Betty Skirt and Skirting the Issue!

I recently got to test a very cute little skirt from the Shaffer Sisters!

The Betty Skirt. (Soon to be re-released--will update with link when released!)

There are so many options and sizes in this skirt:

doll, newborn and all the way up to 16, including plus sizes!

Options include a gathered skirt with placket, small pleats, and big pleats!

 

 

I chose to make the large pleats in a 3 month size, using fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop.

My plan is to donate this to the Pregnancy Care Center during our next Pregnancy Care Center Sew-along!

The pattern went together very well--you can print which ever size you'd like with the handy layers feature.

 

I had to let my little girl 'model' it for us...

 

 

I'm joining in on Skirting the Issue over at Simple Simon and Company!

Comic Book Quilt

I have one last(ish) post for this years Pregnancy Care Centre Sew Along.

(I have to admit that I have another quilt top ready to go....but we shall see if I finish it this time along!)

In the box of fabric that the Fat Quarter Shop sent us, there was a number of pieces of Batman fabric.

I am generally not a fan of the 'superheroes' but I thought it'd be a good challenge to put together a quilt and it is always a fun challenge to use what is available either in my stash or what has been donated!

 

 

So, before I went to the quilt retreat, I had cut out the main pieces along with most of the sashing.

At the quilt retreat, I pieced the whole top (and pieced the next top.)

 

This is the result.

I am all comic-booked out! ha!

 

 

For the back, I used the last pieces that were the width-of-fabric, pieced with some more black I had in my stash.

The binding was also donated by the Fat Quarter Shop.

And, the batting is again a piece of flannelette that was donated.

 

 

Oh, and a funny story--I cannot keep the super heroes straight. At. all.

My son told me that this is Batman, (not Superman) since it has the bats.

I forgot what he called it and ended up referring to it as Spiderman (he at least exists, right?!)

And, I needed to be corrected again by a friend.

After which my sons (both this time) were so excited that I was cutting up Batman....

Sigh...where do they learn these things?

And, why do I not know these things?!

 

Maybe because I prefer comics like Donald Duck or Calvin and Hobbes...

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!

 

 

Fat Quarter Shop for sending us a box of fabric again--we were able to do so much with it!

Peek-a-Boo Patterns for sponsoring a giveaway--the Lullaby Line! (affiliate link)

 

 

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)

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

Mr. Two-Faced Pants Times Three

A while back I had made these three shirts for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew Along.

 

 

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!

Linking up here:

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!



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... 

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!

 



Baby Boy Button-up

Here are the three Baby Boy Button-up shirts I made.

Finally, I'm getting around to blogging about them!

 

 

The fabrics are all donated by the Fat Quarter Shop!

They've been so generous in the amount of fabric they've donated for us to use for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew Along!

These are all from the Robotek line for Northcott, which I cannot find on their website anymore.

If you do, let me know!

 

 

That pattern is once again the Baby Boy Button-up by Me Sew Crazy.  

Its just a little too cold to hop outside to take pictures. -30 C with wind chill.

So, these poorly lit pictures will have to do.



 

I have a nice sized box slowly filling up here at home, plus, the Flickr group is filling up nicely too!

So excited how this sew along is going this year!

Thanks to all those who are sewing along!!!

Three More Little Dresses

Three more little dresses for the Pregnancy Care Centre!

 

 

This first one is a Sweet Little Dress from Leila and Ben.

The arms are a Moda fabric, but I don't know what one.

And, the bodice is again the Pam Kitty Pull Out Dot by Holly Holderman for Lake House Dry Goods.

And, another Sweet Little Dress.

The arms are Chinoise by Studio K for Clothworks and the bodice is unknown.



And, finally a Little Geranium from Made by Rae.

Fabric is April's Garden for South Sea Imports.

 



 

All the fabric was donated once again by the Fat Quarter Shop!

 

You're more than welcome to join us!

We hope to continue on through to the end of February!

 



FMQ--Try #1

Well, it's done.

My first attempt at free motion quilting, and it's done.

It's not perfect--I'd say it's quite far from perfect.

But, I managed to quilt the whole thing and had fun doing it.

And, I didn't need the seam ripper to rip out the quilting.

I actually practised a little on a double layer of scrap flannel.

Just to get a not-to-jerky movement going.

 

 

The front is a panel donated by the Fat Quarter Shop--Sunshine Zoo.

The backing is some plain black quilting cotton from Fabricland that was in my stash plus some turquoise-ish fabric from Walmart. It does have a bit of a pattern in it--it's just hard to see on the picture.

And, the binding is also from Walmart.

 

I'm quite pleased with how the turquoise quilting popped out on the black fabric. That's my favourite part of the quilt to be honest...even if the quilting is not perfect.

 

I bound the quilt by machine.

I have no patience for hand binding a quilt.

Not yet at least.

I'm a little disappointed with how the binding and those stripes on the edge of the quilt ended up not really going as well... I think that the three narrow strips of color in a row on the edge sort of messes with things and makes it too busy. What do you think?

I don't have the heart to take it out though, so it'll stay as it is.

 

This quilt is also for the Pregnancy Care Centre!

Dresses, Pants, and Quilting...

I have been quite busy sewing!

 

First, I've been working on a quilt made out of a panel. And, I'm trying free motion quilting for the first time. It's not perfect, but I love the results so far.

I had to put it on hold though because I ran out of the thread I was using for the bobbin--a lovely turquoise color.

 

 

While the quilt was on hold, I whipped up this dress using the pattern from Randomness by Petchy.

 

 

The fabrics I used are, Safari Soire by Dan Stiles for Birch Fabrics, and the red I can't find the info on anymore, but as soon as I had seen these two fabrics together, I knew they had to be made into a dress.

The only problem was that there was a very limited amount of both, so I finally decided to do some color-blocking.

And, the red bias tape is just plain store bought bias tape.

 

Next up is two little dresses using the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made by Rae.

I love this pattern--it's cute and quick.

 

The fabrics for this one are: bodice--Pam Kitty Pull Out Dot by Holly Holderman for Lakehousedrygoods. Dress: Chinoise by Studio K for Clothworks.

And, the rick rack is a thin light pink.

This second one has Butterflies by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman as the bodice and again the Pam Kitty Pull Out Dot by Holly Holderman for Lakehousedrygoods as the dress.

The rick rack on this one is a thicker darker pink.

Instead of using bias tape for the bottom I just hemmed with a narrow hem.

My oldest son came up with the idea of putting these two dresses on a stick--his jousting stick to be exact, to take the pictures.

 



 

Finally, a cute little pair of Basic Newborn Pants again, by Made by Rae.

Here I used the Oink a Doodle Moo fabric by Jenn Ski and the bottom is Toy Tales by Melanie Dekker for Windham Fabrics.

All the fabric on this post is from the Fat Quarter Shop which they graciously donated to us to use for the Pregnancy Care Centres! (Only the backing of the quilt and the 'batting' which is flannelette is from my own stash!)

 

Whew! All caught up on pictures and blogging!

I'll be resuming work on the quilt soon as a friend had some of the turquoise thread left when I couldn't find any at Walmart and don't have time to make the trek to the city. Especially to a fabric store with 4 kids....(and you know what happens when you go to a fabric store for 'just some thread,' right???) Thanks, Jess :)

 

Have you taken a look at some of the lovelies popping up in the Flickr group??

Also, today is your last chance to enter the giveaway if you are planning on joining us! (I'm picking a winner tomorrow--Saturday!)