Charity Holiday Cards

Sew it was time to do some charity work for The Austin Stitching Studio. This is the studio I that I try to spend as much free time as possible at because the ladies there are wonderful and they always have these great ideas and they share!!! This studio does a ton of volunteer sewing for many organizations in the Austin area. They will have a booth at the Christmas Stroll (festival) this year and my donation where holiday cards. Here is a sample of the cards, the pictures didn't come out so well. I was able to pre-cut all the supplies and take them on the road with me this last week and have some fun vs all work while on the road. Need to do this more often!!


On this one the silver snowflakes are embossed which you can't really see on this photo but it added a nice shine to the card in person.

I didn't care for this one that much when I was making samples to determine what to use, but my friend said it was the one she liked so I went with it. Again fuzzy photo, that is a white snowflake in the window.

These two are the same with the exception of the colors (obviously) DH didn't like the blue one and said I needed to make some with green, as it turns out he was right, I like the green one as well.

One last note, I still don't like making those little bows and wouldn't have if it weren't for charity!

WSM's Birthday Present

Sew Dad & WSM (wicked step mother) came down for a weekend visit and I gave WSM her birthday present EARLY and in person! I'm really proud of the outcome on this one. It is a reversible jacket. I'm not sure if you can make out the print of the fabric from these pictures. The red has white reindeer's and black Christmas trees, the black and white is hounds tooth. I actually slowed down enough to match up the print on the back seam which felt like a huge achievement for me because I'm always in such a hurry to see the end result that I usually miss/skip little steps like this.....ah maturity in sewing....LOL! I have been wanting this pattern for a few months now, but it has been on back order at the store, so I finally went online and found someone who had it in stock. (Kwik Sew pattern #2829) It went together really easy. The only difficult part was cutting it out. I had one recut because I failed to read the instructions 1st after I read them cutting it out it was easy. I would rate this pattern a 2 on a scale of 1-10. 1 being the easiest.

Most importantly WSM looks really cute in her new holiday jacket!!!!

Lexi's very late b-day gift...ruffle pants and wrap shirt

Sew what's new, I was late for yet another birthday gift. (However, WSM is coming for a visit this weekend, and I actually have her gift finished and her b-day isn't until the 24th of this month!)

Sew back to Lexi's outfit. I found these fabrics at Wal-mart in early spring and fell in love and knew this is what I wanted to make with them. I thought they where going to turn out full length like her sister's, but some how between her Mom and I exchanging inseam measurments they became capri's which is actually how they show them on the pattern. Either way sassy Lexi seems to like them just fine which is all that matters. Plus this way you can see her cute pink boots better.

P.S. Aren't these sassy second cousins so cute!

Goodies for my Sister

Here's Shelly going thru her stash of handmade goodies I had saved up for her recent visit to TX.
This is Shelly opening the velcro on the "go green" bag.

Here is Shelly withe the "go green" as she is opening it. My friend Trish had made 2 of these bags for me and was kind enough to teach me how to make them. I love using them and making them for others. (Thanks Trish!) It was a big hit with Shelly, she used it several times while we where shopping the next day and showing it off to her friends and family on our visits. Shelly's cousin made a request for one, I made him one today out the shirtless construction guy material. It is awesome!

This is the back of Shelly's neck where she is modeling what we recently named "spa kitty" I don't even know how we got to this name, other than we where being silly sisters and that's what we started calling it! It is the thing you put in the microwave or freezer and use on aches or ouies and it smells like lavendar. This is the 2nd "spa kitty" I have made the first one JW (Mom) got. They seem to be a hit as well. Have had two request to find a way to make these for feet warmers. I see an addition to "spa kitty" on the way!!!!!

This is photo 1 of a note book cover. Shelly & I both still use compisition notebooks for work, so I decided to give this pattern from the book The New Handmade a try. Love it! So did Shelly. I loved the way it turned out so well that I went back last week and bought the same fabric (It's Henry Alexander's Urban Jungle) to make one for myself. Below is a photo of the outside of the notebook. This pattern was super easy to follow and didn't take all day to make.

This is a photo of the hot iron holder's I have been making. I have made a dozen or so before, but kept forgetting to take photo's of them. Speaking of forgetting to take photo's I forgot to take a photo of the sewing machine cover I made Mom for her birthday as well as the outfit I made for Lexi's birthday. Will have to collect photo's and post at a later date.

I'm baaaaaack

Well I'm back after my recent injury and creating a work space in the disastrous craft room. Going to the sewing retreat last weekend helped get the creative juices flowing again. I started on the frog knot dress and pantaloons at the retreat but needed the red rick rack to complete the project, so now it is done and off in the mail to a sweet baby Lane. In addition I had wanted to start this purse/messenger bag at the retreat but didn't have the brain power to focus on it, so this weekend I started and finished it. I have been searching for a purse that I could make and where messenger style for the days I'm on the road, I LOVE having two hands available on airport days. I believe I have found the pattern that will work. The pattern is from the book "The New Handmade" it has a lot of great patterns and ideas in it. This pattern was easy to follow and made up quite quickly. The embroidery on the front panel is from Sublime Stitching's free Friday patterns.

Demi's belated b-day pants

Sew as usual I'm late on gift giving. It's been a lifelong problem for me. Well the good news is I did complete the project and sent the b-day present home with Demi's mom after her recent visit to Austin. Demi's mom took some pics and sent to me so I want to log and share them with you guys. The word is her older sister is wanting a pair pretty bad. We can't have upset, so Cousin Cassie is on it. Unfortunaltey you can just never tell when Cousin Cassie will complete it :-)

Also if you haven't already visited Cousin Jennie's site there are some cute pics of Lane in some recent applique adventures on knit material.

P.S. All my sweet 2nd generation cousins are soo cute, which means my 1st generation cousins posses the secret on how to produce beautiful children. They should get a patten and sale it!

Embellished Hoodie on the cheap

Sew I found hoodies at Wally world for toddlers that where in great colors and lined with super soft fur on the inside. To embellish it a bit I used the fake zebra stripe fur and cut out crosses and hand stitched them on. I actually got the idea from a Christmas gift I had given my niece Morgan it was a brown hoodie with the cheetah fake fur. I questioned the lady I bought it from thoroughly because I was concerned about it holding up through the wash. The lady was wearing one and said she hadn't had any problems so I went for it on this project and cutie patootie it is, we will have to wait and hear from Indyanna's momma on how it holds up. In addition now I wished I had added some bling to it, but I know Indyanna's momma is big on the bling and can add it if needed. I sent this in the mail to Indyanna and her momma took pics for me :-) she is so stinking cute!!

P.S. Cousin Holly told me they have these hoodies on sale at Wally World for $3 right now. You need less than 1/2 yard of fake fur and I used DMC floss to attach it, cute hoodie for little bucks.