A Fun Distraction - First Sight Book

So in the midst of frenzied holiday gift sewing (some gifts have already been given out early in fact) I stumbled on this cute Michael Miller First Sight fabric. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to make with it, but it jumped into my Etsy cart anyway. When it arrived I saw the squares were too large for a block (well actually maybe a soft taggie block would work well, but not stacking blocks.) I considered just making a little blanket since I already had red satin binding and red minkee to back it, but really we're swimming in blankets here! Then I thought to make a soft fabric book out of it -- perfect!

There are 12 different squares, but I also added a minkee back cover and made one more square out of the checkerboard border, so 14 sides in all. I added the satin binding plus a loop. The cover pages I used fusible fleece on (makes it a tad stiffer than just batting, and I think it's what makes the book stand up so well which is a feature I love), the interior pages have batting inside except for the center page which has some cellophane too make it crinkly. I think it turned out so cute. :)

Here is baby Ben modeling:

A Quick Sneak Peak

Color color color! I love how these pieces look all laid out and I'm sure they are going to look so fun all assembled! Unfortunately, I won't be sharing the finished project until after the holidays since it's a gift.
I'm really gearing up for all the holiday gift sewing now. Lots of projects are cut and ready to sew, more are planned and yet to be started. The only problem is not getting *TOO* distracted by other random projects that catch my eye. I saw (and bought of course) this Michael Miller First Sight fabric and now I need to made a cloth book for my littlest one. I'm a sucker for all kids prints lately -- I need to stay off the fabric sites and use up some of the stash!

Don't worry, to keep from getting too empty here I'll be posting about some fun gifts I've made in the past: I-Spy bags, crayon keeper, car playmat. Stay tuned...

Sewing Space Makeover

My sewing table is in my basement and I've made lots of projects with Amy Butler Nigella prints for it so far (and someday, maybe, hopefully I'll finish the quilt for it!!)
I still had plenty of fabric leftover so I made some cushion covers and a machine cozy!



The chair has removable cushions that were purple velvet. Not bad, but they were getting old and dingy anyway. I decided just to cover them over.



The sewing machine cozy was so fun! I used the instructions from Spool Sewing, modified just a bit for the dimensions of my machine. For the front I just went through my scrap bag and started laying out pieces. It was fun! Piecing bits into strips and then piecing the strips together isn't hard, you just have to have an idea of which pieces to sew in which order! The sides, top and back are just the solid print. I added a light interfacing behind the pieced front just to keep all the seams neat and from snagging anything on the machine. I also added a pieces of fusible fleece on the inside of the top piece. I really like the shaping it added, I may add the fusible fleece to the remaining pieces too. I'd like it to basically stand on it's own.

More pics of my space, with my "inspiration wire" over my worktable -- just bits of fabric, pictures, ideas and cute things.


And just because I *LOVE* to look at it, my fabric stash

Toddler Hats

First off, Go Phillies! World Series Champs!!!!
We have a serious lack of Phillies gear in the house, so I dug out my out-of-print Phillies fabric and made a cap for Nate! I just came across this tutorial from Made by Petchy yesterday so it all just came together perfectly.



Blue one is fleece with a center panel of On a Whim Owls. I put a layer of fleece behind the owls too. It's not reversible and I used some bias tape for the edging. I skipped the elastic on this one.

Red twill one has Phillies (woohoo!) on one side and a bit of Michael Miller Guitar fabric on the reverse. I almost cried with joy when I saw that I had a scrap of the guitar print just big enough for this.



My model:

I got a new camera!

Woohoo!
Getting a picture of my 2.5 year old is just getting impossible. He doesn't smile for pics, but most of all he doesn't stop moving! My husband suggested I go ahead and get a digital SLR since I figured I'd get one at some point, but which one to get? I'm notoriously terrible at over-researching and taking forever to make a decision on purchases like this. Fortunately I read this site kenrockwell.com that just made 100% sense to me and I was done! So I got the Nikon D40 and already I'm much happier with the vastly improved responsiveness. I also picked up the recommended external mount flash (SB-400) and I'm just about giddy about how my indoor shots look now. My living room has particularly bad lighting but of course that's where I'm trying to take pictures all the time. I can't wait to see how actually, you know, learning how to use the camera helps even more! :)

A few pics:

Pretty Pillowcases!

I just LOVE the new Heather Ross Mendocino line. But I had a very hard time figuring out what I wanted to make with it! I'm all stocked up on fabrics to make bags or skirts or PJs for me ... I didn't see making something with it for my boys... and I loved the way the different prints looked together too.
Then I saw a great little half-yard bundle from Fabricworm on Etsy and I realized they would look great with my orange duvet cover! So a few half-yards headed my way and I made pillowcases! Each side of the two pillowcases varies a bit with the four inside fabrics in different spots.

All cut and laid out:


All done!


Action pic with the rusty orange sheets & duvet:


I'd never had pretty or even interesting pillowcases, they always have just match the solid sheets. It seemed like a frivolous project at first, but I can see making more. It's so nice to see your handiwork first thing in the morning (or for me, every time Ben wakes up to nurse!)

A project for baby & mama!

A new baby needs new carriers to snuggle in right? ;)
I bought a snuggly wrap, chopped it in half, dyed it blue and turned it into a ringsling! I'm so happy with the color (I'm not a dying expert!) and the sewing for the ringsling shoulder is very simple. Here are some instructions for sewing a gathered shoulder BTW.

Action pic:


With the undyed other half of the wrap: