Top Bunk Organizer #2 March 2, 2012

When I made my daughter a top bunk organizer, my son immediately wanted one too. I figured I’d just use some fabric from my stash, but last week I discovered Star Wars fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and knew it would make my son’s day to have something made out of it, so I bought a yard. (This project used about half of it.)

This is a quick, less-than-an-hour-from-start-to-finish kind of project. My son is thrilled to have a special spot for his pirate diary, a pen, and a book to read.

I took a few pictures of the front and back, opened up, in case the construction of it seems confusing. For this organizer, I cut two pieces of fabric and a piece of batting 15 1/2″ x 15 1/2″. (You’ll need to measure your own child’s bed railing to determine your dimensions.) I sewed them together, right sides together, turned it right side out and top-stitched the whole thing. Then I wrapped it around the railing to determine where the velcro should go, and I sewed that on. Then I folded up the bottom to make the pockets, and it was done. Let me know if you have any questions about making your own!

New Valance February 29, 2012

First of all, did you know that JoAnn Fabrics (at least the one near us) will take a Hobby Lobby 40% coupon and stack it on top of a JoAnn’s 20% off coupon to give you 60% off one item? This is valuable information, indeed. I had a very successful shopping trip last Saturday with all my JoAnn coupons, plus the Hobby Lobby one a nice customer in the store shared with me!

Also, JoAnn finally has Star Wars fabric. This makes my son extremely happy.

I found some decorator fabric on the clearance aisle that I really liked. It kind of matches my whole house, so I knew I could use it just about anywhere. However, I decided to use it in the room in my house that doesn’t match anything. I made a valance for the window in our school room. I’ve hated the old valance since the day I hung it. The problem is….I chose a very vibrant, alive color for our school room, and since we’ve painted it, I’ve never found a fabric that I like that actually goes with it. So….here’s my new valance.

So…it still doesn’t match the room, right? But you should’ve seen the old valance. This is an improvement.

We probably just need to repaint the walls.

American-Indian Costume #2 February 21, 2012

In a post I wrote about a year and a half ago, I shared about the American-Indian costume I made my daughter. When I made my daughter’s costume, I bought twice as much fabric as I needed, so I figured that, at some point, I’d make another one. A lady at church asked me several months ago if I could use some fringe trim, and I told her I’d love to have it to make my niece, Hanna, a costume. I knew I couldn’t pull it off in time for Christmas, so my new goal was to make it in time for her 4th birthday, which is in late March. I bought some ribbon trim the last time I was in JoAnn’s, and I finished the costume last night.

I’ll add a few feathers that she can tuck into her hair, a bow and arrow set from Amazon, and a book about an American Indian girl. (I’ve got several on reserve at the library, so I haven’t decided which one yet.) Hopefully it will be a fun birthday gift!

An Organizer for the Top Bunk February 19, 2012

When my older daughter moved to the top bunk right after Christmas to accommodate her little sister’s graduation to the “big girl bed,” I knew I wanted to make her something special to make her bed a little more homey. Today I finished making her an organizer that will hold a book, flashlight, her diary and pen, and any other little goodies she’d like to keep in her “upstairs apartment,” as we like to call it.

We’re both really happy with how it turned out. I, basically, sewed a big rectangle with 2 layers of fabric and a layer of batting. Then I sewed a long piece of velcro along the two contact points. Then I folded up the bottom to form the pockets and sewed along the edges and the lines to form the pockets. Voila! And now I have another child who would like one….

Valentine Boxes February 13, 2012

We have a Valentine party tomorrow for our homeschool group, and there is a contest for Valentine boxes. I think my kids did a great job!

My son’s idea was to make a Darth Vader Valentine box. He asked me to search for an idea on the internet, and I had very little faith that there was anything out there, but I was wrong. We found this post, which was our inspiration. The main body for our Darth is a Bisquick box painted black. We used black construction paper for the cape, helmet and belt, I found some HVAC foil tape in the garage, and we used some paint to add button details.

My daughter didn’t have any ideas to begin with, so I suggested she make a monster mouth with an empty kleenex box.  I was thinking of a colorful rectangle with teeth. But she had the idea of gluing a paper plate to the top to make a human face. We found some foam balls in my craft stash and used yarn for hair.

I think both these boxes are adorable. I love to see my kids creating. Unfortunately, they’ve hit a phase where they doubt their abilities, want to scribble things out and start over or quit, etc. They no longer admire their own work but instead compare it to “what Darth Vader really looks like” or “what a real girl looks like.” There’s a great art studio in town that I’ve got my eye on. I’m planning on enrolling the kids next school year and I hope that the inspiring teachers will be able to instill some confidence in my kids, because I think their artwork is wonderful, and I want to see them developing their abilities rather than doubting themselves so much. Despite what I’ve said, the kids did end up being proud of these creations.

We made Valentines too.

Originally, my son was going to draw Yoda for his Valentines, but when he finished his Yoda, he was afraid people would make fun of it, and I thought that was a valid concern, so we found an image online, instead, and he wrote the message himself. I ended up drawing the owl for my daughter because she was discouraged and didn’t think she could draw it herself. So…..the Valentines weren’t as kid-made as I had hoped they would be, but, still, we worked together and made them together. And, to me, that’s what makes these contests and holiday celebrations so special.

P.S. Yes, my daughter misspelled “always,” but I didn’t want to discourage her further, so we’ll just work on that spelling lesson another day.

Update: Daughter ended up winning the box contest for the girls.

My Mom’s Purse February 2, 2012

I gave my mom a handmade purse for Christmas, and I’m just now getting around to blogging about it.

I’ve mentioned before that I took Rae’s free Buttercup Bag pattern and drew my own pattern, based on her design, for a much bigger bag. My mom liked my bag and had told me several months ago that she would love to have a bag with the same size and shape, so I kept that in mind when I was plotting her Christmas gift.

I love the Michael Miller fabric that I found at Hobby Lobby. I’d like to make myself a bag with it. And that big button from JoAnn’s really added a nice touch, too.

I couldn’t have been more pleased with my mom’s response upon receiving her bag. It made my day to see her so excited about something I made for her.

This week I made her a little zippered pouch to coordinate with her purse. It’s going in the mail today, along with Kelsie’s quilt.

So, be looking out for a package, Mom! Hope you and Kelsie like your goodies!

Kelsie’s Quilt January 30, 2012

This week I finished my first free-motion quilt! I learned how to free-motion last week in my sewing class. I practiced during the class, and then I came home and went right to work on this quilt. The teacher advised lots of practice first, but I knew that this quilt would be a great way to practice, and I think it turned out great!

I didn’t use any particular free-motion pattern. I just kind of wandered around, doing swirls and loops.

I like to use sheets for the backs of my quilts, because you just can’t beat the fabric price per yard. I found this cozy Laura Ashley flannel sheet at Ross on sale.I don’t think I could’ve found anything more perfect for this quilt. And the best part is that I have the whole fitted sheet and part of the flat sheet leftover for another project.

I made a matching pillow cover too, out of the flannel backing fabric, so that little Kelsie will have a matching pillow, just her size, to go with her quilt.

I can’t wait to put these in the mail this week. I’ve got something I need to make my mom, to slip in the package, before I mail it, and hopefully I’ll get that done soon!

(By the way, Terrie, I took your fabulous advice and taped the backing to the floor when I was putting all the layers together. Wow! It worked beautifully!)

Simplicity Skirt 2226 January 29, 2012

Back in November one of my favorite sewing bloggers hosted a skirt sew-along. She raved about the easy pattern, and the finished product did look really cute. So, I bought some fabric and the pattern, but I had to wait until after Christmas to make it, because I was busy making Christmas presents.

A few weeks ago I finally made my skirt. I did really like the easy pattern, and I hope to try it again, but my first attempt just didn’t work out.

First of all, I used wool. I did wonder whether wool would be a bad choice for a skirt that has gathers, since wool gathers would add a lot of bulk, but the pattern envelope mentioned wool as one of the recommended fabrics, and I really wanted a winter skirt, so I went for it. It was probably a bad move, because it did create some extra bulk. In the front it doesn’t look too bad, but…..

I measured myself carefully, but, as always, the skirt was going to be too big without some modifications. I wear an 8 in store-bought clothes, and when I measured myself I figured I would need to cut out a size 14 in the pattern. Next time I’ll try a 12 or maybe even a 10. (What am I doing wrong? I used to make everything too small, and now I tend to make everything too big.) Instead of taking off the whole waistband and bringing in the sides, I decided it would be much easier to bring it in at the very back before putting in the zipper. I was able to pinch about 2 inches of fabric, so, allowing for the seam, I took the back in about 1 1/2 extra inches. It seemed like a great solution, and when I tried it on, it fit really comfortably.

But when I went to show it to my husband, he said something along the lines of, “You’ve made a lot of really cool things, Honey, but that’s just not going to work.” He used the word “bulbous” to describe the poofy rear end of the skirt. It was hard for me to see the problem. I kept turning around, looking in the mirror, doubting that it was really that bad. I told my friend about it, and I tried it on for her, and as soon as I walked out of the bathroom and turned around, she burst out laughing and said something along the lines of, “Dan’s right. That’s just awful!”

Even when I look at these pictures (the second one is probably the worst), it doesn’t look all that terrible to me, but I trust my dear husband and my dear friend who won’t let me leave the house looking silly. So, thanks, Dan and Kelley, for keeping me from embarrassing myself. I’ll try this pattern again, probably in the summer with a lighter weight fabric, and two sizes smaller. I’ll be sure to report how it goes!

My New Janome 3160 QDC January 17, 2012

My sweet husband bought me a new sewing machine for Christmas! I was as excited as my 6-year-old self was, 30 years ago, to get a new purple bike called “Dusty Rose.”

My husband and I had been talking about buying me one sometime within the next couple of months, and when he kept pressing me to go to the store and figure out which model I wanted, I did suspect that he might buy it for me for Christmas, but I really wasn’t confident about it.

Here’s my old machine:

My old machine is a basic Singer, which my mother-in-law bought me when my husband and I were engaged. It has been a great machine, and I sewed for many happy hours on it, but the main reason I wanted to upgrade was that I wanted to be able to do free-motion quilting.

Here’s my new machine:

It’s a Janome 3160 QDC. I love this thing! I never knew what I had been missing! Here are some of the things I can do with this machine that I couldn’t do with my other machine:

• needle up/down button (love this!)
• an advanced feed system that keeps me straight, especially when backstitching
• beautiful overlock stitches!!!!!! (I’ve decided that I don’t need a serger after all!)
• the ability to drop the feeds and free-motion quilt with a darning foot
• easy button holes
• stretch stitches for knits
• automatic cutter

One nice thing about buying from a quilt shop is that I get free classes. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about sewing, but in my first class I had a blast and learned a lot about using my machine to its fullest.

If you’re looking at this model, I recommend it. It has most of the features the higher-end machines have, for 1/3 the price. It is a lighter machine, which means it doesn’t have as much heavy metal inside, and anyone will tell you that the more metal inside, the better made it is. That did give me pause before choosing this model; however, this machine has the same warranty as any other Janome machine, and I have enough confidence in the company to feel like this machine will last me for many, many years. After all, I was very happy with my basic Singer for more than 10 years, so I think this Janome is going to suit me just fine for quite a while.

And my Singer still runs like a champ, so I’ve given it to my 8-year-old daughter, who is thrilled. I’m excited about sewing side-by-side with her.

Shirred Knit Scarf January 4, 2012

Ashley from Make It and Love It is one of my favorite sewing bloggers. Her tutorials are well-written and her ideas are spectacular. A few days ago she posted a tutorial on how to make a shirred knit scarf, and I knew I had to do it right away with some knit in my stash. This would be a great project for a beginner, Easy peasy. Thanks again, Ashley!