2 in a row!

Here are a few things I have finished over the last couple of months.

I made some burp cloths and a diaper clutch for a friend having a baby.
I can't believe it but I did not photograph the clutch. I think it was purple. Maybe.
Here are the burp cloths. I loved that fabric! So cute!

 Then I made a clothespin holder for my friend's Clothesline. I saw that she was using a plastic grocery sack, and remembered this cute pattern I had seen at my LQS.
It took a while since my kids' schedules were ramping up and the pattern had some small pieces to make. I had to fudge a couple of things because either A: the step didn't make sense in the pattern or B: my fabric didn't fit the pattern because of the way I wanted it turned.

I also won a t-shirt quilt making kit with a ruler, interfacing and press cloth from Happy Quilting and June Tailor. It was kind of cool because I hadn't really intended to enter the giveaway. In fact I didn't even realize it was a giveaway until I saw how many comments there were. I was just stoked that there was a great new tutorial out there, since I have a bunch of t-shirts collected to make quilts for my kids with. I also had one t-shirt saved to make a special quilt with to donate to a charity auction. As soon as the kit arrived I pulled out that single shirt and prepped it for the quilt. The ruler worked really well.
I will have to post those photos later.

I spent some time organizing and condensing my daughter's puzzles and will hopefully get a post on that sometime soon as well.

I have fabric for the baby quilt that has been on my to-do list since January. I have the quilt designed. I just need to do some math so I can start cutting.

I have another bag planned for a friend but need to get some likes/dislikes info from her spouse.

And that is if I have free time. :) Right now I am stealing time from laundry, dishes, vacuuming and Halloween costumes to do a brain dump here.


Here is a little sample schedule of my day. It changes a little every day, depending on band, scouts, preschool and church. This was Tuesday this week.


5:50 Take to school
7:05 Take to school
8:10 Take to school 
8:50 Take to school
11:20 Pick up from school
1:45 Pick up from school
3:40 Pick up from school
4:10 Take to tennis *this was a makeup for a rain out
5:20 Pick up from tennis
6:45 Take to Scouts/YW
8:00 Pick up from Scouts/YW

Obviously this is just my travels and does not include grocery shopping, making meals, or cleaning anything.  I drive around 200-250 miles during the week just doing that schedule. That little space of time between 9 when I drop off 11:30 when I pick up is my "free" time, most days. I am usually making bread and paying bills on those days. My kids get one outside activity to participate in if they choose to keep things somewhere in the ballpark of sane.  We have Band and Tennis going at the moment. Scouts is part of church so it doesn't count.
We are enjoying marching band but are very much looking forward to the end of the season.

And so that is what I have been up to in the last few months. I will try to get the bunting tutorial finished soon and posted.

I hope you all have a happy crafty week!

 

Pattern Test: The Lucy Hobo Bag

I did a challenging pattern test this week. :)

 This is the Lucy Hobo bag, designed by the very fun and awesome team at Clover and Violet.
They put out a call on Facebook to get help emergency testing the pattern. I think, the issue was that n ad came out before they were expecting it to and the pattern was not ready to put in the shop. I had a fairly low key week ahead and most of the supplies so I was happy to help out.

SOOO much work goes into writing patterns and the more I test the more respect I gain for those who produce them. It makes me even more adamant about not photocopying/email sharing purchased patterns around. Those pattern designers don't deserve that after all the work that goes into the pattern.

This pattern had a bunch of new to me techniques, such as an inset zipper pocket in the lining, a bound edge, a button loop, a side and bottom panel, curved corners, and pleats.

I cheated on the binding. It was supposed to be hand-stitched down, but instead I stitched in the ditch on the front, and since there was a  fair amount of  edge inside, I turned it back on itself, which hid my sloppy stitch in the ditch and topstitched the whole thing.

This bag is a little stiffer than the bag should be, since I had to use fusible fleece instead of interfacing and flannel. I had to use what I had on hand, not purchasing anything, and it was okay to substitute. It is supposed to be really "slouchy".

While I am not happy with the quality of the construction of this bag, (I made tons of errors and it's somewhat shoddy, rushed workmanship) it is still cute and should be a functional purse.

Thanks to Jennie at Clover and Violet for  trusting me!

Pattern Test 5: Beach Towel 2

The latest pattern test for Erin at Schlosser Designs was a poolside lounge chair towel (pattern is called Beach Towel 2). It has a pocket on the top back to hold it on the chair, pockets on the sides to hold books, keys, phones etc. and folds up and ties shut to carry like a bag. One of the pockets is open and one shuts with hook and loop tape.
Once again, I found the pattern easy to follow with great diagrams and clear instructions. I made this in just a few hours.
 I think I would get a beach towel to use next time. I went with a bath towel for mine because I wanted more color and quality options. This one is super soft. But, my towel was 2 inches shorter than the one the pattern calls for, and as you can see our poolside lounge chairs have a very tall back which took up a lot of the towel so there isn't much left to sit on. Also, because our chairs have arms, the pockets are kind of awkward to use. With a longer towel, I would move them down a bit and customize for these chairs.

I think I subconsciously did not take a photo of the flower applique, as it was a really shoddy job. I did it in backwards order by accident for starters and then had massive trouble rounding the curves. Something to work on! :)
Looks good from afar though! And my head will be hiding it most of the time anyway.

So overall a great and useful pattern for me and I recommend picking one up!

You can find all Erin's patterns here: http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/

 

Pattern sale at Schlosser Designs!

Petal Panache cushion - image from http://www.schlosserdesigns.com/2013/06/introducing-petal-panache-cushion/

 The Petal Panache Cushion pattern is shipping now! Have you snagged yours yet?

And... Erin's having a little sale! ;) Use the coupon code SUMMERFUN for 20% off anything in the shop until Thursday, June 27th at midnight.

You can read more about the cute new pattern here: http://www.schlosserdesigns.com/2013/06/introducing-petal-panache-cushion/


 

Another pattern test and a pillowcase

Does anyone else get tired of thinking of post titles? Mine have been pretty boring lately. :)
Anyway...

I did another pattern test for Schlosser Designs. This one was a Sewing Machine Apron.

The pattern was great. Just one part when I was not sure what the instructions meant and Erin was quick to clarify. That is why she has testers! LOL

I did manage to stall myself during cutting when I went to cut the second fabrics and discovered when I was buying fabric I had skipped one. LOL Oops! I had to scrounge my stash and make it work. I also used some broadcloth in the project because it was the only fabric in the store that even remotely coordinated. I went to a store that has remnants and discounted fabrics. (I got the floral Michael Miller fabric for 2.98 a yard!) But because of that, their selection is really random.
I (and my machine) don't like broadcloth. It puckered and the iron sort of dragged on it and it stretched so I starched the heck out of it. Not fun. The white is broadcloth too, from ages ago when I was going to make a slip to go under my daughter's blessing dress. I never made it so I used it in this.

There is special fabric on the back to prevent it sliding off the table. Lots of pockets for "stuff" too.  It took me about 3 hours, not including cutting, to make it.



The thread bag is attached with Velcro for easy dumping and it has ties to keep it rolled for storage if you are like me and have to clean up your stuff after every sewing session.



You can get the PDF pattern at http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/product/sewing-machine-apron
And the Print pattern at http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/product/sewing-machine-apron-print-version


The other thing I made this week was an impromptu pillowcase for Littlest Miss.

We were at Target and she saw a throw pillow that had strips of fabric sewn down across it; really cute. She looked and it and said, " Mom, look a stripey pillow! You can make me one!"
That felt pretty awesome! Not: "You can buy this for me", but "You can make me one". Love it! So of course when we got home, she was gung ho to make the pillow. At first I was going to just duplicate the throw pillow, but then I thought that it would be more useful to just make another pillowcase and since her only criteria was that it be stripey, well, I was free to do whatever.

I had some scraps left from teaching the Personal Progress Folders (that I could have sworn I posted about but now can't find the post). I used the measurements from the last time I made the mini pillowcases except I took off some of the width of the band, which I should not have done, because the pillow sticks out. :) Oh well.

I just sewed the strips together and then used that new fabric to make the case. She loves it, so that is good! Personally I would not want to have my face laying on so many seams but she doesn't seem to be bothered.

Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner!

 I chose the winner with a bucket of entries and a 3 year old helper. :)

 Littlest Miss chose Suzie H out of the basket. Congratulations! I will be contacting you via email to get your mailing info. Thanks everyone for entering and giving feedback!


 

It's a giveaway! RIGHT HERE!

*GIVEAWAY CLOSED
I know it's been AGES since I have had a giveaway here on the old blog. ;)
I really do like to do them, but, well. I keep buying stuff for myself. LOL.

But today I actually have a little something for YOU!

Remember this darling little clutch I made?

Well, you can win the pattern! Erin at Schlosser Designs is giving away one pattern to one of my lovely readers! Yay!

http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/product/garden-party-clutch-physical-pattern

The pattern comes with a couple of options. You can do a pieced body or a solid body.

She also is currently offering for purchase, a kit in her store, but I imagine they will go fast so go grab yours quick!

 Included in the kit:
-ALL fabric needed to make the project as shown (Including the lining!)
-Interfacing
-Zipper (Your choice of pink, black, or white, specify color choice during PayPal checkout. If not zipper choice is selected you will be sent black.)
-Hard Copy of the Garden Party Clutch Pattern
*These will be available to ship on Friday, April 26th.

http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/product/garden-party-clutch-kit

I  have a few ways to enter. You only have to pick one, but you can do more than one if you would like multiple entries.You get up to 3 entries by answering each of the 3 questions in a separate comment. In other words every unique comment/answer gets one entry. If you answer all 3 questions in 1 comment, you will get only one entry. Savvy? :)

Option 1: Go to Schlosser Designs and tell me your 2 favorite patterns.

Option 2: Pattern Pet Peeves. What do you dislike about patterns you have purchased in the past? What problems have you encountered?

Option 3: Do you prefer PDF downloads or a hard copy?

EVERYONE: Please include your email address in your comment, regardless of whether your profile has it or not. Thanks! No email - No prize! Use this format: "emailme *at* gmail *dot* com".

I will choose a winner randomly and post and email the winner on Friday May 3rd, 2013.
 Now, just leave your comment(s) below and spread the word!

**UPDATE: If the winner is not in the US they will receive the pattern in a PDF download.


Giveaway ends in 1 week, at 9am PST on Friday May 3rd, 2013.

 

Sewing day

The other day I had a request from Littlest Miss to make her aprons from the tea towels I had purchased. I also had a request from my friend to test another pattern.
So Tuesday became a sewing day.

I knocked out the aprons in no time. I love the strawberry one! Target Dollar Spot my friends! I wish it was big enough for me! 

I mis-cut the rainbow one so the ties are a little high. I think I can just put a new ribbon on the neck to drop it  down to her waist.

 

No, I will not be letting her carry my rotary cutter in the apron pocket. I just grabbed the nearest object to stick in there.

 

I added a pocket to the rainbow one with the part cut off the top. I just put the pieces right sides together with the hems and sides lined up, stitched a 1/4" seam across the raw edge, folded it up on the seam and pressed it then stitched up the sides and center. Easy!

Next came the Garden Clutch pattern for Schlosser Designs.

Cherry Chocolate Garden Clutch

As usual the pattern was awesome. I only had some trouble when my lining pieces were smaller than the outside pieces thanks to shrinkage from the fleece. It left no room at the ends for the zipper tabs. I fudged and seam ripped and fudged some more and made it work, but If you look closely you can see the problem spots and it makes the top band collapse on itself a bit. :P
I probably would have been fine had I used the recommended supplies. But I have no money, and also did not want to travel to Joann's to get the right fleece. I actually used pieces of fleece, puzzled together.
I really love that cherry fabric and I will still be using my clutch even though it is a little off. :)

When she gets the pattern listed in her shop I will update to post the link here. In the meantime, you can peruse her current patterns here: http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/

Pattern Storage

First - if you are here visiting from Quilting Gallery, welcome! The giveaway post is HERE. :)

And now, the news... :)

I was listening to a podcast by Sandy of Quilting... for the Rest of Us and she was talking about ideas on how to store purchased patterns. The ones you get in your LQS in the little plastic bag.

Here is how I store them. Sorry about the lighting. There is nowhere in this apartment to take good photos.  Anyway...

This one  is actually recycled from a planner from when I was a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

I use this half size binder.
For the quilt and sewing patterns, I just take the paper patterns out of the plastic bag and drop it right into the page protector. I can easily flip through the pages to see my patterns without them slipping around.
Awesome!

 You can get them at Staples, as well as the page protectors , notebook paper, and dividers that go in them. There are a few other products they offer for this size (5-1/2" x 8-1/2") as well. They are a little pricey, compared to regular binders, at about $7.00 each, but they work perfectly for me. I am pretty sure there are other places you can purchase them  besides Staples, but the prices will probably be pretty close.

I also use them for recipes. I am in the process of reorganizing my recipes to all fit into these little binders.

We made a family recipe book for the family Christmas gift one year using them. We didn't use page protectors, and I made the dividers with card stock and a punch, but they are a great size for storing. I don't mind having these little things on my kitchen counter. And I can easily add and remove recipes.




How do you store your patterns?

Super Cute Paper Piecing Pattern!

This is such a fun paper pieced block that Kerry of VeryKerryBerry just posted in her etsy shop.
Check out her post to see it finished as a wall hanging and get links to paper piecing tips.
verykerryberry: Winter Woolies Pattern

Fat Quarter Fabric Folder from Schlosser Designs

My friend Erin posted this today and I wanted to make sure you all saw it. It is so cute for school! The pattern is a free download on her blog. Enjoy!

Fat Quarter Fabric Folder

Zippered Clutch pattern available!

Remember this? 

 

 

and this?









Well the pattern is now up for sale HERE (click the image below)

 

http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/product/floral-clutch

or copy and paste this url into your browser:
http://store.schlosserdesigns.com/category/sewing-patterns