dresses for a princess

One of the blogs I read, Cut To Pieces started a 'pretty princess sew along' in January.  

She used a simple peasant style dress - Simplicity 2377 and with fabric and trim made princess dresses. One pattern, lots of dresses.  But every day princess dresses that little girls could pull on all by themselves.  That were washable!  I loved them.  She did Alice in Wonderland, Rapunzel, and Minnie Mouse.   

I have a niece turning 3 this summer, so I decided she needed a few dresses.  I made Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Rapunzel, and Cinderella.

They went together really fast. The hardest part was choosing the fabrics. To do that, I took my 'little people princesses' to the fabric store and used them to decide on fabric and trim.  I do love that Hobby Lobby has their ribbon on sale for1/2 off every other week.

The ribbon on the bottom of  Aurora's dress is made from the sleeve fabric and my bias tape maker.  The sleeves on Rapunzel's dress are two different fabrics sewn in stripes.  Cinerella's hip-poof things are a half circle that took 3 tries to get right.  I did put a ribbon in the back neckline so that K could tell front from back - but I really don't think she cares. :)  They sew up really fast - 1-2 evenings of sewing will finish a dress including all of the trim..  

They don't scream 'I'm a princess dress' ... but K knew what each one was.  I brought them with me in June when I went to visit my sister and her kids.  (C. got origami paper and a book, A got to make a skirt all by herself - so they weren't left out.)  K wore the 3 dresses in rotation (one dress in the morning, another after quiet time), so we decided she needed a couple more.  Off to the fabric store and we had fabric for Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Minne Mouse.

I think Minne Mouse and Rapunzel are my favorites ... but I really like them all.    

I made one more for K for her birthday - Snow White.  The sleeves took two attempts and the ribbon took 3 ... but it still sewed up reasonably fast.  But with a broken camera ... I'll have to wait and get a picture of it later.

Update: K was kind enough to pose for 'first day of school' pictures with her siblings.  Isn't it cute!

pattern: Simplicity 2377

fabric: various from JoAnn's and stash with ribbon from Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's.

Thanks to 'Cut to Pieces' for coming up with the idea and writing the tutorials!

Quilt for G

In March, my sister had her forth baby - G. She's adorable and she needed a quilt. My sister didn't peak, so G. being a girl was a surprise and I was unprepared with a pattern. I love pinwheel patterns, so my sister and I spent some time on Pinterest trying to find what we were looking for.  We found several we liked, but I decided that I liked the 'dilly dally' pattern by Thimble Blossom with sashing between the squares the best. 

Off to the fabric store to figure out what colors.  I wanted it girly - but not too girly - with lots of colors.  I found this fabric - 'diddly dot' by Michael Miller in orchid.  It's got bright colors, girl colors, and I liked the green in it. 



The hard part was now finding fabric that matched the dots.  Armed with my 'Kona cotton color card', I sat in the driveway and tried to find matches.  Then I hit up the local quilt shops that had 'Moda Bella solids' to see what they had.  I decided on:

Peony (Bella)
Petal (Kona)
Peacock (Bella)
Aqua (Bella)
Amethyst (Kona)
Thistle  (Kona)
Cactus (Kona Solid)
Key Lime (yet a different brand of quilt fabric that I can't remember)
with Coal (Kona) for sashing.


I was a little worried about the Key Lime - but my idea was to have the colors in the 'diddly dot' fabric plus a lighter version (like the pink in the fabric).  (Note: when your gut tells you it's not right, don't keep on going.   But I generally don't listen to that voice until later.)

I drew up the pattern with Google Sketch-up.  My first time using it and it was a bit of a learning curve.  I'll definitely use it again.

I cut 5 inch squares and paired them up with white Kona cotton and sewed around the edges to create half square triangles

Those turned into 5" pinwheels.

I used a 2" square of white and sewed it diagonally across each corner.  I loved the way they turned out, but this step was a lot of work.  Sew, open seams, fold back fabric out of the way, trim _just_ the right layers, and iron.  But they turned out great.

I saw a paper pieced alphabet pattern on Pinterest by 'from blank pages ...' and decided this quilt was a great excuse to buy it.  I enlarged the pattern so that the letters were about 4" tall.  The piecing was a bit fiddly, but it wasn't bad.  It helps that I adore how they turned out.

I laid it out one Thursday night with 1" sashing - after playing 'sodoku' to determine that every row and column only had all 8 colors - and took pictures.  I loved it.  But looking down from the balcony, I realized that they 'Key Lime' fabric blended way too much into the background.

I wanted to take this quilt - finished - with me when I was visiting my sister in June and I was running out of time.  I had exactly 1 week and it still needed to be put together and quilted.  But I really didn't like the 'key lime' color in this quilt.  I decided to sleep on it.

(Like my 'design wall'.  Its a vinyl-ish table cloth from Walmart on the floor.  The fabric sticks to the backing!)

I didn't like it any better in the morning.  The 'Cactus' color is a left over from C's quilt, so I dug through the fabric left overs to see if there was another color that would work.  I found 'Lime' (Kona cotton) and laid it out.  I had to get over the fact that I wasn't using the colors from the back of the quilt plus a lighter shade (I'm an engineer, I like patterns.)  But it worked.  I liked the contrast and it still worked great with the 'Cactus'.  It worked really well.  Friday night I made 9 more blocks and laid them out.  It made a huge difference.

I pieced the top together over a long Saturday of sewing.  I'm always amazed at how long it takes to sew the top together once blocks are done.  I suppose that sashing doesn't speed up the process. :)

I made the quilt sandwich Sunday and started quilting Monday night.  (The day job occasionally gets in the way!).  I quilted the sashing in one night and then had to figure out what to do with the pinwheel flowers.  I tried several ideas before I decided on sewing 1/8" inside around them.   Two nights and the pinwheels were done.   Thursday was binding and it went into the wash by 10:30pm.  I pulled it of the dryer the next morning and stuffed it in the top of my suitcase and dashed to the airport.

It's the only niece/nephew quilt that isn't hand quilted ... and I'm okay with that.  I think it turned out pretty darn great.

Plus my sister was surprised that I had it finished!  G. looks pretty darn cute on her quilt.  I hope she enjoys it.

Finished size: 45 x 45
Pattern inspired by 'Dilly Dally' by Thimble Blossom
Colors: Peony, Peacock, Aqua (Moda Bella Solids); Petal, Amethyst, Thistle, Lime, Cactus, White, and Coal (Kona Cotton Solid).  Backing: Diddly Dots by Michael Miller.
Quilted with a light grey thread and 2 layers of cotton Pellon batting.

Hearts for T.

Earlier this year, a friend from church asked if I could piece together a quilt top for her daughter T.  T graduated from high school in December and headed off to college with her older sister's quilt.  She thought T needed her own. :)  This is the same pattern as her older daughter's quilt - with different fabrics.  (I completely forgot to write the name of the pattern down ... but I know who it was borrowed from if anyone local wants to try it.)  

This pattern is definitely not to my taste - but it was a good pattern.  The directions were clear, it made sense, and it came together really fast.

I stacked 6 squares of 12" fabric in purple  and 6 of cream.  I traced the pattern on to freezer paper, ironed it on the top fabric, and carefully cut along the lines.  Then just swapped the 6 'heart' pieces with each pile.  Each piece is numbered, and on #1, move the top fabric to the bottom of the stack, on #2 move the top 2 fabrics to the bottom, and continue on.  Now each 'block' has 12 different pieces of fabric.

The pattern does require that you keep track of the pattern piece (easy due to the freezer paper or just looking at the master pattern) and the layers on several pieces.  They recommended stickers for this, but I didn't want to deal with sticky residue on the fabric.  I grabbed my 3/4" circle punch and freezer paper and made freezer paper "stickers".

It took a little over 1 week of only sewing in the evenings to make 40 blocks.

One Saturday to sew the blocks together and add boarders (with mitered corners!).

I had one panicked trip to the fabric store to get a bit more fabric for the back ... but they still had it in stock.  Yea!  (non-quilters buying fabric don't think of pesky details like it taking more than 1 width of fabric for the backing.)

Final size: 61" x 88".

It was sent off to the long arm quilters and I put the binding on it this weekend.  It even has a sweet note from her Mom as the label on the back.

I think it turned out pretty great.  I hope T. loves it.

divided basket

Noodlehead created the coolest pattern for a divided basket.  The divider helps the basket keep it's shape - it is sewed into the sides and bottom.

During one very long week where I watched jobs run on the computer at night, I stared at multiple pictures and blog entries on this basket - and made my own pattern.  This basket is big.  13.5" x 7.5" x 7.5".   But it's also the perfect size for a 'portable diaper changing station' gift. 

The left side is stuffed with diapers.  The right side has a blanket, outfit, Butt Paste, a couple of burp rags, and small package of wipes.   (I told you it's big!)  The outside fabric is a bottom weight fabric I found at JoAnns.  The lining is duck canvas.  Both layers are interfaced.  I love the orange canvas stripes on the handles.

I finished this bag just in time.  I cut it out on Thursday night.  My friend V. came over for sewing help on Friday night.  I was still fusing interfacing and just starting to sew it.  She commented several times that she thought it was really cute.  It was all I could do to make comments like 'I hope it turns out the way I expect'.  She was so excited when I showed up to her baby shower the next morning with this basket.  :) 

Then I had to make two more with some dinosaur fabric I have.

I'm not sure what I'm going to use these for, but they sure are cute.  I'd like to try it again with some quilting weight cotton.  Duck cloth + bottom weight + 2 layers of interfacing gets thick!. 

more drawstring bags

I love these drawstring bags.  I made several back in April and I adore them.  They're the perfect size and I use them all the time.

In November, two of my favorite people had a birthday.  I decided that they needed a drawstring bag.  They are sisters - twins - but oh, so wonderfully different.  It was so hard picking out fabric.  I wanted them to have fabric that matched their beautiful personalities.  (Their Mom told me I got it right.  yea!)

Grey with pink flowers for one.  The lining is a coordinating print with little flowers.

A wild pink/turquoise/lime print for the other, lined with a Kona solid in blue and a hot pink tie.

I didn't quite get them finished in time for their birthday, but it was close!

Stats:  all fabric from JoAnns; 11.5" tall, 8.5" wide, and 4" deep; 1/2 yard of fabric for outer and lining work perfectly.

The almost never finished quilt.

Hello, little blog of mine.  It's been a long time since I've updated.  Not because I stopped sewing - I was just too lazy to post.  :)

My latest finish is also my longest 'work-in-progress'.  I started this quilt a few years ago.  (uh, at least 7 years.  Quite possibly longer.)  I fell in love with it at a quilt store and bought a kit.  It was originally part of a 'mystery quilt'. 

The plan was that this would be the quilt for my bed.  But I would either need really big boarders or more fabric.  The fabric line is called 'gatherings' and in 2007, I was able to find a fat-quarter bundle of it on-line.  But then I needed to find cream fabric that matched.  I couldn't - so I finally settled for something that would work.  I cut enough fabric for 21 more blocks - and put it all in a Rubbermaid bin.

Fast forward to February, 2013.  I pulled out the bin and I'm seriously questioning my tastes.  Uck.  My fabric tastes have changed and my skills have definitely improved.  (Nope, no close-ups of those points are going on the blog.)   But, it's unfinished and I can't bring myself to throw out fabric.  My plan was to work on it for two weeks and see where I got to and evaluate how much more work I wanted to put into it.

At the end of the two weeks, I had 21 more squares finished to add to the existing 20.  I laid it out on the living room floor and had the realization that I needed twenty-two more blocks to add another row of blocks all the way around the quilt.  I was one short.

Nope.  Not doing it.  I'm not sewing one more block for this quilt.    Two throw size quilts would be perfect.

(But, I will be undoing it to fix the one block that has a piece sewn on backwards.)

I have enough fat quarters left over in cream/tan/yellow to piece backings.  Then these lovely quilt tops and backs will be donated.  I'm hoping there is someone out there who will still like these colors and use these quilts.

I'd like to think that I've learned my lesson about finishing my projects in a timely manner.   Let's get real here - it only took me 2 weeks to piece the blocks and then a Saturday afternoon to sew all 40 squares together.  Two weeks.   I could have found 2 weeks 6 years ago.   Or even 5 years ago.

Oh well.  At least I can say my longest work-in-progress quilt is done.  
stats:
fabric moda "gatherings"
size: 60" x 75"
pattern:'The Journey Home'

nest triangle quilt

Around May, I took my very carefully horded 3 charm packs of Tula Pink's nest and turned them into half-square triangles.

I matched them up with 5 inch squares of Kona cotton white and sewed around all 4 edges.  They were each very carefully sprayed with spray starch (both sides) and ironed carefully.  Next they were cut diagonally, corner to corner, into 4 triangles.  Each triangle was opened, carefully ironed - with more spray starch - and then trimmed to 3".  The bias edges of the squares were never a problem - probably due to the 2 bottles of spray starch I used. :)  Here's the drawing I made in publisher to make sure that this would all work out.  (Technically, I could have trimmed to 3 1/8" ... but I wanted a bit more margin.)
 

All that work resulted in this:

That after much agonizing of layouts morphed into:

And evolved into piles of this in July.

I decided to back it in minky and searched for a long time trying to find something that would match.  Blue and aqua weren't quite right.  I even though of matching the 'watermelon pink', but I really didn't want a pink blanket.  I finally found teal minky on fabric.com and it matches close enough.

My first attempt at machine quilting was with the minky, two layers of cotton batting, and then the top.  It didn't seem that heavy or thick, but I could not get a consistent stitch length on my machine - even with the walking foot.  I think the minky fabric was just slick enough that the feed dogs wouldn't grab it.  I sewed about half of the horizontal lines before ripping it all apart and trying again with just one layer of minky.  That went much better, but I had to make sure the quilt was being supported at all times or the stitches would go wonky.   I had all of the horizontal and vertical lines (1/4" on both sides of the seams) and half of the diagonal lines sewn on one long Saturday.  One more evening of sewing finished up the diagonals and then it took a few hours of knotting and finishing the ends off inside of the quilt. Note to self: do not do that much quilting just to rip it out!

For binding, I bought Jade Kona Cotton and Azalea Moda Bella Solid.  They both matched the front pretty well, but the jade wasn't an exact match to the minky.  I decided to put a little sliver of the jade around the quilt and the bind it in the azalea.    I cut the jade at 1.25" wide, thinking I could fold it in half, 1/4 seam allowance, and still be able to see it.  Next time I'll try it at just 1" wide.  The binding is my standard 3" wide folded in half.  And both were cut on the bias.

An evening watching Madagascar 2 and 3 while babysitting and the binding was sewn down.

Here it is.  My Nest Half-Square Triangle quilt:

Here's the back.

I love this quilt. I love the colors, the texture, and the fuzzy back.  My only issue is that this quilt is warm!

Quilt stats:
fabric - Nest by Tula Pink and White Kona Cotton.  Backing is Minky Cuddle 3 in Teal from fabric.com
straighline quilted by me on my Janome
Size: ~50" x 60"

library bag

My nephew C. wants a library card (he's 6).  But to get a library card, he needs a library bag with a pocket.   Enter Oliver + S 'messenger bag' from 'little things to sew'.   It's ranked at 3 out of 4 scissors for difficulty (uh, bias tape!  lots of layers!  curves, lots of layers, and bias tape!)  But even with that, it went together pretty quickly.

Here's the front.  Can you tell that C choose the fabric? 

And the back.  (Don't look too close at the bias tape.  I'm getting better - but I still need more practice.)

The inside is lined with orange Kona cotton.  Yup, C picked that too.  The front expandable pockets have velcro on them.  Perfect for a library card.  There are also pockets on each side.

I changed a few things on this pattern.  There were two sizes for the pattern - kid size and  adult size.  I wanted the bag deep enough to put a few books in, so I used the adult size for the side pieces (3 1/2 inches versus 2 3/4 inches) and adjusted the length.   The back and front flap are all one piece, so I cut it in half  because of the directional fabric.  (It would not be good to have Star Wars characters upside down.)  I also lengthened the front flap with the hope that it would stay down since there isn't a fastener. I think it works perfectly.

The bag final dimensions are approximately 7 1/2" tall  x 10 " wide  x 3 1/2" deep. 

Since both of the fabrics are 'quilting cotton' weight, I lined them with decor bond.  It works great.  I also lined the bag with 'Duck Cloth' as recommended by the pattern.  It really helps to give the bag body and shape.  The only place I wish I had cut it down was on the strap.  By the time you fold the strap in, it was 4 layers of fabric and 4 layers of duck cloth.  That's do-able.  But the 8 layers of fabric and 8 layers of duck cloth where the strap pieces are folded in half was not fun.  Broken needle and hand cranking the sewing machine.  Ugh.  I'm hoping that I got enough stitching in them that they will stay put.  If I did it again, I'd cut the duck cloth for the straps at 1/2 of the width, resulting in 2 layers once it's folded.

And here's a shot of what it was like to sew around the bag.  I've got to remember to buy some 'binder clips' to use instead of pins for situations like this.  I bent most of the pins and ended up throwing them away.

The pattern consists of 9 pieces and two additional rectangles to cut out.  Plan to spend a couple hours cutting - outside, inside, duck cloth lining, interfacing for outside and inside.

It also requires a strap adjuster and rectangle slide.  I ordered mine off of Etsy.  The first order came quickly and then I realized that 2" hardware was not the right size.  I then ordered 1 1/2" wide hardware  - waiting very impatiently until it arrived and I could finish sewing.

C is delighted with his bag and he is now the proud owner of a library card.  It was definitely worth it.  I might even try the larger size next time.

up, up, and away

A few years ago (3 or maybe it was 4) I decided to make 'superhero' capes for my nieces and nephews for Christmas.  I found a tutorial from 'puking pastillies /now 'georgia leigh' here.  I also found a web site that sold custom capes - 'plum pear apple'.  I liked them - but I didn't like the idea of using felt.  I wanted these capes to be washable and durable.  So I looked at the instructions/pictures and drew my own pattern. [update: I just found a another pattern for capes on pinterest that would also work.]

The first set I made were 'superheroes'.  I found logos on-line, traced the mirror image onto heat-n-bond lite, ironed it on fabric, cut them out, ironed them on the cape, and worked on my zig-zag skills while stitching around all of them.

I made Batman/Mr Incredible and Superman/Flash. (sorry - crappy indoor lighting at night.)

They were fun ... but I just didn't see my nieces liking the superhero capes.  But 'initial' capes would work.
 

So I made capes with their initial on the back and lined with fun fabric.  4 capes were made and sent off for Christmas  (without taking any pictures).  3 more capes were made and given to a wonderful friend's kids and a cousin as a sibling gift when her youngest was born.  (without taking any pictures).     I learned that my nephew C. was into superheroes, so I packed up my set of superhero capes and sent them to live with him.  At least I took pictures of them before they were mailed.  I hear 'Batman' goes to the grocery store, the library, Wal-mart ... pretty much everywhere.  Last year, C told me that his little sister needed a cape of her own for when they played together.  K got a cape for her 1st birthday.  (and some books because I didn't think she really cared if she had a cape.)   3 more were made for nieces and nephews. (without taking pictures)  2 were made for another friend's kids as a 'welcome the new baby' gift.   2 more were made for yet another friend's kids as a 'yea the new baby is here' gift.   I probably made a few more that I've forgotten about  ... and I still don't have pictures.  (uh, notice a trend here?) 

So this time - while making 2 more for a friend's kids as a "just because you're cute" gift, I finally took pictures.  



 Just a simple cape - but it's the project I make the most of.

baby blankets times two

Way back in August my friend's twin daughters had a 'virtual baby shower' with family and friends.  One was due in August with a girl, the other due in November with a boy.  I was a few weeks late, but I wanted to make and send something to them.

I had bookmarked two different 'self binding receiving blankets' (everyday mom version, piece n quilt version) and this was the opportunity to make them.  I pulled out a very boy 'dog' print from my stash and found the perfect blue flannel with brown and white dots for the back.

My first try was a colossal failure.  Both are very straight forward tutorials, but I was very confused on how to mark the corners, what seam to sew, and what to cut.  No, that's not quite right.  I was convinced I knew exactly what I was doing, marked the corners, trimmed them, turned it right side out - and the corners were very, very wrong.   I had placed my ruler on the wrong edge and drawn my sewing line in the very, very wrong place.  (Note to self - line the ruler up on the folded edge.  And don't trim corners until you turn it right side out and check it.)  There was no way to 'patch' in fabric to fix it.  Luckily JoAnns still had some more dot fabric, so I took it apart and tried again.  (On the positive side, I now have blue dot fabric to make burp cloths with.)

I think they turned out great - and I'll make them again. The rule of thumb for the fabric is that the back fabric needs to be 10" wider and longer than the front piece.  I think they're just a bit fancier than two pieces of flannel sewed together and it's not hard to do at all.  Just don't trim the corners until you are positive you sewed the right line!