Weekend of Little Girl Sewing

Kate,
I'm LOVING the One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. Besides the awesome rocket you made for R's baptism gift, I have successfully completed three adorable outfits for V! Thanks so much for helping me pick out fabric at JoAnns. It motivated me to get sewing! Greg had a long weekend off work for the holiday, so I didn't feel guilty leaving him with the little ones while I had some one-on-one time with my beloved sewing machine.

First on the list was the "Pleated Girly Skirt" with the adorable ladybug fabric. It was the easiest and quickest to make. But I do think the pleats do some wierd things when she's walking around in it.

Next up, the "Ballet-Neck Toddler Dress". I just love this style of dress. This one took the longest and was the strangest instructions. I'm still not sure I completed it correctly, but hey, it's still adorable. I love love love the polka dots with little hearts and the mis-matched trims. V already favors it over the other outfits. :)

Finally the "All-Ages Classic Jumper". This one I must have miss measured at first because it could have fit around me! But that was easy to fix, you can always make something smaller. I love this jumper because you can wear it for years, first as a dress, then as a cute shirt when it gets too short.

Overall, a successful weekend with not too many redos. I think I have increased my confidence on the sewing machine. I have the One-Yard Wonders book for another 2 weeks from the library so I'm thinking I might try one of the adult tops. We shall see if any fabric inspires me!

Laura

Craft Hope for Haiti

For those of you who don't know about Etsy.com, it's a marvelous website dedicated to handmade crafters! Very similar to Ebay and other online retailers, it exclusively lists handmade arts and crafts. So you should check it out and support crafters worldwide!

What's even better about Etsy is when compassionate and caring folks sell their handmade items in support of great nonprofits. This is one example. Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy shop recently opened. The shop supports Doctors Without Borders, with 100% of the proceeds going to them. The Doctors Without Borders existing facilities are so badly damaged, they are no longer functional. Post-earthquake medical care will be from tents. So far they have treated 1,500 people – 500 of them need immediate major surgery. There are no facilities to do this in Haiti currently. An inflatable hospital should be arriving in Haiti today.
So how can you help? You can either donate handmade items to be sold in the online shop or simply shop the Etsy store itself.

We have added a direct link to the shop with the button to the right or below on this post.

R's Rocket, Holiday Sewing and More

Kate
As you previously posted, you made this awesome rocket pillow for R for his baptism. It's wonderful!

Here it is:

By the way, I absolutely love the book she got the idea from - One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. Every project in the book requires only one yard of fabric. There are a handful of items for the kids that are already on my to do list! I got the book from the library, I have some fabric, now it's time to get started. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have some progress!

So what else have I worked on since last posting, which was way too long ago. Here is a little peak at some of the items I did over the holidays....

Kate's Christmas Gift. I got this idea from the Sewing Calendar which has sewing projects to work on throughout the year. The calendar is a great gift idea for crafters, coming in all varieties, knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and more. These are little holiday house ornaments.

V's Christmas/Holiday PJs. These were super easy. I just made a pattern from a pair of her current pjs. And sewed. So easy!!!! Definately going to do more in the future.

I promise I'll have more to post soon, when I pull out the sewing machine again and start back on some "one-yard wonders".

Laura

New Year, New Crafts

Hi Everyone!

Instead of post blogging about all of my Christmas crafts, I have decided to start the new year with news of my new craft- sewing! I have done a little sewing, mostly straight lines; but this is my greatest accomplishment since 6th grade!

R's Rocket!!!!

The timeline was tight. I bought the fabric on Friday with Laura and then I sewed yesterday afternoon with help from my mom! It was then given this the baptism this afternoon. I forgot my camera, so I will have to ask Laura to take one and post it for me :)

More projects soon! Its going to be a crafty year! I can feel it!!!!

Kate

I have been busy!

Laura,
I have loads to share. Please believe me. Pics and posting soon!
Promise

Handmade Holidays

Kate,
I love this time of the year. It's all about family, cuddling by crackling fires, baking yummy goodies, good spirits, and best of all, giving. Each year my goal is to make gifts for everyone and each year I seem to come short. I run out of time, energy and ideas. This year I've done much more planning and preparing, in hopes that this holiday season will be a handmade christmas. I can't reveal all the gift ideas I have, since many of my gift recievers will read this blog, but I plan on making matching pajamas for the us and the kids (I have already started on V's!). I'm working on an advent calendar and I'd love to be able to make V and R matching christmas outfits. And of course, there are the knitted hats I've had on my to do list for a while now, which I'm still waiting to pick out yarn for.

Anyways, I have a dilema in regards to my handmade christmas plans. I love making gifts and I love getting handmade items in return, but I'm not sure everyone on my gift giving list enjoys handmade. I sometimes question my list of gifts to make, unsure whether all the energy put into it is worth it. I know my family really well, or atleast I like to think I do. In the past we have done handmade gifts to each other. I'm still new to my husbands family (even after 6 years dating and 4 years of marriage!), and don't know them as well, so it's harder to pick out appropriate gifts (and Greg is no help with ideas). It might just be easier to pick up something for the store. I've already questioned making the fabric dollhouse for V after seeing an adorable wooden one from Melissa & Doug toys. I picked up the wooden dollhouse, but still think I might finish up the fabric one too.

Ultimately I still hope to make much of the holiday season about family, giving and handmade crafts.

I think we need another craft day or multiple craft days soon!
Laura

Another purse! And more projects to come.

Kate,
I have been avoiding doing projects that would actually benefit me, like holiday gifts, and instead made yet another purse. Atleast I'm using up fabric and sewing scraps. I'm determined to down size some of my craft supply before buying more. I love crafting, but I don't want to be wasteful.

Remember Sarah's little bag she had at the homecoming parade? I loved the idea of a little bag that I can just throw my wallet, phone and key in and then toss in my diaper bag. So I copied her idea and made one! I wish it was just a tiny bit bigger, but other than that, I love it!

Now this week, I really am going to start on some much needed projects, including another 2 year old birthday gift and some holiday gifts.

I'm also excited about my upcoming Mom's Club project to make no-sew fleece blankets for Project Linus. I stocked up on some fleece when it was 60% off a couple weeks ago. I found some really cute fleece patterns. I have two dates this month when the Mom's Club will be coming over with the little ones to help finish the blankets. I love a reason to craft and to give back. I hope all the little helpers and hands won't be too crazy!

More to come soon,

Laura