My Little Loves

Our homeschool room...

This extra room in our house was originally my sewing/craft room but our needs have changed over the past year.  After deciding to homeschool and spending the first half of the year downstairs doing our work at the family kitchen table, I realized that it would be much more beneficial and fun for Nissa to have a space that she could call her own.  I broke out the yellow paint and went to work making this place as special as I could...

table and hutch - antique mall

chairs - ikea

task lamp - vintage

map - Barnes and Noble

I did a little tweeking of the room to keep a sewing nook.  I hope to teach Nissa how to use my machine this year with hopes that she will enjoy making things with her hands as much as I do.  I keep a basket of things nearby to keep Boden busy while we are doing lessons...

farm table - antique mall

chair - antique

brown/white gingham curtains - Land of Nod

lamp -Urban Outfitters

thread holders - JoAnn Fabrics

alarm clock - Land of Nod

Other side of the room houses the whiteboard...not too exciting to include a picture of!

All about the skirt...

I have been doing lots of sewing over the past few weeks.  I squeeze little bits in here and there as I'm trying to use a lot of the fabric I already have to make Nissa and Boden some fall clothes.  Here are a few skirts that I have made for Nissa this past week.  I didn't follow any pattern....it's just a simple half yard of fabric for the outer layer and lining...

A little flair on the lining...

Fabric from Denise Schimdt Katie Jump Rope line.  The line is discontinued but I have a bunch of the fabric....I love this stuff!  I am making a stacked coin quilt from it too but that project...well....might be finished in a few years at my rate.

This fabric has been patiently waiting for it's time to shine since I bought it a few years ago...

And the lining came out so cute that it can now qualify as a reversible skirt...

This skirt is made from a Japanese import cotton/linen blend.  It is a medium weight fabric and has a stiffer feel to it.   I love the way it hangs....it will be perfect for my daughter in the fall!

My other projects lately are mainly American Girl doll clothes.  I'll share those with you another time.  They are quite fun to make actually....and since they are so small...require only a small amount of fabric.   I also have a skirt in the works for myself.  We'll see how that one comes out.  Perhaps it will make it to the blog for sharing if it turns out well.

I finally dusted off....

my sewing machine.  Between school and the kids I haven't had much time to do any sewing this year.  However this past week was different.  My in-laws had taken both Nissa and Boden for the week...not only taken them but taken them out of state.  I didn't know what to do with myself with all that free time while Ryan was at work.  I had all these projects in mind that I wanted to accomplish....paint the cabinets in the downstairs bathroom...work on the berms of dirt to get them ready to plant....and sew.  Well the first several days were awash due to the air conditioner being out and waiting on repairmen to get that fixed.  I didn't have energy to do much of anything with the house being around 86 degrees.  My husband slept upstairs where the heat rises and I slept in the basement with the cooler underground air and the home theater.  I had the way better end of the deal.

Through it all I did end up getting some sewing in....far less that I hoped for so I kept it simple.

Pajama pants are really easy to make.....if you've never sewn this is a good beginner project.  I've always had bad luck buying pajama bottoms for myself....they are usually way too big in the legs and I feel like a balloon...very unattractive.  I finally found a pair that I've worn to death so I just made my own pattern off of that pair.  The best part of this project was that it didn't cost me anything but a few yards of elastic.  I had all the fabric already in my stash! 

In order to know what is the front and back of the pants I stitched on my fabric labels...

Even my pants have that label sewn in...any little help I can get to make sure my pants are on right.  Someday someone will find my pair at Goodwill and think 'wow...these must be for some big child!'

It just keeps getting better....

A few weeks ago, I made my bi-annual trip to Riley Children's Hospital to drop off our donation in Mae's memory.  I just wanted to share with you the items that I was able to bring.

One of my girlfriends made a half a dozen of these single sided fleece tie blankets.  I understand that these are the biggest hit in the hospital.  I also received a large stack of them from our aunt Diane who works at a school for the deaf and blind.  These were made by some boys there as part of a service project.

Sorry these pictures are a little dark....I wasn't able to get the right light on them...but you can still see how beautiful everything is!

 

 

Isn't everything awesome......I am so blessed to have my friends and family helping me on this important project.  Thank you so much!

Spring dress....

This dress just went home to one of my daughter's friends.  I've been holding onto this fabric for awhile now.  When I lived in Wisconsin there was a fabric shop that mainly sold cheap remnants.  I went in there quite often since it was only a short walk away.....man I still miss that place.  There were quite a few times I got real lucky and spotted lots of 1930's reproduction feedsack fabrics...which I love.  I'm sure I pretty much bought all the pieces they had.

This is my go-to pattern for dresses.  It's actually Simplicity 4206 which is a pattern for a top but I just added about 12" to the length.  I guess it looks a bit like a nightgown but I think you could go either way with it.

Yesterday was gorgeous so we spent part of the day outside.  Some of the flowers are starting to bloom and Nissa picked a few for me and collected them in this flower pot plate....

Inside, Boden decided to do a little painting....

What's his medium?....

Ruffles...

Nissa has been talking about her 5th birthday (which is next month) for the past six months or so.  She has said something about it every day.....I'm serious....every day.   Whether it relates to the cake (which will be a huge cupcake) or the games we will play, the place cards (which she has already made....several different ones), the decorations, etc.  You name it, she has talked about it in length.  I guess when you are a kid, that is the one big event in your life that you look forward to.  Up in the craft room the other day I brought down a huge basket of patterns to go through.  I bought a bunch of girl patterns last year on sale that I have not touched and asked Nissa to see if there was something she wanted me to make her.  She found a ruffly skirt pattern that caught her eye and she wanted it to wear on her birthday.  Then she picked out the fabric....and, well, I sewed it up....

I actually was saving this fabric to make myself a skirt but it will probably look better on her.

Concrete fishin'....

Nissa and her papa love to go fishing together.  I'm not much of a fisherman.  When I was dating my husband, I think I kinda played it up like I loved to fish....ah yes, we could enjoy weekends together....a pole, some worms, each other.....hmmm.....it sounded romantic at the time.  Now it's more like how about you go fish and I'll sit and read a book, take a walk, or tend to some old knitting projects.  The good thing is that Nissa is a willing participant.....and eager to touch the slimy bait.

This is more my speed....

Wow my big sister is good....

Oh and yes, I still sew.  See, I finally finished this quilt.  It's been sitting, waiting patiently to have its binding attached.  What would take a normal person an hour to do so....has taken me a week.

This one is off to the hospital.  I have a few more to make from this fabric line.  It is called "Sweet Dreams"......I have been eyeing this stuff for a long time and finally had a reason to buy some.  Right now it's on sale at Reprodepot.  Get some while you can!

Sew it goes...

I can't have just one craft in the works...I need to be working at several things at the same time.  For example, this new quilt....

is being finished alongside this old project......

This is Amy Butler's weekender travel bag pattern.  It's been half finished for over a year.  Not quite sure why I started making this in the first place.  I have kids so I don't 'weekend' anywhere.  I guess it looked so cute in the picture that I felt I needed one.  When this is finished, maybe someone can take me away for a few days so I can actually use this thing....and not as a diaper bag please.

One down...

Well, I finally finished Boden's quilt.  It was originally meant to be a playmat...but now he is crawling and doesn't sit so it won't be used as it was intended but that is just fine.  It's sturdy and thick and perfect for his room.

Here it is...

The front fabric is Kokka japanese import fabric from here.  It is a heavier cotton canvas and should hold up pretty well.  I also used up a bit of the grey elephant fabric I originally was going to use for the nursery.  The backing is Kona Cotton in ash.  I'm a bit rusty on the quilting front, so I took each big square and just free-handed lines going around it in difference widths til I got to the center.  So each square is unique.  I am a big fan of Denyse Schmidt's quilting style...it's modern and forgiving. 

I bought some new artwork for the home from etsy......

What do you think?

Filling up some open spaces...

I love to decorate.  I'm not really sure what you would call my style....maybe eclectic. 

Anthropologie is my favorite store and to my surprise, I found (after living here for 2 years) that there was a shop not too far from my house.  After seeing a stool go on sale from their website, I called the local shop to see if they had it there so I wouldn't have to pay $75 extra shipping for a $50 piece.  Luckily they did and I drove up the same day to pick it up.  When I arrived, they told me that there were a few other items that had gone on sale that I might like.  There was a floor display that caught my attention....and it was one of the things that was on sale!  The woman told me they rarely sale price out the display furniture but it was my lucky day! 

The stool is next to one of the entry doors for putting on little shoes and socks.   So along with this neat curvy stool that I bought...

I ended up buying this end table.  It was labeled "Brazilian Turned Pedestal"......I just love it...

Just picture that little green vase filled with garden flowers....lovely!  I've been on a sewing kick lately and in anticipation of spring, I am working on some new pillows....

Wow, I have a lot of beige here.  But we are getting some new (and colorful) artwork for the walls.  I can't wait for them to arrive and brighten up the space.  If you were wondering, this fabric is from Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room line.  I just love her brightly colored designs.  This one is a bit girly with the pink in it but I think it will work with what I'm trying to do.