Cherries & Lime

I had this cute cherry fabric that my mom gave me and a piece of lime lace I picked up a while back.  This morning I made a rosette and attached it to a length of the lace to make a cute headband.  I can't wait to wear it today.

Boutique on my Birthday

For many years now I've had a strict policy of not working on my birthday.  Usually I take the day off and spend it at Disneyland.  This year my birthday is on a Saturday so naturally you'd think I would have the day to do whatever I want which would of course include a weekend get away to CA.  Not this year though.  Back in May I participated in a really great boutique and have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of their Fall date for many months.  Wouldn't you know it that they picked my birthday to hold it on?  After a little debate I decided what better way to spend my birthday than to be surrounded by fellow crafters and interacting with craft enthusiasts.  I turned in my application and signed up.
Some great things about this boutique are the very talented people who have booths there, a central checkout where you can pay with your credit card, a gift bag to the first 50 people who attend the boutique and the great people who attend this unique venue.
So mark it on your calendar and plan to attend the Boutique in the Barn on Saturday October 23rd from 8am - 5pm.  Stop by my booth and whisper "Happy Birthday" to me and you'll be the one receiving a special gift from me!
See you then!

A New Direction

So for some reason this week I started playing around with making variations of the ever so popular “Keep Calm & Carry On” posters.  I’ve made a couple dozen.  I got a couple ideas to make some for me and for a few presents and then I couldn’t stop making them.  Then I made a birth announcement based on the style of the poster.  I even took the time to post it on etsy yesterday.  I think it would be so cute hanging in a nursery.  I’m going to post a few more and see where this endeavor takes me.  Here’s the sample of the birth announcement for now.  I’ll post more pics as I list them.

Birthday Headband

Went to Josh’s cousin’s daughter’s birthday dinner yesterday and this is what I made her for a present.  Just wrapped a headband with a strip of tshirt and attached a rosette made from the hem of the tshirt.  So simple and yet so cute.  Everyone loved it.

Closeup of rossette.  This picture turned out clearer since I remembered to use the closeup focus.

Birthday Apron

So I haven’t really made good on my last post but I still hope to.  We ended up going to CA for the weekend and had a great time visiting my family.  It took me a couple days to recover from the lack of sleep and attempt to get things in order.  Today I did manage to finish up this apron for a friend of mine and deliver it to her for her birthday this afternoon.  I love this Mary Engelbreit fabric.  I found it at thrift store a while back.  The swiss dot was a remnant I found at Hobby Lobby and the rick rack is from Wal-Mart.  My friend bakes bread and sells it so I thought an apron would make a great gift.  I hope she gets a lot of use from it. I had Josh take a quick picture before I headed out the door.  The phone rang in the midst of the picture taking so I think that’s why it’s a bit crooked.

I’ve been kind of lost lately without sewing aprons constantly so it was nice to sew for a bit today.  It was mostly done.  All I had to do was make the ties and sew up the sides of the apron.  I have several more yards of this fabric so I’ll probably make a couple more to use it up.

etsy

It was very exciting back in June when I posted an item and it sold within a few minutes. Wouldn't it be nice if it was always that easy?
I'm determined to start listing on etsy again. My goal is one item a day. Heaven knows that could keep me busy for a couple of months since I have so many items on hand. I figure being persistent and consistent is the key.
I do have an etsy obsession. When I'm home during the day I sneak over to my computer once an hour and refresh the etsy home page to see the featured treasury. I'm constantly amazed at the vast array of talent. Some items I immediately covet, some downright scare me and others leave me feeling a bit perplexed but overall I'm left in awe at the beauty of it all.
My immediate plan is to list everything I've already made. Along the way I have a few patterns in mind that I'm working up writing instructions to that I'll post when I get them ready.
Eventually I'd also like to list vintage items but may end up setting up a different shop for that.
So that's the plan for now. Off to research better picture taking...
ttfn.

Rag Edge Receiving Blankets & Burp Cloths

Although I’ve made lots of receiving blankets and burp cloths over the last year I’ve never been a fan of making them.  I just don’t like the sew, turn right side out and then topstitch procedure.  A month or so ago I spied my friend sporting a rag edge burp cloth and loved the idea of making those instead.  So for this last batch I tried it out and thought they turned out great.  For the receiving blankets I cut the front and back about 42” square.  With wrong sides together I sewed a 1” seam all the way around and then used the rag quilt scissors to snip all around and then took them to the laundry mat to wash them.  For the burp cloths I used my regular pattern and used a 1/2” seam.  (Although for a few I accidentally used a 1” seam and I think I like those better.)  I also noticed that when I used a different fabric for the front and back they didn’t end up shrinking the same so they don’t lay flat.  The couple that I made using the same front and back worked out much better.  So from now on I’ll have to use the same fabric front and back or prewash the fabric so I can use two different fabrics which is much cuter!

So if you are in need of making baby presents this is a great project!

The one on the left uses the same fabric on both sides.  On the right there’s a different fabric on the back that ended up shrinking a lot and bunching up the fabric.