Category: Sewing

It doesn’t look anything like a dress, does it?

I can explain.

My favorite place to shop for cotton fabric, Quilt Generations, was closed the evening I went searching for dress fabric. Due to the late hour, I ended up at Walmart. Not surprisingly, I didn’t find what I was looking for. However, Walmart did have an excellent selection of fleece, so I bought enough to make a duvet cover for Elly’s down comforter. Upon returning home, I realized the fleece fabric wasn’t going to fit in my china cabinet. (Where do you keep your fabric?) Thus, I opted to make the duvet cover first.

But perhaps I should backup for you might be wondering why a baby needs a down comforter in the first place. It’s an easy answer: because Dan and I each have one. Naturally, our daughter needs one as well to keep her warm during the cold winter nights.

Pattern: You don’t need one. A duvet cover is nothing more than 2 pieces of fabric stitched together with buttons at the bottom to keep the comforter from falling out.
Fabric: 1 yard of fleece for the front and 1 for the back or 2 yards total.
Time frame: 10 days though if I didn’t have Elly it would have been completed in just a few hours. Of course, there would be no reason to make a duvet out of such fun fabric if I didn’t have Elly.

Christmas Present #1 is finished
Woo!

And the backside of Elly’s duvet cover matches her new shirt. Perfect.

Pattern: You don’t need one. Besides Taggies has a patent and a copyright on the design so you’ll never find a pattern legally. However, a tag blanket is nothing more than two pieces of fabric sewn together with bits of ribbon sticking out.
Fabric: The green you recognize as being leftover from the quilt. The pink came from a basket cover that I received at my baby shower.

Thankfully, I have yet to offend anybody by my habit of repurposing fabric received as a gift.
Timeframe: approx 2 hours

Most importantly, does Elly like it?

Elly is absolutely my daughter; she loves to run her hands over fabric.

I picked up my new sewing machine from Pottstown Sewing & Crafts over two weeks ago. It’s a Babylock Decorator’s Choice.

Due to Elly demanding most of my time, Saturday was the first time I got to spend some quality time with it. My initial attempts to thread the machine and to sew a simple quilt did not leave me with buyer’s remorse. I felt just the opposite. It made appliqueing the ‘F’ blocks and piecing the blocks together so easy.

I might actually quilt more!

This new machine can sew circles around my old girl. With 174 stitches, it is a source of inspiration. Some of the standard features, such as foot-free sewing, stopping with the needle down, auto threader, easy bobbin assembly and more, made me wonder why I waited so long. Sewing is such a joy on this Babylock.

Already I have a list a mile long of projects I want to tackle on it. Not one has me filled with dread and worry over how my machine will handle it. I am confident in my sewing machine once again, a feeling I haven’t known in many years. Too often in the past, I had opted to perform a sewing technique by hand rather than fight with the sewing machine. Now the sky is the limit to what I can do.

Because a post cannot be complete without a picture of little Elly, here you go.

Elizabeth’s due date came and went on Monday. Here it is Wednesday and Miss E still doesn’t want to come out and play yet.

The finishing of her quilt on Monday did nothing to entice her. It seems that she is quite cozy where she is, thank you very much.

The front:

The back:

Stats:
Design: My own, if you can call it a design. Truly it’s nothing more than a huge 9-patch square enclosed by 2 borders.
Quilting: I used a combination of stitch-in-the-ditch, following lines in the themed fabric, and using cookie cutters to draw designs in the plain fabric squares.
Fabric: The princess squares and the back fabric are from a line called “Once Upon a Time”. I found it in my local quilting store (how spoiled I am to have both a quilting store and a sewing store within walking distance). Additionally the red heart fabric was also found in my local quilting store. The blue fabric was “donated” by Dan; it’s an old work shirt of his that no longer fit. The white fabric was from an old sheet. I just love to incorporate at least one “old” fabric in each of my quilts.
Duration: 1 week from start to finish; I think it’s the fastest I’ve ever completed a quilt. I should bottle this nesting instinct and sell it. I could make a fortune!

Pressured by the fact that my sewing machines will have to packed away for a month and extremely motivated by the nesting instinct, I have been sewing up a storm for Elly.

I recently completed bloomers for Elly

Stats
Pattern: Tessa Bloomers
Designer: Marie-Madeline Studio
Size: 2T – it was the smallest size the pattern came in
Alterations: None that you can see. Since I’m a stickler about seams especially when it comes to children’s clothes, I ignored the pattern’s suggestion to use a serger (mainly because I don’t own a serger) or a zigzag stitch. Instead I used a mock French seam in most areas and double bias tape where the bloomers are gathered.  
Review: Great pattern and cute design!

along with a kimono robe and bonnet to match the pink dress made earlier

Stats:
Pattern: Simplicity 2900, a vintage pattern from 1952
Size: Small, 6 months
Alterations: Mainly I ignored their suggestion on where and how to place the embroidery. The fabric I used was already embroidered so all I had to do was cut the pattern pieces out carefully. Additionally, the lace on the kimono robe hides the fact that I had to piece together the front of the robe in order to get the embroidery on the bottom.

Review: As thrilled as I am with how the dress, kimono robe and bonnet look together, this pattern required too much hand sewing to get an A+ from me.
Note: I have already informed Dan that we will have to take Elly someplace special so she can wear her pretty dress and accessories even if all we do is drive over to her Granny’s house.

and finally a pillow to preserve the cross stitch my MIL made for Dan many years ago.

Stats:
None. This was simply a matter of adding sashing around the cross stitch and a plain piece of fabric to the back.

Next up, I’m thinking of starting a daybed cover for the guest bedroom unless I change my mind and sew something else for Elly. It does seem slightly silly to make a daybed cover when the daybed is going to be used almost daily for a month after Elly is born. Which is to say that the cover is going to spend most of its time folded away in the linen closet whilst the bed is in use.

So, should I sew a Mei Tai sling (noting that I already own the Ergo sling), a robe for Elly, a play outfit for Elly, or curtains for the guest bedroom?

Or should I just pack away my last remaining sewing machine and focus on my knitting projects? I have yet to complete Elly’s baseball blanket or her heirloom shawl.

Decisions. Decisions.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.

As promised, I put together a short tutorial on how to make your very own nursing cover, a.k.a. hooter hider.

It’s a fast and easy project that should take no more than 1 afternoon to complete. Make one for yourself or make one for a baby shower gift. Heck, make two.

Materials required:
1 yard of main fabric in 100% cotton
1 yard of coordinating lining fabric in 100% cotton
2 two-inch-wide D-rings
thread to match fabric

Cutting specifications:
Cut 1 rectangle each from main fabric and lining fabric for the body:
33″ wide by 31″ long

Cut 2 strips from the lining fabric for the 1st strap:
3″ wide by 30″ long

Cut 2 strips from the lining fabric for the 2nd strap:
3″ wide by 13″ long

Seam allowance:
Unless otherwise noted, the seam allowance is 1/2″.

Instructions:
First, with right sides together sew around the edges of the 1st strap, leaving one short end open. Trim corners. Turn right side out. Press. Top stitch 1/4″ from edge around sewn edges.

Next, with right sides together sew the along the long edges of the 2nd strap, leaving both short ends open. Turn right side out. Press. Top stitch 1/4″ along sewn edges. Then, slide on the D-rings. Fold strap in half with the D-rings at one end and raw edges at the other. Stitch 3/4″ underneath the D-rings securing them in place.

Pin right sides of the body together. Then, insert straps into the top of the body 9.5″ from sides. Match up the raw edges of the straps with the raw edges of the body. Make sure the finished edges of the straps are tucked safely into the center of the body, away from where the stitching will occur.

Stitch body together, leaving a 5-inch opening at the bottom to turn right side out. Back-stitch over straps. Trim corners.

Turn body right side out. Press. Top stitch 1/4″ all around the body.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.

My first sewing tutorial was supposed to be Radiator-Friendly curtains, but I got side-tracked. Christmas is right around the corner and I needed to finish the handmade presents I had planned to make months ago. Why I always wait until 2 weeks before the deadline is beyond me.

Just in case you’re scrambling for a quick and easy handmade gift too, I decided to share my instructions on how to make the utensil case shown below. I made this case in one afternoon. Its design is based off of my favorite dp knitting needle case.

Cut 1 rectangle each from main fabric and lining fabric:
Rectangle dimensions: 11 1/4 inches wide by 14 1/4 inches long

Cut 1 rectangle from lining:
Rectangle dimensions: 11 1/4 inches wide by 5 1/8 inches long

On shorter piece of lining, fold top down 1/2 inch. Press. Then fold raw edge into crease. Press. Topstitch close to fold.

With the wrong side of the short piece of lining facing the right side of the longer piece of lining, match up the raw edges on the bottom edge and sides. Stay-stitch using a 3/8 inch seam allowance.

Next, stitch 5 separation seams 1 5/8 inches apart only where the two linings are stacked on top of each other. The first and last separation seam will be 1 5/8 inches plus 5/8 inch away from the edges or 2 1/4 inches from the edges to accomodate for the seam allowance. Hint: mark first with fabric pencil, then stitch.

Cut two (2) 16-inch lengths from a coordinating ribbon. Line up raw edges of ribbon with raw edges of lining, centering it over the top edge of the utensil slots. Stay-stitch the ribbon in place using a 3/8 inch seam allowance.

With right sides together, stitch main fabric to lining using a 5/8 inch seam allowance. Be sure to leave a gap at the top to turn and to tuck the ribbon inside. Trim corners. Turn right side out. Press. Slip stitch opening closed.

Fold raw edges of ribbon twice over and hand tack down with a running stitch.

Insert utensils. Note: If you didn’t have the forethought to purchase the bamboo utensils in advance (they can be found on Amazon), you can always raid your kitchen drawer for a set of utensils.

Fold in half and tie with ribbon.

Of course if you’re really pressed for time (and you still have a week before Christmas or whichever holiday/event you’re celebrating), you can buy the utensils and handmade case from Ponyup on Etsy. Note that her case design is a bit different from mine.

This is a post from Knitted Gem’s blog, authored by Marie Haigh.