And a hair bow to match!!!

This is my first attempt at making a hair bow! I used this tutorial on how to make a fabric flower. I didn't have any felt to put on the back so I made a loop out of some ribbon to slide the alligator clip through. You can't see it but I hot glued brown ribbon with white polka dots on the clip and then glued the loop to the clip. I hope this will be big and strong enough for Hannah's thick hair!!!

Polka Dots & Stripes

I absolutely love this little dress. The fabric is so cute and fun! I so hope it will fit my niece! Michael has been at home sick with the flu, so when I wasn't taking care of him I was creating this cute dress. It is sort of like this handkerchief dress (which is a great beginner project), but is a little more involved b/c the fabric isn't pre-cut and there is a strip of coordinating fabric on the bottom. Here is the handkerchief dress and you can find the tutorial here.

This was my first clothing project without a pattern and directions or a tutorial. There are definitely things I will do different next time, but we live and we learn. I thought this fabric is great coming into the fall. I can see little Hannah in it with a long sleeve t-shirt and some cute tights. She will be so precious! Kris, I hope you enjoy. This one will be coming your way soon too!

More Fabric!!

These are the fabrics I am going to use for my upcoming projects. What the projects are is a secret. Yep, its that time of year when we (maybe its just me) start sneaking around and getting secretive! These are obviously going to be gifts so the final product will not be posted on until the recipient receives it! Such a shame b/c I am super excited about these. I will just have to be patient!

I absolutely love this fabric. It is so happy and cheery! And my picture of it doesn't do it justice. This is Peacock Whimsy by Pillow & Maxfield for Michael Miller. This also comes in pink and green (actually flamingo to be exact). It would be super cute for a girls room. I think I might stock up on it once I get these projects well under way.

And of course, Halloween. It's right around the corner! I have a few uses for these. The scrapes are going to be used for appliqueing onto t-shirts for the nieces and nephew! They will look soo cute!

More to come. I will post the results as soon as I am able to!

Another project down!!!

Yea! I have been working on this one for a while too. My in-laws just finished adding on to their lake house. One of the rooms is a Harley themed room. Over the holidays last year I saw these pillowcases at Wal-mart (love the flames!). It actually came with a set of pillowcases and a set of sheets. The sheets were just black and white; not quite as hideous as these pillowcases!

I wanted to make two big pillows for lounging on the floor and two throw pillows for the couch or window seat. So after cutting these fabulous pillowcases this is what they ended up looking like.

Not too shabby if you ask me! I finished the first big pillow in April (that tells you how long it has been on my to-do list!) The second one has been half finished for a while, but I finally got to it AND I started and finished the small pillows today! That's really not a huge accomplishment for most, but it is for me who rarely starts and finishes something in one day.

I love the ribbon on this one. It is kind of hard to see it, but it is black with white polka dots that borders the orange. My husband wasn't on board with it, but I had to fru-fru it up a little. Now on to some more projects =)

It's about time...

Sometimes I find myself procrastinating and I don't know why. I started on this project (if that's even what you want to call it) several months ago. All I had left to do was sew a hem in the bottom and I would be done! Sounds very simple and it was! I don't know why I waited so long. The funny thing is, the more I thought about it, the more I put it off. Well today I finally tackled it. I used the tutorial found here to make this sewing machine cover.

The tutorial is super easy and should only take about an hour. Now I need to make one of these to match. Who knows how long it will be until I do this one!

The fabric I used was left over from making these cushions:

These chairs were my grandmother's and had a very dated fabric on them. So I fixed that! I think they turned out pretty good. This was my first big sewing project. Our dog decided to use the wood as a chew toy when he was a puppy so it needs sanding down and the edges need rounding off. I wanted to stain them a different color anyway so its not too big of a deal that he chewed on it. Thankfully he has learned from that and he doesn't chew on furniture anymore! Now to decide what color stain to use! I don't know if I will be able to.

What's that smell?

Zucchini bread!!!! Yum! I have never tried zucchini bread before, but I have been wanting to make it for a while. I finally came across a recipe that sounded delicious. It is a Paula Deen recipe so you know its gonna be good.

I can't wait until it cools down so I can try a slice. I actually had to try some already. You see that crunchy part on the left pan? Yeah that had to come off (and it was good)! You can't just leave it like that it might hurt somebody! The recipe makes two standard size loaf pans, so the second is perfect for a friend or to freeze for later.

Another 1st!!!

Appliqueing!!! This is just one more thing that I have been wanting to try for a while. I often put off trying new things and techniques because I am such a perfectionist that I don't want to mess up and not be able to fix it. But I am learning that I have to start somewhere and practice makes near perfection. So my sister has been the "guinna pig" for most of my new sewing endeavors, or at least her daughter. The applique part was super easy; however, I do need to practice on sewing the border. At least from a distance you can't tell where the flaws are!

I have two adorable 3 year old nieces. These pink shirts are going to them! I hope they will come in handy this fall.

My sister has two girls and a boy. Now the two girls have semi-matching shirts! I know Hannah will think they are "cute" as she says it in her southern draw.

And the final one!! I think is so cute. I know it isn't even Halloween yet, but I had to make this one. It is made from some fabric I had left from the Christmas apron. I think it serves a good purpose. This is for the newest addition for my sister's fam. I think she will sport it quit well!

We don't have a printer so these letters were hand drawn. I just found some cute fonts online that I wouldn't be able to do free-hand. So I am sure there are going to be some more appliqueing going on with cuter fonts! More to come....