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.

Custom Orders

A couple custom orders I did a month or so ago and realized I hadn’t blogged about.

Custom order soda can cozy.  It’s actually blue but I didn’t have very good lighting in the picture.  Complete with a matching origami gift box. My friend also wanted a soda pop cozy.  This one is green.  It’s just a bit taller than the soda can cozy.  I love doing custom orders for good friends!

Back to my regular schedule…

Just wanted to show what I’ve been up to lately.  In just under 10 weeks I sewed just over 90 aprons.  I snapped a quick picture of them before they headed out the door to Utah for Swiss Days in Midway, UT this weekend.  They are all so cute.  The most adorable fabric and each one has about 6 yards of rick rack.  Stop by and see them in booth A-35 and tell them I sent you.  I’ve been working on them every spare second I had.  Now I’m kind of lost without them to work on.  I’m switching gears getting the house back in shape and taking stock of my projects and trying to figure out what to tackle first.  I’m sure I’ll be blogging more regularly now so check back often to see what’s new.

p.s.  they’ll also have some amazing furniture in their booth.  Check out their blog to see pics.

Denim Scripture Tote Bag

I made a few of these last Fall and one of my friends that ordered one for her daughter last year placed an order recently for one for her niece.  She wanted pink so I took over a stack of pink fabric that I had and she picked this Hawaiian print.  It’s leftover from a quilt my mom made me a while back.  I bought this fabric to go on the back of the quilt and also to be used between the blocks to frame them.  Since I made up the pattern it took me a bit to remember how to make one but I’m really pleased with how it turned out.  I had a bit of a problem sewing the lining and the outside of the bag together since the fabric is such different weights but I got out my walking foot and that made it a breeze.  It really saved the day.As you can see it holds a quad nicely.

Little pocket on the front for keys, etc…

On each side of the lining there is a big pocket that can fit a YW book, Faith in God book or a pocket size hymnal.