Sew Mama Sew Pillow Contest

During my little hiatus from Facebook, the most wonderful thing has happened...

...I have more time in my day than I ever thought possible!  What a shame that it took me so long to realize.

Among other things, I've been able to sew more than ever.  But before I jump back in, I want to take a brief detour from tutorial reviews to share the first pillow I made for the Sew Mama Sew pillow contest.  :)

There are a few things that I have to point out here.  First, I adore Sunbonnet Sue.  One day, I'll have the time to make a full quilt.  Until then, I try to find random items she seems to belong on.  This pillow was the perfect opportunity!  

It only seemed right to make the pillow form out of scraps from an old sheet, and the background for the pillow cover from a futon cover my friend gave us.  All that recycling makes us HAPPY!  But, this classic girl really needed a modern twist; so I pieced her out of fussy cut pieces of MOMO's "It's a Hoot" line.   mmmm...

My nine year old daughter decided which pieces of the fat quarter to use.  But more importantly, as her first official free motion quilting project, the squiggly lines on the right side of Sue make my heart glad!!  

Our second daughter decided that Sue needed something "golden"...so we added a few decorative stitches along the brim of her hat and at her hem.  Altogether, we think she is ADORABLE!

I am a sucker for the honeycomb stitch on my machine, so we had to add a few of those along the envelope closure on the back. 

So, that's our entry for the pillow contest.

But, no matter what, Alana has BEEN asking for a new pillow for her babies...and now she has a beautiful one!

Doll's Pillowcase Tutorial

Tutorial: Doll's Pillowcase

Skill Level:  Beginner

Rating:  Jump Right In!

I liked making that nine-patch block.  I really did.  The math lover in me enjoyed making all the seams line up.

That one block also made me painfully aware of how much time quilting was going to take me, especially because I still couldn't sew a straight line! I figured quilting was not in my near future.

But, in spite of myself, I fell in love with the Crazy Mom over at Crazy Mom Quilts. Honestly, most days I just sat in awe of how many amazing quilts that woman could crank out!! 

Then, in December 2008, she posted a tutorial for a doll's quilt and pillowcase. With Alana's birthday coming up and Mamie (her dolly) desperately needing bedding, I decided I would try this. I used scraps of quilting fabric I had to make her a quilt (and it's still my best quilt – lol!) and made a coordinating pillowcase. 

Of course, the tutorial was perfectly clear and easy to follow. Amanda has a way of explaining things that make the most complex tasks seam (hehe) simple!

So, you should try this one. Definitely. And make a thousand of them...because you'll feel SO ACCOMPLISHED when it's over. 

Easy Pants Tutorial

Tutorial: Easy Pants Tutorial

Skill Level:  Beginner

Rating:  Jump Right In!

During the boy's clothing roundup, Sew Mama Sew (again) led me to this "Easy Pants Tutorial" from Handy Home Projects.  Let me first say, that I was incredibly intimidated by even the idea of this project.  **Surely I can't make pants.**  That's just crazy!


For this tutorial, however, I wish I could give it a better rating that "Jump Right In".  I can't even find the appropriate words to describe how truly easy she made this.  I use this process constantly in making pants for my kiddos.  I've used this tutorial for everything from gauchos for the girls, to flannel-lined canvas pants for little man, fleece pants out of cheap fleece when we just need some extra warmth and the first ones I made:  little dress pants for everyone out of Goodwill purchased pants from the LIMITED!!  The fabric is so nice, that my oldest girls still wear these (even though they're considered nearly flood pants now O )


For these, reusing the hem from the original pants made extremely short work of four pair of nice pants!


So, without further ado, here are the pants I made the first go-round:


Oh, but a warning, these are post-DSLR, but pre-flash...so the photo quality is horrible.  :(

 Ahhh, free hems!

And happy girls!

To Quilt, or Not to Quilt (Disappearing 9 Patch)

Tutorial: Quilts & ATC Disappearing 9 Patch

Skill Level:  Intermediate

Rating:  Jump Right In!

Eventually, Sew Mama Sew mentioned quilting in this post.  With my interest perked, I (of course) ended up at Quilts & ATCs for the disappearing 9 patch tutorial.  This tutorial (unfortunately) is not for a beginner.  To me, if you need instructions to make the 9 patch disappear, you're probably a beginner, right?  Well, I was.  My seams were too big.  I didn't know anything about quilting...but it turned out alright.  So, I am rating this as an intermediate tutorial and giving it a Jump Right In rating because IF you already know a little about quilting, the Disappearing Nine Patch is very easy.

If you are a beginner, however, I recommend the PS, i quilt tutorial found here:
http://www.psiquilt.com/2009/03/disappearing-9-patch-tutorial-super.html

It's definitely more of the beginner-friendly tutorial we've all come to know and love!

Oh, and this is my first one...

And, I don't have a photo of the block after the patches "disappeared"  :)  but I have one of the wonky first quilt I made with them:

Charm Pack Twirl Skirt

Tutorial: Charm Pack Twirl Skirt

Skill Level:  Beginner

Rating:  Jump Right In!

Because I had four little girls at the time, my life was centered around ruffles and skirts.  This is about the time I stumbled upon Sew Mama Sew!

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Around the time I found it, was children's clothing round up time.  How perfect!  I thought I would have to sew for months just to be satisfied.  I was wrong, it has taken years and I'm still not there.  o


I started with the cutest little skirt that seemed like I could actually do it.  :)  It was the Charming Little Skirt Tutorial by The Merry Church Mouse.  I have to be honest, I was terrified!  I mean, this was actually sewing.  :)  I had no idea what I was doing, but had set my mind on making this for my second daughter's birthday.  The tutorial was PERFECT.  It was almost like she was in the room, holding my hand, saying no, no - like this.  lol!


This was definitely the tutorial that made me feel like I would like to sew for a LONG time and that maybe I could actually be good at it.  


So, I borrowed my mom's machine...

Spent an hour that night sewing...

And made a little girl VERY VERY HAPPY!

I wish I could find a photo of someone wearing it - because it's still around...

handed down twice now!

Not quite a tutorial

Tutorial: Joann Ruffled-Edge Blanket

Skill Level:  Beginner

Rating: Make a Muslin

Hmmm...what came next?  Well, it would have to be the ruffled-edge baby blanket for my little sister.  Now, I know this is going to tell a lot about my sewing experience, but I had NO CLUE how to make a blanket!

But while strolling through my local Joann one day, I noticed this adorable little instruction card (you can find it here)

The instructions seemed simple enough, and the local Joann had tons of LSU fabric on sale, so it seemed like a sure bet!  While this is definitely not a tutorial (there is no step-by-step illustration for us visual learners) and I had to google what it meant to gather with a basting stitch and how to slip stitch an opening closed, the directions are solid.

I make these blankets from time to time now, of course, using a ruffler foot, and this is the basic process I used for our Fall table runner this year.  Overall, I'll give this a "Make a Muslin" rating - just because the directions may require some clarification for a beginner, but this is definitely a beginner's project!

Circle Skirt, Here I come!

Tutorial: Made Circle Skirt

Skill Level:  Beginner

Rating:  Jump Right In!

The immediate next project was a circle skirt. I didn't use a tutorial for that one, just some geometry. But, I did try my hand at a tutorial for it - not very good. Either way, the method I use is just like this one from 
Dana Made It!

Circle Skirt Tutorial

Dana's tutorial definitely gets a "Jump Right In".  As with all of her tutorials, the directions are clear, concise and easy to follow.  Easy peasy for anyone from beginners to experts!

Now, here are a few Circle skirts that I've made:

 

The purple one on the left is still worn regularly (by a little sister, of course).

The one on the right was a fabric choice FAIL and was soon turned into doll clothes & scraps.  :)

More recently, we've made many many half circle skirts, made using similar math and half as much fabric.

Here are a couple of those: