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!

Baby has a new pair of shoes...and bibs

Until recently in my family, all of the babies born to my generation had been girls. Fortunately, a little boy is on his way to my sister and her husband in a couple of months. And my cousin just had a sweet little boy. ...so I made some fun gifts and broke away from all the girly prints.

How cute is the little tie bib? I saw the tutorial on blueprints (formerly known as Just Tutes) and had to try! This was my first applique and it was a breeze! I used Wonder Under to apply the applique and finished with a zig-zag stitch. The soft baby shoes are from the Stardust Shoes pattern. I highly recommend both sites which are full of great tutorials and ideas in addition to the projects I show. For both tutorials I followed the directions without any adjustments, maybe a first for me!

I'm still fighting with sewing machines. Mom's Singer and I were getting along great until the very end of the second bib. I was topstitching and the bobbin thread got all crazy on me. Is this user error or just a Singer quirk?? Hopefully my sister won't mind a little wonky stitching ;)

Gifts

For Mother's Day, I made this tote for my Mom. The pattern is "Amanda's Bag" from Marlous Designs. Marlous happens to be a special family member of ours, so I think that made the gift even better for Mom. The main fabric is a home dec weight I thought she would like. The lining and contrast are quilting fabrics. All were found at my local Hancock Fabric. The pattern calls for the bag to be quilting with a layer of batting. Since I am not a quilter, I just added a layer of fusible fleece. Now that it is finished, I don't know if that was a good move, as the bag is a little floppy. I may have to revamp the bag and add some rigid interfacing (...or just learn to quilt). The pattern is great and gave me a nice challenge adding a zippered pocket. The zipper pocket is hidden behind the front pocket panel. It should have been visible on the outside of the front panel, BUT I had a mishap with a very hot iron and reversed the outer pocket panels to hide a lovely scorch mark. I like the contrast that the green floral fabric adds. Behind all of those diagonal trim pieces lies a pocket, so in total there are five outer pockets and also a row of inner pockets in the lining bag. The bag is quite roomy. All in all, a success.

My sister-in-law's birthday is approaching and she visited us over the weekend from Toronto. Since she is working on her vegetable garden again this year, I thought a gardening apron might be needed. I just made up this design as I went, knowing that I wanted the apron to have lots of pockets, with some expandable ones for garden gloves, clippings, etc. The floral pocket panel is made from a thrifted kitchen towel sewn in half lengthwise. I then made some inverted pleats to make the two center pockets gusseted. The main fabric is a home dec weight gingham. I used pre-packaged bias tape to finish the top seams and make the ties. Although the colors of the gingham aren't exactly dirt friendly, I like the cheery combination!

A creative space...found

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A couple of months ago, I was wishing for some space and I found it! Our small living room is the coziest room in the house, with great natural light, but it was, for the most part, usued space. After multiple (4, 5...I lost count) trips to IKEA, my sewing supplies have vacated the dining room and have a home. My daughter's art supplies and hubby's books are stored along with my sewing supplies in the wall of IKEA bookcases. The storage boxes and baskets cleverly hide all of our goodies and my growing fabric stash and sewing book collection. The sewing machine cover is a repurposed $3 pillow cover found in the IKEA As-Is section. The Amy Butler organizer was a find at the local Michaels store.

The room now feels even cozier and functional and has become a creative space for the whole family. We find ourselves in the room on a daily basis, reading, sewing and coloring together. Last night my 3 year old daughter was my creative assistant, snipping threads for me with her "cutty things."

Call me old-fashioned with a modern twist

My initial sewing skills were gained by observing my mother, grandmothers and step-mother. Vivid memories include cute little corduroy ensembles sewn for me by my grandmother, sweet doll clothes created together with my mother and beautiful bridesmaid dresses created by my mother and step-mother for my wedding.

Those skills (and my sewing machine) were gaining dust until recently when I discovered the world of modern craftiness. Inspired by other family members of my generation getting bit by the creativity bug, I started poking around on the web and was amazed by the number of women eager to share their beautiful creations and tutorials. I also found inspiration from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing book which inspired me to think outside conventional patterns and traditional fabrics.

I never considered myself crafty, but always felt the urge to be creative. Now suddenly I feel like I pulled out the stopper and the ideas are flooding my mind.

Creating things in the spirit of the women in my family is a time-honored tradition that I want to continue and allow my daughter to observe (and absorb). In our current world of materialism and consumption, where we feel like we are working just to make it to each weekend, it is comforting to slow-down and create beautiful things to share with others.