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Sewing and cooking are two of my favorite things. In the past, I often found myself searching for pictures and details of projects I have done, without success. So I decided to start documenting my creations. Then my son suggested I add my recipes to the blog so that they are documented also.

Friday, June 29, 2012

A Taggie for Maggie

It has been very hot this week so I spent a little extra time indoors sewing.  My daughter-in-law dropped off fabric for throw pillows so I figured I would whip them up.  Also my niece had a baby a few weeks ago and I wanted to make something personal for her.


A Taggie for Maggie

I got the idea for this taggie from a couple of posts on sewforum.com.  I used fleece for the center that I embroidered on and flannel for the borders and back.  Since she was 9 pounds and was born on June 9th, I was able to use the 9 for 2 stats - I am hoping my niece likes it!!




The pillows were made with outdoor canvas from Joann's.  The plain one were made from the method I described in an earlier post Decorator Pillows and the one with the sash I just added a rectangular tube of fabric and neatly sewed a button to the center after I added a pleat. I must add here that I just love sewing buttons on with my machine; I simply hate sewing buttons on by hand and with the sewing machine they are so much more secure. The pillow with the 4 buttons was just a strip of fabric that I finished both short ends; of course I sewed those 4 buttons on with my machine also.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Gifts for a Baby Shower

I recently made some items for another baby shower.  The nursery theme is pink and purple butterflies and the baby's name is Isabelle.  I made the baby bunting from Simplicity pattern #2165, as I did for a gift in a  previous post.  But this time I added the baby's name on the inside of the upper back, along with a butterfly.



I made a blanket of two different flannels, one side with butterfly print and the other plain so that i could embroider the name on the top.




I made 2 types of hats, both that I had not previously made but adorned both with butterflies.  I also bought a onesie and added a butterfly.  Lastly I made 2 burp cloths with flannel left over from the other items, a pacifier bib and a case for baby wipes.






Monday, June 11, 2012

Monogrammed Robe

My son wanted to give his wife a lightweight robe as a gift.  So I monogrammed it using the Fancy Monogram Font 1 from embroitique.com.  I used a cut away stabilizer to maintain the shape of the fine lines and also fused a piece of Solvy Tender Touch on the inside for comfort. 

Embroidered Golf Shirts

I was at Penney's today and found these 2 Xersion shirts for $14/each.  They are Quick-Dri, stretch and semi-fitted short sleeve shirts for sport activities.  Since they will be perfect for golf, and it has been unusually hot thus far this golf season, I bought a white and a mango one.  I thought they might look cute with a golfer emblem and decided to adorn them. The golfer stick lady design I had saved in my stash and, unfortunately, do not know the source.




For the first one (mango) I used a layer of No Show translucent mesh 1.5 oz. Wunderstitch stabilizer in the hoop and floated a sheet of Stitch and Tear underneath. Afterwards, I ironed a piece of  Sulky Tender Touch on the underside.  I found that fusible does not work well on this thin fabric, as it shows through.  So I removed the Tender Touch and it looks much better.

For the white I just hooped a piece of Wunderstitch 1.5 oz. mesh cutaway and am much happier with the result. This fabric is too thin to just use tear away on because the design would not keep its shape. The design on the mango one is 2"X2.33" and on the white it is 1.6"X1.9".  Although both are acceptable I prefer the smaller design.  Both look nice on and I think are just a little cuter with the design on them.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

DIY Stagecoach Blind


I just made this stagecoach blind for my son's kitchen window.  My daughter-in-law selected the fabrics and the yellow-gold ribbon really makes it pop.  It is not just a window topper but a workable blind.  I basically used directions from eHow but modified the bottom to have a placket to hold a second identical rod.

She chose a decorator fabric for the top; Rich FC Jovial Island from Joann fabrics. The robin egg blue matches their KitchenAid Mixer.



We used an Offray grosgrain 1 1/2 inch ribbon; Yelgld 9.



The lining is a cotton; Meadow Lark Circle in orange