seven little birdies

I just finished sewing and stuffing the last of these little birdies I made using this pattern.

My plan is to put them together with twigs in some way for a mobile for the girl birdie's nursery.  She's almost 4 months old and I'm still working on her room.  Unfortunately, that's the way we roll around here.





These little birds were so much fun to make!  My mom and I chose the fabrics months ago, and it was interesting to come up with the color combos for the birds' bodies and bellies.

All the sewing was done by hand, which was new for me.  I'm used to whipping things up on my machine.  It was very satisfying to sew each stitch by hand.  Time consuming, but satisfying.

Stay tuned for the finished mobile...

dusting off the machine

I dusted off the old sewing machine recently.  It had been 10 WEEKS  since I last sewed ANYTHING!

We went on vacation last week and I knew I needed a nursing cover for the trip.  I also wanted to make nursing covers for my lovely friends Rachel and Danielle, also the mamas of new baby girls.

Here's what I came up with.

For Danielle and baby Harper:

Danielle has such a cheerful personality, and when choosing her fabric I wanted to reflect that.  I was also drawn to fabrics that included orange, probably because Danielle chose a beautiful shade of pinky orange to paint Harper's nursery.  I also wanted to include brown because Danielle has used brown in her home decorating, and I think she looks great in brown.

There is a coordinating fabric to this  and my plan is to make Miss Harper some other things to go along with the nursing cover.  Maybe an appliqued onesie or two, some burpies and a changing pad?

I thought the fabric was really fun and retro looking.

Now, for Rachel.  I didn't get a shot of her nursing cover, but here is the fabric:

I really had trouble finding something for Rachel.  I knew it HAD to include pink, and for both girls I wanted something designer looking, but nothing was really jumping out at me for Rachel.

I liked this choice, because it included the pink (what I think of as Rachel's signature color), but it also had some pretty green shades as well.  If you've been in Rachel's home, you've seen her bright green kitchen - beautiful!  I liked that in the fabric.  Also, if you look closely at the fabric, you can find some of the areas have a Morocoan lattice like pattern in them.  I've seen this a lot recently in Southern decorating, and it reminds me of Rachel!

See below.

Again, as for Harper, for Miss Warren I want to make some coordinating accessories to go with the nursing cover.

Now for myself.

I really wanted something that looked non-babyish.  Feminine, but not girlie.  Modern and fresh, but not TOO contemporary.  And, it had to include some aqua/turquoise, some brown, and some pink.

Here's what I found:

I love, love, love this paisley print, but when you combine it with the other fabrics from the line...

It gives the whole thing a middle eastern bazaar like feel.  I can't wait to cut into some other projects for myself with it!

The fabrics also look good in the girl birdie's room, so I'm thinking of incorporating them in some way.

For now, I'm just happy to get a few nursing covers made!

back in the saddle

After a loooong break (we're talking months) from sewing, I've finally dusted off the old machine and climbed back in the saddle!  I've missed sewing and creating, but honestly, I needed a break.  Being pregnant, several bouts of sickness, working on the basement and nursery, serving at church, all the farm/cattle stuff...we've just had a lot going on.  Something had to give!

I had some unfinished projects though, and several friends had asked for some things to give as gifts, so I'm back at it now!

Here are some projects I worked on yesterday.  Nothing new, but I wasn't sure if I'd shown these fabrics on the blog before.

This one is fun for a little girl!  I love paisley, and these fabrics are good ones if you're not sure of the mom's taste.

Here's the wipes case:

I LOVE these next fabrics.

Excuse the pins.  I hadn't stiched them on yet and I was burning daylight for the photos.

This fabric is such a nice, feminine break from the usual pink.  I love the larger scale floral, and the lattice pattern on the left is very popular right now in home dec.  I've seen it on furniture, walls, lampshades, etc.

Here's the wipes case:

I'm working on some other projects I can't wait to show!  A nursing cover or two and some little things for the nursery.

Happy Friday!

another shirt

I made this shirt a LONG time ago, but I kept forgetting to write a post about it, until now!  Similar to the purple ruffled shirt I made a while back, this one used 2 T-shirts of the same color.  I found mine at Wally World - my least favorite place to shop.  But, they were $4 each!  Can't beat that, right?  I followed a this tutorial but I made a couple of changes.  One big difference was that I made quite a few more of the flowers to go around the neck, to give it a fuller look.

Here's the shirt:

This was a super easy and fun project.  It literally took me just a few hours one evening.  The best part is that I saw a similar shirt from J Crew that cost something like $40!

WooHoo!

T-shirt makeover

I told ya'll I'm into ruffles right now (probably my subconscious telling me I need a little girl), and I'm also addicted to blogstalking and finding new, great blogs to read!  Like I have time to be reading more blogs!! 

I came across this blog, Tea Rose Home the other day.

The blogger has so many great tutorials, and you don't have to be an amazing seamstress to make many of her projects!  Perfect for moi, because I am most definitely not an amazing seamstress.

I made this t-shirt, per her instructions on the "ruffle shirt - why not vertical?" tutorial.

Fun, right?!   Here's a close-up of the ruffles:

You always learn things when you make something for the first time, and next time I will make my side ruffles just a touch longer, and my center ruffle a touch shorter.  Also, next time I will be extra careful not to sew the back of the shirt to the front while sewing on the ruffles.  Dang.  Had to rip that out and start again, but luckily you can't tell :)

I think this will be cute on it's own, or under a cardigan this fall.  What do you think?