Pillows in Amy Butler

I made these pillows for my mother-in-law for Christmas. They were well overdue as she picked out the fabric from my stash last Christmas! The design is similar to the pillows I made for our family room in late 2009.

Other than the brown linen, all of the fabrics are Amy Butler from my stash - the main fabric is Geisha Fans in Clay (Lotus Collection), the accent is Seeds in Okra (Belle Collection) and the stripe is Oxford Stripe (Lotus Collection).

Coloring Wallets

These coloring wallets were made at a friend's request. She is gifting them to her nieces for Christmas. The design is a basic crayon roll enlarged to hold colored pencils or markers and with a pocket to hold a standard size scratch pad. I love the interior fabric, Always Peace by Michael Miller, designed to look like doodling on notebook paper. The main exterior fabrics are both from Amy Butler.

Snow White - Simplicity 2817

Simplicity 2817 for my sweet girl. Of course, I think she's the cutest Snow White...ever! I actually bought this pattern over a year ago during a Hancock 99 cent sale. The two blue fabrics are cotton/poly broadcloth. The yellow and pink were picked up from the bargain table....a polyester of some sort, I assume.

The pattern was fairly easy to follow and offered me some new challenges - piping, applique, sewing with "slippery" fabrics. I made only a few adjustments to the pattern, adding velcro closure rather than a zipper (easier for playing), forgoing the bow on the headband, and not adding the stand-up white collar around the cape. The bodice runs a bit big, but that will help the dress stay in dress-up rotation for a year or two.

We were rushing to go to the zoo for Hallzooween one Sunday and I ran into *issues* making the white collar. My daughter tried on the cape and said "I think it looks finished without the white part". I hugged and kissed her and told her that she made my week! I also grew tired of fussing with the hem....and decided to cut it with the pinking blade of my rotary cutter! It works just fine without a proper hem. I may finish the hem at some point, or I may not!

Big Butt Baby Pants

Awesome name for a pattern, isn't it? If you follow Made by Rae, you have probably seen Rae's new pattern for Big Butt Baby Pants. Although my only "baby" who just started kindergarten (insert sad mom face here) can no longer fit this pattern, there are babies in my extended family....who may or may not be big-butted. Guess what? They are getting new pants in the near future!

The pattern is available as a pdf download, includes two pattern pieces and is sized for newborn to 2T. The pattern offers variations for foldable cuffs and butt ruffles. Rae will post instructions for pockets. The back insert allows for easy fitting over cloth diapers...thus the big butt name.

The main fabric is "XOXOXO, The Cat" by Wendy Slotboom for In the Beginning Fabrics, ordered sometime last year. The accent fabric is a quilting cotton purchased at Hancock. the print reminds me of martini olives! Cheers!

HUGE Pool Bag

My sister asked me to make a pool/beach bag. Her one request was that the finished bag be huge enough to hold all the neccessities for her family of four's trip to the pool.

I knew that IKEA fabrics were the way to go, since my sister wanted a fun print and sturdy bag. Constanca inspired me with her beach bag made with the same Fredrika fabric. I drafted a pattern in a similar shape. For the interior, I used IKEA's striped Sofia canvas and included a large pocket (12"x16") and key fob. I added some interfacing to beef up the handles but did not add any to the body of the bag since I used the heavier fabrics.

The finished size is nearly 24" x 36"! Yes, large enough for four towels, dry clothes, diapers, snacks, purse....or a couple of toddlers!

Bathroom Makeover. Fabric related....but no sewing!

Dusting off the blog...I won't blabber on about the many unfinished, unsatisfying projects that happened this summer...this blog is meant to archive my finished projects. So here is a project that has nothing to do with sewing, but does involve transforming a space with fabric!

I saw this Target shower curtain on another sewing blog (can't remember where, though) and knew it would be perfect for my daughter's bathroom. The print is fun, modern but not too "kiddy". I love how a fun print can change your mood. The little squirrels and owls make me smile!

Without painting, it turned the room from blah to wow!

Nightshirt Refashion

After seeing this nightshirt worn on the bloganista flickr group, I purchased one at Target on clearance for less than $4 for my first refashion. This top was intended to be my second entry for Rae's Top Week. The deadline was Friday 4/30. The master procrasinator in me just assumed that the deadline was Friday at 11:59:59, so after getting my daughter to bed that night, I scurried around to finish the top and upload the pictures to flickr. I was even going to be clever and name the top "the buzzer beater" or something...but checked Rae's blog and saw that the deadline was actually 8 PM. Oh well, that news allowed me to slow down and finish the top on Saturday with a little more care.

Fortunately, the nightshirt fit me perfectly across the shoulders, so no adjustments there. I cut off eight or so inches off the bottom and got started. First I opened up the collar seams and removed the collar, leaving just the band which I restitched. I took in the side and sleeve seams quite a bit.

On the placket, I removed all buttons and sewed the bottom two-thirds shut. Then from the fabric piece cut from the bottom, I created ruffles cut on the bias and sewed them right onto the placket. I like the current ruffle-trend but in small doses, so this worked well for me.

I used a hem facing and finished with a double-row of topstitching. With facings, I have been understitching (using Karyn's tutorial) which makes a big difference in the finished product. After cutting the sleeves to three-quarter length, I considered adding a bias cut binding, but decided to go with a simple casing for elastic.

This is an easy top to throw on for a comfy weekend day.