Ballerina Tote Bag

I don't know about the rest of you, but here in upper Indiana, we've had a VERY late spring.  It's FINALLY gotten warmer and the trees are flowering.  And that means that I've been spending a bit more time outdoors...weeding.  Yep.  That glorious task.  Weeding.  It's rewarding, but definitely hard work and often pretty dirty work.  So I haven't been sewing quite as much yet.

But I did start pulling out fabrics for my project for Ayumi's Book Sew Along.  And I found a fabric that grabbed me and said "use me!".  But not for Ayumi's projects.  For a project for my Caitlyn.  A budding Ballerina.

I made this little lined tote bag for a tiny ballerina just getting ready to start lessons this summer.  This mama KNOWS that her daughter will love being a ballerina.  The girl already has some great moves without a single lesson and prances around all the time.  lol  Plus she has a good sense of rhythm and pitch (which makes me happy because I'm a singer and my dad happy because he's a drummer).  So music is in her genes (and I haven't even gotten started on her father's side and all the musical talent there).

I used a pre-made purchased pink webbing for the handles.  They wrap completely around the bag.  I've been wanting to try that style for a long time.  I didn't  follow any particular pattern but merely looked at a lot of pictures of bags I wanted to try and figured it out as I went.  I'm NOT a natural bag maker, but it's good to push that 3 dimensional thinking for me every once in a while.

I had one 10" x 10" piece of this ballet fabric and I knew that it needed to be a pocket detail on the tote bag.  It's just darling.  It was hard to cut into but it's always good to use even a piece of fabric rather than just letting it lay in your stash.  Oh I could just eat that fabric, it's so cute.  It's a Kokka Japanese print for anyone looking.  It actually comes in a few colorways, so find the one you love.

The Body of the bag is made from an Essex Linen in Demin from Robert Kaufman.  I added a light fusible interfacing to give it some body.  The lining is a pink polka dot from someone...can't remember.  Riley Blake maybe?  I've had it a LONG time.  So happy to finally use some of it!

A box pleated, lined tote for the little ballerina in my house.  She loves it and can't wait to start her lessons.  Don't worry.  I'll take pictures of her in her little leotard, tights and shoes once we have them.  She's going to be uber cute...especially with her special tote bag just her size for her shoes.

Edges Giveaway Winner!

Hi All!  Thanks so much for all the great vacation tips!  You all make me want to spend a year of vacation trying out all of those places.  Though many  of you suggested the beach...so maybe I just need a beach house. ;)

But on to the lucky winner!  Randomly drawn number from a friend picked a number between 1 and 316.  And the lucky number she chose was 27!  (Trying to mix it up around here...my own version of the Random Number Generator)

dianeMay 15, 2013 at 12:33 PM

fav vacation spot would have to be france...Brittany region with a few days in Paris!

Boy would I love to take a vacation to France!!  One of these days.  My husband has never been to Europe.  We WILL get there.

Congrats Diane!

Edges Blossom Pincushion - and Giveaway!

*the giveaway has ended*

Right before I left for my vacation, I received a lovely treat in the mail.  Michael Miller had sent me some of Laura Gunn's new line, Edges.  This line, with the exception of a few focal prints, a line of bright, saturated blender prints.  I knew right away that I wanted to work with that COLOR.

I decided this week that I wasn't quite ready to truly sew yet but I did want to play with fabric.  So I searched through some of my favorite crafting books at home and found the Blossom Pincushion from I heart Patchwork.  I've been meaning to make one of these for forever.

I searched a few places for that palette and was finally able to find them at Hobby Lobby at the tip of a friend.  They are the plastic version but it is still really lovely.  Plus it is inexpensive! $2!

My goal when making this, was to marry to the two ideas together, the blossom paint palette pincushion and this new line Edges.  I laid out all of the fabrics and chose a set of 6 cohesive colors that gave me a rainbow palette.  One of Laura's Blender lines is called Painter's Canvas and I could think of nothing more perfect than a painter's palette filled with her fabrics.

I don't want to give away any details of the pattern because it is part of a published book (one that is well worth owning if you don't already!).  Suffice it to say, this pattern is PERFECT for charm squares.  I used the template and made a vellum one of my own.  I traced the circle around the back of each square I chose.

I cut out the six circles.  Don't they look pretty together?!

Then....a couple hours later (due to some chainsaw oil on my glue gun...don't ask) I had a lovely pincushion!

I love how the fabric looks like real paint in the palette.  Such a great blend of concepts.  And that sweet center is just perfect for items like buttons.

Sooo.... you've listened to me ramble on long enough.  Would you like some Edges of your own?  Michael Miller was very generous and sent me more fabric than I need and I'd love to share some with you.  Oh and I'd love to share this pincushion too!

To enter to win BOTH the pincushion AND the charm pack of Edges (it has a lot of fabrics in it too!), you can:

1. Leave a comment here letting me know what line of fabric you are most looking forward to coming out.  If you don't have any idea what new fabrics are coming out, let me know what fabric has been your favorite in the past.


2.  For a second entry, you can leave me a comment letting me know your favorite place to vacation!  Because boy do I wish I was still on vacation. ;)



Good Luck!

Cruising Disney Style

Did you miss me?!  I was away in the beautiful Caribbean for a much needed vacation.  Our first vacation since this little gal joined our life.  It's been FAR too long.

I did break out our matching dresses as promised for the cruise one night.  We even matched with white shoes.  Oh she was extra thrilled about that.  lol  She was pleased as punch to show it to Mickey!

Some sweet Daddy love...

And then of course, a conversation with Cinderella.  You can't have a good night with out a conversation with a princess!  I love her expression here!

I was also finally able to use my bag made by my good friend Tracey!  I wore it all over the ship and carried my camera and all other things.  It went to every island with me and always looked great.  Traveling handmade!!  Echino fabric love.  And it is doing double duty here holding a precious magic wand. ;)

And I haven't shown you too much of this dress yet...it's next up in the princess sew along series.  She was the most precious Minnie Mouse around.  So cute in fact that the hotel gave her a Minnie Mouse doll that she has carried with her EVERYWHERE since.  They just couldn't get over how cute she was. (mom pats herself on the back.  I made that girl and that dress! lol)

Mickey was of course very excited to see a little Minnie before we boarded the ship.

And we were all thankful when she finally fell asleep that day for a nap. ;)  Love these moments.

And while I made neither the dress nor the beautiful mosaic, I just had to share one last photo (I have oh so many!).  Cinderella is a favorite in this house and Bippity Boppity Boo as we call her.  So this photo is just so dear to me.  It captures so much of our week.

Sewing will begin again soon.  But for now, I'm basking in a slow return to reality.  See ya'll real soon! (said in my best Mickey voice)

May Blogger's Choice Bundle for The Fat Quarter Shop

When Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop asked me months ago if I would select a group of fabrics for her monthly Blogger's Choice Bundle Fabric selection I quickly agreed.  In fact I may have done a happy dance, kissed the little gal, and eagerly set about looking at fabrics.  It's sort of a no brainer to select a group of fabrics that make you happy.

And oh, do these fabrics make me happy!

I hemmed and hawed over color schemes and ultimately chose a color scheme that is so very ME.  Why fight it?  lol  Lovely shades of light blue, yellow, and a collection of neutrals.  I could eat these, I love them that much.

I adore the glasses print and now must own them in every color.  It's an addiction.  There are fabrics in this collection from many manufacturers including Riley Blake, Art Gallery Fabrics, Robert Kaufman, etc.  So many fabulous fabrics, so little time.  Check out the Bundle Listing on The Fat Quarter Shop website for a complete list of fabrics.

Yellows

Blues

Neutrals

I chose a variety of text prints, graphic prints, solids, florals, and geometrics.  There is a little bit of everything and something for everyone.  The bundle will be available for purchase soon from The Fat Quarter Shop.  But if you want to make sure you get one, go ahead and sign up for notification!

Right now I'm just staring at my fabrics and petting them, but I'm thinking hard about the perfect project.  More on that later.

For now... a hint at my latest project and where I will be for the next week or so!!  I DESPERATELY need a vacation and it's finally here!

Mommy and Me Matching Dresses

I seem to be on a garment sewing kick lately!  I'm rushing through some of these projects because we have an upcoming vacation and I wanted to get certain things done before the cruise.  One of them was making a dress for the girly that matches my recently made Washi dress.

Isn't it too cute?!  I didn't want to make a literal copy of my dress for her...just a dress that uses the same fabrics.  And again, I didn't want ALL the same fabrics, so I chose a pattern for her that let me play with a couple others.  Oh and I took a reference shot with the pattern number for those of you who will want to know. ;)  It's a simplicity pattern that I've had for a year or so now with plans to make for her.  Good thing I waited because I made the smallest size and it's plenty big for my skinny minny.

I'd say the pattern is certainly beginner friendly and I made it easily in a few hours.  I did some modifications to the pattern but only because I'm realizing that I know more about garment sewing than I thought I did.  I  used to do a LOT of it and it's fun to bring out those skills and dust them off.  The top has button holes, but no buttons.  Instead the shoulder straps are a cute tie from the back through the front bodice and tied in a knot.

The pattern gives tons of options for mixing and matching fabrics.  I chose a matching solid for the band around the hem and the shoulder straps.  But I added a striped print with an accent ribbon in orange for the apron.  Why not?!  Again, the main fabric is an Art Gallery print from the Rhapsodia collection and the skirt is a stripe from Cloud 9 Simpatico.

But as cute as the dress is, pardon me while I gush over the cuteness of the girl IN the dress!!  Eeep!  Three is a really adorable age for dress modeling.  (there are other challenges though...lol)

She was moderately cooperative for a few pictures with the phone last night.  Mainly because I put my dress on so we could match right away.

And here we are together!  Our matching dresses.  All ready for our cruise next week.  She LOVED that we matched and I have to admit that I thought it was pretty fun too.  I was more tickled by it than I thought I would be.

So much to do before that vacation!!  And I want to squeeze one more project in....can you guess what the next "princess" dress is going to be?

Custom Fit Pajama Pants

I don't know about you, but when I'm surrounded by fabric I get extremely frustrated when I am not able to make one of the simplest of garments...pajama pants.  I LIVE in pajama pants.  I should probably start calling them lounge pants so I sound classier. ;)  But I couldn't figure out a pattern to make.  I have some curves and was frustrated with pj patterns that are unisex.  My shape is not the same as a mans.  And I'm having a mental block with pattern sizes right now that I didn't want to tackle.

Solution?  Create my own pattern.

Oh wait.  I don't draft clothing patterns.  Hmmm...  Google!

Hmm....tried that.  Made a pair of "pants" from flannel that luckily I bought for $1 a yard on sale because they did NOT work out.  I tried to take a pair of existing pjs, lay them out and copy them for a pattern.  I could NOT get this to work.  I know exactly why too.  The waist band has elastic and I can't stretch it with one hand and draw with the other.  This is at least a two person project for me.    Anyway...no pics of that because the pants were wayyyyy low around my behind.  Scandalous. ;)  And not functional.

That behind needed to be covered!  So I finally decided (after one of my favorite pair of pjs came out of the laundry mysteriously covered in stains) to make lemonade from lemons and meticulously cut apart the legs of a purchased pj pants I owned that fit well.  That took a whole evening because I didn't want to loose any seam allowance or do something stupid with scissors as I am apt to do when chopping apart clothes.


One thing I DID learn from my google searches and attempt at making a pair of pjs is that you can make the pants from just two pieces, rather than four.  You can cut each leg as ONE piece.  And you eliminate a whole seam on each side.  Plus that was less to take apart!  I ironed ONE pant leg flat and laid it out on my prewashed yardage opened to full width.  I have the fabric doubled with wrong sides together so I can cut both legs at once and get one facing each way.

These particular pair of pants have a bit of a boot cut to the leg...something that I definitely would not be able to draft on my own.  The seam allowance because it was clearly trimmed down by serging during manufacturing is only a quarter inch.  So I added an extra quarter inch around the long lengths so I would have a 1/2" seam allowance to work with.

Plus I easily marked my button holes with the pieces flat for the drawstring waist.  I also took the time to mark the hems and casings.  Super easy to follow the perma press folds from the purchased pj pant leg.

With everything marked, it was much easier to do all of my hems and casing ironing with the pieces flat rather than wait until after they were sewn and be working on curved pieces.  Woohoo!  Production sewing!  And the first thing I did was actually put the button holes in.  These are easy peasy these days with any modern machine and a button hole maker.  Don't be intimidated by them.  The machine literally sews for you!  I placed a bit of tear away stabilizer behind the button hole to add stability to the stitches.  Great product and super easy to use.  Rips right away when you want!

I sew up the two legs in a flash.  I hemmed super quick...remember I had already pressed everything before sewing.  So this was a simple stitch to hold that hem in place.  I did a double row a 1/8" apart for a more "professional" out of the store feel.

The waist band is a gathered one with elastic and a drawstring.  I kept both the elastic and the drawstring from the original pants to use as my measurements for the new pants.  Woohoo...no thinking!  I did tack down both in the back center seam to help stabilize them and keep the elastic from twisting and the drawstring from pulling through.  Oh and added a cute little tag to identify the back of the pants from the inside.  Love little touches like that!

And here I am.  Completely thrilled with my pj pants that fit perfectly!!  And with a pattern piece (in flannel no less so it clings to the fabric you are cutting with no pattern weights or pins!) that I can reuse and reuse!  I have some prewashed Anna Maria Flannel that is next on the list.  Those will be made soon!  Yummy.  It is sooo liberating to use multiple yards of fabric and chop into it after months and months of working with tiny pieces for quilts.  I may end up with a pair of "lounge" pants for every day of the week. ;)