Treasures!

I went sifting through my Nana's basement the other day, trying to pull out the remaining sewing supplies that were stored down there. I was so excited to find these gems! Not only are they neat for style references from when I was a little girl, but it's really cool to have things from my Mommy!

Most of the patterns have dates from 1987 - 1992. Love this little girls' pattern! I remember having a pantsuit like it. :)

These are two of my favorites. I have the perfect lightweight cotton to make a sundress for this summer using the pattern on the left. I think I'll just shorten the skirt to about knee length. I also love the back cross detail of the pattern on the right. It's pretty neat!

Hmm, I could definitely wear these oversized pocket tees with skinnies and a belt! So much inspiration. :)

My absolute favorite: the pattern used to make my Mom's bridesmaid dresses for her wedding! I can't remember exactly from the pictures, but I think theirs were full length. The color was a beautiful emerald green. I think it is so neat that she picked out the pattern she wanted and had them custom made! How awesome is that. <3

Flower Power Baby Outfit!

My cousin is having a baby girl! A baby girl! Let me explain the weight of this statement. We hadn't had a baby girl in our family for sixteen years. We were going boy crazy, lemme tell ya. Don't get me wrong, my boys are the BEST. We just needed a little balance, you know.  Thankfully, my aunt and uncle had a little girl who is almost 2 now, and we get to see her frequently. And now another girl on the way! My Mommy and sister are hopping on a plane for her baby shower next week, so I'll be sending along a little package full of handmade love. Yippee! I can always use an excuse to make something with flowers and the color purple.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been reading Growing Up Sew Liberated, and it has given me the confidence to try sewing with knits. (And here you are thinking, "she calls herself The Stitchress, and she doesn't know how to sew with knits?") But you see, I know how, I just haven't been gutsy enough to let the needle sink into that pretty piece of fabric!

Yo-yo flowers are so much fun to make! If you don't know how, here's a good tutorial from Tea Rose Home. Make sure to attach them to your main fabric securely, especially if it is for a young child.

The pants are made of a lightweight seersucker, and the t-shirt is a cotton/lycra blend. I can't wait to make some t's for E with little-man personalizations. :) Tomorrow, I'm making soft shoes to complete the outfit! <3

Bonsai Lovin'

My birthday is in less than a week! I am so thankful to no longer be a technical teenager. Not that it really matters. I just think that it'll feel nice to not have "teen" in my number anymore. Yeah, really nice.

My darling husband got me this lovely rosemary bonsai. I love rosemary. And I love bonsai trees. The perfect gift. 

I can't wait till she needs pruning, so I can cook with the fresh rosemary!

<3

P-Jam Party

A few weeks ago, I made some cozy flannel PJ pants  for myself using an old elastic waist pants pattern and adapting it a little. They're my new favorites. If they didn't have ridiculous (and by ridiculous I mean cute) looking monkeys all over them, I'd wear them out of the house. 

Wait one hot minute. Is posting photos on the internet of me wearing them sort of the same as wearing them out of the house? Oh my, I'm going to have to think about this one.  

I used some easy modifications to make these pants just right. 

1) I used satin baby blanket binding to make the casing for the drawstring. It's wonderfully smooth and doesn't require any finishing on the edges! So easy.

2) I actually stole this idea from another old pattern by McCalls. Instead of just using a basic drawstring, I cut the drawstring in half, and sewed each piece to either end of a 5 inch piece of elastic. Voila, now the drawstring is stretchy! This is truly the key to making drawstring pants comfy.

Here's a few photos of me and my littlest modeling our Pjs. E's longjohns are my absolute favorite. :)

<3

5 Things I'm Loving

I'm hoping to keep this up in the future. There's nothing like writing about a few things that make me happy to keep my spirits lifted. :)

1) My fabulous sister's Canon. My sister's fabulous Canon. Either way, it's true.

2) StickyGram! Make your instashots into instamagnets. Er. Magnets.

3) Sophie the Giraffe. She is without doubt the most expensive giraffe I've ever bought. And the very best. B.E. adores her. He recognizes her little squeak and gets all jumpy and excited. We like to say he's hungry for giraffe, because he gnaws on her head. (Have you had enough of me personalizing a rubber toy? Yes. Next slide.)

4) Growing Up Sew Liberated! It is such an in-depth book, with so many inspiring projects and ideas. 

5) This fabric bowl I just finished is really making me happy. It makes my paper napkins look tres chic and oh so springy. 

Tell me about something you're loving! <3

Spring Dreaming Skirt + Family Photoshoot

Happy Sunday! I've been blessed by so many people and things today. 1) My creative husband, who so graciously took pictures of me. 2) My sister's DSLR camera. 3) My beautiful children, who braved the 20 degree weather with me. 4) My sweet mother in law, who went thrifting with me. 5) My Husqvarna Lily. She's the best stitcher in the world.

Here's a few peeks at our fun photoshoot today!

The B.E., sitting on his own. I love clear January skies! 

I love this springy skirt. Even though I was freezing wearing it, I could just see daffodils popping up around me and robins digging up worms in the backyard. (Wishful thinking, eh.) My mom gave me a bag of old bedsheets the other day, and inside was a set of lovely flowered sheets that I had on my daybed as a little girl! I was so happy. The sheets were my grandma's, and when she gave me the daybed, the sheets came along with it. 

All sentiment aside, the fabric is really cute. In searching for skirt ideas, I came across this pattern by Jess from Running With Scissors. You can find the tutorial for it here. I goofed it up at first by making it too short, hence the plain white border. :) This pattern is really exciting for me, because it gave me the confidence to sew with elastic thread. (Apologies for not including the detail, but around the waist is about 8 rows of shirring, made using elastic thread.) I just couldn't believe how easy it was. Thanks, Jess!

I adore these pockets! 

Isn't he gorgeous? His little suit is made out of the most leaf-attracting material I have EVER seen. You know that went straight in the washer.

I wore:

Sweater: thrifted, Banana Republic

Cami: Forever 21

Skirt: handmade

Knee Socks: Target

Boots: Steve Madden

E wore:

Snowsuit: Baby Gap

Sweater Booties: Target

<3

Creamy Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans

Okay, I know what you're thinking. I'm supposed to be stitching. The Stitchress. Yep, that's me. And no, I'm not stitching cauliflower. Although it would make a cute applique. Hmm... 

Anywho, I have a growing passion for vegetarian and vegan cooking, and I want to share some of the fun I've been having making up recipes and trying new things. I became a vegetarian the first time around when my older son was a baby. It was going really well for me...but laziness kicked in and I got out of the groove. After the birth of my littlest this past summer, I gave it a go again. So here we have an easy dish that can be vegan or vegetarian. Enjoy! 

Makes: 

enough for two very hungry people. Or three slightly hungry. Or four...you get it.

Needed: 

1 head of organic cauliflower, washed and cut into florets. 

One can garbanzo beans, drained.

 High heat oil such as safflower or avocado oil. 

Any kind of milk: my favorite is coconut, but almond and soy work just as well.

The ol' S&P.

Vegetarian version: feta and or parmesan cheese.

Heat oil over medium heat (use enough oil to thinly cover the bottom of your skillet). Add salt and pepper to the oil. Lots of it. (At least, lots of pepper.) Add cauliflower. You'll saute it for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly. Some of the pieces will get slightly browned, it's ok. Add more S&P if you roll like me.   

Add the milk and garbanzo beans ( add however many garbanzos you like, I use the whole can!). Once again, I don't measure. I am the queen of NOT measuring. So pour in enough milk to cover the bottom of the skillet, and you may want to add more along the way, depending on how creamy you want it. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, or until cauliflower starts to soften. 

If you're cooking vegan, stop here. Enjoy! But if you're not...pour on some feta, baby! Stir and let the cheese melt. Add a little parmesan on top if you like! Yum. <3

Fat Quarter Lined Drawstring Bag: A Tutorial

Welcome to my first tutorial! I know there's about a gazillion other bag tutorials out there on the web, but I'd like to share how I made this one. It is so simple, and takes only 30 minutes to make. I sincerely hope I don't fuddle your brains. I hope you enjoy!

Supplies:

-One fat quarter (18"x22")

-About 24" of ribbon, bias tape or other drawstring material

- Large button

-Sewing basics

Here we go! Cut your fat quarter lengthwise down the middle, making two rectangles measuring 9"x22". Fold each rectangle in half, right sides together, lengthwise. It should look like photo (1) below. 

Starting with the outer fabric, stitch both long sides, leaving a 1/2"-1" gap 2 1/2" down from the open end on one side only (See photo 2). Hope I didn't lose you there, notice that my measurements are loose. The gap that you left open will be for your drawstring, so as long as your drawstring is thin, 1/2" to 1" will be plenty of room. Mine ended up being 3/4". (I know, shame on me, I don't measure. Not one bit.) Sew up the sides of your other rectangle in the same manner, only don't leave a gap this time - just sew straight up both sides.

Returning to the outer fabric, press the seam open where the drawstring opening/gap is. Stitch around the opening, creating a nice finished edge.

Please excuse my less-than-straight stitching. :)

Now for the fun part: turn the outer fabric right side out and put it inside the lining fabric, so that the right sides are together. Line up the side seams, pin, and sew around the upper edge. Leave at least a 4" gap for turning as shown in photo (5) below. (I always learn the hard way here - I try to sneak by with leaving the smallest gap possible, and then kill my fingers trying to shove all the fabric through the tiniest gap in the world. Do it every time too.)

Pull the outer fabric through the gap while pushing the lining fabric into the gap. It should end up looking like photo (6).

You will now push the lining fabric into the outer fabric so that it looks like photo (7). Press the bag, especially the top edge that you just sewed.

There are two options for closing up the gap in the top edge: If you're feeling ambitious (which, surprisingly, I was today- as you can see in photo 8), then you can hand-stitch the opening closed with a hidden ladder stitch. Or, you can just topstitch very close to the edge all the way around. (My favorite.)

Now we will make the drawstring casing. You will start at the top edge of your drawstring opening (which you stitched around) and sew all the way around the bag. If you're worried about stitching a straight line, you can measure the distance from the top of the bag and place pins all the way around. Once again, I never measure, so I just guessed. And sewed really fast. 

Next, sew the bottom edge of the casing. Starting this time at the bottom of the drawstring opening, stitch all the way around the bag the same way you did the top.

Photo (11) is what it should look like when finished!

I dug some orange ribbon out of my stash, and using a bodkin (or safety pin), threaded it through the casing twice. This is SO difficult to explain, so I drew a little picture to help me out. Hopefully this doesn't make it more confusing! :)

I hope that helps! Pulling both ends of the ribbon out of the drawstring opening, i threaded each end through this cute flower button, (Which, according to the packaging, is from the late 80's. Who. Knows.) and then knotted the ends together. 

Push the button up the ribbon, and pull the bag closed!

Yay for pretty bags. All done! I used this one to hold the alphabet magnet set that I made for my sweet little cousin. You can find the tutorial for these magnets here, on Chez Beeper Bebe. (One of my favorite blogs, by the way.) The only modifications I made to the pattern was to use strip magnets that come in a roll, that way I could cut them to size, rather than using round ones.

Happy stitching! <3

Baby Pants: Funny Farm.

Greetings from 1:28 AM. I'm currently listening to my husband and dog snoring together down the hall. They've got rhythm. I just feel like posting again. These baby pants make me laugh. I made them the other night, just to try out a new pattern with some scrap fabric. I love the pattern, and will be using it to make lots of pants for The B.E. And I must say, the fabric is growing on me as well. ;) I'm pretty sure it's left over from a project my Mom made in the early 90's. <3 Goodnight!

The Minky/Silky Blanket, a quick tutorial.

My first Blog post! I'm excited to be joining the online crafting community. This is a quick how-to on one style of a silky baby blanket. Another style coming soon!

My 4 year old son was gifted a silky blanket at my baby shower, before he was even born. I had no idea what a huge part that blankie would play in our lives! That blankie (and another similar one that we got later on)  trained him to sleep on his own. It has healed many boo-boos and dried many tears with its magical powers. It has gone up and down the East Coast on many occasions. Unfortunately, it is in really bad shape. And the reason is...(dun dun dun dun) he eats it. Yes, he sucks on his blanket. If asked what he's doing, he simply says "I'm eating my blanket".  I try to put it through the wash frequently, but even still, it is plainly clear it's time for a new one. 

Blankets like his are not only expensive, they're hard to find. The ones in stores are always either "lovies" or not quite the right combination of fabrics or colors that I'm looking for. So, I launched a mission to make one myself. 

First came a hazardous family trip to Joann's in a blizzard. (Extreme Exaggeration Disclaimer: it was about 1 inch of snow. Buuuut, due to the fact that we took the pretty new 2-wheel drive Volvo instead of the ol' AWD Subaru sleigh, it felt like a blizzard.) I found the minky plush fabric and flannel-backed satin, and after color approval from The Buddy, we were all set. I understand now why the blankets are so expensive, because the fabric is super pricey on its own!

Next came the construction. I wanted this blanket to be smaller than the first, as I'm trying to use it as a weaning tool. I cut 24x36" rectangles of each fabric, shown below.

With right sides together, I pinned around the edges and stitched, leaving about a 5" opening for turning.

After turning, this is what it looked like. 

I top-stitched around the edges, closing up my 5" turning gap.

And it was done! I put it through the wash and laid it out for The Buddy to see the next morning.

Thanks for visiting!