Pocket or no pocket?

I've been making more art smocks - trying to tweak and adjust the pattern until I'm happy with it. For this art smock I used a satin ribbon at the back rather than bias tape. I rather like the contrasting color - which is also picked up in the bias tape on the smock. Big question - do the smocks really need a pocket/pockets?

WIP: Quilt update

I've been making progress on my scrappy Valentine Quilt (Elizabeth Hartman.) I'm really pleased how it is looking. Here it is all laid out - ready to be sewn together. You make the blocks by sewing strips onto a piece of square paper - trim the block - remove the backing paper and then sew all the blocks together. Elizabeth H. warns you that as the edges of the blocks have been cut on the bias they will be prone to stretching when you sew them together - so I kept the paper backing on while sewing the blocks together. It has been working really well - no stretching - my blocks are still squares.

I found this wonderful pillow from Little Blue House on a Hill - which seems like a great idea for a smaller project using this technique/pattern.
This is a peek at the first half that has been sewn all together. I used up so many scraps - greatly pleased with finally using some up. But I'm just terrified of the prospect of quilting the beast ... I will let you know when it is finished.

Tutorial: Valentine Lollypop Flowers

I have been dying to make these Heart and Lollypop Flowers every since I purchased Martha Stewarts Homemade Holiday Crafts. Well Valentine's Day is nearly here and I thought they would be very cute for Bunny #1 to give to her class mates. Of course - I can never tackle a project without making some 'improvements' of my own. Here is my version of this project. I didn't know whether this post should be a 'pillaged but much improved idea from Martha Stewart' post or an honest tutorial. I'll let you be the judge! But here is what you will need:
- lollypop
- 5 paper hearts (mine measure a little over 2")
- 16 tissue paper hearts
- 2 leaf shapes
- paper punch or scissors
- hole punch

After cutting out/punching out your paper and tissue paper hearts put a hole punch in the base of each shape. Scrunch up the tissue paper hearts to give the tissue paper more body and carefully thread each heart onto the lolly pop stick - rotating the position of the hearts as you go until you have threaded all 16 tissue paper hearts. Fold your paper hearts in half and then fold the sides down again - to make little arrow/airplane hearts.Thread these onto your lollypop stick - rotating their position as you go.Cut out your leaf shapes and score a line down the middle of each leaf. This line does not need to be straight. Put a hole punch in the end of each leaf and thread onto the lollypop stick. A field of valentine lollypop flowers.I learnt my lesson with little fingers tugging apart the Candy Cane Mice and this time I have wrapped each lollypop flower in some cellophane, with some pink ribbon and a little heart gift tag.

Matching Girl and Doll Nightdress

A friend asked me to make a matching summer nightdress for her daughter and her favorite doll. The requirements was using a cotton fabric, simple to get on and off and that was about it.

This is what I came up with.
A simple neckline for easy on and off.Three growth tucks so the nightdress will last a long time. I'm pleased with the results - and I dearly hope they fit both girl and doll well.

As I've pursued all this crafting stuff I've become more and more fussy with my finished projects. Sometimes I'm probably too hard on myself - but there was a point in this project when I had finished - unhappy and unsure I had done my best - I took everything apart and adjusted just very slightly. I think it was worth it. But I took this photo in a moment of frustration!

For this project I butchered Kwik Sew pattern 3105 and McCall's Crafts M4338. The fabric is Moda Always & Forever Forget Me Not Bouquets White

Tutorial: Recycled Plastic Bag Holder

I have been wanting to make 'fabric' out of plastic bags for a long time and I have read a lot of tutorials on the best way to fuse bags together. You can read about how to fuse bags together here, here and here . My advice would be to practice, practice and practice - experiment with the iron temperature and with a different number of layers etc. I still need some of that practice I'm recommending!


For my recycled bag holder I used Target brand bags. I cut the design off the front and just used the white portion of each bag. I layered the bags in the following pattern to make a larger piece of material. I repeated this layering process until I had used a total of 12 bags - 6 layers of plastic at each corner. I used one of the logo fronts on top of 4 other layers of plain white bag to make a type of binding tape for the project. Once all my bags were fused together I trimmed the edges and was left with an oblong shape.

I cut the binding tape 1/2 thick on the diagonal - sewing it together (and onto the bag holder) using a zig-zag stitch so it would be more decorative.
I folded binding tape over top and bottom of the oblong and secured it using a zig-zag stitch.
I placed a piece of binding tape at 2" down from the top and 3" up from the bottom. I threaded elastic through each of these - pulling the elastic tight and securing at each end. I placed a hoop of binding tape at the back for hanging the bag holder.

After sewing up the side edges - it looked like a large cracker!
Bags go in at the top and you pull them out one by one at the bottom.

Happy New Year & some crafty resolutions

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I wish you every happiness for 2012.

For next year I would like to finish recycling this jumper ...... using this book.
Finish this quilt ... ... design is from this book.

Finish this paper pieced quilt.
Turn this ...... into one of these (I can not see me having any time for such a project - but I really really want to do this.)
Put the finishing touches to my pattern for a children's art smock.

And stop eating cake ;-)
Rather a lot of finishing I have to get on with .... see you in 2012!

Recycle Old Holiday Cards into Quick Gift Tags

Its not to late to add those cute finishing touches to the presents all wrapped up under the tree. I like to keep all bows and cards from any occasion and recycle them. This year I have recycled the ribbons and cards from holidays gone by. It really takes no time at all to make your own gift cards and it is great to recycle. Use normal scissors or pinking shears, a hole punch and a bit of ribbon. Some of them are so cute they could pass as brand new gift tags!