Christmas Gifts

I've tried to cram as much crafting and sewing into this month before I have to start school again, but in between work, shopping, and cards it's been difficult to find time. Here are some gifts that were made...

= Co-workers Gifts & Other Jewelry =
I love fusionbeads.com. This is where I get most, if not all, my beading/jewelry-making supplies. They have great inspiration and wonderful quality supplies. I made lots of earrings and bookmarks. The bookmarks have sterling silver letter charms for each of my teammates at work. =)



= Husband's co-workers gifts: paper, Modge Podge, and tiles go a looooooong way =



= Amy Butler's Snow Mum Pillow =
We did Secret Santa amongst our team. This is what I made for my person. =) I really really love it and had a difficult time letting it go. It was also a lot more labor intensive then I expected...



Full Review Here

= WIP: NL6557 - V-neck Cotton Dress =
This dress for my sister-in-law's Christmas gift. I did this in a hurry since I had to have it done by Christmas. She's very happy with the dress, but I feel like I did a sloppy job. =( Oh well... as long as she's happy! I absolutely love the fabric and the easiness of making the dress.



Full Review Here

Rest of the Fall Semester

A little bit of sewing... lots of studying and working... good eating for Thanksgiving and our 3rd wedding anniversary!

= V1062 Cropped Jacket =
This was my first jacket and my first time using fleece. (This month was a lot of firsts!) It was super easy and it was unlined. I tried to add pockets, but it was too short to fit them in anywhere.



Full Review Here

= B5247 Cowl-neck Knit Dress =
I made these dress and wore it out to our 3rd wedding anniversary dinner. I love the way the belt is tied, which was an idea stolen from the envelope cover. (It is the middle one in the picture below.) I realized that all my recent dresses are hot pink. I need to stay away from that color for awhile... Here is the final product...



Full Review Here

September Catchup

Wow... I'm sooo behind in blogging! Well my semester has finally come to a close. It was a long, tiring, hard semester and I'm so glad that it's over. I have about a month before it all starts up again. Here's some things I made in September...
= NL6828 Knit Dress =
This was my very first knit and was very intimidated by it. It came out better than expected and now I LoVE sewing knits! It's so easy and so fast.

Here's a pic of it on the hanger:


It needed a belt because it was very unflattering without it. Here's a pic with a belt.


I love this dress! It was very easy and I wore it out to a wedding and to church and to work. =) Full Review Here

= Shirred Dress =
I used Sandi Henderson's tutorial to make a long shirred dress. The tutorial was easy enough to follow along, but I think the fabric I used made it difficult to work with. I just used 100% polyester satin. This was the first time I've sewn with satin or any slippery fabric. Overall it was a nice easy long dress. I wore it to a wedding rehearsal dinner.


PDF Tutorial

= Wedding Gifts =
This was for my husband's cousin. I only finished half of it... I'm notorious for UFOs! I made the short pleated apron and potholders from Amy Butler's InStitches book. I forgot to take a picture of the potholders.


Full Review Here

Madison & Dresses & Gifts

This past summer was a lot of studying, (but it still was NOT enough!) which left me with not much sewing and crafty things and especially blogging. I did manage to make Amy Butler's Madison bag, a boatneck dress (Butterick 5210), a summer dress (Simplicity 2925), and some gifts... and there are a few WIPs. I cutout Amy Butler's Sophia bag in Ginger Blossom fabric, started an apron in Midwest Modern fabric, and bought more fabric for other gifts and projects. So much to do so little time...

::Madison Bag:: Amy Butler's Lotus Wallflowers in Cherry and ivory broadcloth



I love this purse! It's bigger than it looks and fits a lot of things. Some mods are adding a patch pocket and zippered pocket to the lining, which are awesome! The patch pocket is on the front lining and the zippered one is on the back lining.



For the zippered pocket, I used a tutorial from U-handbag here. The pattern review is found here.

::Boatneck dress (B5210):: Amy Butler's Belle Coriander in pink and ivory broadcloth. Overall, it was an easy dress to make. I absolutely love the pockets!



Click here for a review.

::Yellow Dress (S2925):: Pale yellow rayon challis and white rayon challis for the lining. This also was an easy dress to make but the fabric was little to difficult to work with because it was so fluid... just need more practice.



Click here for a review.

Here are some gifts I made for a co-worker. It was for her birthday, baby shower, and just because.
::Tile coasters made from ceramic tile, scrapbooking paper, and Mod Podge::


::Burp cloths and baby blanket::


::Potted Daisy from Anapaulaoli pattern::

Contest & Gifts

Summer seems to be quite busy.  I should be studying for my MCATs but there are so many birthdays, and I just LoVE making stuff.  I also entered the beginner contest on sewing.patternreview.com.  I made McCalls 5430 for my entry.  Here's a picture of it...

This was also the first time I made buttonholes. The buttons are slightly different colors. =P  Here's a closeup:

The review for this skirt can be found here.  

The last week I've been making a few gifts.  I made some tile coasters, a hat, and a backpack.  The hat is from "Simple Sewing with a French Twist" by Celine Depuy.  The book is a great inspiration book, but the instructions aren't totally clear.  I still love it though!  The drawstring backpack was something I just made up along the way.  Here the pictures respectively.

Coming soon, more birthday cards, baby booties for a co-worker, and more gifts!  Next month, I'll be making the InStitches apron with Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric.  The fabric is gorgeous and I can't wait to use it!

Simplicity 3887 Done

I finished my Simplicity 3887 top today! I used Amy Butler|Midwest Modern|Optic Blossom - Linen & Martini - Mustard 100% quilting cotton. Here it is...



A close-up of the neckline...


A close-up of the bow...

Reviewed about here.

Pattern Sales

Hancock Fabrics and Joann's were having some major pattern sales last Memorial Day weekend. =) Here are the ones that I picked up...

Some of these patterns (especially the Vogue ones) are too advanced for me. But I still wanted to pick it up while it was on sale and maybe one of these days I'll be able to sew it. I have quite a pattern stash for a beginning sewer... =P

After I finish my top, I want to work on another dress, Vogue 8470. I'm a little nervous about it because it looks complicated, but the cover says it's easy... I sure hope so. I bought black cotton fabric from Joann's to test the pattern for fitting and construction... I'll work on that before I do my final piece in view A with Amy Butler/Lotus/Tree Peony-Pink fabric. I haven't decided which view to do the black dress in but I don't think I want it in the same view. I'm leaning towards view F (minus the bottom "flounce".)

So many projects, so little time. I want to wear the above dress for a wedding in about 5 weeks... I hope I can finish!! I still haven't finished my mom's socks that I was supposed to knit her for her birthday in March! (I of course bought her present in the meantime that she absolutely loved.)

May Catchup

May has been a busy month... finals, a trip to San Fran, started studying for the MCATs, and only a couple of "creations".

We went to San Fran for my husband's grandmother's big birthday. I made her a quilt for her birthday, which was quite the experience. Here is the final quilt... I didn't get a good picture of it because when I was finished it was late and it needed to be packed away. It was quite wrinkle-y, too. The first picture capture the true colors pretty well.



This was my first quilt... The pattern is based on the Amy Butler's Belle quilt, and I didn't add the circles and made it more of a lap quilt. The different fabric is all picked out from Joann. I had the difficult time keeping all the layers from bunching. I should've used a different foot... after grueling hours of sewing and taking apart I finally finished. However, the quality was not to my liking... oh well, I couldn't spend anymore time on it. His grandmother liked it so that's all that matters in the end. =)

One night when I should've been studying and working out, I got the urge to sew. I wanted to make my mother-in-law a dress she wanted me to make her for Mother's Day. Being busy with the quilt, I was not able to start on the dress. So, I decided to make it this night. She picked out Simplicity 3778. I cut out the pieces on this brown and pink floral cotton fabric I bought at the local Joann. The pattern runs pretty big... because I'm just a beginner I really didn't know how to adjust the pattern... I did a makeshift adjustment by increasing the seam allowance. The pattern itself was easy to follow and it had very limited number of pieces. The only not finished is the hem... my least favorite part about sewing...



The back...


Front detail... I think this picture might be zoomed in too much...


This dress is also reviewed at sewing.patternreview.com.
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&ID=28773

I started Simplicity 3887 but it was way too big. I should've listen to everyone's review before I had cut out the fabric. The seams are ripped, and it is waiting to be cut down two sizes. I used Amy Butler's Midwest Modern fabric. I'm very excited to get this finished! (I just wish I had the time... hopefully this weekend.)

Placemats & Knit1

I've been so busy lately with school, work, and family stuff that I didn't have time to sew or knit until this past weekend. Yay! It was a friend's birthday yesterday, and I made her some placemats and napkins for her somewhat new house. It's made from Joel Dewberry's Manzanita line. The pattern is from Amy Butler's In Stitches book. Here are some pics...



Some modifications I made to the patterns are:
1. Made the placemats smaller... 15"x19"
2. Added another piece of coordinating fabric on either side of the placemat
3. The napkins are smaller... they are 14.5"x14.5". (I meant to make them 15"x15" but in my haste I cut them incorrectly.)

I also received some Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric. I cut out all the pieces for a shirt and will begin to sew it up later this week... In the mail I also received the Spring/Summer Knit.1 magazine!! I was very excited.

Growing Herbs

I planted some seeds in a window sill pot, and they have started to sprout! I didn't think I had a green thumb, but so far not too bad! I can't wait until they're big enough to use for cooking! [Sweet basil, chives, parsley].

Vogue Knitting Spring 2008

I received my Vogue Knitting Spring 2008 magazine in the mail the other day. I love looking through these magazines... I'm such a pattern horde!  Here are some of the patterns I like from the issue...

Joel Dewberry Fabric

I bought my first set of Joel Dewberry fabric from quilthome.com.  It is beautiful!!  (The local quilt stores here didn't carry his line so I had to buy it online.)  

I will be making placemats and napkins for a co-worker out of these...

I was going to make some placemats out of the Aviary fabric, but it was too yellow for the person I was going to make it for. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now... I still love the fabric! Maybe I'll still make placemats and save them for someone else... too bad I can't work on any of these just yet. I have a test in less than a week I need to study for. =P


I can't wait for his new home dec line to come out!! It's so exciting. It can be previewed here. I especially like this one...