Catching Up...

I know it's been a while since I posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing!  Many of my projects during the holidays involved hand-made gifts for the kiddos...dolls, doll clothes, toy organizers, and tons of  rice bags (which our kids call "owie bags").  I have created a "look book" file of ideas that far exceed my time constraints (the girls will be in college before I make them all!), and I've organized my fabrics and scrap stash so that I know what I have available.  I also can't seem to resist purchasing more fabric from time to time... yes, I truly am a "fabric junkie"!

I also have acquired a serger, which is making life so much simpler, and neater...and I honestly don't know why I resisted for so long.

Just for grins, I'm throwing in a picture of a birthday card I made recently for one of my cousins.  I bought a Cuttlebug last fall for card making (and have even used it to create some iron-ons, like the Halloween spiders for the boys' t-shirts).  I LOVE hand-made cards...making them and sending them, so I have to hand over a few hours here and there from sewing to card-making projects.  It's all about balance...and some days I do better than others!  Thanks for stopping by to look at the things I've created... and stay tuned!

What do you do for "clown shoes" for a 4-year-old?
You use Duck Tape and an old pair of sneakers.  I added
egg cartons and some thin foam padding to shape these
oversized feet (and elevate the padding above the soles so
that my little clown could still walk!) and this was the result!

Pants and suspenders made from a thrift-store pair of
pajamas, a bow-tie made from two sheets of colorful
felt, an old pair of ladies gloves stuffed with fiberfill,
and a rainbow wig purchased for $1 at the thrift store
(plus the afore-mentioned shoes and a foam nose from
a clown make-up kit purchased at Wal-Mart), and we
havea great little clown!  The princess dress was a garage
sale find, paired with some sparkly "Mary Janes" and a cute
little princess who completed the look quite nicely!

Wasn't he a cute clown?!

Meet Ellie the Elephant!  I purchased the pattern for this darling stuffed doll  and her clothing and accessories on Etsy from a shop called Ruby Jean's Closet. I have the pattern for a zippered carrying case, but I have yet to get one of those made.  However, I did use thrift-store wool skirts and my own fabric scraps to create two of these elephants for my niece Zola and my cousin Harper.  My mother-in-law had given me the strawberry-print knit, so I made dresses for the dolls and matching skirts for the girls.  The sparkly snow-flake tutus were made from fabric scraps in my bin.  The girls loved their new dolls.  Someday, I will make more clothes for them - and maybe even the zippered cases!  Whew!

 

 

For Christmas, my cousin Olivia got cheerleading outfits for her two American Girl dolls.  I used black knit pull-on skirts that I purchased on clearance at Wal-Mart last fall, and accented them with red pleats and bloomers made from an old pair of knit pants my mom gave me.  For this project, I had a sewing pattern that I picked up at a local church bazaar...for ten cents!  I have fabric scraps and dreams of creating more of the styles included in this pattern package.  Someday, Olivia... someday!

 

My cousin Owen likes to be organized.  He also likes to take a few things along to church service on Sunday to keep him occupied during the sermon (he's only four!).  So I used an old "ultra-suede" jacket to make him a bag with a drawstring top and even a carrying loop.  Then I used free patterns I found via Pinterest (and fabric from my scrap bin) to create a "car roll" and a "crayon roll".  The cars for the roll came from the Dollar Tree (3 cars/$1), but Owen can substitute his favorites from his own collection as desired.  The bag was big enough to include a puzzle, a coloring book... and even a lightweight jacket and snacks if his mom desires!

 

I LOVE "minky" fabric.  It's not the easiest to work with, but the results are fantastic...so soft and snuggly.  I made all of the kids flannel pajamas for Christmas, so I used the scraps and rectangles or squares of white "minky" to back "owie bags" for the kids...incredibly cozy and cuddly!  This chocolate brown "minky" fabric simply begged to become a coat for Zola.  With her dark hair and coloring, I knew, she would be nothing short of a diva in it!  She loves it so much that she almost cries when we try to get her to take it off!  And like all "divas-in-the-making," she even wore her "minky" coat to play at the park!

 

 

And here is the card.  I used a piece of grey card stock for the base of the card, then added some really interesting geometric scrapbook paper pieces in a dark chocolate/cream color palette.  Accented with a strip of red scrapbook paper, I printed a greeting on tan card stock, used a die-cut to create the neat scalloped outline, and voila!...a beautiful card suitable for anyone.  This one went to my cousin Darrell...the geometric pattern and color scheme seemed masculine to me, and I hope he will agree!