stretch the waistband and the dollar

Having little kids meaning always growing out of clothes. My oldest is going through a growth spurt and suddenly has no warm weather clothes to wear. Fortunately, I found shorts for $4 each. Their elastic waist and sizing, though, means that my little man is in between sizes. I bought the size that's a little too big and figured he could grow into them. Well, after getting home and test-driving them, it was clear that his shorts were falling off of him. What to do?

My solution was to sew a short length of elastic at either hip, bringing in the waist a little on both sides. Voila! The shorts stay up, and when he really grows into them, I can just snip the elastic (perhaps use the seam ripper to remove it...but let's be realistic).

Our camera is MIA so I sketched a really quick (really questionable) diagram of the inside of the waistband to show what I mean. I'm sending us back to the stone age in internet terms...

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pssst...

I've been inspired by my very industrious friend, Jane, to open an etsy shop. (2 small children...I don't know what I'm thinking sometimes)

It's in the works and will probably take at least a month or two to build up a small inventory, but stay tuned for updates.

I'm so excited to get this together! Pin It

Give me an A!

Many of my little projects are gifts. And, since we know a lot of growing families, many of those gifts are baby gifts. This is one of those.

This time, I tried out a monogram on a baby blanket (first time doing a monogram). Double-sided minky (white dot on one side, pale blue stars on the other), the letter affixed with satin stitch, and contrast stitching on the border. I should have used my new walking foot to avoid that puckering around the border of the letter, but everything is trial and error around here.


This sweet little blanket was also my first use of the new labels I had made. And, I must say, I'm really pleased with them. If you sew and have wanted personalized labels, these are a great deal from a really sweet mama on Etsy. I got 80 personalized labels (with a ton of design choices) on 2 uncut sheets for only $16. Her etsy shop Mommy Made It is here and I highly recommend her.

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My First Quilt!

We recently received a family heirloom wagon wheel bedroom set for our oldest son. It was my husband's grandfather's childhood bed and so adorable. It's a real treasure just to have it. But, if we were going to have a cowboy bed, we needed cowboy bedding. Could I find something that I loved? Nope. So, I had to make something myself (oh darn). Did I do a small piece for my first? Nah, I just had to attack a full-size bed quilt. Did I stitch-in-the-ditch for my first quilting experiment? Nope, I charged ahead for free-motion (and fell in love with it).

I had no idea I would enjoy quilting so much. Time and patience ruled out hand quilting, but my little machine did me proud on this one. Here's the rundown...

fabrics: white Kona muslin, vintage-y blue cowboy print, organic green cotton, yellow patterned quilting fabric for stars, Michael Miller red horseshoes print for binding
techniques: continuous double-fold bias binding, free-motion machine quilting, applique stars with satin stitch borders

I'm not a big believer in rules for sewing/crafting/arts so I disregarded some of the free-motion quilting "rules". (what kind of art are we creating if we absolutely have to abide by someone else's rules?) I crossed over my own lines and the pattern isn't totally consistent in spacing. It's far from perfect, but every stitch was made with love for my little man and I am thrilled with the result.

I posted more pictures than I probably needed to but I'm indulging a little. :)

(my little cowpoke had to snuggle down for naptime and I didn't get a shot of the back, but I'll work on that)

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This foot was made for walkin'

I'll just come right out and say it: if you sew regularly, you need to buy a walking foot for your machine. I finally broke down and got one after hearing this in forum after forum from other sewing mamas. It set me back $40 (ouch) but was worth every penny. It makes sewing layers and "slippery" fabrics so much easier. And if you are a gadget geek, it will impress you just because it's so darn strange looking and useful.

That's it. Just a little tip for the day.

Have a great weekend! Pin It

Girly Girly Girly

I have two of the sweetest, most wonderful boys in the world. But, there's not a whole lot of pink in our house. So I jumped at the chance to make a birthday tutu for my friend's little girl. My friend asked if I could help out and come up with something, and I was all too happy to oblige.

I found some great tutorials and tips from other crafty sorts online (such as here & here). Very little sewing required and lots of adorable poofiness to show for your time.

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Long Time No See

I've been gone awhile because I took my sewing machine and new-ish serger in to get serviced. Leaving them at the repair shop was almost like leaving my babies with strangers. Much more separation anxiety than I expected. Never had my machine serviced (bad seamstress!) and I just bought an ElnaLock L5 serger through craigslist for $40 (steal! the new models sell for about $1,500). I had it serviced and the shop said it is a great machine. Haven't even used it yet but I can't wait to try it out.

The last couple weeks I've been completely engrossed in my first quilt. Hopefully, I'll have pictures to show soon...stay tuned.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day! Pin It