Sewing in a Straight Line

I set aside my latest knitting project for a while and decided to try something that I've wanted to do for a VERY long time.  

Like my skirt...?

Beeeecause...  I made it!!!

All on my own, in a single evening, with the help of Brett Bara's fabulous Sewing in a Straight Line.  

Her book is beyond easy to understand, and the projects are clothes that I can actually see myself making and wearing.  Some that I'm definitely planning on making include two great skirts (one of which I made tonight!), a cardigan, a dress, and some cute home decor and gift projects.  

I can't tell you how accomplished I feel!  I'm totally wearing my new skirt tomorrow.  :)

:)

Ruffles and Stripes

I needed a creative outlet today, so after relaxing for a while at home I started surfing my google reader to see what was going on in blogland.  I have a few quilting/sewing blogs that I love to follow (maybe I'll list them at the bottom of this post) and I found this awesome Ruffled Rosette Pillow at the Moda Bake Shop.  

I wasn't sure though, that I wanted to commit all of my brand new jelly roll strips to the project before knowing how it would turn out, so I decided to make a mini pillow to test it out.

I made all of this up on the fly.

I didn't have any elastic thread on hand, so I improvised with some embroidery floss that I zigzagged over, then tugged on the ends to create the gathers. 

I did use the Ruffled Rosette Pillow tutorial to make the rosette and attach it to the striped top.  

I ran out of purple right as I got to the center, so I decided to add a fun burst of orange!

Wait, what's that color I hate again?  Oh yeah...

Kind of liking the finished product.  Definitely nixing the orange next time though.

It could use some work, but for a test product, not bad!

Blogs:

Posie Gets Cozy (sewing and crafting, also some great recipes if you look closely)

Bearpaw (quilting and crafting)

Attic24 (crocheting)

Linen and Raspberry (quilting and sewing)

Quiltsalott (quilting)

rose hip (sewing and crafting)

Ruffled Notecards

I've been working on several craft projects with my new Brother sewing machine!  I came across the pattern for these homemade notecards at the Moda Bake Shop and had to try them out!  I love stationery, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to combine fabric and paper.  :)  

It was so easy to work my way through the pattern, and I had everything I needed already.  I'm thinking I'll be sending out some homemade notes from now on.  :)

The finished product. :)

Sewing with Erin

Erin and I did a craft project today!  She wanted to make some cupcakes to play tea party with, so we sat down after dinner and got to work.  

Erin worked so hard on her cupcake and did a great job!  Here we are, both ready to start our cupcake.

We've both finished our cupcakes, so now it's time for Erin to serve tea!!!

Cupcake Delight!!!

I'm heading out to visit Erin and Everett in July, and since Erin and I will be playing a lot while I'm out there I thought I'd try to come up with a few activities for us to do.  As I was hopping from blog to blog the other day I came across a blog called Rose Hip that suggested the following book as a good source of crafts for young children just learning to sew.  This blogger had a sewing themed birthday party for one of her daughters and each attendee got to take home a cupcake that they made themselves.  

I thought it looked like so much fun, so I ordered the book Sewing for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects to Help Kids Aged 3 and Up Learn to Sew.

It came in the mail the other day, so I looked through the book and decided to start with the felt cupcakes.  

The directions were incredibly simple to follow, and I put together this cute cupcake in no time.  Plus, the sheets of felt were 4/$1 at Hobby Lobby, and that and the stuffing were the only things I had to buy! I had everything else at home.  

I really think that this simple running stitch will be so easy to teach Erin, and since you use an embroidery needle, no worries about little fingers getting pricked.  

All you do is sandwich the layers together, stuff with a little pillow stuffing...

put a cherry on top...

and tada!!!  A delicious cupcake, perfect for tea parties!

(I might also use mine as a pincushion, although I've got my eye on the cutest ladybug pincushion in the book that I think I'll have to make for myself as well.)

This might also be a good activity for my Knowledge Adventure Camp kids!!!  I'll let you know how that goes.  :)