Made by Melissa

Paper Doll Case

2010-11-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

I recently went shopping for birthday presents for my daughter's 4th birthday. I found these adorable paper dolls that I really wanted to get her.

However, knowing that paper doesn't last very long around my house, I had to come up with a way to make them more child friendly. My friend, Stephanie, suggested that I make a felt case for them. I took the idea and ran with it and this is what I came up with.

It's a princess fabric on the outside and felt on the inside. I made pockets out of vinyl and used quilt binding on all the edges. The whole thing folds up to be about the size of a book.

I laminated the paper dolls and put a little piece of the hook side of velcro on the backs of each of the princesses. Then to change the outfits I bought some repositionable double sided tape.

It may have been a bit time consuming but it turned out amazing! I will probably be making more of these in the future!

Fall Pillow Covers

2010-11-05T13:40:00.000-06:00

Last night, I got to go sew with my best friend, Stephanie, and we made Fall pillow covers for our couch throw pillows. I've had this fall fabric for what seems like forever and I was so happy to finally get a chance to use it! I also had enough to make a runner for the top of my piano.

The leaves on the brown pillows are made out of felt and then sewn on by sewing veins on the leaves. I love how all the pillows turned out so perfect for the fall Thanksgiving season. So much fun!

For Baby Sierra

2010-11-02T09:38:00.003-06:00

My sister, Laurel, had her new baby on Saturday and I got to go visit her yesterday. They had decided not to find out if they were having a boy or a girl before hand. I had done a preemptive fabric shopping and bought two fabrics to use. One for if she had a girl and one for if she had a boy. I also bought some fabric dye and some onesies and had a lot of fun dying a bunch of different stuff. Well on Saturday I found out that she had a beautiful baby girl and named her Sierra. It was Halloween weekend so I was super duper busy but I squeezed in a little sewing time and managed to whip up a cute blanket and appliqued onesie for her.

I loved this fabric and fell in love with it the second I saw it! It was so much fun to work with. The onesie I dyed dark brown and appliqued one of the pinkish purple deer on the front. For the blanket, I had a light green flannel that I dyed a darker green then appliqued on her name out of a dyed purple fabric and a cute little blue deer from the deer fabric that I used as the backing. I wanted to do more but I just plain ran out of time so don't be surprised if you see some additions to this set in the near future! I love how this set turned out and I love love the deer fabric! I hope that my beautiful, adorable niece enjoys her presents! Welcome to the World, baby Sierra!

Update: My sister sent me this picture! Yay!

Princess Costumes

2010-10-31T22:18:00.001-06:00

Happy Halloween everyone! This year I made (with the help of my best friend, Stephanie) my girl's princess dresses for Halloween. I asked my older daughter, Kaitlin what she wanted to be and she said, "A princess!" When I asked what kind of princess she responded, "A pink princess!" Of course, that meant my younger daughter, Isabella, wanted to be a princess too. I decided to do their costumes exactly the same just one in pink and one in purple. A little stretch velvet, a little satin, and 6 yards of tulle later and you get princess dresses!

I think they turned out absolutely adorable! I got a lot of comments about how cute they were and a lot of, "You made those?!" to which I always responded with a "Yes, there were actually pretty easy." I love all things girly and these princess costumes definitely were. I had a lot of fun making them and they had a lot of fun wearing them. I hope everyone had a fun and Happy Halloween!

Baby Booties for Jude

2010-10-21T10:05:00.001-06:00

Remember the cute blue elephant blanket I made for an expected little boy named, Jude? Well he finally made it here and I got to go visit the cute little guy earlier this week. I've been wanting to try the cutie booties pattern from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones book and this seemed like the perfect oppertunity. So I pulled out the leftover fabric from the blanket and whipped up these adorable booties to take as a welcome gift for baby Jude.

I loved this pattern! Easy to sew and an adorable design. I can't wait to make some more! (Hint Hint to my sister, Laurel's, baby that was due last week!) Cute and Polka Dotty on the outside and Soft and Fleecy on the inside! Adorable booties for an Adorable baby boy named Jude!

For Marissa

2010-10-11T08:00:00.021-06:00

A family friend of ours had a new little baby girl this July. I made her a cute blanket out of some adorable elephant fabric that was pink and brown (which probably seems a bit familiar.) Unfortunately, I kept forgetting to mail it. Then the other day we got a surprise call that they were in town so we got to see them and cute baby Marissa. I also finally got to give them the cute little blanket. I'm glad it's finally with baby Marissa right were it belongs!

Halloween Witch Pillow Cover

2010-10-07T15:31:00.000-06:00

I always find myself wanting to make cute pillow covers for my couch pillows to match the current seasons and holidays and I finally made one! I saw this cute witch fabric when I went to JoAnns to browse while my daughter was in her dance class. I had seen the fabric before and resisted buying but this time I just couldn't resist. I grabbed a couple of coordinating fabrics and manged to actually get it sewn! I, of course had to do some applique work since it's my favorite thing to do.

I absolutely love how it turned out and this is the first of, hopefully, many more pillow covers to come!

For Baby Jude

2010-09-21T09:42:00.002-06:00

My friend, Randi, is expecting her first baby next month and I went to her baby shower this last Saturday. It was a lot of fun! Her mom threw the party and she had some incredible food and some fun games. I, of course, wanted to make her something special for her gift. I love making baby blankets and so that's what I decided to make. I found an elephant fabric at JoAnns that I thought would make the perfect applique. I appliqued the elephant and embroidered the baby's name, Jude, on a super soft fleece and used a coordinating blue with polka dots for the back and wrap around binding. I'm really pleased with it and think it turned out super cute!

Won't You Help Me Please?

2010-09-12T10:28:00.001-06:00

Over the last little while I've developed a fondness for felt. In particular using felt to make children's toys. So now I've started making my own toys and I would like to make them into patterns to sell online. So that's where I need help...I need a shop name. I've always had a hard time naming things. So I'm asking for help. :) Leave a comment with a name suggestion for my shop. The shop will be for selling patterns for toys made out of felt. Most likely not felt food because there are plenty of shops that sell patterns for those. Leave as many suggestions as you like! If I decide to use your suggestion then you will get a pattern of your choice from my shop or you can choose to have me make you a surprise gift!

UPDATE: I guess no one wanted to play. :( I figured out a name and the shop grand opening is coming soon! Stay tuned!

Ballerina Totes

2010-08-16T09:09:00.005-06:00

My little girls start dance class today. I thought it would be fun to make them some cute little totes to carry their dance stuff in. I've had this ballerina fabric since Kaitlin was a baby and I think this was the perfect project for it. Originally I was going to use the ballerina fabric on the outside and the pink on the inside but then Stephanie had the idea to use the print fabric on the inside and an applique on the pink for the outside. I loved the idea because that's exactly the kind of stuff I love! In fact I'm not sure why I didn't think of it.

They turned out perfectly pink and they scream girl! I love them!

Asian Tote for Aiyana

2010-08-15T15:47:00.007-06:00

My friend, Stephanie's, daughter, Aiyana, saw the post I did a couple months ago about the totes I made for my girls. She thought they were so neat and wanted me to make her a tote too. So yesterday I was going over to sew with Stephanie and I took some of my fabric stash with me. We had her pick out her favorite fabric and she picked out the red fabric with the gold asian characters on it. The fabric was part of a fat quarter set that I bought a really really long time ago. I've been wanting to use them for a while but just never had a project for them. We got started on the tote yesterday but had to stop because I ran out of time and I also needed more supplies to get the embroidery work done. Today I did the embroidery and applique and got the tote finished up. For the embroidery I found a site online and translated her name into chinese and then used the characters to embroider her name on the bag. I also appliqued a lady from the fabric that I used for the lining on the front.

I'm really happy that I finally found a great use for the fabrics and I think this bag turned out so cute!

Mad Hatter Tea Party Bridal Shower

2010-08-05T18:39:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was the Mad Hatter Tea Party Bridal Shower I organized for my sister, Willow. It was a lot of work by a lot of people (Thanks Mom, Laurel, Michelle, JoAnn, Megan) but it came together wonderfully!

We had a hat decorating contest and everyone did such an amazing job! I loved them all! I wish I had gotten pictures of all of them but alas I didn't.

I had a lot of fun decorating my hat to look like the white rabbit. It's super simple but I love how it turned out! I think I may have to reuse it for my Halloween costume this year.

The bridal shower was a huge hit and so much fun! Thanks to everyone who helped and to everyone who came!

34 Cloth Napkins & an Apron

2010-08-04T13:08:00.003-06:00

34 cloth napkins to sew. 34 cloth napkins. Take one down sew all around. 33 cloths napkins to sew.......

and one apron!

I stayed up super duper late last night getting all these cloth napkins and an apron sewn for my sister, Willow's, bridal shower today. It's a Mad Hatter Tea Party theme for her shower and I thought the cloth napkins would add a nice touch so I volunteered to sew these. What was I thinking? Probably that I would do them over the space of a few days instead of all in one setting. Procrastination really gets me sometimes! Oh well they turned out super duper cute! The apron is for a prize for the hat decorating contest we are doing. It turned out pretty cute too! Now it's off to get the party all set up it should be fun!

Willow's Wedding Dress Part 3

2010-07-28T23:21:00.006-06:00

Today I went over to my mom's house again to help her work on Willow's wedding dress. She needs the dress in about two weeks to take her bridals so my mom is really working hard to make sure it gets done in time. We got a lot done today. When I got there my mom was finishing up the tubes for the loops and the lacing for the corset back. I got to work putting the boning on the bodice lining and then we got the lining sewed to the dress.

Then my mom started working on the loops for the corset back and I worked on getting the underskirt finished up. I had to take the skirts off the waist band so I could put the zipper in. I put the zipper in then hand sewed the skirt lining down on the inside so it would be out of the way of the zipper. Then I sewed the skirts back to the waistband and hand sewed the lining of the waistband down so it's all finished and ready to go.

Once my mom got the loops done it was time for Willow to try it on again unfortunatly that's were we took two step back because my mom has to take all the loops off and make the back opening wider. The loops are too close together and you can't really see the lacing the way it is now. Also the bodice is having fit issues that she's going to have to work out. So it was a two steps forward one step back kind of day. Unfortunatly the stuff that's left is really a one person job so there's not much I can do to help until the fit issues get resolved. :( Oh well, I guess that's the way it goes sometimes. All and all it was still a very successful day!

Willow's Wedding Dress Part 2

2010-07-26T22:20:00.004-06:00

Today, I went over to my mom's house to help work on Willow's wedding dress. My mom has been working hard on the underskirt and almost has it finished.

Today we worked on getting the dress part started. My mom had already gotten the pleating done and started on the bodice. After I got there we worked on the opening for the back. We are putting in a lace up corset style back. After we got the back opening estimated, we cut the back piece to what we needed and then put all the pieces of the dress together. Then it was ready for Willow to try on again.

The dress is coming together a lot quicker than the underskirt did! I'll be going over to my mom's again on Wednesday to get some more done. The deadline for getting it done is coming up so she's running out of time!

Maternity Wrap Top Photos

2010-07-20T15:36:00.002-06:00

Here are some photos of my sister wearing the maternity wrap top that I sewed for her. Wrapping it takes some practice but it sure does look cute! I imagine it must pretty comfy and provide a little support for the ever expanding belly. Also the beauty of it is you don't actually have to be pregnant to wear it. When you aren't pregnant anymore you'll just have to wrap it a bit more. I think it turned out pretty great!

Maternity Wrap Top Part 2

2010-07-05T14:04:00.005-06:00

Today I finished up the maternity wrap top I'm making for my sister, Laurel. The pattern is the Maternity Wrap Top by Megan Nielsen. My best friend and sewing buddy, Stephanie, came over to sew it with me. Even though it's a super duper easy pattern. It was only four steps: 1) sew the tie extensions on, 2) sew the shoulder seams and side seams, 3) sew the sleeve seams, and 4) sew the sleeves on the shirt.

Even though it was super duper easy to sew, it turned out super duper cute!

Not that you can tell from that picture. I even tried it on myself and even not being pregnant it looked cute! Maybe I should make one for me but with shorter ties. The ties are super duper long. Once again, not that you can tell from the picture. Oh well, it's one of those garments that does not in any way look good on a hanger. My sister promised a picture of her wearing it when she gets a chance and I promise I'll post it here when I get it!

Maternity Wrap Top Part 1

2010-06-30T09:24:00.000-06:00

My sister, Laurel, is pregnant with her second child and due in October. She recently found a great maternity top that she loved, however she didn't love the price tag. So she did a little research on the internet and found a great pattern that was pretty close to being the exact same top. Seeing as how she doesn't sew, she asked me if I would sew it together for her. I, being a kind and loving sister, said yes. The pattern is called Maternity Wrap Top by Megan Nielsen. It's made from 4 way stretch knit, which I confess, I have never sewn with before. Eek! The pattern looks pretty darn simple and she picked out a lovely purple fabric to have it made out of. First, of course, I cut it out. Like I said, I've never worked with a 4 way knit before and the wrap around part of the shirt is just a long rectangle that there is no pattern piece for, you just have to measure it out. So I was pretty nervous about cutting it out.

It turned out to be not too bad, I used my rotary cutter and my long ruler and it actually turned out to be pretty easy. I think it's going to be a pretty fun project!

Willow's Wedding Dress Part 1

2010-06-28T16:20:00.007-06:00

Today, my mom came over and we got started on sewing my sister, Willow's, wedding dress. She wants a unique dress so it's something that has to be sewn. She will have a white strapless dress with a corset back and it will have a slit in the side with an underskirt showing. The underskirt will have layers of black lace on it. It's a really unique dress and it fits her personality very well! We are starting with the underskirt. We cut out the pieces for the underskirt the other day so today we started on the sewing of the underskirt. We started with the tulle part of the petticoat and it turned out to be quite the project.

By the afternoon we had gotten the tulle petticoat sewn together, the lining skirt sewn together and the top skirt (which the lace will go on) sewn together. We basted the lining skirt to the waist band so she can try it on and we can figure out where to hem it.

It turned out to be a longer day and we thought it would be but I think once we get the underskirt done it will go quite a bit faster. It's a very fun project for me because this is not the sort of stuff I usually sew. I'm quite excited to keep working on it and see the end project!

Girly Totes

2010-06-18T09:32:00.005-06:00

So I know I haven't sewn (or anything really) in a very very long time but last night I got a wild idea to make some matchy matchy totes for my girls. I had bought this polka dot fabric for another project that never ended up working out. I found some coordinating fabrics in my scraps bin and went to work.

I embroidered their names on them to add a little personalized touch. The solid blue is a little too aqua but I knew that going in. This is the problem with working with what you have. All and all I think they turned out pretty cute even if I did stay up way too late (cough, 3:30, cough) to get them done. It's all worth it though, because the girls love them and isn't that the most important part!

Teacher Appreciaton

2010-05-03T13:23:00.001-06:00

This week is teacher appreciation week at my son's school so I put together a little teacher appreciation gift basket for him to give to his teacher. Each day of the week had a different theme so I tried to include a little something from each category. Here's the supplies I used:

Monday was Fruit Day so I put in two red apples.
Tuesday was Treat Day so I baked some chocolate chip cookies for her.
Wednesday was Classroom Supply Day so I choose to use some pencils and glue sticks.
Thursday was Flower Day for this one I had to get a little creative and used a gift card that had a picture of some flowers on it.
Friday was Thank You Day (anything goes) so I threw in some of my favorite Burt's Bees chap stick and some fruity chewing gum.

Put it all together in a plastic tote with a little tissue paper and, of course, a Thank You card from our family and one from my son himself, and you end up with a cute little gift basket perfect for gift giving!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T19:29:00.005-06:00

Here's a peak at my Easter Decor. Some of this came together super easy and some of it not so much. One project was simple but did not come together easily. The Easter sign was something I found at Robert's Crafts (a local craft store) but it was cream with blue and pink polka dots. It didnt' really match my decor. First I painted it white but it didn't look good. Then I painted it yellow and it still didn't look good. Finally I painted it blue and was happy.

A lot of my decor is stuff I reuse time and time again. I do have a few favorite finds this year though. The white bunny was found at Pier 1. I loved it the moment I saw it. Last year there was a white bunny cookie jar at Target that I just loved but wasn't able to get. This white bunny is everything that cookie jar was and more. He is definitely my favorite find this year.

Another favorite is the eggs in the Easter basket. I've gotten a lot of compliments and "Where did you get these?" about these eggs. The swirl ones are a Robert's Crafts find and the sequin ones are a Pier 1 find. I just love how they look together.

I love decorating for holidays and this one was no exception. Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful day.

Little Ladybug Playset

2010-03-10T12:07:00.003-07:00

My niece recently celebrated her 2nd birthday with a ladybug themed birthday party. I had already bought her a couple of present but very last minute I decided to make her a felt play set featuring a little ladybug.

The flowers have centers that button on and the little ladybug can hide in the tree truck. It folds in half like a book for easy storage with a little pocket on the outside to store the ladybug in.

This is the first felt toy that I've designed myself. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I really enjoyed making it!

A Kitty for Aubrey

2009-12-20T10:21:00.004-07:00

You may remember the Katy Kitty doll I made for my daughter Kaitlin for her 3rd birthday in November. Well when my niece Aubrey came for a visit at Thanksgiving she thought it was pretty nice so I decided right there and then that I would make her one for Christmas this year. I used the gray corduroy that I had leftover from Kaitlin's kitty and I was just going to use whatever I had in blue and purple from my fabric stash. I didn't quite have enough and when I went shopping for some fill in fabrics, I ended up falling in love with this great plaid fabric so I decided that's what I would use for the body. Then I found these great fabrics, Smores by Me and My Sister for Moda, that matched the plaid perfectly and using what I had went out the window just like that. Moda fabrics are somewhat of a weakness for me. I love the fabrics I end up using and I think she turned out quite wonderful. The one and only thing I would change is I would make her eyes a darker color of blue. She's quite a cute little kitty and I hope her new little mommy loves her very much!

Christmas Stockings

2009-12-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

I decided to make stockings this year for the first time since both the girls have been born. I really like the classic red and white stocking so I decided that's what I would make. Although I don't use it now, I still have the stocking that I used every Christmas I can remember as a kid. I hope these stockings will be that for my kids. The red is a plush that is similar to velvet and the white is poly shantug which has a beautiful silk like texture to it. I hand embroidered the names with a red satin embroidery floss. I'm beyond happy with how they turned out!