Sewing Some Sass

Dexter's Quilt

2011-05-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's done!

That means I can have this baby now, right?

I used the tutorial from Moda Bake Shop, Building Blocks Baby Quilt.

But instead of using the fabric from the tutorial, I used all the non pink stuff from Sunkissed by Sweetwater.

I think it's a bit too small, but Steve keeps telling me it's ok.

Isn't it cute?

(Please don't mind the carpet)

The back side! I love the backing!!

All folded up and ready for a baby to come and use it!

More of the backing.

I got more of the Sunkissed line for the crib stuff.

Which, I'm going to leave until after the baby comes and after we move.

But for now, I'm happy with what I have done and can't wait to meet this little guy!

Stuff for inside the purse

2011-05-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to making the coin purse and small pouch for my purse.

I used this tutorial here.

The coin purse and small pouch.

Inside of the small pouch.

That's a lot of chap stick!

Inside the coin purse.

It's not that great. Some how the side is a little bit bigger than the outside.

Oh well.

I think I'm putting off making the baby's quilt. But it really shouldn't take me that long to do.

Maybe later this weekend I'll get it started!

New Purse

2011-05-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

I finally got my act together and made myself a new purse. I used the Tailored Bags Pattern from Craft Apple. I changed it up a little bit and added the cell phone pocket from The Diaper Bag Pattern, added more pockets on the inside and made straps instead of the handles. I think it turned out great!

Front of the bag

Back with a huge pocket

The inside. The cell phone pocket is on the right, and the added pocket is on the top. I made two pockets, a 1/3rd and and 2/3rd pocket. Great for my sunglasses and check book!

Now I just want to make a small coin purse and small bag for chap stick and stuff like that.

Pink Purse

2011-04-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to help celebrate a fellow blogger's 40th birthday.

Mamarazzi is some kind of special and I admire her a lot.

So, of course I was more than willing to get her something for her birthday.

In fact, I had just bought 4 different purse patterns (great sales and I couldn't pick just one)

I thought I would make her a purse in her favorite color, PINK!

I used the Craft Apple Tailored Bag Pattern for her purse.

I think it turned out great!

See:

Front of the bag.

Back of the bag. It has a HUGE pocket back there with a magnet closure.

The inside of the bag has two pockets and a swivel/ring closure.

I had enough left over fabric to make a matching key chain.

We made these for Super Saturday last October and I loved teaching it and making them!

I used this pattern.

I think they both turned out great!

I really hope she enjoys her gifts from me.

I loved sewing these.

In fact, I'm going to make myself the same purse, only add more pockets inside and a cell phone holder up top. Just like the diaper bag I made from Craft Apple.

Totally go see what else Mamarazzi got for her birthday from some of her best bloggy friends!

And wish her a happy, but late, birthday!

She truly is an amazing woman!

Class Quilt

2011-01-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

This is my son's class quilt. They made the heart squares and I pieced it together. There is nothing in the middle, and not tied together. It's just for looks.

It was put up for auction at his schools Family Fun Night. He's teacher's mom was the winning bid for $45 and gave it to her daughter! I'm impressed that this quilt sold for $45!! And there were like 10 bidders! That makes me happy! And I'm glad that his teacher got to keep the quilt. She hasn't been able to for the first two.

Annabelle's Quilt

2011-01-27T21:59:00.001-08:00

I made this quilt for our new little niece, Annabelle!

It's tied together, not machine quilted. I still don't have a good enough machine to do that yet. But I have found that my babies love to play with the yarn, so I thought maybe Annabelle would like to too!

I used this tutorial over at Moda Bake Shop.

I love it! I wish we were having a girl so I could make one for our baby.

Halloween Costumes

2010-12-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, we thought we would keep it cheap, and make our own costumes. We also thought that we would have a theme this year. And since because our kids love everything Mario, we ended up with a bunch of Mario characters!

Luigi aka Jake

Ok, so the only thing here I made was the Luigi hat and the gold buttons on the overalls. All the other stuff was gotten at a low cost!

Princess Peach aka Zoe

Isn't she cute?

I know it's blurry, but it's the only picture I have of just her full length. I made everything but the gloves, with a lot of help from my mom. My parents came up for Halloween, and I begged for my mom to help me. I have never sewn from a store bought pattern (this one is from Disney's Cinderella costume) or sewn with satin before. It was *fun*. So glad my Mama was here to help!

Mario, aka, Leo

So the whole reason we thought of a Mario theme, other than the kids love Mario, was Mario's hat. My husband has been dutifully entering our Wii points from the games we have at Nintendo and saved up enough to win a prize. The prize we got to pick, Mario's hat! And since Leo looked so darn cute in it, we thought we would do Mario and friends for Halloween. Only thing made here was the gold buttons. We had the overalls already, and the shirt was a sweet fine!

Toad, aka Teage

Ok, so not the best picture, but you get the idea. He was a little done with taking pictures at this point. The hat, well, that's chef's hat with the stiff part turned to the inside, sewn shut with some flannel, add some elastic of the strap and some red dots to make it look like a mushroom. I also made the vest (it's a little small on him). The rest are clothes he already had.

Mario and Friends!

So that was our Halloween this year. Homemade and cute! Not sure what we'll do for next year, but one things for sure, I'm not waiting until the last minute to make it all!

Halloween Totes

2010-12-13T07:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry. We had a busy summer. And my sewing machine broke. Finally got a new one. Just in time for Halloween! I have really been wanting to make these Halloween Totes (*note, when I tried loading the page, it didn't want to load, so try again later) from Craft Blog. They were super easy to make! Just a little time consuming with having to cut all the squares, but that went by fast once I knew what I was doing.

So without further ado, the Halloween totes for my four kiddos!

This one is Teage's. Which, I ended up holding all night. Oh well. At least it's cute!

Jake's bag. And the first one I made. Not bad, if I do say so myself!

Now, knowing that Jake loves green, you would think this is his bag. But you would be wrong. This one is Leo's bag. He really loved his bag!

Can you guess who's lovely purple bag this is? If I would have let her, Zoe would have had an all purple bag. LOL!

I got a lot of different fabrics for the kids to choose from. They all chose which fabric they wanted for their totes. I only altered a few, just so the bag would look a little bit better. The good thing is, I got enough fabric to make more for when we have more kids.

Speaking of which, I'm pregnant with baby number 5! We are excited to bring this new little spirit into our home! I'm due June 7th, and because I usually go a week early, my husband will be getting a baby for his birthday!

I want to make this...or win it!

2010-04-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Bakers has come up with something really cute...and useful for me!

I'm learning how to crochet and so is she, and she has made this awesome crochet clutch!

And the best part is, she's giving another one away! Ooo, save me from making two (psst, Kayla, I'm planning on making one for you!). You can check out the giveaway here.

Fabric Easter Baskets

2010-04-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

And, I'm back! It's been too long since I got my craft on! I'm so happy that I was able to do something cute for my kiddies for Easter!

For Easter this year, I made fabric Easter Baskets from a tutorial on Moda Bake Shop. There were easy, but getting them the shape I wanted wasn't so easy. I would have failed a basket making class for sure!

Here are the three I made (didn't make one for the baby. I'll make him one next year). My hubby makes fun of the missed shape of all three. I let him. Oh well. At least the last one looks like an Easter Basket!

This one is for my lil' girl. The fabric is Soiree by Lila Tueller. It's my favorite. It turned out the best (still lopsided though) but it's big, looks like an basket and the colors are wonderful!

This one is for my oldest boy. It's Baskets of Flowers by Mary Engelbreit. This one was the first one I made. It's ok. The colors are good for a boy, but a little bright for Easter. Oh well.

And this one is for my 2 year old boy. It's Oh-Cherry-Oh! By Me and My Sister. This one just was so small to start with and it kept going in. At least he's a little boy.

All in all, good. My fingers are now all blister and calloused. And I stayed up way too late on Easter Eve working on my last basket. So glad I didn't make one for the baby!

Up next, a cute skirt I started a few weeks ago that I need to finish! Hopefully next week sometime. This week is for cleaning and packing. Going back to Utah for my best friends wedding!

Still Here

2009-08-25T22:45:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'm still here. It's been a very BUSY month. I had Teage July 20th. Then the next week we moved to the great state of Oregon! The last few weeks have been filled with unpacking, cleaning, working (hubby started his job on the 5th and has been out of town for 90% of the time so far) and just exploring the next town. I have yet to unpack my sewing machine. But am hoping and praying that that will be fixed this week or weekend. I already have a project in mind. A t-shirt quilt made from all the old t-shirts that we have had since high school, never wear anymore (because we're both like 50 pounds heavier from high school) and just can't seem to give up. Plus, I need a quilt to snuggle with when the hubs is out of town.
I really hope I can work on the quilt in the next week or so. I then need to start working on Christmas projects. Can't believe I'm saying that. I am one of those people that believe that Christmas decorations and music should not be put up or played BEFORE Thanksgiving. And that includes presents. But, I guess, if you are making them, you should get a head start!

He's Here!!

2009-07-22T19:12:00.001-07:00

My little peanut came on Monday! I'm so happy he's finally here. Teage was 7 lbs 5 oz and 19 inches long. We are doing well. Home and resting.
So this means, I'll be MIA for a while. We are moving next week, so we're busy getting the apartment packed and me resting and taking care of Teage. So glad my mother-in-law is here to help!

Baby Wrap/Sling

2009-07-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

When I first got into sewing I came across this wonderful shop, loveyduds and really really wanted one for the baby. I was tired of the Snugglie we had (all the straps hanging everywhere and the strain on my back) and wanted something more "organic and natural". But, there was no way I could afford what she was asking for.

So, I noticed that Fabric.com was having a really good sale, so, on a whim (and I didn't tell hubby until after I bought the fabric) and got what I needed to make my own wrap. I did a lot of studying of how loveyduds makes their wraps. Looked up measurements for a moby wrap, I did my own thing and created my very own wrap! I'm very happy with it and can't wait to use it!

Ok, here it is! I look huge. Keep in mind I have a huge pregnant belly and my daughter's cabbage patch doll as the "baby". The front panel is Michael Miller First Sight Cubism Black & White. I wanted something that would be good for a boy or a girl (hoping that I have a few more girls). I really like it!

And from the side. That black thing coming from my behind is our pop up canopy that we finally removed from the van to the house, only to be moved into another room to be put into a moving van! Anyways, back to the wrap, it's super cute!

I know that loveyduds has asked people to respect their design and ideas, but I'm not going to start selling these at all. This was just for me. And me only. I give full credit for the design and idea to loveyduds and to Moby Wrap. Please, if you would like a wrap, go to either site and order from them. Theirs is probably much better than anything I could make!

Can I get an Amen?

2009-07-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

It's done! It's finally done!! The the baby quilt for baby Teage is done! Now, I can go into labor!!

This is my very first quilt! I really didn't have any help from anyone. Just a lot of tutorials on many different blogs about how to baste, quilt (which I didn't do, just tied it off with some yarn), and how to make and add binding to the quilt. It's far from perfect (in fact, I need to go back and stitch a few places that look like it's not going to hold, but that can wait a while. I'm done with this sucker!) but I like it. My hubby likes it, my daughter likes it (she was still up when I finished it and said it was beautiful), so I hope that the baby will like it.

For the back, it's just the green gingham you see. As well as the binding. I got it from Joann Fabric Store. I had to piece it together to make it fit, but I like the mismatch on the back.

The top is made from scraps from my attempt of creating my own business selling nursing covers, burp cloths and diaper changing pads. I really like how it turned out. And it feels so good. Going from cotton to flannel on the front for the different blocks. And the yarn is only tied on the 4 patch block.

All in all, I'm pleased with it, and trying not to be OCD about it not being perfect. That's going to be the hardest part for me. But tomorrow, I'm packing up my little area in our living room that is my "sewing studio". It's time for some major packing in order to get ready for our move in two weeks. I'm excited to move, but a little sad that I won't be doing anything crafty for that long. I had planned on making a few more things for some friends, but just didn't have the time, or energy to do all that I wanted to do.

But the quilt is done, and now there is nothing "holding" me back from having this baby! He can come tomorrow!! (oh please, please come tomorrow!)

The Phoebe Bag

2009-07-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

I totally can't take credit for the name of the bag. That would go to the artsy-crafty babe for creating this sweet bag and producing a free tutorial (look on her right side bar for it)!

I used the fabric I got from a swap I did hosted by Mamarazzi. I love the fabric. It's from Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses collection (found at Joann Fabric stores). I used fabric from the same collection to make my diaper bag, itty bitty keeper, and diaper case. The pocket is made from one of the fat quarters I got from Quilt Taffy.

I think it's really cute!

See, isn't it cute? I think I'll use this one as my summer purse!

Inside of bag. I really like the poka dots for on the pocket!

I had to change it up a little bit. I was going to do this bag from Oh, Fransson!, but didn't have enough fabric for both the inside and outside, and not enough money to go get more fabric, so I just used the button I had gotten for the Margaret Bag and used the how to on making the button holder thing.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty cute! And my feet are bigger today then they were yesterday. One more project to finish (the quilt for baby Teage) and then I'm packing up the fabric, sewing machine, and table for the move.

The Lime Bag

2009-07-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the Great America Sidewalk Festival, Steve saw this awesome fabric and said I should make a bag out of it. It's from Arrin Turnmire Chutes & Ladder's collection from Moda. Very limey and summery, and it was on sale (50% off!)

So, using the Charming Handbag tutorial from the Moda Bake Shop I created the lime bag!

Isn't it cute? Makes me want to have some limeade and chocolate!

I did my own thing for the pockets. I used some left over material from the nursing covers I've made. I like it a lot!

And this is what happens to my poor pregnant feet (well, my feet aren't pregnant, but you get the idea) after a few hours of sewing. Yikes!

So maybe tomorrow I'll get to the other bag I want to make. Not sure what I'm going to do with this bag. I'll use it. Maybe it'll go to the hospital with me (whenever this baby decides to come)!

Watches

2009-07-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

a very cool giveaway over at Make It and Love It for a chunky watch of your choice from Kendee Watches. I love watches!!

So go over there for your chance to win a super cute watch!

I did it again...

2009-07-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

...I won something! I know, right. My luck might be turning around. (knock on wood)

I blog hopped for the last two weeks. 10 very talented ladies in Minnesota thought it would be fun to do a blog hop and share some of their talents and tips with the blogging world. I learned a lot. And can't wait to try out all the cool new things I've learned.

Now, I didn't win the grand prize. But I did win Little Charmer's Patterns from Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures.

Thank you so much Heather for randomly drawing my name! I cannot wait to get creating!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

(Sorry for the bad picture. Taken last night at the Logan Firework show with our new camera.)

Happy Independence Day! My all time favorite holiday!

Thank you all the men and women that help keep this a free country! And lots of thanks to the patriots 233 years ago who dreamed of a free country!

Winner!

2009-07-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

I won some Red, White fat quarters from Quilt Taffy! Now, what to do with them...

Plus, I got these yesterday. I got them with my winning of $20 gift certificate at Sew, Mama, Sew! It's from Jennifer Paganelli's collection Dance With Me. They are so pretty and summery. I'm thinking a coin quilt would look great with these. But it'll have to wait until after we move.

Oh yeah, that reminds me, we're moving!! My hubby has been done with school since December 08, but his start date at his job (it's not a job, but the start of his career!) is August 5th. So, we finally found a place in the Portland area, and will be moving there at the end of the month. Hopefully, this baby will come really early (my due date is the 25th). July is going to be a really busy month for us. But that's just how we roll!

Thank you Quilt Taffy for picking me! Can't wait to get those yummy fat quarters in my hands!

Bare With Me

2009-06-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

I know I've been posting a lot about giveaways. It's 5 days till payday, and then I can get some safetly pins, and then I can finish the baby's quilt. I'm not feeling inspired right now, so it's hard to create something new. But I did just get some really cute fabric from a swap I did this past month! So, maybe I'll do something with that. I was thinking a cute bag/purse for me. Anyone know of a really good bag tutorial?

I Won!!

2009-06-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

I actually won something!!

Over at Sew, Mama, Sew! it's sewing machine month with the grand prize being an awesome sewing machine. (No, I didn't win that...yet...entry and drawing will be soon though) Every week they have been picking winners from the comments for that week.

I got randomly picked from one of my comments! I won a $20 gift certificate to the Sew, Mama, Sew! Store! Woohoo!!!

Thanks Sew, Mama, Sew!!

And you thought...

2009-06-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

...I was done with the giveaways. Sorry.

Over at Sheree's Alchemy, she's doing another UPSP Flat Rate box filled with scraps giveaway!
Who wouldn't want to win a box full of scraps. Oh, the possibilities!

So, go check out Sheree's Alchemy and enter her giveaway!

Good luck, but not too much. I want to win this one!!

More Giveaway

2009-06-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

I know you're probably sick of the giveaway stuff, but serisously, I have the worst luck, and I need some cute stuff so I can get back to creating. We're saving up for a move, so no new fabric until after the move. So, entering giveaways is my way of "shopping".

Anyways, here is a cool giveaway over at bitty bits & pieces. She gets to design stuff for Moda Fabrics, and just came out with this really cute tutorial for a 4th of July Star Pillow. Using an amazing product that shrinks the fabric to make super cute ruffles!

Her giveaway is for the pillow, or someone could win the Texture Magic (the shrinking stuff), or some awesome needles.

So, go check it out!

Good Luck

2009-06-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

That's what I need! Is some good luck!

Another giveaway that I'm entering. Over at Quiltin' Like Crazy. She just sold her first quilt, and to celebrate, she's having a giveaway for an Amy Butler bag!

Who doesn't love a new purse? I love them, and am hoping my luck turns around!!

P.S. She now has over 100 followers, so she'll pick two winners!! So, go over there and enter!

Cuteness!

2009-06-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing a lot of cute cloth shoes at etsy.com and on other blogs that I follow. I totally wanted to make the baby some cute shoes that didn't involve leather or another thick material. Then I came across this blog, stardustshoes. And I was in heaven. Why? Because she has a tutorial for cloth baby shoes! You can find it here. (She's also from Seattle, so she must be super cool!)

So, this afternoon while Zoe and Leo were sleeping, I whipped up some very cute shoes for the baby!

I think they are really cute! I made them from scraps from my diaper changing pad. I love the frogs and other jungle friends! Perfect for a little baby boy!!

The bottoms are made from scraps from a nursing cover I made. I guess it's a good thing I tried to start my own business. I have a lot of scraps and left of material to do cute things like this!

Making these shoes was super easy, if you paid attention to what you were doing. I blame pregnancy brain. For some reason, I just couldn't get "right sides together". After ripping out the seams twice, I finally got it! But you can't tell once their all done!

I'm trying to find projects to do to get rid of my tons of left over material. I'm thinking that I'll make some more shoes for the baby, but in flannel this time. Or after the quilt is done, (I have to wait until next pay day to get safety pins so I can quilt it) use the left over backing for a bottom to some cute green fabric I have that is just calling to be made into some shoes!

Tutus

2009-06-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is what I created tonight with my friend Laura. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of hers before they left. Their baby girl was pretty up set. So, as soon as Laura was done, they left really quickly. But, she made a red, white and blue tutu. It was made with shinny tulle, and it's so cute!

Zoe gets hers for her birthday next month. I used light purple, pink and a foresty green. It makes me think of fairies. She really liked it and kept saying, "It's Zoe's." How cute is that?

I used two different types of ribbon. A purple with a green trim and daisies and pink with shinny stars.

Here is a close up of the ribbons.

I used the tutorial from Make It and Love It. This chick is just so cool and makes awesome stuff for her kids and for around the house! And her tutorials are so easy to read and understand.

Now, I got to keep this tutu out of sight for a month before Zoe can wear it. I have a few more ideas and things to make for her birthday. Stay tuned!!

P.S. I'll be working on the quilt soon. I just need safety pins to hold the quilt together while I quilt it. Until next pay day!

Sorry

2009-06-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

About the lack of creating and the over abundance of giveaway stuff. But never fear, I'm creating today! My friend Laura and husband will be coming over tonight. The husbands will probably play some sort of video game and keeping the kids out of our way while we make tutus for our little girls! Check back later tonight to see the results!

New To Me

2009-06-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

I found this great blog the other day, and guess what? She's having a giveaway. So, head over to Sheree's Alchemy she all the cute stuff she makes and enter her giveaway here.

And I promise to start sewing again soon. I have almost all the things I need to get the baby's quilt done. Just need a clean living room now!

One more Giveaway

2009-06-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is for a super cute quilt pattern with dragonflies! It's really cute! Go check it out over at JoyPatch, she's got other cute stuff too! Wish me luck!

Another Giveaway

2009-06-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

A new blog I just found is having a giveaway for her 100th post! Woohoo!! And it's a great prize for winning too. So go to ~*Tonya's Sewing Room*~ and check out the giveaway, or her blog. She's got some talent!!

Diaper/Wipe Case

2009-06-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

I made this beauty last night. I felt like sewing, and remembered this project I got a while ago for free from Boogaboo Babies. Again, I had to do my own thing when it came to the handle. I still don't have any ribbon, so I just used the left over handle from the Itty Bitty Keeper I made a week or so ago. And, yes, this same fabric again. I have a lot of it. I was keeping it for a friend that wanted a diaper bag just like the one I made for me, but she never got back to me for the go ahead, so, I'm using it now. But, at least my diaper case will match my diaper bag!

All closed (sorry no pics with diapers in it, but I could get 3 into it)

I like the black inside. Plus, the red fabric has smaller flowers on it, so it just looks better as an outside fabric!

Now to my next project, the quilt! Thanks to Damaris for the Joann's Gift Card she gave me for my baby shower. Now, I can get what I need to finish up the quilt!!

Wondering

2009-06-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt top that I made for baby Teage (that would be the unborn child, I guess you know his name now). It's about 48" x 48", a little big, but that's ok. I don't know what to do for the backing. We want it light, so not flannel. I don't know if I want to do a plain backing, or find something from the nursery prints that isn't too babyish. Then, what to do for the binding? Not sure again. Probably just a plain fabric, or maybe dots? I just don't know. Then, I would LOVE to quilt it. Do some free hand stippling on it (still need a lot of practice) but my sewing machine just can't handle it. I practiced on small 6" x 6" squares and well, lets just say I did a lot of repenting that night for the language used. Or, I could just sew on a diagonal and make diamonds or something. I just don't want to use yarn and tie it off. But then, I think about Zo and how she loves the ties on her quilt and usually grabs one of them to bring her quilt up to her face and suck on her thumb when she's sleepy. Oh, I just don't know what do. Any suggestions? Any and all would be very helpful at the moment!

Sewing Machine Meme

2009-06-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm out of ideas, for the moment (I did run across a tutorial for a patchwork sewing machine cover here that I will have to do in the near future), but while looking at this awesome tutorial I noticed that Sew Mama Sew is having a sewing machine month and lots of giveaways. With the grand prize being a Husqvarna/Viking Emerald 183! Check out the details here.

Part of getting entered into the grandprize giveaway is to blog about your sewing machine. So this is me doing that. Hope you enjoy!

Here he is in all his glory! (Yeah, I know most sewing machines are girls, but he just feels like a boy)

That would be a Brother Model LS-2125i

What brand and model do you have?
Again, a Brother LS-2125i

How long have you had it?
Two whole months, but my mom has had it for maybe 6 years or so.

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?
$79.99 at Wal-Mart. But I got it for free! Can't beat that!!

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
So far I've done burp cloths, nursing covers, diaper changing pads, a bag, some pretty sew skirts and pillowcase dresses for my daughter and one big quilt top for my unborn son. And a few other projects for me and around the house.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?
I try to sew something everyday. But it doesn't always work out. He probably gets the normal amount of wear and tear. I haven't done anything really major with him yet.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?
No name yet. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. It's a good old boy and does an ok job with things. That might be because I'm still a newbie and don't know what I'm doing all the time.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?
Nothing special about this guy. He's very basic and that's that.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?
The fact that it's from Wal-Mart. I'm just waiting for it to crap out on me. Because all things cheap do when I use them.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!
My story is I got my own sewing machine two months ago and it worked great for my first few sewing projects (a burp cloth set of four, a nursing cover, and a changing pad) then it died. So I returned it for the same model and it just didn't work right out of the box (it was a newer Brother Model). Returned it and had no sewing machine for a few weeks. My kind mother gave me her old sewing machine while we were visiting them. And she got a new (actually the same old thing she gave me) sewing machine.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?
Maybe for a beginner, like me, but no. I don't shop at Wal-Mart. And think that everything from there will crap out on you given enough time. I'm just praying mine doesn't die anytime soon. I just want to get something nicer and a lot better before it does!

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?
For me, because I want to start quilting a lot, I want a good machine for quilting. I want something with a lot of different stitches so I can get decorative on some projects. I want something that will last and has a good recommendation from the professionals. And something that isn't going to take me years to save up for!

Do you have a dream machine?
At the moment, I don't have one. I need to do a lot of research before I can say, "I need this one!"

Here we go again

2009-06-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

I did it again. I lied. I really need to stop doing that.

I forgot that I had came across this patter for a Grocery Bag Holder at Make It and Love It. We have a lot of grocery bags that we have for dirty diapers and small trash cans and other things. And the grocery bag that we were using was getting to full for all the other bags inside of it.

So, using scraps from nursing covers and diaper bag, I made this:

As you can see, it's very full!

I had to improvise on some of the materials. Like, I only had enough elastic to do the bottom. So the top is boning. It works, but I should have made it a little big bigger. My pregnant had was having a hard time stuffing the bags in. Then, I don't have any ribbon. Well, I do, but nothing that I would want to use for this. So, I just took some left over bias tape, sewed it together and wallah: I have a "ribbon" for the top handle! Pretty sweet, if I do say so myself! Then, I really didn't like the idea of having the "ribbon" on the outside like the tutorial said. So I sewed the "ribbon" handle on the inside of the bag. But I sewed it on backwards, and the place where the tape was added on to make it longer is on the outside, not the inside. Oh well, I can't make them all prefect.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty darn cute! Thanks to Make It and Love It for sharing this wonderful tutorial!

Itty Bitt Keeper

2009-06-08T22:40:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I might have lied (I didn't mean too) when I said I had nothing else to make. I came acorss this free pattern from bitty bits & pieces. It's a iPod/Phone/Camera holder. It's pretty cool. I took my protective plastic off my phone because it was getting pretty gross. But I needed something to protect my phone is in my pruse. So this is just perfect!

I used left over material from the diaper bag I made a few months ago. I think it's pretty sweet looking! It has a small pocket for head phones or drivers license or debt card. But I was having issues with this pattern and sewing machine, so on mine you can't put a drivers license or debt card in there. Head phones, sure, but I don't have head phones for my iPhone.

Either way, this is a pretty sweet pattern and a great gift idea or for yourself. I like mine and maybe I'll try it again in a month or two (when I'm not so pregnant, feet are huge right now from sitting at the sewing machine for less than an hour).

Thanks bitty bits & pieces for making this free pattern!

My iPhone next to the itty bitty keeper. I said it was cute!

Going in...

...nice and snug in it's new home!

The great thing about this iPhone keeper, there is batting in the bag, so it's padded and very much protected!

More sewing

2009-06-06T10:44:00.003-07:00

Instead of going to the Farmer's Market today (we're done with that. We aren't making enough to pay for the weekly fees. Sucks to be a failure, but oh well) I felt like sewing. I just finished the top to the baby's quilt

(yes, it's sideways and on our bed. I just don't have any place to take a picture of it our floor is really gross right now.)

but I still had the sewing bug. I still had a stack of projects to do, so I whipped together another pillowcase dress for Zoe. It's really cute, but I made it too short. Oops. So, now it's a pillowcase dress with pants or shorts. It'll be really cute in the winter time with a under shirt and some leggings (need to learn how to make my own leggings for her). This time she was really excited to wear it and wanted to take a picture of her cute new outfit!

I even got her to pose and be standing at the same time! Woohoo for me!! See, it's a little short, so she's wearing some jean shorts. Way cute!

In fact, everyone was so impressed with Zoe's mad posing skills (or they just wanted their picture taken) the boys came over and wanted their picture taken too.

Jake posing just like Zoe. He likes to wear Daddy's Ernst & Young hat!

And Leo's picture. I told him to smile and he said "cheese"! Wait what? What did you just say? I had to take another picture just to make sure. And sure enough, he said cheese when I told him to smile, held still so I could take the picture. That boy amazes me everyday!

So now I'm out of projects to do. I have a lot of material, but nothing else. I can't make anymore skirts or dresses because I don't have enough elastic. I can't finish the quilt because I don't have the batting or the backing yet. I thought about making some blocks, but I don't have the right stuff to finish it. I'll just have to see what I can do.

I really can't wait for Steve's career to start. Then, when I need some batting or some elastic, I can just go and get it. Those couple of bucks won't be that big of a deal. Like it is now. Who knew that sewing and quilting could be so expensive.

More Awesome

2009-06-06T10:03:00.003-07:00

My friend Rachel did a swap from Dandelion Wishes awhile ago, and it looked like so much fun! She had a blast doing it. So I'm doing one this time! Go check it out and sign up!! It's going to be fun!!!!

Back into the Sew of things!

2009-05-25T10:28:00.003-07:00

After a couple week hideous for not sewing, after the most wonderful nap yesterday, I woke up in the mood to sew.

What should I sew? I asked myself. I thought about getting started on the quilt for the baby, but didn't want to spend the evening cutting squares.

So, I remembered this awesome skirt I found here. I had bought the Zippity Doo Dah Charm Pack from Sproutz on etsy.com. Perfect! This is what I'll do.

After a long night (there was swearing involved. Oops, guess I'm not as good as I thought I was at this sewing thing) and an early morning, I got that skirt done!

Super cute huh?

She's so pretty.

She's saying cheese. What a ham!

And, if I do say so myself, it turned out really good! I might make another one from the left overs from the nursing covers.

New Dress

2009-05-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

For Zoe!! I felt like sewing today, but didn't want to sew anything for my business (that just felt wrong) so I thought I would do one of the projects I had set aside for Zoe. Last year at the Farmer's Market, I found this really cute pillowcase dress for Zo. Once I started sewing, I wanted to make something cute for Zoe, and then remembered this dress. Looked at it and thought it would be pretty easy to do. So I found a couple of patterns at a room somewhere and Freshly Picked, combined the two and did my own thing. I think it's really cute, but Zoe doesn't want to wear it for very long right now. So sorry it's not that great of a picture of the dress on her. I have one more pillowcase dress to do for her, then I'm thinking about doing a patchwork skirt for her that I found at The Merry Church Mouse from the scraps from the nursing covers and diaper changing pads I'm making for my business.

Zoe in her new dress made from Mommy!!

Here it is all laid out. I think it's a little to billowy, but I don't know how to take it in without undoing everything. Plus, we didn't get a really good look while it was on Zoe. She just wouldn't hold still for every long.

Let me know what you think. I think it's really cute. Not bad for my first dress!!

Splat Mat

2009-04-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so after church, the kids were sleeping (well most of them) and I was bored, so I threw this together real quick. Only two hours to make it! I got the idea from Little Bird Secrets. There's no tutorial, but I just sort of did my own thing. It's not prefect (I don't know how to do a running bias binding, so it's kind of wonky, but it works right?

Diaper Bag

2009-04-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

Today I spent most of the day sewing a diaper bag (really, over 12 hours on this thing, good thing Steve was home to help look after the kids and feed me!). I got the pattern from Craft Apple. I think it turned out really well! Super cute!! I'll have to try it out tomorrow (today actually) at church to see how it works out. Here are some pics of the bag. Let me know what you think!

Front of the bag

Inside of bag. It has a pocket for wipes (on left side), pocket for two bottles/sippie cups (on right side) and a cell phone pocket in the middle.

Side of bag. It has a pocket for a bottle/sippie cup. The pocket has elastic on top to keep said cup/bottle from falling out.

I think I did a pretty good job. And Steve things so to. It's just so awesome to make something out of nothing! Until my next sewing project, a splat mat for a high chair or kids sitting at table. No clue when I'll get to it though. Wish me luck!!

More sewing

2009-04-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today I spent most of the day sewing, just on thing. Yikes! But it tured out really good, I think! I created a diaper changing pad. It has a way cute outside cotton fabric, some batting in between cotton and flannel, then a vinyl layer for the actual changing part. I got my idea from here. Although, I had to great creative and do things my own way. Like the binding is all hand stitched (yeah, my fingers are feeling it, it hurts to type right now). But I think it looks really good! Tell me what you think!!

Here is the changing pad half open. Pretty cool huh?

All folded up! I love the turtles!

New Hobby

2009-04-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, Steve has been pushing for me to get a hobby. I tried digital scrapbooking (not a lot of free stuff out there). I tried to read lots of books, but I would get bored half way through a book and stop reading. I've tried video gaming. I'm still gaming (gotta love Animal Crossing) but the thing is, I have video game OCD. That's where I have to do EVERYTHING in order for me to be happy. But, when I start playing a game, I play it all the time and burn out. I don't know how many games we have that I've started and not finished, or Steve will finish for me.

So I got to thinking, what is a good hobby for me to do? Then, some friends came over that had a new baby. She had to nurse while here and pulled out this awesome nursing cover. I took a look at it and thought that it could be something my mother could make for me. Then, I looked on the web to find how to make it. I found this awesome step by step pattern (click here to see) and saw that it was pretty easy to make. From there, I got this weird, wacky idea that I could learn how to sew, be good enough to make burp cloths (something I don't have enough of, well not at least my favorite one that I got for a baby shower gift while pregnant with Jake) and a diaper changing pad. I've made two out of the three so far. Burp cloths, well, I can't figure out to make the round edge round. But, at least they are for me, for now. That's right for now.

This wacky, crazy idea of mine is to start my own business selling the above mentioned items. I'm going to try to get into the farmers market here in Logan, then once we move and get settled, into the Portland farmers market (it goes until December 24th).

I'll be on the web soon enough, but I have to make all the stuff I'm going to sell first. So, look forward to another blog announcing the grand opening of Sara's Sassy Mom & Baby!!

Here are some pictures of the things that I have made so far. And there just for me, I promise the burp cloths will have nice clean edges!

We saw cute Easter Bags at Target and thought it would be a good first sewing project for me. So, while my parents were in town, I had my mom walk me through on how to do this, and some sewing 101 tips! I think they're pretty cute. Jake and Zoe picked out what color of bunny and egg they wanted.

My first attempt at burp cloths. That's a stack of 4.

The last one I made turned out really well. That's the one on top! So, I'll have to practice a couple of more times. So glad Steve is so supportive of me. Even though some are not rounded, he still said they looked great!

And here is the nursing cover I made for this little one and me! I think it turned out really well! And it's super cute!!

On both ends there are these little pockets. It's for breast pads, pacifier (which we don't use) or to clean up baby. It's flannel and super soft!

So here goes my next big adventure! I've really enjoyed sewing and creating something for nothing. I just really hope I have the love and support from the rest of my friends and family! Stay tuned!!