Sew Lovely

Learning to Crochet

2012-01-30T14:30:00.004-05:00

I came across a link to Craftyminx's Crochet School a few months ago, but with Christmas coming and my baby deciding to start nursing 2 or 3 times a night after sleeping through the night for months, I just didn't have the energy to contemplate starting something new. But I have been wanting to try crocheting for a while now, particularly because it's so portable. So I bookmarked it and started watching the videos a few weeks ago.

These are really great videos! She is very thorough, and if you don't understand something you just watch it again! So far I've watched all the videos up to "Granny Squares". I got sidetracked by a yarn sale and bought some yarn to make dish cloths. Not very glamorous, I know, but I thought they would be perfect for practicing on before I jump into something bigger. So far I am really loving the repetitive nature of crocheting. It's very soothing and relaxing. I doubt it will ever replace sewing, but it is a very nice addition!

Here are a few pictures. Please don't look to closely!

This is my sample swatch. Starting with single crochet all the way to treble crochet.

This is my crocheting in the round.

And this is my first dish cloth. Next time I'll make it a wider because once washed, it shrunk a little. Either way, it works great!

Do any of you crochet? Do you have any advice (or great links!) for me?

Happy Groundhog Day!

Bethany

A Little Shopping

2011-10-27T22:37:00.008-04:00

Last weekend, I did a little cross-border shopping. I hadn't been fabric shopping in the States for a long time and everything pointed to it being the perfect time to go. I had a 50% off coupon that expired that weekend, Kona cotton solids were on sale, batting was on sale, and fabric I had been wanting for quite a while was on sale too(all at Joann's Fabric). Not to mention that my mom was able to come and make the hour and 40 minute trip to my grandma's (who lives about 10 minutes from the border) much more enjoyable. It was also one of the last free Saturday's I would have until after Christmas.

My mom stayed and visited with my grandma, while Evie and I went shopping! Unfortunately, it took about 50 minutes to cross over to Port Huron :( Thankfully, coming back went much quicker, only about 10 minutes!

Here's what I bought!

I've been wanting some of Denyse Schmidt's fabrics since they came out. They're a little more traditional looking than my usual taste, but there is just something I love about them. I tend to buy larger scale prints (for making purses) but lately I've really been drawn to quilting. I really love the small scale of some of these prints. This line is only available at Joann's, so I couldn't order online from my usual sources. Plus, they were 30% off. Score!

I bought quarter yard cuts of most of them, except the top two on the left. I bought 2 yards of the green floral for a backing (or most of a backing) and 1 yard of the blue/green dots for binding. I have no definite plans for them yet, I'm just happy to look at them :)

Kona cottons were 40% off, so I stocked up. This first pile are to match some fabric I won online (oh, I should totally post about that!).

And this group is to make some patchwork potholders for Christmas gifts. This photo doesn't do the colours justice. In real life they look so pretty together.

I also stopped at Mary Maxim's because I had a 50% off coupon. I need to recover our high chair and they sell laminated cotton and oilcloth there. I picked this fun bike print by Michael Miller. They had a couple really pretty floral fabrics (an Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett) but I decided to go with something that would go with my kitchen and be a little more gender neutral. I love the bikes!

Mary Maxim also had buy 3, get 1 free fat quarters. But by the time I got to my grandma's I was missing one :( I checked my receipt and I was actually charged for all four. Turns out that wasn't such a good deal after all :( I need to be more careful! But I still ended up with a few cute fat quarters for my stash.

I also bought 10 yards of fusible fleece and 3 yards or Warm and White batting. All in all, it was a very successful shopping trip. I also did some shopping at Target. I ♥ Target :)

Have a great weekend!
Bethany

P.S. My baby turned six months old on Wednesday. And my husband turned 38. And it was our ninth wedding anniversary. (Happy Anniversary Baby!). Here's a picture of my big girl.

Quilting Suggestions?

2011-09-30T13:33:00.003-04:00

I just finished basting this quilt top and now I feel sort of stuck. I can't decide how to quilt it. I initially thought about straight line quilting it, but the blocks are pretty big (about 15") so I'd have to do more than just echo quilting the seams. Maybe a design? Random lines?

Or maybe free motion quilting? All I've ever done is a meander/stipple. I thought about loops, but then I'm not sure if I should do them randomly, from side to side, from the centre out? Ack, decisions! I'm usually pretty decisive, but not this time :)

Any and all suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks and have a fabulous weekend!
Bethany

First Day of School

2011-09-06T14:05:00.004-04:00

Here are a few pictures of our first day of school yesterday.

It was chilly again this year, so jackets were a must!

First day of SK (Senior Kindergarten).

First day of Grade One *tear*.

Being silly with Daddy :)

Just a little bus this year :)

They were both a little nervous but they came home super happy and could not wait to go back today! Hard to believe that next year three will get on the bus :)

Millrace Folk Festival

2011-08-04T22:38:00.003-04:00

So this past weekend was my second year having a booth in the craft village at the Millrace Folk Festival in Cambridge. Other than a couple (pretty lame) Christmas shows, this is the only craft booth I've done, and I love it! It's a really great festival. If you're local and you've never been, you really should check it out next year. There are 2-3 main stages and a couple acoustical tents and a few of the downtown pubs have performances too! There are folk dancers, clowns, food vendors, the craft village and more. I've never been down to the main stage at the Millrace but I've heard some really fantastic music up in Civic Square. I also had some fabulous pork tacos :)

This year I got my first choice for booth location and chose a corner spot. I loved my booth set up last year but it only left my mom and I about 24" of space behind the tables and I knew that wouldn't work this year because I'd have Evie with me all weekend. The corner booth didn't work as well for displaying but we had lots of space for a couple chairs and the stroller too. Plus, I had more exposure. I'll definitely try for the same space next year but rework the set up because next year I'll be baby free again :)

Can I just tell you how wonderful my baby is? We were there Friday from around 4:45 pm to midnight, Saturday from just after 8 am until almost midnight and Sunday from 12:30 pm to almost midnight again and I'm sure she didn't cry more than 5 minutes combined for the entire time! She really is such a happy, easy baby. I feel so blessed. Our booth neighbours kept saying how they couldn't even tell there was a baby there because she was just so quiet. It really was lots of fun and my mom was in Grandma heaven :)

Here are a few pictures from the festival!

My booth!

A closer look

Evangeline napping with my mom

Sleeping again :)

Me and my sweet girl

I'm still recouperating but already looking forward to next year!

Have a great day all!

Bethany

Houndstooth Baby Quilt

2011-07-28T20:08:00.003-04:00

I first saw this quilt on V and Co. I thought it was fabulous. I love how it's both modern and classic at the same time. I showed it to my mom, and her being the quilter extraordinaire that she is, told me how to make it!

Here it is!

I hadn't planned on piecing the back but I made the quilt larger than I initially planned and this was the best way to make what I had work!

A closer look at the quilting. I get frustrated doing free motion quilting. It feels like I'm always fighting with the quilt and it takes so much concentration. It still feels like it's not good enough, but when I look at the first quilt I did like this I can see a huge improvement. I really love the look of free motion quilting though, so I'll just keep practicing :)

One more shot. I really need to get more creative with my picture taking :) Every quilt I make get the same shots - taped to the kitchen wall and laying on the kitchen table. Maybe next time!

This quilt measures approximately 45" square.

Tomorrow is the start of my three day craft shoe at the Millrace Folk Festival. I'm so excited about spending some quality time with my mom! Hopefully I sell something too! I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great (long, if you're in Canada) weekend!

Bethany

Vintage Sheet Strip Quilt

2011-06-28T21:21:00.004-04:00

This is the second quilt I've made with vintage linens now (see the first one here) and I think it's really cute. This one went together quickly! There are a few things I'd change next time though. First, I think it could use some darker fabric for a bit more contrast. The problem is I don't have many dark sheets in my stash. And second, I think I would vary the width of the strips a little more. These strips were all cut months ago while I was cutting other stuff and I thought there would be enough variation in size, but I was wrong :)

Overall, I'm happy with it!

It is quilted approximately 1/4" away on each side of the seams. The quilting isn't too dense, which keeps it nice and soft.

The great thing about using sheets for binding is there are only two seams. I do straight grain binding on all my quilts and cut it 2" wide.

I'm thinking I will keep this to sell at the Millrace Folk Festival, which is only a month away! I'll mostly be focusing on making purses until then. I can't wait!

Have a great day :)
Bethany

One Thing, One Week Challenge - Success! (Just Barely!)

2011-06-27T22:28:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the terrible picture but I JUST finished and there isn't time to wait until daylight to take a better one! I thought I had lots of time but then yesterday spent over twelve hours out of the house and then came home last night and had to make treats for my kids to take to their class pool party today! That, combined with having four kids (one of them being a nursing baby) almost did me in. But I made it! And it feels good :)

*Edited to add* Go see some better pictures here!

This quilt is made entirely of vintage/thrifted sheets and is straight line quilted. I'll try and get better pictures up soon!

Check out Amy's Creative Side to see who else finished the challenge!

Have a great week!
Bethany

More Vintage Sheet Goodness

2011-06-20T11:01:00.003-04:00

I've been wanting to quilt sooo badly but having a new baby doesn't leave me with much time. She's a really happy baby who sleeps well at night (usually about 7 hours straight now) but since she is sleeping so well at night, she eats a lot during the day. Plus, I have notoriously slow eating babies. She nurses for an hour or so, five or six times a day.

So like I said, not a lot of sewing going on :)

But I had a bunch of 36 inch strips cut from when I was cutting fat quarters from my vintage sheet collection. I figured if I was going to the trouble of ironing them that I might as well cut a bunch of other stuff at the same time. I also have a bunch of 5 inch charm squares and drunkards path blocks cut out too, but they will take longer to put together and I needed something quick!

I finished this quilt top in about an hour last night after the baby went to bed. I think it is simple but sweet. I can hardly wait to quilt it!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Bethany

Two Finished Quilts and Randomness

2011-06-01T22:14:00.009-04:00

Here are a couple of quilts I finished earlier this spring but never got around to blogging about. They were the last 2 unfinished quilt tops I had. Now the only quilt WIP (work in progress) I have is a bunch of HST blocks that will make another value quilt someday.

The first is a simple pinwheel quilt. I used fabric I'd had hanging around for a while. I sort of fell out of love with this fabric, which I bought before I found the wonderful world of online fabric shopping. I think it's pretty cute now though - perfect for a sweet baby girl :)

This quilt was also made with fabric I'd had for some time, but that I definitely still liked! The pattern is a disappearing nine patch that went together quite quickly. Both these quilts were free motion quilted and I'm starting to feel much more comfortable with it.

I'm starting to get my sewing groove back. Things are still busy with a new baby but I'm trying to sew at least a little everyday. It's less than two months until the Millrace Folk Festival and I'm trying to sew some new items for that too!

Random picture of my sweet baby :)

And last, but not least, my oldest turned 6 yesterday! How did that happen??? :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Wednesday!

Bethany

My Newest Creation

2011-05-03T17:07:00.003-04:00

Evangeline Grace

Born April 26 at 12:26pm
8lbs 7oz
21.5 inches
100% sweetness!

Some Baby Stuff

2011-04-20T19:47:00.003-04:00

So I know I'm not a regular blogger, but oh my word, it's been a while! I blame it mostly on over three weeks of being sicker than I remember being in forever. I didn't even think about touching my sewing machine for about a month :) I've eased myself back into the swing of things by making a few things for the baby (due in eight days!!!).

First I made a couple receiving blankets. I'm not sure you can even consider this "making" something:) All I did was cut them to size and serge them. They aren't creative but they are big and perfect for swaddling (they measure around 33" x 40").

Next I made a nursing cover. I never used one with my first three kids, but after seeing my friend Lenae's, I decided I really needed one! I like that it's hands free and that it's not a heavy, hot blanket but mostly I like the fact that it will be big enough to hide the post baby belly :)

I've also made a purse for myself but have been to lazy to take pictures. I'm hoping to get a diaper bag made too, but am feeling a little uninspired. We'll see!

Value Quilt - Half Square Triangles

2011-03-06T19:49:00.003-05:00

I finally finished my value quilt! I finished the quilt top a year and a half ago (using this tutorial) but never got around to finishing it. I'm not sure if I'm nesting or what, but I've been really wanting to finish up my unfinished projects these last few weeks.

It is made up of a lot of my mom's old scraps (free!) and there isn't one modern designer fabric in the entire quilt. Despite all that, I really love this quilt and our whole family had enjoyed cuddling up on the couch with it.

Details

62" x 62" (my biggest quilt so far!)
made with scraps (some probably more than 10 years old)
pieced, quilted and bound by me!

Have a great week everyone!
Bethany

Another Baby Quilt Done!

2011-02-18T14:30:00.003-05:00

I love this little quilt!

I quilted about a quarter inch on either side of the seams and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I wanted to keep it basic but didn't want to stitch in the ditch. I think it added just the right amount of interest.

I bought a new walking foot for my machine (which it turns out has nothing wrong with it other than being an older, kinda crappy machine!) and I love it. It's the best twenty dollars I ever spent! I used it for the binding too and I'll never go back to my quarter inch foot for that. I always feel like I'm fighting with the binding, trying to feed it through and keep it straight, but with the walking foot it was sooo much better.

My little helper :)

I washed and dried it after I finished to give it that soft, crinkly look. I'm thinking about putting this one in my shop :)

Happy Weekend Everyone!
Bethany

Details

32.5" x 40"
Charm squares are BasicGrey by Moda
Solid is a kona cotton
Binding is Amy Butler Sunspots
Pieced, quilted and bound by me :)

Baby Quilt Fever

2011-02-03T11:38:00.003-05:00

I don't know what has come over me. I've made two quilt tops in two days! I want to practice free motion quilting on some vintage sheet quilts before I attempt it on one of these. Hopefully my machine will be looked at this weekend so I can do some straight line quilting too!

This is my first quilt using a charm pack (Origins by Basic Grey for Moda). I really love how quickly it went together. The sashing is a Kona cotton (I have no idea what colour). You could use a jelly roll for the sashing too. They are 2.5" strips.

These fabrics I've had for about a year and a half. I wasn't sure how I'd like the end result - turns out I love it! It's a disappearing nine patch. All my block were 5" blocks and the borders are 2.5" strips so you could make this quilt with pre-cuts too!

I still plan on sewing my bags and purses but I'm having so much fun with these right now! :)

Vintage Sheet Finds

2011-01-27T18:19:00.006-05:00

I had a great week at the thrift stores. Sometimes I go weeks without finding anything. I think I now own around 30 sheets and about 6 pillowcases. Time to make a few more quilts! :)

I don't think these two are very "vintage" but they were in great condition and I can definitely see using them on the back of a quilt!

This is definitely one of my favourites!

These two pillowcases were in great condition also. I already own the pink, blue and yellow sheets in the same pattern.

Another favourite.

Again, this one isn't vintage but it was too cute to pass up! I can see using it as binding or backing. Plus, it's purple!

Here's my entire sheet stash. I have my work cut out for me!

Vintage Sheet Baby Quilt Finished!

2011-01-24T12:11:00.003-05:00

It's done!

It's actually been done for about 10 days. I was waiting to get a photo outside but it's been so stinking cold (it went down to -24 Celsius last night without the windchill!) that I finally settled on taping it to the wall to get a decent shot of the entire quilt!

I love this quilt! I'm not sure if it's the simple design, the vintage sheets or how little it cost, but I have plans to make more for sure.

Now all it needs is baby :)

Happy Monday!
Bethany

Fabric Necklace

2011-01-19T21:30:00.003-05:00

Some necklaces I made.

My mom first made these about 15 years ago. All of hers had beads. I thought I'd like them tied too. I'm starting to list some of them in my shop.

I also finished my vintage linens baby quilt but I'm waiting for a nice day to try and take pictures outside. Soon, I hope! :)

Vintage Linens Baby Quilt

2011-01-06T22:15:00.003-05:00

I started a new quilt on the weekend. I decided to use vintage/thrifted bed linens (I now own around 20 sheets and a few pillow cases too!). Here is the quilt top finished.

The last few quilt tops I've made are still waiting to be basted and quilted, but this one is already about half quilted! In the past I've done all my quilting on my mom's Bernina, but she lives 25 minutes away and I really wanted to be able to quilt this one at home. I've only ever straight line quilted and that's what I had planned for this quilt. I have a walking foot for my Kenmore but it is having feed dog issues and the stitch length was all wonky. At the last minute I decided to try stippling with the darning foot. After practicing on a 6" x 6" piece I went for it!

It's definitely not perfect. A couple of times I've made loops or crossed over stitching, but overall, I'm really happy with it. My wrists, on the other hand, aren't so happy. I think it's just a pregnancy thing :)

Hopefully I'll have pictures of the finished quilt in the next few days. It'll feel good to have a finished quilt!

Have a great day!
Bethany

Last Minute Gifts

2010-12-24T11:34:00.004-05:00

I hadn't planned on making any Christmas gift this year. Between craft shows, Christmas concerts at church and growing a baby, I just didn't really feel like it. Until Monday! I decided I wanted to make something. I picked pillow cases because they're so easy.

I headed out to Len's Mill and bought some flannel (cheaper and cozy) to make pillow cases for three of my nieces and nephews. If I'd thought of it earlier, I would have made more! There's always next year :)

Here are a few photos! (Our computer with photoshop is finally fixed so I can edit photos!!!!)

I plan on giving them their pillows tonight so they can have sweet Christmas dreams on them. I hope they like them!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Bethany

SALE!

2010-11-24T12:31:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let you know that I'll be having a 10% off sale in my etsy shop this weekend. Sale starts tonight at midnight and will end Monday night at 10pm (EST).

Just use the coupon code TURKEY10 and you'll automatically receive the discount.

Have a great weekend everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving to my American family and friends :)

Onesies

2010-10-22T21:53:00.004-04:00

So I have been sewing. Honest, I have. I've just been really uninspired to take any pictures. And blog posts about sewing are kind of boring without pictures :)

I've seen appliqued onesies all over and wanted to try them. I had tons of iron on adhesive left over after making my sign for the craft sale and found some onesies on sale. It was fate :) Turns out I'll even be able to use some of these myself in about 6 months.

I've almost finished a bunch of other stuff. Let's hope it doesn't take me another seven weeks to blog about it!

Hello September!

2010-09-02T10:47:00.002-04:00

I can't think of a better way to spend the first day of September.

Happy September everyone!

Bethany

Goodbye August

2010-08-31T21:51:00.003-04:00

I can't believe tomorrow is September! In one week I'll have two children is school full-time. How can that be?

August flew by. I'm now officially half way to 70 :) I've been on a bit of a sewing hiatus (for no particular reason) but here are some pictures of a few of my more recent finishes.

Amy Butler - Ruffled Coin Purse

Laura Wisbrun - Tufted Tweets - Avian Therapy - Cosmetic Bag

Amy Wisbrun - Avian Therapy - Slouch Purse

A flower pin

A few more flower pins

I'm hoping to find my sewing groove again soon. After all, I have my new serger to break in!

xoxo
Bethany

Mill Race Folk Festival

2010-08-07T12:23:00.007-04:00

I participated in my first craft fair last weekend (well actually, it was a folk festival that had some craft vendors) and it went really well. Although I have nothing to compare it to :) There was supposed to be about 10 000 people who come to the festival but I heard from repeat vendors that this was the slowest year out of the last five. Either way, it was great to get the experience!

I thought I'd post some pictures of my booth and a few random shots of the festival. The craft vendors were near the secondary stages, a few blocks away from the amphitheatre at the millrace by the river.

Here's my booth! We never did try setting it up at home because Dave was called into work early on Thursday so all we had to go on is what I had envisioned in my head (we had set up the tent and tables at home so at least I knew where they were going!).

Here is our side of the road find from last year painted up and put on a table to add some height.

The left side. Notice the $5 pet bed from IKEA painted up to hold my sunglasses cases and coin purses.

On the left is a crate (I have no idea where from, I found it in the basement) and on the right is a tray we picked up for $3 in Canandaigua in June and had planned to paint and use in the kitchen. (Say hi to my mom in the back!).

Here I am. This picture makes me cringe but I wanted to show off the vendor apron I made for the festival :) I love that I never had to worry about my money going missing!

And here is my booth at night (sorry for the exceptionally awful picture). It never even occurred to me that I would be there in the dark until the day before the festival. So Christmas lights it was. And a $10 light from Home Depot. Good enough for me!

Overall, I was really happy with how it turned out. Dave used conduit and hooks to hang my purses from both sides and another piece of conduit to hand my sign from the back. Next time I might put up some sort of divider between my tent and the tents around me. The ladies on either side of me both had something to divide the space but there was nothing between us and the guys behind us. Thankfully they were super nice!

Here is a closer look at my sign (I forgot to take one at the festival). I appliqued the letters on and my mom quilted and bound the whole thing and added the sleeve to hang it. She helped so much! Altogether, she spent over 30 hours in my booth with me. Thank you mom!

The w and the v are backwards. I was too lazy to fix it.

Here is the view from the front of my tent. The church my grandparents got married in ♥

Old city hall.

The performers tent near the craft vendors. There was some fantastic music!

Close up.

I'm already looking forward to next year!

If you're interested, there will be lots of new things going in my shop in the next week or so. And I'm thinking about a giveaway. Anyone interested?

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Bethany

Christmas in July Sale!

2010-07-14T13:21:00.003-04:00

Etsy is having it's annual Christmas in July sale and I'm offering $3 dollar shipping on all slouch purses in my shop! Happy shopping :)

-Bethany

Pinwheel Quilt Top

2010-07-05T15:28:00.002-04:00

I should be sewing purses for my craft sale, but lately I've been wanting to do something different. I've had this fabric for about a year and I didn't want to hang onto it for so long that I quite liking it :)

I knew I wanted to do something with a lot of white. I'm also a big fan of half square triangles - there are just so many possibilities. I finally decided on the pinwheels. Partly because they're quick and easy and partly because I just felt like they suited the fabric.

I was pretty pleased with the accuracy of most of my blocks. Who knew that sewing purses would improve my piecing skills too? I also squared up all the pinwheel blocks before adding the sashing. I think it really helped keep everything square! I really enjoyed putting this together.

Not everything is accurate. Not bad enough to rip it out though :)

I probably won't get around to quilting this for a while. My trusty old Kenmore isn't the best quilter so I'll probably quilt this on my moms machine.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, it's back to the purses!

Have a great week everyone!

Something New

2010-06-28T20:34:00.003-04:00

I needed more lower priced items for the craft fair so I decided to make some key fobs. I might put some of them in my shop too.

They measure 1.25" wide and 6" long (a 12" loop). Pretty and practical :)

Garden Update #4

2010-06-26T10:32:00.005-04:00

Well, my garden is still plugging along. So far everything is growing well. There are still a few things we need to do that we just haven't found the time for. We need to add supports to two of our gardens. My peas and beans are desperate for something to climb! I also haven't planted the 4 Brussels sprout plants that I bought last week. It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow but hopefully not so hard that we can't get that done.

On to the pictures!

Here's a view of most of the garden.

Carrots

Lettuce

Water cress

My ginormous broccoli. There's not actually any broccoli yet, just leaves. I'm hoping that changes soon!

Now onto the good stuff!

Cilantro. Mmmmm.

Tomatoes. Mmmmm.

Tomatillos. Mmmmm.

Only one of my tomatillo plants is actually producing. The others keep dropping their blossoms. I did a little cross pollinating the other day to try and help. Of course, I have no idea what I'm doing so we'll have to wait and see :)

Have a great weekend!

This post has been linked to Grow Eat Save at $5 Dinners.

Boy Purse For My Boy

2010-06-23T20:43:00.004-04:00

My son has been asking me for a purse for months. I was happy to oblige. But there was a little problem. I didn't have any fabric for a boy purse. I have lots of flowers. And I'll admit it, I didn't want to make him a bag out of little boy fabric (think puppies, dinosaurs, footballs, you get the idea). I wanted it to be cool (that's assuming I know what cool is :)).

I've seen the Japanese imports around but have never really thought about using them for my purses (although I'm thinking a little differently now!). But once I decided on the pattern for the boy purse I knew that they'd be perfect. Thankfully Pink Panda Fabrics, a Canadian online fabric store, carries japanese fabrics. They also have free shipping in Canada. Free shipping makes me happy :)

So I gave my son a limited selection of fabric to choose from and this is what he chose.

This fabric in from echino. The line in called ni-co. It is a cotton/linen blend that's a little heavier than a quilting weight cotton.

I decided to use a pattern from the book One-Yard Wonders. It is called a map bag and it is the perfect size for a five year old.

This was my first time making an adjustable strap.

Under the flap.

The back.

When I finished it I held it up for him to see. He said it was beautiful. What more can a Momma ask for ♥

Knits Aren't So Scary After All

2010-06-21T11:00:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking about buying this pattern for a while. It seemed like the perfect pattern. You can use upcycled knits (old t-shirts) or new yardage or a combination of the two. The possibilities for creativity seemed endless. I have two girls who could wear them. The price was right.

But there was one problem. I've never sewn knit fabric before. And I was always under the impression that it was really difficult to sew with. And I don't have a serger.

But the pattern promised that it could be sewn with a regular old sewing machine. And that Ashley would give all of her tricks and tips for sewing knits.

So I bought the pattern.

And bought some old t-shirts.

And I sewed a dress!

All that worry over nothing! The pattern had great instructions and helpful tips and the dress came together pretty quick!

Check out the bottom of the dress. This section was cut from the bottom of the t-shirt so I didn't even have to hem it!

I made the size 3T dress. If fit both of my girls (my oldest usually wears a 4/5 and the youngest a 2/3) but was probably a little short on my older daughter.

But that's okay because Juliette really seems to like it :)

I had her model on the table so she couldn't escape :)

I can't wait to sew some more!

Go check out Lil Blue Boo on etsy if you want to make your own upcycled t-shirt dress. She has other patterns too.

Happy Monday!
Bethany

Still Sewing...

2010-06-20T15:09:00.003-04:00

Since I started this blog with intentions of mostly showing what I've been sewing, I thought I better do just that!

I've actually been sewing quite a lot. Over the last month I've been averaging one purse in just under two days. This might not seem like much to some but considering most days I have three kids home all day, I think it's good enough! :) Right now I'm focusing on sewing for the Mill Race Folk Festival in Cambridge, Ontario. They have a crafty area and I've rented a spot. It'll be my first fair so I have no idea what to expect. I just want to make sure I have enough product to fill my booth!

A few weeks ago I also did a custom order for a friend of my sister. She wanted a slouch purse in an Amy Butler laminated cotton. I was a little nervous about sewing with this fabric but I found a great post that gave a lot of helpful tips. I didn't particularily enjoy sewing with it but I think it turned out quite nice!

Sandalwood in Ivory

I also did some more Buttercup Bags. I've been making these bags the longest and I still love them. This is the style of bag I carry everyday, although I do have plans to make myself a new purse soon :)

All lined up

This is my favourite of the bunch

I also made 8 slouch bags in the last couple weeks. Here's a few of them.

Alexander Henry Koto

Dogwood Stripe by Laura Gunn

Bali Gate in periwinkle by Amy Butler

Alexander Henry Kleo in pink

I also recently ordered this fabulous pattern from Lil Blue Boo on etsy. I can't wait to make a few for my girls! Of course, I've never sewn with knits so this will be another learning experience :)

Happy Sewing!

Bethany

Garden Update #3

2010-06-19T08:13:00.007-04:00

My garden is really starting to grow! Most of the seeds I planted have germinated and the transplants seem to be adjusting well. I really enjoy seeing the seeds sprout, but I also start to get a bit impatient for something to harvest :) Because of my late start it'll still be a few weeks before there is anything to pick, other than radishes, which I don't really like. I planted those for my neighbour.

Here's a shot of the main garden. I was hoping to get a chance to mow the ~~weeds~~ grass before I took these pictures, but as you can tell, I didn't :) Soon we'll be putting down some gravel around the outside to help keep the weeds under control.

The square foot garden

The corn. The rows on the left I sowed earlier and they are doing quite well. On the right they didn't germinate quite as well but I think it's probably too late to re-seed. There's also one row empty on the right (I ran out of seeds) so I think I'll plant the 4 brussels sprout plants that I bought last night for $1.19 (total!) there.

Corn again

Tomatillo flowers

Tomato flowers

Lettuce

Red Onions

Broad Beans - I don't really know what these are, but when they say broad bean, they're not kidding. The seeds were huge, probably about the size of a nickle!

Any my broccoli - This one is huge! It's quite tall so it's not crowding the other plants, yet!

When I walked outside yesterday I was overwhelmed by this glorious smell. I thought my neighbours must have planted something really special. Then later that day when I was in the garden, I realized it was our bushes. They have profuse amounts of these tiny white flowers. And I have no idea what kind of bushes they are. And I don't really care. They smell good. That's all that matters.

How's your garden growing?

Jaybird is having a Giveaway!

2010-06-07T09:59:00.002-04:00

Go check out Julie's giveaway! If you love fabric, you'll love this one :)

Have a great day!

Bethany

Garden Update #2

2010-06-06T16:46:00.005-04:00

I've been a little late planting my garden. Some seeds could have went in weeks ago and my seedlings that I started inside were quickly outgrowing their small pots, but every time I thought about planting, I'd remember what my garden looked like.

It was a huge mess!

I didn't winterize my garden last year, mostly because of the discouraging end to the season. I found it sad to even look at it. And partly I was just a little lazy :) And this spring I just kept putting off cleaning it up because it seemed like such a huge job. Finally I got it done (mostly) and I feel great!

So far I've seeded and planted all of my square foot garden and I only have a few spaces left to seed in the rest of the garden. I still have about 8-10 seedlings to plant but the weather hasn't been agreeing. This year I started all the seedlings myself except one, a jalapeno plant. I purchased it at a nearby nursery for $2.

Here's a shot of the non-square foot gardens. Three of the sections I planted in grids because it just feels more manageable. The other three sections I planted with the extra seedlings. We also planted a 6 foot by 6 foot garden of corn to the right of the main garden. I'll post pictures of that when they sprout!

A tomatillo. They are huge already and look like they'll flower in the next week or two.

Basil

Sunflowers

Lettuce

Broccoli

Cress

Radishes

Spinach

Beans

I'm going to try and do weekly updates now that there is actually something to update :) I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Bethany

5!

2010-05-31T21:31:00.005-04:00

Five years ago today, I became a mom. Happy Birthday to my sweet, shy, smiley Seaton! ♥

This and That

2010-05-11T09:39:00.010-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I always feel like nothing is interesting enough. But this is my blog and my life and if it's a little boring, so be it :)

Lenae chose a winner for her giveaway so head on over to her blog and see who won.

There isn't much to report on the garden front. We're still just waiting for it to get warm enough to transplant my seedlings into the garden. Another couple weeks and it should be safe.

Plus I need to re-pot these poor tomatoes. They are huge and probably completely root bound :(

Quite a bit of sewing going on too. I've been accepted as a craft vendor for the Mill Race Folk Festival this summer. My first craft show! I'm excited but also freaking out a little bit about how much I'll need to sew in the next 11 weeks or so.

Here is a purse for my mom. She chose the fabric (a home dec weight that frayed like crazy! Gah!). I didn't think that I'd like it. It is quite different that most of what I make, but once it was done I actually liked it. Plus it is SO my mom. And that's what matters :)

And a few others.

We've also had a sad week around here. Dave's Uncle Yves, who everyone loves, died in a freak motorcycle accident in his driveway on Friday. He was only 64 and one of the sweetest, nicest, friendliest, most giving men I know. We're still in shock. We're also dealing with some hard news about Dave's mom. It's been a difficult week and even though we don't understand these things we trust in our all knowing, loving, faithful and merciful Saviour and know that He is able to give us peace and joy, even in the midst of sorrow. We serve a wonderful God :)

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Bethany

Lenae is having a giveaway!

2010-05-04T13:12:00.004-04:00

Click on over to Lenae's blog just lenae and help her celebrate her two year blogiversary! You could win the purse of your choice from my etsy shop! Go on, spread some love :)

Garden Update

2010-04-24T12:07:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited to plant my garden this year. I'm still really new to this (last year is the first time I had a garden) so I'm trying to focus on learning and not the inevitable mistakes. Last years garden started off great, if a little late. Then about halfway through the summer, summer ended. Here in southern Ontario July and August stunk! Lots of rain and quite cool. I had a great bean harvest and the lettuce and radishes did really well too. But my poor tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers (which just happen to be the vegetables I actually was looking forward to eating!). They didn't make it. I only got about 12 tomatoes, maybe 3 cucumbers and no peppers before they were all blighted. I was pretty upset, but from what I hear, most people lost a lot.

This year I am hopeful for a better late summer harvest. I've also decided that I will start a lot of my vegetables from seed. It just makes sense economically. And then if everything dies I won't feel like I lost a lot of money too.

Here is a list of what I've started so far.

March 26
12 roma tomatoes
12 big beef tomatoes
6 cherry tomatoes
9 broccoli
8 cauliflower
9 peppers (5 mixed sweet peppers and 4 yellow peppers)
8 tomatillos

April 17
4 cantaloupe
4 watermelon
4 oregano
4 basil
4 brussels sprouts
4 red peppers
4 yellow tomatoes
4 ground cherry

April 20

5 more tomatillos

I'm hoping to be able to plant some jalapeno peppers in the next few days. I haven't been able to find the seeds anywhere. I guess they think Canadians don't eat jalapenos! So I'm trying to dry seeds out of the jalapeno peppers that I bought at the grocery store. Can't hurt to try, right?

So far the seedlings are doing pretty well.

My oldest helping fill the trays

Tomatoes

Peppers

Tomatillos

Broccoli and cauliflower

A few shots of last years garden

Last year, after we'd tilled our garden, I discovered square foot gardening. We still wanted to use the tilled garden so we decided to plant it in a grid like a square foot garden. Then we built one proper square foot garden. The only real difference was the weeds. The raised bed had maybe a dozen weeds all summer, where the in ground garden had enough weeds for me to spend a couple hours a week (at least) weeding until the plants grew tall enough to block most of the weeds. We might build a few more boxes this year.

That's all for now! Hopefully I have more to show soon!

Happy gardening,

Bethany

Scenes from my backyard

2010-04-21T19:25:00.004-04:00

I ♥ spring!

New Purse

2010-04-14T09:45:00.009-04:00

So I thought that I needed a new purse design that was quite plain. I decided to try a simple slouch bag, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to really like it. I was so wrong! I'm so loving this new bag! I plan on making myself one very soon.

I also love that there are no pattern pieces for this purse. All the pieces are rectangular so I can just cut them out with my ruler and rotary cutter. One of my least favourite things about sewing is pinning pattern pieces. It also means that there is very little wasted fabric, which also makes me very happy.

Here are a few pictures

I especially love the inside. Because of the slouch you see a good amount of the lining so I put a band around the top of a coordinating fabric. It's some extra work, but I think it's totally worth it!

Two of these purses will be going to my sisters in Florida (hi Wendy and Amanda!) and I'll be making one for my sister in town soon too (she doesn't read this, but just in case, hi Sondra!).

Have a great day everyone!

Bethany

Not Easter Pictures!

2010-04-06T12:16:00.006-04:00

I had hoped to post a few pictures from Easter dinner at my mom's, but I forgot my camera there :) I also had some pictures of the older kids helping me start my seeds. Maybe I'll do a garden post soon!

I've been slacking a little in the sewing department lately so I'll show you some pictures of a few purses I finished a couple of weeks ago. Maybe this will inspire me to start some more sewing :)

I hope everyone had a happy and blessed Easter!

Bethany

Repurposed

2010-03-23T21:17:00.009-04:00

So remember the vintage sheets that I wrote about? Remember? No? Oh.

Moving on :)

So I came up with a design for some shoe/knitting/crocheting/lingerie/you get the idea bags and this is what I came up with.

They are very generous. Maybe a little too generous. But I have big feet. I was just trying to be careful.

We had these sheets when I was a kid, only in a different colour. Inside this bag is a pair of size 10 running shoes. I told you they were big.

This one is my favourite.

They are fully lined.

It was fun giving old sheets new life!

Have a great night everyone!

Happy Birthday

2010-03-21T21:54:00.014-04:00

On March 19th my youngest turned two. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

I Made a Sale!

2010-03-03T11:04:00.007-05:00

I made my first sale on Etsy last week! Other than that, there's not much going on. Mostly sewing, wiping noses and thinking about the fact that my baby (who isn't a baby) will be TWO this month.

Here's some of the sewing.

This one is made with Amy Butler's Lotus. I love this fabric!

This one is Alexander Henry's Mocca.

And this one is Erin Michael's Loft 1800 for Moda.

I also bought some vintage sheets.

I'm going to try and make some shoe/gift bags with them. I also saw some beautiful quilts online made with vintage sheets. Hopefully I can find more sheets because I'd love to try that too!

I've also started thinking about my garden. Last year was the first time I have ever grown anything and I love it, much to my surprise :)

This year we're going to try growing tomatillos. The last time I went to the Latin grocery the enchilada sauce was $6.50 a can! I just can't justify paying that very often. So Dave ordered us some seeds online last night! Mmmmmmm.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Bethany

A Designer I Am Not

2010-02-19T11:40:00.011-05:00

So I've had an idea for a while now about a purse I wanted to make. I've been putting it off because I wasn't sure if I could make it look how I wanted it to look. But this week I finally got my butt in gear and did it!

First I started with some really cheap fabric and made a sample. Then I'd remake it, changing the things I didn't like. I made two samples (just the main part of the bag - no lining or strap) and then decided it was time to use some proper fabric.

This is my first attempt :)

While I love this fabric, I wasn't happy with how the band at the top was laying. Too much gaping.

So one more sample and then attempt #2.

I am much happier with this one. And while I don't really know anything about designing patterns, I'm ridiculously pleased with myself :)

I also opened my etsy shop this week and have started listing items. I'll be listing more items over the next few days. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but I am pretty excited!

Have a great weekend! (All two of you!)

Bethany

2010-02-11T13:13:00.017-05:00

I finished up some zippered pouches today. They're pretty basic but I still enjoy making them. I especially like it when they're all lined up!

A few of my favourites.

I sewed my first zipper pouch about five months ago with a LOT of help from Google. When I conquered the zipper I felt like I could do anything! Once you get the hang of it they really are pretty easy. I like having them around to give as little gifts. My plan is to try and sell some of them on etsy once I get my shop set up. I'm pretty excited about that! Hopefully that will happen in the next week or so.

I was feeling pretty insecure about it but I got so much positive feedback from my pictures on facebook - and I just love sewing so much! - that I decided I will give it a try. Plus it's something I can do while at home with my kids and I love that! The internet (mostly crafty and quilty blogs) really exposed me to a whole new world of beautiful fabric and possibilites that I never even knew existed a year ago. I've become a little obsessed :)

Anywho, here's one last picture from about 6 months ago of my kids wearing the only clothing I've sewn for them. This is just a regular old pattern that my mom got for free from a friend. The kids seem to like them though!

Recent Finishes

2010-02-07T16:36:00.017-05:00

To start this thing off I'm posting some pictures of things I've recently sewn.

Some purses

This pattern is by Rae Hoekstra of Made By Rae

And a baby quilt for my cousin in law's baby boy Riley. The fabric is petit granville by Alexander Henry.

More to come soon!