a labor of love

This quilt really was a labor of love. It has been about a year since I finished it, but it is still one of the projects of which I am most proud.

It all started when my mom retired from teaching sewing, and upon going through all her old stuff, we found this little gem: The Best of Miniature Quilts Volume 2. Inside it were 18 patterns, with directions, for some of the most beautiful, incredibly detailed quilts I had ever seen. They were all miniature quilts meant to be hung on the wall, but I had other plans. I asked to "borrow" the book, and have never returned it--sorry, Mom!!

The pattern I fell in love with was called Don't Tread on My Heart, and I wanted it for my little girl's twin bed when she moved out of the crib. With finished dimensions of 20 1/2" x 29 1/2", it obviously needed some adjusting for a twin-sized quilt.

I enlarged the pieces to twice the size in the book, and then cut out enough fabric for twice as many hearts as it originally asked for. The original quilt pattern was for only the area inside the red box in this picture:
As you can see, I added quite a bit. The whole quilt ended up being over 740 pieces!


I also created my own design element that got a lot of funny looks. I can't even count the number of times I heard, "Why are the corners cut out?"

Although it might look ridiculous laying out flat, the corners being cut out made it so that the quilt could be laid on a day bed, or a bunk bed without bunching on the frame, like so:

For the first time in my life, I hand quilted a quilt, and even though it took several months with my young children laying under the quilting frames, I think it was well worth it. Someday, I hope to be able to provide each of my children with at least one hand quilted piece quilt.

a (very) full skirt (mccall's 5631)

Since the rule is that you can't wear white until after Memorial Day, I thought it appropriate to make myself a white skirt, and post about it on Memorial weekend. I wanted something full and fun, so I chose McCall's 5631.

I chose this view (maybe because I wanted white, and maybe because I liked the hem line on it, but it was this view nonetheless:)

I used a white on white calico print from JoAnn's for my fabric. Since it was white, I decided to add a lining, which the pattern does not call for . . . after all, I want what is under the skirt to be left to the imagination! I also added four inches to the length, but that is because of my freakishly long legs. (Finished length on the pattern is 23".)

The sewing itself was not that difficult, but more time consuming than it originally appeared. The pattern asks you to pleat the main fabric, and then gather it to fit the waistband. Can you just hear the skirt getting fuller and fuller by the second?

And this is the final product. Fuller than the picture on the front of the pattern, but still more or less what I expected. I like it, but I'm not as in love as I wanted to be.

I do, however want to try it again in a darker fabric so that I don't feel the need to line it, and see what that does to the volume.

Now I have a conundrum that maybe someone out there can help me solve:

To this point, I have never owned a white skirt. There are four very good reasons for that, and they are ages 6, 5, 2, and 8 months! It seems that any time I try to wear anything white, my freshly bathed children appear before me looking like this, wanting hugs and kisses and wiping their faces all over my clothing:

I have seen other mothers wearing white, and I have to ask myself whether their children just never get dirty, or white is more forgiving than I'm giving it credit? Any thoughts?

bubble dress (butterick 4176)

Sometimes when I sew, I need an ego boost, so I like to finish a project in just a few hours. That's what this pattern was for me when I bought it.

Just before making it, Sarah and I were talking one day, and she said, "I saw (insert cute friend's name here)'s girls wearing the cutest bubble dresses at church on Sunday!" The wheels in my head started turning, and I decided to make this dress with a bubble hem:

I wanted to make this view without the sleeves, so I cut out a lining in my daughter's size (size 2.)

Next, I cut out my main fabric, which was a silky print from JoAnn's, from this view, except I cut the hem line all the way to a size 5, and widened the skirt area by about 20 inches.

After sewing the side seams together, I ran a gathering stitch around the hemline of my main fabric and sewed it to the lining right sides together, gathering the main fabric to fit.

I then made the rest of the dress as the directions said.

Just like any dress for a little girl, the most important quality is that it makes her feel like a million bucks, which this does for Rora!


I love the three-button detail on the front:

I also like the simple one-button back closure:

And the final perk to this little dress is that I can add a cute colored ribbon around her waist or an adorable sweater to change up the look a little bit.

This pattern gets two thumbs WAY up!

stylish head gear part II

A bald head and sunshine do not mix.



Problem solved with a little help from You Can Make This. I used the same pattern as on this post.

attractively bunchy (mccall's 6034)

My friend, Sarah of Sew Saucy turned me onto leggings last year, and I have fallen hard for them. For the Disneyland trip, I wanted to look cute, so I decided to attempt sewing something for myself again. I picked out this pattern, but decided it needed a few alterations, so here's what I did:



I wanted the main body for view A:

except with the collar/sleeve line from view B:

with the band on the bottom of view C (I have a thing about having my bum covered while wearing leggings:)

I've got to be honest. The alterations were not easy, and I don't even know how I would go about a tutorial for them, or even duplicating them, but I love the end result!

**One word of warning for view A . . . there are pleats in the back which tend to accentuate a girl's rear end. I wasn't that worried about it since I have kind of a flat rear end, but it would definitely be something to be aware of should you decide to make that top.**

next year's dress (simplicity 3943)

I made this Easter dress for Rora this year. During the sewing process, I realized it was going to be too big for her and got discouraged. I finally finished it today (1 month later.)

Could I have altered it to fit her . . . sure, but since it was going to be 2-3 inches too big around and roughly 4 inches too long for her, I just decided to make it true to size and let her grow into it.

The sizing was no fault of Simplicity's. The dress will fit the size girl it measures to on the back of the pattern. I guess I just hoped that Rora could fit into a size 3 because those patterns are so much cuter than the toddler patterns!

a disney miracle (simplicity 3543, new look 6131)

This past week, my family and I went on a trip to Disneyland with my husband's family! It was tons of fun, and as a little surprise, I told the kids I had written to Mickey to let him know that we were coming.

When we got to California and checked into the hotel, we left for a walk, during which time Tinkerbell stopped by and left each child a pair of pajama pants!

The kids were all so excited! I only took a quick picture of my daughter's, and one of my sons' pajamas, but there were five pair in all.

The infant pajama pants were made from Simplicity 3543:

And the bigger kids' pajama pants were made from New Look 6131:

diy hot pads

I have dreams of redecorating my kitchen and turning it into something cute. I have the colors all picked out, and and plan for how to make it feel, look, and function like a much larger kitchen than it currently is. However, since no one has offered to fund this dream, I have started the remodel with something small . . .


. . . incredibly small.


I would like to introduce you to my new hot pads:


The colors for my new kitchen will be black and white with red and yellow accents.


I didn't use a pattern for these, but there was really no need. I cut my top fabric, 3 layers of batting, and backing to 9" square, put them together, then used a ruler to mark the stitching lines. After stitching along the lines, I used extra-wide double fold bias tape to finish the edges, and voila!

shapelessly cute (simplicity 3790)

I thought this shirt was so cute, and it looked like something that would be super comfy in a stretch knit fabric, so I was excited to make it.

Unfortunately, I have this problem making clothing for myself . . . I never look as good in it as I think I'm going to, and it ends up being discarded. Well, this time I'm happy to say that I ended up liking this shirt, and I've worn it a few times since I finished it, but that wasn't without some opposition. The story is fairly entertaining, so if you scroll down past the picture, I've related it there!


I made one major alteration to the pattern. This pattern calls for you to make the insert and attach it to the shirt, but I wanted the freedom of being able to wear several different colors/styles of shirt underneath, so I opted to simply not make that part. Without that piece, this shirt was 5 pieces, and a breeze to make!

Enjoy!

(Admittedly, I need a new belt, so please don't hold that "design flaw" against Simplicity.)

After I finished making this shirt, I took it into the bathroom to try it on. I couldn't decide whether or not I like it, and my husband wasn't around to ask what he thought, so I decided to ask my kids, who are 6, 4, and 2 years old.

"What do you think?" I asked.

Without even looking up from his toys, or turning to face me, Samuel (6) said, "Looks good."

Rora (2) and Xavier (4) then followed his lead (despite the fact that he still had not looked at me,) "Yeah, looks good!" they said.

"You didn't even look at me!" I accused.

Samuel then turned and looked at me, "Oh." (Long pause,) "Is it for Dad?"

"No," I said defensively, "it's not."

"Is it done?" he asked.

I guess men learn these honest, yet tactless responses early!!

stylish head gear

I made this hat from Leila and Ben's "Little Cap" pattern I got from You Can Make This. I plan on making a more masculine version for my 6-month-old boy's bald little head.

simply adorable (simplicity 3510)

This was my first time using a Project Runway pattern. It took me a few minutes to get over the fact that all the fabric measurements were broken up on the back of the pattern by part of the dress (ie: bodice, skirt, pockets, etc,) but eventually, I found that it left a lot of room for creativity on my part.

copy cat (simplicity 2461)

When Sarah from Sew Saucy showed me the pattern she bought for this little dress, I fell in love, and like any friend would, I totally stole it and made it for my daughter, Rora!


Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, though . . . right?