stripes are something cute

I bought three of these shirts/sweatshirts after I had Jonah.  They were comfy and hid my belly.  I don't wear them anymore so I decided to make them into something I would wear. 

before

 

after

self-portrait

I added a button and a hood.  I used an old tank top for the hood liner.  It's super cozy and I love the final product. 

Forgive the tie-dye...or not--it rocks and you know it. 

15 minutes = 3 new pairs of...

 baby leg warmers

I bought some cute socks at Target the other day with the intention of turning them into some leg warmers for Sophie.  Her others are getting too small so this time I shopped in the women's department for socks.  They have some really cute knee highs right now which are perfect for baby leggings!

If you can find 15 minutes out of your day, you, too, can have some of these!

Refer my tutorial post on making baby leg warmers if you want some of your own.

mary janes for sophie sue

This is a project I've been excited about for a while.  I'm too cheap to buy a pattern for mary janes online so I decided to come up with my own.  I'm really pleased with the final product and I'm excited to try different versions and exercise a little creativity on them. 

I only have 1 shoe of the pair finished but I was so excited that it turned out that I couldn't wait to post it.

here it is:

 

more to come :)

Sophie Dress and Jonah Pants

I'm still here! Since getting my machine fixed, I've completed these 2 projects. I love them both!

1. Sophie Dress
2. Jonah's "Huck Finn" Pants

The Sophie Dress (I'm just calling it that because I made it for Sophie) was a lot of fun and really simple. I used Simplicity 2707 for the majority of the dress. To make it mine, I added the apron. I thought it added a needed "different" dimension. What do you think?

While making this dress, I learned how to put in my very first zipper. Let me just tell you how I feel about zippers, I HATE THEM! From now on, I'll avoid them however I can. Don't laugh--it took me 2--2-- hours to put that stupid thing on.

I think I might add a fabric flower of some sort to the bodice as well.




The Jonah pants were amazingly easy. I used a pattern from a new book that I got called Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. It's an adorable book with some great patterns and projects included. I'll be making many more of her projects in the future. I used the "Huck Finn" pattern in there for his pants. He got jealous when he saw me trying Sophie's dress on her and I told him I'd make him something. He was very excited when they were done and was oh so comfy and cute running around in them all day.

I've done my research

Well, it looks like my sewing machine needs to be re-timed. I've researched it online and unfortunately, it looks WAY too complicated for me to undertake myself. So I've called around to a few shops in the area and people are giving me estimates of anywhere from $49 to $89!!! It's hard to imagine spending that much dough on a machine that only cost about $200. But it has to be done, I miss my machine and have several projects hanging in mid-air.

What's funny is that when I went to explain this all to my dear, sweet husband, he was blown away by how much it costs to repair "a sewing machine??". I just shook my head and calmly explained that fixing a sewing machine is much more specialized that fixing a bike (these are terms he understands as he is a cycling enthusiast).

I told him that he reminds me of my dad. My dad would be utterly flabbergasted at the idea that something like a sewing machine, which he as no interest in whatsoever, could cost so much to fix. However, were it his fishing boat or his favorite rod or reel (or a bike for my husband), it would be worth fixing for any price.

Summary: I'm taking my little machine in for repairs today and they say it should be done in less that a week. I sure hope so...my projects are haunting me and causing me to lose sleep.

My poor sewing machine (white one). Sister Laura let me use her cute Hello Kitty machine to finish a project.

Fabric that is yearning to be turned into something delicious.

What in the...

heck happened to my sewing machine???

I was working on a gift for a friend the other day and the most frustrating thing happened. At one point in my sewing, nearly half of the "item" (I don't want to reveal what it is, as this person might read the blog and I still haven't given her the gift) got shoved under the bobbin casing due to a particularly dull needle. Let's just say I wasn't exactly "gentle" while extracting my work from the machine. I yanked this way and that, up, down, side-ways, all the while trying to lift the needle back out when finally it gave. When I went to re-thread my machine, the stupid needle wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread. I'm pretty sure that if I took this thing to a repair shop, it would likely cost more than the machine itself. So I got out my tools and started dissecting the thing.

I think I've found the problem: the timing seems to be off. Does anyone know how to fix this? I've looked online and have found a few links that might help but boy, I'm not excited to fix it. Dang.

Fabric Flowers

My dear sister got me started on these. She found this link and started making some adorable versions of this cloth flower. I decided to try my hand at it and they're so easy! They're a great alternative to the typical flowers you find on head bands and barrettes these days.

Here is my version:


And here is one that I created by winding up some cute fabric, just twisting and turning it as I went. There really was no rhyme or reason to it. I sewed it as I went along to keep it in place. I love the vintage look it has. Then I added a red button for the center. I'm definitely going to be making more of these. I think they'll be adorable for some shoes or hairbands or clothes, etc:

Do any of you have ideas for other kinds of flowers? I'd love to hear them!!!