I’ve been trying to find out more about the bed linens in . (I think the overall art direction of the movie is quite spectacular…candy for the eyes in my book.) So every once in a while I , lots of good articles to read but don’t really come up with anything telling me about those beds!
I did get my most recent issue of , and noticed the amazing by . Beautiful little gems of scarves, crocheted with really amazing color combinations, and they really remind me of those precious blankets on the kids’ beds in Nanny Mcphee.
Below scarves available at
Her are really, really precious. I love these little star flowers.
I don’t think you need me to say it, but I will in case you weren’t sure how I feel, kids can learn to use the sewing machine early. 4 or 5. Yep. It’s true! Michelle received a sewing machine for . Check out what this has already made and read about what her .
You can totally get your little one up and sewing. Check out for some (there are 3 total). (or come for a lesson at )
There is no need to purchase a “kids” sewing machine, they can learn on yours, or grandmas. Start with paper or felt so the kids can see what the needle does when they wind the flywheel or step on the pedal. Make something fun and simple. It’s fun and…in case you weren’t sure, sewing helps your kids practice eye/hand coordination, patternmaking, math, color theory….learning as it should happen…while playing.
Iz needs a blanket, as next week she will be napping at school once a week. I thought it would be fun if we picked out fabric and made a quilt, so we took a trip to . I love walking into the shop. Tons of color, tons of patterns and the people are always so nice. And – where to start? First things first, Iz was escorted to the bucket-o-toys. I knew she wouldn’t be into picking fabric, at least not for very long. I pulled out my little inspiration – a cloth swim diaper (sorry – no picture), aqua with pink and red and yellow flowers – and away we went. I love working with creative people who know their store and their product. There was really no browsing (ok – because I knew there was a time limit if Iz and I were out shopping together…), and this is what I came home with. 1/2 yard of each. It’s enough to make TWO 45ish by 54ish quilts. I was so excited, I came home and threw them in the wash right away (why is it that some people don’t wash before they sew? is it easier to handle? I am so worried about shrinkage, plus the sizing in the fabric is no good for my allergies – or my body for that matter – yuck…anyway….). As soon as it came out of the wash, up they went to get ironed dry.
I love my handy dandy rotary cutter and self healing mat. They are so wonderful. I could not imagine cutting 150 or so 7″ squares with scissors. Cutting is not my favorite thing (although Iz loves using her ladybug scissors – and is quite good at it too!). I think that if I couldn’t have cut these out quickly with my rotary cutter, the fabric you see above, would have turned into skirts (not a bad thing!). Surprisingly, Iz sat quietly on the floor of my studio while I cut these out. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. Maybe because she knows all of this is for her (well half – the other is for a future cousin)? Thinking back to it, she was so content. Is this a step towards more independence for both of us?
I was so excited, I didn’t take a photo of all the cut squares. They sure did look nice though.
I wanted a really random layout. One quilt needs to be done by next Monday (Iz will need it Tuesday morning), so I have been really excited to get started and finish! (my wonderful creative husband), wanted to help out. We’ve been trying to spend our evenings working together and not in front of the television, but rather reading books, working on our projects, helping each other. It’s much nicer than turning into a vegetable at night. He suggested mixing up the swatches before laying out the quilts. It’s what he does when he does his . So, away we went. It made it really easy to lay out each quilt. 7 squares by 8 rows. Once we finished I only rearranged 1 or 2 (can’t help it, too much training…). Then, how to mark them? I didn’t have a place big enough to keep them out in their order, no flannel sheet or sticky board to keep them in order. So I tagged each row. 1a, 1b, 1c and so on. Pinned in the upper left corner. EASY! So easy to take each pile and sew a row. Then sew the rows together. This is what one of them looks like:
I love how the back looks. Maybe an idea for another type of quilt? Have to research that…
Anyway – each top took me about an hour to piece together. Not bad. I was a little worried that they would take me longer, and I only have a week to finish. Iz really likes them. “Is that mine mama? Can I make a quilt too?” There is something wonderfully satisfying about making things for your children.
I love the size of the quilt and I don’t think I’m going to add a border. I think I’ll bind it (I’m leaning towards a green binding of some sort) and I think the back of the quilt will be some sort of orange. Although, I am a bit worried about the dirt factor – maybe something darker? I’m off to Valley Fabrics again tomorrow to find the backing, get the batting and find the fabric for the binding. I’m planning on machine quilting this, and can anybody tell me – Do I need a special foot for my sewing machine? or can I use the standard one? I was also thinking about rounding the corners, instead of leaving them square. I am planning on a bias binding. Any advice?
ps – This is my first quilt. I have dreamed of making quilts since I think about the 4th grade. A friends mother tried to get me started, but instead of cutting squares, she had me cut tons of triangles. She lost me there. Then, in high school, I had a self portrait project (I wish I could find it). I painted a lifesize me on fabric, then cut it up into squares and mixed it with other squares of fabric. Kind of a quilt, but I didn’t consider it a quilt then.
Ok, I should really be working on my little freelance project, Iz is at school, and this time is supposed to be devoted to my project (no worries, I’ll still make my deadline this week, but this “free time” is so rewarding and I just have to share what I’ve been clicking on…)
:: Actually just stumbled on this one this morning, from somewhere…was it ? It was so many clicks ago, I can’t remember. Love it. Love the guest moms, love the products. Is now a daily read.
:: She does some great tutorials, and finds some wicked cool vintage fabric and patterns.
::LOVE LOVE LOVE her patterns, and when she writes about Philadelphia, I get a little homesick. Plus, she finds some of the coolest stuff.
:: Totally inspiring, there is so much creativity out there, and this is the perfect place to learn how to do something. I really want to do .
:: I’ve been reading Megan’s blog for years. I loved her . I love it when she talks about and meal planning, and I really want to make the she made, and if we ever move back to Seattle, her is awesome!
I love blogs. I love them because of so many different reasons, but today especially because the ability to categorize posts really butters my toast! My lastest clicking obsession is finding patterns, tutorials and reviews of patterns. So here are a few of my favorite things (oh Maria…):
– You can download clothing patterns too! Love this
– Great directions andfab pictures.
- Oh, LOVE that inside this category are MORE lists of links to other tutorials.
Here’s to spending hours looking through tutorials! CHEERS! But be sure to take a few of those moments and actually make something…
I have been making pincushions for my swaps lately. I’m loving them. This one was inspired by this .
The first one I made was this one:
It’s a mason jar. the fabric is from a pair of old pjs. I stuffed it full of polyfill, plus a little bit of super fine steel wool. Glued it to the lid, stuck it with a bunch of star felt pins, filled the jar with ribbons and voila!
This is my most recent:
Using felt, I made an egg for the egg cup! And of course, the star felt pins! It’s really adorable. It was easy to make. After sewing the felt pieces, stuffing the egg shape, I glued it into the egg cup!
It’s been crazy at our house, we’ve all been sick and back again, but we now seem to be much better. I’m now all caught up and up-to-date with my swaps. So, in order:
This was my February Coloriffic Swap-o-rama that I sent:
I received this lovely Winter Bird Embroidery from
Then I received this amazing March Coloriffic Swap-o-rama package from . It came all the way from England!
I sent off this little embroidery (oh so late…so sorry dear swap partner!)
and I sent this to my March Coloriffic Swap-o-rama partner in a land far far away…..
This swap thing is so addicting. I love it. I love the things I get in the mail and I love sending things. I have a lot of fun experimenting. For example…
I made this egg cup pincushion:
Which I think turned out really adorable, especially with the star felt pins.
Then I made this bag:
based on this really cool . The way she does this lined bag with a zipper is quite easy to follow. Another way to do a zipper. I *heart* the internet!
The second is a darling Pirate’s Purse, a simple change purse.
It was tons of fun making these, it had been a while since I’ve used so many hand stitches and needed a refresher in the stitch department. I referred to . It’s got great pictures and is quite perfect for helping kids sew.
You can see the tutorials on Flickr as noted:
Cliché but true, I think. There is nothing that can replace being creative and productive together. Here you can read the .
I am eager for my (almost) 2 year old to learn to sew. I have wonderful memories, soul filling moments in time of creativity and accomplishment. I remember sewing with my mom, first it was counted cross stitch and probably a bit of embroidery and I can imagine sitting next to her while she sewed curtains for my room. I do remember picking out the fabric for them, once it was a tiny print of red, blue and yellow flowers.
I feel like sewing has always been a part of me. I have smatterings of memories of sewing and making clothes for myself. Mom or Dad would take me to the fabulous sewing center (which I think is now a bowling alley or a billards hall) and I would spend hours looking through the pattern books, picking out a pattern, then another chunk of time going through all the fabric bolts and remnants until the perfect fabric had been chosen. I felt like I had gotten to spend the entire day there (perhaps it was only an hour?). Then to get home and lay the pattern out on the fabric and cut it out. Pin it together and sew. And not go to bed until it was finished. I remember doing that quite a bit. I would stay up and make a second skirt and if my back could handle it, I would cut fabric for another and consider sewing it together. But I probably had to go to school the next morning and I would reluctantly shut the light and go to bed.
After getting accepted into Art School and spending 4 years studying Fashion Design (or as some would put it 4 years of sewing), I knew that I wanted to keep it for myself. It was something that I had been doing all my life for me, and I was not about to do it for anyone else. I did go into the fashion industry, but worked on the textile side and at times, dabbled in the art direction of the marketing of apparel.
I still sew these days (although not as often, I have a munchkin that would prefer my undivided attention), and my husband sews too. It’s worked it’s way into his art. Soon, Izzy will sew and we can work on projects together.
I am so excited. There are no words, only butterflies, a few sleepless nights and I just can’t sit still! Jan 22, I will start a sewing workshop with kids! It will be at , which will hold it’s grand opening on Jan 21. I’ve planned a multitude of 2 hour sessions that will take place every Monday after school for kids 7 and up (under 7 with parent or caregiver). Once the kids sign up and pay the materials fee, they’ll get their very own sewing box filled with the basics! We’ll do some stitch projects, some pattern projects, some embellishment projects.
This is really exciting for me as I think of ways to “work”, but still have an open and flexible schedule and still be able to go to play dates and music class and all those important things. I have plans to expand this whole concept. I also lead a Sewing Series at the local Family Center once a month.
Anyway – once the Sewing 1-2-3 calendar is firm, I’ll post it, so if you have kids in the locale – they can sit and sew for a bit every Monday. I’m also looking for donations for this workshop:
fabric
trim
notions
thread
embroidery floss
sequins
beads
sewing supplies
yarn
ribbon
knitting/crochet supplies
If you can send/drop off some goodies – I’d be forever thankful!
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