Recycled Sweater Purse

3 of my nieces birthdays are coming up and I thought I would make something for them.  I have been on an upcycle kick using jeans, corduroy, wool and cashmere sweaters.  After doing some researching on pinterest and craftsy I looked thru my stash and got to work.  So far I have 2 completed, and one more to go....

This one is my favorite so far. I like that it is lined and a bit smaller, which is great for an ipad, a book, etc.  Jump over to Make It and Love It for the tutorial.  Total time for this bag was approximately 1 hour. 

The second one is from the Upcycle class on Craftsy.  Super easy and approximately one hour to complete.  

I hope they like them:)  

Jeans and Corduroy

Lots of jeans and cords on my work desk....let the cutting and fun begin.  :)  

Unfortunately I can't spoil what the finished project will be. Stay tuned for more to come! 

What are your favorite upcycled projects? 

Baby Shower Gift Ideas

Babies are so much fun to sew for.  And as everyone seems to be having baby girls, I've stocked up on fun and girly fabrics:).  Since I'm not a mom myself (yet!), I have gathered essential information from my sister in laws on what is helpful, necessary, and nice to have as gifts.  The biggest recommendation I have received are homemade crib sheets, burp cloths, sleep sacks, and receiving blankets.  

The Crib sheets and receiving blankets you buy in stores are usually cheaper material and smaller sizes. They are great projects for beginners, and thankfully don't take a lot of time to complete. 

  You can check out the sewing pattern for crib sheets here.  

I love to embellish cloth diapers, as they make awesome burp cloths.  Inspiration for this project came from here, here, and here.  I used Minky for my fabric of choice, which makes it nice and soft for the baby.  And since most of the times the store bought cloth diapers are not "square" I utilize my serger to finish the project.  

I have been on an Owl kick recently and could not help myself to this project.  Suzanne from Just Another Hangup created this pattern - Maggie the Taggie Owl.  Very simple to make and very cute!! You can see the mom to be loved it!  If you would like the pattern, here it is! 

Thanks for checking out my recent sewing projects.  Enjoy! 

Children's Play Tent - Fun at the Beach

Let's Pretend - Fun at the Beach play tent

For Christmas this year, I decided to make a group gift for my nieces and nephew.  I browsed around for ideas and came across play tents and decided to go for it.    

For the most part the project was pretty simple to put together.  I used felt for the fabric which made it simple to machine applique the shapes, animals, etc.  The most time consuming aspect was creating the pattern itself and hand drawing the different things added to the scene. It is best to use dimensions of the table you plan to use; I took the measurements and added 1 1/2 inch to all sides to allow for 1/2 in seam allowance and a little room to ensure fits over the table. 

Another plus is that it is easy to store, as it simply folds up into a bag. 

 My favorite scene is with the Lighthouse and Sailboat: 

I think it turned out great and the kids really enjoyed it! Now they will have something to look forward to play with at Grandma & Grandpas house! 

Doll Clothes

For my very special niece, I decided to make a few outfits for her American Girl Doll for Christmas.  I scored some 18 inch doll patterns at Joann's, 5 for $5 and got to work. I also had been collecting bargain fabric, remnants at Joann's throughout the year for this specific project.   I decided I should make Alexa a matching dress as well.  I love the pillow case dress for little girls, and it's so easy to make. I also used my Serger Machine for the hems, which worked great.  Hopefully as my sewing skills get better I can move along to more complicated patterns.  

Here are the patterns I used for the dresses and apron:

Pillow Case Dress, Size 6: Simplicity2391

18inch Doll Dress: Simplicity 7083 **

18 inch Doll Dress, Pillow Case: Simplicity 2302

18 inch Apron: Simplicity 2761

** This dress took some time, so allow accordingly and plan to "step away" to destress!  

I think she enjoyed them! What do you think?   

Car Seat Baby Wrap

You can see here, I posted my first project with my serger machine, I winter wrap for my new little niece Reese. My Sister in Law was so kind to take some pictures with the car seat and Reece. I love how this little project turned out and it's mother approved:) I hope this makes the winter a little bit easier:)

Super-kid Capes

I have 4 nieces and 1 nephew, and I love to make them little gifts for xmas. This year, with the inspiration from my cousin Shannon (you can see her blog post here) I decided to make some fun and super cute capes for the kids. This is a very easy and fun project. Each cape took approx. 15-20 min to make. It also helped me work on my applique skills. I can't wait to see the kids play with the capes:)

I apologize for the positioning of the image! For some reason my compute is being stubborn....ugghhh!

Brady just loves being a model for mommy!! :) he's a true sport!

a cute little dress, so simple!

This summer, I visited my SIL and kids while the boys where having a man weekend in CO. We had a lot of fun together, I love family visits.

While we were shopping around Hobby Lobby, my niece Addison and I picked out some cute polka dot fabric together, with the promise I would make her a dress. Well, I held my word and made a pillow case dress with the fabric. It turned out super cute. And as you can see here, she is adorable. Watch out mom and dad!!

wonky log cabin table runner

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. New England has one of the best falls around, the colors are so vivid and beautiful. It definetly is sad to see it go! To celebrate fall this year, I decided to add some color to my dinning room table. I had purchased "The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party" and decided to do a few wonky log cabin blocks. I think it turned out great! To complete the back, I added a little twist by joining left over strips. I love the way it came together.

Love my new machine?

Yes, I took the plunge and purchased a serger. I am so thrilled to add this to my craft room. I have taken a class, and already broke a needle, but I think I'm getting the handle of it. 4 tensions can be a little overwhelming, so I think it will just take some practice. For my first project, I decided to take on a little project that wouldn't cost much if I messed up. I am a new aunty, so Reese will be getting a new wrap to wear while she's out and about with her big brother and sister:) And since I don't have any kiddos yet, the closet thing I had was a teddy bear! But you get the idea:) I hope chunky monkey likes it:) If you are interested, a pattern for the baby wrap will be coming soon.

Gift Idea: Snowman Wall Quilt

One of my goals for the year was to work on Christmas gifts throughout the year to minimize the stress during the holiday season. I've been aiming to complete 2 projects a month, and I've been pretty good with keeping to it.

My quilting experience is pretty minimal, so to improve my binding skills, etc I wanted to find a small project that wouldn't be too overwhelming. I also wanted to learn Applique, so this was the perfect project. YouTube is a great resource to watch how to video's on binding and needleturn applique. Little did I know, I used hand quilting thread which is very thick, so for my first applique project it was more fussy than it needed to be. I finally asked my friend Joanna who is amazing at Applique and Quilting for some advise. She blogged about it here.......

As for the tree's in the wall quilt, they were paper pieced together.......These three were the best of 6....each one taking 30-45 minutes, so you could say I was getting pretty frustrated. If I were to do this project again, I may omit the trees! Or come up with something easier/less time consuming.

I think the Snowman Wall Quilt turned out pretty cute:)

Sewing Project: Table Runner

I love green. I decided to make a table runner that would be nice for spring/summer seasons. I had some home decor fabric in my stash and completed this project in under 1 hour. Very simple, and also reversible. After measuring the table and comparing the size to a store bought table runner, I cut the fabric allowing 1/2 inch seam allowance. On one side, I added a coordinating fabric to each end. Then with right sides together, I sewed 1/2 inch seam leaving 4 inches at one end to turn right side out. After turning right side out, I ironed and topstitched the parameter. I think it turned out great! I love the contrast with our dark table.

Sewing Project: Reversible Shopper Bag

I've been on a bag making kick and totally love Amy Butler's Style Stitches. For my special friend Michelle, I decided to make the Reversible Everyday Shopper bag for her birthday....

It was very simple to make and took about 4 hours including cutting, interfacing, and sewing. Compared to the Cosmo bag, this one was super easy and less time consuming. I love the versatility of the bag and the fact that it is reversible. I was surprised how big the bag was once completed, but I think it would be a great overnight bag, beach bag, craft bag....endless options. I hope she likes it!

Train Wallet

My nephew Carter loves, loves, loves trains. For this Christmas, to go along with the trains we got him, I decided to make a train wallet to carry his trains.

With 2 coordinating fabrics, and black felt for the tracks, cut the 2 big rectangles to size. Then cut the felt 1 inch for the cross tracks and 1/2 inch for the long rails. Pin and stitch the tracks in place on to one of the rectangles. Then cut the pocket, allowing 5 inches deep and the same length of the rectangle. Attach the pocket to the other half of the rectangle. Allow 3 inches width for each pocket for each train. After attaching the pocket, stitch the 2 rectangles together right sides together, allowing for 4 inches open to turn right side out. Then slipstictch the 4 inch opening together and iron it flat.

As you can see he loves his train wallet:)

Christmas Gift: Aprons

For my nieces this Christmas, I decided to make them each an apron. My niece Ellie inspired me as she has been taking a cooking class at school, as well as they all love to cook with Grandma Pat! So I went to work, finding a cute cupcake fabric. As a guide, I used the Martha Stewart Pattern from her Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. Each apron has 3 large pockets and their names embroidered. They turned out so cute! I hope they enjoy them for years to come!

Patchwork Jean Quilt

Grandma Hodgen was amazing at quilting and everyone in the family has treasured their quilts they received for high school graduation. She was so thrifty she would transform jeans, khakis, shirts into beautiful quilts. She would always talor it to your likes and add things to make each one unique. My quilt that she made has all the patches from the name brand jeans I had in the 80's and 90's such as Pepe and Z Cavaricci. Incorporating the pockets was always my favorite part of Grandma's quilts, making it perfect to hold the remote while watching TV.

For Christmas this year, I drew my little brother, Brad's name for our family gift swap. Beings that Brad never got a jean quilt from Grandma Hodgen, I decided to make one for him. Even though it's not as great as Grandma would have made, I hope he can cherish it for many years to come.

Taking some old jeans and khaki pants we had kept, I cut the jeans along the seams. From there I cut the jeans into either 4 inch, 8 inch, and 10 inch widths with varying lengths. I then got 1 yard of patterned fabric that helped pulled the blues, browns, and khaki together and interfaced it to help make it the same weight as the jeans. Once I had all the squres cut, I layed out the pieces. Within each row (vertical rows), I then sewed all the pieces together. Once I had the vertical rows completed, I then sewed them together to compete the front. I then basted and finished it up with brown corduroy backing.

As you can see, I think he is enjoying the new quilt!

Christmas Aprons

This year I've been trying to make the majority of our Christmas gifts. For my Brother in Law and his Wife, I decided to make matching Christmas Aprons to go along with the crock pot that we gave them this year. The aprons turned out really cute. I used the Amy Butler pattern from her In Stitches book for my sister in law's and a basic simplicity pattern for my brother in law.

They look super cute in the new aprons, I hope they enjoy them this holiday season and many more to come!

A Thrifty End Table

For the living room, we had been looking for an end table that could fit in the space. My husband found a glass end table top at a garage sale for $5 and I decided to make a cover out of fabric. For $12 of fabric, I was able to make this simple cover and even a small pillow with the left over remnant. In addition, underneath the glass is a three drawer container that we had, which stores games and power cords, which helps keep clutter to a minimum. I really like what it has done for the space.

Happy Birthday Kim!

A special birthday gift, for a special friend. With the help of my cousin Shannon, we put together the cosmo bag by Amy Butler from her Style Stiches book. It was a good thing Shannon walked me through the pattern, as I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to complete it in time! Check out Shannon's blog here. The inside of the bag has 5 roomy pockets and the outside has 2 pockets along each side. Happy Birthday Kim!