Apron Pattern and Finish

 I saw a Youtube video last month about someone making an full apron that was style that I thought would be perfect for a gift item.  I modified the pattern I saw a little and made it curvy.  I drew the pattern for the apron body on brown paper.  The loops and pockets were cut from simple rectangles and the straps were cut from 4" strips of fabric.  I cut two pieces of the body of the apron so I could put it together without any hemming or binding of the edges.  It was extra easy and looks super neat. 

The best part of the apron is the fabric I used.  I used Pioneer Woman fabric.  She has a line of the cutest prints.  Walmart sells 3 yard cuts already packed up just pick it up from the shelf, no waiting for someone to cut it for you.  The 3 yard cut cost  about $21.00.  There was plenty of fabric to make the apron just the way I wanted to with a little fabric left over.  I made the first apron for dear daughter and I loved it so much I made myself an apron with the same fabric.    

Duvet Cover

 I was looking for a duvet cover for my comforter a couple of weeks ago and couldn't find one I liked.  I ended up buying two queen sheets from Amazon in the color I wanted and sewing them together.  I left an opening at the bottom and made 7 buttonholes to secure the opening  It was just what I wanted.

Here's a picture of it on the bed.

Teddy Bear Making

I started making teddy bears when I was in high school.  My brother commissioned me to make a bear for his girlfriend.  He bought all the supplies and I did all the work.  I used a pattern from a pattern company and I don't believe the joints were articulated but it did turn out super cute.  I wish I had a picutre of that bear, but that was long before computers and blogging so I never thought about taking a picture.  I think I made that in 1973 or 1974.  I didn't make any bears after that for a long time.  

I think my daughter was 5 or 6 (1981 or 1982) when I made her a bear from cotton fabric.  I used a pattern from McCalls, I think.  She still  has that teddy bear.  That bear used buttons to make the joints for the legs and arms to move.  It was fun to make and she loves it.

I got the bear making bug again in the 1990's when I found a website called Labour of Love (it was a Canadian company) that carried teddy bear and doll making supplies.  I bought a book about how to make teddy bears which included a basic pattern, along with the book I bought several mohair fake fur fat quarters to make the bears and some joint disks to use in the neck, arms and legs.  None of those materials were available to me locally.  It's a fun pattern and that teddy bear turn out super cute.  See the bears in the picture below.  

My dear daughter got a fake fur mohair bear in 2003 for her birthday.  I used a pretty golden colored mohair fur to make that one.  I stuffed it with excelsior (wood shavings) and that was interesting to use.  I haven't made a teddy bear since then.

It's time for me to take inventory of my teddy bear making supplies that I bought so long ago.  I know I still have a bunch of excelsior and about two fat quarters of mohair, but I'm not sure how many disks and cotter pins I have for the joints or how many eyes I have in different shade and naps.  It also carried how to books that included patters.  

I have to take inventory of my supplies to see what I have to make bears and get started using those supplies up.  I love making teddy bears.  Here is a picture of bears that I made for me.  They are Mary and Jack.  I named them after my parents.

Scrappy Crossbody Bag Finished.

    This bag was so much fun to make.  I just picked some of my favorite  fabric scraps and I made up my own colorful bag.

Secret Sewing Reveal

    I found a fun cross body purse pattern tutorial by Debbie Shore.  It is a simple free pattern and I had to make one.  This was my secret sewing and I loved the finished bag so much I had to give it to dear daughter before her birthday.  

    Here is the link to the youtube tutorial:  Crossbody Purse By Debbie Shore.  The tutorial is pretty good.  There is one spot that she doesn't explain and I had to do some research to get my fabrics oriented correctly.  When she is doing the zipper pocket, what she calls a letterbox zip, and she places her pocket fabric against the fabric for the back of the bag she doesn't explain that the fabrics are placed right sides together, because her pocket fabric does not have a right or wrong side.  The rest of the tutorial is very good, but she goes very fast and I had to pause that video A LOT to get all the instructions while I was making my bag.  

    I used blue scraps for this bag.  Most strips were about 2" wide some were wider some were narrower.  I used a foundation piece to sew the strips to.  I made the front, back, flap and strap with scraps.  I had enough of one fabric for the lining.  And I made the patch pocked from another fabric.  I had the fusible fleece and the zipper in my stash.  I had to buy the 18mm magnetic snaps.  I ordered the snaps from an etsy seller and had them in a week.  

   Here is the finished bag.  Dear daughter loved it.

   I will be making more of this bag.  I already have another scrappy bag in the works for me.  I used a bunch of different colors for my bag.  So fun.

A Crafting Failure and Secret Birthday Sewing

    I tried three times to make mouse ears for a future trip to Walt Disney World.  It looks so simple in the youtube videos and I figured I can cut fabric, use a sewing machine, hand sewing needle, and glue gun, how hard can it be.  As it turns out, it was not easy for me.

    The first set of ears turned out like round potatoes.  The second set were floppy and wouldn't stand up on the headband and the third set were just wrong.  I have officially given up.  I wasted about 15 dollars in supplies so it wasn't a terribly expensive experiment, but I hate to fail at something I really wanted to be good at.

In the future, if I want ears, I will be buying any ears from etsy sellers or Amazon.  I'll let the professionals make the ears from now on.

    I wasn't going to do any secret birthday sewing this year, but I found something I just could not resist making.  It's something I already know how to make so it won't be a failure.  I had all the material I needed in my fabric stash.  I'm making this scrappy and it should be extra cute.  I did have to buy one notion that I don't normally keep on hand, but it was small and inexpensive and will certainly enhance the project so it will be worth the wait (I should have it next week) to get it.  Here is a sneak peek at my start.  As always, I will share the whole thing as soon as soon as it is gifted.

Quick and Easy Hexagon Backpack Decorations

          I recently got a new backpack for travel.  The old backpack was coming apart at the zippers and I wasn't happy.  

          I like to add charms to my backpack that I use for travel.  I sew on tabs with rings for extra space to decorate with when I run out of zipper loops to add carabiner and lobster claws.  Charms include a butterfly, a teapot, several cats, moon, stars, sun, Bugs Bunny, Snow White, and Tinkerbell. 

           In 2015 I attended the International Quilt Show in Paducah, KY and I made a hexagon flower to go on my backpack.  Dear daughter came with me on that trip so I made one for her backpack as well.  With the new backpack it was time to update my hexagon flower.    

          I make two of the hexagon flowers, this time they are identical but scrappy works as well.  I make a strap from a piece of fabric about 3" wide and about 10" long folded and topstitched, sandwich the strap between the two flowers and sew them together by machine or by hand.  This is the newest flower I made for my backpack.   

Christmas Decoration and Luggage Strap

       I had to make another block from the Lori Holt Vintage Christmas book of quilt blocks and my daughter picked out the train engine.  It was fun to make.  I used scraps from my fabric stash (including the embroidery floss) so all this cost me was time.  I had the cutting and the sewing done in about four hours, which included the embroidery of the smoke (I made two of them identical).  It took me another 2.5 hours to sandwich, quilt, and bind them.  I put hanging triangles on the back to slip a dowel stick in so we can hang them on the wall.

      I thought a custom luggage strap for my carryon would be the perfect accessory so I can identify my luggage readily.  Of course I made an identical one for dear daughter.  I used approx. 57 inches of 4.5 inch cotton fabric and added the 2" parachute buckle to the ends.  Each buckle cost $7.79 and the fabric for both cost about $3.00.  Easy to make.  Each strap took about an hour to make.

    Note on the luggage strap.  After I made both straps dear daughter suggested that I machine embroider names on them.  I agreed that would be awesome and was disappointed that I hadn't thought of that before I even made them.  So we each picked our special names, I set up the machine and did them in bright red.  The embroidery came out very nicely but would have been done better before I put the strap together.  I didn't get a picture of the embroidery, but it took about an hour to do both on the machine including the machine set up and it cost me nothing but time since I had the thread and  stabilizer already on hand.  

The Gift Quilt Picture

 The quilt I worked on this year has been gifted.  My brother is a Yankees fan and I made this for him.  He loves it.  These are pictures of the front and the back.

Finished Pin Trading Fabric Board

 I made a pin trading fabric board to attach to our front door at the Disney resort where we will be staying later this year.  I did the primitive embroidery and drawing on it.  My dear daughter bought some pins from Amazon to put on it.  It should be a fun addition to our time at Disney.

The Quilt Is Finished.

  I machined sewed the binding on last Friday and that project is done.  So glad.  I'm thrilled it's finished and I'm thrilled with the finished product.  I will be posting pictures in August after it is gifted.  

   I like to keep track of how long projects take for some reason so I'm figuring this quilt took about 60 hours.  The most involved part was making the hsts for the stars. It took awhile to make over 500 of them.  Between cutting, sewing, pressing and trimming all of them it was daunting.  All the effort was worth it.  The quilt looks great.

    Moving on to make some Mickey ears for our Disney trip later this year and a couple of Christmas decorations.  I pulled out my Vintage Christmas Lori Holt book to make the train block.  I may make another if I have time before Christmas.  

Secret Quilt is Put Together And Getting Quilted This Week

    I managed to get all the stars put together last week.  I cut the coordinating fabric for the alternating squares and I put the rows together on Saturday night.  The rows were sewn into a top on Sunday and I worked on getting the backing fabric washed and dried.  I put the rows of stars for the back together and I sewed the the row of stars to two pieces of backing fabric and the back was done.  Yesterday I sandwiched the quilt and got a quarter of the quilting done.  I should have the quilting done by Wednesday.  I promise to share pictures of the quilt after it is gifted.  

   I'm very happy with how quickly it all came together.  When I was cutting up 504 half square triangles, pressing and trimming I wasn't sure how this was all going to get done because I had left it so long. 

    Here is a picture of all my stars after I pressed the seams.  There are 48 or 49 here.

Catching Up

        I have been AWOL for a little while. 

        I did go on a short trip in May to Biltmore in Asheville, NC.  My daughter took me and we stayed at the Biltmore Inn on property.  It was a very expensive trip but one dear daughter has been wanting to do since the last time we went in 2019.  We did 3 different tours of the house, backstairs, rooftop, and regular room tour.  It was fun.  We ate at the stable Cafe twice and the Biltmore Inn Dining Room once.  We did the wine tasting at the winery and went through the gardens.  It was a lovely trip.

      I haven't been very creative and even my secret quilt project has been languishing since April.

        I'm finally to the point where all the fabric for the stars is cut and I'm making stars this week.  I should be done by Sunday, then I have to cut the blocks of fabric "B" to alternate with my stars to complete the top.  I should have the top finished by July 10. 

      The deadline to have this quilt finished is August 5. 

      Nothing else new here.  Once I get this secret quilt gifted I will post a picture.  I promise.

Not Much to Report. Small Projects.

 I fell down the Disney rabbit hole for a couple of months.  I have researching how to make Mickey ears and trying to decide who my favorite princess is.  

I didn't even know a favorite princess was a thing, but everyone has one.  I insisted that I like all the princesses, but when I sat down to really think about it, I did have a favorite.  I went old school and picked Snow White as my favorite princess.  She was the original and she ticks off all the princess boxes for me.  I don't know why she doesn't have a castle.  Snow White needs a castle and  Tinkerbell needs to be considered a princess, just my opinion.

I played a little with making some Mickey ears with hot glue but it was a fail.  So I did some additional research on youtube and I found a sewing tutorial that I like a lot. She only used some hot glue to cover the headband in fabric everything else is sewn by hand or by machine.  Here is a link to the youtube tutorial:  Sewing Mickey Ears.  She also sells a .pdf of  the templates she uses to to cut the fabric, foam, interfacing and headband cover.  I have to say I also purchased the templates that she uses.  I thought it was worth the $7.00 to get a good result.  It's a very nice tutorial.   I did wonder what kind of foam the maker used because she just calls it foam and doesn't describe it.  I ended up buying Fairfield Nufoam cushion foam (found at my local JoAnn's) that is 15" x 17" by 1" thick.  I will have to cut the foam in half to get the 1/2" thickness but that will be easy.  I'll let you know how it goes with this foam I'm using.  My plans are to make a pair of Tinkerbell ears and a pair of Snow White ears.  You've already seen my Tigger ears on the visor that I bought from an Etsy seller.  I love those ears.     

Dear daughter asked me to make some fabric utensil roll/wraps to keep reusable utensils and straws together for travel.   They don't have to be big so I decided that I will cut the fabric about 25" by 10".  Turn up the bottom, sew some separations for pockets.  I will add some loops so the straws can be held in place to keep them from popping out and I will add some thin ties to the outside to tie up the roll.

I'm also going to make some fabric cord wraps for electronic cords.  There are lots of instructions on the internet (found most of them on Pinterest), so I'm just going to dive into my fabric stash, interfacing stash and velcro stash and make a few different sizes for her and me.  I originally thought that these would be handy for cords that you need to travel with but I also realized that these will be handy for appliances at home, like my stand mixer and my iron.

I spent some time designing and sewing up a Mickey ear holder.  We will use these to secure our ears to our park bags when we want to take them off for a ride or we get tired of wearing them.  They will hang by a loop from our park bag on a carabiner or any big clip we may have.  We could also thread it onto a key ring.  Sorry I don't have ears right now to demonstrate but you can see what it looks like in the picture and I'll tell you how I made it.  So simple.  

Cut one 9" x 2.25" strip of fabric (for holder) 

Cut one 6" x 1.25" strip of fabric (for hanging loop)

Cut one 6" long 1/2" wide piece of elastic

Use 1 - 1" parachute clip.

Sew the bigger piece of fabric into a tube longways, turn it right side out, fold in the ends and insert the 6" piece of 1/2" elastic inside the tube.  Thread one end of the fabric and elastic through one piece of the parachute clip and sew it securely.  Then thread the other end of fabric and elastic into the other piece of parachute clip and sewed that securely.   To make the hanging loop fold the strip of fabric up so no raw edges show and sewed it up.  Insert this strip into one of the fabric loops where the fabric folds around the parachute clip.  Sew the ends of the loop securely.  It's done.  

It's not very pretty but it will be very functional and much cheaper than the price of ear holders I have seen on Etsy.  The cost of the holders I made included the price of the Stitch fabric I bought at $10.00 including shipping and  two of the 1" parachute clips which cost about $3.00 at Joann's.  You don't need special Disney fabric for the ear holders.  No one would know or care what fabric you used.  You can barely tell what fabric I used because it's not a lot of fabric.

Here is a picture of the fabric I used.

  Here is a picture of the holder on a carabiner.

   

  I'm making some fabric headbands that I found on Pinterest.  There are a lot of instructions on the internet.  I made up my own instructions.  I cut a 3.5" x 30" strip of fabric and sew it along the long end tapering each end to a point.  I cut it in half, turn the two halfs right side out, insert a 6 inch piece of 1/2" elastic into each open end and sew it to secure it.  Tie the tapered ends into a knot and you are done.

Next thing on my list is to start my quilt.  I have some fabric cut but haven't felt like actually sewing it up into blocks.  I will start in earnest next week.  August will be here before you know it.

Secret Quilt Material Procurred

 I finally have all the material for the secret quilt.  I did a test star block on Saturday night to see what size I need to cut my fabric.  It came out to 8.5" unfinished.  I have to make the quilt at least 6 feet long.  So I will make it 9 rows long with 9 blocks in each row.  I washed the fabric for the star blocks and now I just have to start cutting.  I need to make 42 star blocks.  I figure I should have them done by the end of March.  Then I will cut up the focus fabric into 8.5" squares and assemble the top.  By the way, this project is not needed until summer time and once I get the top done the rest gets done pretty quickly.  I will do plain straight line quilting on it so there is no agonizing over what quilting patterns to use.  I like simple cross hatch quilting.  It's easy for me and looks classic.

I've been making mask tethers with .06 seed beads and 15mm lobster claw clasps.  They came out very nicely but I think they are kind of heavy.  I also made a couple by crocheting some lace strips and adding the lobster claw clasps.  I have to test each version out this weekend and see how they do.

Dear daughter and I are talking about a Disney trip in the future (2023) and I have been looking at making my own customized ears with headbands, wire, fiberfill,  foamboard, flowers, and even with visors.  

I found the cute Tigger ears below on Etsy that I had to have.  Tigger is one of my favorite characters along with Tinkerbell.  I firmly believe that Tinkerbell should be an honorary princess.  The Tigger ears on the visor will be shared by me and DD.  We both love Tigger A LOT.

Valentine's Day Decorations

  Bought a couple of wood plaques, a couple of yards of pretty fabric, and size 5 crochet thread to make a couple of decorations for Valentine's Day.

   The crocheted heart was a pattern I found  HERE.  She also has a youtube tutorial link HERE   I did the first two rounds to make the small heart.

   I crocheted the lace by doing a quick picot edging off a chain.  It was super simple and so pretty.  I used the size 5 crochet thread and a size D  (3.0 mm) crochet hook.  I crocheted chains for as long as I needed to make the lace (no counting) then I started making picots every three chains (single crochet, chain 3 single crochet in same stitch) and at the end I just I made a picot in the last chain.  I like the look and it was just what I needed for this project.  

   I also cut out and sewed up some fabric hearts from stash pink and red fabrics I stuffed with polyfil and gave to dear daughter to decorate with.  

                             

   I made my scrappy tassels that I wanted.  Instead of using old pepper/salt shakers (because I couldn't find them) I decided to make my own holder by molding some air dry clay and painting it.  They are very rustic, but they do the job.  I made three blue ones (one for the kitchen, one for the dining room and one for the living room) and one pink one for the bedroom.

  I don't know what I'll be working on next.  I have a ton of projects that I have supplies for and several that have been started. 

  I also have to do some math to figure out how much fabric I need to make stars for a secret quilt project.  I will be alternating these stars with a block of focus fabric. I'm making a 6 foot long lap quilt so I'm planning on having at least 9 blocks wide and 9 blocks long.  I just need to figure out how much blue and white fabric I need for the stars that look like this and finish at about 8 to 8.5".