Bridesmaid Dress

 Sorry this post is so delayed, but here it is, all in one place, the making of my bridesmaid dress for Mom's wedding.

 First we cut all the pieces and put fray stop on                                                                                          them. 

Then I started assembling them. Outside first, then lining.

Then finally the underskirt.

Put it all together, top stitch some seams, and voila!!

Ginger Cookies (Because we have no printer ink) =P

Soft Ginger Cookies

2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
3/4 c. butter, margarine, or shortening
1 egg
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
For Rolling Cookies in:
2 Tbsp. sugar

In bowl combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, set aside. In a mixing bowl beat butter, with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 sec. Gradually add the 1 c. sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses; beat well. Stir in the dry mixture.

Shape dough into 1 1/2 in. balls. Roll balls in the 2 Tbsp sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 1/2 in apart. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 mins until light brown but still puffed. Do not over bake. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 mins; transfer to wire rack and let cool. Makes about 24 cookies.

Bib and Blanket for Bradley

 A bib and blanket I made for my Cousin's new baby boy. I was told she likes yellow so I went for a bee pattern on the bib. The embroidery was new to me and I'm afraid I used too much thread. It was a bit thick, but future reference. Buttons instead of glue on eyes. It turned out really cute.

I went for the same fabrics on the blanket to match, and I decided to do a tag end too. I always have fun picking out ribbons and it looks really nice. It goes well with the bib too. My cousin likes both. Functional and fun to make!

Pregnancy Shirts

 I recently found out I'm pregnant again so I got out my maternity clothes. Last time I was pregnant mostly during the winter, so I had a couple long sleeved shirts. This time it'll be summer and more humid since I live in Dallas now. So I shortened the sleeves. You can barely tell with the purple one (I wear this one all the time) and it's really comfortable. I love the shorter sleeves on it.

The pink one is a slightly different story. I made the sleeves a little longer on this one because it's cotton, not polyester like the purple one. I haven't worn it since I altered it because I'm not really showing yet and I don't need it. I'm satisfied with how it turned out though and it'll be nice to have it when I do need it.

Newsboy Hat

 I had a bit of trouble finding the pattern pieces for this hat, but it was worth it in the end. I used cardboard in the brim, so there's a bend in it. I should've been more careful about what piece of cardboard I used but c'est la vie.

As far as the actual sewing goes, it was pretty smooth sailing. The directions were simple and clear cut. I wasn't able to gather it the way it wanted me to because my machine doesn't zigzag wide, there was too much fabric for my ruffle foot, and I didn't have the super strong thread anyway. Even a regular stitch wasn't loose enough and wouldn't work. I wound up doing small tucks where the sections fell and adjusting until it fit the band.

The flower was a lot of hot glue. Five pieces of wide purple ribbon folded in half  twice to form petals. I glued them all together and sewed a button to the top. It was hard to get through the glue with my one needle (I need new hand sewing needles) but I made it work and sewed it on the finished hat using the petal sections that overlapped. 

I'm super happy with it and I'm currently wearing it (not just for the photo).

Yarn for Life Sweepstakes

Attention Fellow Crafters!!
Just found out about a cool sweepstakes called yarn for life. You can win free yarn for up to 20 years!! Plus, if you enter using my link, I get extra submissions so, yes, ulterior motive. You should still enter. Here's the link: http://ck.upickem.net/r/683dh3kJ7cu?r=25486

Pillowy Pink Owl

Another owl pattern from my granma. The beak was supposed to be felt but I have no idea  where the box with my felt currently resides (besides somewhere in the garage) so I improvised. I just crocheted one on the fly and I'm rather happy with how it turned out. I did pink since a little birdie told me that's a popular owl color these days. I'm going to do a purple one as well (I just got some purple yarn at wally world today) along with a few other colors I have lying around. As always, let me know what you think. I love the feedback :)

Easter Skirt

 My Easter present to myself. I got the stripey fabric from my mother-in-law. She had a bunch of old stuff from her meme who sewed as well. Apparently her meme made an Easter skirt for her, so that gave me an idea to do one for myself. 

I decided to use a broomstick skirt pattern I hadn't gotten around to using. I was almost done cutting when I realized I didn't have enough for the bottom tier. So I dug out some pink fabric and used that instead. I absolutely love the accent effect and the skirt is super comfy. 

I have to admit it gave me some trouble though. Ruffling tiers is a  pain even with a ruffle foot, but I figured it out. Then I discovered that the yoke wasn't tapered at the bottom like it ought to be. So we made a triangle for it (my husband helped), and that fixed the problem. I barely got it done in time for Easter Sunday.

A Case for Casey

A case I made for my sister-in-law's birthday. I changed the specifications so that it fits her Nook, but it's the same design as our kindle case (which now houses my tablet). My mother-in-law had the idea and bought me the fabric, strap, and clasp. It's twill, so it's a really strong fabric, although the grey (her fav. color) makes it look a bit militaristic. The verdict? She loves it. I'm thrilled. Making people (including myself hehe) happy is one of the best parts of crafting as far as I'm concerned. Well, that and being able to make useful things for my family.

Non-Graduation Owls

Same owls as before with a couple adjustments. Two "ears" and no graduation cap. Oh and I decided to make them pink and purple. A little birdie told me they sell better in those colors and luckily I had/still have some wool in those colors. I'll make one more of each color and then in a couple weeks they are     bound for show.

Graduation Owl

Graduation owl I made for the show I'm doing in April. I even looked up Garland ISD colors so I can match the little caps.  I used buttons for the middle since we don't have the money for the plastic pieces it calls for. I need to use a thicker yarn for the body, but otherwise I'm happy with how it turned out.

Crochet Hat with fun fur

 Another pattern my granma emailed me that I plan on selling at a show sooner or later. Really simple and I liked her idea of adding the fun fur at the end. 

I wound up stopping it shorter than the pattern called for, it turned out a bit big. I think I'll leave off the extra increase I did and try a thinner yarn next time. Turned out well still though, I'm happy with it.

Ruffle Scarves

 A couple of ruffle scarves I made to hopefully sell at a craft fair in a couple months. This crochet pattern worked up quickly and easily. No mistakes no complaints. I'm currently working on a hat and I have a couple baby booties to finish up too. I'll post things as I finish them. 

Hello Kitty Earflap Hat

 I made this as a Christmas present to my son. While figuring out what to make him, my husband suggested a hat with ears (he loves animals). Well he loves Hello Kitty so I looked for a Hello Kitty hat pattern and - voila! - I found one!


It worked up pretty fast with simple stitches. Until you add the ears, bow, and whiskers, the face looks a bit creepy. But once it came together it was totally adorable. And he was fairly good about keeping it on.

Adult Earflap Hat

I had a hard time figuring out what to make my husband for Christmas this year. I've made him a scarf, t-shirt, slippers, and apron. I'm not a good enough knitter to make gloves yet so my grandmother's making those. So finally I just asked him what I could make him and this is what we decided on.

It's easier to crochet a hat than to knit one, plus it works up faster for me.We really like the earthy look the different colors of wool yarn gave it. The earflaps could have been a bit farther forward and I need to lengthen the ties if I make one again but for now it works and he loves it.

Scrap Yarn Scarf

Simple scrap yarn scarf I made with leftover eyelash yarn doubled up with regular yarn. I'm giving it to a friend as a small Christmas gift. I try to make sure people feel appreciated (especially this time of year) - and we've been helped out a lot lately.

Jean Skirt

 A friend of mine gave me a pair of jeans. They were really comfortable but they had a ton of buttons and so were annoying to put on. Since I wear skirts more than pants and need warm skirts for winter, I decided to make a skirt out of them.

I had some trouble at first finding a pair of jeans that would work for the panels in the middle. Finally, my husband tried on some old pants and found they no longer fit. Well, they were longer but barely.

The problem became making this an ankle length skirt like I wanted. Then I got an idea - I made the hems on the original pair of jeans into a waistband. Well I was originally going to make it an elastic waistband, but I realized that would no longer work. So I put in a zipper. It doesn't match up right (I'm still learning the art of zippers), but otherwise I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Saddlebags

 I originally printed out this tutorial because Brandon got a bike (after our car died). I figured we could get a rack for it since it didn't already have one. Then we find out it's not designed for one. So much for that idea. Found out a friend wanted one, so I made it for her instead.

The pieces were easy to cut out and while tedious, easy to sew, turn, and top-stitch. My husband helped me put together a messenger bag style strap (she harvested one) that I sewed into the top piece. 

The problem came when I went to put it all together. There weren't any pictures or description to tell me how the rest of the pieces went together. So once I kinda figured it out, I realized that one of the pieces was the wrong size so I had to make a new one.

For next time there are a few tweaks that need to be made (I might eventually make some to sell) . The attachment straps need to be closer together and I need to put something stiff to keep them from getting caught in the spokes of the wheel. There was another (smaller) attachment strap for this, but I didn't have the bike and couldn't match it up well enough. My friend said something stiff solves the problem so that's probably what I'll go with in the future.

Animal PJs

 I realized the other day that Alma has grown out of his 2T pajamas and he only has one pair of 3T pajamas. So, I decided to make him some. (I use this pajama pattern to make him pants all the time. This is the 1st time I've actually made pajamas with it!).

I picked out some fabric a friend gave me, and got to work. I've never made him the shirt, so I found out when I put it on him that the sleeves are way too long, but overall totally cute.

Halloween Costume

 My son absolutely ADORES trains so I decided to make him a train conductor costume for Halloween. Found an overalls pattern on sale and a walk through for the hat online. 

The overalls were pretty easy. I didn't have a buckle so I substituted buttons and multiple button  holes (so it's adjustable) for closure. Didn't have snaps for the sides so I just sewed it together.

The hat was a little harder but worth it. It's just a band and bill with an octagon top piece folded in.

The finishing touch was a couple of felt trains (I used a cookie cutter for a pattern) - one for the hat and one for the overalls pocket. Stitch witched on then              sewn around by hand. I wanted to do Thomas, but I didn't have any more fabric transfers left. Still cute though.