Swimsuit update

My friend Charity sent me this cute picture and a note on Facebook.

"Your adorable suits make fabulous hand-me-downs. My niece is on the left (this year) and Ellie is on the right (3 years ago). Thanks again!!! "

So fun for me to see where these little suits end up.

Original post about this suit can be found here.

Wide Stripes T-shirt Quilt

As many of you know we like to make t-shirt memory quilts around here.  What you may not know is that also leaves us with quite a bit of t-shirt scraps--some pieces are smaller than others, but sometimes we have entire blank backs that go unused.

So after finishing my last t-shirt quilt I decided to challenge myself and use up the "leftovers" of the t-shirts and turn them into a quilt of some sort. I've been holding onto these for quite some time.

What I came up with was a brick like pattern using 6 inch and 3 inch strips.  Basically getting the stripes as wide as I could based on what I had. 

 This baby is LARGE!  And crazy, but I am pleased with the final result.

My 6'5" son and I are holding this up--widthwise--because it was too big to hold up lengthwise.

The backing was made from a chambray sheet and then added some additional stripes

so that it would be long enough.

Close-up of the quilting.  I asked Lynn for some simple lines to hold it all in place and then some random pebbling on a couple of the smaller stripes.   I love the pebbling!  If I ever do one of these again I would have her do every other or every 3rd row with the pebbling.

And here is my dad enjoying his new quilt.

He likes them HUGE so he can tuck it under everywhere.

And he also likes the added weight of the t-shirt fabric.

Details:

• Don't forget to interface all the t-shirt pieces so there is no stretching, especially for the quilter.
• Finished size 82 inches by 105 inches.  Yes, it is HUMONGOUS!!  Just the way this Arizona boy likes it so that he doesn't freeze to death.
• Quilted by Lynn Peterson.

Links to some other t-shirt quilts we've made or featured here on our blog.

• Samuel's quilt
• Lexanne's quilt
• Madisson's quilt
• Bria's quilt
• The twin Harley-Davidson quilts
• Ann's quilt for her daughter Lucy

Next up for me in another random improve t-shirt quilt.  It is done and needs a backing and to be quilted.  And I'm almost finished with daughter #2's t-shirt graduation quilt.  Hers will be interesting as it is a combo of 2 different high schools and other random shirts thrown in.  Can't wait to show them off when they are finished.

Samuel's T-shirt Quilt Top

Our nephew Samuel, in Nebraska, just graduated from Hastings High School this past May

(as well as received his Eagle Scout Award). 

Post graduation he gathered up the t-shirts he felt he could part with and sent them to me so I could put together this t-shirt quilt.

He is a tall guy (goes without saying for our family)--about 6'3"

and so I had to make sure this quilt was long enough to cover his frame.

That was a trick as he didn't have as many shirts as his sister did.

His older sister is the blondie middle one of this trio of cousins. 

I had to be a bit more creative in how I put his quilt all together.

The finished top.

I am really loving the gray/black keyboard look.

A little close-up of some of the t-shirt piecing I did for the borders.

Now to pick out the back, binding and send it off to the quilter.


Details:

• Front and back (where possible) of about 7 t-shirts plus a sleeve logo.  He had an EXACT duplicate of the white shirt front and back so I only cut the paw print off the second shirt and placed it in the quilt.
• For this quilt I pieced much more of the solid color portion of the t-shirts to add to it, including the sashing. I might have even pulled some solids from other t-shirt quilt extras I had.
• Post about his sister's t-shirt quilt. You can see how different they ended up being even though they attended the same high school and both ran cross country.
• Finished quilt top dimensions: 69 x 89 inches

Scrappy Rectangles Quilt Version #2

I hadn't necessarily meant to make another one of this quilt pattern.  However, daughter #2 has overtaken the first one and uses it on her bed constantly.  She loves it--mainly for how large it is.  I assume that when she leaves home this is one of the quilts that she will take with her.

So as I was trying to clean out and purge part of my sewing room, fabric, and materials, I decided to start another one of these.  And it just went from there.  I'm kinda hooked on this pattern design. Normally I'm not a big fan of putzing around with small pieces, etc. but this one is good.  And really this is probably as small as I will go on cutting pieces (2 x 3 1/2) for a quilt.  I'm no CrazyMomQuilts when it comes to scrappy quilting.


This is how I start it off.  Put all the pieces in a bucket.  Then start sewing.  Then add more pieces, keep sewing.  Repeat until you have 90 blocks.


Almost completed blocks.




Finished top overtaking my basement.

So move it outside and have 2 kids help hold it for pictures.

Details:

• See post on Version #1 for quilt pattern info.
• This is a good quilt pattern for "ugly" fabric.  Cutting it down small enough makes it appear lovely.

I like Big Blocks and I cannot lie

While in St. George in February for our annual sewfest retreat I took some fabric that had been "aging" in my stash.  I'm not really sure how long I've had it.  Maybe 2 years!?  Anyway, I had a pattern picked out and thought this would be a good time to try and come up with something concrete.  More minds and opinions together to get my own creative juices flowing.

This was also another exercise in getting out of my comfort zone.
I've never made blocks this big, or with this big of a print fabric.
I was really nervous that I wouldn't even like it when it was all said and done.

I'm happy to report that "it's all good in the 'hood."
Mission accomplished: quilt  top completed and I really like it....a lot.



It took some finagling with the placement and discussion over the little corner blocks but in the end I am really please with how it turned out.

Next step: to find the perfect backing to go with it. I already know I don't have anything in my stash that will compliment this very well.

Details:

• Fabric is Hand Drawn Garden by Anna Maria Horner
• Pattern is a modification of  "Sweet Life", pgs. 74-79 from Simply Retro by Camille Roskelly.  
• I made the blocks as she indicated, finishing at 18 inches square.
• Cut 3 1/2 inch strips for both border and sashing out of white, and the center squares of solid color.
• I also only did a 3 x 4 pattern instead of 4 x 4 as she did.  That was mainly because of what fabric I had in my stash.  Plus I do not love square quilts if I can avoid it.
• Flickr group of this pattern book found HERE.
• The finished top is 66 inches wide by 87 inches

Small bench redo

If you'll remember, WAAAY back, I found this little bench along with it's pretty desk at the thrift store. Daughter #2 was going to have the desk in her room, changed her mind once we moved, and so now the desk is in the office room and the bench became an orphan.



Hubby and I needed a little seat or something in our bedroom and so I recovered the bench, once I finally found my staple gun. Love that tool!  I also had to order another staple puller (below) because I have yet been able to find that tool since our move.  Though I have seen it once in this house, I just can't remember where I put it.  Oh well.....Taking off old upholstery is an absolute pain in the backside without this tool. FYI.





I made some piping too and stapled that on once I had the new batting and fabric attached.



I think I found this fabric piece at the thrift store.  I love the watercolor looking stripes.

A round of baby swimsuits

I haven't made any little baby swimsuits for what seems like years.
Honestly, I don't think it has been that long, but it seems like everyone was having boys for the longest time. And while I'm not opposed to making little swimsuits for boys, not everyone (or every dad) can appreciate a Speedo on their little guy. (Mostly I make them for a fun reaction!)

However, we might be back in baby girl mode now.
I recently made 4 sets of baby swimsuits and it was so fun.
My girls are done with any pink.  I may be the only one of us who ever wears any pink anymore.

Anyway, I had a fun time sewing up these teeny little suits for my friends and family and the new babies.


Size 2T suits.


Close-up of the texture of these BRIGHT pink suits.
No more embellishment needed.


Nothing like a good little skirted suit for the princesses.


I photograph these suits on my hand so you can get the ide of how little they are.
This is a 1T size suit.


Size 24-36 months


Love, love, love a good ruffle bum swimsuit for little girls!!

I have to say my friend Jenny, who received this purple suit, was dying!!.  She is having her first girl after 2 boys and she couldn't be more happy.  She told me she wished this suit was smaller so that she could bring her new daughter home from the hospital in it.  She's due the end of December and lives in MN--even if it did fit that might not be the best idea Jenny.

Details:

• Purple suit pattern is Kwik Sew 3606.
• Other 2 suit styles are Kwik Sew 2512. I've had this pattern for years! It appears that Kwik Sew no longer makes any baby swimsuit patterns. 
• Swimsuit fabric from the stash.  Bought from the thrift store when I find it.
• Used a 2.5 Stretch Twin Needle for the topstitching.

Can you be a sweat shop when sewing for your own family?

My youngest 2 children do NOT like to wear jeans.
I'm not sure how they are related to me.
I love a good pair of jeans.
Either way, they have to wear long pants some time, especially living in Minnesota.
Daughter #3 is currently 12 and absolutely won't wear jeans.
It is leggings or nothing for her. No lie.

At least my youngest son will unhappily wear jeans if all else is dirty.

But if he has a choice, sweat pants are preferred.

So a week or so ago I de-stashed and sewed all at the same time.
It was like a mass production site in my basement.
It felt great to sew.  I haven't really sat down and done a lot for a few months.
But then I did get to thinking, can you be a sweat shop when sewing for your own family?

Anyway....
After all was said and done I made for her

• 1 pair black sweats
• 2 pair black leggings
• 1 pair red leggings
• 1 pair green leggings
• 1 pair orange leggings 
• 3 pair of blue leggings

Seriously, if she even remotely complains about not having any pants to wear I might have to hurt her.

Another set she wore for her "Anabeth" costume for Halloween.
She is currently super-obsessed with the Percy Jackson series.

My son got 2 pairs of black sweatpants and so he is super happy.  Almost all his other sweats have been turned into shorts because he had either wrecked the knees or they were turning into capris for him.  Not a good look for 9/10 yr. old boys.

Details:

• Favorite girls' legging pattern is Kwik Sew 1591.  It is out of print, so you could try KS 3476 or KS 3958.  The thing I like about this pattern is that there is no side seam.  Front and back are cut together.  Sews up super fast!  Also, the leggings aren't super skin tight.  I don't love that on girls.
• All the knit fabric I used for her was from my stash. However, I can't decide if I actually made a dent in my knit supply or not.  Sad!
• The sweat pant pattern I use most often for the kids is Kwik Sew 2617. I use this pattern for flannel pajamas as well.  It is, of course, out of print as well, but it appears that 3786 is their updated pattern version.
• Black sweat pant fabric from Jo-Ann's.  Use a 50% off coupon as it is a little pricey, but it washes up really nice.

New orchestra dress for the college girl

Our college daughter is certainly enjoying life on her own.
I knew she would.
It makes it so much easier than when I was a freshman in college (30 yrs ago) to have a cellphone and to be able to text whenever.  Her siblings love getting pics of her roommates and whatever other college life stuff she decides to send us.

She decided to continue with orchestra while in college and is involved with the University Orchestra at BYU-I. Although she tried out and didn't make it into the orchestra group above this one, I am so proud that she even tried out.  It was tough music and most of those kids in that orchestra are actual music majors.  She is not.  She was a bit upset about not getting in, but now that she has had a couple weeks under her belt she is happy with this orchestra group.  She is familiar in part with at least one of the pieces they will be presenting this semester and so that makes her happy.  Her best friend and roommate is also in the same orchestra group and so they are happy having at least one class together.

Now here enters the problem.
Her black orchestra dress is packed up here in MN.
We did that when she graduated last June and so it was one of the first things to go in the storage POD.
I have no clue which box it may be in.
I'm positive it is against the back wall of the POD somewhere.
We will not be digging it out.
She needs a black dress for their upcoming performance on February 11th.

I texted her (I'm new to texting and there are times I just love it) pics of a couple different pattern options for a new dress.  She picked one out and told me what adjustments she'd like and I found some fabric.

Then voila! I made a new dress.


It doesn't look like much just hanging there.


Her younger sister is modeling it for me.
She needs some pretty good heels in this picture so it won't be dragging the ground.
But since she is about 4 inches shorter than our oldest, it should be just about right.


Neckline detail


Sleeve hem and hem detail with double needle topstitching.
This sleeve hem looks a little crooked, but I assume it is because of the way I am holding it.

Another plus about this dress.  It had been folded up and ready to get sent when I realized I hadn't taken any pictures.  We pulled it out and my daughter put it on immediately--not a wrinkle in sight.

I love that kind of fabric.

Details:

• Simplicity 9103

• 4 yds of jersey knit at $4.50/yd.
• Lengthened dress to almost floor length--this equaled to about 13 additional inches.
• 3/4 sleeves instead of full length.
• Added ties to sides to adjust the waist fitting (similar to her HS orchestra dress)

Stretch Lace Skirt

I made this skirt for my second daughter.
She wanted a cream lace skirt.

This one is super easy.
T-shirt fabric with a stretch lace overlay and elastic waist.
Can't get much easier than that.






Details:

• McCall's 6654--LOVE this pattern.  Lots of options for easy knit skirts--pencil or a-line and lots of different lengths.  View A/B option to get knee length.
• Thrifted cream knit sheet
• 1 yd. stretch lace--about $6/yd.

Crochet bar stool cover for a Friday Finds

My birthday was this week and really I need nothing---except some time and someone to buy our house.

I did ask my oldest daughter if she would be willing to make something for me for my birthday--as a test of the pattern and style.

I saw this on Pinterest and knew she could do this for me.
I wanted to see if I would like it as much as I thought I would.

I cut the fabric yarn and she crocheted it.  Literally it probably only took her about a 1/2 hour total from start to finish.  Those are really large single crochet stitches--9 rounds is all you make.

We are super happy with how it turned out.





Much softer on the seat than straight wood.



I have enough fabric for another one and then I am thinking of what other color to choose--royal blue--or each stool a different color all together.  I have 4 stools, 2 short and 2 taller.  3 of them I got free off Craigslist and the other one for $1.99 at the thrift store = 50 cents apiece.  I am also debating on whether or not to paint the stools white and then have the colored cover.

They don't have a place in my current house, but I have plans for the future house, which amazingly is still available for sale.  I tell my husband that it is my house---just waiting for me.  However, all this house business is about to kill me....I just want my house sold.

Details:

• Pattern instructions found here.
• How to cut the fabric yarn here.  I thought that 2 1/2 yards of cut fabric sounded excessive, but really you do need that much to make this cover.
• Green knit from the stash--about 6 yards that I bought at the thrift store for probably about $4.
• Crochet hook Q--I went and bought one specifically for this project.

Dandelion Jeans

When talking about "jeans" for daughter #3 we use that word loosely.  She will NOT wear store bought jeans--zip up the front, scratchy on the waist, unable to move, too much bulk in crotch region kind of jeans. That is her description of why she doesn't like them.  She will however wear denim pants that I make for her--i.e. loose fitting, elastic waist, and no butt pocket.

Recently she informed me that she didn't have any long pants for school.  Yeah, it has been a rough couple months around here.   I had bought her shorts for gym class--first year of middle school and all, but they were a bit big in the waist.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to buy her pants that were long enough but skinny enough to fit her body.  So I pulled a couple pieces of denim and chambray that I could find and cut out 4 pairs of pants.  I then tried to make them all a little bit different from each other so that people wouldn't think she was wearing the same pair of pants over and over and over and over again.

On the dark denim I asked her if I could do a little embroidery design.
She agreed.
I only did it on one leg because I didn't think I could duplicate it well enough on the second leg.  And really I was just winging it on the design and idea.  Maybe if I had a white washable fabric marker/pencil I could outline it and do it but she was fine with just one leg fancied up.






Details:

• Thrifted fabric--about $3 for 3 yds. or more.  I got 2 pairs of pants out of the dark denim and 2 pants and a skirt out of the chambray piece.
• McCalls 5135 and lengthened the pants a bunch.  The pattern is out of print.
• Used heavy thread (I think quilting thread) for the dandelion detailing.  I had practiced with regular thread and didn't think it stood out enough.

Dolman Sleeve T-shirt

As you can tell by my lack of postings, I have been "distracted" by other things.
It is called "trying to sell your house."
I so hope I never have to do it again or at least anytime soon.
Our house still hasn't sold even with lots of showings.
Oh well, I feel like we've done just about everything we can, including paying for a new furnace and A/C which was NOT on the list of things to do in order to sell the house.

I have the new house picked out STILL and it is waiting....and waiting....and waiting.
Those owners want to get rid of their house and know we want it.
Happily they are trying to work with us.
We just need to sell this one!!!!!!!
I'm tired of dealing with selling.
I even ran away with the kids for a week right before school started and went to NE. to visit my parents because I just couldn't deal with showings and keeping the house clean A.L.L. the time and then nothing happening.

School started this week and I am THRILLED!!  Sorry kids, I do love you all, but you need to go away for a time period and then come back.  We'll probably all like each other better then.

I got back into my sewing game here over the last week or two.
Sewing is so helpful for me.
Gets the creative juices going and I can actually see something to completion that doesn't need to be "done" again later: i.e.laundry or dishes, or cleaning the house top to bottom because we have a showing later.

Everyone needed new shirts for school, well at least the girls did.
The boys told me they were fine, but I may have to do some for them too.
In the meantime, we found this easy dolman sleeve pattern and we like it.

Dolman sleeves are where the sleeve and front or back of the shirt are all one continuous piece.







It has a little bit of a high/low hemline.


Close-up of the neckline with a single topstitch.

Details:

• Simplicity 1463--View A  (my girls are eyeballing view C with the contrasting sleeves and back yoke)
• Recycled navy knit sheet from the thrift store
• Lengthened 3 inches
• Also lengthened the sleeves a good 4 inches.

Here is my version.

Short sleeves with no sleeve band.

T-shirt with almost absolutely no stretch whatever, hence the no sleeve band choice.

Also lengthened about 3 inches.

T-shirt Quilt Preview

In the midst of this

ongoing loading of the POD

and this

gutting and redo of the master bathroom

I am also making an effort to "clean out" my sewing room.
I decided to work on my daughter's t-shirt quilt in order to get some things out of my room.

A month or so ago we went thru her pile of t-shirts and weaned them down and divided them up in categories.  This quilt will be school themed--swim team shirts, choir, orchestra, honor roll.  That way there is a color theme to them without having to think too much.  She has more shirts and she may get another t-shirt quilt down the road, but for now we are sticking with the school spirit.



I started with 16 inch squares and then adjusted here and there.



Backing will be this orange and white chevron flannel from Jo-Ann's.

L. knows that I am doing this and she knows which shirts are in it, but I haven't shown her how it is all put together.  I sort of want her to be surprised.  My next 2 kids down the line both love the quilt and wanted to make sure that I was planning on making each of them one down the road.  Yes, yes, I will do that.

The quilt will be shipped off to Lynn today for quilting so that I can get it back in time for L.'s graduation and party that first full weekend of June.  I'm excited for her to have it.  New chapter in all of our lives.  Kinda weird!