We are madly crafting stuff for our next project – here’s a little hint.
Have a great weekend!!!
Category: sewing
Fashion Friday: Embellished Tank
I had some leftover fabric from the pillows I made a while back, so I decided to make some flowers and sew those onto a plain tank from Target:
If you Google “rolled flower tutorial” you’ll get hundreds of links to learn how to make these. I made a few in various sizes and then pinned them to the tank top. Once I was happy with the positioning, I sewed them on, et voila! a pretty tank that makes getting dressed so much easier – no need for necklaces with this one, I’ll wear mine this fall with jeans and a cardie.
I swear, now I want a tank in every color with pretty flowers on them! I hope you enjoyed my little sewing adventure – have a wonderful weekend!
Hello sunshine!
Must. Finish. Cross-stitch. For. Friend. Before. Jumping. Into. SewingFest. 2011.
More pillow talk
I made some pillow covers a few days ago, here are some more with the same fabrics. I decided to add some texture and make some ruffles and rosettes.
These are bedroom accent pillows, the large one is a sham-sized cover but I don’t like the ruffle all around so I mixed fabrics and added rosettes. The small one is a copy of similar covers I’ve seen all around the blogosphere, I love the ruffly goodness on the plain tan fabric.
Hope you like these!
Pillow Talk
I recently ordered some pretty fabric because I was jonesing to make some new pillow covers. I had made some red/green/tan striped ones but my husband hated them with a passion, so I figured, hey, I get to make new pillow covers!
I went neutral this time and also ordered some pretty trim to go with my fabrics
I love the color combination against our burgundy sofa.
Next time, though, I would go for a neutral sofa, something like a light brown, and these covers would still go nicely.
The ribbon satisfies my fleur-de-lis fetish 😀
The quatrefoil design on this fabric is so pretty, detailed enough for not fussy.
The trim has a very nice sheen to it and frames both fabrics well.
I have a few more covers to make, I really need a 25- or 26-hour day!
Linking this up!
and at Show and Share and Scentsy Day!
I know what I did last weekend
So, a couple of weekends ago we were all sick as dogs. The boys were running around, not letting their coughs interfere with playing, but my husband and I were feeling like spit warmed over. I had a whole Sunday ahead of me and I decided to do something productive. I mean, more productive than adding to the used tissue pile.
The last time my fabric store had a flannel sale I snagged a few different pieces.
Blues were the dominant color, but I chose patterns that weren’t too baby-ish. I’m kind of done with puppies and kitties and duckies at this point.
I made a few sets of jammies with my boys’ initial on the t-shirt top.
They share the same first initial, so handing them down to little brother won’t be a problem!
I also made a few fitted sheets and pillowcases
I found cute blue ribbon with moons and stars, I thought it fit the bedtime scheme, so I added it to the pillowcases
All in all I made 2 fitted sheets, 3 pillowcases, 3 sets of jammies and about 8 pajama pants. No, I didn’t make them all on that Sunday, but I started then, which is the toughest thing to do, to get started.
I get this silly “frontier woman providing for her family” feeling whenever my boys wear or use something I’ve made. It’s a great feeling.
My mercurial model
I was told that if I wanted a photo of my oldest with the jammies I made him, it would only be with him standing on the back of the sofa.
Only 5 years old and already making demands like J.Lo, I tell you!
I just bought some flannel – it was super cheap at JoAnn – so I’m going to be making some fitted sheets and more jammies for my sweet boys.
Jammies with appliqued initial
My oldest boy went through a serious elephant phase a couple of years ago, and even though dinosaurs are now his thing, he still has a soft spot for elephants. I had bought some soft flannel fabric to make him blankets, but now that he’s left behind footy pajamas, I figured I’d make him some two piece jammies.
A couple of months ago I made him a gray set – gray/cream elephant print pants and I cut out his first initial out of a scrap of fabric left and sewed it onto a plain gray t-shirt. He loved it, my mother-in-law loved it, and my mother even thought I had bought it somewhere.
Out came another elephant fabric blanket for the transformation. Here are the steps I have followed – mom taught me how to get a elastic-waist pants pattern from a regular pair of pants.
Start out with a regular (not elastic waist) pair of pants.
Take one of the legs and pull it inside out.
Cut out the applique in the shape of your choice. Lucky for me, both my boys’ names start with A 😀
Stitch applique onto shirt. I use a zigzag stitch and do all the edges twice.
My boy is pretty psyched to wear these, but he needs to stop jumping around while watching Godzilla so I can snap a good pic 😀
11 things about me
I figure that with it being 2011 and all, I can tell you 11 things about me you might not (yet) know, and maybe you’ll be inclined to share some tidbits too!
1 – I am a complete peasant. What I mean is I like what I like, regardless of how grand it is. Sure I enjoy a $300 bottle of wine (usually thanks to our friends who have their own cellar) but I can enjoy a $4 just as much. Same with chocolate. I love Belgian and Swiss goodies, but my favorite type is plain Hershey’s.
2 – I am a snob, which you’d think contradicts #1, but let me explain. If I stay in a $300 hotel room, it better be a damn good hotel room (it not always is.) If I go to Masa’s to have a tasting menu for nearly $400, by the first ever American winner of the original Iron Chef, it better be one of the best fucking meals of my life (it was.) I am not easily impressed. If I choose to spend $$$, it better be fucking worth it.
3 – I used to be a romance novel reviewer. I got into a major romance novel kick and decided I needed to share my opinions with the world, so I did. Eventually I went off the genre and now am a voracious reader of a variety of fiction and non-fiction.
4 – I swear a lot. Mostly online, because I have two boys, ages 4 1/2 and almost 6, so I really need to watch it. The occasional swear word pops out, usually while driving, “mommy, what does ‘useless motherfucker from hell’ mean?”, but I try to be good.
5 – I used to be what I call Latin Goth during my 20s and early 30s. My wardrobe was half burgundy, half black, with some gold thrown in. My bridesmaids wore burgundy dresses and carried ivory flowers, while I wore ivory and gold and carried dark burgundy flowers. I did think of wearing a burgundy gown but I fell in love with my dress and couldn’t think of wearing anything else. Now I’m 39 and still love black and burgundy, but in smaller doses.
6 – I was born and raised in Peru, we moved here when I was 13, and lived in Mountain View for 18 years. Then I moved in with my boyfriend, we got married, and moved to the South Bay. My parents stayed in Mountain View until July 2010, when my darling dad died suddenly, and now I cannot drive through the city without immense feelings of grief. I used to think someday we might move there if we can afford it, but now I could never do that. I don’t think I’d survive it.
7 – I am a gamer. Yep, I am one of those geeks who play MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) – or rather, just one MMORPG, World of Warcraft. My husband got me addicted and I try to play a couple of times a week. I don’t play as often as he does because I actually sleep at night, but I do enjoy it, and the boys love to make my characters jump, which sucks when I’m casting a spell because jumping interrupts spellcasting, but, you know, they have fun, too ;D
8 – I am biologically unable to have any more kids. People are always asking when we’re going to try for the girl. None of my dear online friends, of course, because we have more sense than that, but really, WTF!? Mostly because I’m almost forty and I can hear the unsaid part of the question “when are you going to try for the girl (before you’re too old)?” — After suffering from horrific periods since the age of 11, and just accepting that’s what nature had dealt me, I ended up finding out I had fibroids, and not surprisingly, severe anemia. So severe that when my GYN and I agreed on the hysterectomy, we couldn’t schedule it because my blood count was so low. Anyway, a year and a half ago I had the surgery and have been happier than ever – we had decided on 2 children from the beginning and I actually had already had my tubes tied after #2.
9 – I can write backwards. Years and years ago, I must have been 6 or 7, I remember hearing about someone who could write backwards – not Leonardo. Well, the person could have been named Leonardo, but it wasn’t THE Leonardo. At least I don’t think so. ANYWAY, I remember hearing about this and thinking “well, why couldn’t you write backwards?” and I grabbed some paper and a pencil and started doing it. I showed my parents and then left because it was boring and they were like, um, okay, kid.
10 – I used to be allergic to chocolate. Then I got pregnant with my first child. Ever since, I can eat chocolate and not break out in a rash. I also used to be able to drink milk. After I had my second son, no more milk! If I drink a glass of cow’s milk my belly swells up and things are nast-eee for the next day or so and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Both my sons were born allergic to the proteins in cow’s milk. They can have yogurt and cheese, and little bit of cow’s milk to drink, but now we drink rice milk.
11 – I used to make and sell jewelry. I was darn good at it, too, and did it for a few years. It was very nice play money. Then I went off it. I got bored and to this day I just don’t feel the urge to grab my tools and beads and make something. I learn to sew a couple of years ago and that was that. I sold most of my bead stash, gave the rest to my mom, and now she and my sis make stuff. Now I’m into fabric, my veggie garden, and mostly, finding new ways to make my home cozier and prettier.
So those are my Eleven for 20 Eleven – if you’re STILL reading, I thank you from the bottom of my motherfucking heart because that probably took some time out of your day. I promise my future posts won’t be this wordy 😀
Casa de Berry 
