Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wild for Wednesday!

What am I wild for this week?























1. Top Left: Halloween Pumpkin, Blown Glass from JessieChesbrough
2. Middle Left: Wool Felted Acorn Ornaments from StoneHouse Crafts
3. Bottom Left: Apple Fabric from MakingStuffUP
4. Right side: Green Enchanted Mushroom Bag from carrotflower8

I'm loving the fall weather!  It's time for some baking!!!!

What has you wild today?

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Wild for Wednesday!

I just wanted to share some things I'm wild for on this lovely Wednesday!


























Top Left
1. Vintage Owl Mugs from EatPrayEtsy over at Etsy.com
Top Right
2. Light Blue Bubble Necklace from Arkpearl over at Etsy.com
Bottom Left
3. Kei Japan, Pretty Kitty Denim at FabricWorm
Bottom Right
4. Pocket mirror Little Squirrel from marisolspoon over at Etsy.com

What things have you found lately that you are wild for?


~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

KCWC ~ kids clothes week challenge

Yay another awesome challenge!  I'm so excited for this one to start because I have too many things I want to sew for the kids for fall.  This challenge is just the motivation I need!  Come join in the fun!



Be prepared to finally see some things accomplished here!  (I've been working on a prototype I can't wait to share, but alas I have to wait until it is finished).  The last 2 days I've had bobbin jamming issues and frankly I'm fed up.  Tomorrow is a new day though.  I'll attempt to fix....again!

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Hancock Steals! ~ Yummy Fabric Finds!

I just returned from my shopping trip at Hancock Fabrics.  They are having their big blowout sale right now!



I didn't go crazy but I did get some great deals!  I think this may have put the mojo back into my sewing.

From Left to right:
"Gypsy song" green floral - skirt for Miss K - on sale for $1.79 a yard!
Navy Corduroy solid - dress w/ kaufmann owl fabric tiered for Miss K - on sale for $6.29/yard
Red "Alien Friends" to go with the black purchased a different trip - Mr. T. shirt or shorts - $3.99/yard
Beautiful Ivory and yellow flowers (looks vintage- that's why I love it) - $1.19 a yard!!! WOW. they only had 2.5 yards left :-( boo - I'm thinking a shirt dress
White Muslin for lining - $1.79/yard
Navy silky print with the deer - no idea yet - $1.98/yard!!!!!!
Niagara spray starch $2.49
Turquoise Cotton Lawn - skirt for me with the pattern (black is for bottom stripe) - $3.95/yard
Black royalty broadcloth - cotton sateen - $3.99/yard
McCall's skirt pattern (for turquoise/black skirt plus the teal/orange I had gotten from fabric.com) $1.99
Fabric Glue Stick - $3.49



With all the yardage I purchased my total was only $48.37! Holy cow!  And that is for 1 skirt and 1 dress for Miss K, 1 short for Mr. T, 1 shirt dress, 1 skirt, and 1 I don't know for me!  So for 6 articles of clothing it was $48.37, that's only $8 each piece of clothing! LOVE IT!

You should go check it out!  You won't be sorry.

234x60 Fleece Open House - Ends September 5th

As for me... I have a corduroy dress and 3 skirts I need to get sewing on!

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Friday, September 14, 2012

Sale and Mojo

Sometimes I feel like my sewing mojo just flies out the door.  Gone.
School has been a pain for me these last 2 weeks; the class I have right now is really hard. Adjusting to the kids back to school routine has been difficult as well.  And then there is my husband who works and goes to school and is soooooo cranky about it.  Sigh.  I just don't feel like sewing for some reason.
I have so many cute fabrics waiting for me.  I need to just push myself back into it.

Any which way I had to pop in and let you know about a HUGE sale going on right now in the sewing world.  You can bet I'll be stopping into the store on Saturday to get some more goodies! (maybe that will spark my creativity again).  So here it is!  Check it out! There are some amazing prices to be found.




And don't worry, I'll be back to my sewing self soon.  I tend to go in these phases (being a Pisces and all).

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Awesomely Easy Zippered Throw Pillow ~ Tutorial

(pillows above I made after this tutorial was created - you can find them here)

I love pillows.  They are fun to look at and decorate with as well as practical.
My kids love pillows.  They are great to throw around as well as build forts with.
My husband loves pillows.  They are great for his feet to prop up on as well as his head.

Who doesn't love pillows?  We needed more in our house so I set out to make some fast pillows.
We also have really bad allergies and asthma in my house (plus messy kids) so I needed them to be easy to wash as well.

 Living Room received soft suede green and fun chocolate rosette!

Miss K's Room received purple super soft minkee

I love how fast they were to make and how they all turned out!  The kids have man(or should I say kid) handled them all already.  They have even been outside in a huge cardboard box as ship pillows and on the trampoline..... sigh.

Want to make some of your own?  Here's how!

Awesomely Easy Zippered Throw Pillow ~ Tutorial




Supplies Needed for 2 pillows 14 x 14 inches in size:

  • 2 14 inch zippers
  • 1/2 yard of fabric cut into four squares of 14 x 14*
  • 2 pillow inserts 14 x 14
  • matching thread
  • pins
  • something to mark fabric with
  • ruler
*note: I made 14 x 14 squares because I like plush, full pillows.  If you would like them a tad more loose, make your squares 15 x 15; the directions below apply to any size pillow :-D





Let's Get Started:

1. Place 2 squares right sides together and find where you want the bottom of the pillow to be. Then pin both squares together. Using ruler mark 2 inches in on both sides of bottom of pillow as shown below. (Ignore sew, backstitch, baste until step 2).


2.  At the sewing machine you will do the following ONLY to the bottom side you pinned and marked.  Sew to first mark. Backstitch. BASTE across big spot to the next mark. Backstitch. Sew to the end of the bottom.  See picture above. I used 1/2 inch seam allowance for all of pillow.

3.  Putting in the zipper. Open the two squares right sides down on a table so that they are flat like below.  Finger press or Iron open seam you just made. Lay zipper on top of this seam. See second picture before pinning!


4.  You need to make sure zipper teeth are lining up in the exact center of the seam you made as seen below.  Pin carefully and make sure the fabric is not jumbling up when pinning.  You want the seam side to be flat while you sew. Also, you want to make sure your first pin is where the 2 inch mark you made was. Then the last pin is where the other 2 inch mark you made was.  This is were you will go ACROSS the zipper when sewing around it.

After you pin in place it should be like the below picture:


5.  Use zipper foot to sew around the entire zipper.  Go slowly and carefully especially when going by the zipper pull.  I like to sew close to it, then stop and lift my zipper foot up to pull the zipper back where I already sewed, put foot back down and proceed.  It is not always easy to move that stinking zipper! :-)   Also, I stitched and backstitched 3 times over the ends of the zipper to make sure they were secure. 



When finished going around it should look like the below, when opened flat (right sides up)


6.  Very carefully seam rip the basted part.  It is the middle of the rectangle you just sewed around the zipper.  See below.


When all is seam ripped, open the zipper.


7.  The home stretch!  Leave zipper OPEN! at least part-way.  place right sides of pillow together and pin.


8.  Sew around the remaining 3 sides with 1/2 inch seam allowance. Then clip corners (seen below). 


9.  Turn pillow right side out through the zippered opening and poke out corners.


10.  Stuff pillow insert into pillow shell with the zipper being on the bottom.  YAY! Your pillow is complete!



I love that this looks like a mouth!!

Now go on and make another, or 2 or 4 or 6!  I even upcycled an old tee shirt to make one of these :-D

Like the fabric?  Want to get some? Click the pictures below to go right to the exact fabric at Fabric.com

Remember: You only need 1/2 yard for 2 pillows in 14 inches!
Plush Suede Hunter         Lescada Satin Ribbon Rosette Chocolate    Double-Sided Minky Fleece Lavender
Plush Suede Hunter                     Rosette Chocolate                        Lavender Minky
Price: $6.29/yard                       Price: $13.98/yard                        Price: $9.98/yard

**Price listed is at time of post**Purple checkerboard Minkee is no longer offered**

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Sewing Swap? How fun!

I just read a fun post from Elizabeth over at The College Seamstress
She pointed me in the direction of a fun sewing project, I had to share!

A Sew Swap!



Talk about right up my alley! :D  I'm so excited to participate.
If you are interested head on over and sign up to participate too!! Sign up until Sept 9th, 2012

What is it?  Well, the blog does a great job of describing, but in a nutshell:

  • create something; cute, unique, big, small, etc. 
  • mail it to a fellow participant 
  • receive something from a fellow participant
  • blog about it / post pictures / share it online
  • enjoy it! get to know other sewers/bloggers in the online community!
So what are you waiting for? head over and sign up :D



~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~