oh mamas-- more flowers!

I've been LOVING the flowers we made at MT the other day. Although they are glued flowers, I've been sewing some others and also sewing some of the glued ones together for projects! I have roses all over my house!

But, check out this RING you can make from one of the flowers!

AND, here is a photo of the necklace that I made my mom with the ones from MT. YEAH!


Speaking of great gift ideas, I NEED to try this adorable gathered clutch. Love it! What are you hoping to work on?

Goodies and grab bags

This craft doesn't involve any sewing.... but COULD! How adorable are these goodie "bags"? I'd like to make these next Halloween or think about making them appropriate for other holidays as well.

And speaking of goodie bags, I thought these grommet grab bags are adorable for kids' party favors. Well, the kind of parties that other people have, but a girl can always dream. If only I didn't sew at the 11th hour, I would do things like this! Grommets just remind me of a simpler time. Ahhhhh. Note to self: learn to use grommets in my sewing.

Happy Halloween!

Oh my!

Days like today, I am overwhelmed with my love of sewing. This buttercup bag makes me so happy.

Question for you all, though: Is the fabric a summer fabric? Does it shout a season to you?

Antique linens

I was telling some of you about this idea to use some antique linens that don't quite fit any of my tables. I love the idea of actually having a piece that I would use instead of a drawer full of linens that I think about using. Now I have an excuse to search thrift stores and antique shops for some vintage sheets to add to the runner to remind me of my grandmothers. And then I'll add Dave's grandma's linens as well. Hold me to this project, please! For now, I'm posting this upcycled table runner here and can add it to my "to do" list for the river.

Bags, bags, bags

Me and bags... can't dream about them enough! But alas, another summer is half gone and I haven't been sewing. So, I'm probably going to start posting again to help get me inspired.

I love these little first aid bags for diaper bags or backpacks at Busch Gardens. Why so specific there? Well, we had an incident on our last amusement park trip and see, Logan doesn't like just ANY bandaid-- it has to be one he has picked out. Familiar? Oh, and my nephew needs to carry an epipen, so I like those, too.

Perhaps I will just buy them instead of adding them to my ever growing list for sewing, but am passing on Pillow Sew Cute's creative Etsy shop for us to ooohhh and ahhhh.

Tracie's Tent

From Tracie: Hey girls!!! just finished this.....balled it up a year ago and finally put the time into fixing it. kids have already spent hours in there. i have the pattern if anyone wants it....needs ginormous tweaking!!

Summertime project?

I recently saw that Downey supports a program called Quilts for Kids in hospitals. The kit and fabric is free, you provide the batting, and then the return shipping to send it back. I have not yet wanted to tackle a quilt project, but I think this is a great way to learn and to help bring some joy to a kid in a hospital.

I am going to request a kit, even though I doubt I'll get to this anytime soon. However, the site suggests saving $$ on shipping by ordering your friends' kits. So... anyone else interested in doing this with me? Let me know and I'll order a few kits.

Yes, another bag!

Add another bag to my to-do list, but this one is super cute!! Made-by-Rae wrote a great tutorial that you can download for free from her site. Woo-hoo!

Anyone want to sew soon?

Chubby Chicks

Tracie and I took an applique class and I wanted to show you the final products. Tracie had the brilliant idea to use it on a burp cloth, so I followed her and turned mine into the same. The class was worthwhile in terms of technique. I'm hoping to type my notes up, so let me know if you are interested.

The chubby chicks were from class, but Tracie also made a cute tag blanket and a turtle applique burp cloth using cardboard to trace the patterns. Love them!

Scrap quilt!

I love this idea to use up scraps and to make a low-key quilt. Seems like something that would come together pretty quickly! Thanks to sewmamasew for highlighting it!

Another Monster Idea

I am on a posting kick... but I I saw this bag and thought-- that is another great thing to do with monsters! Perhaps for a kid who may not want a stuffed animal? But with some felt, how fun would it be to sew a monster on a tote bag? I'd like to find out.

Nightie for us ladies

Even though I didn't finish my shirt from last summer, I love the idea of sewing for ME sometimes :) And I love this little nightie posted on Sew Mama Sew. Thought I'd share this tutorial and post it so I can find it again!

Monsters for Christmas

Back in February 09, I posted a link asking when we were making monsters. Well, in July I had Logan and his cousins on my side all draw monsters. They quickly forgot, but I didn't... I just procrastinated! The week before Christmas (and unfortunately even a little on Christmas day), I was busy sewing away to make their drawings turn into little pillows.

I LOVED this project! Felt may be my new medium. And, it is actually a little more fun to do the young kids' monsters and try to imagine what their 2 or 3-year old scribbles could be! The older kids' monsters got a little detailed which was HARD, but still really satisfying at the end.

Few things I learned--
-Don't let anything get too narrow if you are trying to stuff it. Even if the drawing of an arm is really narrow, save yourself the trouble and make it wider.
-It also helped me to make each arm and leg first, add extra length that can be hidden inside the body, sew on 3 sides, stuff it and then sew it onto the back of the monster-- closing it off so the stuffing was inside and done.
-I used clear embroidery thread which broke a lot and was hard to see. I am going to look for clear regular thread and I hope the extra weight will be easier to work with!

I'd love to help anyone who might try to make these! Tracie looked at my nephew Evan's drawing and pointed out what looked like a horn. So it may help to have another eye. My oldest nephews loved them so much and sat down right away to draw monsters for me to make them NEXT year for Christmas. You should see the details on the new ones-- yikes! I also made little "sleeping bags" where I could laminate and attach the original drawing b/c I think THAT is what makes this little stuffed animal so special.

Long post, but it's been a LONG time since any of us have posted! Enjoy the photos! Original link to instructions on the monsters.