Quilt: Wildflowers for Baby Girl R.

This is an early quilt, perhaps it was 2002-ish when I put it together. I was still learning and was experimenting with repeating patterns. As you can see, the intensity of the green leaves created a star type pattern and the wildflower pattern was nearly lost. It's crib size. It has an insane amount of individual pieces.

Three Muskateers Costume

My toddler asked for an "en garde costume" and I was like, "ding. ding. ding. ding."


I vowed to use scraps from other projects and I designed and finished it in about a day. The result, looks a little three muskateer-ish, a little coco chanel-ish. But he really likes it.

Button-Down Scarf: II

I made a quilty button-down scarfy thing for the Finny and Donk Sewing Adventure. It was a hit with my boys. Being the fabulous mother that I am, I whipped one up for them (they have to share). I used the very last of this hideous, lime-green, Disney Cars fleece. You'll remember this fabric from a nap-time tote I made for my nephew and a car mat I made for a friend's son.

Interestingly enough, son who will not wear anything. at all. ever, wanted to wear it on its own. Other son thought it was a "travel" blanket. By this I mean, have blanket, will travel. So, he'd spontaneously curl up on the floor and cuddle it every once in a while. Very cute.

Button-Down Scarf

So here's the deal. I've been sick and so I can't do a lot. But in my sitting around waiting for the antibiotics to work phase I've been doing a small amount of sewing. Mostly embroidery, but I did manage to finish this scarf. The scarf was a project outlined by the fine organizers of the Finny and Donk Sewing Adventure (a blog I've been lurking for months). If you want to know about it, just visit their site.
My scarf's concept was to have a flirty, wild look (velvet with wings) and a more "buttoned-down" button down scarf. So, tried to make it look like a wool pin-stripe suit. It is wool, but the stripe was created with the quilting.



It's rather comfortable and all the materials were on hand. I strayed from the pattern in a two ways, a) the dimensions and shape of the scarf; b) I added batting inside the scarf to make it extra warm and poofy.
When Coop saw it, he immediately asked for one. May have to find some kid appropriate fleece to make him one, too. All in all, fun project and will probably throw this in the gift stash for later gifting. Pattern found in the Simple Gifts to Stitch book.

PS--It is impossible to take a nice picture of oneself wearing a scarf. It looks all double-chin-ish. Or maybe I have a double chin. O.M.G.

Something Old Into Something New

My new skirt.
I used an old, old, old pattern with fairly new fabric to create one fun skirt. I've already paired it with a red wrap sweater and a brown t-shirt to see where I can go with this look.

Get this, the pattern was McCall's 3056 Evening Elegance from year 2000. So scary. I'm not sure why I have it, but there's a big orange 75% off sticker, so I think that might have something to do with it. The gown the pattern is intended to make is quite prom-ish, includes instructions for a beaded and bangled bustier, and -- wait for it -- a lace shrug bolero. So scary.

But, the full length skirt was perfect for altering into a modest short skirt for me, as I'm a bit on the longish side. The only drawback that I can see to using a pattern this old is that in 2000 we were still wearing our skirts and our jeans at our natural waist (which I have learned is a lot closer to my belly button that I knew) and now we wear skirts and jeans about 3 inches below our belly buttons.

Once you get past the whole, oh my goodness something is touching my waist feeling, the skirt is actually very flattering on the whole and can reign in a muffin top. It's zippered with an invisible zipper and a lined it in unbleached muslin (because I hate when cotton skirts go between my cheekies) and has a few darts.

For Baby: Truck Pillow

My baby's room has been a true struggle for me to decorate. I waited so long with my first baby that when I got around to picking colors and themes he was old enough (almost 2) to start telling me what he wanted. Well, this baby, doesn't talk as much even though he's only a few months behind where his brother was when his brother picked... drum roll, please... John Deere.
But this baby is obsessed with cars. And I was smitten by a line in the Cars movie by Mater, "What's wrong with rusty old cars." So, that's what happened, I found some rusty looking cars stuff and painted the room the same color as rust. But the bedding has been a challenge.

Finally I just decided to draw a truck, cut it out of "wool" flannel, and stitch it together. I'm glad I did. I was attempting to kinda match the pillowcases I had found on clearance at Pottery Barn for Kids (seen in the background), but I wanted to make it look even older. I say "wool" because that is what it was called at the fabric store in Indiana, but when I touched it with a hot iron it immediately melted onto my iron. Wow, that was a joyful moment. Anyone know who to clean melted acrylic off iron?
I opted for raw edge applique because I love it. But I find now that it's finished that the boys might like playing with this pillow so I probably should have picked something a bit more sturdy. Oh well. I can always make another.
In addition to the truck pillow I also painted this dumb little initial. I'm not a great distress painter or anything. But I like that it adds to the charm of the room. Now to find some old license plates. I have an idea for the valance.

What Am I Doing?

I have been wanting something I can do with my hands while I watch TV with my husband and boys. You can't very well lug the machine up... so I tried knitting. That went over like a fart in church. Then crocheting. That's a little like knitting, but even more confusing.
So, I fell into embroidery this week. This might work. Granted, I need a lesson. It reminds me of crisp clean pillow cases lined up in my mother's linen closet. I don't know if she embroidered them or if my grandmothers and great-grandmothers did, but they were so pretty I felt like I was sinning when I touched them. Well, I didn't actually feel like that, but I did think I would get in trouble. If you know what I mean.
Anyway... thought I'd give it a spin. I don't know what I'm doing. And it looks like a 3rd grader did it. But, I can do it in front of the TV. So, there you have it... something new I'm going to try to do.