A Day in the Life...

Summer Projects...Off to a Good Start

I am loving our summer break this year!  The last couple summers were hectic and we didn't have a lot of down time.  This summer is different.  It's all about relaxing, reorganizing, and crafting.  So far, we've barreled through quite a few things. 

I got a really cool pattern from my friend Heidi to make to new kind of tote bag.  She and her girlies keep their knitting supplies in them.  They're the perfect size and the open top gives easy access to the "stuff". 

Here's our first one.  Alli picked out the fabrics and even had the idea for bow on the pocket. 

 

Knitting has been a big hit around here.  So far, we've mostly just been practicing.  This poncho pattern looked pretty simple, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I used the wrong size needles, so it's a miniature version.  (It was supposed to fit an adult.)  I think it might fit a 5 year old even better than Alli.  But it was great practice!

 

I made this adorable pillowcase to match a my comforter.  (Using Jona's tutorial, of course.)  Custom pillowcases...what a great idea!

But this, by far, is the most ambitious thing I've ever sewn.  I've been working on it for months. 

 

I thought I would save myself some money, but it ended up costing way more than a store bought curtain and it was way more challenging than I expected.  The Waverly fabric is pretty and goes with some of the darker colors in my house, but prefer a more cottagey/whimsical look, so I used Vintage Dot fabric by Sandi Henderson as the contrast fabric.  That way it's not too formal looking.  :) 

 

I'm so glad it's finished!

This summer, we'll be hosting a few more sewing parties for the girls' friends along with lots of other fun projects.  I even have a bunch of my all time favorite fabric, Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey, set aside for a quilt...my first one!  Hopefully, I'll be able to get to it. 

Aprons To Go...

We haven't made any aprons in a while.  I actually ripped up all the fabric for these a few months back, but haven't had the time to sew them until now. 

They are going to a friend of mine in Arizona and her two little girls.  They liked all the fun fabrics we've been using and commented on them...so we thought we send them some of their very own. 

I always love how they turn out.  Coming up with different fabrics combinations is so fun!

  

 

 

I shrunk Jona's "Apron in an Hour" down a bit for the bottom two, especially the last one...it (hopefully) will be able to fit a 2-3 year old.  It looks a bit odd on 13 year old!

Easy Messenger Bag

These messenger bags are one of my favorite things to make.  They are super easy and can be changed to suit anyone's likes.  Check out Heidi's here.  I got this adorable fabric and pattern from Jona at Fabritopia.  (The denim part was clearance stuff at Joann's.)  I've made quite a few now and this one is for me, finally. :)

 

I quilted the pockets on this one.  I like the final look, but it took a looong time and a whole lot of thread, so I'm not sure I'll do it again. 

 

These bags are bigger than they look.  They can hold a ton of stuff.  Check out this three ring binder...it's swimming in this bag!

 

A friend of mine even mentioned putting additional pockets inside and making it a diaper bag.  Great idea!

Here's a look at the ones we've made so far.

 

And this one we sent to a friend for Christmas.

 

They are all so totally different.  I think that's what I love about this pattern.  You can do anything you want with it.  And...the kids can help quite a bit with them.

Off to do more sewing.  I'm working on a costume for a friend who is in a play.  It's a little daunting though.  The pattern is written for a costume maker and it has no instructions!  Yikes! 

Quick Fix Headband

A friend of the girls' recently left her headband at our house. 

The more times I walked by and looked at it, the more I realized that it would be pretty easy to do more with a simple headband.  It looked like it used to have trim on it and that gave me some ideas.  Hmmm...ribbon, fabric, braided trim...lots of possibilities.  

When the friend came over again, I asked her if she wanted to give it a try.  The response was, "Absolutely, of course, yes, yes, yes!"  So, I got out the got glue gun and she picked her favorite fabric off the shelf.

First, I traced the length of the headband as I rolled it to each side.  Then added a 1/2 an inch (maybe a little less) as a cut it out.  I ironed the edges in like this...

 

And started gluing.

In a matter of a couple of minutes, I had this. 

  

Hint...if you try this, let a little bit of fabric hang over the edge.  I didn't do that this time, and here's what it looked like.  

  

Not a big deal, but now I know for next time.  :)

Charity Cases

A local quilt shop is donating pillowcases to charity...a different charity each month.  This month, she is sending all the pillowcases to soldiers in Afghanistan.  As a former military gal, that is especially close to my heart and I know how homesick one gets when stationed overseas.  (And how tired of white sheets and khaki blankets one gets, too.) 

This is a great way to give those hardworking men and women a spark of "non-issue" color while letting them know that they are appreciated.  The quilt shop already had a huge basket full of pillowcases when I stopped in last week, so I can imagine she will have lots to donate.  All we had to do was take as many pre-cut packs as we wanted (for a small deposit), sew them up, and return them.  We can exchange each one for a new pack or get the deposit back. 

The girls and their friends were excited to get started, so I gave them a quick demonstration.

 

(Please ignore my messy stack of scraps!)

The shop owner gave me instructions, but we just followed Jona's tutorial.

 

  

  

  

Oops...needed the ol' seam ripper a couple of times!

  

Within a couple of hours, we had four brand new pillowcases.

 

I think we'll keep up with the donating and do a few every month! 

Big Girl Skirt

Mike is taking the girls to a father/daughter dance this weekend.  (Corsages and all!)  Alli and Erin have dresses that fit, but Rachel has outgrown everything.  And she no longer fits into the super cute dresses from Gymboree or Children's Place.  :(

I didn't want to spend the day searching the junior sections at the department stores for a dress, so we resolved to make our own.  Rachel picked her favorite fabric and off we went. 

I used Jona's Edith Twirl Skirt with some minor mistakes modifications.

Here she is...

 

I did something wrong along the way and the ruffle that is supposed to show at the bottom is hidden underneath the skirt.  (It ended up 5 inches too short!)

   

It worked out OK, because it looks a little fancier with only the lace trim at the bottom and the underskirt gives it a bit of a fluffy look and feel.

 

I think she's trying to see just how many things we can make out of this funky floral fabric.  (I love the striped trim she chose.) 

More to come on her other projects...

Sewing Party!

Have you noticed that we love to make aprons around here?   We even had a little sewing party here last night...and guess what we made?  You got it...aprons!

Erin's friend, Shelby, along with her mom and a couple of siblings, came over and joined us in the fun.  The girls all picked out their favorite fabrics and did a really great job.  We only lost one to the lure of a light saber battle with Shelby's little brother, Caleb.  (I won't say who, but she's the youngest and the blondest.)  :)

Here are the girls with their finished products.

  

Close-ups...

  

  

 

  

  

 

Just in case a we get a rain shower in the kitchen!  You can never be too prepared!

   

Apron Skirt...Resized

My girls loved the apron skirt.  Unfortunately, it was a bit small, so I thought I'd better get busy and make a couple in bigger sizes. 

Here's the first one.  I love Heather's Bailey's fabrics and have wanted to use this robin's egg blue material for the longest time. 

This is a picture of it on Erin, but it fits Alli a little better.  I would say this is a size 10. 

 

From Jona's pattern, I widened it 4" inches and lengthened it a total of  5" (4" on the main skirt and 1" on the waistband).

 

The pocket is Heather's "Pop Garden" line. I think it goes nicely with the "Freshcut".

  

Erin has requested a skirt from the Mary Englebreit "Recipe for Friendship" collection, so that's next!

Keep Those Patterns Comin'...

My friend, Jona, is such a talented gal...and just as much fun, too. 

She has already come out with a couple of patterns.  I'm sure you are familiar with the apron-in-an-hour tutorial that I've been using a lot recently.  She also has this pattern, the Edith Twirl Skirt.  It's quite adorable and easy to make. 

 

But her latest pattern is by far my favorite.  It's called the Evelyn Apron Skirt and it's simply the cutest!  The attached apron adds such a fun touch. 

 

Keep in mind...I made this in a size 6 and it is being worn by my very tall 8 year old!  (This was just a practice skirt.  I'll be making my girlie a longer one.)   

 

You can really see how cute the apron looks from a side view!

Way to go, Jona...I can't wait for the next one!

Another apron...

We are on an apron kick around here.  This is the third one we've made in the last month.  (I could do lots more, but I am resisting.  What on earth would I do with a bunch of aprons?)

It's just too fun putting fabrics together and seeing how they turn out.  Maybe I need to start a little business...hmmm...