Christmas Gift from Porter to Gideon

For Christmas, 4 year old Porter (with some assistance from me, OK, a lot of assistance from me), made Gideon a pillow case that matches his baby blanket.  We embroidered a big G and his name on it.  Here's a snap shot taken on Christmas as he waved it around.

Christmas Present (Shorts) for Kendall from Emerald

My brother, Kendall is pretty picky on his selection of clothing.  Many long years ago, when we were all still in college, Emerald made Kendall a pair or two of shorts that was a style that he really loved.  He's worn them for, what?, 15 years or more and they were wearing thin.  So, since Emerald gave to Ken for Christmas, she made him 3 pair of shorts from the same pattern she had used way back when.  They even have the welt pockets in the back.  Way to go, Em!  The colors in the pictures are not the best - sorry. They're black, navy and tan shorts.

Christmas Fleece/Flannel Blanket for Denise and me

In my family of origin, we have a rotation going for giving gifts at Christmas.  The gift doesn't have to cost anything, but it hast to be valued at $20 (or more).  If you want to spend more than that, that is your choice, but you can't expect anything more than a $20 gift.

This past Christmas, it was my turn to give to my brother Charles and his wife, Denise.  Now I know I'm a little weird on this, but I think about Christmas gifts all year, so when Denise commented on my kids' fleece/flannel blankets and that she wanted one last January or February, I knew exactly what I was going to do.  My daughter, Monica would be making Porter a crazy topped fleece/flannel blanket, I thought I'd do the same.  I wouldn't have to buy anything more than what I already had - I'd even piece the back with left over strips from all the fleece movie blankets I've made.

Monica and I worked on the large crazy fleece squares and they took SO much longer than I had ever anticipated, and I put so much into it, that as I was finishing it up, I commented to my sister, Emerald, that it would be hard to give it up.  She asked if Denise was expecting the crazy quilt.  No, she didn't know what she was getting.  She said that Denise would appreciate the work I did, but she her feelings wouldn't be hurt to have a different one.  Did I have enough fabric to throw together another fleece/flannel blanket?  Yeah.  I felt guilty about that.  (It doesn't take much to make me feel guilty).  But the more I thought about it, the more the idea rang true.

So, starting at about 9:00 at night, I cut and pieced the top and trimmed the strips for the back.  The second day, I put the whole thing together and quilted it.

Denise loved it and has on multiple occasions called me to tell me that she loves it.  The first time, she called (maybe the day after she got it) and said she loved Andres' blanket. (She was in the process of an overseas adoption of a little deaf boy named Andres.)  I said I was glad, but I didn't make it for Andres.  I made it for her.  If she wanted to share it with Andres when he came, that was up to her, but it wasn't made for him.  A few days later she called me for another reason and again told me how much she loved it. 

Pieced back above.  Front fabrics below.  The colors are off - that coral color should be pink and the bottom left should be a grape purple.  Too much yellow in the photos.


Yes, she knows I started the other one for her, and no she doesn't mind.  In fact, many of the flannel fabrics in her top were ones she gave me once upon a time.

Over the shoulder mini satchel - Tutorial

The youth group at church will be making a "pioneer trek" this summer.  The one overseeing all the organizing, asked me to make the 117 bags. (I'm making extra since they've already upped the number on me once).  Here is how I made it.  You of course can change the dimensions, but these finished are about 10-1/2" x 7".

 1. I began with a piece of fabric that is 20"x11".  I'm using a thicker fabric that has a canvas-y feel to it. (The fabric was donated, so I don't have its make and model number.)  ;-)

If you want to change the dimensions, add 1/2" to the width you want for the cutting width (10-1/2" + 1/2" = 11" width) and take the height you want, multiply by 2, add the length of the flap and add 1" for your cut size (7 + 7 + 5 + 1 = 20).

2. For the strap, I cut a strip that was 60" x 4."  The strap will be 1" wide when finished.  If you are using 56" wide fabric and want to cut it the WOF, that would work too.

 3. Fold the strip lengthwise in half and either finger press or press with an iron.  Fold each end to the middle and press again.  You now have 3 creases 1" apart extending the length of the strap.

 4. Fold towards the wrong side of the fabric each of the short edges approximately 1/4 inch.

 5. With the short edge in, next fold the long, raw edges to the center on the crease you already made.

 6. Then fold along that center crease as shown.

 7. Next sew along first a short edge, then pivot at the corner and sew down the long edge, closing the opening (see photo below).  When you get to the short end, pivot and sew that closed (all raw edges should be enclosed at this point).  My preference is to sew down the folded edge as well, but that is purely aesthetics.  The strap is done and you can set it aside for now.

 8. Now comes the bag.  On one of the short edges of the 11x20 piece of fabric, fold over 1/4", then fold again.  You can press it (photo below) if that help you or just double fold it as you sew.  Either way.

 9. Next fold the sewn edge up 7", wrong sides together (right side out).  This seems to go against the grain of the way we normally sew, but we are doing french seams so this fabric that seems to want to fray all over the place will have all the raw edges enclosed.  So, yes.  Fold it with the right side out.

 10.  With the RIGHT side out, sew both sides from the hemmed edge down to the fold (or from fold to hem - direction doesn't matter).  Use a large 1/8".  I actually follow the 5 mm line on my machine which is about halfway between the 1/8" mark and the 1/4" mark.  That seems to be about right for this.

 11.  Next turn the bag inside out (seam is on the inside and the hemmed edge is facing out).  Poke the corners out so they are good and square.  Sew from hem to fold (or fold to hem) using a 1/4" seam allowance.  (Two pictures to show this from different angles).

 12.  Turn right side out.

 13.  When you turn it right side out, you will notice a wonky accordion fold.

 This, you will snip from the raw edge to the first fold as close to the french seam as possible.  (See photo below for finished snip.)

 14. The snipped edge can now be folded under to make the hem on the edge.  Do this for both sides.

 15. Sew close to the folded edge beginning about 1/4" - 1/2" before the start of the hem.  Back stitch at beginning and end.

 16. Repeat for other side.  I went from raw edge to just over the hump on this side.






17. Hem the flap folding 1/4" and then another 1/4" as you did at the very beginning of the bag. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it.)

 18. To sew on the straps, mark 2" down from the top of the fold (of the flap and the back).  Line up the strap along the sides and sew along the sides, top and bottom of that 2"x1" rectangle.






Take care that you don't catch the front of the bag under the foot as you sew from the back of the bag.

Mini Satchel is finished, unless you course you'd like to embellish it.  In this case, a strip of leather was wanted on the bottom of the flap.

I would not recommend the leather unless your sewing machine is made to handle really thick fabrics like leather.  Otherwise it can burn out your motor.

Below you see about 90 of the 125 bags I made with some help from Emerald (sewing and putting on most of the straps).

Gray and White Baby Houndstooth

Remember the gray and white houndstooth queen sized quilt I made a couple years ago that my friend commissioned for her daughter that was getting married?  There was some fabric left over and I had asked if she wanted it or if I should save it to make a baby quilt when Grace had a baby.  Making a matching baby blanket seemed like the best use of the fabric.








Well, at the beginning of this year, I found out that Grace was expecting a baby in April.  Time to finally make that baby houndstooth that had been on my to-do list for the last 2 years.

The squares are slightly smaller than the queen size.  I think they were 4.5" finished instead of 5.5" finished.  She also wanted a minky fabric for the back with simple stitch in the ditch quilting on the grid.  All in all, I'd say it turned out really well.

Indigo Dress - Trenna

Indigo dress made from the Michael Miller Indigo collection in the fabric called Kenji.  Trenna, with Trenna Travis Design Studio asked me to make this.  The pattern was McCall's Fashion Star #MP300.

  My biggest concern with this dress was that is was supposed to be made with knit/stretch fabric and this cotton fabric is not stretchy.  But the pattern was easy and it fit the model just fine.

I asked my daughter to try it on so I could take a picture which she graciously did.  Yep, she's standing on a stool so it doesn't drag on the ground.