Holy Hiatus!

Life's been marching on! Little Miss will be one in 6 days. The last year has gone by in a whirl...

It's hard to believe a year ago she was a round ball of pumpkin inside my tummy!

 

She's so independent, agile and daring. We adore her...

Having her party tomorrow! With a spooky theme. Should be fun!

I'll take pics (we got a new camera- thanks, in-laws!)

-S

Whew- what a break!

Wow- has it really been over 2 weeks! Time has flown by here. Girl #1 started kindergarten. We love it. She even takes the school bus. She's growing up so quick! I know how fast it goes, so I'm really trying to enjoy the baby stage with #3. She's all over the place, crawling, standing, couch cruising. It's exhausting, and really putting a damper on the sewing. My machines are in the "studio" aka guest room, which is through our laundry room. Totally not within arms reach of our very mobile baby.

I've been sew busy lately, too! I finished this custom quilt for the preschool director.

It's for her first grandbaby, and I sewed it with so much love. She had been hanging on to the Alexander Henry "Dick and Jane" fabric for ten years! Her daughter loved it so much, that she commissioned me to do a crib bumper and sheets to match- such a fun project!

It's hand tied with pretty pink crochet thread on all of the joints.

This is a poor picture of the back, but it's white minky with a focus strip of the "Dick and Jane" fabric.

In other sewing news- I'm teaching 2 classes at Quiltz this fall! The first one is the Hippy Chick Skirt pattern by Pink Fig, and the second is Serger Basics. I'm super excited about it- if you live in the Phx area- stop by and say "Hi!"

-S

Somebody stole the spotlight, and a giant zucchini

This is the first zucchini we harvested from our garden! One of the good things about living in the desert, is we have 2 non-traditional growing seasons. Still waiting for our peppers, eggplants and all melons to come in. Looking forwards to grilling this guy on sunday! We are having good friends over, lots of kids, jello shots, and a Slip-N-Slide! Should be so fun!

I made another version of this top, this time using a tee shirt from the dollar store, and some AMH Good Folks. I love it! First time I've ever made something twice. Somebody thought my bathroom photo shoot was about her. This was actually the best photo.

Just to give you a little perspective on the size of this thing! Huge!

Happy Long Weekend! -S

Tutorial: Ruffle Butt Bloomers

Problem #1: We cloth diaper at our house. Most of the time, anyways. I love those little dress and bloomer sets sold at warehouse stores, or even Target. However, I'm finding that those tiny bloomers don't accomodate Ruby's fluffy tushy.

Problem #2: We have beautiful granite tile counter tops. With a very rough edge. All of my shirts look like this. I refuse to spend more than 5 dollars on a shirt. I have seriously worn this shirt twice. Seriously.

Solution: Women's t-shirt to baby bloomers! With an awesome short-cut!

First, I cut out the holey part. (giggle, giggle) Cut across the top where you would like the top of the bloomers to be. Mine is about 7 inches from the bottom. I also pressed the top down about an inch. I always use spray starch when sewing knits. It make them a lot less slippery, bendy, and generally unruly.

Next I cut across the top in successive strips (omitting the pocket). I ended up with four 1" strips (picture shows two 2" strips, before I cut them in half.) Switch to a ball-point needle. Your regular needle will wreck knits. Trust me. A four pack is like 2.59. You will thank me.

I ruffled the strips with my sewing machine tension set to way loose, and thread length super long. (I love doing this!!)

I tacked down 3 of the strips on each side (not sure yet if I would use the fourth strip). I then stretched the ruffles to fit, while sewing them right across the gathering stitch with a zig-zag stitch)

Turn them back inside out, and sew the crotch together. DO NOT sew all the way down to the sleeve hem. You will use this little casing to thread the elastic through.

I used 1/4 in braided elastic in both the waistband, and the leg casing. Thread through, sewing the elastic securely together, then sewing the leg casings shut. Do the same with the waistband, finishing the opening where you inserted the elastic. Don't worry if it's not perfect, your baby won't care!

Enjoy the day. You could totally personalize these, with an applique of your choice. They took me about an hour, but I had all three kids at home today. And one had strep. Ugh. If I could've muscled through, I would say these are a 45 minute project. Even ommiting the ruffles would seriously shave down on the construction time. You could use some really cool shirts to give these some extra flair!

PS, I used the last ruffle to make this super cute flower headband! It took me less than 5 minutes!

Spring Top Week

So, MadeByRae is hosting Spring Top Week. I have been sewing for roughly 15 years. It has been at least 14 since I sewed anything for myself. Anything. Hubs has been driving me crazy for a year to sew him "sweat-pads". Ewww, I know. But other than that, all of my sewing has been for the under 4' set.



So, I decided it was time.



Can't be that hard, right?



Well, I started with McCalls 5338 (pics on that to come)

It looks like a nightie. Maybe it doesn't help that I used an actual bedsheet as the body. Vintage. But still...

I decided to give Rae's last year top a try. With mods. I've been obsessed with Bias Tape lately. So, I made all of this wonderful lady-bug chandelier bias tape yesterday to use as straps, and the top of the bodice. Somebody else thought it was pretty wonderful, too. And yummy. Slobbered all of my pressing right out of it.

The look on her face. "Who? Me?"