Homemaking Organized Blog

Posts Tagged ‘sewing’

This is one of those “Where Have I Been!!?” posts.  Actually I already knew about these, I just didn’t know I could make one. I’m talking about Quiet Books. My sister has a Noah’s Ark one from her son’s baby days (he’s now 18) that she would let Sweet Peanut play with in church. She loved it so much I would kind muss about wanting more. But looking at the one she was playing with, with all the stitching, I knew I could never recreate such a masterpiece. That was before I discovered you could make them with felt. AND that I can sew a bit better than I thought. Still not great but passable.

Quietly, secretly, while I slept. Okay I’m being dramatic. But it seems that there is this whole community of women making these lovely books and expanding on the ideas. Using them as teaching tools and such for their little darlings.

Where have I been??!!

Anyway while browsing through some of these an idea hatched.

My  Sweet Peanut is an active six but I still think I would like to sew up one for her at times when we’re away from home and she may have to sit still or something. The beautiful darling has an affinity for things I make her so I thought she might like one to take in the car .

Some of the pages I’ve been thinking of are: Hair Braiding, Tic -tac-toe (when someone else can play too), the dress up doll one, writing or note taking. I would love to do a chess one but that might be too much.

I’ve rounded up some nice pages around the internet so you can have an idea of what I’m talking about.

 

 

 

From looking on my blog and sites you may get the idea that I’m not all that crafty.

I’m not.

I craft when need be.

And now the time has come that I’m fed up with what I find in the store to clothe my little girl (I have to dig up my modesty button for the blog) and I’m going to attempt to sew up what I can for her Peanut self.

As my daughter gets older I find that the clothes in the stores become more inappropriate and the ones that are appropriate make it  not cost effective (is that a sentence?) to buy something she will grow out of in 6 months. She is growing very fast and I’m having a hard time keeping up. While fabric is expensive I have a bunch already purchased and my mother has been throwing fabric at me. She doesn’t need a whole lot because it she will grow out of it quickly.

What am I looking for? Simple dresses for church mostly. I like things below her knees not gracing her behind (pardon me). She is very active and I like her to be clothed enough to help keep her modesty. I’m also looking into making her some pants one I find a style I think fits with her.

I learned to sew in middle school. Tabled it until sometime in college when I wanted this beautiful jumper from Laura Ashley that I couldn’t afford on a student part time working salary so my aunt took me under her wing and helped me fashion one closely resembling but in a heavier fabric. I still have the jumper to today and added 3 more to it.

So fast forward about 10 years. I have an old Singer Slant machine and a Singer serger (recent purchase) so I thought I REALLY should use these and do what I did years ago. Make what I couldn’t buy.

So….

I recently found a very cute pattern. Oliver + S Music Box Jumper Pattern . I liked the simplicity of this style. We (Peanut and I) like jumpers. She LOVES pink and I like that it comes in various sizes.

I made it in pink corduroy .

My issue is button holes.I have an older Singer so buttonholes are not the quick and easy press a button method. BUT I did find that there is this buttonhole machine for sewing machines such as mine. I found one on eBay and IT WORKS! This was so marvelous I can’t tell you. So easy. I just sat there and watched the buttonhole sew!

I really liked the blue on on the Oliver + S blog so I found the fabric (kind of hard since it’s an old pattern and the new spring stuff is out) and so I’ll make her one for Spring/Summer in the light blue fabric.

The Oliver + S Music Box Jumper Pattern seems true to size. I made size 6 for my daughter. The length is nice and mid-calf. The bodice just fits her so I’ll be making the 7 with the light blue.

So what do you do when you have a multi size paper pattern and you want to use it for several sizes? Trace the size you’ll be using on pattern tracing paper or even butcher paper or something.

What patterns do you use to fashion clothes for your child?

About two weeks ago I got this big lovely package in the mail from Right at Home. Inside were cleaning supplies in a nice big white cleaning caddy. I was in love!

One of the items included was a Pledge brand duster. You know like the Swiffer ones. I went right to work using it to tidy up my badly neglected blinds. It works really well for this and even better if you spray it first with Pledge or something.

So I happily used my Pledge sprayed duster to clean up the blinds but then it was all icky and I knew I needed to get a refill. As I was in the slow process (I looked for them if I happened to be in the store) of searching for refills I looked online to find out if any experimenting soul had tried rewashing these. Instead I landed on etsy where people were selling handmade felt or knit reusable Pledge/Swiffer refills. The thought intrigued me and I was just about to whip out my credit card (I’m quick to pay for a cleaning product) when I noticed that a lot of the ones I liked were all made out of felt.

Well still having a ton of felt from my daughter’s birthday presents (she says her house needs stairs, and a chimney) I thought it would befit me to see if I couldn’t use the badly neglected sewing machine in our home and do some of this myself.

So I did! You can see the picture up top there before I tossed it in the wash to beat up some. The instructions were via Sew Much Ado (thank you to her great instructions).

The only thing is now my daughter has claimed the duster as her own and I don’t get to use it much.

Wow ! And just after my sewing post! What am I talking about?

Sarah at Sewing Business is having her annual Holiday Giveaway! You can enter to win a gorgeous pair of 8? Gingher Designer “Sarah” Series Dressmaker’s Shears in a gift tin with sheath, PLUS a length of pattern paper.

A little background. The “Sarah” series from Gingher has been retired and currently retails for up to $99.99, and the value of these collectibles tend to rise as they become more scarce. I have a few pairs of Ginghers and they are wonderful scissors to sew with. So sharp and durable. Use them as a special gift for the holiday’s, or keep them as a gift for yourself. Or even better yet – USE them to make gifts for other people.

To enter, go to Sewing Buiness and simply comment about your favorite fall or holiday project, or submit a link to a favorite fall themed project tutorial. You can also get a second entry if you post a link on your blog or website to this giveaway page, or add us to your blogroll.

Email Sarah at submit@sewingbusiness.com to let her know that you qualify for a second entry.

Enter by Saturday, November 28th and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 30th.

I like sewing…some.  I got into sewing about 18 years ago when I saw this gorgeous navy blue wool jumper at the Laura Ashley store in town but couldn’t afford it on a student salary. My aunt gave me evening sewing lessons, we bought a pattern and some wool and I made my version of the jumper. 18 years later I still have the jumper and another one I made from black wool, this time lined, and a wool lined, long sleeved, sheath dress made shortly after getting married 12 years ago.

All this to say I have forgotten how you can satisfy your fashion needs by making what you can’t find in the stores. Not to knock anyone’s style but I don’t seem to be able to find the elegant classic pieces I prefer in my once favorite stores anymore. I happened upon this blog where Carolyn has this great way of organizing her wardrobe pieces based on the seasons and colors she is using.

I still have a ton of patterns I never got to and I just might whip out one or two after being so inspired.

Thank you Carolyn~