Lily's Christmas Dress

I just finished up Lily's Christmas dress! I used McCall's M5966 in a size 4 and it fits like a glove. I chose flannel from Anna Maria Horner's new line. It's Village Plum Path-Folksy Flannels. The top is a solid off white flannel. I had a piece of lace left over from a quilt I made years ago which I used to edge the neckline. I didn't go with red and green because I wanted her to be able to wear the dress all winter.
I have been putting zippers into dresses for years now but they have always been my Achilles Heel. This is my best zipper yet. Temporarily stitching the zipper opening closed seems to really help me. I did that with this zipper. I know that basting can never be skipped on zippers so I have always basted but this time, I basted with much smaller stitches to help keep the zipper from shifting. And I stitched a little farther away from the center back opening. I have another zipper to put into Penny's dress so I will try all these things again!

Free Motion Presser Foot Tip

A while back, I mentioned that I was having trouble with my free motion presser foot while quilting. It wouldn't glide over seams but rather bump up against them. Robin directed me to a post by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, posted the very same day with my solution. What a coincidence! I showed my husband my presser foot, which is a little bit different from Amanda Jean's, and asked for his help finding someway to lift it up a little. I think his solution is ingenious so I am posting it hoping that it will help someone else too. See the little red things? Those are the tops of two plastic drywall anchors with slits cut into them so that they can slip over the metal rod. The height with the two of them works for all but the bulkiest seams. He has been asked to grab one more the next time he heads out to the barn. Three will be perfect.

Sewing Table Transformation

I was recently given a old sewing table with three drawers and two compartments on the side that open from the top. It had been painted black with stencilled decorations. I wanted to repaint it, and planned to, but my husband decided that I had too much to do already with all my Christmas preparations and he did it for me! I just chose the paint color and the knobs. He did a much better job than I would have too. He took off the old hinges and got all the old paint off of them. And he sanded it all very well, revealing that the table originally had a varnished finish, and then primed and painted. It was a very thorough job and it looks really nice! I am using it to hold my knitting supplies and smaller sewing notions.

Manicure Kit Covers

As I mentioned in my last post, I am making up a few manicure kits for gifts this year. I found the original idea through Sew, Mama, Sew. The tutorial is here . I followed the tutorial to make the kit covers above. Yesterday, I tried my own version. Generally speaking, I think I prefer the tutorial method using stiff interfacing and turning the piece rather than binding. However, I think I would like mine as much if I had rounded the corners instead. The items stay put in my version a little bit better. I am not sure if that is due to the height of the pocket or the quilting.
If you are interested in my quilted version (seen below), here is a mini tutorial:

1. Cut two pieces of material and a piece of quilt batting measuring 6 1/2" h x 7 1/2" w.
2. Cut one piece of material for the pocket that is 3 1/2" h x 7 1/2" w. Fold under 1/4" at the top and press, turn again and press and stitch close to the edge.
3. Make a quilt sandwich, place pocket on top, lined up with the bottom edge. Pin in place.
4. Stitch vertical lines in one inch increments starting on the far right, beginning 1 1/2" in from the edge. Make 5 lines. To make the straight lines, you can use a disappearing marker or follow a design in the material.
5. Attach binding (this is a great use for the extra bits of binding left over from quilting projects.)
6. Make a button hole in the center of the far left hand side. Fold the cover and locate the correct spot for the button and stitch it on (be careful to stitch only through the outer piece of material and not all the way through).

It's a good, quick project for a last minute gift. The manicure items cost about $8.00 in the drugstore and the rest, you probably have in the house!

It's that time of year

I'm still here. I haven't posted in a week now because I have been busy working on my mother's Christmas gift and she told me that she checks my blog on occasion so I won't be sharing that project until after Christmas. I haven't finished it yet but took a break in order to complete a few little projects. I made this manicure kit as a gift. I used quilting scraps and constructed it similar to a crayon roll. I got the original idea from a tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew where the it was constructed with interfacing and turned rather than bound. I am going to try it that way next because I think I might like it better that way after all. Also, I am working away on knitting Penny's second and last pair of pants. That means that another cute baby photo will be coming...but don't hold your breath. It will be awhile still!

Storytime Quilt

Story time is big in our house so I couldn't deny Lily this Quilting Treasures Little Golden Books fabric while we were shopping. She saw it and was nearly giddy. She pointed to all the characters and said their names and "We have that book!" She asked me to buy some and make her a "blanket" aka a quilt. I bought a half yard intending to do something with it for her. I think that she has since forgotten about it. In secret, I put together this little baby sized quilt for her to cuddle with during story time. I had wanted to try some appliqued circles so I decided to include them here. I used freezer paper to form the circle appliques and hand sewed them to the quilt. I fussy cut a circle with the Pokey Little Puppy in the center since puppies are her favorites. I also wanted to have a little fun with the quilting. I chose grey for the background material in the center piece since it coordinates with the Saggy Baggy Elephant and is reminiscent of a chalkboard. Then I quilted the lower case alphabet in white thread (to look chalk like). I'll save this one for Christmas.

Penny's Purple Pants

Penny's knit pants are done! And they fit which is even more exciting! I used a free pattern for Baby Bell Bottoms from Blue Blog Patterns and the recommended yarn, Knit Picks Shine Sport, in Serenade. This pair was made in size 12 months and they are perfect. They are a little long which is just what I wanted because her ankles keep getting exposed when I pick her up or put her in the baby carrier and she gets cold! When I knit the pink pair, I think I will make them an half inch or inch longer from crotch to waist because this pair is a little low rise. We will just say it is the style!
The knitting went better than I expected minus one little set back on Sunday. I had the two legs knit. Then it took me all day to finally get out of the house and coordinate with my friend so that she could help me put the legs on the circular needles. There was a little confusion at that point and when I got back home and started knitting enough to really see what was going on, I discovered that the purl side was showing up on the knitted side. I was all discouraged because I didn't trust myself to back it out without messing up. Again, I tried to coordinate a trip to my friend's house but Penny decided to finally take a good nap that morning and I wasn't about to ruin it. I gathered up courage out of my frustration and backed it out and I am happy to say that I was successful! I lost one stitch but found it and got it back on the needles. Then I figured out the directions and was able to continue.
I am a little bit worried about the bell bottoms stretching out though because as soon as I put the pants on Penny, she lifted her legs up to find her toes (her new favorite pastime) and she found the hem of the pants and started pulling on them! I hope that they will tighten back up when washed and dried and that she will lose interest in them quickly!
My next project is a quilting project so I will not be gone for another whole week this time!

Babies=Knitting Projects

As I have mentioned before, I am not a big knitter. I hope to be someday but so far it hasn't really clicked for me. I do ok but I am slow. And if I make a mistake, I can't figure out how to resolve it on my own. But for some reason, my babies compel me to knit for them! I knit my son two roll neck sweaters when he was a baby. Then when my daughter came along, I knit her a cardigan and a roll neck sweater. Well, Penny is no exception. Now that it is getting chilly, I am worried about keeping her warm and cozy. She is also long but thin so finding pants to fit right now are a challenge. I found a cute, free baby pants pattern on Ravelry and ordered the yarn for not one, but two pairs. I have one leg done now thanks to my copy of Knitting for Dummies. And I have started on the second. Once I get to the knitting in the round step, I will be calling on my friend (the one who knit Penny's adorable hats) for assistance. If I ever get these done, I will be back with my next sewing project! Until then, I will be working on Penny's purple pants. Say that 10 times fast!

Church Fair Donations

After I made things to donate to the PTO for the fall craft fair, I felt that I should make somethings for the church fair too. I gave them a few ideas and asked what they thought would sell best. They liked the idea of the crayon rolls and aprons. Since I think it is often hard to find things for little boys at craft fairs, I made 4 crayon rolls with boyish material. I used scraps of batting left over from quilts and material that only made it through the doors of my house because the kids begged for pjs. I really don't like material with characters and stuff all over it but kids are so drawn to it. I will only use it for things like pjs. I thought it would probably go over quite well for the crayon rolls too and I am happy to see it go! Then I made two colored pencil aprons also using up scraps of material that have been sitting around here for ages. Now, I can begin to tackle some of my Christmas gifts.

Edited to add: My tutorial for the apron is here. This time, I made one change. Instead of trying to fit as many colored pencils in the apron, I cut the length of the apron to about 24" and then made 1" wide slots for the pencils. The apron I made before, though it held more pencils, was a bit heavy and a little big for a child. This size is a perfect fit for the 3-7 year old crowd.

Block Party!

Have you heard about the new Quilt Along happening over at Block Party!?
It sounds like a lot of fun. They are also having a great giveaway. Click on the link above to learn more!

Halloween Costumes

Here is my little pea in a pod. It is completely unoriginal but you can really only be a pea in a pod once in your life. I actually made this costume for Lily for her first Halloween when she was a newborn. It was supposed to be size 0-3 months according to the pattern but it is enormous. It fit Penny who is wearing 9 month clothes. I am glad that I finally got to use it!

Lily wore Timothy's dog costume. And Timothy was Peter Pan.

His dagger was handcrafted by his Daddy with three different kinds of wood. I am not sure who likes it more, Timothy or my husband!