Sunday, July 13, 2008

More Makeup Bags

So, a certain blogger gave me a couple of yards of very cute Amy Butler green polka dots when I was out in San Francisco least month. It is perfect for makeup and to carry other little goodies. Although it is only July, I am already planning out what I want to make for the Bust Craftacular coming up in December, which is going to include little bags like this one.

To give the bag a little more structure, I used batting between the polka dots and yellow lining. I also added some adorable grosgrain ribbon to the little strap, just to make it sassy.





I offered Amy a little something in exchange for the fabric and all I could get her to agree to is a case for her sunglasses. It should be super cute. Hopefully I will have time next weekend to try making one.

A Dress For Brielle

I am in a countdown to meeting little Brielle, who turned three months old yesterday. In anticipation of our first meeting, I wanted to make her a little present. I used the Oliver + S party dress pattern. It is labeled easy and for the most part it was. My only trouble came attaching the bodice to the skirt. I managed to create matching puckers in the middle of the front and the back. Boo. I ironed them like crazy and am hoping no one will notice.

I also want to take this moment to give my sewing machine a big shout out. My Brother sewing machine is awesome. The pattern calls for buttons and due to some unfortunate buttonhole attempts with my old machine, I was very very very apprehensive to ever doing buttonholes again. And let's not even talk about the button setting. With gritted teeth, I tried the buttonhole setting and it worked like a charm. Feeling a little more confident, I went for the button feature and that was even easier. Who knew it could be like this? I am a changed woman. More confident, ready to face the world, one buttonhole at a time.

The Second Twin Quilt



So there are two little ladies in Los Angeles waiting for their quilts. I purposefully picked very different fabrics for each girl but I will leave it up to their mom to decide which one will get the seersucker quilt and which one will get this fun animal print. I quilted flowers and circles on the seersucker quilt but went for the simple stripes with this one. It was my first attempt using the quilting guide with my machine and did alright - if you look closely, the lines get a little wavy, but that can be chalked up to the charm of homemade, right?

Here You Go Mom!




Here is the finished quilt I made for my mom. I goofed on the math when I calculated my block pieces. Rather than take the time to fix each block piece by piece, I ended up going for a simpler pattern with the bigger pieces and then framing it with the smaller pieces. I backed with a light blue, used white binding and quilted in the ditch. It should look perfect as a throw in my mom's family room.

No More Streaking!


After way too many mad dashes from the bathroom to my bedroom in my fishbowl apartment, I finally made myself this wonderful robe. The picture doesn't do it justice since I have been wearing every day for the past week - if I was a good blogger, I would have ironed it first, but getting this post up seemed more important than a little ironing.

I used the pattern posted below with this adorable floral print I picked up fabric shopping in the Garment District with Charlotte. I made a couple of changes to the pattern to simplify it a bit. I skipped the decorative lace and skipped the pockets. Overall, I am incredibly pleased with how it fits and how it looks. Next up, a new nightgown from the same pattern.

Where Have I Been?

Busy sewing. Too busy to even blog about all of my projects. Fourth of July Weekend was a giant sewing fest in my apartment. By Sunday, I was delirious and ready for a quilting break. I also cranked out some more goodies today. So without further ado, here are my projects. I am going to break up the posts for easier uploading.