619 miles

Congrats Kerry!

The voting for the Shorts One The Line sewing competition is over and the people have spoken...errr voted.. and they picked Kerry's shorts as the viewers' favorite!

Yesterday I was in the car riding to kid's museum when I decided to check and see if the winners for the shorts competition had been announced. As we posted here on the blog, Kerry entered this ridiculously cute pair of summer shorts. She had already sewn the shorts prior to learning about the competition, but the timing was perfect when she saw the call for entries on the blog Imagine Gnats. Her and Andy were visiting here in NC, so I took a few photos of her by the pond in the neighborhood and she entered the shorts on the last day for entries. Her shorts were among 250+ entries and obviously the viewers think they are as great as I do. If you voted Kerry sends a big "Thank You!".

Kerry is quite the seamstress. We've featured tons of her sewing projects here on the blog, everything from quilts to bags to re-covering cushions for her Shasta camper.

Congrats again Kerry, you ROCK!

Shorts on the Line - Viewer's Choice Voting

Kerry put her awesome sewing skills to work and stitched up these super cute summer shorts! I love the Amy Butler Ikat print and the bright colors are perfect for summer. She entered them in a shorts sewing contest and the viewer's choice voting is underway. Click on over to the Imagine Gnats blog to vote for Kerry's shorts. She is number 270 and you can vote as many times as you want. 

 

Go vote now & vote often!

re-fashion: men's shirt = summer dress

Hola amigos!

Check out this shirt I got last summer from the Goodwill. It cost me a whopping $2.50. This month I finally did a little re-fashion project with it. To see the "after" click over to Michael Ann's blog where my tutorial is featured as part of her Becoming a Confident Crafter Series.

Hop on over there and let me know what you think!

Huskers Houndstooth Quilt

I don't know about you, but sometimes it seems like I am more productive when I'm sewing things for others. I have a stack of things I want to make for myself, but I seem to sew more for others. I just love to give something handmade that I know they will get a lot of use out of. Kerry's project today is a gift for her new nephew.

 

I had ordered this houndstooth quilt pattern from V and Co. Then when my brother had his first baby and it was a boy I knew this would be the perfect quilt to make for my new nephew. Since my brother is a Nebraska football fanatic I found this 13" patch on ebay and appliqued it to the quilt. I think the final results were pretty great. 

 

 

 

pattern testing : little bow zipper wallet

Last week I saw a call for pattern testers on the blog Michael Ann Made. The call for volunteers did not say what the pattern would be, but I didn't care. I had been itching to sew and I thought this would be a chance to get me moving. 

Now, I am NO professional sewer. I basically taught myself everything I know. I did take a quilting class back in 2008, but pretty much everything else I know I learned from trying out different patterns. I would definitely call myself a pattern kind of gal. Sorta like cooking.... I am not a "wing-it" cooker; I prefer recipes!

So on to the pattern. It's a pdf pattern of a Little Bow Zipper Wallet that you can purchase on Michael Ann's blog. My first thought on seeing the zipper wallet was that it looked quite cute and easy to sew. I wasn't too sure how much I liked the bow, since I'm not much of a "bow person,” but I knew bow making would be good thing to learn. I liked the touch of the ribbon/lace that was added to the front; and I thought that the pattern had tons of potential for not only fun color combinations, but some pattern mixing as well. I read directions completely first and found them easy to follow. I don't sew zippers often, so I very much appreciated the tips and instructions on sewing the zipper. The photos illustrate the written steps very well and are especially handy for understanding the step of putting the outside fabric on the zipper.

This pattern is very easy to follow. There are photos for each step and it goes very fast. It took me about 2.5 hours to make including picking out fabric. I changed my mind like three times! I finally settled on some fat quarters of Lotta Jansdotter fabric. The size is not too small/not too big which makes it versatile. I can see whipping up a couple of these as gifts.

In the end I am super happy about how mine turned out. I even ended up liking the bow in the end. Head on over to Michael Ann's blog to see the other pattern testers and to get a pattern for yourself!

before & after: storage cube

Last June I showed you how I freshened up a $5 wicker/rattan storage cube with a couple of coats of spray paint. I had always intended on lining it with some fun fabric, but I quickly put it to use and it wasn't until last weekend that I made the time to add the lining fabric. Another motivator to finally finish this project was that I pulled out a sweatshirt from the cube and realized that the over-spray that got on the inside was leaving a white dust on my clothes!

I emptied out the contents and used some fabric I had in my stash. It was quick and easy and requires minimal measuring and sewing skills.

This was a super fast project. I used one large piece of fabric for the front, bottom & back; and then I used 2 pieces for the sides. Once I had the sides sewn to the front large piece, I folded under the top edges and used hot glue to attach it to the ottoman. I was going to use velcro in case I wanted to ever switch out the fabric, but I didn't have enough on hand. The super glue is holding up nicely and most importantly it was quick and easy!

Have you tackled any quick and easy weekend transformations lately?

 

handmade holidays 2011: pillows

My idea for this first pillow came from the fact that my nephew, Brady, is so young and doesn't get to see me but maybe once a year. When he was little he LOVED Reese and would climb all over her and just laugh and laugh when she licked him. When I went down last April, he was a little nervous about Reese at first. So I wanted to make him this pillow so he could always have his Aunt Jenn-Jenn and Reese nearby.

I put the images together in Photoshop Elements and printed it out on printable fabric for Inkjet printers. I purchased mine from Amazon, but then it turned out I already had some... go figure. I added some fabric around the image for a border and used an airplane print on the back. I made sure to use a section that had my plane on it! I hope to go down for a visit soon and I can't wait to see if he likes it.

This next pillow started out as kind of a joke. My brother has been a little down lately and.. well... I have A LOT of cute photos of Reese. I know I may be biased, but she's so cute sometimes it is hard to feel sad when she is smiling at you. So it was with that in mind that I made this pillow for my bro, Jesse:

This one turned out so much better than I anticipated. I used an instagram photo and then backed it with some fabric I've had for years. The printable fabric is very easy to sew on the sewing machine or you can iron it on if you don't want to sew it. I choose to just sew the whole piece as printed and I have to tell you that slip stitching the top closed was rather difficult. It was however, totally worth the effort in the end. That pillow is just so darn cute! I wrapped up the gift and wrote that it was from Reese. My brother loved it, he was cracking up as he opened it.

I'm glad he liked it and I hope Reese's smiling face can make him smile when he's feeling bummed.

Holiday Sewing projects

I've got some super cool projects to share from Kerry. While my sewing machine has been gathering dust, her trusty Bernina has been workin' it!

"Here are my holiday sewing projects.

First is the new Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote.  My sister-in-law was a little jealous of the bags I made my nieces and wanted one. She is an elementary school teacher so I thought this pattern would be perfect Christmas gift for her to carry all sorts of supplies and projects in. I made it with the extension panel option. This was my first pattern from Anna Maria Horner and it was really easy. There were a few spots where I had to read and re-read the directions because they were a little confusing, but the pictures helped out. I'm still not sure that I applied the zipper for the extension panel the right way (she has you mark the start and stop dots for sewing the zipper which weren't on the actual pattern but I eye-balled it and it worked out fine). I like how the d-rings give the bag some more shape than just a square tote.  The fabric is also from her Innocent Crush line. This bag has tons of room and I think I might have to make some more it was so easy.  

The next project came from the Obsessively Stitching Blog.These Angry Bird plushies were so fun to make and I'm still in the process of making more.  My soon to be brother-in-law is currently going through pilot training and his class patch (or theme) is Angry Birds.  I think these will provide his classroom with some stress relief from those 12 hour training days.  They have even been fun for me and my husband to throw around the house...raawwrrrgg! (I'm not really sure how to spell what those birds are always jabbering). 

Oh yeah the picture is also my amateur attempt at bokeh with our Christmas tree, I'm hoping to get some more practice this weekend at the Zoo Lights display at our local zoo."  -Kerry

sneak peek

Kerry sent me this photo as a hint to what she's been working on in her spare time:

I wonder if making them is as addictive as the game.

Amy Butler's weekender bag

Kerry, I am in awe! I love your bag. I have the pattern too, but haven't mustered the courage to tackle it. Seeing how awesome yours turned out I am definitely inspired now.

To the rest of you blog readers: CHECK THIS OUT! Kerry is killin' it with this bag and her fabric choices. love it!

"I decided to take on the daunting Amy Butler Weekender Bag. I was really nervous about it after reading a lot of blogs and how people had trouble with the piping and zipper.  But once I got going on it it really wasn't that bad. I took the advise of using the stitch witchery for the piping, which helped out a lot. I plan on using this blog to make a handgrip. I also added some pockets and a zippered pocket to the inside. I love the combo of the green, blue, and red in Amy Butler's Lark fabric. I added a small coordinating origami bag for toiletries. I think this will be a fun carry-on bag, now I just need a trip to go on!" -Kerry

{photo by Kerry}

You can pick up your own copy of this pattern here on Amazon*.

 

*I am an Amazon affiliate, which means that if you make a purchase through this link I will receive a commission. No one has paid me to recommend anything. I do it because I think it's pretty darn awesome and I think you will too!