Christmas Apron and Santa's Mug Rug

Getting into the Christmas spirit I decided that my sewing should as well. I also wanted some projects in which I could combine sewing and embroidery.  As for the combination of the two I think they add a lot as a team but I think I need to either sew then embroider like the apron or embroider before cutting the pieces. I failed to do that on the mug rug and that resulted in a slightly off center stitching.
The other complaint I have on the mug rug is the edging. I like the stitching showing and it also makes the edges easier to make neat. However getting the back and front to line up seems impossible.  Next time I may change the fabric behind the pocket as well. A plainer fabric would look nice.

A Coloring Caddy and A Renaissance Cell Phone Case

A close friend made a request for a bag that she had seen on etsy but made bigger. It is a bag that holds crayons and a coloring book for easy travel. I set to work making a pattern and used some fabric from the dino projects. It holds 48 crayons and a 8.5" x 11" coloring book.  I am very happy with how it turned out and really dont have complaints. I do have a nice versatile pattern to where it doesnt need to have the boarder on the outside now too. I definately need to work on better velcro placement however. 

Next I needed make a bag or pouch to carry my cell phone in at the Ren Fest. I have a nice pouch but since my new phone is huge it just wont work out (My husband inherits my old one). I started out working on drafting a pattern directly on the fabric I was using. Worked really well but I made it a bit too wide so I cut it down to size part of the way through. I had to hand sew everything mostly due to the size but also for a little more authenticity ( i know, i know. My materials are no where near being authentic). I was very excited to also make my first set of fabric buttons. I followed some instructions in a book called The Tudor Tailor, which is really helpful for details in making Renaissance garb. Turns out fabric buttons are very easy to make! So far Im very pleased with this piece but am weary about my hand stitching holding up. Time will tell.

Two Tutus

I needed a dress or something for my daughter's 2nd birthday.  After researching I decided to do a tutu instead. Since her party will be an Elmo theme I also decided to use red, pink and orange tulle. I found someone's blog which suggested 3 other blog tutorials and set to work. My first came out clumpy since I was using all of the same colors in each group.  So I decided to try using 2 different pinks and either a red or orange alternating for the second tutu. Success!
The first isnt a waste however because I put it on her under the good one to add more poof. She seems to love them and will ask for them to be put on daily. Such an easy project that I hope to put on etsy soon!

Cheshire Cat

So I decided that my daughter should get a prop for her halloween costume.  The cheshire cat!
Since there are no patterns for a stuffed Cheshire cat I found out how to make my own. I carved out a cat from foam and had to lay pieces of fabric on it to create a pattern.

Then the fun sewing began. Surprisingly most was done in the machine and it turned out nice.
Theres some issues with the ear/eye area and a bit with where the tail meets the body but otherwise I'm happy.
Lily loves it too. She carries it around :)

In Progress...

Just to show how my crazy head works, I thought I'd do an in progress post.

Currently I'm working on the front panel of next years' Renaissance dress.  Its a 'little' bit of embroidery ;)
I also sewed together the undershirt for this dress, I just need a ribbon to do the lacing in it and to hem the bottom edge. (I used a pattern but tried to make it a little more historically accurate by putting lacing in it instead of elastic).

Also there is the Nighthawks painting.  It's partially sketched out on my hand stretched canvas and ready to be painted (as soon as I get off my lazy butt and get the easel out of garage storage).

I've bought a base pattern (that was out of stock) for my dress and researched lace. Yes, I decided to change the design and am much much happier with it so far.  Let's see if that holds on when I try the muslin copy.

Quite a while ago I bought the pattern for a bath robe for my mom.  Just waiting on her to go to the store and get/pick out fabric.

Planning out my family's Halloween costumes. (Lets see if any of my friend's and family actually read my posts.  hehehehe)  My daughter will be Alice from Alice in Wonderland.  As for me and my husband.... I'm still deciding. I was thinking steampunk for me and got that all planned out (even bought some leather). But I may change it to a family theme and do Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter. Oh decisions....how I hate decisions....

So yeah. I have a 'few' projects in the works.  If only I had the money to buy all the sewing stuff then I could work on a few sewing projects instead of embroidering next years Ren Fair dress.

Last Dino Bonanza (Part 3)

Last but not least of the dino bonanza is a girls dinosaur blanket.  For a toddler its a bit larger than the last but made with the same types of pieces. The corners are done differently as I was trying to find a better way to make them and I thinkbit worked out well. Another thing I learned was that my walking foot doesnt agree with satin.  It pulled a lot of the strings and I had to smooth it back in and change feet.  Also I got the fabric from fabric.com and plan to use them again as thw prices were good, shipping was quick and the selection was way better than my joann store.  I do still love joann for it being local so I can browse and such.

Funeral Dress

Unfortunately we have a funeral to attend but fortunately this meant making a new dress for my daughter.  While she still fits it it I ran right to McCalls 6015.  I thought mostly black for the occasion but since it's on her it can be cute too so I did variation D. This was my first time doing the bow and the knot instructions weren't very clear but I think I figured them out pretty well. I made some mistakes that were fixable (like sewing the top on inside out to the skirt) but it still looks great! I'm also pretty proud of the sweet little bow. Now to get her some cute mary janes to go with it!