Wednesday, November 28, 2007

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.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

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!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

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.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

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.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

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.