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!

Breastfeeding Pads -Or- What To Do With Old Flannel Blankets

With a newborn baby there's one thing that's constantly on my mind: Breastfeeding. And everything that goes along with it. These nursing pads are lined with layers of flannel from old, ugly blankets on the inside and newer cute flannel on the outside. I actually made these a couple years ago when Lincoln was a baby and now I'm using them again with Ivory.

My favorites are the ones with the pink flowers. The pretty/fun fabric puts a smile on my face when I use them. Why not spice up an otherwise ordinary item? It makes life just a little brighter. Another bonus: these breastfeeding pads soak up more milk than the store-bought cloth pads I have.

Ribbon Flowers 2: Black Eyed Susan

I'm continuing with my wire ribbon flower adventures at my mom's house. Yesterday I did indeed finish the black eyed susan I had started before.

Source

Aren't these cheery? I love to see black eyed susans growing alongside the road in the summer. And although it's March, I just couldn't resist making this flower when I saw the pattern in the book.

Cute, isn't it? And even cuter on the girl. It still needs to be put on a clip, and then probably on a headband until Ivory's hair is thick enough to keep it in (although her hair is certainly long enough!). I might have to borrow it from her in the meantime. Or maybe we'll just share it always :)

Since Pfaffy is all alone in a dark storage unit for a week or two I hand-sewed the whole flower. This way I got to hold a cute baby on my lap and sit on a couch!

My favorite part was pulling the gathering stitches together. It was so satisfying! I didn't have any clear nail polish or Fray Check, so I singed the raw edges of the ribbon. You can see the burn marks here from the back view of the flower.

 The button for the "black eye" came from my mom's stash. And speaking of that...

Here are the ribbons I was telling you about. She likes to organize by color the same way I like to line up my M&Ms by color when I'm eating a handful. Pretty, aren't they?

And here are the books I used. The black eyed susan is in A Passion For Ribbonry by Camela Nitschke. Alexander's ribbon roses came from The Artful Ribbon by Candace Kling. The second book has lots of pictures of vintage clothing embellished with ribbons alongside instructions for many, many flowers. It's fun to look at, though somewhat old-fashioned. The instructions were clear and quite thorough. The first book has more fresh ribbon flowers (if ribbon flowers can be fresh!). The hat-decorating projects are a bit too dated for a young, hot, hip, 2011 mamma like me (cough, cough), but the flowers themselves are really fun and the instructions were great.

Next time I'll show you the first wire ribbon flower I started: some sort of geranium. I have to find it, though. It's so little that I'm not sure where it ended up!

Happy crafting!

Ribbon Roses (Ribbon Flowers 1)

I realize I have nothing green in this post for St. Patrick's Day today. Lately my life has been taken over by the color pink. It's been loads of fun! I have so much baby stuff to blog about, and pictures to go with it. Unfortunately, those pictures are all on my home computer which is temporarily in storage while we move to our new house. Guess what else is in storage? ALL my sewing and craft supplies. All of it.

Lucky for me I'm at my mom's house while we're between houses. She's been known to have a stash of her own. The last couple days I've been trying out her ribbons and flower ribbon books. My six year old took this picture of me:

(You can see where my wedding ring goes. It still feels too tight to wear comfortably, even though I'm not pregnant anymore. I'm thinking I need to get it resized... Um... Okay, now back to my story.) My son likes to be a part of whatever I'm doing. He looked through a book and picked out a pink rose to make for Ivory to wear in her hair. So I temporarily abandoned the little flower I was attempting so I could help him. Well I ended up spending quite a bit of time on the rose "he" was making, but it was worth doing it together.

All my clips and brooch pins are packed (Did I mention that already?), so we improvised by safety pinning the flowers to Ivory's shirt. These two roses were made from the same pink-to-red wire ribbon.

She is one month/four weeks old today! I love this age.

Next time I'll show you the little pink geranium flower I made, and the black eyed susan that I'll hopefully finish today (kids willing). Now I'm going to go kiss my baby. After I pinch her for not wearing green.

My Little Sweetheart

I'd like to introduce you to one of my best creations ever. My little Ivory was born last Thursday and she has been filling my life with joy ever since. She's also been filling all the baby clothes and gear that had been waiting for her.

The Boppy pillow is so much cuter with her on it:

And my childhood American Girl doll looks nothing in the Stella Pixie hat knockoff compared to my real baby doll:

Here's a closeup of the little munchkin:

Here she is cuddled up on the blanket from her brother:

And, just to show that she can open her eyes:

Have a sweet day! Okay, one more picture: