Monday, February 22, 2010

no more holey knees

I saw this quick fix idea using reverse applique on another blog somewhere, but I can't remember exactly where. (Heidi do you remember?) Regardless of it's origins, I knew it would be worth my while to try it.



Thankfully, Haven was way ahead of me and had already ripped holes in both of the knees of her jeans without having to be asked. She is so very considerate of my sewing needs. I cut out a cardboard template of a heart that was large enough to cover each rip and still be centered on the knee area, traced around the template, pinned a scrap of pink print fabric underneath, and stitched all around it using my pencil outline as my stitching guideline. And why may I ask does her shirt look red in these pictures, I thought it was dark pink? Whatever.



All that was left to do was to cut away the excess denim on the inside of the heart around the edges, leaving a scant 1/8"-inch to the stitching, which will fray up a bit and look even cuter with each wash. I then handed them over to an ecstatic 8 year old girl who immediately put them on, exclaimed that I am the best Mom in the whole world, and declared herself the coolest girl in her school.


 


Next up, a boys version. Not using hearts, of course. I mean, what kind of a mother would I be stitching pink heart shaped patches on my boys jeans and sending them off to school to face every bully on the playground. Although I have been known to dress my boys in outfits akin to Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

fix-a-flat

A few days ago I bought a pair of insanely cute ballet flats for Haven, and even though they're the right size, she had a hard time keeping them on because her feet are quite narrow. Not wanting to let these shoes sit in her closet unworn, I thought I would take a stab at fixing the problem myself.


 A strap across the top of the shoe seemed like a good solution, but without black elastic on hand, only white, I went went with what I had. I took some 1/2"-inch double wide black bias tape, stitched it together at the sides making a casing, and cut some 1/4"-inch wide elastic and inserted it into the casing.


 


I made the length of the casing about twice the length of the elastic so that it would ruffle up, and then I stitched it across at either end of the casing, catching the ends of the elastic, to keep it in place. Then I wedged the shoe onto my sewing machine, and after some contortions I was able to slowly push it through and stitch the strap on. I had to crank the wheel on my machine by hand to make sure it would go through the sides of the shoe without breaking my needle.


 


And voila, a shoe that will look cute and will also stay on her feet as she runs around at school and on the playground.



Because every 8 year old girl needs sequin covered zebra stripe ballet flats for school, right? Right.

Monday, February 15, 2010

after many goofs and mistakes…

...I finally finished the baby quilt. Not that she has had her baby yet, but she is threatening to go into full blown labor any day now, so I'm happy to be ready.


After a few revisions to make up for using 45" wide fabric instead of the 60" the pattern called for, here it is all laid out before I stitched it all together. Maybe a quilt design wall would be better for this, but for now the carpeted floor will have to do.



I really love the equal mix of modern and classic in the quilt, and it didn't take long to get the top pieced so that I could put it together and quilt it. I loved tossing it into the washer and dryer knowing it would come out all crinkly and soft.



I ended up doing a pieced back due to an error of mine in not buying the right yardage for backing, and this flannel being far too expensive to just go back and get more. So I pieced it and I love it. My idiot error worked out after all.



The flannels from the "Woolies" collection are incredible, and were very easy to work with. They are incredibly soft, wash up beautifully, and they're the best flannel I have ever laid my hands on. And as for the mistakes I made along the way, well they were frustrating, but not impossible and I was able to work through all of them with a little extra effort. In other words, I still want to make more quilts. Hopefully with fewer goofs next time?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

double argh

I am trying to make a quilt for a new baby boy arriving in a few weeks time, and I finally settled on a quilt pattern I liked. After reading the instructions thoroughly, or so I thought, I bought all of the yardage I needed at my local quilt shop, which of course is not cheap. Meaning everything starts at $9 a yard. So, six different flannel prints later cut to varying lengths, I get home and grab the pattern again to start in with this project, and I realize the amounts called for in the pattern are for 60" wide fabric. The fabrics I bought are 44" wide. Totally my own stupid mistake. I. Want. To. Scream. So, now I get to spend lots of time figuring out if I can still make the quilt I had planned on, just in a smaller size possibly?


  


The flannel I bought is really lovely, it's from the "Woolies" collection by Maywood, and it's the softest 100% cotton flannel, but it looks exactly like wool. So cute. I must admit though that I'm having a hard time enjoying the fabric because I'm so frustrated right now I could spit. Just not on the fabric. Argh.

Monday, February 8, 2010

making time for foolishness


I sat down today and started sewing one of the aprons I had previously cut out. I finished the first one with no trouble, and it was nice to have a fuss free project to work on. Especially since Craig had taken Noah and Haven snowboarding and I was trying to keep the rest of the kids entertained as I was sewing. Ciel, feeling bored, picked up my camera and began snapping away at whatever she fancied, as evidenced by the above picture. Once I finished the apron, I joined her, and we spent the next hour being very goofy and laughing ourselves silly at our dorky antics. What better way to spend an evening than acting like a total fool with your 15 year old daughter and taking pictures of it all.


Like this one Ciel snapped of me "eating" the apron.


 


Making my Mom proud, one picture at a time.


Or not. Nothing like poking fun at yourself with your kids for some goofy laughs though.