Reupholster kindergarten couch

Here is a different type of project.  Word is apparently getting around the girl's school that I sew, and a teacher asked if I could fix a dilapidated pint-sized couch.  I said I would give it a shot.

Here is what it looked like BEFORE:

It was covered with quilting cotton fabric (the frogs, which the girls thought was totally disgusting) and then some other scrap of blue that was tucked in to cover the foam on the seat.  The foam on the arm was exposed and getting picked at by little kids.  Ew.

Here is the AFTER photo:

Much better, right?  

It turned out to be easier to take off the old cover entirely and recover the original foam/wood so it was more of a hot glue and staple gun project than a sewing project.  We picked out some heavy duty canvas from the clearance racks at Hancock so it would be a bit sturdier than the previous quilting cotton cover.  Lots of staple removing, dusty corner cleaning (think kindergarten dirt), cutting of fabric rectangles, and then stapling back on.  I can't say I feel the need to do much more upholstery work, but I was happy to help out the teacher and keep the kiddos from picking at foam.  

Okay, quick -  put the staple gun back in the garage and get back to needle and thread!  :)  

New Bag for Myself

I've been using this bag all year for my bible study books/papers and really enjoying it.  Having a pretty bag just makes me smile.  Compliments from strangers doesn't hurt either.  :)

My drawstring backpack that I carry as a purse has been used to death and seen better days so I decided it was time for a new everyday bag/purse for myself.   I spent a few evenings drawing and planning, a week-ish sewing off and on, and here it is!

I found the teal and brown geometric print at Hobby Lobby.  Its a duck cloth/canvas, although not super sturdy.  In hindsight I should have experimented around with interfacings because it could be just a tad stiffer.  

I love piping, so this bag got a generous dose of nice brown piping - all around the base and sides and top of the bag, as well as both sides of the strap.   A cute little pleat in the middle adds just a tiny bit of shaping and adds a few cuteness points.  

I spent a long time looking locally for slide buckles so that the strap could be adjustable.  It was ridiculous - between all the craft and sewing stores we have around here I could not make one single set of hardware for this bag in all the correct sizes and all the correct materials.  Either I could match sizes or I could match metals (silver, gold, pewter, etc) but not both.   I guess I learned my lesson and next time I'll buy the hardware online first before making the bag.  

I ended up with nice bars on the sides, just no slider for adjustability.  As is, its a long shoulder strap - not quite cross body.  (Come to think of it, it might work for cross body once summer comes and we can shed the layers of clothing and puffy jackets.  Its working okay as a long shoulder strap so I'm happy either way.)  I worked very hard to get a totally reversible strap with piping.  Not that anyone else will notice, but it was a fun mental exercise to make it work without any exposed ends.  

The lining is a fun brown on brown checkerboard print and I added a cute curvy elasticized pocket custom sized for my phone.   I also added a magnetic snap.  I've never used those before but it was super simple to insert.  I could see those becoming kind of addicting.  :)  

I've been using it for a few weeks now and I really like it.  The best part is that I actually physically measured the stuff I keep in my purse on a regular basis and made this to match so its JUST the right size.  Not too big, not too small.  Love, love, love that about it.  It was also good sewing practice with piping, straps, structure, layers, etc so I feel like this bag is good but my next one can be really great because the sewing technique will be that much better/smoother.  

Yeah for a new bag...  I should do it more often!  :)  

  

Mermaids

I have had visions of mermaid dolls floating around in my head for quite some time and they have finally come alive in fabric.

I have made three mermaids in the last few months and I think each one is better than the last.  I started by sketching a mermaid one night after trolling for ideas on Pinterest.  It took a few tried to get the 3-D mermaid softie toy to look like my 2-D sketch but I like how it has progressed with each doll.  Tweak this seam a bit here, add a little width here, take out a little width there, throw in a little football-shaped dart in this spot to make it lay nicer, etc.

Here is the first one, which was gifted to a friend's two year old daughter:

Theses are the most recent batch:  

Blondie is version 2.0 and the Red Head is 2.1.  I like the tail shape of the purple one the best - I think the others are a bit too pudgy.  Mermaids are supposed to be sleek and slim, right?   

 Leah requested that her mermaid have 'red hair that is long enough to braid' and was thrilled with the results.   We call Blondie's flippy ponytail a 'do-wop'.  

They have embroidered faces and fleece hair.  The rest is made from quilting cotton.  I found the perfect scaly-looking print for the tails at Hancock.  

Leah declared hers to be an adventurous mermaid who wanted to explore and needed a bag to keep things in.  Within ten minutes she had turned a scrap of red fleece into this stylish satchel.  :)

I have the fabric cut out and ready to sew for six more mermaids.   Our plan is to stitch them up and then deliver/donate them to the local Salvation Army shelter.  The kids there can have a little homemade softie and my girls can have the experience of physically handing something homemade to a child less fortunate.  Should be a win-win.  

More Doll Dresses...

It is time to catch up on posting my sewing projects...

The first projects to report on are two quick doll dresses.  I didn't officially open up the Doll Clothes Factory, I just whipped up these two on request to match the girl's easter dresses.  The patterns are from Nancy's book and they stitched up very nicely as usual.

Pink eyelet for Samantha:  

 (funny how human-scaled eyelet looks more like swiss cheese on a doll-size dress)  

Gold for Molly:  

Baby Boy Crochet Blanket

This is my latest crochet project.  

Quick post because there isn't much to say.  Its for a teacher friend who is having a baby boy soon.

 I thought I'd try a circular blanket just for something different.  I think it's alright - not fabulous, but alright.  I definitely got practice in doing regular increases (to make the circle shape) which was one of my reasons for trying a circle blanket in the first place.  I wasn't perfect and am a little disappointed in how the joining stitches turned out - either I didn't do them quite right or I should have worked in a spiral rather than separate rows because you (or, I, rather) can really tell where that crooked row of joining stitches lies.  However, I'm learning by trial and error - and I'm okay with that.  :)

I love the colors and the texture/softness - its very snuggly.   Hopefully it will get used and snuggled and drooled on and dragged around the house by an active little boy!

New SuperWarm Quilt for Living Room

There's another new snuggly quilt around the house...

This quilt is nothing fancy, but it has been a long time in coming.  It is a special quilt in that it replaces a well-worn and loved favorite.  Keith had two quilts from his ancestors that he particularly loved.  Both were blankets more than quilts, because they were made from sturdy blue fabric.  No piecing or fancy patterns, just blue.  They were well worn (one of them bordered on threadbare) and both were filled with old wool batting.  While I appreciated their warmth, I felt like a quilter's wife should have pretty quilts to snuggle under rather than dilapidated blue blankets.  :)

The thinner one got replaced in 2010 and now it came time to replace the thick, fluffy, super warm, gotta-have-in-winter blanket.  I dismantled the blue cover and collected all the wool batting.  Some of it was still together but much of it was loose and balled up in the corners.  I had the wool cleaned, recarded, and encased in cheesecloth.  I found a company in Minnesota that did it by mail with great service and a very reasonable price.

Here is what the clean recarded wool looked like.  Its about 80'' by 70'' (about a double bed size).  

I wanted this quilt to be pretty traditional and the pinwheel block is one of my favorites.  I had accumulated a lot of tan/beige/off white fabric in my quilting cotton stash so I decided to use that and bought a mix of dark greens to go with it.  

Since the quilt batt was very puffy (a healthy 2'' in loft) and already in cheesecloth tied with yarn, I decided to put it together like a duvet cover.   That way I have the option of taking the cotton cover off to launder.  Having completed that task I'm not sure I would do it again.  It was no walk in the park to measure the fluffy batt, piece together a backing with a long envelope style slit in it, and then wrestle the big yet somewhat fragile batt into the duvet cover so it all laid flat for tying.  I basically took this picture so that when I make another duvet cover for my other wool batt (yep, I got lots of wool recarded so we'll have two of these!) I'll remember NOT to do it this way...

I'd definitely do an invisible zipper or some other method instead of the envelope backing - that was the biggest pain.  We'll see how this holds up.  I also ran annoyingly short on green fabric and was too stubborn to go buy more.  Seeing as the backing was beige I thought I could just fudge and put a strip of beige on the top and bottom.  I'm sorry to say it looks hokey and exactly like I ran out of fabric.  Oh well.  It is tied with embroidery floss through all the layers - cotton duvet cover, cheesecloth, and wool batt.  

All that being said, everyone fell in love with it the minute they crawled under it.  You just can't beat real wool.  This thing is crazy warm, yet lightweight.  Its the kind of quilt that you take a nap under, and then find that you just can't bear to get up off the couch because you are SO warm and cozy.  Its been used every single day since I put the last stitch in and I'm sure will be used every winter for many years to come.  Three cheers for saving old wool - it's definitely worth it!   

Birthday Quilt for Grace

Its time to show you Grace's birthday quilt!

She turns six next week and this is HER quilt.  She informed me this fall that, "Daddy has a special quilt, you have a special quilt, and Leah has a special quilt... everyone has one but me!"  She was 100% correct.  Bad mommy.  :(

I made Leah one when she turned five because she had outgrown her baby blanket and her feet stuck out the end when she tried to cover up with it.  Now it's Grace's turn (and we're focusing on the fact that she's grown soooo big, not on the fact that Mommy got a year behind on this one somehow).  Her old Kitty Blanket is way too short and has seen better days.  This new, bigger, made-just-for-you quilt will keep her cozy warm for a while to come.

I tried to make the quilts similar in style and size (lest we have any arguments about someone's being bigger or 'special-er').  You can see Leah's quilt on the Finished Quilts tab.  My inspiration for the quilt's background was this quilt from Pinterest.  I don't think I quite hit the mark on this attempt - I think my colors are a bit too saturated.  I'll try again on a smaller project.  Its still pretty, though.  Grace specifically requested pink so I went a bit heavy on the pink shades.

The embroidery is all done by hand and portrays things that Grace loves, characteristics she has, or things about her that are special to me.

She loves cats....

  ... her favorite snuggle is named Cutie 

(but was named Meow for years before undergoing a name change about a year ago)...

...this kid sings ALL DAY LONG... 

... she loves her Lord and shows it boldly...

... has closed every prayer with these words since age 4...

... will do anything for a snuggle...

... and her six year old handprints.

I quilted it by machine for sturdiness.  I expect it will get washed often.  I used cotton batting for the same reason, plus to make it an all-season quilt.

Every quilt gets a label, of course.

Grace has seen the quilt background before it was embroidered.  She watched the hexagons come together into the cool background and knows I've been working on the 'secret part' after she goes to bed at night.  In fact, every once in a while she'd tell me, "Don't forget to work on my secret quilt tonight Mommy!"  

She will receive it next week and I'm sure she'll love it!  

Details/notes to self:

1. Hexagons are 4 inches finished.  Cut with acrylic template.  

2.  Pieced one edge at a time, stopping at each quarter inch seam mark.  It worked well but I wouldn't want to do a big quilt of hexagons - kind of putzy and tons of thread trimming.  

3.  Quilted by machine first, then embroidered to avoid quilting over the embroidery.  I'm not sure I'd do it that way again - this method meant lots of burying of embroidery threads so as to not leave knots on the back and in the end most of the motifs ended up being within a single hexagon anyway.  Such things happen when you design on the fly!  :)    

4.  I am still working on the perfect blend of quilting and embroidery.  The embroidery motifs have to be small enough to easily and uniformly quilt around, but not so small that they are hard to see.  I do love to combine the two techniques, thats for sure.