Sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres--a Giveaway! --CLOSED!

The Fat Quarter Shop sent us a lovely box of fabrics to use for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-along!

And, today, I'm giving a bundle away to one of you who is joining in!

 

 

Lily by Studio 8 for Quilting Treasures.

This is not a fat quarter bundle--it has cuts ranging from 10-13" x WOF, some a little bigger.

A lovely bundle of 9 fabrics--the colors are absolutely beautiful!

 

To enter to win, please let me know you are joining us--join us in our Event page on FB, and leave a comment letting me know you did!

 

Again--this only goes to someone who is sewing along with us!!!

 

*I'll draw a name on the 11th of January*

 

***Random.org picked a winner for me out of the qualifying comments--#4! Suzanne!***

 

For more information about what we are doing, click the button:

 



A great big thank-you to the Fat Quarter Shop for their generosity!

NICU Smocks

After a number of people I knew had preemie babies born in a short time, I thought I should find a good pattern for babies that need to spend time in the NICU.

When I found this free pattern and tutorial for a NICU smock from Everything Your Mama Made & More, I thought it'd be perfect!

 

 

I had received some flannelette from a friend--a whole box of it, and this was the perfect project to use up some of the smaller pieces.

The bias tape is store-bought, and that is what took the longest--attaching the bias tape.

But, there are options to make the smock reversible so you don't need to use bias tape, and there are also instructions for serging it (for those that like using their sergers...).

 

I had originally made these two in size 3-5lbs, for a friend, but her baby came home a month earlier than expected!

So, these are going to be donated to the Pregnancy Care Centre!

*One note about the pattern--there are two pieces B & C that are the exact same. To fix this, just do a mirror image cut and a regular cut on your fabric of B and leave out C. (Kymy has been notified and is planning on fixing it soon! And, anyone that has 'bought' (for free) it off Craftsy will get an update.)*

Sewing For Pregnancy Care Centres 2014

I am so excited to be hosting the 2nd annual 'Sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres'!
We hope to get started January and go all the way to February--so two whole months of sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres!

Last year we managed to get quite a few items sewn and delivered to the local Pregnancy Care Centre here in Edmonton, AB.

Here is a glimpse of what was sewn last year:

 If you go to the Flickr group you can see the rest of the pictures and find the links to the blog posts of most of these pictures!

I'll go over again why we're doing what we're doing and what the Pregnancy Care Centre does with what we donate!

There are a lot of abortions that are done--so many I don't even dare to look up the statistics. In fact, if I am not mistaken those statistics are far from accurate in Canada--there are far more abortions performed than are reported.

 

My heart goes out to those women who find themselves pregnant unexpectedly. Either teenagers or women who have no means to support a child, etc.

And, I want to help--I really do. But, how do I go about helping these women, to in a small way encourage those who choose life for their child and also to encourage more women to do the same?

In Edmonton, just 40 minutes away, there is a Pregnancy Care Centre. This is a place that women who unexpectedly find themselves pregnant can go and get help--physical help, information, counselling, etc.

 

Is there a Pregnancy Care Centre in your area?

What do they need? 

This is what the one in Edmonton has to say about that:
  

"Part of what we provide for our clients is a big baby hamper full of blankets and clothes. So it is really up to you what you would like to donate. We love receiving quilts, toques, clothes to add to our layettes and all our clients love them as well."

 

So, here is where we come in--here is where we can do a little something to show our support to those women who choose life for their children!

I propose that we sew quilts, baby clothes, etc and donate them either to your local Pregnancy Care Centre or, you can send them to me and I will bring them to the one here in Edmonton.
 (Just email me if you plan to send them out this way so I can give you my address!)
 

You can upload pictures of what you have sewn to our Flickr group!

Plus, grab a button to share and send others this way!



<div align="center"><a href="http://fabuloushomesewn.blogspot.com/2013/12/sewing-for-pregnancy-care-centres-2014.html" title="FABulous Home Sewn" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8401/8702496288_1eb7f6bb41_m.jpg" alt="FABulous Home Sewn" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

So, for the months of January and February, join us in sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres!
There will be a giveaway or two for those participating, so make sure that you upload your pictures to Flickr!
Also, you can join us on the Facebook Event page for this!
 

PJs x 8 and Some Squishy Mail

Finally, I am done these.

My kids have been sleeping in stained (almost) rags.

So, two pairs of PJs for each of my four kids.

The actual sewing of them was quick--it's always the pressing and hemming that takes forever for me.

 

 

The flannel I got for free from a friend. Yards of each. It doesn't look like I've made a dent in it yet.

I could have sewed up some shirts for them too, but I wanted a quick PJ fix.

So, the shirts are from Walmart. I had to dig for these. Like, really dig.

The green set has onesies in 24 months.

The kids had picked out which fabric they wanted for their PJs as soon as I got it.

It's been laying by my desk for months. Seriously.

 

I used the Sewing for Boys pattern again (the sweats length) but I adjusted them quite a bit.

The oldest's are size 2/3 width but size 6/7 length. The next, I believe were also size 2/3 width but size 4/5 length. My daughter's I folded in the pattern to take it in, and the length is also 4/5. The youngest's I majorly took it in and guestimated where I should put the length. The two younger ones have a good sized hem. The older two have much smaller hems. Next time, I'll have to lengthen my oldest's.

 

But, the kids love them. And, they'll be nice and warm this winter. And, decently dressed for the nights out!

 

Sewing for Boys: 24 Projects to Create a Handmade Wardrobe

 

 

Yesterday, I got some lovely mail.

Mara from Secretly Stitching was so kind as to send me one of her many pouches she has made in the last while. I have been admiring her pouches, and she totally surprised me when she emailed me to send one to me!

 

That's some Greek chocolate she sent along! Mmm....so good. I ate half of it before I got home from town, and the other half I ate today while I was sewing.

But, that was not all she sent!

Mara sent over a bunch of pairs of socks for the Pregnancy Care Centre!

 

They are so cute, and so is the packaging--I love that little girl!

Thanks so much, Mara!

A Quilt, Boxers, and a Rather Intimidating Addition to my Sewing Desk

The quilt for the pregnancy care centre is done--bound and everything:

 

 

Again, the owl fabric (front panel and back strip) is from the Fat Quarter Shop. They were so kind as to donate a whole box of fabric and I admit, I still have a LOT of sewing to do to get through that box!

 

The binding is a co-ordinating print to the backing--many of the colors actually re-occurred in the front panel.

 

And, I sewed up some quick boxers for my oldest son.

The pattern is from Apple Tree Boutique on Etsy, available here.

It's a very easy, two piece pattern--such a quick sew and if you upcycle some old t-shirts (which I did), it's super cheap as well!

 

Lastly, I partly sewed or should I say serged them on this lovely machine:

A friend of mine had two sergers and let me borrow this one--long term!

I have been looking at this thing, wondering how in the world am I going to use it?!
It is a rather intimidating contraption..

Thank-fully there are two instruction books along with it, so that has been helpful.

I've also sewn up a little something for myself from a vintage-esque pattern--from the 90's.
I'll post about it soon--once I get my man to shoot some pictures of me wearing it. 

Canada Day, a Huge Thank-you, and a Giveaway! *Closed*

First of all,

Happy Canada Day!

Second of all,

 

I want to give a huge thank-you to these companies and individuals who have contributed either patterns or fabric for us as we've spent the last two months sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres.

 

We've got a decent stack in our Flickr group!

It was definitely a lot of fun and I'm thinking of organizing another one of these sew-alongs in the future!

 

 

Jaye Jaye (screen name yellowhibiscus)

 

And, last but not least, I have a fun giveaway for you all--I love giveaways!

And, here it is, a set of three fat quarters:

 

don't you love the keys?!

 

All you have to do to win this, is leave a comment.

Followers, new and old, get a bonus, just leave a comment letting me know you follow!

Also, those who have sewed for the pregnancy care centers get an additional entry--again, just leave a comment telling me you did! 

This giveaway is open internationally.

Please make sure that you are not a no-reply blogger--I need to be able to contact the winner!

And, this giveaway will close July 5th, 2013!

 

 ** Giveaway is closed! **

 

 

Three Dresses

I have been working on these here and there, whenever I had a moment in my rather busy life.

Last week I had to have a D & C so I've been taking some time to just recover, but I was quite excited about these dresses--I absolutely love the fabric! (They're all from the Fat Quarter Shop.) So, I had to get them done.

 

front

 

The first one, is the Little Geranium Dress. The fabric is from Ann Kelle's, Girlfriends line, here and here.

I used snaps for the buttons so there would not be anything too thick to make it uncomfortable for baby.

It's a pretty quick, easy sew with no exposed seams in the inside!

back

And, the last two are both the Maggie Mae Tunic and Dress pattern from Shwin Designs.

 

 

The grey fabric is absolutely adorable--I think I need to buy some greys for my stash! This one specifically. Although, it is no longer available from the Fat Quarter Shop--it is from Aneela Hoey for Moda, Walk in the Woods. The white fabric is from Riley Blake Design available here.

These are both in size 6-9 months in dress length.

 

back

The closures is the only thing I disliked or was 'afraid to attempt' about this pattern. That top piece has between 8-10 layers of fabric in there, and to do a button hole through that seemed a little sketchy. So, I hand-sewed a sew-in snap with a pretty button on top to hide the stitching. And, I only put one snap on each dress--I didn't have enough of these buttons to hide another but I think it'll work fine with just the one!

 

The white fabric for the second one is the same as above and the pink is no longer available, but blue and green are here.

 

back

 

It was a fun challenge, squeezing two dresses out of these fabrics--I actually had to piece one of the bodice linings together to make it. It's definitely a treat working with some super cute fabric though!

 

Now, I should work on some gift sewing--two of my friends have had babies...

Any good ideas for boys? 

 



Some Baby Boy Sewing for Pregnancy Care Centres

I've been doing some more sewing.

Two Baby Boy Button-Ups and another Basic Baby Pant.

The fabric was sent our way from the Fat Quarter Shop--thank-you!!

And, the buttons I got at Fabricland where they had a buy one box of buttons, get 3 free. I bought 2 boxes and got 6 free. I like that kind of shopping!

 

The Sesame Street fabric is available here and here.

And, I can't find the train fabric and the piece I have has no slevedge that has info on it.

(If you know what line it is from, let me know!)

 



 

The above one is a set, obviously.

The bottom one, I still want to sew up some pants for, I think. It'd look good over a cute little pair of jeans but I don't think I can whip those up.

 

 

I loved the tags the fabric lended itself to:

 

The bottom tag is one of the trains cut out.

 



 

 But, I should get sewing again.

I'm working on a Little Geranium Dress now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Sweet Little Dresses

After Annette from Leila and Ben offered to give her patterns to whoever wanted to sew one up for Pregnancy Care Centres, here, I took that opportunity to get a free copy of the Sweet Little Dress pattern. (Hurry this offer ends on the 31st of May--tomorrow!)

And, here are the results so far--two Sweet Little Dresses:

 

 

This one is made from some very cute fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop that they sent over our way!

The fabric is Sarah Jane's Children at Play in Summer Garden. It doesn't look like they have anymore left in this colorway but they do in pink!

The white fabric for the sleeves is from some repurposed pillow cases I had in my stash.

 

 

Isn't it sweet--the cute little girls and pretty flowers?!

Perfect for the Sweet Little Dress!

 

 

And, this fabric, I have no idea where it is originally from--I bought it when I first started sewing almost 3 years ago from a lady in town.

 

So, these are added to the Flickr group for Pregnancy Care Centre Sewing.

 

Some More Inspiration!

My list is growing of items I'd love to sew for the Pregnancy Care Centres!

 

Again, from Made-by-Rae, the Little Geranium. I was going to add this one last time, but I couldn't find it back--a friend kindly sent me the link! I already had it printed out from when Rae first posted it for free. It's a 0-3 month size exerpt from the actual Geranium Dress (which you can buy.) But, this one is free! Perfect for those little newborns.  

 

 

 

I've posted briefly about this one the other day because I had made two of them.

It is from Small Dream Factory and it is a free pattern for a Envelope Neck Long-Sleeved Tee.

It comes in sizes NB to 2T. It seems to be a European pattern--all the measurements are in centimetres but it is converted to inches for ease of use!

 

A free pattern that was made for charity sewing is the Good Deeds Dress from Elysium Dreams.



Read their blog post here as to why Carisa made this pattern! It comes in sizes 12m to 14!

 

And, from Fishstick Design, two patterns that are not free but that are super cute!

First, The Little One Layette:

 

 

It comes in sizes NB to 12 months.

 

And, The Austin Lee Coverall & Romper:

 

 

Which comes in sizes NB to 4T!

 

I love the layette--it is super cute and looks very comfy!