More gifts for Baby

My first taggie! How much fun are these to make? And what a crowd pleaser. I have an instant order from my other cousin for one now. I used flannel and minky with both satin and grosgrain ribbon. And of course, top stitched for extra strength to keep those ribbons from pulling out. I love the little poodle applique, I got it from Sew Forum. I did have a little problem with the stitch out, but it was because I originally had the "fur" part in a silky fleece, but decided against it after I got the basting stitches in. So I took it out, but then when I tried to resume machine embroidering the minky, it wasn't lining up with the gray body stitches. So I trimmed it up as well as I could, and used my sewing machine to stitch it in place. It wasn't that bad, and I think I am getting better with my control. I may be ready for that free motion quilting foot soon!

Here is a shot of the minky back:






Next up, a vinyl covered fabric bib. My friend Allie suggested using a Teflon foot when sewing on vinyl. She is so smart. I'll be getting one of those, because I have a feeling I'll be doing alot more of these!




Remember I told you my gifts were the shower decorations. So I hung the name banner, then I strung up a pink "clothes line" and hung all of the gifts along the string. Not too original, but very cute! And I didn't have to worry about wrapping anything!

Of course, all babies need a burp cloth:



And bloomers:



These were quick and easy, thanks to my serger! And, thanks to Heather Ross Weekend Sewing, I decided to try elastic thread around the leg openings. SO SO EASY!! I used to dread doing that teeny tiny casing for the leg elastic! I WON'T be doing that anymore! The elastic thread makes it "gather" so cute. At my niece's birthday party, there was a 4 year old little girl in a pair of red gingham bloomers with elastic thread around the leg openings...she was TOO CUTE! Now I have added several pair of these for my almost 3 year old to wear for the rest of the summer!

Speaking of the birthday party... the Grandmother Aprons were a hit! They were very appreciative and got almost as much attention as the birthday girl!


I was also very happy to see alot of Handmade clothing on the little girls at the party. I was very flattered when people assumed I made some of the things, but I set them straight and oohed and aahed like everybody else. Just another reason for us to move back "home", I could be around all of that creative goodness more often! Oh well, I can dream... I do love Lafayette, but there is something to be said about having family live "down the street". I know my kids would LOVE it! Well, off to bed with me. My cute as a button teen-aged niece is here for the week, and I tend to take full advantage of her "occupying" my children tomorrow. Until later...

Her Name in Flowers

It was a great baby shower! She loved everything, and got lots of good "stuff"! One of my gifts, which made me decide to use all of her gifts as decorations, was a flower garland for the baby's room. My inspiration? The fabulous felt creations from Kindershop! I regularly read her blog and visit her Etsy shop to see what's new. She has the cutest name banners! Go check them out! OK, so when I checked the link, she is currently on vacation...the LUCKY girl, but please check back in a week or so, she really does have the cutest things!

My name banner was specifically inspired by Allie. If she can make Wonky Houses look so darn cute, then why not Wonky Flowers?

And WOW are they wonky! I used stiff craft felt from Hobby Lobby for the backing to make sure it would be strong enough for the machine embroidery. It was, but the yellow is regular felt, I thought it would be ok as the top or middle layer. In the picture it is hard to see, but I did do a small amount of hand embroidery, just to add a little "something". And it also worked well to string the ribbon through, which I wasn't sure HOW I was going to do that. The baby's "theme" is jungle babies, and I thought about doing animal faces or shapes, but decided to go a little more "girly" so it would grow with her. I actually did a jungle baby theme with my first, and I knew it was a girl. After she got to be about 2, I was ready for butterflies, and princesses...so I kinda went with my own feelings and am happy to say they were right! So, I will be back to post more baby shower goodness tomorrow, until later...

Aprons for the Grandmothers

I have been very busy this week! It is my niece's first birthday, and I am also a hostess for my cousin's baby shower this weekend. I am sorry I haven't had anything finished to post, but I will be making up for it next week! I decided to do these aprons for the Grandmothers to wear at the birthday party. I am very happy with how they turned out! I started working on them, around 3:30 or so in the afternoon. It is now 3:30 or so in the MORNING!! I am tired, so this will be a short and sweet post!

I bought an apron at JoAnn's for $1 and pretty much just laid it out over my fabric and cut around it! I am not a perfectionist, as you can probably tell by now! :) I just thought I'd wing it! The birthday girl's "theme" is lollipops. You may remember the hat and bloomers I did for her already. If you would like to see them again, they are in one of the slide shows on the left, or you can go here. So anyway, I thought it would be super cute for the grandmother's to have on aprons since the party is a Sweet Shop theme. I machine monogrammed the lollie and name, on some fabric, then made it a pocket. I decided to use ribbon for the waistband and tie, because it was quick and easy! The most difficult part was the ruffle, of course! I decided to get some practice by using my serger! I only had to pull out the seam ripper once! That is a success for me. :D I have a ruffler foot for my serger, it is pretty neat, you put the fabric that is to be gathered on the bottom. Then the fabric you want to attach it to in the slot that is on "top", for lack of a better word, of the foot. It takes some getting used to, but all in all I really like this option! It is very fast and once you get the hang of it, pretty easy. I did press and top stitch the seam to make it nice and flat. I think they will be very happy with them!

Here is a close-up of the lollie applique, isn't it cute? This is for my SIL's mother. It is what her first grandchild called her, so it will be her "name" from now on! My mother is Grammy.

I also did a bib for the birthday girl, so when she digs into the cake, her dress will stay nice and clean! Another first! I usually just do the monogramming on some vinyl and sew on an absorbent backing, but I have been wanting to try adding clear vinyl to fabric. I had some difficulties at first, but once I smartened up and realized the vinyl was sticking to my presser foot, it all went together easily! I know to use tissue paper when sewing vinyl, but I needed to see my top stitching, so I grabbed a small square of scrap stabilizer and just slowly walked it under the left hand side of my presser foot. A little bit slower than I tend to go, but I got the results I wanted! To achieve this effect, while I was sewing my right sides together with the vinyl sandwiched in, I made sure there was enough excess vinyl sticking out for me to gently pull to make sure it was not too loose. If you pulled too tight, the vinyl distorts. It is also important to make sure there are no stray threads or fuzzies under the vinyl before top stitching the opening closed! I hope this is all making sense, my eyes are starting to close and I still have a few more things to do before I leave in the morning! Hope you all have a great weekend, and if you are getting rain....SEND IT TO ME!! We haven't had any in at least TWO WEEKS!! I'll be back Monday with all of the goodies for the shower...I am "decorating" with my gifts! Until later...

For my Father

Well, it is now officially NOT Father's Day anymore, but here is a dedication to my daddy. As you probably don't know, my father is my BIGGEST blog follower! You don't know this because he has yet to figure out how to comment! This could be a blessing because there is no TELLING what stories he would tell! :) He tried to comment during my giveaway, but it didn't go through, so I'm thinking he just gave up. Instead, he calls me and tells me his comment! So anyway, to my daddy...I LOVE YOU! My father worked alot, like most father's do, so as I was growing up, he couldn't make it to middle of the week school functions. But he made up for it by taking us down the river on the weekends! He was very strict on us when it came to school work and grades. He made my sister memorize ALL of the Presidents, IN ORDER! But he would reward us by taking us on really fun vacations, like Washington D.C., Niagara Falls, and lots of Gulf shore Beach destinations (my mom's favorite!). We never got brand new fancy cars when we turned 16, but no matter how many "accidents" I was in (and there was ALOT), he always made sure I had a car to drive. My father taught me right from wrong, and gave me advice when he'd think I needed it! He taught me to put family above all else, because they are with you for the long haul! And most of all he taught me love. When you are a kid, you always question why your parents do the things they do, why do they yell and punish, why do they stop you from going to that party or club? "Don't they love me?" When you become a parent, you understand. Thank you daddy for loving me enough to punish me FOR LIFE every time I got in trouble! You kept me safe, and you helped guide me toward the path I needed to be on in order to succeed in life! I love you, and I hope you had a nice day!

In sewing news...I am working on a lot of little things that have to be finished this week, so hopefully I will have something posted soon! Until later...

Thinking of my Granny

I think of my Granny often since she left us a little over a year ago. She was magnificence in action! Everything you would think a Granny would be. While I was at my parents this past weekend, I spent most of my time reading my awesome Library books. You may have heard of them, Seams to Me and Weekend Sewing? I was very excited to find them at my Library to say the least! Anyway, Heather Ross talks about her vintage Singer Featherweight in her book, and it got me to thinking...my Granny sewed and so did my mother. Now, not full-time sewing and not as voraciously as me, but none the less, they sewed. So I asked my dad what kind of sewing machine did Granny have..."I don't know, but it's upstairs...if you want it." IF I WANT IT! Well....yeah! "Your mom's is up there too." DOUBLE YEAH!

So I run upstairs, dig around, and finally find this:


It is a Singer 301A Slant Needle Sewing Machine with a hinged Long Bed extension. Fabulous! I have only started doing some research on this machine, but I found some interesting things here and here. Thankfully the second link is picture heavy so much better views than the ones I've taken, and there is a link to the history of the machine....sweet!! According to the Singer dating site, this machine was manufactured in Anderson, SC starting in 1951. I haven't sewed on her yet, but once I clean, oil, lubricate, I will be giving her a test run. I am anxious to try quilting on her, that long bed extension and generous opening looks like it will be a dream to quilt on! Here are some more shots I took...

Like I said, there are much better pictures at the second link! Anyway, I am excited that I will have this connection to my Granny with me always! And every time I make something with it I will imagine her seeing it and being proud! I love you and miss you every day, Granny!

So, my mother's machine stayed behind because it will need a little more room because it is in it's own cabinet!! I haven't started the research on it, but believe it is Japanese. Once I do the research and make some room, it too will find a new home here! Well, back to my WIPs! Until later...

My Camera Strap

Hi! How was your weekend? Mine was nice and relaxing yet again. We went back to my folks to get Ms. Priss, and decided to stay the whole weekend! SO I have several WIPs, but nothing completely finished! I did, however, decide that it was time for me to have a camera strap cover. It seems everyone has one, and now there is a HUGE selection on Etsy to choose from, I figured it was time to make myself one. Here it is:

Of COURSE it is LSU! Because of all the quilts I do, I have TONS of little scraps to choose from! I was going to monogram our name on it, but was in a time crunch and didn't want to add this to my LIST of unfinished works!! Aren't you just HAPPY when you actually have something to SHOW for all of the time you spend at the machine?

I whipped it up rather quickly, and kinda by the seat of my pants, so there are a few things I would do differently next time. But it will do lovely for now and I will always know which camera is mine, since I have a "problem" laying it down and forgetting where I put it!!

While I was at my parents, I FOUND a gem...stayed tuned because it will be a treat! Until later...

Calling all Knitter/ Sewers!

Run, don't walk to Ralvery! Sign up! Get the invitation! Sign In! And this weekend you can be making this:

This too stinkin cute design is from Natalie Larson and is a free PDF download for Ravelry members, so...

GO NOW!! Sorry the pictures are so awful! I took them outside at the worst possible time, I was just so excited at how cute and EASY this was!!

It is called the Two Summer Dress, because it can be worn for two summers! The straps cross the first year, and go straight the second year! Natalie even has an adult version, but sadly no pattern that I've seen... I am so thankful to Karen at Karen Squared for bringing this pattern to my attention!! I will try to get better pictures this weekend when she wears it again!! So why are you still here? Go to Ravelry!!! Until later...