This 'n' That

In honor of "this 'n' that" week here on Praiseworthy, I humbly offer a few of my recent favorite things:

Neatorama - which is all full of "this 'n' that" and awesome randomness.

Marianne Binetti's gardening blog. Great ideas for northwest gardens! And she lives right here in my little town.

This fabric (Which I waited on and hunted down for weeks before I finally found it here in amazingly enough time to use it for my daughter's Easter dress - from this pattern/tutorial and son's Easter tie - from this one. I also made my daughter a matching dress for her doll using this super simple and fun pattern/tutorial.)

This cake! (Which I am totally going to attempt recreating for my son's 4th birthday next week.)

And so? What's new with you?

Flowers on Fabric

According to the weatherman, we are experiencing the coldest Spring  in the recorded history of Seattle dating back to the 1800's. You can't always trust what the weatherman says, but this time I KNOW it is true! There are rain, and clouds and cold most of the time, it's like winter never ended! But, more and more days are breaking through the clouds with sunshine and blue skies--just barely enough for me to get my flowers potted and a few things ready in my planter boxes for the garden. However, those days are not coming around enough for us to warm up and really enjoy the beauty of Spring like I want to.

So what have I been doing instead? Well, without realizing it, I've been making small purchases here and there of things that bring a little Spring inside, where I can enjoy it. My Grandma Mac has been in town visiting for my brother's fabulous wedding (remember that wonderful news?) and so together we have ventured with my mom to several fabric stores.

I picked up a little bit of this...

 

Sway - lime,  from Pop Garden by Heather Bailey

and a little bit of this...

Pink - Depression Era

And I might go back for a small piece of this...

Cultivated Flower Orang from the Modern Workshop fabric collection by Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S for Moda

I can't say that Spring is my favorite season, because as each season begins I feel like it's my favorite. But right now, there is nothing I want more than to spend my days outside in a world that resembles something like the flowers on these pieces of fabric. So, until we can finally do that, I will continue sewing with a little bit of this...

 

Mellow Yellow from the Hunky Dory Collection by Chez Moi for Moda

and of course some of this...

Bud Sparrow from the Hunky Dory collection by Chez Moi for Moda

and I'll make something to snuggle up in and stay warm during this cold, cold SPRING!

Baby Bib Tutorial and Giveaway

Everyone needs baby gift ideas...right?  I have been needing them out my arm pits lately so here is what I will sometimes make for the new mommies to be and their little bundles.

Materials Needed

* Pattern for bib or an old bib you can trace

*Cotton for Front (1/2 a Fat Quarter will make one bib front)

* Muslin for back or anything else (some even use terry cloth so that it can be used as a wash rag too.)

* Flannel for the inside

*Cotton Scraps for embellishment

* Fabric iron on adhesive

*Iron

*Thread

*Sewing Machine

*Buttons

First find an old bib or print out a pattern you like for tracing.  I used this one.  Then trace 1 piece of muslin for the back, 1 piece of flannel for the inside (this just helps with spills on the bib.  Makes it a bit more absorbent) and 1 cotton print for the front.  When I make these I do them in groups so in the pictures I am making four of them.

After you have your bib pieces cut out then decide what you want the front to look like.  These will all be raw edged embellishments so cut away and have fun playing with different shapes and patterns.

Iron on your pattern with a fabric adhesive. I used Stitch Witchery on these ones.  It's just what I had laying around.  You can use whatever you like.

When you get that done you'll be ready to sew it to your bib top.

I like to play with the stitches on my machine and use several different ones to make each item stand out.

(At this point I looked over and saw my Sadie on top of the counter watching cartoons and munching on some cereal.  Apparently she did not get enough breakfast.)  I also don't know how she got up there.

Silly girl! Bad mommy!  I should pay more attention.

Next you can add buttons or ribbons or anything else that makes you happy.

Now it's time to assemble the bib.  Make a sandwich with the flannel on bottom, then the printed top piece in the middle and then the backing on top.  It should look like this.

Sew around it all leaving a small opening for turning right side out.

Snip around the curved neck part being careful not to cut the thread holding it all together.

Turn right side out and iron flat.

Top stitch around the bib making sure to close off the opening.  Sew on a button, snaps or Velcro for bib fastening.

You're done!  Now you have a cute gift ready for a baby shower or for your own tiny love. 

Let me know if you have any questions and leave a comment if you would like to be the owner of two of these bibs as a giveaway.  Just tell us something you like to give as a gift or a project your working on.  You can also let us know more about what your interests are. The winner will get to pick which two you would like!  I'll do a drawing for the lucky winner next Monday, May 17th.

We'll be posting baby gift ideas all week so keep coming back.

 

Bits n' Pieces

  I have always loved the idea of collecting something special...but I have also been very hesitant.  I was afraid of ending up with a ton of stuff I could never get rid, like when I was a teenager and thought a classic Winnie the Pooh collection would be the perfect thing for my baby to be...ya, didn't happen.  Styles and personal tastes change but I still have those sweet things packed away in a box, high up in a closet somewhere, hoping maybe that one day it will become my daughters favorite discovery of her mothers. 

 After the classic pooh obsession faded I really put off collecting anything except a few charms here and there for my charm bracelet.  (That's for another post)

That is until i bought a home...

I suddenly began to day dream about the way things could look and the pretty things I could maybe obtain in the future and the first thing I began to search for where antique aqua blue mason jars.  I loved how they could be used for just about anything, candles, embellishments for scrapbooking, pencils, buttons...you name it!  In the spring time though, they become my vases.  I love the old and new feel they bring to our place and the way they can even brighten up the flowers.

 The other collection I had always wanted was my own set of china.  This is all my mom's fault too.  I grew up with a formal setting at special events or occasions and Christmas dinner just wasn't Christmas dinner without a pretty table.  Thanks to her I now receive bits and pieces of it for my birthday and anniversary.  It'll take a while for a complete set of everything but for now I am loving my 8 pearly plates.  Thanks mom!

My newest item to search for these days are antique dollies.  I have a project I want to do and right now I only have  a few of these pretties. Hopefully over the years though I will be able to collect enough to make this anthropology inspired table cloth... 

Each time I pull out the special tablecloth I have reserved for this, I'll add a few on until one day it will be done and I'll get to use it under my new china.

And last but not least, I love to stash fabric. I'll just go into my own room and play with it.  And by play with it I mean pull it out and refold it, put it into possible project piles and come up with fun ideas.  Ideas that will never get done because I have no time, but ideas that are great.  Trust me!  I don't think I'll ever be able to go into a fabric store without getting something awesome...ever!  I am doomed!  My poor husband!

Collections are fun but I think they need to be useful...at least in my house.  I will probably collect a tiny amount of just about everything by the time I die but at least I will have loved it all.  What do you collect?

 

Sweet Pink Day Dreams

I feel like I have been doing a lot of this lately...dreaming instead of doing.  I believe that it's partially my broken sewing machine's fault, partially my budget's fault and the rest is just because I have been so...well...careful with my time I guess.  I don't want to bore you with the details of that right now because today is about my day dreams!  Dreams for valentine's day prettiness, hopes of getting some of my Sadie's scrapbooking done and most importantly day dreaming about a future room I can't wait to make true. 

I NEED A SEWING MACHINE FAST! 

There...I vented and now I am back. Having a little girl makes for one awesome excuse to use pink.  If I wasn't so obsessed with blue lately and trying to please my pink hating husband I would paint our entire room pink (jk).  It's Sadie's room I can't stop thinking about and I can hardly stand it!  I get butterlies just thinking about it.  This can't be normal.  Anyway...Let me show you what's been floating around in my head, keeping me up at night. I know. I have issues.  Mark reminds me of this every time I end up on the computer late at night searching for that inspiration and motivation to create. 

First I saw this quilt...yum right?

photo credit

I love these colors...all of them! I love the little scalloped details and the soft look it has to it.  So, I have started to collect fabrics that I thought would be perfect.  I have not found them all yet but I do have a pretty good start just staring back at me as I drool.  I really want to sew!

Here is some of my collection so far. Blues, greens, oranges, but mostly pinks! I was just drawn to the fun pink patterns.

I wanted to do her walls this pretty light aqua blue color with some sort of tree on one of them and then I found this picture and tutorial on how I could do it myself! Crazy huh? Isn't it so cute?  I sound like a teenager talking about an outfit but I really love this idea! 

tree mural tutorial

  I can't wait to try this!  I think I'll add some little pink buds to the tree though.  Have any of you done this sort of thing before?

Then I created this play kitchen for Sadie which some of you have seen on my personal blog.  It has an old vintage feel to it and my hope is to carry on that feel throughout the room without making it feel grandmaish. I love how it turned out.

Today, when I saw this picture my mind began to race...

kellymccaleb tumblr

Wouldn't this be cute on curtains? Not the sweatshirt, of course, but the fun details: the ribbon and the embroidery and the vintage looking flowers. Yikes! I could go nuts thinking about this. I literally get more excited about ribbon and fabric and frilly fun things then I do on my own birthday or for Christmas morning. I might have more serious issues then I thought. Do they have obsessive creative therapy?

Well...that's enough for now. There is more...there always is but I will save it for another time. Pink just has a girly effect on people. It’s funny how this color has such a feminine connotation. I'm just happy I am a girl and I don't have to pretend I don't like it!

Oh!  And there will be a pretty pink chandelier hanging over head.