Posted on

Happy Mother’s Day

happy-mothers-day

Image above from Vintage Wallpaper.

Happy Mother’s Day!  My sweet children made some beautiful gifts for me.  With Dad’s help (and his memories of Cub Scouts), they made this popsicle stick bowl.

popsicle-stick-bowl

At school, my four-year-old made this lovely pressed flower bookmark and the six-year-old made this embroidery wall-hanging.  What a bunch of sweeties.  And Happy Mother’s Day to my mother!  Wishing all the mothers out there a happy, relaxing day.

school-gifts

Posted on

Etsy Finds Friday

5-8-091

A Happy Accident Bag, $80 from My Happy Accidents.

Love Birds Hemp Purse, $12 from Mingus.

Pro Pattern Colorful Skirt, $28 from Exquisite Handicraft.

Set of 4 Vintage Bowls, $21 from Modish Vintage.

Mad about Plaid Pillow Cover, $45 from Warm ‘n’ Fuzzies.

Bendy Doll Base, $9.95 for one (5 3/4″ tall) from Mills Creek.

Toddler Dress (available in sizes newborn to 4T), $35 from April Scott.

Linen Remnants, $32 from Variegated.

Vintage Embroidered Tea Towels, $30 from Meg’s Dolls.

Posted on

Marimekko Apron

marimekko-apron

I ordered this coated Marimekko fabric with the intention to make lunch bags, but I’ve decided that I should go with a polyurethane coated cotton instead.  So I made some child-sized aprons with this fabric.

I looked at this Montessori apron from Sew Liberated for some guidance, but didn’t really follow the instructions.  My finished width at the top is 6″ and the overall length is around 18″.  I used a hidden velcro closure on the side.  I really like how Sew Liberated’s pattern includes elastic in the neck, but since I was using grosgrain ribbon folded over, I didn’t think that would work very well.

Anyway, it’s a good little apron for messy projects and it was simple to sew.

Posted on

Sketched Flower Trivet

make-it-monday

flower-trivet

flower-detail

Why have I never tried free motion embroidery?  It is really fun if you like to sew and sew like I did in this recent project.  Here are some simple steps for making this sketched flower trivet.  This would make a nice Mother’s Day project.

Supplies:

  • two 8″x8″ squares of fabric (cotton/linen blend)
  • embroidery thread (no. 100)
  • bamboo or cotton batting, two 7″x7″ squares
  • 6″x6″ embroidery hoop
  • fabric marker

For the free motion embroidery, you will also need an embroidery foot for your sewing machine.

Be sure to wash, dry and press your fabric before beginning the project.

free-motion-embroidery

  1. Mark the center of one fabric square by folding in half each way.  Put the fabric in your embroidery hoop so that the fabric will lay flat on your machine.
  2. Draw the flower design onto the fabric as shown.
  3. Turn the feed dog switch on your sewing machine to the off position (check your sewing machine manual for instructions). Practice your free motion embroidery on a piece of scrap fabric to get the right tension (you will need to turn the tension way down, most likely).
  4. Then follow around the lines of your design.  I went over each line three or four times and enjoyed the freedom to be messy with it.
  5. Press the fabric and spray with water to remove fabric marker (or let air dry, depending on the type of marker you’re using).
  6. Sew the two squares of fabric, right sides together, with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving one end open.  Press seams flat and clip corners.
  7. Turn right sides out and push out corners.  Press opening under 1/2″.
  8. Insert both squares of quilt batting and pin together opening.
  9. Sew around the square 3/4″ from the edge, then again 1/2″ and then 1/4″ from the edge, for three rows of stitching.