GeorgiaBE....the crafty side

Mini Owls

2012-01-30T09:54:00.000-08:00

I threw another sew crazy birthday party this month.

The kids all got faeries, bags, bean bags and owls...it was a lot of sewing and stuffing but well worth all the effort!

Missy T had a blast and so did her friends!

Today I'm sharing the mini owls:

Aren't they cute! I'm thinking these are small enough to attach to headbands or barrettes...hmmmm I feel another crafty project coming on!

check out some of the linky parties I've linked to this week!

Hostess Gift

2012-01-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays so many projects were started and completed! I can’t wait to share them with you all!

This adorable little apron was given to a new friend as a hostess gift. It was so much fun to make and very well received. I’m so glad she liked it!

The pattern comes from this book:

I added the pocket….somehow an apron isn’t an apron without a pocket.

What I learned from this project is to double check all my patterned fabrics! The Santa’s were in lines alternating right side up and upside down—something I didn’t realize until the apron was complete!

Still, the pattern is a keeper—simple and quick to put together and fun to wear.

Check out the great linky parties I participate in!

Gathered sleeves

2012-01-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

I've been playing with gathered sleeves lately. Just a bit of puff on the shoulder—not the exaggerated puff I seem to be seeing everywhere!

My girlies love a bit of frill or puff at their shoulders, but I’m calling these gathered sleeves because while they have a bit of puff shape to them I’ve been told by the five year old that they are definitely not puffy. :)

Using Simplicity 9362 as a base, I traced the sleeve onto my handy dandy pattern paper (the giant roll of freezer paper I picked up at Costco six years ago is still being used for this purpose!)

I folder the traced sleeve down the middle and “added” a shadow outline on the top of the sleeve and about three inches down the arm. The new outline is half an inch wider at the armpit and a quarter inch taller at the shoulder.

I ran a basting stitch along the shoulder portion of the sleeve—make sure you leave “tails” of sting on both ends! Hold one end of the sting and pull on the other, gathering the fabric.

Here’s what it looked like on my mannequin—not too much puff.

Just enough to be a perfect addition to a sleeveless costume—or, as my girlies have decided, an everyday top perfect for our PNW winters!

Sleigh bells ring....Gift Card holder

2011-12-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

I was designing my own gift card holder, when I became really strapped for time! Thank goodness I've collected so many embroidery designs over the year because I found the perfect one in my stash!

Is that not adorable!! The design is from Embroidery Garden. I layered gold mesh over white felt and love the end result. This one is going to a teacher, but I think I'll be making a few more to have on hand. I'll probably do the same kind of layering fabric trick, but I think I'll stitch the "Believe" in a darker color....

Unfortunately I only bought enough candy canes this year so that each of my children get two, no extras, no temptations! Now it looks like I'll have to buy some more!

Ribbons on the tree….

2011-12-06T10:15:00.001-08:00

For years I’ve been searching for a tree topper. The last few I just made a huge bow of gold ribbons and placed it on the top, running the same ribbon down the tree and through the branches. This year, my mom brought me the Santa that graced the tops of the trees in my childhood. It was a gift my father gave my mother while they were still dating…more than 40 years ago.

When she pulled it out and gave it to me I felt a rush of happiness….I now get to carry on a little tradition from my childhood with my family.

But it left me with nowhere to secure my ribbon.

Ahhh…a chance to craft.

I found a plastic lid small enough to fit over the tree top, but large enough to accommodate eight strands of ribbon (I used the lid off a can of chips) and cut out the middle.

From the top of the tree to the bottom, plus about three feet is how I measured and cut each ribbon—depending on how much ribbon you want to snake through your tree you could go even longer…and if you find it’s too long you can always trim it. I used 8 strands, tying one end to the lid:

Notice I left a long tail after each knot, this was so I could tie the tails into bows--I added a bit of "filler ribbon" to cover the exposed plastic before I started the bows:

On the top of the tree it went:

I then snaked the ribbon through the branches...in the past I've done the ribbon first, then the ornaments, this year the order got reversed, but it all worked out:

I think Santa is happy with his new home:

Tree complete—CHECK! Onward to other holiday craftiness…or just craftiness in general!

For the Night Owl Crafting Crowd...and anyone else who may be interested!
1. Is all your Christmas shopping done? ALMOST!!!

2. Do you decorate for Christmas and if so when? Right after thanksgiving it starts...and keeps going until the 25th!

3. Do you bake during the Holiday season? Only if I have to!

4. What are your favorite smells of this time of year? Fresh cut pine and cedar

5. What are your favorite things to do during the Holiday Season? Anything with the family!

Halloween wrap up....

2011-11-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

Where did the time go??? I’ve been having so much fun with my mom’s extended visit that I lost track and never did get up the fun Halloween stuff…

Well, you did see the wicked witch stitch out. It now graces my sewing area along side of my witch mascot and witchy duckie.

As for the costumes…

May I present to you the king and queen of hearts:

The dress was a ball to make…unfortunately by the time I was done I realized that I cut it way toooooo long. I had already finished the hem in gold and had no desire to re-do, so it was an extra pair of high heels for me and it still hit the floor!

My younger girls were princesses…one whole made by mom costume and one half made by mom costume! Aren’t the crowns great! A tutorial is coming up this month!

My oldest decided last minute to be the queen of spades…I was in a good mood so I whipped this up for her:

And my male child? He wanted to be Link from legend of Zelda video game fame. I was not enthused. Then he said he wanted to be a tree sprite. Where that came from is beyond me! In the end I just made a green hooded tunic, he called himself Link and all were happy in Georgia land.

I made another wreath using the discarded mesh flowers come in:

And that wraps up the Halloween crafting for this year!

The Wicked Witch...

2011-10-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just feel like the wicked witch...

Living with 4 little monsters....

OK--they really aren't monsters...but I loved the idea of this little Halloween decoration that I just couldn't help myself!

I embroidered the saying on orange felt last year, then stashed it away and forgot all about it! Today when I opened the crate of Halloween fabric I ran out to Micheal's and found a frame in their clearance section that worked!

I think I'll remove the glass...and maybe add a couple of plastic spiders and a spider web or two in the corners...maybe for next year.

For this year--project completed!

Anti-Procrastination...not so much!

2011-10-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well…I intended to join my friend Aimee in her 31 Days of Anti-Procrastination…I thought it was such a good idea, and I’ve put off so much to be “done another day”…but I procrastinated too much and it just didn’t happen.

I’m really happy to see at least one of my friends getting their “to do” list done!

Me, well not so good on the “to do” anything lately. My craft room is a mess (to be fair, it’s ALWAYS a mess). My creative spark has gone into overdrive, but only in my mind I have yet to start, complete, try any of the ideas I’ve come up with lately.

That being said, I did tackle the monster job of my closet! I lost about 35 pounds this year (added to the 30 or so I lost last year—let’s hear a big WHOOHOO!) and my fall/winter clothes needed to be tried on.

The resulting pile:

All the clothes in my closet which are too big. All the clothes which will leave my house or be repurposed in some way, shape or form.

While I am thrilled to rid myself of all this clothing which is too big and frumpy on me, I am a bit sad about a few pieces.

Like this blouse—which I love! I have it in black and brown dots on white. I’m going to deconstruct it and resize it down. Don’t know when, but you can be sure you’ll see posts about it!

And this dress. It’s one of my very, very first sewing projects for myself. I now hate how it looks on me, but I still love the fabric so I think it’s going to be lining in my new bag (stay tuned!)

Now get ready to laugh: did we all have a dress like this in our closets in the 80s?

It was always too big and frumpy on me, but I loved the color and the fabric, and heck if it’s survived in my closet this long it is definitely going to be reworked! I’m thinking a long maxi skirt for my oldest daughter and maybe a couple of fuller twirlly skirts for my two youngest girls.

As for the rest of the pile…most will get donated, some will be cut up and put into the fabric stash and a few pieces will just get thrown out.

Now the clothing in my closet fits, but as soon as a piece is too big it’ll go out so I never have to deal with a task like this again!

Patching Jeans

2011-10-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

I get so sick of patching jeans. Probably why I’ve left them in the mend pile for so long….long enough for my kids to outgrow them and long enough for my husband to assign himself a new pair of “work” jeans.

BUT, now I have a system that seems to work so much better than my old way of patching. Instead of trying to cover the hole with the smallest patch possible I’m using the biggest piece of scrap I have!

Mr.G's work jeans--one of the smaller holes

Outside of jeans

Inside of Jeans

Notice the inside of the jean? I just used a zig zag stitch all the way across—almost like I was quilting. The same stitch over and over and over.

Then I took out the girlie jeans. Hearts anyone?

Jean 1

Jean 2

I straight stitched the hearts on over the hole and then applied the same zig zag method—only I tried to keep the spacing between zig zagged rows even.

Jean1

The jeans turned out so cute! Almost as if the hearts are supposed to be there!

The bonus to patching this way? The fabric feels smooth so kneeling isn’t a problem. The hole seems to be better secured and the stressed fabric around it is less likely to rip.

Patching jeans—problem solved! I now have no more waiting to be patched and if another pair rear their ugly head, I have a quick effective fix for them.

Testing..Testing...Test Bag

2011-09-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

The weather in Seattle has turned to rain once again. After having such a great run of sunshine waking up to grey, cold and rainy day hasn’t put me in the best of moods….

(Sigh)

Not much I can do about the weather but I can share with you all one of my “test” bags.

Test bags in my universe are the sewn up versions of patterns I’m working on. They often get made up out of the first fabric to catch my eye in my ~~never~~ shrinking stash…at times the fabric pick is not at all appropriate for the bag, but it’s a test so I don’t much care (most of the time).

Most times if the sewing is successful I’ll take the bag out for a spin. Did I mention I have 4 kids ages 3 to 11? Any carry all I make has to withstand being packed y the rug rats….which usually means I’m carrying ~~25 pounds worth~~ allot of stuff at any point in time.

For now I’m calling this the BG bag—for ballet/gymnastics. I wanted something big enough to throw my laptop, sticker books, DS, a few books, my sketch pad, pencils and maybe a few magazines….If only I had a camera with me as I write this (while at ballet/gymnastics) and you’d see I succeeded in stuffing it full!

front

back

inside

I also wanted to play with curved pockets…with some success here. Unfortunately I also ended up using fabric types which have very little business being combined together. The solid is a nice bottom weight with no stretch (bought it originally to make pants—didn’t happen!) and the lining is a cotton/stretch shirting fabric—which I have no clue why it is in my stash to begin with! I thought the check was a plain cotton and then I cut it…oops! No choice but to use it then!

The bag doesn’t necessarily fall right, but I am pleased with the overall pattern and function of it. I’ve tweaked the pattern a bit and paid more attention to my fabric choices while cutting and should have a finished bag to share with you all soon!

I’m in the process of editing photos and writing corresponding posts! I hope to have a few fun projects to share with you all in the coming weeks!

Don't know how she does it....

2011-09-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

I like to cook.

I try to feed my kids healthy and nutritious meals.

Sometimes I even attempt to make those meals look fun--happy faces made out of veggies on their plates, flowers, etc.

You know those little things that put a smile on their faces...or make the older ones groan that their mom has a weird sense of humor (but I know they love it anyway!)

For years I've been saying I should cut their sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters...uh, that's what I've been saying...it hasn't happened yet.

I always seem to find lunch times rushed and figure the kids are lucky to get a sandwich slapped together at the last possible minute before we have to rush out the door once again.

So I shake my head and wonder how my friend Ai does it:

Seriously adorable lunches!! You can find more on her blog Tulips and Butter.

Of course on the flip side she always wonders how I have time to craft/sew/garden/blog at all with 4 kids!

Guess we all wonder "how she does it" at some point about our friends, neighbours and random strangers who seem to have it all together!

OK--I've already admitted that lunches in my house are not so creative! BUT I did figure out a way to keep the kids burritos warm....

The burrito sock! Made from scraps of polar fleece, a tube is sewn with one end closed and one end open.

Warm and wrap the burrito in foil, place in sock, fold ends inside and kids have a warm wrap when school lunch time rolls around.

I'm wondering if this would work around thermoses as well--my older kids say that the thermos doesn't keep their soups/pastas/etc. warm enough.

If I get around to trying it I'll let you all know!

Rocks with a message...

2011-09-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

While walking along a beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca this summer thoughts about how transformed I felt floated through my mind as my eyes scanned the sand for treasures to point out to my children. Then I saw this, a perfect smooth rock resting in the sand…

The message was perfect for me at the time and it got me to thinking how fun it would be to leave messages like this, on rocks, in unexpected places. Eventually the message will fade, but maybe it will touch someone’s soul like they touched mine that day.

What kind of message would you write?

Summertime….

2011-09-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

And the living is eeeaaassyyy….

That my friend is what August was like for me! The Seattle area had SUN! WARMTH! My kids (finally at the right age for longer car trips), hubby, mom and I enjoyed what the pacific northwest has to offer in terms of natural wonders and just plain ol’ silliness (like riding the ducks in Seattle—fun!)

The best part—I went down a couple of sizes in clothing! WHOOHOO! Now I get to plan new outfits to sew for ME! I’ve had this pattern (Vogue 1061) sitting pinned to my bulletin board forever! I love the back of the tunic but have some issues with the front…a slight re-design will be in order.

Source: mccalls.com.au via GeorgiaBE on Pinterest

Blogging took a back seat to life, but now with kids back in school and life much more scheduled I’m back in gear to give you all some fun tutorials and share some of the projects I managed to accomplish these past few months.

One of the projects I worked on this summer resulted in my lawn being mowed all summer by one of the high school kids from church. I did a bit of bartering, agreeing to sew him a tunic to wear to the medieval role playing club he belongs to in exchange for yard work. I spent over six hours on the project—from drafting a pattern to putting it all together--and he agreed to work in my yard for my time plus half. I thought it was a fair deal concidering what he could have paid someone to make it! He was thrilled with the end result and I have to say it made me really happy to see him so pleased with my work!

The fabric is prequilted and he designed what he wanted on paper--I just put it all together.

I think this was really all the sewing I did this summer--except for a few repairs and a few fabric related no sew crafts my sewing machines got a well deserved break...now I only hope they don't start acting up on me when I put them to work once more!

Fast and Dirty Pinwheel fun!

2011-08-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

I set my kids to making pinwheels. Just giving them a craft to keep them occupied. Since I couldn’t find my larger brads they had to make do with the small ones…which meant no attaching pin wheels to straws that day.

With 4 kiddos I can’t supervise each one at the same time, so we didn’t measure, didn’t use a template…quick and dirty was the name of this pinwheel making game.

Supplies: scissors, paper, brads

The optional supply is the hole punch, you can easily punch brads threw the paper, but I have this ultra-tiny punch so I put it to use.

We used scrapbook paper (12x12) for the big pin wheels. Gluing two pages wrong sides together gave our pin wheels a bit more character:

Here’s the quick and dirty:

Fold the paper on the diagonal both ways, cut along the diagonal to about a thumb length from the center point,

punch holes (or brads) thought the (same) corners of each “ triangle”,

feed the brads through each hole and through the center point, open the prongs....

TADA! You have a pin wheel!

After making a few Missy M decided we needed to make some smaller ones. For these I just cut the scrapbook paper into quarters and let them go at it. Some of my “fancy” paper scissors came out and the kids made pinwheels with scalloped and zig-zaged edges.

We gave each child who attended the “cake 1” get together a chocolate wrapped in scrapbook paper with a pin wheel on top. I think they turned out cute!

I haven’t been doing much sewing lately, but I do have a number of projects in the works! Right now I’m enjoying the sunshine in the Seattle area, but the next rainy day will find me back in my sewing room working on back to school fashions and a fabulous (I hope) new leather bag!

The Cakes

2011-08-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Missy M’s 11^th birthday last week…with cake number 1:

And cake number 2:

And at some point we’ll have a third cake when we have her school friends over for a party.

I’ll be officially caked out by then.

My mom is with us this summer and it's been great! She made both cakes. the first was a quick, recipe right out of her head kind of cake....and it was really good!

For me to replicate cake 1, I probably wouldn't go from scratch like she did. I'm not that talented in the kitchen! Instead I'd...

buy a pre made angle food cake
rip it apart into tiny chunks
slice up some strawberries
mix it all together with some (pre made) vanilla pudding
Press it into a mold (in my case just a 13x9 glass Pyrex pan) and leave it overnight in the fridge
The next day, flip it out of the mold onto a plate/cutting board/cake board and whip up some heavy whipping cream to frost
Decorate with strawberries and refrigerate until party time.

Lucky for Missy M that I wasn't making it.

Cake 2 came from my McCall's cooking school binder of recipes...no longer published but if you can get your hands on one I strongly recommended it! I've never has a recipe go wrong and everything I've ever made has turned out perfectly!

Now I've got to figure out the next cake and the details of her party...and if I figure it out soon I can get out of baking that cake too!

Hula Hoop Weaving

2011-07-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Browsing though Pintrest I found a link to hula hoop weaving--fun! But I just donated a bunch of t-shirts and didn't feel like cutting up my knits to try this out....

Which brings me to my big roll of cow fabric. I picked it up for free a few years back, someone (or some company) cut about 4 inches off the edge of a few million yards of fabric. I kid you not! There's a whole lot of this (I have 2 spools full plus a couple dozen rolls of it hanging around). It's perfect for this project!

hoop, fabric, scissors--all you need to get started!

I started by cutting strips long enough to go from one side of the hoop to the other then just tied them around the hoop:

OOPS! I realized needed an ODD number of spokes...I ended up cutting a strip in half, tying it to the middle and then to the hoop:

We have a couple of different sized hoops, so all the kids got to do one...over under over under was the mantra of the day:

Don't forget to pull it in tight! Wouldn't a small weave like this make a nice rossette?

Not too tight...or you end up with a basket as my oldest discovered. Which is kind of cool too.

The kids had fun, I had fun, lots of cow fabric got used up and I thought about a couple more crafts to do with the kiddos using this type of circle weaving technique.

Can't ask for much more than that!

How I Use Button Hole Elastic

2011-07-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Button hole elastic, greatest invention ever! (or pretty dang close to it!)

If you’ve purchased kids clothing in the past few years you may be familiar with the adjustable elastic found in many of the waist bands. Maternity clothes? It’s used there too—I assume it still is. It is elastic that has button holes woven through the middle for the whole length of the elastic.

For me: a great discovery! I have the skinniest boy ever (go ahead; dispute this—I’ll still claim the kid has too many ribs showing). Lucky child got blessed with a really fast metabolism, and pants that don’t fit. Even the ultra-slims are too big around the waist.

Now I have a fix for that!

I’m showcasing a pair of jeans which are just a bit too big for Mr.A (they don’t stay up with a belt, so this is my last ditch effort to find a fix—I know my trusty button-hole will work!)

You’ll need two buttons and a length of button hole elastic…and the usual basics: scissors, needle & thread and something to thread the elastic through the waist (I use a safety pin).

First find the inner side seams of the jeans. Carefully cut a slit in the inside layer of the waistband 2.5 to 3 inches from the seam, towards the front of the jeans. Repeat on the other side

You have the option of hand sewing a blanket stitch around the opening you just cut. For kids clothing I don’t do this anymore…actually anything which will be out grown or I’ll shrink out of quickly I don’t bother. Your cut should look something like this:

I do a quick measure of elastic, which I cut about the same length as the length between the slits.

Sew each button on the inside in front of the waist band (I like to place the button about an inch away from the slits), then thread the elastic through (I use a large safety pin for this).

Look! Pants that stay up!

I use the same technique on jeans which are a bit too loose on me, just so I can wear them a bit longer until I get in the next size down comfortably. :)

If you decide to use button hole elastic when sewing from scratch, make sure the waistband is wide enough for the elastic to go through, and use your sewing machine to sew buttonholes on the inside sides of the waistband. This is a great way to be sure a handmade item of clothing “fits” around a waist—especially when that item is a gift!

Duckie Earings

2011-07-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for duckies, of the rubber variety. So I just had to make earrings out of these beads:

Are they not adorable?? Glass duckie beads--perfect summer fun earrings!

The day I made them we were working on putting up our pool--a yearly task that's made us consider more than once to put in a permanent one! When I pulled out our duckie water thermometer I couldn't help but take these:

Notice the crazy temp: 103F? Really? No, it's the pacific north west, I've yet to see it that hot! The thermometer was sitting in a dark plastic box, and we did have a sunny day (high 70s).

In the end I parted with these duckie earrings--we gave them to a friend along with these:

I do hope she liked them! Now I'm off to make a pair or me and enjoy the Seattle sun shine!

4th of July Style!

2011-07-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Back in the days before blogging I think I made a million little girl dresses.

OK, maybe just half a million.

The point is I made so many, I've forgotten what I stashed away for my two youngest girls. So I was thrilled when I pulled this out just in time for the 4th of July!

The dress was made for a heart themed contest...but being me I sent in my entry last minute and it didn't make it in time. Ah well.

The hearts are all paper pierced with patriotic fabrics, each one a bit different:

Check out the lining:

And the top pocket:

I had such a fun time making this dress! And it will be worn by my younger girls for at least the next 4 years (it's a bit big on the 5 yr old right now, and the 3yr old has a couple of years before it will fit her)....now to find out what other treasures I've stashed away...

Have a Happy 4th everyone!!

Teacher Appreciation 2011

2011-06-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

There were a lot of these made:

Which got braided into these:

I tried my hand at these:

And learned that my hot glue turns yellow when dried…ah well:

All of the above to make these:

I LOVE these bags! I can only hope that the teachers loved them as much as I do!

The pattern didn’t turn out exactly like I envisioned it; it needs a bit more tweaking before I share it with everyone—but the shape and overall size turned out great.

The inside only ended up with one pocket:

In the next version I may add a bit more in terms of pocket spaces…still a work in progress.

I had such a great time working on this pattern and all these bags! I’m planning a version for myself as well…and am thinking I need to start naming my patterns. Right now they are filed under: “teacher (insert year)”—not much fun and not easy to remember which one is which…

Overall, I’m glad I tried my hand at pattern making again—I learned a lot about drafting patterns for last year’s bags (here and here) and learned even more form this years (preschool teacher wristlets and totes)!

I hope all our teachers are enjoying their new bags! Summer vacation officially starts today!

WooHOO!

Laundry Bag

2011-06-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

I lived at home during my post secondary education years. There were 3 great universities within 30 minutes of my parents house so it made sense to live at home and save some cash.

Even though I never experienced dorm life, I remember the one complaint all my friends had was laundry.

Where to stash it, when to do it, how to do it… Strangely enough a lot of conversations centered around laundry and the laundry mat (and the cute guys who frequented the laundry mat—MissyM, you can erase that last sentence from your memory!)

I wasn’t much of a sewer back then, but I do remember making a laundry bag for a friend that held a 50 pound weight for a week and survived (yes there is a long story to go with that, but totally not appropriate for a “family friendly” blog!)

Anyway, back to the present…a friend of ours has boys (twins) heading off to college in September and when I was trying to figure out what to get for them laundry bags popped into my mind.

I’m not sure if these will hold 50 pounds, but I’m pleased with how they turned out.

Notice the mountain of laundry to fold? That could be the real reason laundry bags came to mind! To take pictures I stuffed them with pillows and towels…I really hope no stray sock ended up inside! (if it did--it's clean! and would explain where those stray socks go)

I filled a basket with whatever laundry related items I could find in the travel section of Target…and then added Fabreze, which a friend of mine suggested. After her dorm stories I’m sure she wished the product was available when she was in school!

I didn’t take the best pictures of my process while sewing these up, so I plan to make a “mini” bag to show you all how I put it all together…but that’s another post!

Poke-ball t-shirts

2011-06-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

The party went off without any snags! All week I’ve been receiving reports from my kids on who wore their t-shirt to school!

I guess they like them!

Good--because I won’t be doing this project ever again!

It was a lot of t-shirts, and a bit of trial and error. Here’s how I started:

Cut out white and red circles—cut again in half

iron on double sided fusible interfacing
fold t-shirt in half down the front

center the half circles

iron, unfold, iron
applique

That was the hard way. I got smart by the third shirt. I ended up cutting all the circles, ironing the “ball” onto double sided fusible interfacing, appliqueing the inner ball THEN ironing it onto the t-shirt and appliqueing the outside.

The technique of folding the t-shirt down the middle helped in centering the pokeballs.

I’m still not a fan of appliqueing on knit…but it won’t stop me from doing it again in the future! There always seems to be a project that calls for knit on knit applique…unfortunately.

Only a few more major sewing project left before the school year ends for my older kids—then it’s on to sewing fun summer clothes for me, the kids, and maybe even Mr.G!

Insanity is...

2011-06-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then label me insane!

I’m working on gift bags for Mr.A’s 9^th birthday and decided to make poke ball t-shirts for the kids.

Appliqué poke balls.

Uh, yeah—insane.

Every time I appliqué on t-shirts I mess up the first one because I don’t use enough stabilizer. EVERY FLIPPIN TIME!!! You would think I’d learn by now.

The good news is: I did prewash the appliqué fabric first…good news because the red turned my white pink:

3 shades of pink--and the red still ran after the 3rd wash!

Needless to say, the red and white quilting cotton didn't get used! I switched to a red and a white knit, prewashed, no running color...but it's knit and...

Bad news, I messed up a t-shirt because I didn’t stabilize…ah well. It got me thinking that there has to be an easier way.

Stitching the poke balls with my embroidery machine didn’t look bad, but I thought they were too small.

Instead I premade these:

I’ll use a double sided iron on and iron them to the t-shirts and then appliqué the outside…process to be blogged about after the party on Saturday…overall, the t-shirts turned out great! After the first two where I put the poke ball upside down (DRAT!!!). My older kids were really sweet about that: "just add a couple lines to the shirt and make it look like it's being thrown!" Two party guests will be getting that explanation!

I’m working on goody bags right now—last count 19 kids. Which means I’ll be making 20 goody bags, because every year I miss someone—even after counting and recounting.

Yeah—insane.

Sunny weather slacker...

2011-06-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

CRAP! How is it Monday already??? How is it that I left goodie bags for Mr.A’s 9th b-day party till the last minute again??? At least he’s asked for an easy party—Pokémon themed again this year.

No I will not be making these again:

I will be making these again:

But instead of making a necklace, I think I’ll make each child a little draw string bag—large enough to hold their Pokémon cards—with the embroidered Poke balls hanging off the drawstring.

I will try the wristbands if I have time…right now I’m thinking each child coming is going to get a t-shirt. Now I just have to work on whatever design is going on the t-shirt.

Oh--did I mention I have 20 (something) kids coming by? Insane—that’s me.

Or will be me if I put off the task of getting together the materials I need another minute…It must be the sunny weather turning me into a slacker. (It’s Seattle—we don’t see the sun that often!) I haven't even started the 6 end of year teacher gifts for the elementary school teachers! Although I have pulled out the fabric.

I'll have to ignore the sunshine and warm my sewing chair for the next couple of days...is it wrong to want rain again? Just for a bit? Sun can come back on Friday and stay the weekend.

Doodle wristlet

2011-06-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

The doodle experiment #1 is done! (check out how it started here and here)

After making the teacher wristlets I realized I really needed more pockets on the inside…I debated adding a zippered pocket, but in the end just went the simplest route.

I really enjoyed the process…although next time I think I’ll add some color or sparkle or something. For now, simple is good and this little wristlet turned out great!

(Just entered this in the Purse Week Contest! So excited! My first bloggy contest!)