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Little Girl Dresses

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Sarah

Two new dresses were made for my Little Miss Maddie. I was testing out patterns for a sewing class my friend and I teach at our church, and I knew Maddie would make the perfect little model.

The first pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing for Baby. The dress fits nicely but I wasn’t crazy about the construction. I changed the way I put it together and that made it a lot easier. I added a little ruffle collar, a la my Ruffle Top, and a few pink buttons for good measure.

The second dress is a free pattern from Heather Ross. You can find the tutorial for the Smocked Sundress here on Martha Stewart. This is the dress we ended up teaching at our class, and it went swimmingly! I used leftover fabric from my Gingham Top and left the hem raw to allow for it to fray.

They sure are sweet dresses! Though I’m completely convinced Maddie would look adorable in a paper bag!

Thanks to my sister for the BEAUTIFUL pictures! Don’t forget to check out her Etsy shop, Kissed By Kate, for adorable baby hats, rompers and more!

Filed under: Creations, Photos | 6 Comments »

2 New Jetsetters

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Sarah

These two lovely Jetsetter wallets were custom made for some dear friends who will be travelling soon. I love the fabrics they both chose, they are so representative of these girls! The wallet on the left was ordered by Whitney, whose wedding colors were purple/lilac and green/chartreuse. The wallet on the right was ordered by Kelley, whose wedding colors were yellows, reds, oranges and other Fall colors.

Here are the insides of the wallets:

Hope you ladies LOVE them!

If you’re interested in ordering a Jetsetter wallet, please email me or request a custom item through Etsy.

Filed under: Creations | 7 Comments »

Daybed

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Sarah

This weekend my husband and I got an urge to build something. We decided to make a daybed to put in a corner of our living room that wasn’t getting much use. We drew up the plans, quickly headed out to Lowe’s, bought some 2 x 4′s, brackets, nuts and bolts and came home and got started. $50 later we had built my new favorite place in our house!

I made the mattress cover using MADE’s fitted sheet tutorial. I just adjusted the size for a twin mattress rather than crib sheet. I still need to make more pillows, but I’m having a hard time finding patterns that match well with that lovely Joel Dewberry print on the curtain. Any suggestions?

Here’s how it looks in the corner of our living room. It’s such a great use of space! Perfect for curling up with a good book, or using as extra seating or sleeping arrangements when we have guests over.

My husband created up the artwork and I just love it! I think it’s perfect for the space and the colors really work nicely with the fun lighting and fabrics.

Ok, back to lazy lounging on the daybed!!

Filed under: Creations | 12 Comments »

Just Saying Hi

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Sarah

Once again summer has caught up with me and I have nothing to show for myself!

But, since I can’t go this long without checking in, here are some photos to prove that I’m not permanently tied to a blanket outside reading a good book (although that sounds quite lovely!):

My family was in town (from Boston and California) for a summer visit. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a blast playing with the babies and getting caught up.

Mom and me

My sisters babies, don't they look so alike?

Bathtime in our sink

Cousin Tom performs his magic sleeping trick on Sammy. Or, Sammy falls asleep against Tom's hand!

At the beach!

At the Ballard Locks in Seattle

My birthday is coming up on Tuesday! I can’t wait. We’re going to Pasta Freska, a wonderful Seattle Italian restaurant with no menus! The chef comes to your table to find out your likes and dislikes and then the food just starts flowing! We’ve been before and had a blast.

Hope you all forgive me for being so out of touch, I’m just enjoying the lovely weather too much…I’m hanging on to this summer as much as I can, as I know it will be gone very soon!

Filed under: Photos | 3 Comments »

Reversible Messenger Bag

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Sarah

I’m moving at a snail’s pace this summer.

It doesn’t help that I’ve gotten into those books….you know, the ones that were written for 13 year old girls yet are somehow strangely addicting and offer hours of mindless entertainment.

I made this Reversible Messenger Bag recently. It’s up in the shop if anyone is interested! I think the fabrics work well for a guy or gal, which is nice. And who doesn’t love a reversible bag?

Don’t you love that my tree has a face? I like to think he greets me each day I come home. I’m not sure where my aunt and uncle bought the face, but I found some online here after doing a quick google search.

Hope your day is lovely!

Filed under: Creations, Shop! | 5 Comments »

Urban Satchel

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Sarah

New In My Shop!!

Introducing the Urban Satchel. The Urban Satchel is the perfect purse for the savvy city dweller. Inside you will find a cell phone pocket and ample space to hold all things necessary for your day or night on the town. It closes with a chic squared magnetic clasp.

This purse is made from high quality Amy Butler fabric and a features a lovely faux leather bottom and handles. I have lined it with a maroon cotton fabric (darker in color than it looks). It has been generously interfaced to give it a structured form.

This purse measures approximately 15″ long by 6.5″ tall. It is about 3.5″ deep.

Contact me through Etsy if you are interested in a Custom Urban Satchel! Or, grab this one from the shop if you love it!

Filed under: Creations, Shop! | 5 Comments »

Slow Sewing

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Sarah

I’ve been enjoying a bit of a slower pace in my life lately. Watching a lot of movies, spending a lot of time with friends and my husband, enjoying my garden and outdoor space. It has been relaxing and rejuvinating. I did manage to get a couple of projects finished, the first was a custom Damask Satchel for a family friend’s birthday. A lovely peacock blue silk lining was requested, and I was happy to oblige:

And then another custom Damask Satchel, this time in a slightly different damask:

If you’re interested in a custom satchel, just send me a message through Etsy.

I also finished this complex block for the Modern Quilting Bee:

This block is 16.5″, so it’s huge! Makes quite an impact though, doesn’t it? I love the mish-mash of colors and how they all come together so beautifully. I did absolutely no planning with the colors, I just grabbed a pair and sewed them together, hoping it would work out alright. I think it’s better that way, less calculated and more improv. I can’t even imagine making a whole quilt though, this block alone must have taken me 5 hours!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer, ours has finally come! This week it’s supposed to get to the high 80s, a rare treat for us Seattleites!

Filed under: Creations, Quilts, Shop! | 6 Comments »

Baby Boy Golfing Hats

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Sarah

My sister finally opened an Etsy shop to sell her ridiculously cute baby boy golfing hats! She will make a custom hat to fit your boy, and she can even make a matching one for daddy!!

Check out her brand new shop, Kissed By Kate.

Congrats, sis!! Glad you finally opened a shop!

Filed under: Links | 6 Comments »

In My Shop: Minky Blanket

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Sarah

I made this Minky blanket and let my nephew be the model (these pictures will be fun to show to him when he’s a teenager and anti-pink!).

I’d say he looks pretty comfy, what do you think?

I made the blanket out of high quality minky (fun zebra print on one side and a lovely pink rosette minky on the other) and I made a ruffle binding using ultra-soft Charmeuse Satin. It is a large blanket, measuring a 30″ square.

And guess what? It’s for sale in my Etsy Shop!

Filed under: Creations, Shop! | 1 Comment »

Liberty of London Peter Pan Collar Top

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Sarah

I finished another top for the Pattern Challenge! I’ve been having too much fun sewing clothes for myself, I’m worried I might turn into the Selfish Seamstress!!

Does anyone recognize that fabric? It’s the ever lovely and luscious Liberty of London in Dunvina. I purchased it when I was in London at Shaukat Fabrics (they have a humongous stock of gorgeous Liberty prints at the best prices I’ve seen, you can order them online). I only purchased 3/4 metre, which was just enough to make the body/sleeves of this top. I had originally envisioned the collar made out of the same fabric, but alas, I ran out. Instead a used a beautiful cotton/sateen by Robert Kaufman.

I used the basic top and sleeve pattern from…you guessed it….Simplicity 2599 (are you guys majorly sick of this yet?) and added a self-drafted peter pan collar. The collar is the sweetest accent and it was so much fun to make!

I used this method for attaching the peter pan collar, and it worked out perfectly! If you do decide to use that tutorial, the one part that confused me was what width of bias tape to cut. In the tutorial she says to use a 1.5″ folded bias strip, which I took to mean cut a strip 1.5″ and fold it in half. This leaves you with a 3/4″ bias strip, which is fine, but when you go to sew it on you’ll need to use a about 1/4″ seam allowance in order to have enough to fold to the back and topstitch (rather than the 1/2″ seam she instructs you to use). Other than that one point of confusion, the tutorial was great!

To give this top some shape I used elastic thread to shirr 3 rows under the bust.

I love that the inside looks as finished as the outside with serged raw edges and the bias tape cover around the neck. It also doesn’t hurt that there really isn’t a wrong side to this fabric!