Peas in a pod!

I got to try out this pattern before it was released.  It is really easy to make and super cute!  I made it a few weeks ago but have not blogged about it because I was waiting to give it to a friend at her shower.  So, here it is, the Peas in a pod from Tiedyediva's pattern.  Super cute, huh?  I lucked out and found this fleecy-type fabric on the remnant rack at Joann's.  I was not sure what to put inside because the mama I gave it to is super crunchy and I did not want to put anything unhealthy inside.  So, I ended up with some cellophate wrap that came with Fabric Fairy fabric and a wee kitty collar bell.  I figured the kitty collar bell is small enough, and packed inside the batting so well, that a teething baby could possibly get to the metal.  And the other two peas have cellophane packed inside.  So, two peas go crinkle and one goes ding!  Heehee!

Homemade Halloween

Happy Halloween!


My girls wanted to be witches this year and I decided to make their costumes myself. I bought two long sleeved black tees at Target and some fabric and tulle at Joann's Fabric Store.  We found hats and wigs at various places.  Voila!  Halloween costumes. 

Here is how I did it without patterns!!


Big girl's skirt is lace fabric cut into strip long stripes, each gathered and sewn to the shorter one.  Then, I made an elastic waistband.  Voila!  Lacey tiered witch skirt.  She wears black leggings underneath.  Her top was long sleeved but I cut the sleeves halfway between elbow and wrist and sewed on more lace.  I stretched the sleeves as long as they would go to sew on a circle of lace I had cut and sewed to be 4X the regular length of the cuff.  It worked!  Voila!  Lacy cuffed sleeve.  She is wearing my black velvet gloves from some formal event many moons ago and a cute hat we got on sale last year after Halloween.  She added a velvet vest over the top for detail. 


Little girl's tutu is made from strips of tulle cut 3-4 inches wide and knotted onto an elastic sewn to fit her waist.  I took one black and one purple piece of tulle together and knotted them in the middle on the skirt.  It is supposed to look messy and it does!  She did not want lacey sleeves so she is just wearing it with black leggings and a black tee.  Her hat and wig are something I found on sale a few days ago.


I also made myself a witch outfit and will post those pics later.

From disfunctional to functional (aka, look at my new sewing space)

I have been sewing in the dining room for a year and a half now and the space has become unusable as my stash and project list has grown.  Just look at it!

 As we approach holiday season, I realized I need to do something about my dining room!  So, here is what I did!  First of all, our playroom had an extra wall with nothing on it. 

 And I organized my daughter's crafting area.  Her stuff is now all in the white three drawer bin you can see in bottom right corner of this picture.   

She will have plenty of space to craft and I can use the space now, too!

 

 I was lucky to have my mom give me her old sewing table.  She prefers the dining room table.  LOL!  So, here it is with the stool from our drum kit.  I am being creative.  I put notions and current projects in the drawers to the right, future projects on the shelves to the left, and the fabric stash in the bins on the far left.  As soon as I clean out the storage closet, they will move into it. 

 As you can see from picture below, I have a nice view of the front yard from our family room basement and I can talk to my cat, Pete, while I sew.

 Hi Pete!

 Here is the craft bar with serger at one end.  Plenty of room for everyone's crafts!

The dining room, all cleaned up!  

Finally, my grandmother's dining room set can be the focus, instead of the mess.

Crafty mama

I have been busy this summer, with camping and swimming and my serger was in the shop.  But, I did manage to get one big project done, my 3 year old's room.  Here are pictures of her room, finally decorated!

It started when cosleeping with me was no longer working and sharing a room with her sister was not an option.  So, we took a small guest room with a queen sized bed and turned it into a room for a three year old girl.  We kept the queen sized bed so we could still have guests come over and I could still cosleep if necessary.  Thus, the bedspread was a big part of the room, being on such a big bed in a small room.  I found this Pottery Barn Kids Quilt, called Betsy's Dolls, on deep discount, and we were off!   I could not find affordable Pottery Barn Kids bedding so I searched Ebay and found some white sheets with lavendar trim, new but very cheap.  After that, lavender became our complimentary color.  So, since yellow compliments it perfectly, the walls are pale yellow. I was lucky to find a cheap twin sheet set on Ebay of the same PBK lavender gingham and turned that into curtains and a bed skirt.

Isn't it adorable, with the dolls?

I could not find shams so I had these custom made on Etsy by Cute as a Button Designs.   

She is great to work with and made adorable shams. 

I found a picture of some wooden flowers on a child's bedroom wall and got Zzbob, on Etsy, to make these for me.  They cut them from MDF, per my measurements and design, and I painted them myself.  They are attached to the wall with this genius product by 3M Command. They make a whole line of products that are not supposed to wreck your walls.  These are attached with velcro that sticks to each side.  Genius!

I think I did a good job!  :)

My innocent crush

Well, my serger is still broken.  As of last word, the owner of the shop is back from vacation and has ordered the part it needs.  Should be another week, at least, before I get it back.  How did I ever sew without it!

In the meantime, Anna Maria Horner put out a sneak peak of her new line, coming this fall.  It is called Innocent Crush and I am love!  I love the mix of blueish pinks and blueish greens and blues.  And red!  Heavenly!  Cannot wait for this to come out in November!


On a side note, I want her chair! Oh Anna Maria, you are my fave!

A giveaway. For a whole Flower Sugar fat quarter bundle!

That's right!  One fat quarter of every piece of Flower Sugar 2 (that's 21 fat quarters in all).  We LOVE this collection.  It definitely ranks high on our favorite-ever fabric list.  Bright and cheerful!  This bundle is enough fabric to make an entire quilt top.  So...  check out the Long Ladies on their blog Marie-Madeline Studio to take part in this giveaway!  They have the most lovely fabric! 

Ringmaster!

Matilda Jane has a lovely little dress they call Ringmaster Ellie.  I decided to make a variation of this cute dress.  I used almost all the same fabrics, by Anna Griffon from her Riley line, and then found a piece of Feelin Groovy by Rosemarie Lavin for Windham.  So, for my dress, the bodice is Packed Flowers in green from Feelin Groovy and the ties, ruffle, and skirt are all from Riley.  I love this circus print so much I am trying to find more of it!   I bought what I have from Treasure Bay on Etsy.  (see side bar for link)

So, here it is!  My Ringmaster Eliza, for my little girl.  

Here are closeups of the pretty fabrics.

And, no, my serger is STILL not working.   So, all these seams had to be bound somehow.  Argh is the only word for that.  Serger goes to shop in about an hour.  

Just for kicks, here is my inspiration. the Ringmaster Ellie by Matilda Jane.  I did pretty good, huh?