Baby Quilt

I have been busy preparing for the arrival of our newest addition! We are due to have a baby girl at the end of September!! When looking to decorate her room I couldn't find the "perfect" bedding set, so I took a leap of faith and decided to try to make my own. I really wanted a quilt that had a "vintage" feel to it and would be "girly" without being over powering with pink. Here are a couple quick photos I snapped on my phone. I will add some more (higher quality) photos when I have the crib in the room for staging :)

Back is green flannel - very cozy!

Crayon Rolls

I made a couple more crayon rolls as Christmas gifts this year. This time I got to make them "girly" and it was so much fun!

Tablet Cover

For Christmas I made my mother-in-law a cover for her tablet (like the eReader covers I posted previously). Here is the final product - - - I think it was my best one yet!

Christmas PJ's

I really wanted to make Cole Christmas PJ's. I had visions of adorable little flannel PJ's with a button up top. . . .When I saw that Joann's would have flannel on sale for Black Friday, I decided to brave the lines and get some to make my Christmas PJ dreams come true. It took me a little longer to find the exact patttern I wanted to use, but I finally ended up with Simplicity 3584. The pattern wasn't as tough as I thought it would be, although I was scared of the collar! Overall I would say that my first attempt at apparel went pretty well!

Close up of fabric

Cutting out the pattern pieces

 

finished top

Top and bottoms

Final product!

Christmas Decor

To help spruce up our Christmas decor I purchased a couple yards of red and green plaid flannel and went to work. I ended up making table runners for our dining room table and a display table as well as pillowcases for a couple of the couch throw pillows. The plaid helped to pull the whole house togehter and was really warm and inviting!

Sewing a hem for the table runners

Display table

Dining room table (why didn't I push in the chairs before the photo?)

Plaid pillow case (our Aussie was a fan!)

Christmas Tree Skirt

I really want to make a new tree skirt for our Christmas tree. Our current one is a red velvet that, while pretty, is like velcro to pet hair and with 2 dogs and a cat it gets pretty furry fast! I found this tutorial from SewTeacher.com and used it to make a new skirt using fabric I got a great deal on during a Veteran's Day sale. Following the directions exactly I ended up with a nice looking, casual, tree skirt.

Some changes I will make on future skirts:

1) The tutorial must use decorator fabric size bolts. Using a standard 45" fabric bolt produced a tree skirt that is a little less than 4' in diameter. Because of its size I am probably going to donate it, along with my old tree, to a friend (since the old tree is a very narrow tree, the skirt should fit beautifully underneath. My new tree is very wide and you wouldn't be able to see the skirt at all!)

2) The tutorial doesn't mention using a walking foot, but I may next time just to help my bottom fabric move at the same interval as my top fabric.

3) I think I will try to add ribbon on the cut edge so that the skirt can be secured around the tree (or maybe buttons??). As I mentioned, I have a cat, so it is important to have a secure tree skirt or it will end up across the room.

As a side note, I used piping as a finishing touch to the skirt I made (my first time using piping) and I love the results. Such a nice clean look!

Here are pictures of this first attempt at a tree skirt. Hopefully I will find some decor fabric I can use to make an even bigger one, if not maybe I will try the ruffled tree skirt (or the new sew variety here)look that is becoming so popular . . .

Total project cost about $7

Finished Project.

Piping :)

Close up of fabric - cute and casual!

My First Pillowcase!

I decided to start on my first pillowcase for the One Million Pillowcases Challenge (see my October post). I followed the "roll" method with french seams that was listed on the One Million Pillowcases website. The method was pretty simple and I turned out a nice (bright & cheery) pillowcase with no raw edges! Great use for some leftover fabric I had laying around. Only 9 more to go to meet my goal :)

Burlap Table Runner

I picked up a remnant of burlap (I really like fabric remnants, if you can't tell) and decided to make a burlap table runner. I have been putting it off for a while because I was nervous about tackling burlap and thought it would be hard to work with. Turns out that its very easy to work with and sews up nicely. After I sewed the basic runner I painted the words "give thanks" on the runner in brown craft paint. I used chalk to sketch out the words first and then free hand painted using an art brush. In the photos below the runner isn't laying flay because of the foam board I have under the "give thanks" while it was drying. Paired up with my jute pumpkins I think it makes a nice holiday table!

 

See other wonderful fall crafts on the Craftaholics Anonymous Fall Frenzy page

Wet Bag

A while back I picked up a remnant piece of Babyville PUL fabric from Joanns. The fabric has an adorable owl pattern and I knew I could find something to use it for. I finally decided to make a wet bag for Cole's wet clothes/ towel after swim lessons.

It was super easy to make and works great. I think next time I might add a loop handle and top stitch around the whole bag, just for a more finished look. . .

Crayon Roll

Since I purchased felt for the Halloween Treat Bag (last post) I decided to see what other felt projects were out there. My search led me to this tutorial on Skip To My Lou's Blog. I decided to use the basic concept and make one for Cole.

Here it is!

Halloween Treat Bag

I fell in love with this Owl Treat Tote through Pottery Barn Kids and was very bummed when it became no longer available. I figured the concept was easy enough, so I tried to make my own bag - - - and LOVE the results. My tote bag itself was a little uneven, but the owl turned out too cute! Cole has already used it for Trick or Treating at Zoo Boo. It was so cute to see him hold it and walk up to each booth and say "treat"!

Best part is - - -It only cost $1 to make the whole bag!!

Bookmark

I recently saw this bookmark idea while browsing craft ideas online. (I can't remember where I saw it to give the appropriate credit, sorry!) Even though I use my eReader, I still think some of these will be handy. I am currently using one on my planner and think they could also be useful in cookbooks.

The concept includes a piece of ribbon, a button, and a hair elastic - - the end result is a book mark that doesn't slip :)

Firewood Carrier

I found a project idea at Joanns.com that I have been wanting to try. The project is a canvas firewood carrier, which would be a perfect addition to our wood burning fireplace tools! I decided to follow the Joanns directions to a "T" (almost) and the final product turned out fairly nice (would have been better if my sewing machine wasn't having stitch issues!) and will be great to use once our weather cools down - - at this rate that could be a while.

The only adjustment I made to the original project was to sew the dowel rods into the pockets instead of letting them be loose.

I have a great remnant of burlap and am considering making a second carrier, that is narrower (since our wood is cut to about 14" lengths) out of the burlap :)

The wood is completely enclosed in the carrier, which means my clothes will stay clean when bringing in wood!

Side view

I think a narrower carrier would fit better in our log rack . . .



 

Message Board

I made this message board to put over a small cabinet and create a mail center. The cabinet has a small basket for mail and the board keeps all our invites/ notices organized - - and keeps our fridge front from getting too cluttered!

Sewing for Baby!

Here are some of the various baby items I made for my son.

Bibs

Shopping Cart/ High Chair cover w/ toy ring and pocket

Shopping cart cover in use :)

Diaper caddy, wipes case and burp rag for diaper bag

eReader Cover

This was the first eReader cover I made. Not my best work, the ones I made after were better, but I can't seem to find any photos.