Doggie Bed, Bone, and Neckerchiefs - Trenna

How cute is that!  There was no pattern for any of these, so I made it up.  This is made out of Michael Miller's fabrics, Pugs and Kisses, Pugs Day Off, Pooh Pooh Polka Dot and either Pinhead or Kiss Dot. 

 A doggie bed made from 3" foam cut to the size you want it.  This was made for a little dog, so it's probably a 24" square that was cut down to a nice looking rectangle.  To figure how big to cut the fabric, measure each side and add your seam allowance.  I used 1/2" seam because it's easy to figure and sew.  Measure around the perimeter and cut enough 4" strips to make that length.  I made my piping with bias strips and cording, but you could buy pre-made piping if you choose.  I sewed the piping to each rectangle - top and bottom, then sewed the side strip to the top all the way around.  Then the bottom most of the way around.  I left one of the sides open, though I prefer to always sew around all 4 corners.  Does that make sense?  I start 1" or so before the corner, sew around 3 sides, turn the corner and sew another inch or so.  This makes corners look good and is easier to sew a straight side closed than going around a curve.  After shoving the foam in, I hand sew it closed using an invisible stitch.

I also made a bone.  For this, I drew the size I wanted the bone to be on some paper, than added at least a 1/2" seam allowance.  Cut it out, sewed it and stuffed it will pollyfil and hand sewed it closed with an invisible stitch.

For the little neckerchiefs, I drew a right triangle the size I wanted it to be.  Along the hypotenuse, I added the size of the casing to go on the collar.  It was approximately 1 inch for a 3/4" collar.  Add the seam allowance.  Then with the fabric folded in half, I cut two matching pieces.  These I sewed, right sides together, leaving an opening large enough to turn the neckerchief right side out.  I then top stitched around the entire thing about 1/8" from the edge which also closed the hole used for turning.  Then, folding the neckerchief in half, I sewed along the hypotenuse of the triangle which also made the casing for the collar.

Little Child's Hat in Zoo Littles Fabric - Trenna

Child's hat I made for Trenna using the Michael Miller fabric line "Zoo Littles."  Using the fabrics, "Starlettes" in navy, "Pinhead" in sprout and clementine, and lining it with "Mini Lions" in sprout, I think it's adorable.  The pattern used was McCall's M6762.

Little Girl's Dress in Petite Fleur de Lis in Red and White - Trenna

Charming little girl's dress made from the new Michael Miller line of fabric "Petite Paris."  This print is called "Petite Fleur de Lis."  This dress was made by my mother, the professional seamstress who taught me to sew.

 For all you French speakers out there, please don't call me on the obvious error of using the feminine form of "Petite" with masculine "Paris" or "Fleur de Lis."  I did not name the fabric and it pains me to write it incorrectly.  It should be "Petit Paris" and Petit Fleur de Lis."  (There, I feel better).

When these 4 dresses needed to be made, I was camping with my kids.  My sister, Emerald, who has a job during the day, stayed up late at night sewing the 3 dresses to meet the deadline.  My mother, although busy, helped by making this dress.  Because I was out of town, I didn't think to take pictures of the patterns as I usually do.  The picture of the girl in the brown and orange dress is the photo on the pattern, (Butterick 5912) if you are looking for it.

Little Girl Dress "Josephine" - Trenna

A little girl's dress done with the Michael Miller fabric "Josephine" using the Simplicity pattern 2265 designed by Project Runway.  This was another variation using the same pattern, made by Emerald.  After the ruffle was sewn on, it seemed too overwhelming for the little dress.  Although the picture doesn't show the end results, I trimmed it down to about 1-2 cm showing and it looked much better.  Pictures show the front and back of the dress.

Little Girl Trelliage Green Dress - Trenna

Cute little green dress sewn by Emerald out of the Michael Miller Trelliage fabric from the Flower Garden line.  Using the Simplicity pattern #2265 designed by Project Runway.  In this dress, Emerald used the effect called for in the pink dress on the pattern of having a strip along the bottom in a contrasting direction of the fabric.

Little Girl's Pink Dim Dots Dress - Trenna

Absolutely adorable dress made from the new Michael Miller Flower Garden line of fabric named "Dim Dots."  The pattern is Simplicity 2265 designed by Project Runway.  This was made by my sister, Emerald and the only change from the pattern was to leave off the bottom strip since the fabric did not have the obvious pattern direction that the pattern called for.  Instead she used that feature in a different dress - the green Trelliage.

Young Girl's Peppy Petals Sun Dress - Trenna

Here is a cute little sundress made from the Michael Miller fabric "Peppy Petals" from the McCall's pattern M6737. 

We modified it to have only 2 ruffles simply because we didn't have enough fabric for the 3 ruffles.  Since the ruffles were different sizes, we put the 3rd ruffle where the second should be and left off the last extension and last ruffle.  It worked well. 

We also had to make an adjustment to the pattern size (as you can see in the picture of the pattern) since she needed a size 7 and the pattern she gave us only went up to a 6, but hopefully that won't be something you have to deal with since you an choose your own pattern. ;-) 

I honestly can't remember whether Emerald cut out the dress and I sewed it, or if Emerald made it start to finish.  That happens as we work so closely together and consult each other on everything.  I'll just assume that Emerald made this one.

Little Girl's Peppy Petals Romper - Trenna

Here is a little girl's romper I made for Trenna from the Michael Miller fabric "Peppy Petals" from the McCall's pattern # M6733.

Pink Rain Dot Skirt and Navy Blue Napkins - Trenna

Made with the new Michael Miller Rain Dot fabric, this skirt shows the full length of the fabric.

 If you would like to make a skirt similar to this, I'm afraid there is no pattern for me to direct you to, but I will be happy to explain how I made it.  I was given about 3 yards of fabric to work with, so we used it all.  I would recommend getting about 3 times your waist size plus the 5/8" seam allowances, if you have the option. That way your pleats can be butted up against each other giving the maximum fulness to the skirt. 

Of course, I cut off the selvage edge.  Then I cut 2 rectangles for the waist band from the side with the lightest dots along the selvage side (don't forget to cut a rectangle the same size of iron-on interfacing which is adhered to the piece that will be on the inside of the skirt as the lining of the waistband).  The size of the rectangle can be figured by measuring the waist, adding an inch or two to be able to breath and adding in seam allowances for the length. The width would be done by taking the measurement of the width you would like it to be and add the seam allowance.  This waist band was approximately 2.5 - 3" wide when finished.

I sewed the ends of the fabric together to make the skirt, leaving probably 8-10" open at the top (light side) to put in a zipper.  I then hemmed the bottom with a handkerchief hem (so as to show as much of the fabric as possible in the skirt).  The skirt can be either gathered or pleated.  I chose to pleat it.  I took small even pleats, starting in the center front, the pleats move out from the center towards the back as evenly as possible (I measured each one because I'm anal that way). 

I put the waist band on in the way most patterns tell you to do it.  In fact if you have any skirt pattern, reading those directions will help.  Basically you sew the two rectangles across the top (right sides together), then press right side out.  With right sides together, sew the front of the waistband to the skirt.  Press the inside seam allowance of the waistband up to be stitched down by hand.  I used a zipper in the back to close it, but if you prefer another method, go for it.  If you need better details, feel free to ask.

I also made 4 - 20" navy blue napkins for another shoot.  I figured if I was going to take a picture, I aught to fold the napkins in a style worth looking at.  As my mother-in-law is visiting right now, and saw me posting these, she asked how I folded them and I got to teach her in preparation for some fancy dinner she's preparing for.

Sarah's T-shirt Memory Quilt

This is by far the BEST t-shirt quilt I've seen, and I'm not just saying that because I made it.  It is beautiful! 

Sarah, my friend who asked me to make this quilt, wanted something more than what went in a dorm room.  This quilt is to be a gift to her mother, to remember her deceased brother.  The clothes in the quilt are shirts he wore or clothes he bought Sarah's children.














Each square is different to have the feel of a sampler quilt.  The tricky part was finding quilt blocks that I could modify and incorporate the different shirts and clothes.




To showcase these two ties, I appliqued them in the center of this Bow-Tie block.








This Tic-Tac-Toe block below incorporates 2 child's t-shirts in opposite corners.  As is the case for all these block I did, I used the shirts for all the matching colored blocks.

This block, a Lady of the Lake variation, has a child's sweatshirt in the center, complete with a usable pocket.

This t-shirt is shown in an At the Square block.







 
 A Log Cabin block below frames the applique of his name, birth and death date beautifully.

I'm not sure if this block has an official name, but these adorable baby pj pants are appliqued on the center block with 1" squares from all the fabrics used in the quilt randomly surrounding it.










A Ribbon Quilt block highlights this adult t-shirt.




 

I've seen this block below called Hole in the Barn Door and Picture Frame.  It can also be seen as a Churn Dash variation.  Whatever you call it, it sets off this appliqued child's overalls quite nicely.

 This Square Upon Square block showcases not only the tan t-shirt (front and back), but the background fabric of the block is from a baby's sleeper.




  I love how sometimes our mistakes make things even better. This block below is one of those times.  Two problems arose with this block.  My plan was an Ocean Wave block with a large blue square in the center.  First problem was the child's sweatshirt was not large enough, so I needed to add another row of triangles.  The second mistake was a miscalculation somewhere.  The inside row of triangles and square were a bit off, so I added that itty bitty blue around the inside row of triangles to make it the right size for the outside triangles.  I like it.  Even better than if it had been exactly the way I had originally planned the block.

  I'm not sure the above square's name, I kind of made it up, though I'm sure I'm not original to the idea.  I just framed the large square cut on point.





This is a variation of a square I saw on the website: quilterscache.com called Siggy Roads.  Instead of having the entire section blue, I framed the logo with white and then more of the t-shirt's blue.

PJ's in stripes and polka dots - Trenna

 PJ's made in Michael Miller's new fabrics. "Slender Stripes" for the pants and the PJ top made in matching polka dot fabric.  Simplicity pattern #1574 A.
























Up close, with the colors more visible.

June Quilt - Rose

Kids are back in school (with all the hoopla that surrounds that), so it's time to get busy posting the things I've done over the past month.  Here is the June Quilt, a rose, that my sister, Tamia designed and later my sister, Emerald tweaked the pattern to make it a little less block-y (and made several rose baby quilts as well as an amazing king size with roses going up a trellis).  This of course is the original, more block-y pattern.  I like the colors, so I haven't redone it, but eventually I will probably make more new wall hangings.

May Quilt

Last week and this week was/will be crazy, with sewing for Trenna last week and a family reunion at our house this week.  So I will post a quilt I forgot to post last May - The May wall hanging quilt.  I made this (as I did most of the wall hanging quilts) about 16 years ago as one I was just getting into quilt piecing and though I was excited about it, I was still learning.  There are aspects in most of the quilts I made at that time that I would change, but this is a great sample of a simple May Basket quilt.

I think I would like to eventually add some appliqued flowers in the baskets to hopefully improve the overall look without having to take the whole thing apart and change fabrics I don't care for.

Bam! Dress - Trenna

Dress made by my sister Emerald for Trenna from the Bam! Michael Miller Fabric soon to be released.  We used McCall's pattern #M6948, view A without a pocket.

Trenna wanted a tank top, so we simply shortened it and re-hemmed it, (though I didn't think to take a picture of it shortened before I gave it to her.)

Mini Lion Dress - Trenna

Well, it's time to get ready for the July releases and we have lots to make.  Monday (2 days ago), Trenna gave me fabric to throw together this little dress.  It is made from the Mini Lions fabric from Michael Miller. 

I used this Butterick B5876 pattern, view C, but changed the bottom strip.  No pockets and made a ruffle instead.  I cut 2 strips for the ruffle at 7" x 44" (a 7" strip from selvage to selvage).  I cut off the selvages, sewed the strips together, hemmed it with a medium sized handkerchief hem, sewed 2 parallel basting seams at the top, marked bottom of the dress as well as the ruffle with pins where they should match up (I divided each into eighths - seams, center front and back then halfway in between), gathered and sewed.

Machine Quilting Jackie's Quilt - Geometric

 

Here is the quilt (binding has not been put on yet) that Jackie made for her second child and asked me to quilt for her.  She wanted geometric quilting, but changing from one fabric pattern to another.  Below are some closer shots that will hopefully show the variation in quilting.  Each fabric has it's own quilting pattern that repeats where ever that fabric repeats in the quilt.  In other words, the orange fabric always has the same design, the light blue always has the same design, etc, and none of the fabric's quilting designs are the same.

Below you can see the quilting on the back.