Smith Car Seat

I love this car seat!  I made it for a friend of mine, but it is just so my style!  I like to think that if I had been brave enough when my boys were little, I would have redone their seat to look like this. :)  The fact is I have only been sewing for the last few years.  Before that, I could sew, but not without my mom standing next to me coaching me through the directions!  I can still remember the first time I followed a pattern all the way through and didn't have to call my mom for any explanations!  I was so proud of myself! haha!  Enough memory lane, onto the cute pics!! 

I love the little pops of orange!

Little teaser...later this week I will have bedding pics for this same friend!  Yay!

Hair Bows

I had a friend who wanted to make some hair bows for her daughter, so she came over for a nice relaxing evening of crafting!  There are the bows I made.  If only my daughter would keep them in her hair...

Don't you just love this fluffy little chiffon one?!?  I made one like this in zebra, but forgot to take a pic before I sent it home with my friend!

Crayon roll!

I love these!  They are just so cute and easy to throw in a bag or purse!  Mine hold 24 crayons.  Last year I made them for all my son's friend's for Christmas, add a coloring book and you're done!

Cow bedding

Custom sewing is all about making your customer happy.  It is the reason I do custom work.  For that moment when it is all put together and they see their vision come true.  That was the case with this bedding.  The client came with fabric swatches in hand and a vision in her head.  Here is her vision...

I was nervous about the blanket because I have never made one before, but thankfully she wanted a very simple design!

Mustache Onsie

Mustaches seem to be all the rage these days, so I decided to have a little fun and make a mustache onsie for a shower I went to today (Anyone else think onsie is a weird word?).

So I have to confess, I am not that into the mustache thing, but after making this...

Well, I may have been converted!

Yellow & Gray Apron

So right after I made this skirt, I knew I wanted to make an apron with the same fabric.  Our recent giveaway just gave me an excuse to sew it up! :) 

The front -



The back with a nice chunky bow-

And my personal favorite part, the flower that is also a pocket. LOVE this!

(I almost made the flower out of a teal fabric that it the same pattern as the gray-thoughts?)

So, on facebook I heard a request for this in red.  Any other requests?

Giveaway time!! (CLOSED)

I am having a giveaway over on my facebook page today! Check it out here!

Grace's new car seat cover

At the beginning of last week, I had no intention of recovering my daughter's car seat. It is a lot of unpicking and I didn't really want to be without her seat that long.

Then Tuesday came and my two boys both got their tonsils out.

Suddenly I was stuck on my living room couch. Jumping up every few minutes to fetch a different flavor of popsicle for my four year old in hopes the next flavor wouldn't hurt his "back throat." I was really bored!! I thought they would sleep more since they were on some pretty heavy pain meds, but nope! So as I itched to make it up to my sewing room, they, rightfully, continued to need my constant attention. So, I started looking around for projects to do on the couch.

Hmmm...I normally hate handwork. I sometimes don't finish a project just because I have to hand sew, and I had just cleaned out my unfinished projects the week before. Well, I was stuck in the house anyway, why not take apart my daughter's seat? So, I did!

I started with this

And turned it into this!

A little up close and personal with the piping...

I think she likes it...

And a little bit of what really happens when we try to take pics at our house...

He's a camera lover. He was totally posing like this...and she wasn't about to move out of HER seat. haha!

Haha!

Well, I did say I am loving yellow and gray! I just noticed the skirt I just posted matches my blog! haha!

Yellow/Gray Skirt

I am loving all the cute yellow and gray stuff out there right now! So when I saw this fabric as I walked through Joann's last week, I couldn't resist. That combined with this tutorial and tadah! A new skirt for me! I had originally planned to do 3 rows of ruffles, but when I put 3 on the skirt, I felt like proportions were off, so I just went for one along the very bottom. I love it! It is super comfy- always a plus in a skirt- and I love the colors! Later this week, I have some aprons planned out of this same combination. I am excited to start sewing them!

Tags!

So my sister has convinced me to do this boutique in UT next month and I needed to make some tags to attach to the clothes I will be selling. So the other nap time (am I the only one who measures in naps?), I made a bunch of these! Simple, sweet, perfect!

Have you ever just had one of those days?

Of course you have! Everyone has! You know, when nothing goes right, you feel completely frazzled, and everything takes you 5 times longer than it should! Well, the other day was one of those days! So when evening came and kids were FINALLY in bed, I sat down at my sewing machine to make something just for me. Not only that, I was determine to finish it that night, so I could feel like I at least accomplished something that day! I finished it that night, despite a few times unpicking and REALLY wanting to just walk away. Here is the end result! I like it. I think I will make it again with a fuller bottom, but I like the concept, and I had all the materials on hand just sitting in my stash!

Hooded bath towel

I love a good hooded bath towel. They are super easy to make too. That being said, I have some pet peeves about the making of bath towels. I don't like when people use a washcloth for the hood. It is just NOT big enough (I may or may not still have a 6 yr old who uses one). I also think it is important to sew down that extra bit of fabric that sticks out from the seam. It only takes a minute and then there isn't a big lump of material on the top of their head. It just lays nice and flat! I figure, they don't take long, why not take the extra 5 minutes and make them right. Okay, enough of my rant!

P.S. Isn't my model cute! There may or may not have been some bribing involved to have him wear a "girl" towel in this pic!

Toddler carseat cover

This one was for a client. I really liked the fabric she picked. It would even fit on my daughter's car seat. I seriously thought about putting it on for a pic. Then I thought, "I should recover her seat." ....but then I remembered how long it took me to tear this one apart and the thought was gone. Enjoy!

Quick pic of a tie!

This was another item that sat in my to-sew pile. I am not sure why it never got sewn, but it finally did!

Ruffle Bottom Apron

I have another confession to make. Okay, maybe if you read the last post, this is nothing new. If I think a project is hard, or I am worried about how it will turn out, I procrastinate. This apron is the perfect example. I am pretty sure I have had a drawing of this apron floating around my sewing room for about 10 months. I have had all the pieces cut out for about 8 months. It was supposed to be a Christmas present last year, and I just ran out of time(and maybe a little motivation).

I came up with the idea after I made this child size apron. Sorry for the bad pic, it is from my phone.

What caused my procrastination this time? I was making this pattern up! I taught geometry, pattern making is like geometry to me, but still I was pretty new to sewing. I was just getting to the point where I could read a pattern without calling my mom. But, here I was, with no other sewing projects to do and that stack of cut up material staring me in the face. It was time to finish all those half finished projects and clear out my sewing room!

In the end, it is close to the picture I drew so many months ago, my only wish is that I had gathered the part where the top connects to the waist. Though, this version is really comfy! Live and learn!

Vintage Plane Bedding

So this bedding started with a curtain panel for colors and an americana/vintage plane theme in mind, and here is what it became!! I have to admit, I am not always into the Americana theme, but I LOVE the way this turned out!!

I think the cream fabric is my favorite. The slight pattern on it reminded me of propellers. Perfect for the theme!

I have also decided that I love appliques on boy bedding. It just gives them that little something they need! I was REALLY nervous to cut these out. I'll admit, I even procrastinated finishing this bedding a little because I was so nervous! I was having a hard time drawing an airplane. Finally I found a good pic of a model plane and traced it, but then I was nervous about all those little lines. Would they work? I was most worried about the small one for the bumper. Larger version= larger lines= less worry! In the end I just bit the bullet and did it, exacto knife in hand...and you know what? It turned out just fine!! Maybe even better than fine. :)

Guitar bedding

When I was setting up my fb page with all my sewing projects, I realized something. I really haven't made very many "boy" projects, or at least, not many I have taken pics of. As a mom of two boys I realized this didn't look good. No I don't just spoil my baby girl and the boys have received nothing over the years. I have made ties, super hero capes, crayon holders and a multitude of pajama shorts and pants. Let's face the facts, girl stuff is normally cuter and takes longer to make which warrants me getting excited when I finish it and taking a picture. So I wanted to make some boy bedding. It didn't take long for this idea to pop in my head. I had a few versions of it rolling around in there and I knew I needed a trip to the fabric store.

I am fairly handy with a pencil as long as the shape is not too detailed, so first I decided I wanted to make an applique of a guitar, but I didn't want too many, just a cute one in the back corner. I couldn't decide if I wanted hounds tooth, red minky, or red chevron fabric or what order I would put them in. First I REALLY wanted red chevron. Guess what? No one makes it! Really? Come on people! I thought for about a second about painting some, but quickly decided that would be way too much work and I am not sure if it would work. Next I was on the hunt for red minky, after 3 fabric stores with all 3 kids, no luck. Boo! Finally at fabric store #3 I found the hounds tooth and, randomly, grandma who helped with the kids-yay! The texture is soo nice and soft. It was perfect. From the beginning I wanted to do red, white and black, so the rest came easy!

This applique came out of necessity! I was worried about the hounds tooth being too much on the sheet and bugging my eyes, so I needed something to break it up! I kind of wish the guitar were white, but I thought the hounds tooth would show through and the red might turn it pink, so black it is!

I always make the crib skirt first. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it is the most work and I want to get it over with! When I finished this I instantly had visions of race car bedding. Anyone else?

And last but not least the finished product. I have to say, I love the appliques and they will probably be showing up again soon. You have to add something besides a ruffle to that boy bedding!

Hope you like it!!

Allred bedding

Oh, how I loved sewing this bedding. It was inspiring to sew. I would lie in bed at night and think of new projects inspired by this bedding. It was like reading a great book. All I wanted to do all day was work on it and when I wasn't working on it, I was thinking about it! My favorite project so far!

A blog for my sewing projects

Well, we'll see if I actually keep this one up to date!