Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Thank-You!

I want to extend a huge thank-you to these companies that have supported us in Sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres!
We couldn't have done it without you!
 
Quilting Fabric at the Fat Quarter Shop
 
Fat Quarter Shop for sending us a box of fabric again--we were able to do so much with it!

Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop

Peek-a-Boo Patterns for sponsoring a giveaway--the Lullaby Line! (affiliate link)
 
Birdiful Stitches
 
Birdiful Stitches for sponsoring a giveaway of all 20 of her patterns (some were given at the retreat as door prizes) over at CraftyHour Mom!
Hop over before we wrap up on the 28th to enter!
 
And, these friends and bloggers who helped organize and scheme:
 
Laura over at CraftyHour Mom
Suzanne over at Making More with Less
 
Plus, all the ladies who have sewn or contributed in other ways.
(Thanks again for the thread to finish my quilt, Jess ;) )
 
Look what we've accomplished this year:
 
Picture from Laura at CraftyHour Mom :)
There is more in the works yet--I know at least 5 more quilts are being worked on!
(To see most of these items individually, hop over to the Flickr group!)
 
Also, the ladies who attended the Quilty Pleasures Retreat for the quilt blocks that will be made into a quilt or two! (This isn't counted in the 5 quilts to come yet!)
 
 

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!
I can hardly believe the amount of items that have been made and the support we've received in doing this.
We hope to be back next year for another sew-along!
(If you want to join us or sponsor us in this for next year, feel free to contact me at:
fenna_otten (at) yahoo (dot) ca)

FABulous Home Sewn

If I missed someone, I'm so sorry!
You know if you've contributed and we appreciate it so much!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Sale at Craftsy! And, Some Quilt Blocks


Save Big at Craftsy!
Heads up Craftsy fans...Craftsy wants to help you escape the ordinary and create the extraordinary! Enjoy up to 80% off all inspiring project kits and supplies. Shop now to find your next amazing project during the Stash Of Possibilities Sale. Hurry, offer ends at 11pm PST on February 24, 2014.

Save up to 80% on Yarn at Craftsy!
Save up to 80% on Fabric at Craftsy!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links**
 
Craftsy


Also, this weekend there is a quilting retreat that I'm going to (so exciting!!!)!
The organizers are friends of mine and they've encouraged those attending to sew along for the Pregnancy Care Centre.
One way we all are contributing is by bringing along a quilt block (or more) that will be used to make a quilt to donate.
So, I whipped together three quilt blocks:

 
The specifications were that it had to be in primary colors (green was included) and that it had to be Rail Fence quilt blocks.
 
 
The strips are 8.5" x 2.5".
And, the fabric is from all over.
I know the green is from Fabricland which has been in my stash for forever after I bought it from an ends bin once.
The red was given to me by a friend from Church, and the yellow I bought at the thrift store for this purpose.


 I don't often use these colors so this was a rather interesting sew for me.
I'm very curious what the finished quilt will look like!


There isn't much time left in the sew along--I have two more quilts planned--both of which I plan on working on at the quilt retreat.
  
FABulous Home Sewn

Thursday, February 20, 2014

They Definitely are Go-To Patterns

A lot of my daughter's dresses are very stained and getting too short.
And, she does not like to wear jeans or pants.
Every morning, she wears a dress and if I make her wear pants or jeans, there are tears--unless she has a new top to wear that she is excited about...ha.
 
 
I had found a number of ladies shirts at Walmart for $3 each.
And, I came home with 6 or so of them.
These two were bought with the Anywhere Dress (affiliate link) in mind.
(I forgot to take pictures of the before...)
The purple Go-To Leggings (affiliate link) are a heather purple rib knit from Fabric.com (affiliate link) a long time ago.

 
For both, I re-used the neck line and re-hemmed the bottom.

 
I loved the button placket and was determined to incorporate them into the dress.



The white leggings (I made two pairs--one full length, the other between capri and short length for the summer) are made from a thrift store find--$0.50!
 

 
They all got a pretty pink tag to differentiate between front and back.

 
My daughter loves them.
Flowers and sparkly purple--how much better can it get?!

 
Both patterns are from Go-To Patterns (affiliate link) and they are definitely go-to patterns!
 
http://www.gotosew.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=170_0_1_32

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

New Shop!


I've opened shop!

http://www.zibbet.com/FABulousHomeSewn

Hop on over to Zibbet to see my shop and to do some shopping!
 
I have a couple of rag blankets listed and some peasant tops in size 2/3T!
 
And, if you have any suggestions to add certain items to my shop, let me know--I'd love to hear from you!


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Mr. Two-Faced Pants Times Three

A while back I had made these three shirts for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew Along.
 
http://fabuloushomesewn.blogspot.ca/2014/01/baby-boy-button-up.html
 
I decided to whip up some 3 month pants to go along with them to make complete boy outfits!
 

The denim is from the second hand store--over 2 yards for $4.99--quite the steal!
And, the pattern is from the book, 'Sewing For Boys'--Mr. Two-Faced Pants.

Sewing for Boys: 24 Projects to Create a Handmade Wardrobe 

 
Instead of a folded over waistband from the denim, I modified the pattern to make a knit waistband--a little softer for those little babies! Plus, I also decreased the width of the pattern by folding a pleat in the pattern piece. I find the patterns in the book run a little wide.

 
Make sure you hop over to Craftyhour Mom and enter the giveaway if you're sewing along with us!

FABulous Home Sewn


Linking up here:

Craft Book Sew Along at Live. Love. Create.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Itty Bitty Baby Dresses and a Giveaway!

I turn once again to Made-by-Rae's Itty Bitty Baby Dress. 
I really like this little dress and it works well with small pieces of fabric.
I made three dresses in the 9-11 lb size.
 
 
First, is this one with two fabrics from Holly Holderman's line Sweet Things.

 
Then, this one which has the bottom as another piece of Sweet Things and the top is Deco by Jason Yenter.

 
Last, but not least, is one with Riley Blake's Gingham and a pastel green that I cannot find the info for!

 
All fabrics are from the Fat Quarter Shop--generously donated for our Pregnancy Care Centre Sew Along!

FABulous Home Sewn


My friend Laura over at Craftyhour Mom has a great give
away for those joining us in the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew Along! Hop over there to enter!

And, here is my ever-faithful sewing companion.
She is a brat and will swat at me if I get too close with what I'm sewing.
So, I generally swat her away but she'll come right back... 

Monday, February 10, 2014

Saturday Spent Sewing Skinnies


This past week while washing my second son's Sunday pants that he usually wears to Church, I noticed a hole on the knee.
And, it wasn't just a little hole anymore.
Seems that boys tend to crawl a lot when playing...sigh...
 
So, Wednesday night I took out my copy of Peek-a-Boo's Skinny Jeans pattern, and I started to trace.
I was feeling rather sick and ended up tracing a size 6 instead of a size 5, and I was just too tired to start over. So, I finished tracing it, thinking I could use that tracing for my other son eventually...
 
 
Well, I also didn't have any stretch bottom-weights in my stash, so I pulled out this corduroy on Saturday and decided to wing it on the size 6, thinking I could always take it in if necessary.

 
I'm glad I used the size 6--it'll get a bit of longer wear than if I had done the 5, though I had to hem a 2" hem.

 
My machine had a bit of a hard time which is weird since I've sewn with corduroy more often and had no problems. So, I didn't add the belt loops as I thought it'd be too much for my machine.
I did the adjustable waistband which is a must for my kids!

 
I love the detailing on these pants. If I had actually used a contrasting thread for topstitching, it would have added a lot of fun as well, but I just used black and you can't see the topstitching though it does make a more professional finish.

 
I had a special request to add a tag on the leg again--so they could see the fun fabric that was used as the lining of the pockets.


And, a faux fly since I was in a definite hurry to get these sewn--I had Saturday--the day that I usually clean house, so that was done as quickly and thoroughly as possible so I would have some time to sew. The button does open!
 

 
As usual, pockets are a must!

 
Even a cute little extra pocket.

 
A couple of notes about the pattern:
-if you have the older version, it doesn't tell you to use a 1/4" SA for attaching the back top to the back. Amy clarified for me very quickly--thanks Amy!!!
-if you want to do the actual fly, the instructions aren't in the pattern. You have to go to the Sew-Along which can be found here: Sew-Along.
All in all a great pattern that I will probably sew up again and again!
 
If you want to buy a copy of the pattern, you can find it here:
 

Image of Skinny Jeans
 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Peanuts. And, a Sort-of Tutorial

Another finish for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-along.
 
 
The fabrics were donated by the Fat Quarter Shop last year, but now that I finally figured out how to quilt, they've come to good use.
The dots are Toy Tales by Melanie Dekker of Melly And Me, the rest is all Peanuts fabric.
A panel for the back with two strips of green, and the front is all pieced together.
I used two layers of flannelette as batting. Next time I'll do just one layer I think--it's a good heavy quilt.

 
A quick tutorial for the pieced front for people like me who do not like math and figuring these things out:
Cut 7 pieces 4.5" x 8.5" of three different fabrics for a total of 21 pieces.
Cut 1 piece 8.5" x 8.5" of three different fabrics for a total of 3 pieces.

 
Lay them out so they are evenly spread out--no two matching pieces touching except diagonally.
Take a quick picture to remember the layout unless you have photographic memory.
Make three piles--one for each row and number the piles, 1, 2, and 3.
Stitch the pieces in pile 1 together in order along the 8.5" sides.
Lay aside and do the same for pile 2 and then pile 3.

 
Press the seam allowances--one way for strip 1 and 3 and the opposite way for strip 2 to keep the seams from getting too bulky.
Match seams on 1 and 2 right sides together and stitch the two strips together. Do the same for strip 2 and 3 so you have 1 large piece. Press seam allowances. I did both towards the center.
Add a border if you'd like.


Sandwich the front, batting and backing. Quilt. Trim. Add binding, and done!
 
Sorry I don't have pictures of the process.
Maybe another time.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
 

FABulous Home Sewn