My Church is involved in the Festival of Trees again and have asked for donations of handmade items to be sold so I decided to put my collection of scraps to good use. I came up with these little tooth fairy pillows.
Did I mention it was velvet? It's very hard to sew with, because it's very easily crushed and once it's crushed ...it's crushed, you can't undo crushed velvet. So you get this mottled look on the fabric.
Oh, and the piping? I had never made piping before. That part was okay, but then getting it to look right once I got the whole thing together was a challenge. After ripping apart the puckered seams for the 10th time, I was nearly in tears and beginning to foam at the mouth. Deep breath. Little prayer. Calm.
When I let my mind think about the entire project ahead of me, I started to stress out, but if I just thought about one small step at a time, It was okay. And prayer, ....prayer helps everything - yes, even sewing! (My mom taught me that!)Well, as soon as I finished the first slipcover I fit it onto the cushion and when I went to zip it up....pop! The zipper broke.
GARBAGE! (that's my dad's favorite swear word.)
For a first timer, I think they turned out relatively well. (As long as you don't examine the zippers in the back too closely! After starting the project I noticed that the fabric was quite faded in some areas, thankfully my client didn't mind and thought it gave the pieces a vintage feel. She was happy with them and in the end, that's what's important.
I have had several projects that I wanted to get check off my to-do list and here's one of them. My Sis-in-Law, Carrie, works at Tricks gym, as the assistant teacher in their CampUs classes. She is amazing with kids! She is one of those women who know just what to say to a kid to snap them out of a funk or stop a meltdown before it starts. I know it's selfish, but I'm sometimes glad she doesn't have kids yet, because if she did, who would help me with mine!!!???? Someday she is going to be an amazing mom. So recently, she came to me with an idea for a chore chart for their class, but didn't know how to make it happen. So we worked together and with the help of my trusty sewing machine, we did it!
She started with scrapbook paper, cut to size and laminated to make a small board. We went to the fabric store and picked up some clear vinyl, which we cut into rectangles. I stitched the vinyl rectangles onto the board to make pockets. She already had little cards with the classroom jobs on them, which fit into the little windows. She has wooden tiles with the students names on them which will be stuck under each window with velcro so they can rotate them each week. They can remove the job cards or change them as needed.
Sounds easy right? Well I had to cut out 36 rectangles out of the vinyl, sew 6 rectangles onto each board (6 different boards), with double stitching on each rectangle and single stitch around the perimeter of the board to finish it off. Then I had to pull all the hanging threads back thru to the back of the board and tape them all down.
If you live in the Sacramento area, check out Tricks for gym, dance CampUs and swimming too!
I had a baby shower to go to and being the procrastinator that I am, I didn't even think about the gift until the afternoon of the party. (Even though I had been to Target at least 5 times after recieving the invitation in the mail!) I am terrible about that! I decided to go to my stash of baby bibs, but wasn't really happy with the selection I had on hand. I decided to try and sew up a couple before I had to leave.
I am especially pleased with how the cherry one turned out. I made a little girl's apron with the same fabrics last year so the bib was made with the scraps from that project. I just love the color combination.
I had an order for 2 aprons so last week I quickly put together some new designs and just love how they turned out! I thought I would share my process for designing an apron. I like to start with a base fabric and 2-3 simple complimenting fabrics. I was given free reign on color choices and pattern.
Most of the fabric I use is purchased at JoAnne Fabrics, but when I can't find something that inspires my project, I check out the quilt stores, they usually have a wider selection and carry more of the "designer" fabrics. After I gather the fabrics for the project, I sit down to sketch out a design. When I'm happy with the design, I decide which fabrics I will use where and add in a rough sketch of the fabric so I can get a visual of what it will look like.
I start cutting out each piece in it's chosen fabric. I didn't use a pattern for this one, I just made it up as I went. I cut as much as I can using my rotary cutter and mat, it goes much quicker than with scissors.
After all the pieces are cut out, In my mind, I seperate the piece into 3 sections: bodice, torso, and skirt. Sometime I have to write out each step of the process so I don't forget to do something and have to rip out a seam. (For this apron I was going to add a loop to hang a dish towel on, but I forgot to add it to my steps. Oops! By the time I remembered, it was too late!) I complete one section at a time and when they're all done, I sew them together.
Here's the finished product:
Sometimes when I am in the middle of sewing a project I tweak the fabric choice a bit or add a little something. Here, I switched the pocket to the other side and I think I switched the neck ties fabric. I also came up with this pocket detailing from one of my favorite shirts that has this ruffle all the way down the front. It's so simple, but I love it.
Here's an upclose view of the front:
Do you see that little piece of red thread sitting there. It's bugging the heck out of me, I just wanna reach my hand through the monitor and pick it off! Ugh!
So there you have it! It's probably not the normal process of a pattern designer, but it works for me!
Here's the other half of that apron order:
Thanks to my sistas to being such fabulous models!
I went for a "scrappy" look with the neck ties:
Pintuck detailing on the bodice:
Added a pocket on one side:
I love the how colors and patterns look together on the bottom ruffle!
Once a summer we try to get up to out favorite U-Pick Berry Farm in Camino and stock up the freezer. It's quite a drive up the hill and the berries aren't all that cheap, but we do it as family and I figure we're making memories for the kids, so you can't put a price on that.
One of our families favorite ways to enjoy the berries is over vanilla ice cream or better yet, homemade vanilla ice cream. So summery and delicious! Another one of our favorites is my mom's recipe for cobbler. It has become a "signature recipe" for my side of the family. I made it the other night with some frozen berries for the grocery store, but it's always better with fresh berries. Paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it is berry perfection in a bowl.
It is so, so, so easy to make! I hope you like the recipe!
Berry Cobbler
Berries - enough to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan, 2 berries deep (this is usually about 2 bags of frozen berries from the grocery store) If you are using frozen berries, let the berries defrost in the pan before preparing the recipe.
Topping:
2 C flour
2 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 to 2 cubes cold butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. One at a time, mix in the eggs with a fork until the mixture is a crumbly texture, you want a "sandy" constistency. Do not over mix. Sprinkle it over the berries (layered in your 9x13 pan) and gently pat. Now take your butter and cut it into thin slices and lay over the topping. It will seem like a lot of butter, but trust me don't skimp! Now bake for about 1 hour of until the cobbler top is golden brown.
I made some the other night but wanted to leave some for my dear hubby to eat so I made some personal sized ones using my ramekins. This would be a great idea for a dinner party. Just be sure to have a good quality vanilla ice cream on hand, it is a must!
Enjoy!
I have made several aprons for friends, but never for myself so I decided it was time for a new apron! I like how it turned out!
The inspiration for this bib was Miss P, of course! Boy is she a screamer! At church, in the car, at home...okay, pretty much anywhere. Sometimes for no reason at all, seriously this girl can belt it out, and loud!
I offered to make the cake for our friends daughter's first birthday and made the same cake that I did for my own little Miss P's Party.
Miss M was a little hesitant at first. And rightly so, after all it was as big as her head! But by the end she had devoured half of it. I think it was a hit!
I know that cupcake pans are so popular right now, but you don't really need one for this size. I used a 10x10 pan and one strawberry boxed cake mix. After it was cooled, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and froze it. I then cut in in 4 squares and stacked them on top of each other. I didn't use any filling, I figured her little body didn't need even more sugar pumping through her veins. After they were stacked I began carving them into a cupcake shape, much like they do on Ace of Cakes. When I had the shape I wanted, I started "icing" the bottom half with cool whip. For the top half, I colored more cool whip with red food coloring until I got the right shade of pink. Then I iced the top with it. Easy Peasy!
