Saturday, December 12, 2009

Advent calendar

My favorite homemade craft is our stocking advent calendar. Each stocking gets a small treat, a candy cane, and a personalized note/coupon/certificate. I think the girls like it so much because they were a part of making it! They each helped cut out the felt stockings and stitch them together.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sophie Tunics

I bribed the girls with these...(Target boots!)to get them to model the Sophie tunics...but the pics all came out blurry! Sorry about the quality! I used the flash in the first pic and turned it off for the second but neither one came out clear. I love the blue corduroy in the dress length. I think I'll do more of these. It looks so comfortable! All three girls loved them, although Taylor (in the black) thought that hers was a little stiff. The pink corduroy on the contrast was a softer, lighter weight than the thicker black. I should have made the black the contrast instead. I'm hoping it will soften after a few washes. And of course, we couldn't leave the little man out...I think it's time to make something for him!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I won something!

That means someone actually reads this! QuiltHome.com picked ME as the Link of the Week! Yea!! $20 gift certificate online! QuiltHome is my absolute favorite online fabric store. And believe me, I have tried a lot of them!! I am lucky enough to live within driving distance of The Fabric Shack, which is a great store in Waynesville, OH. but it's still about 45 min. away. so I don't get there very often. I find that ordering online is much easier. There's also something about getting that package in the mail! I have had such great service from QuiltHome, that I rarely buy from anyone else now. Service is a big issue to me (probably from my Flight Attendant days!) and when I find a business that stands out I will always go back. The service from Quilt Home is by far, the best. So, thank you to the ladies there for picking me as the Link of the Week and I will be ordering again soon! I finished some Sophie Tunics but I had trouble getting these ladies to model. These are my girls. They like my clothes but don't always want to try them on for pictures. Imagine that! So I'll give you a sneak peek at the tunics and them I'll bribe them with something after school today to make them cooperate! The blue is a really soft corduroy with my new Sis Boom from QuiltHome.com, the black is corduroy, but not very soft. I don't think I'll use it again. The pink is like a faux suede or something. Great fabric for a tunic. I bought the Patricia Tunic pattern for myself and hope to get it started today. Hopefully, I'll have more pictures soon.And these are the flannels from QuiltHome that will soon become jammies! Thanks again to QuiltHome and thanks for checking in!

Friday, October 30, 2009

More jeans...

No school today...teacher conferences. That means, no sewing either. I haven't been able to do much sewing this week at all. Although, I did whip up a pretty cool Saint Therese costume for Taylor's Saint report. I sewed black fabric to one my son's knit hats and then we flipped the fabric up and over the hat so that it hung like a nun's habit. Turned out great! Last night/this morning I managed to finish these for a sweet young girl named Lauren. This fabric (Valori Wells Sole) is perfect for jeans appliques. Lots of pattern and color. Back view...   Have a Happy Halloween! Thanks for checking in! LOL !

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sophie tunic

I've been wanting to try the Sophie Tunic from Sis Boom (the amazing Jennifer Paganelli) and I finally got around to it. I tried it out with this Michael Miller fabric and made a few modifications...All in all pleased because it was so easy to put together. Austin was home today with a stomach ache so I forced her to try it on! I added the cuffs on the sleeves and they are a little long on her. Fortunately, the Mom who ordered the jeans saw this coming together and bought it! It still seems a little Summery to me. I'm going to try it again in a corduroy to make it more Fall-like. Austin likes it but I'm not convinced she would wear it. Ten is a tough age for clothes. Maybe I'll order the Ladies version and make it for myself! Here's as far as I got with belts the other day... P90X has been paying off so I can actually wear belts again!! Yea for me!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Rainy Friday

Jeans order complete! These were tough because usually when a client brings their jeans, they are plain jeans. This client brought these Gap jeans...Cute, but hard to match with a fabric. I wanted to pull the orange and the blue, but there is also gold thread in there that is hard to see in this picture. She wanted her initial, so this is what I did... It's hard to see but I used gold embroidery thread over the stems of the light blue flowers to tie in to the gold on the back pockets. She also needed these jeans to be a little longer, so I added this cuff and covered the back pockets.Luckily, they fit my girls and I was able to convince them to put them on for a pic... Of course, they wanted to keep them even though neither name starts with an "H"... I got this pretty package in the mail and I'm playing around with them today. A hundred things I should be working on besides belts, trust me. But they're so cute!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Baby gifts

Okay, blogging takes a lot more time than I thought it would. I need to get the picture upload to go faster. This was yesterday's post but somehow didn't publish. Warning...lots of pics!! I finally finished the baby gift orders this morning that should have been completed last week. The computer problem interfered with the monogramming software so it all had to be re-loaded. I'm happy with how they all turned out, though.These are my exclusive wipe and diaper clutches. Everybody's "go to" gift for new Mom's. I've been selling these for a couple of years now and have done pretty well with them. I love the Valori Wells fabric on this one for Carter. Embroidering the names on them just sets them apart from the usual holders. I use fusible fleece for the facing and an elastic strap for the closure. This way the clutch can expand as your diaper size grows. This is from Lila Tueller's Santorini fabric line. And the last is Tina Givens (I adore her fabrics!) I also like that they can be used after the diaper stage. I keep one in my glove box for emergency items...like extra sunglasses, tampons, lipstick...you know, emergency stuff! The next set I did for one of our old babysitters who is now a Mom herself! Hard to believe! I had this great hot pink tulle with threads through it that matched some pink satin in my stash. I made it into an overlay skirt with a big bow on the back. I found a long sleeve onesie with a ruffle collar and cuffs but it had "Guess" embroidered on it in gold letters. Fixed that with a pretty satin and tulle ruffled flower right over the top of it! That's the back of the skirt. I wanted to do a sash from the satin with a big bow but didn't have enough, so I used the tulle. It's kind of hard to see. This gift is coming from three people, so she is getting the outfit, the bag and the diaper clutch. The bag has lots of pockets inside (don't worry, I'll fix that lining!) Pink and brown is probably my favorite combination. Now I'm back to work on another custom jeans order...hopefully have pics tomorrow!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Birthdays!

October is birthday month at my house. My second daughter, Taylor, turned 9 on the 4th, and yesterday was Bradlee's birthday...she is 7! She's modeling an outfit I did for a client this Summer. Love this Amy Butler!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

GAME DAY!!! Go Sooners! Beat Texas!!!!

Here are my Game Day Jeans... Okay, they could be a little obnoxious, but I love them! I had to stand on the chair to get a picture...I'll spare you a pic of my rear! Go Sooners!!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Tshirt flowers

I bought three of these at Sam's the other day for $2.50 each. Then I did this to one of them... And turned it into this... The pictures make it look more pink, but it is red. See my helper back there? That's Boomer.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Not just clothes...

I actually started this business with furniture and it grew into clothing. This is a custom chair I did in the Spring. Inspired by JCaroline...one of the "bloggers I'd love to meet"! I embroidered her name onto Kaffe Fassett fabric and decoupaged it onto the chair. I'm actually working on another one of these right now. Decoupaging fabric onto furniture is becoming a bit of an obsession with me!