my new favorite: halter top

This is made with an old linen hand towel and some ribbons I either had at home or found at the thrift store. It just don't get any easier!

two dresses

So yesterday I woke up with a desire to be creative with the sewing machine. Finally! After all those Munchkin costumes I had pretty much sworn off using my sewing machine unless absolutely necessary. I wanted to make a dress with a pattern I borrowed from a friend of mine (thanks, Kathlene!). I decided to use scraps, since .... well, since I had them and it's always cheaper that way!


I decided on this satin - black with white polka dots - leftover from last summer when a student of mine used it to made a circle skirt. The pattern is a halter style and has a flounce at the hem. I love flounces. I think it is what drew me in. Kathlene had made one for her daughter and that flounce just beckoned to me. Drew me out of a sewing "funk" really. So, I'm thinking this needs a set of plastic dollar store beads, a silk flower in her hair, and some flip flops and she will be set.

pattern used: New Look 6478 (I used a size 5)

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The next dress I made yesterday has a story behind it.

Once upon a time, I had a truckload of bags filled with clothes to donate. After dropping them off, I decided I had a few minutes (the laundry at home could wait) and I went inside to do a little thrift store shopping. I found two squares of this adorable blue gingham check. Each square was about 24" x 24".

One of the pieces had a rabbit applique that no doubt a mom or grandmother was planning on using to make a cute Easter outfit for the wee one in her life. But, as often happens, other things become priority and Easter comes and goes.

Well, I grabbed up the fabric, paid my tab of $1 and brought it home where the fabric sat in my sewing room for nearly a year.

Fast forward to yesterday when I thought I'd make a pillowcase dress. I grabbed some neat ribbon trims and went to town. Once I got all that trimwork on, I decided that the rabbit looked mighty naked. So, she got a dress just like my little girl's.... only the bunny's dress is actually a pocket!

All I need to do now is to make bunn-bunn a face and maybe put a bow between her ears.

Feels great to WANT to sew again. Y'know?

What about you, do you ever get burned out with sewing or scrapbooking or whatever your hobby is?

the allure of a quilt

If you sew or quilt you have probably had someone ask you to make them something. They are half-joking, but they are also half-serious. When people find out that I make quilts, they joke "when you gonna make me one?" It happens a lot. So much so that I nearly wish I could make one for everybody who asks. "I love ya, man, but, seriously. Really?"

My sister saw the raggy quilt our sewing class made for a friend with cancer and it was just what pushed her over the edge from

non-creative-type-who-doesn't-sew

to

person-who-drives-5-hours-in-a-car-full-of-her-own-children-to-visit-her-sister-who-has-agreed-to-teach-her-how-to-sew-and-then-drives-back-home-and-buys-an-old-machine-off-of-craigslist-and-sews-up-a-storm-type.

It's the allure of a quilt.

What is it about a quilt that nearly everyone loves? Do you think it is the fact that we all crave something handmade? Or does it tap into something left over from childhood? A fever which gave the chills and a loving mother wrapped up her sick child? A picnic memory sitting on grandma's quilt? A cozy fort made with chairs and an old blanket shared by siblings on a particularly memorable rainy day?

What is it that you love about a quilt?

draggin'!

Today was Day 1 of Summer 2010 Sewing Camp.

My sewing partner, Tori (who also hosts the camps at her home), and I planned two camps this week, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, to see how well that would work. Let me just say that my arse is DRAGGIN'!!!!

All of the kids, though, are soooo extremely sweet. They are very fast learners and I know will have a fun, successful camp in which they learn skills to last a lifetime. Amazing to watch them, truly, it was. The beginner students made a felt book with four "pages". One showed all the different stitches/stitch lengths/stitch widths they learned, one showed their new skill of pivoting, another showed that they can now sew curves. And, for their final page they learned how to gather a strip of fabric and sewed on a ruffle. After learning all the basics, they finished today by making a pillowcase.

Now, if I could just put my hands on some Calgon bath salts and steal away to soak in a tub full of warm water. I KNOW I am going to sleep well tonight.

On tap for tomorrow: More fun, more stuff!

click the link

I have no idea how to make the video appear here, but you need to see this easy-peasey project. Also, I don't know about you, but I am going to put these girls on my favorite list!

Hooded Towel Project