Bath Mat

I'm slowly able to complete occasional projects (which is better than not completing any at all!), including this bath mat. We needed a mat to fit in the narrow space between the bath and the toilet. It also needed to be quite long in order to catch as many of the splashes and drips that Rhys produces when he's in the tub. This was the solution. It's a towel folded lengthwise in half with squares from my scrap basket appliqued on. I think it works quite well, and it's washable to boot.

Thomas Jammies

I've managed to sew only a couple of things in the last couple of months. I made Rhys a two pairs of Thomas the Tank Engine pajama bottoms, which are very, very loved.

Here is Rhys showing off one of the pairs of Thomas jammies.


I am so tired today. Rhys and his dad went to Santa Fe to do a couple of errands, and Alanna and I stayed home so I could nap. We had a lovely 4th of July- a barbeque at a friend's house, and then we watched fireworks from the driveway. We live very close to where they're set off in the county, so we can see them easily. This year, we watched them sitting in chairs in the back of the pickup, so we could see all but the lowest explosions. Rhys had a blast! (ha ha)

Back in the saddle- 5 months later

Well, I'm back. And 6 months pregnant. Which explains a lot, actually.

I don't do early pregnancy well.

I managed to complete some projects, though most of them after December when I was (finally!) feeling better. I had big plans for making lots of Christmas presents, but ended up buying or skipping or owing presents instead. My hubby did get a crocheted wool hat, which he seems to like a lot- if I took a random picture of him, he'd probably be wearing it.

A list of things I've finished:

• 1 pillow for the couch (with doilies)
• 1 pink crocheted scarf for my cousin
• 1 absolutely adorable crocheted wool hat for Rhys (that's now lost somewhere)
• 3 lentil bags (I was out of dried beans)
• 1 crocheted hat for my hubby
• 1 crocheted hat for me
  
• 1 very soft pillow case for me
• 1 "heaty"- a rice filled bag to warm in the microwave and put on sore body parts or cold feet
  
• 2 green and black fancy pillow cases for the bed
• 3 toy bags (more on this later)
• 3 shirts for me (more on this later)
• 1 skirt for me (more on this later)
• 1 crocheted hat for my mom (picture below)
  

I guess that's not too bad considering my son and I watched more t.v. in September and October than I thought possible. I spent most of those two months nauseous on the couch.

Mom's hat (with her modeling it):

I liked it so well- and it was so quick to do- that I made one for myself out of warmer colors. It's pretty comfy, if not really warm, too. I made a flower for Mom's hat and wasn't thrilled with the result, but she added it to the hat, and I think it was a good addition. I may do the same for mine someday.

Very Sassy Apron

Well, here is my apron for the Sassy Apron Swap. I love it... so much so that I don't want to send it away! I had almost enough material to do two of them, so I quickly made myself another one this afternoon, with just a few pieces that were pieced together. However, because I was in sort of a hurry (Rhys could have woken up at any time, but luckily he took a little longer nap today), I fudged up in a couple of places, so my apron is more of a second; in other words, it would be rejected by quality control. Also, as I was wearing it this afternoon, I have to admit I felt a little overdressed to make dinner and clean the house. I'm not really a flouncy girlie girl unless I'm getting dressed up for some reason, but maybe this sort of apron makes housework more glamorous!!

My New AK Bag and a Baby Blanket

Here's my new AK (Amy Karol) bag. It's brown in part because I'm thinking of it as my "autumn bag", but also because I wear a lot of browns and don't have a bag to match. It only has one outside pocket, and already I want to modify it some. On my original bag (with two outside pockets) I added velcro to close both outside pockets. I have found it kind of annoying that I can't just drop my car keys in one of the outside pockets without undoing the Velcro, so on every bag I've made since I've not put any Velcro on the outside pockets. Now, I'm finding it annoying that the un-Velcroed pocket means that it flops open, especially when there are keys in it. Hmmm. Also, I think I want to (on future bags) add another inside pocket with a zipper or Velcro closure; I need to have more small compartments for the little things (like band-aids) I carry with me all the time. On a positive note, I really like how the colors turned out. The majority of the bag is made from what I think is a wool suiting that I got virtually for free at a garage sale. I have a ton of it, too, and it would be great for more bags.

I'm finally spending time playing with my serger. This is a quick baby blanket I serged together and I really like how the serging acts as a design element by making all the edges wavy and also makes it a finished piece. I'm still trying to reduce my stash of fabrics.... so I have room to get more! These two fleece pieces I bought back in my crazy pregnant days when I thought I'd make some cute little outfit for my own infant. Ha! They had sat neatly folded on a shelf until I made this over the weekend, and my baby turned 2 not long ago. Now, I just need a little baby to give it to.

Not Your Grandma's Doily

Actually, not mine, either.

I've inherited a bunch of hand crocheted, tatted, and machine-made lace and doilies from my great aunt Muriel. I'm very excited about them- I'm not sure others always understand why, especially when they look at me with a funny look on their faces. I'm just convinced that there are new things to do with all these wonderful handmade lacy pieces of fabric, and I am determined to use them. It's not usually fashionable nowadays to have little doilies sitting around the house, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of them floating around, stuffed in boxes, hidden in the back of drawers, or otherwise being stored all over the country, I'm sure. Some of us are unwilling to give up this craft of our foremothers due to sentimentality, and others just want to get rid of them and move on. And here is where I fit in: I'm trying make them useful again!

My newest projects:

A doily pillow.

Zippered doily pouches.


I'm already using one of the pouches as a wallet of sorts and I love it!

I should also note: I inherited some doilies, but they are currently still in Colorado at my parents' house. These doilies I picked up at a garage sale: a dozen for 50 cents. What a bargain!

The Amy Karol Bag

So, someday, if I have a small crafting/sewing business.... I'll offer the "Amy Karol" bag for sale. Of course, I'll have to get Amy Karol's permission, etc., but I'm naming this bag after her because of the inspiration I got from making a couple of the Pleated Beauty Handbags from her Bend the Rules Sewing book and bag swap. I modified the construction and size, and added exterior pockets, but I'm very proud of the final product! It is the right size for carrying a good hardback book and a nalgene water bottle, without being too big or floppy. Or I can carry a two-year old's water bottle, a snack, and a couple of play cars... and a good paperback book and a nalgene water bottle.

My Amy Karol bag: wild and crazy, mismatched lining, handles, and pleats! An exterior pocket on both front and back, and much of it made of sturdy cotton duck. I absolutely love it!



And, the Amy Karol bag I made for my cousin, Katie. Somehow, she's always seemed like a perfect purple to me. So, he bag is certainly purple! On hers, the lining, handles, pockets, and pleats are all the same fabric. It has only one exterior pocket, but I also added a magnetic clasp to the main compartment.



If I ever get my business going I'll have to find a cheaper source for magnetic clasps- I think the clasp cost (at Hobby Lobby) as much as all the fabric together for the bag.

Mother's Day Apron

My mom wanted an apron for Mother's Day, so I made her one. She will get it this week when we go to visit my parents this coming week.

It is based on the Emmeline Apron from Sew Liberated, though I have some changes to make if I do it again. It was really fun to figure out, and I used up some more of my stash of fabric that I've had for years. The Emmeline is reversible; this one is almost: I had to add the front pocket because the long darts in front poinked out instead laying flat. I suppose I could have added a pocket on the back and it could have been reversible. How funny would it be to have an apron that was reversible but looked the same on both sides!

I picked up the dress form at a garage sale for $10 a few weeks ago. I love it!

Flower Power

Expanding on my new obsession with applique, I refashioned a t-shirt last week. The coolest thing was it only took me about and hour, and my mother's helper was here playing with Rhys while I did it. I took a plain red t-shirt (Old Navy, but I got it at Savers for $2) and added the flower by using other t-shirt scraps (also from Savers) and a fuzzy blue center (a scrap from a crib quilt I made Rhys last year). It's too bad it's so hard to take a good picture of myself wearing it!

Finished Pleated Beauty Bag

Well, here it is. This is a Pleated Beauty Handbag from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing. I'm in a bag swap, so this is the bag I made for my person, Rachel, in MI. I haven't taken a picture of the bag I got from my person in CA, but will do so at some point. I really enjoyed making the bag- it's a different challenge to know you're making something for someone you don't know. To everyone else I've given things I've made I've always added the caveat: "Let me know if it falls apart and I'll fix it!" With this bag, however, I really made sure I was doing everything very sturdily with extra attention to finishing and the details. I hope she likes it! Even though I'm not an automatic fan of pink, I think I would keep this bag if I weren't set on sending it off. I really like how the reverse applique on the front turned out, and I like how bright and warm it is, too.

First T-Shirt Refashion

Well, here's a new t-shirt that I made from two others. I so love it! And I'm proud of it, too. I went on a Saver's splurge this weekend (mostly because the closest Saver's is 100 miles away and I don't get the chance to do this very often). I took a plain black v-neck and spliced it with a crazy patterned shirt. I've always had a problem with the average t-shirt being a little too short, so I cut off a strip of the crazy red shirt and sewed it to the bottom of the black one. I kept both the bottom hems of the shirts so they look really finished. Then I did a reverse applique thingy on the shoulder and some fancy stitch-work to dress it up. Voila!

Spacey Bean Bag

We went to a birthday party yesterday for our friend Christopher. He turned 3 years old. I made him this bean bag because, well, everyone needs a cool bean bag! I was hoping to find a matching book about space, but didn't find one geared toward 3 year-olds. His mom let me know today that he's had fun tossing the bean bag around (and they like the book I did get him which is about seeds and growing them), which is exactly what a bean bag is for. In my quest for applique, this is another thing that turned out well. It's such a versatile technique!