Burlap Stockings

Christmas is coming! My favorite time of the year. I handmade these burlap stockings out of a tight weaved burlap. I tried to use as many recycled materials as I could find. I used beautiful old buttons and vintage lace.  I found most of my materials at estate sales. I love adding things that have a past. It gives whatever your making so much more character. I also lined some of them in cream shades of white linen I recycled from vintage table cloths. Some have pearl details and others are a little more simple with just a gathered cuff. These have been so much fun to make, I really enjoyed coming up with new ideas for them. Hope you enjoy looking at mine and getting ideas to make your own. These are also available for sale on Etsy.

Gingham Circle Skirt

Lined gingham circle skirt. 

Gingham is one of my favorite fabrics to sew with. I guess gingham yells country, and I love country. This skirt is your basic circle skirt made out of three pieces instead of two or one. Why three pieces? I don't know, it's just how it worked out. Sometimes I mess up and I don't like to waste good fabric, so I just go with it. No pattern for this one just me and my scissors. I think it turned out pretty good.

                               beautiful day in Corona del mar...
                                   

 my mom's handmade beaded button...

Pincushion Rings

Lately I've been so into these pincushion rings. They are small, adorable and practical.

Since I'm always losing my pincushion in the middle of a project this is going to be a nice solution. They only hold about 20-25 pins so you wont be pinning a whole wedding dress together, but that's plenty for a small project.  After a couple hours of trying many different ways of making them including different bands and widths. I am very pleased with the end result. 

I'll probably be putting up a tutorial soon, but for now they will be on my Etsy site. 

Wiksten Tank

Oh how I love my Wiksten tank!

Bought my pdf pattern download of the Wiksten tank last week and I've been sewing tanks like crazy. Made my first one out of a plaid fabric from Joann's. I made a size large according to my bust measurement, but it was way too big. So I made my second one out of a vintage fabric I found at an estate sale a while back. This time I made a size medium and it fits perfectly. What can I say this tank is the perfect butt covering, comfy, no dart tank. Yes no Darts! I love a good top with no darts.  If you sew you know exactly what I mean. Jenny (the pattern maker) is genius! I cant wait to sew up my next Wiksten pattern.

                      The back is nice and long and the front is a little shorter.

     Small pocket in front.

Me and Zoe

Burlap Market Bag

OK so this is my first time ever sewing a burlap bag. I've sewn with burlap before, but never a bag. I just love the rustic look of burlap. I ran into this pattern while visiting a blog called long thread. All you do is print out the pattern on your printer and follow the easy instructions. Took me about two hours from start to finish. The bag ends up a good size approximately 22″ x 19″.  
                                                  

 Not really a shoulder bag. More of a handbag.

                                 I couldn't help but stencil in "Market Bag" to the front.

                                            

                                                                   Inside pocket..

If you love it try making your own..If not it's available in my Etsy Shop.

Another Sorbetto!

And yes it's another Sorbetto. This time I followed the pattern and sewed the pleat straight down the middle. 
I couldn't believe it when I found this amazing fabric with two of my favorite things buggies and scooters.  I had to sew up a quick top for me to wear while driving around town. 
 I also made my own bias tape for the first time ever. It was easier than I thought. 
Colette has an easy to follow tutorial on how to make your own bias tape. I decided to use a watermelon color gingham for my tape and two buttons. And the end result was a fun top.
 I can't wait to wear it!

My Niece's Birthday Outfits

For my nieces 4th birthday in November I made her two birthday outfits. The first outfit was for her to wear on her actual birthday. She attends preschool so she wanted something special to wear on her birthday. The skirt is a simple  self drafted pattern. The turtleneck I bought at Target and for the cupcake and candle I used some of the scraps from my skirt to make a applique. I then used a spray adhesive to attache it to my top. Then I simply used my zigzag stitch all the way around my edges. I machine embroidered her name below the cupcake and it was a hit!

The following Saturday she had a big Hello Kitty themed birthday party! So of course she needed a matching outfit!  I made her a Hello Kitty print dress using fabric I found at Joann's. I used Simplicity 2231 for the pattern. I made a few alterations to the pattern. I added a over sized tie to the side seams to form a real big bow when tied in the back. The pattern also didn't include the gathered pockets. I self drafted the pockets myself. Pretty simple pattern and the end result is very satisfying. Aubryn was very pleased.

Since it was November and gets quite cold out I made her a fleece jacket. I bought this fleece fabric at Joann's and I used McCalls 6641 for the jacket. I love sewing with fleece. It's so forgiving!  I added a big bow on the top of the hood and two smaller ones in the front. I also added fur trim around the hood. This part was a little tricky. I had two layers of fleece and the fur trim and it seemed to be a little to thick for my machine to handle. Overall, I thought it came out well. And my niece was happy!

Bowl Covers Tutorial

So about a year ago I saw these cute potluck bowl covers at a fancy Eco friendly boutique store, and I wanted them. Unfortunately, they were a little too pricey for my budget. So I decided to make my own. They are great! No more fussing with plastic wrap. So much easier to use and healthier too. And when they get dirty just toss them in the wash.  I thought I would share how I made them with you. 

So here goes.

What you'll need..
cotton fabric 
cotton muslin for lining
double fold bias tape
1/4 inch elastic
safety pin
sewing machine
scissors

 First thing you do is measure your bowl. Add 2 inches and cut a circle from both your fabric and lining. With wrong sides together pin your fabric to your lining.

 Pick coordinating double fold bias tape and sew it all the way around leaving a small opening (below). 

 Measure the top of your bowl and subtract 2 inches. Cut your elastic to this measurement. Using a safety pin attached to the elastic thread it through the small opening. Push it through the bias tape all the way around. Pull out the safety pin and overlap the ends of elastic and sew them together. Sew up the opening and even out the elastic around the cover. 

 That's it your all done! I just love quick, easy and useful projects. Enjoy making them. Your gonna love them! Or you can buy mine at my Etsy shop.

 

Colette patterns Sorbetto

I love finding free patterns on the Internet. So I was very happy to find this free pattern download by Colette Patterns. Sorbetto is a super easy to sew pattern.  

I sewed this blouse using Amy Butler's love collection fabric. The pattern is pretty straight forward. Instructions are simple and you can add embellishments to the front and make it even cuter. This was my second time sewing this pattern, so I decided to change it up and invert the pleat. I really like the end result. It's very comfortable to wear. Just a fun easy basic blouse.

Since I was so pleased with Sorbetto I decided to go ahead and order my first Colette pattern. I can wait to try it.

My Favorite Grocery Bags

These bags are amazing. They hold so much and are so easy to load. I originally saw them on Pinterest.  I followed the link to michellepatterns.com. I bought the pattern and printed it out on my printer. It turned out to be a really great pattern. Clear instructions and diagrams. Four and a half yards of really cute fabric, and about 2 hours of non stop sewing and you got yourself three amazing bags. I highly recommend this pattern. I have made other grocery bags, but I'm most pleased with this one. They are a hit at the market. So many compliments! One of things I love the most about them is how easy to store they are. They fold practically flat. Oh and did I mention that they are reversible? I plan on making many more in sets of three for gifts and for my Etsy shop.