Monday, December 24, 2012

T- 16 hours

Hand quilting complete, machine in the ditch to finish it, then binding... think I'll have it done by the morning?

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Pattern weights

When you have a kid, you start using different things as pattern weights!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Winners!

The winner of the pacifier/toy holder is #43, lefty.rollins, who said, "Thanks for this giveaway! While my baby girl doesn't use a pacifier, she does like to drop her toys all the time. This would be great!"

And the winner of the knitting books is #45, Nicole Sender, who's wishing for a Kindle Fire for Christmas!

I loved hearing everyone's Christmas wishes - my favorite was the person wishing for eyebrows to grow back.  Wish I knew the story there!

Thanks for playing :)

Monday, December 3, 2012

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day - pacifier/toy holder


It's time for the giveaway day!

In addition to the knitting books, I'm also giving away a pacifier/toy clip like the ones in my store:


It can be used to hold various kinds of pacifiers, including the Soothie type, and toys with a thin area to put the elastic loop around.

I've been disturbed to see people selling ones they describe as having a 24" strap - that's not safe.  There's a reason you'll never see a commercially-produced one like that.  Mine have roughly 6-8" straps, that cannot wrap around a child's neck!

The one I didn't get to photograph with the rest is pink and white polka dots with a pink clip and a white loop:
(colors brighter in real life - camera's out of commission, so have to rely on telephone!)

Giveaway open through Friday, I'll do a random drawing Saturday morning, and I'll ship anywhere (shipping time may take longer overseas, as I can't use the automated machine).

If you're interested, leave a comment telling me who it would be for!

When I'm not making pacifier clips, I make monkey hats:

Sweet baby dresses (and a sweet baby):

Traditional quilts:


Historical costumes (worn at Dickens on the Strand last week):

And all sorts of other things - I have a making compulsion :)

Happy giveaway week :)




Sunday, December 2, 2012

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!



Today I'm giving away two knitting books: Stitch and Bitch Nation and Knit Two Together


They're both very good books, with many good patterns, and a few silly patterns each, but just not right for me right now (when nearly all I make is baby stuff).

Giveaway open through Friday, I'll do a random drawing Saturday morning, and I'll ship anywhere (shipping time may take longer overseas, as I can't use the automated machine).

Let me know what you want for Christmas (or if you don't do Christmas, your birthday), and you're in.  I'm reverting to childhood and hoping for a bicycle, a basic cruiser with a big comfy seat, to hitch the trailer up to and haul the baby around town. Preferably in purple with a bell and maybe streamers.


Why am I not using these knitting books now?  Well, I've been busy... I make monkey hats:

Sweet baby dresses (and a sweet baby):

Traditional quilts:


Historical costumes (worn at Dickens on the Strand last week):

And all sorts of other things - I have a making compulsion :)

Happy giveaway week :)



Anyone need to hold something?

For a while, the only pacifier clips I saw were designed only for the pacifiers with handles, and the baby likes the Soothie ones.  I've since found out that they make ones that are Soothie compatible, but first I made these:
(Nearly) Universal Pacifier/toy Clips

(Nearly because we've found one pacifier with no holes or any other way to attach it, but that's the exception.)

Mine have a stronger clip, I've found, than your typical store-bought variety.  I used Goody hair elastics for the loop and clips from this Etsy supplier, as they're cuter than the old-man suspender clips!

And you're not limited to pacifiers, either:


Pink with a teething ring attached


Apples with a Soothie attached


Black and white with a standard pacifier


Gears with a German triangle toy attached


Yellow plaid with a Go Ball


Apples with a standard pacifier
They've been remarkably useful (not pictured: two quite grubby ones we've used non-stop), often with a pacifier on one and a toy on the other, clipped to her sleeves or the baby carrier.

(All of the above available in my shop)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Itty Bitty Baby Dresses

I made the baby several of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made By Rae.  It takes two fat quarters to make a dress in the small-baby size.  They're all now too small, so I took some photos before putting them away. 

This one was my favorite - my father-in-law actually suggested the tiny pocket.  (He missed his calling in life, as a party planner and fashion designer.)  The first time she wore this, instead of just a little white shirt, and I swaddled her for sleeping...when I unwrapped her when she woke up, I was overcome by how adorable she was.  What a cute little baby!

I added extra bias binding from an old project - had exactly enough (it's actually red, not orange).  The top is quilting cotton; the skirt is a bit of black linen; and the button is a little cherry.


I like it when mothers and babies dress alike, but I haven't got the drive to make clothes for myself now that I have someone small and cute to sew for.  So, I went to my closet and found dresses I'd made myself in the past, and I'm making her ones to match.  This one actually is roughly the same style as the one I made myself, down to the shoulder ties (because the Monique dress was a bit short in the shoulders, so I had to add a bit on contrast, and made ties while I was at it).  I made the piping myself, as well.  We got so many cute comments when we wore our dresses!

This was the husband's favorite.  It was a bit larger than the others, so she wore it over a long-sleeved baby shirt at first, and it lasted the longest.  Two fat quarters and pre-made piping and bias tape.  I found it most successful if I sewed the piping to the top before doing the side seams in the skirt (unlike the instructions), for then it would be caught in the seam and stay flat.  If I wanted (I sometimes did), I could catch the lining of the bodice by hand, keeping the skirt gathers hidden on the inside.

I made two others that I don't seem to have photographed - one in blue (top) and red (skirt) bandana fabric, and one in purple stripe (top) and solid (skirt) quilting cotton.

Might have to make them again next spring a bit larger, although it'll take more than a fat quarter now.
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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Hand sewing

Must love this kid, if I'm hand sewing hems for her!


Blockbase

No matter how the election turns out, I made a fun purchase at the Quilt Festival, and by next week I'll be able to celebrate or drown my sorrows with BlockBase!
(Been benefitting from Barbara Brackman's free things long enough; figured it was about time!)


Saturday, November 3, 2012

Blue and White

There may have been an exhibit of blue and white quilts at the Houston Quilt Festival.

I may have gotten carried away.


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Rick-rack edging technique

Noticed this on the sleeve of the baby's dress - serge the rick-rack at the edge of the sleeve, then turn, press, and topstitch - hem, trim, and finish all at once!


Sunday, October 14, 2012

New dress

The baby slept well this afternoon, so I cut out a new dress for her - the Baby Square Yoke so popular among Martha Pullen fans. The first one I made was nice, but huge on my tiny baby... so of course I cut this one a size larger (hey, don't want it outgrown too soon!), but I did change a few of the options to make it look a bit smaller.


Sunday, September 30, 2012

Stars progress

In other news, the stars quilt
 has its border,
 is pin basted,
and (pardon overexposure) is being quilted.

If I keep at it, it'll be done for Christmas.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Procrastiquilt


So, because I have a list of things to do a mile long, I decided to make this quilt from In Color Order. Looks fast and fun!
The center is three feet square!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Pajamas

Older pattern - man, am I glad the government came to their senses and changed that rule! I like making clothes for the baby, but it's nice that I can legally purchase all-cotton pajamas now!


Saturday, August 4, 2012

To save time, take time to check the gauge

And I actually did, but not well enough. After seeing someone who went up a needle size complain on Ravelry that it was too large, when my gauge came between two needles, I went for the one called for in the pattern... This is the result. The back, done in the size described, tight and narrow, the same width as a front panel done properly in a larger needle. Back frogging to come...


Sunday, July 29, 2012

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Stars Update

And the top is finished! Just need the border and the actual quilting...


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Oops!

Something went a bit wrong here...


Monday, June 18, 2012

What's holding me back, or pacification

Why haven't I finished that stars quilt top yet? Because I have a sweet baby who fell in love with her Wubbanub and needed the pacifier replaced.  Very simple job - pull back the edge of the join, seam ripper on the stitches, discard pacifier, insert new Soothie (or just sew it up, if getting off pacifiers, or add a loop for attaching another type), then sew through the fabric and the holder on the Soothie and return it to your baby! (if you haven't washed the animal lately, you can baste the hole closed and send it through the washing machine before reattaching the pacifier; I rinse it off by hand, so I skipped that step.)


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Stars

My new project, from a kit I got at the Houston Quilt Show a year back... Hope I can get it pieced, at least, by July 4th. 




Edit: wow, that second picture has some odd artifacting going on.  Cell phone... But it's half-made units and tiny offcuts from the flying geese (trust me to cut as the pattern said, rather than cutting for no-waste flying geese...), which will make pinwheels!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Winnie the Pooh

Years ago, I crocheted two Winnie the Pooh dolls, one for a friend, and one to keep.  I've gotten the one to keep out of storage, and it's as cute as I remembered!

 
It's also much larger than the baby.

Made from this pattern book.

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Saturday, June 9, 2012

Aristocats!

I can do many things, but they all fit in one general idea, in keeping with my engineer-brain: they're all structured.  Knitting, crochet, sewing from a pattern, cross-stitch, needlepoint? You know exactly where to put your needle or hook.  (I can make up the pattern myself, but then I work from it.)  Cooking from a recipe or especially baking?  You know exactly what to do, and there's sometimes spectacular failure (in baking) if you try to make it up.  Linguistically, I go towards Sanskrit, Latin, German - nice extremely-structured languages, not like French or Hindi.

That's not the case for everyone in my family.  My grandfather was a well-regarded watercolor painter; my mother and aunt can draw; and my sister's taken up a new craft, which benefits the baby greatly:

 
embroidery!  This is one of her onesies (a Gerber trademark, did you know?).  She also has a Houston Texans jersey onesie and a sweet one with a little dove on it.

 
Isn't her work impressive?

The baby also has a nice assortment of socks, with flowers, butterflies, and even elephants on them.

If I can't do embroidery (I can't keep it even, because I'm not told exactly where to put the needle), at least there's someone in the family who can!
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