Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sew Fab e-Pattern Sale

Alright, I am so excited!!! This will be HERE at FABulous Home Sewn next week! Make sure to stop by sometime next week to take advantage of this great deal--there are some super cute patterns included!

Coming next week!

From February 4th- February 11th...

the first ever

 
For one week only, ten pattern designers will be joining together to combine 18 of their best PDF sewing patterns (valued together at over $139.00) and selling them to you for the incredible price of $24.95! That's over 80% off of the combined retail value! That wasn't a typo! For less than $25.00 you will have the chance to purchase a library of resources to get you started on several great projects that you can sew over and over again. The designers that are joining this sale are experts at their craft. They have been sewing for a very long time and are well known in blog land as well as in children's and women's sewing pattern design circles. Each designer has contributed one or two of their favorite sewing patterns to create a bundle that is sure to please! Whether you are sewing for your own family or making gifts for others, these are patterns that you will love to use. Figgy's Patterns, Go To Patterns, peek-a-boo pattern shop, Seamingly Smitten, One Girl Circus, Sew Much Ado, luvinthemommyhood, Gingercake, Sew Fearless, Me Sew Crazy... this is the lineup! But you have to wait until Monday to find out exactly which sewing patterns are included in the pattern bundle. I can tell you that you won't be disappointed!
Contact Jenny at thesoutherninstitute@gmail.com for more details.
Oh! And there will be a giveaway! The Sew Fab Giveaway is amazing! One lucky winner will win a bunch of amazing prizes from some of your favorite companies and online shops! I can't wait to reveal the giveaway package next week!

Don't miss the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle Sale

starting Monday, February 4th!

Sponsored by
The Southern Institute and Fat Quarter Shop
 

We'll see you there!

The Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle is only available from 8 am EST February 4th through 8 am EST February 11th. Due to the nature of the sale there will be no late sales or refunds.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Another Sassy Dress

Quite some time ago I bought this dress at the thrift store with the intent of upcycling it. Eventually.
 
 
I finally got around to using it. Ties and all. I actually have very little usable material left.
 
 
I used the sassy dress pattern from the book Fabric by Fabric: One Yard Wonders.
I've made one before in size 2T which still fits my daughter except it is getting a little short.
So, I cut this one a couple of inches longer, still using the 2T pattern because my children are all rather skinny.  

 
She was quite excited to try it on--black (actually dark navy blue) tights and all.
I had looked in her closet the other day and saw these tights in the dim light of her room. I thought, 'Right, she has black tights, now is the time to make that dress.' When I pulled them out today to put them on her, I realized my error, but it is hard to tell when she is wearing them.

 
Yep, it passes inspection. Pockets are a great bonus.
 


Friday, January 18, 2013

Mug Rugs a Year Late

 
 
 
 
 
It's 2013. Which is fine. Except that I had said I'd make three people a handmade gift in 2012. I didn't do that. And, I didn't remember until about two weeks ago that I had to do that--last year.
But, I thought what a great opportunity to try out some more paper piecing and quilting.
And, some mug rugs are pretty neat little gifts I'd say. Perfect for the cold Canadian winters to put your mug of hot chocolate, tea, or hot apple cider on it. Or, your coffee of course. But, with a mug of drink ought to come a bite to eat. And, there is room for that too.
 
 
I started by paper piecing their initials out of some scrap Rhapsodia fabric I still had. But, it needed a border. White--the only solid I have. (Yes, I really need to stash up on solid wovens.)

 
The backing is from Michael Miller's Hall of Fame line--sage plaid.
And, the 'batting' is again some of that super cheap pink flannel I have laying around.
I again quilted stitch-in-the-ditch around the letters so they'd show up on the back as well.

 
The binding is some more from the Rhapsodia line. I had a hard time using these--I really like the colors and should try squeeze something for myself out of them...

 
They are about 7" x 7". It's kind of neat how mug rugs have no 'set' dimensions.

 
I had tried adding a column of 1" x 2" strips on one side but it looked like an 'E' (without the vertical line) so I scratched that idea and just went with this.
 
 
 
Now to think of my next project....

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Bella Blouse

I recently got to test another pattern from Petite Kids Boutique!
I really enjoy testing patterns and Wong's patterns are lovely.
The pattern I tested?
 

Bella Blouse for Girls 12M-10Y PDF Pattern & Instructions -3/4 sleeves-ruffles-elastic waist-drawstring tie-contrasting neckline-easy sew
Picture from Petite Kids Boutique

 
I made two of them:
 
 
The first one--the orange one, is a modified Bella. The width for the size 3 that I made is 15" instead of 17" and the arms' width is 9.5" instead of 14". Plus, the neckband is cut at 32" instead of 38" plus the extra cut off after pinning it to the bodice.
To make up for the narrower sleeves, I cut the ruffles down to 13" instead of 19" and I did not make the casing or add the elastic as required in the pattern.
The second one--the pink/brown one, also a size 3, is the true Bella pattern. No modifications what-so-ever.

 
The orange fabric is from the Fat Quarter Shop. It's Betz White fabric and it is organic. The first time I've used organic fabric and one of the first times I've used orange. I like the change.

 
The pink/brown fabric is from Walmart. Yep, it's not as nice to work with as the nice stuff from the FQS but it does the trick.
I wasn't planning on doing two in less than a week but I'm glad they're done--they look really cute and modern.
The only problem I've found is that my daughter isn't fond of the elastic in the sleeves on the original Bella blouse--she prefers wearing the orange one for that reason.
 
 
Oh, and try taking pictures of a two-and-a-half year old when she is having fun with her brothers. Sigh....

Friday, January 4, 2013

First Quilt

So, I made a quilt.
 
 
First time ever.
 
 
And, I am pleased.
Remember that first paper pieced block I made?
Well, I turned it into a doll quilt.
(The plan is for my daughter's birthday in June. Along with a wooden cradle I have from when I was a kid and a mattress cover and pillow yet. See if I can wait until June...)

 
So, a first paper pieced block turned into a first quilt top which I got to do some first-time quilting on and then had to do some first-time binding.
Good start to a new year--learning some new skills.


And, I learned the skills here:
A mash-up of these two tutorials for the binding:
Perfect Binding Tutorial from Jay Bird Quilts.
Tutorial: How to Attach Quilt Binding by Machine from Olive and Ollie.
I liked how to connect the loose binding ends better from Jay Bird Quilts and I liked the mitered corners better from Olive and Ollie. I used my own width of 2" and after folding the binding in half length-wise, I folded one side into the middle.


And, instead of making another quilted line on the back as Olive and Ollie suggest, I stitched-in-the-ditch to make the stitching somewhat invisible. I say somewhat because I'm not a perfect sewist and did 'drive' out of the ditch at times.
And, the quilting, I just sort of did--I think I've read enough blogs to know how to do basic quilting. Most of that was also stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. I did not want to add too much to the quilt and thereby make the handstitching not stand out so much.
I first quilted around the heart, then the individual 'boxes' around the heart until the last box. The top and bottom where there on the front to stitch-in-the-ditch, but not on the sides. So, I just made corresponding lines going down to make another box on the back.

 
Also, the actual design on the front was my own. I had sort of drawn out what I had in mind and then started cutting and sewing and measuring and cutting some more until it was about the width and length I had in mind. The total dimensions are 11.5" x 14.5".

 
I admit my 'batting' is not batting but two layers of flannel I had laying around.
And, the Linus Heart block, the info for that was on my last post here.
The fabrics I used are again those Lites and brights scraps, some more of that orange pillowcase, the white is from another pillowcase, and the backing from yet another pillowcase. The pillowcases are all thrifted.


I used my box of quilting attachments for my machine for the first time too.
The walking foot, the 1/4" foot, and the quilting guide.
Now, I'm just scared that my list of projects I want to do will increase significantly.....




 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Linus Heart

I attempted paper piecing.
First time ever.
And, I'm quite happy how it turned out:
 
 
 
I used this template. 
And, the fabrics are: the oranges from a repurposed pillow case--scraps from this bag. And, the turquoise/blue fabrics are from Fabric.com and I used them in a dress here. (So, they're also scraps.)They're called Lites and brights mini daisies and paisleys in turquoise. (I looked them up--last time I was too {ahem} lazy to look it up.)
 
So, now I just have to figure out what I'll make out of this--with this as the focal point. Any grand ideas?