Taylor, Author at TaylorMade

Morton Salt Girl Costume

January 29, 2017 By Taylor 3 Comments

Costumes are just about my favorite thing to sew, so this past Halloween I dressed Bee up as the Morton Salt Girl (so perfect right?!) Her short blonde “bob” was my inspiration :) Yes I know it is almost February… but better late than never on the blog post right?

The costume itself was super simple, it’s basically just a yellow dress. I don’t like to plan a costume with a lot of moving parts for a two year old because it’s just inevitable that she will take it all off and end up looking like nothing. For her yellow dress I used the Lillian Dress Pattern by Mouse House Creations. When I saw the 1960’s-esque dress with the pin-tucks and black buttons I knew it would be the perfect dress for the job! I used Kona Cotton for the fabric.

Her shoes were her favorite part, she actually still wears them! I found white tennies at Walmart for $4 (yay) and I dyed them with yellow RIT dye. I always make sure to add salt, a little white vinegar and warm water when I do a dye bath. I usually only leave things in for 20-30 mins but I left these in for about 3 hours so it made them extra vibrant. I was so proud of the match job haha!

The big debate was if the umbrella is light purple or if the umbrella is really white and they just used purple in the artwork for shading. It’s a serious online debate you guys, look it up ha! I always choose color when given the opportunity so I decided our Morton Salt Girl would have a purple umbrella. (Also, our friends just so happened to have one we could borrow haha!)

Lastly… my favorite part… the Morton Salt candy basket. I wanted to have her carry a big cardboard version of the salt container then my mom actually threw out the idea of having the salt container as her candy basket. Genius! I used felt for the base, sides and handle which I sewed together. Then I printed out a picture of the salt logo and using hot glue and felt I kind of puzzle pieced it together. I love it so much that it was a little hard watching Bee actually use it on Halloween. Just kidding. Kind of.

Some people loved the costume then others were like “I don’t get it” haha. But I think it is one of my favorite costumes to date!

Sweethearts Quilt with Wonderland

January 4, 2017 By Taylor Leave a Comment

Happy New Year! I am so excited to be sharing today’s project with you!! This makes quilt NUMBER 9 totally handmade and completed by me. Emphasis on completed because I also have 4 quilt tops finished with no backs so those don’t count yet haha.

This gorgeous fabric is the latest line, Wonderland, from Emily Isabella for Birch Organics. I went to Houston Quilt Market back in October and I absolutely fell in love with the line that, at the time, was about to be released. I actually gasped when I saw it, the colors were so prefect together but a little unexpected. I just knew I had to have it but I wanted to have all of the fabrics from the line together so I had to do a quilt. Fabricworm sent me this gorgeous set of Wonderland fat quarters then a little extra for the binding in Bows Blue (which is the prettiest color of blue) and enough for a few extra hearts in my favorite prints (like Croquet)!

Last year when I finished quilt number 8 I decided I should try to somehow start adding the date on my quilts. Wouldn’t it be so fun for my kids kids to look at the year and think how long ago this is?! I used my embroidery machine and added a little message on one of the heart blocks.

This isn’t the first time I had a love at first sight moment with an Emily Isabella line! Remember my love for the Homestead Line by Emily (pictured HERE on Bee’s Piggy Dress in Oink). I still love that entire line and I’m actually still hoarding a little bit of it. Like I said, my quilting skills are improving but I’m still pretty basic so I usually “stitch in the ditch” for my quilting. This time I actually broke out my Free Motion Foot and did some freehand wavy lines.

I thought about making this for my daughter for Christmas but then I remembered a precious quilt pattern, The Sweethearts Quilt, with heart blocks and decided on a Valentines Day Quilt! I have been sewing for years but I wouldn’t call myself a quilter, I usually stick to triangles, rectangles or square blocks :) So, this pattern was a little challenging for me in the best way. It still uses triangles and rectangles just more of them and they worked together to build the hearts. I was so proud of each block that I would rush into the living room… “LOOK WHAT I MADE!” and my family agreed that this is their favorite quilt yet so maybe there is something to this little challenge! This fabulous pattern is the Sweethearts Quilt Pattern for Cloud 9 and I highly recommend it! The pattern and tutorial are free and its super east to follow.

I found this back fabric at Joanns and I don’t even know what it is called, it has a texture almost like a seersucker but more square and larger. I love it and it is perfect for a thin and cool quilt backing.

I love how this gorgeous quilt turned out and I really hope I did the pretty fabric justice. Thank you so much Fabricworm for providing the fabric for this project!

Grinch Munch Popcorn

December 12, 2016 By Taylor Leave a Comment

I can’t believe we are 13 days away from Christmas! For some reason this year, the Holidays really crept up on me! I felt like this last year but it really had nothing on my current status haha! We are super busy, I think that comes with having kids that are getting older. Each one of them have more and more functions…. super fun and kind of exhausting. Ha! We are currently in the last week of school over here and you know what the means… field trips, parties, book exchanges, jammie day, and teacher/class gifts.

I have the teachers covered. All of the kids have amazing teachers this year who go above and beyond so we are getting them gift cards to their favorite restaurants. But… that leaves me with class party treats. I came across this Grinch Munch Popcorn from Imperial Sugar and I actually gasped at how perfect it was! Imperial is an amazing resource if you are looking for last minutes gifts (like me haha) that your kids can help with or just for fun crafts to do together over Christmas break. This treat is super cute and yes, it is sweet, but I think popcorn is a pretty decent snack that kids actually love. This one is super simple but pretty, so people will think you went to more trouble than you actually did haha!

You Need:

-Popcorn Kernels

-Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar

-Vegetable or Coconut Oil

– Sea Salt

-Green Food Coloring

– Christmas Sprinkles/Non-Pariels

Start by heating up 1/4 c of oil in a skillet or dutch oven with a lid. I like to use coconut oil with popcorn, but vegetable will work fine too. Put 2-3 kernels in the oil and when they all pop you know the oil is ready.

When the oil is ready, add in 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, 1/2 cup of Imperial Granulated Sugar, and green food coloring. Remove from heat, add lid and wait about 30 seconds.

Put back on heat and watch carefully (so you don’t burn the sugar) cook for 4-5 more minutes or until the popcorn pops slow down :) Add your Christmas sprinkles or non-non-pariels and sea salt.

This batch I made was huge so I bagged some up for the class party and my kids all had a really festive after school snack! This would also make a super cute girlfriend or teacher gift in a cute bag with a custom tag, So may options! Be sure to check out Imperial Sugar for more Christmas Recipes, and Holiday Crafts with kids. Imperial is also hosting a Holiday Baking Bonanza Contest with tons of amazing foodie loving prizes. Check that out HERE. Happy Holidays everyone!

Siberian Husky Costume

November 27, 2016 By Taylor 1 Comment

I love creative people and when I got an interesting Halloween Costume request (again) from my son, I couldn’t say no. Remember last year when he asked me to make him a Roach Costume?! Some people were grossed out but I was just excited that he wanted something different… that’s my boy! This year he asked me to sew him a Siberian Husky Costume, Hilarious and random!! Of course I had to deliver.

The biggest thing was he wanted to still be comfortable because they wear this costume to school (and we live in Texas, hello!) so I also didn’t want him melting. I found THIS HAT on amazon and it was perfect. Why make life harder than it needs to be when you can have a Husky hat at your door in 2 days, right? Thank goodness for Amazon.

For the base of the costume, I used a grey t-shirt and grey shorts that he already had, yay! I found some perfect grey and white faux fur from Joann’s. I sewed white fur to the “belly part” of the shirt and the grey fur to the entire back. I didn’t even try to hem it, I just sewed it right on the top. The tail is a simple tail shape, white on bottom, grey on top and sewed to an elastic band.

I found grey gloves at the dollar store and cut the fingers off. Don’t tell but I used hot glue to attach the fur haha! I mean, Halloween is one day after all, I thought about sewing fur gloves and then realized that was crazy.