Getting in the holiday mood

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This has nothing to do with sewing but I just had to share yesterday's pictures!

Sweet Violet

Sweet Willow

Can you get much cuter? I think not!

We got the first snow of the year yesterday. It's so windy here that we get big drifts of snow. I could see grass in the yard, but the driveway was 15" deep!

And I made some pants, but I'll post those later.

So sleepy today

So I sat down to sew at about 8:00 last night, thinking I'd sew until 9 and then go to bed. This was my project. A little apron for Violet's Christmas. It turned out so cute with the eyelet lace at the top, and I was having so much fun, that I finished it and ironed the last little bit and looked at the clock...and it was 10:12! How did that happen!?! My sweet husband laughed at me. Oh well, it's done and she'll love it.

This one will fit a very skinny 2 year old, here's how I made it:

Cut two rectangles 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" for the bib. I used plain muslin for the back.
Cut a strip 10 1/2" x 45" for the skirt. If your fabric is 45" you don't have to hem the sides ;)
Cut two 3" strips for the ties.

Assemble however you think best :P

If I had taken more pictures I would write up a whole tutorial, but I didn't.

Here's a picture of the back.
I gathered the skirt to about 18". The waist ties are 60" long, and the neck strap ties in back so I can adjust as she grows.

I'm laughing out loud now because I just realized that every post with a picture in it, has a picture of my chair!! I mean, I love that chair, but geeze!

Not my favorite or my best

Why do I have such a hard time with piping? It's a rather simple idea. Put the piping in the seam and sew as close as you can right? Why does it always take me 2 or 3 tries to get close enough? I know I'm using the right foot, I must just be a piping dunce. At least with 3 rows of stitching I know it will never ever fall out.
Piping has made Violet's Christmas dress take twice as long as it should. On the other hand, I sewed the best zipper I've ever done with this zipper tutorial .
I'll post pictures after Christmas when it's safe for the girls to look over my shoulder.

My Inspiration

My sewing has been rather minimalist in nature. The girls need dresses, I make dresses. I need a skirt, I make a skirt. A customer needs a new zipper, I replace the zipper. I get done what I need done as quickly as possible.

Until now.

I finally finished my Grandmother's antique sewing desk. The old kind with the hole in the top for the OLD sewing machine to fit into. I re-painted it and put 16 inch tile on the top. It looks so pretty, I just love using it.


Now, my machines are accessible anytime and all my tools are at my finger tips. I don't have to spend 10 minutes getting everything out to sew for 5 minutes and then 10 more minutes to put it all way. Now I have time to really enjoy working on a project.

Here's my other inspiration.



Isn't it cute! This little baby took me about 6 hours, but I had so much fun! Now I'm all set to take lots of time and make the things I make really special.

Hello there

So this is my sewing blog. What do you think? I think I need some pictures! I'll get right on that tomorrow.