Simplicity 2601 Top I

Finally finished one Simplicity 2601 top.  (There is another one in progress in a different view.)  I had some leftover Amy Butler Daisy Chain from this dress.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, but I was very frustrated while making this top.  All of the frustration was because I was trying to rush through the bias binding.  I should've ironed and taken it slowly... it would've helped if I used single fold bias tape instead of double, too.  Also, I'm not very good at loop turning.  Anyone have any suggestions?

I used covered buttons, and I love how they turned out.  Overall, it was a great pattern and top and I definitely do recommend it.  I do need a little break from it  for my second top since I need to get over my personal frustration with the top.

Oooo... another thing is that I joined stash busting hosted by Zoe.  I did get some fabric as a Valentine's present, but that doesn't count, right?  :) I am determined to go through more of my stash and not buy any more fabric.  I haven't decided what my limits would be yet... should it be by time or projects?  I think projects make more sense since I could go long periods of time without finishing projects.  How about finishing at least four projects with stash fabric before buying any new ones?  :)

Modified Mid Mod Quilt

I finished my 2nd quilt ever earlier this month, and it turned out much better than my first one . Here are some details.

Pattern: Amy Butler's Mid Mod Quilt
Fabric: mainly Melissa Averinos' Sugar Snap ( Flickr Pool ) and white Kona cotton
Notions: cotton/poly blend batting, quilting safety pins, rotary cutter
Other: lots of patience in measuring and ironing and piecing

I bought the fabric from QuiltHome.com. They have 1/8 yd designer sampler kits, which was perfect for this quilt. I actually have enough scraps to make another quilt. QuiltHome home has a really good selection of designer quilting cottons at reasonable prices.

Isn't Sugar Snap just delicious?!! Below is 1/8 yd for all the pieces in the line.


The pattern has you make 9 12"x12" blocks for the center, but I wanted to make this a lap quilt for my grandmother so I only did 4 12"x12" blocks. I adjusted the size of all the pieces to fit this modification. The back of the quilt is just plain white Kona cotton. I only quilted the center blocks along the seams of the different pieces. I really like the way it turned out and the backing didn't bunch up in areas so that was exciting! :)



The outer border and binding is Full Moon Forest by Tula Pink also bought from QuiltHome.com.



Overall I like how the quilt turned out, but I'm still not sure if I enjoy quilting. I think it's a lot of work that requires patience and meticulous work... I really admire those that can make such beautiful ones such as Film in the Fridge and Pikku Kettu .

Day in the Park Backpack Tote

When I saw the pattern for a Day in the Park Backpack Tote by Liesl+Co, I was instantly in love. I finally ordered a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale, which was just in time to make it for my friend's birthday. I had the perfect fabric, too, I just needed to pick up some notions and contrasting fabric. (I was hording this discontinued Amy Butler fabric for a year and half and finally cut into it for this project. I plenty leftover to make another one for myself! ^__^)

I love this tote! You can wear it was a tote or a backpack... that's so cool!



The pattern itself it very easy to follow. I used a walking foot for the first time and it was perfect! (I highly recommend the walking foot because it's pretty thick and many layers.) The only thing I did differently was that I omitted the rivets. I couldn't find any at Hancock Fabrics so instead, I just tucked in the ends and used a straight stitch.

Can you tell she was excited? ^__^ I'm glad you liked it!

Finishing Up Some Gifts

Below are some recently finished items... couple of them are REALLY late birthday presents and one baby shower gift.

This is my second apron from Amy Butler's inStitches book... a birthday gift... I love the fabric for this one. Both of them are from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern collection.


This is another birthday gift. It is Butterick 4859. This skirt was pretty easy to put together. I did make a few changes to the pattern. Details of this and the pattern review is found here.

Front


Back


Inside: One of my resolutions was to make the insides nicer... and I did!


Baby Shower Gift:
This was a bib from Amy Butler's Little Stitches book. Overall it was a pretty easy pattern to follow. The only difficult thing was binding the corners around the snap.


A more detailed review is found here.

I also made a matching burb cloth.

For My Valentine

I was so excited and having too much fun making my hubby's Valentine's gift I was distracted from school stuff the past few days. =) I bought anniversary rings from Titanium Knights and they were awesome. I had to come up with how I would present them, and here it is...



The bear is a Tiny Ami Panda pattern from Ana Paula Rimoli and the heart is a free Corazon pattern from Owlishly that I found on Ravelry. I had to rearrange the muzzle and the eyes on the bear a few times... Getting the eyes off was a pain. I ended up just glueing the muzzle instead of sewing it because I was just too lazy.

I'm not very good at crocheting... I have it admit it was a little frustrating making these two items, but I guess I need to keep practicing. (Knitting seems to come more naturally to me than crocheting...) I do love the way they turned out and so did my husband.

Here is his card...

Closed:

Opened: ^__^

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

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::

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.

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.

Frenchy Bag Pour Moi

This is my Saturday afternoon project... 



Some modifications: I made the bag about two inches wider, lengthen the straps, and divided the 2 large pockets into four. I'm very pleased with the results. ^___^

Frenchy Bag

This is my next sewing project. The morning glory fabric (middle) will the be main exterior, the red dots will be the accent exterior, and the blue dots will be the interior. I have the fabric cut out... now I just need to cut the interfacing and start sewing!

Matching Headband

Yesterday was my sister-in-law's birthday, and Chris grilled steaks for the family to celebrate. It was delicious! =)

Saturday night I made a pattern for a wide headband, and sewed up a couple of them. This one was made to match the M5591 skirt from the previous post. (The headband and the skirt were presents to the birthday girl.) I'm pretty pleased with the results. ^__^

McCall's Spring Skirt

Made a skirt from a McCall's pattern out of Amy Butler fabric.  (Pattern # M5591).  It was a relatively easy project.  The pattern called from slipstitching, but I was too lazy to do that.  Instead I edge stitched...  This is my first clothing article that I've sewn. =)

Feb Fabric Bazaar

Bought some BeAUTiFuL fabric at the First Samples fabric bazaar on 2/9/08. These are what I bought. ^__^ I was able to find some fabric from Amy Butler's Forest line...