Sweet Nothings...

I just got back from Material Girls, one of my favorite fabric stores.  All the "hullabaloo" in my life as of late has put me in the mood for some "sweet nothings".  Now that I'm working, at night, I don't know when I'll find time to use these.  But I am going to make it happen.  Nothing cheers me up like the smell and feel of fresh off the bolt, quilters grade cotton fabric.  And as soon as I find the time, I know these little treasures will be waiting for me in my fabric stash drawer.

HULLABALOO (Moda)

SWEET NOTHINGS (Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake)



And now for some tunes...

Put A Ring On It

My most recent projects are for my friend's baby who's due in a month.  I'll talk about the other one later.  For now, let's talk nursing covers.  Some people prefer the names "hooter hider" or "utter cover".  I'm a classy girl so I'm using the term "nursing cover".  The fact that I'm classy didn't preclude me from making about 10 separate "boning" jokes as I was ordering parts on ebay to complete my project.  "I'm in need of a good boning".  "Does anybody know if you can get a good boning on ebay?"  "I got my boning today.  Man!  It was so much longer than I thought it would be!"
I'm classy but not too much.  I'm just the right level of classy.
I say that both projects are for my friend's baby, but technically, this one is for the babymama, which is why I used a grownup and somewhat girly combination of prints.  I figured that the baby will have his share of  items covered in frogs and snails and cars and trains.  Since his mother will be wearing this item (and he will be nowhere to be seen except for maybe one foot), I decided to make it with her in mind. 
Nursing covers have become pretty popular, especially in Utah.  I don't know about the rest of the United States.  But since the thought of an American woman feeding her child without running into a smelly bathroom stall or going to sit alone for 20 boring minutes causes many normally rational adults to recoil in shock and terror, they seem to be a good solution.  I feel kind of bad that they weren't the rage when I had my two kids.  Nor was the other project I chose.  But both were fun to make and easy.  I hope my friend delivers her baby two weeks early so she can get to using these items right away.  (The universe owes her this much since her last baby was about two weeks late.) 
I finished the thing in record time and all I had left to do was to put a ring on it.  Unfortunately, when the rings I ordered on ebay arrived, the first term that came to mind was something Carrie Bradshaw would refer to as "ghetto gold".  Also, the size seemed wrong even though both rings pictured are packaged as 1 1/4 inches. 

Hm.  Go figure.  But I liked the black I found at JoAnns more anyway.  While I was at JoAnns, something else caught my eye.  It was a display top made using Simplicity 2378.

Since I have an aversion to buttons and zippers, I likey.  I likey a lot.  This pattern retails for around $13.  I bid $5 for one on ebay.  I really don't like to spend more than $5 for a pattern.  (More on that later.)  I might not win it, but even if I don't, I have a feeling that there are lots of patterns I have already that I could adapt to use D rings as fasteners.  NOW I'M SO EXCITED I JUST CAN'T STAND IT!!!!!

Once I completed the cover with rings and boning (he he he), I felt the urge to try it on, so I did.  I skipped round my bedroom and sang "You can't see my boobies! You can't see my boobies!" (tune of ring around the rosie) to my husband as he did logic puzzles and tried his best to ignore me.    I hope that visual doesn't keep my friend from enjoying this gift, handmade with love.
She can use the nursing cover or, if she prefers, she can stage a "nurse in" at the local Burger King and go au natural.  Either way, I had fun making it so that's all that really matters.

If you'd like to try making one of these bad boys, all you need to do is google the terms "nursing cover" and "tutorial".  Don't ever buy a pattern for one or you are a schmuck.

And now for some tunes...
(Seriously, you should click on this one.  You might think you know what you're gonna get, but I bet you don't.)

The(y) Fray. All At Once.

After nearly ten years, I decided I would make valances.  These two windows had been put on the back burner long enough.
Sometimes I like to talk to DH about my upcoming sewing projects and hope that he'll pretend to be fascinated.
His response: What?  Valances?  What are those?  I think that must be a typo since V and B are next to eachother on the keyboard.

(Sigh.  Don't straight men care about anything important?)

And they're easy.  Like pillocase easy.  Like Bermuda shorts easy.  Like Sunday Morning easy. 
I couldn't find any window treatments liked in the store anyway.  But I found some fabric I liked at Hobby Lobby.  And it was on sale.

And when I got to the fabric cutting counter, I saw that that the fabric was doing double time, which made it hard for me to decide which side I wanted to use.  I loved them both.

Excuse me, ma'am, but do you think you could cut my $15/yard fabric in a straight line?  No?  Okay.  Just thought I'd ask.

Thank goodness for the stripes, because they made fixing the crooked cutting a breeze.  They also helped with making the pocket on top and hemming the bottom.  The width was about right, so I left it alone. 

Unfortunately, this is the type of fabric that falls to pieces the moment you cut into it.  These are the times I really love my serger. 

The threads covering my Walmart sweats made me look like I had been attacked by a giant thread monster.  But really, it was just a lot of fabric vomit.

About two weeks later, I finally got around to hanging up the curtain rods. 

Both sides of the fabric matched my Crazy Cat Chairs.  But since I had to choose, I decided on the dots. 

But when I came downstaris in the morning, I got a surprise:

(It's really hard to take a good picture of a window during the day, but you get the idea.)



Stripes! 

I could add a lining on the backside, but I kind of like it.  I guess it will be stipes by day, dots by night.

Valances are super easy.  I highly recommend them (or curtains) for a good beginner project.  You can pay less than you would at the store and get a much better selection.  And you get to feel all crafty about yourself.  It helps if you don't use fabric that loves to fray.  I'd start with a quilter's cotton or something with less elasticity.  But even so, they were still pretty simple.

And now for some tunes...

Cats

I've been meaning to blog about my "Crazy Cat Chairs" for some time now. 

Some of you already know how I acquired the crazy cat chairs.  For the rest of you, it went like this:
Last summer I was driving to my friend's house because she was having a sandal party.  As I pulled into the neighborhood, I saw these chairs out of the corner of my eye.  Now the good part of me said "Just drive, dear.  You don't need no stinkin' chairs".  The bad part of me said "Taking a look see won't hurt."
So I pulled over.  The chairs were marked as $5 each but the lady offered me both for $6.  The good part of me said "You don't need no stinkin' chairs.  You have furniture."  The bad part of me said: "$6 is a good deal.  You can just put them in the garage for a while and resell them if you decide not to use them.  And anyway, they have nice lines."
I had myself at "nice lines".  I watch HGTV, after all.  So I paid the lady her $6 and loaded the chairs in the van, which conveniently happened to not be chauffeuring children for probably the 2nd time that year. 
Amazingly, the chairs fit and I made it home without going into anaphylactic shock.  You see, this lady with her bargain prices owned a cat or two.  And I'm slightly allergic to cats. 
So the first thing I did was pull off the offending cushion covers and throw them in the wash.  Then I vacuumed the rest for a good long time. 

I made some slip covers for the chairs with some stuff I found at one of my favorite stores.  Kind of an upholstery wonderland for fabric junkies.  The "nice lines" made sewing the slip covers pretty easy.  And I used a curved upholstery needle to sew it down on the bottom and under the cushions.  I ordered some brown microsuede from fabric.com for the cushions.  I did a good job making the back cushion cover the same size as the original one.  Unfortunately, what I didn't know is that the original cushion shrunk quite a bit in the wash.  So by the time I took the measurements, it was the wrong size.  So I ordered more brown microsuede.  At that point, I had pretty much lost my steam. 

But I eventually finished the chairs and found 2 matching Ikea couches on craigslist.com and ksl.com.  As a mom, the removable washable slip covers appealed to me.  What I didn't realize at the time is that turning a couch upside down and changing a slip cover is not as convenient as it sounds.  So I bought some blue throws at Costco (and those don't really wash well either) and now I spend a disproportionate amount of my time trying to arrange the throws on the couch and asking my kids not to mess them up again.  Meh.  What are ya gonna do? 
Sometimes the kids make "blanket mound" which involves taking every single pillow, blanket, cushion, and throw pillow in the house and... well... making a pile.  It's pretty much like it sounds.  The new cushions and throws make blanket mound something really spectacular.  Sometimes blanket mound makes me long for a glass wine, some chocolate, and a valium.  The children don't really understand why I don't share their enthusiasm for blanket mound. 

This, however, is one of the rare times that everything is as it should be.  (I even got myself that fancy pants TV-on-the-wall I've been wanting for five years and I painted the wall blue, which was really a shame considering how many coats it took to get it red just six years ago.)

I also threw in some coffee tables I found on craigslist that have no earthly business being in a home with children.  The glass tops lift right off.  It's insanity.  Amazingly, my children have left the glass-top tables alone for the most part.  I have no idea why.  I'm not going to jinx it. 

The dresser was given to me by my neighbor.  It's been sitting in the garage for a few years now, but it cleaned up real nice with some citrus gel I got at The Home Depot.  And it has a little drawer where I can tuck away all my sewing junk for projects that I'm working on.  (That might become "drawers" some time soon.)  And can I just say that I love "the lines"? 

Allergens and pillow mounds aside, I'm pretty happy with the new room.  My other couch was getting torn up from having the children walk along the back of it.  It really wasn't made to be walked on that way, but the children never believed me when I told them that.   

I just finished the window valances, which I shall blog about next.  Are we all so excited? 

And now for some tunes...

Guys & Dolls

FOR THE GUYS:

I admit that I have much more fun and opportunity to sew for my daughter.  I don't know why it is that way, but it is.  However, about a year ago, I remembered a trip our family took to Disney Land in 1988.  My mom had purchased all this Popeye fabric and she made my three brothers (#4 was on the way) matching shorts and she made me a skirt.  Wearing a skirt to Disney Land might not have been the best idea, but I certainly wasn't going to wear what my brothers were wearing.  Of all things! 
So I decided to see if I could find any Popeye fabric on ebay.  The closest thing I could find was flannel.    Even so, I decided to make these shorts for my son and my nephew as a homage to that family vacation.  (Like me, my daughter would never be caught wearing "boy" clothes so she didn't get a pair and she was fine with it.)

My nephew loved his shorts so much that I decided to look and see if I could find some ultra tacky Ninja Turtles fabric online.  Once again, ebay did not disappoint.  These were supposed to be Christmas shorts, but better late than never.

These shorts are about the easiest things to make.  And fast.  I took one of my daughter's pants patterns and shortened it.  (The boys will never know.)   He liked the shorts and he looked so ninja-like in them that I asked him to do a move for me. 
(This is not a stunt double.  This is actually my nephew doing this ninja move.  The cinematography isn't the greatest.  Sorry.)

I think Bruce Lee would be jealous.

FOR THE DOLLS:

Nothing annoys me more than making one of something.  Especially when I'm making up my own pattern.  Because by the time I'm done, I've figured out how to do it "the right way" and if I don't get the chance, it really chaps me. 
I made a doll bassinett and diaper bag for my daughter for her Birthday which is the day after Christmas.  It was okay, but the canopy kept colapsing.  So I tried adding some boning and that helped a little but not enough.

Here it is, hidden away in the storage room, waiting for the big "reveal".

Matching doll diaper bag.  JoAnns had notions 50% off so I added a magnetic clasp.  Very cool.

So I thought about it.  While shopping at Walmart.  In the car.  In the shower.  In bed at night.  And an idea came to me.  PLASTIC CANVAS!!!!!

It's waterproof.  It s sturdy yet flexible.  And it's relatively cheap.  It worked like a charm.

This newer doll carrier isn't completely finished.  I still need to cover the "mattress" insert.  Right now it's covered in bonded batting and I need to get to the store and buy a bit more fabric or check my stash for something that will work.  I've kind of lost my steam as far as this project goes.  It happens.  But it's close enough to give you the general idea. 

I've actually figured out a few ways that I can improve upon this design, but I'm not sure yet if I want to name it prototype B or not.  Something tells me the next one might end up being called prototype C.  I can get kinda anal.  Still, the second canopy is much better than the first. 

Once it is finished and I have regained some of my steam, I will post a step by step tutorial along with photos.

That's enough for today. Now for some tunes...

New Fangled Machine

Since I've been thoroughly enjoying the Little House book series for the past few weeks, I decided that my first post on my new blog would be some excerpts from the first few chapters of "Little Town On The Prairie".   I'm working on a few projects now (well, maybe more than a few), and once I'm done, I'll post them.

One evening at supper, Pa asked, "How would you like to work in town, Laura?"
"A job? For a girl? In town?" Ma said "Why, what kind of job-" Then quickly she said "No, Charles, I won't have Laura working out in a hotel among all kinds of strangers."
"Who said such a thing?" Pa demanded. "No girl of ours'll do that, not while I'm alive and kicking."
"Of course not," Ma apologized. "You took me so by surprise. What other kind of work can there be? and Laura not old enough to teach school yet."
No one could imagine what work there could be fora girl in town, if it wasn't working as a hired girl in the hotel.
"Make shirts?" said Ma.
"Yes. So many men are baching on their claims around here...haven't got any womenfolks to do their sewing...He's got a machine to sew the shirts!"
Ma was interested. "A sewing machine. Is it like that picture we saw in the Inter-Ocean? How does it work?"
"About like I figured it would," Pa answered. "You work the pedal with your feet and that works the wheel and turns the needle up and down. There's a little contraption underneath the needle that's wound full of thread, too... It goes like greased lightening, and makes as neat a seam as you'd want to see."
"I wonder how much it costs," said Ma.
"Way too much for ordinary folks," said Pa.
"Yes, of course," Ma said. Laura knew she was thinking how much work such a machine would save, but even if they could afford it, it would be foolish to buy one for family sewing.
"...I told her you're a good sewer, and she wants you to come in and help her...she'll pay a good willing worker twenty-five cents a day and dinner."


"How did you like your first day of working for pay, Half-Pint?" Pa asked her. "You make out all right?"
"I think so," she answered. "Mrs. White spoke well of my buttonholes."