Halloween is not my jam. I think I’ve said this before . Somehow it’s made worse because I sew. I could just go to the thrift store and let them pick out whatever they want, but then a cloud of guilt follows me around until November. So I ask them what they want to be, and after all the “I want to be this! No I want to be that!” I put off the costume making. I know I am not alone on this. (more…)
You know how yesterday I made a baby outfit inspired by this page from I Can Fly? Well, after staring at that page for so long, I had to make a bunny too! (more…)
Nani Iro month just ended, but I’m going to post about my projects anyway. It’s not like Nani Iro stops being awesome on June 30! The spring line of Nani IRO is so gorgeous it was extremely hard to choose what fabrics I wanted.
I usually get pajamas for my kids every christmas. I don’t ever make them, though one christmas I did sew robes for all of them. This christmas I thought I’d do something a little different: I made pillows to put their pajamas in (really branching out, I know).
For my daughter I made the kitty in the first picture. I completely copied the design from a lovely pillow I saw on Pinterest, but can’t for the life of my find it now edited to add: I based the design on this beautiful cat cushion by Jenni from Cloth & Thread. She makes absolutely gorgeous soft toys!
The lion I made for my 6 (almost 7!) year old son. I hemmed and hawed a bunch about the design. I got great advice on instgram about what direction to take (eyelashes? eyebrows? tongue?). I skipped the eyebrows, made a tiny tongue, and trimmed the fringe to use as eyelashes. I’m pretty happy with how he turned out–though I did forget the ears. Oops!
My youngest has been obsessed with cheetahs for what seems like forever now. So of course I had to make him a cheetah pillow. Like the real thing, this cheetah has tear lines–the lines that run from his eye to his chin. Black piping worked perfectly! And the leather I used–on all the animals–gives it a beautiful texture. My 4 year old cheetah approves.
The back is done up just like a simple fold-over pillow. I’m keeping the secret construction bits secret, because there might just be a pattern for these guys someday…
And here they are all filled up with pjs!
I didn’t do very much sewing at all for Christmas. What you see above is about half of it (the other half is coming up soon!). I made these little bags for my best friend this Christmas.
Her sewing, crafting, and knitting projects are very organized. She has a big basket filled with smaller bags, and in each bag is a little project. So she can grab the whole basket or pick and choose which project she wants to take to school or work or the doctor or any of the million places you end up waiting (for your kids).
I used the open wide zip pouch pattern by Anna from Noodleheads. I don’t often use patterns for bags, but I like the way this little pouch was constructed. I made some of the pouches bigger to accommodate larger projects, especially knitting needles. Anna has a size chart to make color blocked zip pouches, but I of course didn’t follow that either. My proportions are off because of it. The bags have a big bottom (I cannot lie) and a lot of the fabric ends up there. 
It’s too bad, because I like the fabric I did use: bits of a butter soft leather jacket I bought at the thrift store ages ago and lovely little scraps of fabric. Each bag is lined with natural canvas. All and all I think they will hold up nicely and work well for little project bags.
How do you organize your projects?
