Small World Bibs

Ikea bibs embellished with Alexander Henry's Small World fabric and fun felt scraps. This was for a baby shower gift for my niece Emma. I wish I had gotten a better picture. This fabric is some of my favorite. I've got a Small World quilt for Ivory in the works. Really it's just in the planning stages right now, but I'm pretty excited about it.

Blessing Cap and Shoes

Hello! It's been a long time since I've posted. I had forgotten that I hadn't finished this post that I started ages ago. I actually made an heirloom! Two of them! Well, three of them, if you count each little shoe separately.

Ivory wore a real family heirloom gown for her baby blessing that many of her female relatives* wore for their own blessing or christening. Including Yours Truly. The various parts of the dress were made by my great-grandmothers, and the slip was even made from a pillowcase belonging to my great-great grandmother. That's Ivory's great-great-great grandmother!

*Ivory's mother, maternal grandmother, great aunt, all her maternal aunts and female cousins, and 3 first-cousins-once removed.

I wanted her also to wear something special and homemade that she would be able to keep as her own. I used some lace and ribbon my mom had lent me to make a blessing cap and tiny shoes.

(Photos of Ivory taken by Deborah Harroun)

Isn't she the sweetest? I wanted the cap to be a special heirloom. But that thought was so intimidating that I had to put it aside before I got the courage to start sewing! 

Various ideas I doodled before choosing one.

Here's my final pick. Strips of the embroidered, raw-edge lace sewn together into a long rectangle. With matching, scalloped-edge lace for the ruffled front.

I sewed a casing on the back and fed some ribbon through it.

I tightened the ribbon and tied it in a bow to form the cap shape.

Ta da!

Now on to the little shoes...

I literally made these the morning of Ivory's blessing (church doesn't start until 1pm, thank goodness). I made them in the same general manner of the ribbon ballet slippers I made earlier in the year. 

They are teeny-tiny! So I only made her wear them once. Twice. It was worth it, though, especially since she gets to keep them!  (And since it didn't take me long to make them.)

There you go, Sweetheart.

Cowboy Cac-tie

Cactus ties to wear to the concert of our favorite singing cowboys, The Riders in the Sky.

Too Slim, the bassist, is the inspiration for the cac-tie.

You might think you don't know this cowboy band, but I think you'd recognize some of their music:

Here are the boys waiting for the concert to begin, wearing their Too Slim cac-ties. Yes, that is a snail in Lincoln's hand. Boys will be boys!

Here we are after the concert:



The Riders signed the backs of the boys' ties. What a fun keepsake! (BTW, does Alexander's shirt look familiar?)

The ties were simple to make and hardly took any time at all. I could have made them more complicated, but why? I used a single layer of felt for most of it and stitched around the edges to keep it in shape. I used a tie we already had for getting the basic tie shape, and just free-handed the cactus "arms."

I did put an extra layer of felt on the backs of the cactus "arms" so they would reach skyward. Don't forget to add a couple blooms!

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I had never actually tied a tie before. A YouTube tutorial remedied my inexperience. It wasn't hard at all! Why do we use clip-on ties, anyway? They're so tricky to make, and the clips can be pricey. I love the authenticity of a real tie. I plan to make some real real ties too (i.e. not clip-on and not cactus-shaped).

You can purchase an authentic Riders in the Sky Cac-tie on their website, here:
http://ridersinthesky.com/index.htm?inc=80&prod_id=3692&sid=17419

Lace and Ribbon Rose Cuff Bracelet

 

Remember a few months back when I was making ribbon flowers at my mom's house? This is one that I had leftover. The rose is made from grosgrain (the ribbon, not the "fabulous" blog!) and the leaves from a satin ribbon.

 

The embroidered lace was left over from Ivory's blessing cap (Have I blogged that yet??). I took an extra wide ribbon for the back of the cuff and folded it lengthwise over the raw edges of the lace.

 

At first I had metal hooks and loops, but the cuff looked too metally (like my mouth when I had braces a few years back). So I took off the loops and stitched some from thread. The exposed loops give it an old-fashioned corset look, I think. Very romantic.

 

As you can see, one of the satin leaves is snagged. That's what I get for not taking pictures before I wore it so many times! I guess now I can call it "shabby chic."

I have sensitive wrists, so I don't wear bracelets and watches very often. This is one that won't give me a rash because it's made of fabric with no metal parts touching my skin! Another romantic element!

Baby Dress

Hi there! It's been awhile since I've posted, but not for a lack of "stuff" to blog about. Does anyone else have a hard time doing everything they want to do? My life story. Anyway, here's a dress I made for Ivory a couple of months ago. It's made from two fat quarters. The fabric is called "Spa" by Rosemarie Lavin for Windham Fabrics.

I copied a dress from Target. Plagiarizing a finished piece of clothing is more interested to me than following a pattern. It was still a bit chilly when I took these pictures, hence the long sleeves underneath the dress.

It turned out a little short, so it's more like a pinafore top. I might add another skirt tier, or at least make a matching diaper cover.

Mmmmmm...grass. And yes, the front of her dress is wet. What can ya do?

Detachable flower pin/clip.

I have plans to make more of these little dresses. Also perhaps a tutorial...?

Spiced Up Table

I like to keep a vinyl cover on my wooden kitchen table to protect it from a little something I like to call My Kids. I replace the vinyl every couple of years. This time I decided to make it pretty.

I use the heaviest gauge vinyl I can find at JoAnn and tape it down under the lip of the table. I know someone who sews an elastic casing into her vinyl tablecloth, but I find that masking tape works great for me, though it does leave a sticky residue.

I rounded the corners of the fabric and singed the edges to see if it would help it not to fray, but I'm not sure if it worked. I did leave the selvage edge in tact on one side, as you can see. The fabric is home decorator weight. It lays flat pretty well because of its thickness, though I would have used regular quilting cotton if I had found a pattern I liked more.

Lincoln demonstrates how the table looks all set and ready for (me to still make) dinner.

Next time I think I'll try again to find a pattern that's less busy. I like how it at least coordinates with my dishes, though. It brightens up my kitchen quite a bit.

Reactions

Hi All! I added some fun reactions check boxes to the bottom of my posts. This makes it really easy to leave a little feedback without actually writing a comment. Think of it as a Facebook "like" button, but with better options!

I have a few more things I'll be posting soon. I'm finally starting to get my sewing/crafting area unpacked and set up. I even used my machine last night for the first time since we moved in March! Hurray!

Infant Ballet Slippers

I made these dainty little baby shoes by hand out of ribbons and a bit of elastic. I love the way they look on Ivory. And they weren't difficult to make, either.

First I cut a wired ribbon the length of the bottom of her foot, rounded the toes, and made the heels slightly narrower (it was already the perfect width: about 1.5"). I used wired ribbon because that's what I had, but it wouldn't have to be wired. In fact, I ended up pulling the wires out in the end so they wouldn't poke my baby's feet. Next I cut a piece of ribbon long enough to go all the way around the outline of the foot. Then I singed the cut edges of the ribbon so they wouldn't unravel.

I simply sewed the long ribbon around the edge of the foot-shaped ribbon, with right sides together (actually, I don't know if there was a right and wrong side to these particular ribbons, but you catch my drift). I placed the elastic in the casing as I sewed it. Then I tied and cut off the elastic tails to fit her feet.

After that I stitched the ribbon ties on each side of the shoe (on the inside). I like to be true to the way a real ballerina ties her pointe shoes, but I also like the bow too much to tug in the "piggy tails" instead.

I love these little ballet slippers. I plan to make another pair in white (or should I say "ivory") for Ivory's blessing day.

Famous Fabric Designers and... Me!

This week has been fun. The Quilter's Market has been in town, along with some of my favorite fabric designers. I don't have the "ins" to go to the big show, but some of the the show came to me! Both Amy Butler and Heather Bailey made appearances at my local quilting store, Material Girls, for a meet and greet.

Amy Butler came on Tuesday. My mom and I went together. Amy Butler was so sweet. She really took time to talk to each of us and to answer our questions thoroughly.

She signed a fabric quarter for me! I plan to put it above my sewing desk.

Heather Bailey came on Friday. More fun! This time my mom wasn't able to come with me. But I met some really fun girls while we were waiting for our turn to meet Heather. And, of course, I had my sweet Ivory with me. (She's a great conversation starter!) Heather Bailey is absolutely gorgeous. She is also very friendly. She talked to a group of us for a long time and included us all in the conversation.

Here are some Heather Bailey fabrics along with the fat quarter she signed for me.

She wrote "happy sewing" because I told her my plan to hang it over my sewing space for inspiration. I'm thinking of putting both autographs and some other favorite fabric on canvases or in frames in a fun arrangement. Won't that be inspiring?

I also bought a cute little elephant pattern. I would have had her sign it, but I just picked it up at the last minute right before I left.

I am so honored to have met these talented, successful women. I love that they create so much beauty for us all to enjoy.

Spring Wreath

A new wreath for my new house. Actually, I had the wreath before ($3-$4 at Joann), but I just added the flower garland around it ($5 at a Rod Works warehouse sale). I plan to dress it up for each season. Ahhh, springtime makes me happy.

If I were a marshmallow peeps fan I could probably work those in around the peep hole. What do you think? It's not really my thing, but it could be a craft blog sensation by next Easter (if it isn't already)!

Newborn Bibs

You know when you spend several minutes getting your baby into clean, fresh, adorable clothes and then—wham!—she spits up all over the front and neck of them and then you have to change her whole outfit all over again? Well, here's a little solution: spit up bibs. Then when she spits up unexpectantly you only have to change her bib!

I made two: ruffled and flowered. I think I need more in several colors!

She started getting fussy so I had to put her pacifier in for the rest of the pictures.

You might recognize the fabric from the Stella Pixie Hat Knockoff (here and here). I needed something to match the cute hat, since all of her clothes are pink.

So here they are, paired together:

See what happened when I pulled the "plug" out?

I made these bibs a few weeks ago but held off blogging them because I never put the fasteners on them. In the meantime I've been using safety pins. You know what? I have no idea when I'll get around to putting snaps or Velcro on them! They are not perfect, but they'll do!

While we're talking about bibs, I'll throw this in:





I just saw this picture of my nephew wearing one of the bibs I gave him. It's fun to see something I made actually being used. What a cutie he is!