refashioning a dress into a tunic

                                               These aren't great pics, but you do what you can!

2 things inspired this sewing project--one--I've been wanting a tunic top to wear with my skinny jeans, and two--I kind of went on a new clothes shopping spree lately and so I didn't want to purchase anything else 'new'--I wanted to either find one used or make one out of something I already had.  I found a black jersey knit dress in my closet that I've had for 2.5 years and worn maybe once.  Why did I buy it?  I have no idea, I don't wear dresses.

After I started cutting into it, I thought I should have taken a 'before' pic.  Oh well.

Basically I cut the bodice off, recontructed parts of the dress into a kind of flowy top, and used an old black sweater belt I found in my closet to cinch it up at the waist.  I sewed panels in the sides of the previously fitted bodice top, sewed rectangles (cut out of the skirt) at the bottom of the bodice part front and back as sort of 'panels', and cut off the three quarters sleeves and made a little cut in the tops of them.

I think it turned out pretty cute.

i sew capri suns, and, in the garden, verbena bonariensis

I ventured out into the world of sewing capri suns this week--easy and fun!  We've been hanging on to these and cut the tops off just enough to open and rinse them.  Then I got 9 in. zippers and we made pencil pouches. 

First I sewed 2 capri suns together with the tops facing each other, repeated, and then sewed the zipper in the middle.  Perfect!

Then I folded in half and sewed the 3 sides closed.  This all took maybe 5 minutes.

Voila!

I made 2--one for Grace and one for Eric.  They LOVE them.  I'm sure I'll make more.  They're nice and crinkly too. I plan to sew some larger bags at some point, and am working on a lunch bag for Grace.  Grace wove a pop can tab belt and it's a hit.  Her friends and classmates think it's pretty cool.  Love recycling, especially making something funky and fun.

So this is not a great pic, but I have this awesome verbena bonariensis growing in my front flower beds.  I love it so much.  I must have planted one at some point (I can hardly remember year to year) and now it's reseeding.  It's so light and airy.  My flower beds are going crazy, and it's been so hot I don't like working out there.  But I need to suck it up, because the weeds are taking over.

Vintage pillowcases, I love you

So I've got a 'thing' for vintage linens.  Napkins, tablecloths, dishtowels, sheets, you get the idea.  Not the least of which is pillowcases.  I'm already twitchy for garage sale season and hope I can find more lovely ones.  I saw my crafty cousin, Casey, today who asked me if I had ever made a pillowcase dress.  No, I haven't, but I know I have seen tutorials and it's on my 'to make list'.  So I found my links I have saved--one for the dress, and one for adorable pj pants.  See here and here.  Oh, and I found a cute top here.

morning sky & easy pillow slipcover

This was my view out of my front door this morning.  So peaceful and beautiful.  Makes me want to freeze time and live in this light for always.

Last night I sewed a super easy square pillow slipcover for Grace's other twin bed.  Long ago I had sewn her an exact same one (back when she only had one twin bed in her room).  So here we go.  I used 2 cotton hankerchiefs, though any fabric will work.  A 20" zipper fits perfectly on it.  Sew one side of the zipper on.

Then the other side (sorry for the inconsistent lighting.  Yeah, haven't got this camera thing down yet).

Now you've got a big rectangle with a zipper in the middle.  Fold fabric in half, right sides together.  Be sure to open the zipper halfway.  Very important.

Sew up all 3 sides and turn rightside out.

That's it!  Slip over your pillow and zip.  Throw on the bed, couch, floor.  Easy to remove & toss in the wash.  Note that you don't really need to buy a pillow form at the craft store, either.  Goodwill has lots of throw pillows that could be easily recovered with this method.  Just adjust for the size.  Oh, and I picked up some bamboo fiber stuffing at Joann's yesterday.  I have gotten wool before (online) and loved it, I always prefer the natural fibers over the polyfill.  It costs more (twice as much) but with a 40% off coupon at Joann's, it was only $1 more.

Happy Weekend!

another one bites the dust, and a copycat pillow

I forget about wool sweaters + warm/hot water washes.  This is the third sweater I have accidentally felted.  Oops.  Thankfully it was a $3.99 Goodwill buy and I will sew it up into something (maybe a bag).

I bought this cat pillow (possibly vintage, on the right) for $1 at a farmers market linens booth and tried to 'copycat' it (on the left).  It turned out 'ok', though aside from the ears which don't look like cat ears--a bit too narrow-- I think it looks like a bunny (though the ears don't look bunny-ish either).  The other side of each of these is a print fabric.  Fun to make!  I want to make dog ones, too.

This weekend my goal is to make and tape FIVE hoops.  Maybe six.  I have sold three in a week and am having a fabulous time with my hoop group pals.  Then in 2 weeks I have a demo at a weight loss group and will be selling bunches I hope.  Hooping is so fun and addictive, I want to spread the hoopin' love to the whole wide world!!!!  Wheeeee-- I love my life!

Aprons

A friend asked me to sew these aprons for her and her son to wear together when they cook. So sweet. Then I started thinking about my own apron collection and itching to find more when thrifting this spring and summer. One can't have too many aprons, can they?

Here are 2 of my aprons.  I can't remember where I found this lilac gingham one.  I love the embroidery.  This might be my favorite apron ever.  I'm sure I paid around $1 for it.

And this one was my mother's.  I love the skinny rick-rack!

grandma's quilt

We went to visit my other grandma earlier this week, and as we were going there I was feeling guilty that I didn't have anything to give her.  I wanted to make her something but was coming up with nothing.  In the course of our visit though, she mentioned her she didn't have a blanket for when she's in her easy chair and bingo!  I decided to come home and get to work on a lap quilt for her (after a brief not-so-serious thought of picking up a snuggie for her at CVS or something.  Ha! and no way).

I pulled out fabrics I thought she would like from my stash, they all kinda go together and I had just enough of each to arrange them so they fit to make a nice size quilt.  Sweet!  I used part of a yellow sheet I had in my stash for the backing, and flannel for the 'batting' part. 

Once I got it 'pieced' I had the kids draw some pictures on it, which I then embroidered on it.  As it was coming together so well, I got the thought 'hey!  I'm going to set a goal to finish this by midnight!' (I crave the instant gratification of quick sewing projects.  I'd started around 4 pm, and in between doing this and that was working on it, it was definitely achievable. especially once the kids went to bed.) Right? 

Wrong.  I struggled to stay awake as I sat on the couch embroidering a clown fish.  I fell asleep by 10:30.  Lame.

I started in again on Tuesday, sure I could get it in the mail by evening, she would have it Wednesday!  Yay!   I got close to finishing the 'binding' (the lazy Krista way of binding that is) and my sewing machine revolted.  Would.not.sew the last few inches.  Argh!   I pleaded and cajoled.  Begged.  Nope, she wouldn't do it.

I tried again last night, and still no go.  But tonight (Thursday), I got it done.  Sewing machine went fine.  And nothing else had changed.  What the heck?  I think my machine is temperamental, it's so wierd.

Anyway, so excited to get this in the mail tomorrow, I hope she loves it!

eating, sewing, and an animal picnic

We have been doing lots of eating around here!  Rob snapped this picture of me last night scooping up a handful of pumpkin bread crumbs.

And more eating!  Yes, that is a napkin on her head.

I had to get pictures of this little man eating with gusto!

I got some sewing time in today--yay!

And I reorganized my fabric stash--it's now in the buffet drawer for much easier access (it had been on the top shelf of the coat closet, usually causing an avalanche of fabric).

The stuffed animal friends enjoyed a lovely felt food picnic on the living room floor today.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Yesterday I sewed 4 pairs of jammie pants for solstice presents.  Tonight we are having a solstice party--we're going to bake cookies and have them with cocoa as we read The Shortest Day.   I tucked the jammie pants away for tonight, it will be fun to celebrate the return of the light with my loves.

This one looks wonderful, too!

Oh, and thank you all for the camera info!  Rob asked me if I was going to buy one.  He seemed very concerned...and I correctly guessed that I am getting one for Christmas.  Yeah!!!

cutest round stamp ever, pipecleaner christmas tree, and jean patching

I had a coupon code for Sweet Papery and got this cute stamp.  I've wanted one for years!  sweet papery

I love it.  Lily did the cutting there.

And I've been meaning to make this, from Martha Stewart.  Hint:  you need to double up the pipecleaners when you make the 'snowflakes', otherwise they're way too flimsy.  At least the pipecleaners I used.

And I am trying to get my mending done.  I wondered how best to patch the 4 holes (one on each top corner of my jeans pockets) and then I got some embroidery floss and sewed side to side and then wove it in the length of the hole.  I'll see how it holds up--hopefully no more underwear peeking through!

And this (darn fuzzy camera!)...I saw this a couple years ago now somewhere--it's like magic I swear.  To tie a knot--put the needle point facing the thread end as shown.

Wrap around a couple times, hold on and slip down the needle and length of the thread.

And you have a knot! It always stops about an inch before the end of the thread.  Amazing!

felted wool stuff & pillowcase apron

We made these felted balls and felted rocks--so tactile and colorful!

And I found this pillowcase at Goodwill for .99 and made this apron out of it.  Pretty easy, since the bottom of it is already hemmed.  I have enough left to make a smaller one for Lily, so we'll have matching ones. 

Wow, I can't believe christmas is 4 weeks away.  I have lots to do!

dolls, glue & tp

I made these dolls this morning--one for Lil and one for Calvin for Christmas.  I think they're quirky and cute with the arms pointing different directions and legs different lengths.  Not intentional, but that's how it works out.

Lily loves glue (and tape).  The other night she was cutting up some colored paper and had the glue out.  When I put her to bed I saw this by her bed.  She had glued it to the wall (!).  (We were out of tape).  So I peeled off what I could and stuck a damp paper towel on it to loosen the glue.  Which I promptly forgot about until I saw it in the morning, which is how I ended up scrubbing paper towel and paper that was glued to the wall.

And this...oh, we need a TP post.  I swear I have posted about toilet paper here before.  I bought a 30 roll pack of TP, oh, 5 days ago and let the children open and play with it, they love that part.  Which was cool until they started unrolling and throwing it around.  Then ensued a TP cleanup, it was deposited into this grocery bag.  We're still using it.