, but I wasn't quick enough before he spit up all over it.  Poor baby!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

A Couple of MugRugs

I thought I would share a couple of mugrugs that I gave as Mother's Day gifts for my Mom and my Grandma this year.  Life was crazier back then and I never got them posted.  I'm just thankful that I got them made!!


The first one is pinwheels for my Grandma.  Most of the fabric is Neptune.  The pinwheels and binding are something that I picked up from my LQS.  Not sure what those fabrics are called.  It was fun to make those super tiny pinwheels.


The second one was for my Mama.  It was completely from my scrap bucket.  I loved quilting around the poppies with my shiny orange varigated thread.  It was so much fun.  I'm not so great with the free motion thing yet, so all the practice I can get is great.  My other favorite part is the binding.  No idea what it is, but it is from a rather big UFO that I've been sitting on for a few years now.  I really need to get that finished, especially since it is for one of the boys.

Both mug rugs were well received!


And here are two very happy boys now that they are having lots of free time to run and play!

Friday, June 17, 2011

A Second Skirt!

I like to call this my "Hooty Birthday Skirt".  I decided to make myself a skirt for my birthday on Wednesday thinking that I could get it all finished in one day.  I didn't quite accomplish that, but I did just finish it, right before the Crafterhours Skirt Week deadline.  Shewww!  Kids tend to spoil some of the sewing fun every now and then. 


I used the same pattern for this skirt that I used for my Escape from Reality skirt. This time I added a few inches to the length to accomodate the large dresden plate.  I really like how it turned out, but I do feel almost like I'm wearing a target.  It is a very comfy skirt though, with it's elastic waist band.  I will have to try something new for the next skirt.  I'm feeling a bit lazy with all of the elastic.  The grey fabric has been in my stash for many, many years.  It is a heavy weight fabric, but I have no idea what it actually is.  The dresden is made from an It's a Hoot charm pack, hence the name "Hooty Birthday Skirt".  Haha! 

I've linked up to

 And now a very serious picture of J and Baby M with some electrical tape.  Boys are always busy with something.  Baby M wants to know absolutely EVERYTHING that his big brothers are doing.



Thursday, June 16, 2011

Escape from Reality- The Skirt

In an attempt to 'escape from reality" last week, I whipped up this a-line skirt using my Far, Far Away that I've been hoarding.  The end of the school year was very stressful and after 12 years of teaching German I got a furlough letter because there is just not enough money to continue foreign languages other than Spanish. (Gracias school district!) 
My dad also had round two of brain surgery last week.  He is doing well, but you just never know what the outcome of something like that will be. 
STRESSFUL WEEK= UNICORN SKIRT!

 I drafted my pattern based on a tutorial from a Sew News magazine that I got a couple of years ago.  It is definitely a very simple skirt to sew up once the pattern is drawn up.  It has an elastic waist band, so it is also wonderful for the remaining extra baby weight. :(  (15 pounds to go! He is well worth it though!)


These photos were taken before hair and make-up came in and before the sun came out in an attempt not to have puke all over my shirt.  If you notice, the bottom picture was a black shirt.  I had to scrap those photos because of just that.  My 7 year old photographer didn't let me know that I had a mess all over my shirt in the first photo shoot.  It's amazing what we fail to notice when we are so used to something.


I've been thinking about putting some kind of a ruffle on the bottom to dress it up a bit, but I wasn't sure if it would take away from the fabric.  Any suggestions?

I entered this skirt in Crafterhours Skirt Week.  I also linked up to Clover and Violet: Stash Project for June.

I also made a cute little button necklace to go with my whimsical, new skirt.