Ella's Monster Doll Tutorial

For Christmas Ella wanted to make a Monster doll for her cousin, so she took the initiative to figure out to make the doll herself and with very little help from Mama she created an awesome felt doll!  While working on the doll she decided that she wanted to blog about the process, so I snapped pictures as she worked, and today she sat down and wrote about the experience.  I have to say, I was quite proud of my girl when she did this.  She's so creative, and so independent.  I've always let crafting supplies be available for my children from an early age, to encourage their imagination and cultivate their creativity.  I love watching them take an idea and make it happen.  If you have a young one who is into crafts (or monsters) then check out Ella's Monster Doll Tutorial on her blog.  

Sewing Inspiration

 

My Sewing Inspiration & Patterns ::

SouleMama

Bend the Rules Sewing by: Amy Karol

 Oliver + S

Sew Mama Sew

Made-by-Rae

Make it & Love it

My Favorite Places to Find Fabric ::

St. Theresa's Textile Trove

The Fabric Shoppe on Etsy

Sewn Studio

My Favorite FREE Patterns ::

Cloth Napkin Tutorial 

Lazy Days Skirt Pattern

 Diaper Burp Cloth Tutorial

 For more sewing inspiration visit my Sewing Inspiration & Tutorials Pinterest board!

Where do you find sewing inspiration or cool fabrics to work with?  Please share!

Sewing Projects Fall 2012

This fall I spent alot of time with my sewing machine.  It was hard to carve out time to spend sewing, but I'm so glad that I did!  I worked on several projects that I was quite pleased with.

I made ties for my boys (and my nephew) to wear at a wedding (Read all about these awesome ties in this post).

And with the leftover fabric from the ties I made more cloth napkins.  They are SO EASY to make!  I wrote a tutorial for sewing cloth napkins here.

And I made three new skirts for Ella bean.  I use the Lazy Days Skirt pattern, and it's so easy yet so adorable.

I just picked my sewing machine up from Luke's where it was serviced, cleaned & repaired.  I'm so eager to start some more sewing projects!  Next up...Sam's quilt and perhaps another skirt or two.  And I'm determined to learn how to make pajama pants for the kids. 

What kinds of projects are you working on?

Sewing Neck Ties for the Boys

Michael's brother and his fiance Jenny (now his bride) had a grand wedding in September, and I got it into my head that the boys needed to have ties that coordinated with the wedding party.  See, Michael and Ella were in the wedding and were going to be wearing pink accents with their outfits, so I wanted us all to look coordinated for family pictures. 

So I went out and bought yards and yards of pretty pink fabrics.

And I bought a great pattern - Little Guys Ties from Sewn Studio in Oakley.  There are many free tutorials online, but I really liked this one!  It had several different patterns included...ties for babies, ties for boys, ties for dad and even bow ties.  I had to adjust the measurements a bit, because my boys are so short.  If you are making ties, I'd suggest you plan to make a practice one first. 

Making neckties for the boys was so easy!

My first tie...not bad!

The four finished ties, for my three sons and my nephew.

Tada!  The boys matched the groomsmen!

And then I used the extra fabric to make some new cloth napkins.  You can find my super simple tutorial for cloth napkins here.

I cannot wait to make more ties for the boys!  And for Michael too. 

Ella's first sewing class

Ella took her first sewing lesson this past weekend at Sewn Studio in Oakley.  I love love love this store (see this post I wrote about my first visit to the store).  Ella loved this sewing class, and came home with a very cool new pillowcase.  She is already wanting to do more sewing projects now that she's been introduced to a sewing machine.  I should clarify, this was her first class with a sewing machine...she took a hand sewing class earlier this year and loved it.  The class was reasonably priced, and the teachers were patient & knowledgeable.  Ella cannot wait to sign up for another sewing class.  Check out their website, they have classes for children and adults!  Maybe someday I'll find the time to take a class myself. 

the year of the handmade valentines

Nearly every Christmas the kids and I work together to make the Christmas cards that we send to family & friends.  It's a huge undertaking, but it's always fun to work with them and let them get creative.  And each year we have a craft day as a family and make each other valentines.  But for some reason I've always bought the valentines for their classmates at the store.  Until this year.  A few weeks ago they asked me if we could make our own Valenintes to give to their school friends, and so we did.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and all of the cool ideas floating around out there on the interwebz.  Ella chose a valentine to make in which she had to sew, and she loved it.  The boys picked a monster valentine, which forced Mama to buy a new cricut cartridge (no complaints, I love it!).  I thought that making 60+ valentines was going to be a royal pain, but it ended up being fun.  The kids did much of the work themselves, and were so happy to be creating.  I think that perhaps we will make our valentines every year now.  (Hold me to that next year!)

oodles of monsters

working on valentines is a great opportunity for handwriting practice!

the outside of the monster valentine

the inside of the monster valentine

ella's sweetheart valentines

Ella's Embroidery

This week Ella used her new-found sewing skills to learn how to embroider.  I bought this very simple embroidery kit at Sewn Studio in Oakley.  She finished it quite quickly and she was so pleased with herself.  I've always loved embroidery, and want to try my hand at it as well.  Penguin & Fish made this kit, and they have lots of patterns on Etsy, perhaps I need to invest in some more.  I know I have a huge collection of floss in the basement somewhere from the days of friendship bracelets. 

Adorable little hedgehog

ella's holiday skirt

I have not sewn in many months, and I was really missing it.  Even though I hadn't been sewing I had still been shopping, so I have quite a few lovely patterns I've collected with the thought of making them into skirts for Ella.  So this week I dusted off the sewing machine, which is new to me, so I had some re-learning to do (I'm a beginner anyway, so it was quite a task).  I spent two days making a skirt that could probably be made in an hour or two by someone a bit more capable.  I enjoyed every minute of my sewing time...with the boys asking constant technical questions, the baby cuddling on my lap (teething) and Ella by my side doing some handsewing of her own.  And in the end I created a cute little Christmas cupcake skirt for her to wear to our upcoming celebrations and gatherings.  I used the Oliver & S Lazy Day Skirt Pattern, it's free and it's simple! And now I'm itching to make some more skirts...so many cute fabrics ready to go!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Sewn Studio

This week my dear friend Amy Q. and I went to Oakley to visit Sewn Studio.  It was a wonderland of fabric, patterns, kits, supplies and more.  They opened earlier this year, and I cannot believe it took me so long to get there.  They carry all kinds of cute fabrics made by great designers like Amy Butler.  You can read more about this store in Shannan B's post on Family Friendly Cincinnati.  If you live in the Cincinnati area and like to sew, and you are looking for fabulous fabrics that you wouldn't find at the chain stores look no further than Sewn Studio. 

I went a little overboard...fabric for skirts, fabric for gifts, an embroidery kit for Ella and a tie pattern since my boys love ties so much.  And then I came home and sent an email to my husband pleading for a Sewn Studio gift certificate for Christmas.

Now I just need to find the time to dust off the sewing machine.  In the meantime I'll work on my list of sewing projects I'm dreaming about (more on that later).

Do you sew?  Where is your favorite place to find fabric?

simple sewing project ~ sweet baby bibs

I have mentioned this before...I'm a pretty new seamstress.  I can do straight lines, and I have finally taught myself how to thread the machine and change the bobbin.  I could probably become more accomplished at sewing if I put my mind to it, but for now, straight lines are my life.  Well, maybe straight lines with a few curves.  But I learned how to do a few new tricks with my most recent project:  baby bibs! 

I found the pattern in my new favorite sewing book, Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol, from the angry chicken blog.  The book is just marvelous, and it's perfect for a newbie like me.  It has so many easy to learn, and easy to read patterns in it.  I have several more that I am dying to try.  She has so many cool projects in this book..pillows, purses, aprons, blankets and much much more.  It's a great introductory book for someone who is new to sewing.  She gives alot of great advice and instruction.

I made the bibs in neutral colors, so they would make perfect baby gifts for boys or for girls.  I love the banana bib, Ella has a skirt with the same fabric.  I can't remember the exact shop, but I found the banana fabric on etsy.com.

Henry loves the banana bib (and zucchini bread)!  If you are looking for a sweet, thrifty, meaningful, useful gift to give a new baby, consider making a few of these!  Or if you are looking for a perfect gift for the rookie sewer in your life, consider Amy Karol's book.  You can't go wrong with either one.

the napkin project - a cloth napkin tutorial

Disclaimer:  I really have no business posting a sewing tutorial, given that I just learned how to thread the bobbin a few weeks back.  Yet here I am, posting a tutorial. 

I am a newcomer to sewing.  I can't do fancy things with my sewing machine.  I can only sew straight lines, sometimes not even that.  And if my machine starts acting up I throw up my hands in defeat and whine to Michael until he fixes it.  Until a few weeks ago he was also threading the bobbin, threading the needle, replacing the thread, and anything else I needed help with.  All because I was frustrated reading the manual.  I hate reading manuals.  So I decided I needed to learn a few things and get in some more practice time on the sewing machine.  And thus began the napkin project.

Up until the napkin project began our family was using paper towels as napkins at meals (go ahead and rap my knuckles with a ruler).  The waste was really bothering me, and our family is always looking for ways to be more green in our everyday lives.  I decided to take all of the scraps of fabric, remnants, and fat quarters that I had been saving and do something productive with them:  make cloth napkins.  My talented friend Amy has been making cloth napkins, and they are oh so cute, and she made it seem so effortless and easy.  But then again she makes all sewing projects seem effortless, and she knew how to tinker with and fix her machine long before me!  But this time she was right, cloth napkins are pretty easy to make.

So our napkin collection now consists of a hodgepodge of designs that are bright and colorful, and many of them have sentinmental value.  There are napkins made from the same fabric I used to make quilts for the kids (ahem, 2 of the 4 children's quilts, 2 are still in progress), and fabric from skirts I made Ella, or pj's for the boys.  Now I have cleaned out the fabric collection, helped our family be a bit more green & learned a few things about my sewing machine and sewing in general.

While working on these napkins I was able to practice basic sewing techniques which helped me become a more independent seamstress (Michael is sighing in releif as I type this).  I'm not saying I can sew anything intricate now, I'm still doing the straight lines, but I am much more confident in my skills.  I think this is a great beginner sewer project, so I am sharing with you!  

So here it is, the napkin tutorial.  Hopefully it will help some other newbie sewer like myself.  And if you have a good beginner's pattern I could try please share!

The Napkin Project - Cloth Napkin Tutorial

1.  Select Fabric -- this is a great project for remnants, or you could even repurpose fabric: cut up some clothes that just don't fit anymore.

2.  Cut squares to desired size.  Just a note -- you can make these any size, but I made 6 inch squares for the kids & for lunch packing and I made 9 inch squares for dinner. This may seem small, but I figured if we were using the half size paper towels before this project, then we could use 9" napkins.  We have larger cloth napkins for fancy affairs.

Save your scraps!  This is our scrap basket, the kids find all kinds of uses for these bits & pieces, such as: collars for their pets, blankets for their dolls, capes for their action figures, scraps for gluing, and more. 

3.  Place your squares together, right sides facing each other, as shown above.  If you feel the need to pin the fabrics to keep them together then do so now, although the pieces are so small, they don't really need pinning.  Here's where it gets interesting, because I don't know the proper lingo to be using.  Sew the two squares together (wrong side of fabric facing out), leaving a 1.5 inch gap in which to turn the fabric right side out.  Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end to reinforce your seams.  Leave 1/4 inch between the seam and the edge of the fabric.  After you complete the seam (don't forget to leave a hole!) then snip off the four corners and turn the fabric right side out.  I use a crochet hook to help me do this, and to push out the corners (gently).

4.  Iron the napkin. 

5.  Sew a seam along the entire edge of the napkin (1/8 inch), closing the gap.  Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end to reinforce the seam.  

Then have your 3 year old fold and organized the new napkins. 

  

Ta-da!  That's it, you are finished.  Begin again on the next one, and before you know it you will have a whole collection of cloth napkins. 

Please leave a comment below telling me what you think of this tutorial, and share your favorite easy peasy sewing pattern! 

ottie's quilt

a few months back i was asked by sam to make a quilt for his beloved otter. how can i deny him? so despite the fact that i have not yet made sam his own quilt, i went to work on the quilt for ottie (and of course started a quilt for max's sidekick alaska at the same time). this weekend while catching up on some much needed r&r i sat on a big front porch overlooking the licking river and finished up a quilt for an otter. it's a very simple pattern...just four-inch squares sewn together, and then i tied the quilt at the corners of the squares and used store-bought binding (i need to learn how to make my own binding, i've heard it is simple!). this project should have been a weekend project, not a three month project, but that is how things go around here...slow and steady.

happy mother's day!

i hope that all the mother's out there are having their way today. i certainly am! all i wanted was some quality family time today and that's what i got. cuddling with max while we watched the wizard of oz, sewing with sam, reading a book while holding sweet henry, and making strawberry shortcake with ella rose. and all the while my husband is doing sweet things for me, like making breakfast, planting our vegetables for the summer, and baking french bread for dinner. it truly is a perfect sort of day around here.

sewing for the boys

for a year now i have been sewing the cutest little skirts for my princess. the lazy days skirt was a simple starting project for this sewing newbie. i made several skirts...for summer, for halloween, st. patrick's day, easter, and more! but i decided it was time for a project for my boys. i found this super easy (and free!) pattern to make a "car cozie", and made 3 of them in a week! the creator of this pattern will gladly make you a kit if you contact her on etsy (which i did). i think these car cozies are perfect to take along to places where little boys need a quiet distraction (church, restaurants, etc).

there are so many crafters on the world wide web sharing their ideas and creations...it's a wonderful place to explore for new ideas! and when i stumble upon these cool ideas i will in turn share them with my crafting friends!

sew busy

i am slowly teaching myself how to sew with a machine....in the past week i've made three new skirts for ella and a pair of pirate pajama shorts for max

sunday

my fabulous fabric from st. theresa's textile trove (cincinnati)

sam and his legos

michael's curtains

a mid-day snack

legos & sewing

we had the most fabulous sunday yesterday....we stayed in our pajamas all day, except for max, who insisted on wearing pants AND a clip on tie (the casualness of pj day must have bothered him). we spent almost the entire day in the dining room creating masterpieces, and sometimes just relaxing. michael made curtains, i made a surprise baby shower gift (my first attempt in a loooong time at machine sewing) and the kids made wonderful buildings out of legos. ella took a break from all the hard work to have a snack and read a book. and sam just wandered around watching all of the creativity flow.