Lemonade & Polka Dots

Vinyl Project Pouches

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:19:00 +0000

I almost always have more than one sewing/needlework project going on at one time. I also tend to plan projects in advance and then don't want to add the fabric/notions to my general stash. I used to put these "to do" projects in gallon sized ziploc bags, but not anymore my friends! I made these cute project pouches with fabric remnants (stash busting, yay!), fun bright colored zippers, and plastic vinyl. I used a tutorial for reference but didn't strictly follow it. The finished exterior size on these ended up being 9 x 11 inches. I used 14 inch zippers. I cut the vinyl at 12 x 17 inches, which was folded for the top and bottom seams and then sewn on the side seams. The fabric on either side of the zipper I cut at two strips at 14 x 4 inches, then I folded under 1/2 inch on each end and then folded in half so I ended up with two fabric strips measuring 1 and 1/2 inches. It was a quick project to sew up and now my "to do" projects have pretty homes instead of those boring gallon sized bags!

The Doctors (Doctor Who) Cross Stitch

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 17:20:00 +0000

One of my favorite television shows is Doctor Who. I discovered it in 2008 on BBCA, at that time BBCA did not run the shows at the same time they were running in the UK, so they were a little delayed. David Tennant was the current Doctor, the 10th. I watched it off and on over the years never really keeping up but always liking it whenever I happened upon it. In 2013, I got into full on obsessed mode and watched every single episode of the modern series (starting with Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor) in time for their 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. It's been a year since then and I still love the show, even though the days of the 10th Doctor, my favorite, have long since passed. All this obsession has lead me to my new cross stitch, just in case you wondering if all my rambling had a point, The Doctors by Wee Little Stitches.

I plan on stitching one doctor every 3 weeks. I was going to stitch one a month which, including the TARDIS, would take me 14 months but I would like to try and finish it in 2015 so I figured if I do one every 3 weeks that will give me the extra time to get them all done. I'm changing up the layout and I may end up changing up the colors and details a little. I'm starting with the 1st doctor and I've already done his hair. Stitching on linen is a bit of a change for me so I will be stitching a little slower than I'm able to on aida. I love the way finished projects look on linen so much better than aida and I'm happy to be advancing my cross stitching skills.

Story Time Sampler Fabric and Floss

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 18:11:00 +0000

Since I've gotten back into cross stitching one of the pattern companies I really enjoy is The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. They do lots of fun samplers where they reveal the pattern slowly over a few months. They have done a yearly pattern (one part of the pattern every month for a year) for the last few years which I've always been tempted by but never willing to quite take the jump. That all changed this year for 2015. They are doing a Story Time Sampler with twelve literary characters. The sneak peak with a little Alice from Wonderland was enough to do me in! The first part of the pattern comes out on the 15th and I wanted to be ready to go so I had to get my floss and fabric all gathered together.

Isn't it beautiful! The colors almost filled the ring I keep them on and they just laid out so beautifully perfectly on top of the linen (this will be my first cross stitch design on linen.) I really hope I can keep up every month, stitching what I'm sure will be a wonderful design!

Q-Snap Frame Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:19:00 +0000

Q-Snap Frames are a popular alternative to embroidery hoops for cross-stitchers. I had been wanting to try one and so my sister, after trying one and not liking it, gave me hers. I finally tried it while finishing up my Halloween Spooky Sampler (which I neglected to post on here but it's in my Instagram feed) and found I really enjoyed using it. The major problem with Q-Snap frames is the extra fabric around the edges and worrying about it getting dirty. The solution to this is a frame cover or grime guard. I figured since I will be soon be working on a new cross stitch project that now would be a good time to make one. I did a little searching on Pinterest and found a tutorial. Then I whipped one up.

It only took me about 35 minutes to make and the fabric and elastic were stuff I already had on had which is always great! Plus, now my future cross stitch projects will be nice and protected!

Honeycomb Stitch Along - Fabric Selection Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 03:53:00 +0000

One of my 15 Projects goals is to complete my Honeycomb Stitch Along pillow. Well apparently completing it means starting over with a new fabric selection. While I was at JoAnn yesterday, while browsing the fabric selection, I came across some fabrics I really liked. After a little bit, I had pulled a whole matching set of fabrics and then I just had to buy them.

The DMC floss colors are ones I pulled from my stash so they aren't all perfect matches. The numbers are 336, Ecru, 3347, 743, and 3810 for anyone who is interested. I bought plenty of fabric, half yard of each, so I'm sure after I'm done with the Honeycomb Pillow that I'll be able to use it for more throw pillows or whatever else strikes my fancy. I think this will be a good way to get more colors other than green into my front room decor.

15 Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 20:16:00 +0000

I used to be the most crafty one in my family. I was always sewing or making some kind of craft. Ever since we moved into this house (a year and a half ago) I have been so bad about doing crafts. The ones I have done (mostly stuff with my Silhouette Cameo) I don't end up posting about. My sister has replaced me as the most crafty one in my family. She sews, knits, crochets, and so on and so forth. So when she posted about doing 15 Projects in 2015 I thought, wow, I need to do that. So here goes!

01- Honeycomb Stitch Along (started this, need to finish it!)
02- 2015 Story Time Sampler by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery || IN PROGRESS ||
03- Quilts for My Daughters (using the pattern Sea Glass by Talk of the Town)
04- ~~Q-Snap Frame Cover (an easy project that I keep saying I want to do)~~ || DONE! ||
05- The Doctors (Doctor Who) Cross Stitch by Wee Little Stitches || IN PROGRESS ||
06- ~~Vinyl Project Pouches~~ || DONE! ||
07-
08-
09-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-

I feel like 15 projects is going to be really ambitious for me. It will be a miracle if I complete all 15 projects with 3 kids in elementary school plus their activities, going to school myself to get my Bachelor's degree, and all the normal house keeping and life stuff. I really want to try though. I really enjoy doing crafts and sewing and I feel like I need to make it a priority to make it more a part of my life again.

Honeycomb Stitch Along - Fabric Selection

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 17:17:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I was browsing around the internet looking to see if there were any active stitch alongs that I wanted to join, when I ran across the Honeycomb Stitch Along by Echinops and Aster. It's an old stitch along from 2013 but I really loved the design so I decided to make it anyway. I told my sister, Laurel, about it and she decided to join me so I'm still stitching along with someone, yay!

I'm planning on putting it in my front room. Which has a neutral color palette and currently I have a pop of green going on in there. I had a leftover piece of green, black, white, and grey polka dot fabric from some St. Patrick's Day skirts I made for the girls in 2012 so I decided to use that as the start of my color palette for the pillow. I was just going to use stash fabric but I didn't have anything in the right shade of green and so off to the fabric store I went.

I think I'm going to use the bee toile for the middle panel, the green fabrics for the hexagons, the black for the frame and the binding, and all the fabrics except the toile for the patchwork. I love that this pattern lets you use all different kinds of sewing skills and I've never made hexagons before so I'm really excited to learn a new skill as well!

Downstairs Bathroom & Laundry Room Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:00:00 +0000

Here is my Pinterest Inspiration Board for the Downstairs Bathroom and Laundry Room.

I want to work with the shower tile that's already there but pretty much everything else is getting changed. I want to put in a pedestal sink instead of the sink and counter combination. The washer and dryer will be centered on the north wall with a counter (reused from the one that's in there now) with drawers on the right and a laundry basket shelf on the left. I want the room to remind you of a bright sunny day or like fresh laundry drying on the line outside. I plan on painting the walls a blue or blue/green color and using pops of orange. This will be the main guest bathroom with the upstairs bathroom being our family bathroom.

Downstairs Bathroom & Laundry Room Before

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 23:42:00 +0000

Downstairs and to the left (right across from the family room) is our downstairs bathroom which is also the laundry room. It's a very strange shape, small, and hard to photograph but I did my best.

It's kind of confusing but the shower is directly behind where the door opens. The toilet and sink are next to the shower. The washer and dryer are across from that. So the right side (looking in) is the bathroom and the left side is the laundry. It's actually a very bright room, which is nice. The shower tile is newer and nice enough. I don't like the flooring or the sink and counter. Also the door to this room is a swinging door with no way to latch it. That means the bathroom part of this room never gets used because no one wants to get walked in on while using it. This room is high on the list of rooms to work on because we really need a second functioning bathroom, especially if we ever want to work on the upstairs bathroom.

Family Room Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 19:56:00 +0000

Here is my inspiration board for the family room.

I really want this room to be playful but neutral enough to entertain in. I want plenty of storage for the kids arts, crafts, and homework supplies but in a way that keeps it looking nice or out of sight. I want to decorate with nods to our favorite games, television shows, movies and video games. I want to make some large floor pillows for lounging and watching TV. Overall I just want this room to be fun!

Family Room Before

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 18:54:00 +0000

Downstairs and to the right is our Family Room. This is our main living area of the house. We definitely spend the most time here. It's where the television is and it has a second table (in addition to the one in the dining room) where the kids color and do homework. Since it's the largest room in the house it is also where we will be doing most of our inside entertaining.

Sorry about the picture quality this is a very hard room to photograph. I don't know where to start with this room. The big square spot on the wall is where a cabinet used to be that I already had my husband take down and move to a different room. I want to paint the two walls that aren't brick. I want to remove the wood paneling all together but for the short term I will probably just paint it the same color as the wall. I want to paint the crown molding white and we'll have to figure out what to with the gap from where the cabinet was. I also want to do a wood floor (or more likely wood laminate) since this is such a high traffic area plus carpet and play dough aren't really a good combination. The downside to having wood instead of carpet is the room will be even more chilly in the winter than it already is. Also there is the matter of those decoratively painted bricks which I have no clue how to go about fixing because I do not want to paint all the brick. This room will definitely have plenty to work on and keep me busy.

Hallways Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 18:40:00 +0000

Here is my inspiration board for the hallways.

I need the hallways to be functional drop zones for all our mail, school stuff and everything else that comes into the house. I'm going to be doing a command/organization center on the wall with the wood burning stove. I think we will probably be using the garage door more than the front door for our everyday coming and going. The other wall leads right into downstairs so I want to keep the walkway clear but I think this will be a really good wall for displaying our family pictures.

Hallways Before

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 02:23:00 +0000

I'm not really sure what you would call this area so I just call it the Hall. It's really too wide to be a hall but it's not really it's own room either. It's the space between the Front Room and the Kitchen / Dining Room. It has the stairs on one end and the entrance to the garage on the other.

I'll also be including the Downstairs Landing/Hall and the Upstairs Hall in this label.

The Downstairs Landing/Hall has a little bit of space but I don't know what I will use it for. Maybe a cat climber or a bookshelf? I'm sure I'll figure something out. There really isn't much to do in the Upstairs Hall. However the mirrored wall at the end of it will definitely be going away!

Front Room Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 20:35:00 +0000

Here is my inspiration board for the front room.

I really want to have this room be very neutral so I can use it as a base for my seasonal decor. I like the idea of having things that I can just swap out easily such as pillow covers or a vase that I can change out the filler. I would also love to display family photos that are from the seasons, so an easy way to change those out would be good.

I think the biggest challenge for this room will be getting the furniture to fill it. My upright piano will be in this room so I want to work around that for sure. I think bookcases are a must and I will probably fill them with family albums and photo books. I don't think the room needs a ton of furniture just somewhere comfy to read a book and for guests to sit when they come over.

Front Room Before

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 20:19:00 +0000

The first room that you walk into is the Front Room. It is the entryway with the front door and a living area at the very front which is pretty separate from the rest of the house. I thought about calling it the Living Room or the Parlor, but in the end I settled on Front Room because that's what it really is the room at the front of the house.

The entry area is separated from the main room by tile that flows into the Hall and Kitchen. That mirror is stuck (glued?) to the wall and came with the house. There is also a coat closet that you can just see on the right of the bottom left picture. The main room has a really nice large window that lets in a lot of natural light. As you can see this room is really empty. That is because I have no furniture for this room. In our previous houses we only ever had one living area. This house has two and all our living room furniture has been put in the family room downstairs. I plan on keeping this room really neutral because I love to do seasonal decor and this room will be perfect for it!

Front Yard & Curb Appeal Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Here's my inspiration board for the front of our house.

I'm not really sure what I want to do with the front of the house but I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go. I think that it just needs to pop more. The house number definitely needs to be updated because it doesn't stand out very well. (You can't see it in the picture I posted previously because I blurred it out but trust me it blends in anyway.) I think I want to keep the brick it's original color but maybe add some shutters to make the window stand out more. Also I want to create some seating. Somewhere to sit and enjoy the evenings while watching my kids ride their bikes and play.

As far as the yard goes, we love the amount of grass but we want to add a tree and some more color with some flowers. I'm not sure if the hedges will stay or go. There is a fountain hidden behind the far right hedges, next to the property line, and I think it will need to go. One thing I do love about the front yard is the curved pathway up to the door so that stays for sure!

You Start at the Very Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 06:11:00 +0000

Here she is in all her 1970s split level glory...our "brand new" house! I still can't believe we own a house. I'm so excited and there are so many projects and things that I want to do to make it truly ours. I have plans to paint and decorate my little heart out but you do have to start at the very beginning and this is it!

Plaid & Stars for a Baby Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 20:08:00 +0000

My sister, Willow, is expecting her first baby in February, and her baby shower is coming up so I wanted to make her something, because that's what I do. I had a piece of purple, blue, and gray plaid that she had picked out a long time ago when she wanted me to line a jacket for her. She never gave me the jacket to be lined so I still had the fabric sitting in my stash. Since she's using purple and turquoise for her colors, it was the perfect opportunity to use the fabric, especially since I already knew she liked it as she picked it out. Here's what I ended up with:

I used Simplicity Pattern 2572 for the jacket. It's completely reversible with solid black on one side and the plaid fabric on the other.

The onesie is hand dyed and then I appliqued a plaid star on it because my sister really likes stars.

I used Lily Girl's Ruffle Skirt Pattern by Viola Lee for the plaid skirt. The skirt is definitely my favorite part!

For the headband I used GG Design's Stitch & Stack Stars Felt Stitchies. I used the plaid fabric for the top and felt on the bottom. I added the purple button to give it a little something extra.

I think the whole thing turned out absolutely adorable! I just love ruffle skirts and it turned out extra adorable in the plaid! I really hope it fits well (because that's always my biggest concern with sewing for a baby that hasn't been born yet) and that she loves it as much as I do!

Black & Plum Sewing Apron

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:33:00 +0000

A Great Big Happy Birthday to my Best Friend, Stephanie! Since we used to be sewing buddies (before she moved away) I thought I would make her a fun sewing apron for a birthday present!

I used Moda's Half Moon Modern Sewing Room: Sewing & Craft Apron Tutorial. Everything I used I had in my stash, which was nice. I think the colors looks really nice together. I wish the solid in the waist band was a little bit closer of a match to the polka dot fabric but I don't think they look bad together. As you can tell I have a thing for polka dots! I think I have more polka dots in my stash than anything else! I hope she loves it as much as I love it! I really need a sewing apron myself, so it was hard to package this one up and send it off, but package it up I did...

...and add a little handmade gift tag! I hope you love it, Stephanie, and I hope you have the best birthday ever!

Baby Blanket for Liam

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:26:00 +0000

My sister also asked me to make a blanket for her sister-in-law's new baby, Liam. It's fleece on one side and cotton on the other with a satin binding. The fleece should be nice and snuggly for baby Liam!

Baby Blanket for Olivia

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:42:00 +0000

My sister's friend is having a baby girl and my sister asked if I could make a blanket for her to give to her friend. I said yes, of course. We went to the store and picked out this adorable polka dot micro-corduroy. I just love the way it turned out! My first instinct would have been to do the ruffle pink but I'm just loving the way the lime green looks!

Little Fox Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:29:00 +0000

My best friend, Stephanie's, baby girl, Alyssa, turns 1 year old today. Since I can't be there to celebrate with her, I made her this cute little outfit. Well I made the skirt anyway and I embellished the shirt.

The skirt is just a simple elastic waist skirt, but how cute is that fabric! It's flannel, which is a little unorthodox to make a skirt out of, but those little fox faces just begged to be made into a skirt. I also added a little ruffled glitter ribbon to the neckline of the store bought shirt just to make it a little more special! Then I wrapped it up in some tissue and made this cute little fox gift tag...

I love this fabric! Maybe I'll go get some more to make pajama pants for my girls. I hope Alyssa (or at least her mom) enjoys the outfit. Happy 1st birthday, Alyssa! I hope it's amazing!

Modernista Kitchen Swap

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 15:27:00 +0000

I recently finished up round two of the Modernista Swap! This time the room was kitchen. My partner said she loves bright colors and that she wanted a kitchen towel set. She also has a lot of white in her kitchen so I decided to use quite a bit of black so that the towels would stand out in all that white. I used one white flour stack towel, two black kitchen towels, and I made her a potholder.

I think I definitely succeed in her desire for bright colors. I'm a little nervous because this isn't really anything like the stuff I normally do. I very rarely work with all solids and use so many colors at one time. I was really pleased with the result but I'm so nervous to hear what she thinks of them!

I also received my package as well...

...the most adorable mini quilt that is just perfect for my kitchen and some of the cutest magnets! Those tiny squares must have been so much work! The colors are perfect and I couldn't be happier with what I received!

Poodle Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:22:00 +0000

For my daughter's 50th day of kindergarten, they did a 50s theme day, so I decided to make up a quick poodle skirt. I used some bubble gum pink fabric that I had in my stash and whipped up a quick circle skirt with an elastic waistband. I also added a quick machine embroidered poodle.

It was fun to make and she looked cute for 50s day!

Batgirl Halloween Costume

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +0000

My daughter, Kaitlin, started out wanting to be Hello Kitty for Halloween. I had just formulated a really good idea of how to do that when she informed me that she wanted to be Batgirl instead. So then it was back to square one, thank goodness for the internet! I did a quick search and found this cute costume that used a black leotard and black leggings as the base for a Batgirl costume. I decided to do something similar and start with a black shirt and black leggings. The rest of the costume is made out of felt.

I used yellow felt to make a simple belt to cover up the waist band of the leggings. With the shirt tucked into the leggings this gives the appearance of a bodysuit instead of two pieces. I also appliqued a batman (or batgirl in this case) symbol of yellow felt on the front of the black shirt.

We decided to use quite a bit of purple to make it a bit more girlish. I used purple felt to make a cape and appliqued the bat symbol on it as well.

Then I used the purple felt to make a head band with a removable mask (because they don't allow masks at school)...

...and some shoe covers to make it look like she's wearing purple boots.

I pretty much free handed the whole costume except for the bat symbol which I used google to find. The nice thing about using felt is that I didn't have to hem anything, but I did do a bit more sewing than I thought I would because I ended up using a double layer of felt for both the belt and the headband to give them added stability. This costume didn't take too long to make so that was nice after having spent a whole day working on my other daughter's butterfly costume. I also love that the shirt can be worn after Halloween and the leggings are still useable too!