new favorite sewing toy

 I'm kind of a sucker for notions... and I recently brought home a new blade for my Olfa rotary cutter!

The pinking blade!!!  I have pinking shears but the pinking rotary cutter is waaaaay more fun!

I wanted to break in my new blade so I decided a fun little bunting was in order.  It took me all of an hour to cut out 17 (woah that's a lot !) 4" tall flags, pin them into the binding, and sew a quick zig-zag stitch down the whole thing.  

The pinking blade is thicker than the standard straight blade but man it cuts like buttah...  no joke!

Even through Amy Butler's "Love" home dec weight fabric.  I'll be making more of these sassy little  buntings to sell at the craft show in November!  So fun!

Made Monday

And when I say Made Monday I mean I actually made all 5 of these today, on Monday!  

Shocking, I know.  Well, for me it is.  

My usual time frame is more like 4 days or a week, but Eli has been napping longer than an hour lately so I'm taking full advantage of it.  For sure.

5 little lanyards

Pieced with all my favorite oranges, blues, and greys.

Awesome tutorial here.  And its simple to boot!

Possibly the perfect Christmas Gift... and you could attached a gift card to the hook!

Sweet lobster-claw hooks with gunmetal finish - scored on Etsy, where else.

And don't you worry, I kept one for myself too - since my car likes to automatically re-lock the doors 30 seconds after I hit UNlock.  My keys have a new home, and it stays around my neck until Eli is securely strapped in and I'm in the drivers seat ready to peel out.  

Plus its dang cute, and I love it!

Friday Fun! Toddler Sewing

I'm sorta timid about clothes making... but I don't really count these fleece shorties as clothes.

They're actually meant to be a breathable cloth diaper cover!

At home we use prefold cloth diapers and its nice to put a breathable cover on Eli every now and again... so his tooshie can get some airflow.

I want to make these in the LONGIES version (as in long pants) in a jersey fabric.  Just to wear as 

comfy everyday pants.  I wonder if I could adapt them to my size...

The pattern is from Apple Dumpling Gear on Etsy.  SO easy to sew, as it only took about 5 minutes to cut out the pattern, then another 15 minutes to sew them together.

He's blending into the grass pretty well!  

Stand still for goodness sakes!  Good, thank you!

 "Look mom, a truck!  I love me a truck driving by!"

I love to see Eli wear the things I make... maybe I should delve into clothes making more often.

Customer Love!

I received a lovely little note from this little cutie's mom & dad! It was her 1st birthday and they just adored my handmade 1 onesie so they had to send me the pic!

It's quite fun creating these baby birthday gems so I've added even more to my shop!
Custom Orders make me smile too~

what I've been up to...

1. finishing potholders
(may need to make more, so fun!)

2. cutting 104 tumblers
(anyone want to win a Go!Baby Fabric Cutter?! more on the cute cutter soon!)

3. turning tumblers into mug rugs!

4. not pictured (thanks to a dark rainy day today) my newest sewing machine cover also using
these great tumbler blocks...

There's my life in a few sentences...
what have you been up to?

ahhh family

This has been a busy week so not much sewing has been happening, but thats ok. I've been reserving this photo for such a week.

Eli + 3 sisters + Mom

(me? I'm on the far left)

Sewing To Be Continued SOON...

Clean + Fuschia

To all my wonderful readers:
THANK YOU for such great suggestions on my fabric washing problem!
As you can see, I decided to go with the hand-wash in sink suggestion and it came out totally sans-tangles! I did a quick squooshing of water out in a towel and tossed them in the dryer.. and no knots or loss of yardage! Fabulous!

I still may try a few other options such as tossing in a few yards with a load of clothing (really? fascinating!) or pinking the cut ends. I just bought a pinking blade for my Olfa Rotary Cutter and I'm kinda pumped to give it a whirl...

And - good news! We potentially have found a house to call our own... but its a Short Sale so we're now waiting for the sellers bank to approve our offer BUT I've already begun brain storming decorating the inside. Uh, Pinterest to the rescue! I'm addicted to pinning Home Decorating ideas... although everyone seems to use a white (or off white) couch in their livingroom... which is SOOOO not going to happen in my world.

Toddlers + light colored anything = disaster

Anyhow... back to my original thoughts...
I've decided to paint my sewing table Fuchsia. Hi-Gloss Fuchsia.
You see, I potentially have my very own sewing room in this new house... which used to be called the formal dining room! Its directly to the right when you walk in the front door, so I want my space to look sassy, well put together, and bold. For the walls, I have no idea yet!

Here's my paint choice:

Which, via a happy coincidence, matches my new pair of Crocs. I pinky swear that these gosh-awful boat-esque shoes will never be seen on my feet in public - but they'll make great house shoes as the main floor is all hardwood and tile. Fun eh? I think so!
~~~
I've been busy finishing up a load of potholders and just yesterday cut out a bunch of 3" tumbler blocks for a load of mug rugs! Yes, a craft show is looming in November... I'm excited!

The beauty of the tumbler cutting: it only took 20 minutes to cut 104 blocks... more on that soon!

on my cutting table

Potholders! In various stages of completion...

I finished 2 and noticed they weren't quite the same size, so I decided that 7"x7.5" will be my standard... as most people probably prefer a set that match, in terms of size, at least.

This made a decent dent in my scraps, thank goodness!
No pattern as usual, I just wing it.

Basic instructions:
~ Sew fabric strips of varying widths together until you get a square about 7.5"x8"
~ Use some sort of heat-resistant material for the batting, I used Quilted Ironing Board Covering which was suggested by an employee at JO-Anns.
~ Cut heat resistant material about 8.5"x9"
~ Choose a coordinating cotton (or home dec weight) fabric for backing, make it larger than the batting.
~ Sandwich all 3 layers together (I use quilt basting spray, LOVE it!)
~ Quilt as desired.
~ Choose another coordinating fabric and bind just like a quilt. Add loop if desired.


I experimented a little bit, love the wavy quilting!

Was it dumb of me to make girly pink potholders? Anyone out there have a pink kitchen?
Who knows, some bachelorette might be dying to own pink potholders. Or orange ones, for that matter.

One can hope.And I'll be honest.
I haven't actually tested a handmade potholder yet so I was skeptical as to the heat-resistant-ness of the batting I used. Everyone online seems to use a layer or two of Insulbright... but it just seems so thin to me. Yeah, I like to be different. So I just ran upstairs, put a bowl of water in the microwave, and boiled it. Success! The ironing board stuff protected my hand and made for a nice cushy cooking experience.
So, note to self: If its good enough for an ironing board, its good enough for the kitchen.

What's on your sewing table/cutting table/design wall/knitting needles/crochet hook/loom/pottery wheel/easel/dining room table?