Specialty Embroidery

Ever since I was little my parent's friend, Shane has been around. I always had a little crush on him and it became a joke that he was my future husband. Years later the joke still lives on. We pick and poke at each other all the time, so when he handed me his bibs to fix he knew he'd be getting something. Especially after hearing and seeing the glove repair. Being his gutsy self he left them in my care and told me if I fixed them he'd even give me a sort of payment. No, it wasn't for my hand in marriage... but monetary. Kind of bittersweet. Anyways, after fixing the zipper I gave him a little somethin' somethin' to remember me by. Now I'll always be close to his heart.

Granny's Quilt in The Making

My great Granny is the doll that got me sewing in the first place. When she could no longer live alone I was given her 1954 Singer sewing machine. My second sewing machine, but definetly the most important to me. I was about eight when I got my very first, but it wasn't a big deal then. I was eight, c'mon! Buy me the new Brat doll or something, ya know? Anyways... with as close as me and her had become before she got ill I wanted to use it. To have that piece of her. At that point in time I was making a skirt with my Grandma Gail (Granny's daughter). I got most of it done at her house, but took it home to hem the bottom. Wanting to test the sewing machine I got it out of it's huge case and plugged her in. Sure enough, she worked like a beau. I was in love. Oddly enough, the fact that it even smelled like her was nice. She was moved to an assisted living place and did great for a long time. After a while her dimensia began to get really bad and she could no longer even live in a place like that. She needed supervision all the time. Just a week ago she was moved to a nursing home, but a few days later had to be taken into immediate care. We were told she would never be the same. Which we were used to, but at least before we had a good day on occasion. You just never knew. Through the sickness she has lost an immense amount of weight and some of her old sweaters no longer fit. I took them and decided to make a quilt out of them. And maybe just maybe they will bring a little bit of her back...

It's no where near finished, but I thought I'd share my progress so far.

Owl Pillow

It is a long, complicated story as to how I know this little girl, but alls you need to know is that she's a little kiddo that's pretty dear to my heart. Her older brother, Jeremiah, was one of the boys I made a Ninjago pillow for. Savannah is only three, so what she wanted is a little tricky to figure out what to make. They go on a lot of long car rides so I wanted her to have a cute pillow that doubles as a stuffed animal and something to lay her head on. So then came this!

You will need:

-Three different colors of fabric (dark, light, and lighter)

-Stuffing

-Coordinating thread

Step 1) I like to fold my fabric in half so that I know it is going to be symmetrical. From there I sketched an oval with a triangle for the ear. Then, unfolded and got this.

Step 2) I cut out two white, larger circles for the eye sockets. Two smaller, darker circles for the pupils. A triangle in the dark fabric for the nose, and two oval tear drop shaped pieces in the darker fabric to look like wings. Depending on how large you made your silhouette for the owl is how big you should make these pieces.

Step 3) Place the pupils inside the lighter colored fabric and hand sew them using a basic stitch around the outside. Place the darker fabric in the lighter fabric at your discretion. I liked mine towards the corners to give it a more whimsical look.

 Step 4) (Oh my goodness! I am sorry again ... I made sure when I uploaded them on here that they were all rotated correctly in "My Pictures". Bear with me please.) I placed the eyes on the owls body to determine where the nose would go. Then, I hand stitched the nose down. While doing this I also sewed the eyes and wings down. I did that with my sewing machine.

Step 5) Pin right sides together and sew along the outside, leaving an opening large enough to add stuffing in. I like to put mine at the bottom, just so it isn't noticeable.

Step 6) Add stuffing and hand stitch the opening closed.

I know you'll have a hoot making this! ha ha ;)

Scarf Hangers Put to Good Use

Lauren sent me a picture once she went back to IU after Christmas break. I was glad she was putting her gift to good use, but now I kinda think I need to maker her another...