Quick Change Trousers

Last week I got my copy of Anna Maria Horner's New Beginnings in the mail.  There are so many things that I want to make in this book.  I also had another ultrasound last week confirming that I am indeed pregnant with another little boy.  At my first ultrasound when I heard it was a little boy, I was ever so slightly sad that I wasn't having a little girl because there are so many things to sew for girls.  However, I've since realized there are plenty of ideas and things to sew and make for little boys.

Let's start with these new little Quick Change Trousers.  These pants are about the cutest things I think I've ever made.  They are completely reversible with a little yoke on the backside to give them a little more personality.

I'm in love.  You will definitely see me make more of these pants over the next couple of months.  They are very simple to sew which will hopefully insure that I'll make them again (and again and again).

I have grand plans of making several onesies for my new baby boy.  To go with the Quick Change Trousers, I appliqued a whale on to the onesie because in Italian our last name means whale.

Now I'm thinking the only thing this outfit is missing is booties.  I'll add that to the list of things that I need to sew which keeps getting longer instead of shorter!!

Creating.

I had cleared the whole agenda for today.  I was going to do my run later in the day.  I was back from dropping the kids off at school by 8am.  I was already dressed!  I was going to allow myself to sew all.day.long.  It was going to be epic.  And awesome.

At 10:30am, the phone rang.  It was the substitute coordinator at the school:

"Hello Mrs. Earnest.  Are you available to come in this afternoon...(asked in a very tentative voice)"

I answered back in a super chipper voice (even to my surprise), "Of course.  I'll be right in."

And there went my epic day of sewing.  Here's where I was at, right before I left:

I was in the process of figuring out if this little collection of fabrics could become anything before Feb. 14th?!

Happily I had just barely finished two more Wristlets before I answered the phone:

This owl print remains one of my favorites though it's been in the stash for years.  Makes me wish I'd use it more often.

Coordinating fabric on the inside:

Here's one thing I learned from doing it wrong the first time.  If you don't sew the bag with the perfect 1/2" seam allowance that the pattern calls for, you will end up with a little gap next to the zipper, like mine has:

Totally happy I didn't have to learn that lesson over again!  Here's a link to the pattern again.  It remains my favorite purse ever since I made it a few weeks ago.  I think I've carried it everyday since then.  You should have one too!  These ones are off to be loved by other friends...

Finally, when getting back out to the sewing garage wasn't happening, I decided to create a treat in honor of Family Home Evening instead.  Darin brought home a box of Duncan Hines Milk Chocolate Chunk Decadent Brownie Mix.  It was by far the best brownies from a mix I've ever tasted.  Of course, they had to suggest taking them to the next level with this recipe HERE.  I just so happen to have all of the necessary ingredients on hand, so we took them to the next level! 

YUM!!

I'll be subbing again tomorrow, so my collection of fabrics will probably continue to sit on the cutting table for a few more days.  It's unlikely that the brownies will last past breakfast.  

Have fun creating.

Take Two

A couple of week ago I made this dress for Grace.  It was my first attempt at making it, and without having a pattern I was pretty pleased with the results, but I wanted to try again.  So I did.  Saturday night after my date with the Italian, I stayed up until 2 a.m. (because I'm crazy) finishing my second take at this dress.

I fixed a couple of things on this dress that bugged me about the last one.  First I made it longer, so that I could attach the skirt portion of the dress to the top right below the sleeves.  I couldn't do this on the last dress because it would have made the dress too short, and I don't like little girls in dresses that are too short.  However, on my second take I think I might have made it too long.  Just a bit.  Room to grow which is good.  I really like the fabric I used (the two Amy Butler prints are my favorite), so I won't mind seeing them for several months (years).

I also attached the rick rack before attaching the skirt which helped me to not stretch the shirt out.  Last time I felt like the shirt got really stretched out as I was trying to sew the rick rack to it.  Note to self and all our readers:  Knit stretches, so be careful when sewing with it!

I haven't perfected the lace trim on the gathered layer of the skirt.  My intention is for it to be only the width of the panel on the skirt that has the lace trim running vertically along it.  Don't worry I have all my calculations written down, so next time (yes I will attempt this dress again) I'm pretty sure I know how to fix it.

Who knows next time I make it I might even have a tutorial to share.  Spring is around the corner and I'm thinking this style would convert easily to a short sleeves shirt or tank top instead of long sleeves.  I'm working on it.  Stay tuned.

For now though I'm just going to admire my latest creation and my daughter who likes to pick weeds because she thinks they are flowers.  She sees the beauty in everything.  I love it.

Happy Sewing this week!  Off to bed!

Pillow Contest

Earlier this week I posted my LOVE pillow.  (For all our loyal followers, so sorry to repost this in the same week.  I promise next week I have new and exciting things to share!)  I love this pillow, and while I made it for Valentine's Day, it may just stay on my chair for a wee bit longer, so I can continue to admire it.  At first I wasn't going to submit it for the Stitched In Color Blogger's Pillow Party this month because I thought it was too simple of a design, but as the week has worn on I decided that I love my LOVE pillow too much to not enter it in the contest!  (Not to mention cutting out letters is anything but simple!)

I pulled the idea from a pillow a friend showed me as well as the Love Statue.  I chose to slant my O in love because, as I stated earlier this week, I think that love can be unpredictable, has it's ups and downs, and has power beyond measure.  So those are my deep and profound thoughts on love and why I chose to follow the original Love Statue and slant my O.

I also have my LOVE pillow resting on the chair that sits in the same corner as my Anna Maria Horner shrine, and it accurately expressed how I feel about all of her fabrics.  However, I do have to confess that the fabric I used to make my LOVE pillow is not Anna Maria.  Gasp!  I actually went with Amy Butler's Lotus fabric.  I like they way it complimented the bright red felt that I put under it.

On the back I used a scrap of a fabric designed by MoMo for Moda.  I literally only had a scrap that I found in a bin at a fabric shop I went to during Freedom Fest, so I'm not even sure what design line of MoMo fabric it came from, and in order to put a zipper in the pillow it ended up in the middle of the back.  I think the pretty fabric makes up for the odd placement of the zipper.

I hope the judges love my LOVE pillow as much as I do!

Good idea.

Not so good execution.  Sometimes even I make things that I rather think don't deserve a post.  But it's proof that I did touch my sewing machine today.  And when I'm feeling sorry for myself in a few days about how little I've been able to sew, I'll be happy to look back and see that the machine and I did have a few moments together today.

I saw a link to these adorable baby teethers over on homemade by Jill.  I suddenly remembered that I had a baby shower to attended, and that I do so love bringing even just one small thing handmade.  But I'm not sure these are going to make the cut.  I followed Jill's additions and added the layer of batting and that layer of wipes plastic.  It's true that they end up sounding just like a wipes bag, which I remember the babies love.  But I do not like the hand sewn closure.  Mine obviously turned out poorly, and with the added layers, it's just hard for it to get a nice finish.  I'm not sure what to do about that.  Also, the pattern I think is a bit too small.  Were I to start over, I'd definately try making the whole thing bigger.  Somehow I think this would help iliminate some of the difficulties I had.  Who knows.  Maybe it just wasn't my night for sewing.

I sure hope I get a second date with my sewing machine before the week is over! 

I seriously need to redeem myself after this post!! 

My Bow Bag

Have you tried the Bow Bag Tutorial on our sidebar??  I'm sure I'm a little bias, but Annee's tutorial is perfection!  I cut out my bag last week and sewed it together last night.  It was quick and easy, and the sewing experience was painless as I walked through Annee's thorough instructions.  Thank you, Sew Sister!!

On the inside of my Bow Bag I used some Joel Dewberry fabric that I've been storing in my stash since last summer.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to using it, but I think it was the perfect compliment to my Ikea yellow stripes.  I put my Birdseed Gathered Clutch inside my bag.  It's holding really important papers (JoAnn's coupons).

If you are looking for a quick project and a cute addition to your accessories, you should try the Bow Bag tutorial.  It won't disappoint!

LOVE

Last year I was the Banner Queen.  I seriously probably made 100 banners.  Okay, maybe not that many, but it sure felt like it.  Hence the tutorial on our sidebar.  I still love banners, but my house only needed so many.  Now I'm on a pillow kick, and my house totally doesn't need any more pillows, but don't think that will stop me!!  A friend and MOM follower showed me this LOVE pillow that reminded me of the LOVE statue.  The original is in Philadelphia, but I walked by a replica quite often as a crazy co-ed at my alma mater.

As soon as I saw the link, I knew where I wanted to go with my own love pillow.  I slanted the O because it needed a slant like the statue.  I mean as a one time declared humanities minor (for like two semesters) had I written a paper analyzing why the artist, Robert Indiana, slanted the O in his sculpture I would have written about how the slanted letter symbolizes that love isn't always perfect, it doesn't always happen the way we want it to, we fall in love unexpectedly, etc.  So I knew the O needed a slant.  Love just needs a slant.  I also spiced my pillow up with a bias tape trim.  So simple, but I think it added the perfect finishing touch.

I also used a scrap for the back of this pillow, so the zipper ended up in the middle of the back which probably isn't my favorite, but I wanted a zipper closure, and I wanted to use the scrap, so I'm happy enough with it.  I used my favorite zipper tutorial to help with the zip.

I have two brown leather chairs that both needed a love pillow for balance in my living room, so the second pillow I made for the Valentine's Day month is another  V and Co. gathered heart pillow.  I just reversed the fabric.  Instead of using white fabric as my outer fabric, like I did for Grace and George's pillow, I used it as my gathered heart.  Totally easy pillow and has more color.  I'm nothing but in love with color.  The more the merry I say!

And of course the LOVE pillow needed to rest on the leather chair closest to my Anna Maria shrine, because this is the corner of my house that I love the most.

Do you have any fun Valentine's Day decor to share??