sewing Archives - Page 6 of 24

Vintage Sheet Quilt

January 8, 2016 By Taylor 5 Comments

The first moment I saw a vintage sheet quilt years ago, I knew I had to make one! The pastel colors mixed with the jewel tones… I can’t even handle it. So a few years ago, I started collecting vintage sheets from sales that I saw on Instagram, Etsy and eBay. I bought some full sheets for the back and binding by mostly just fat quarter cuts of sheets that people had split up.

Once I felt like I had enough, I decided on just doing 4″ squares so I could still see as much of the design as possible. I cut the squares and finished the top back in 2014… here we are in 2016, slowest quilt ever haha.

Even if it took two years, I’m done and I love it! It’s larger than a twin but smaller than a full. The perfect size in my opinion. I didn’t have any rhyme or reason to where I placed the squares. Then I learned that random is sometimes harder because I didn’t want any two of the same pattern touching… so that took some maneuvering.

I used very thin cotton batting because, it’s Texas y’all… it doesn’t get that cold here. Speaking of Texas, I love the way the quilt looks in this field behind our house… there is literally a woman walking a cow in the background if you look really closely haha!

I’m a terrible machine quilter because I’m not a big perfectionist and when I start running out of steam or get bored I just hurry through… so don’t look too closely at the top quilting on this. I did every other row right down the center, and I love the way that turned out too. A little different than my stitch in the ditch method. I used a full sheet for the back so I didn’t have to worry about the seams. And speaking of not being a perfectionist, I machine quilted my binding on too. This was actually the only “non-sheet” fabric on the quilt. I found it at Walmart of all places but it has a funky 70’s vibe and dark colors so I thought it would outline it perfectly.

Overall, this quilt was super simple to make and I should have finished it years ago (literally). I barely had the last stitch in it and the boys were dragging it to the couch :) We all fight over THIS ONE so now we have two to argue over haha. Also… big shout out to my husband who stood in a field holding up a pastel quilt while cars drove by during 5:00 traffic, he’s a keeper.

DIY TeePee with Forest Fables Fabric

December 9, 2015 By Taylor 33 Comments

I have had a DIY TeePee on my to-make list for years now! When Meaghan and Lindsay of Hawthorne Threads asked me to participate in a Blog Hop for their new in-house fabric line Forest Fables, of course I said yes. We bounced around a few ideas and then I remembered my TeePee idea and everyone was excited!

I have followed Hawthorne Threads for years so I knew they sold designer fabric but I really had no idea that they had so many of their own fabric lines that they printed themselves! The best part is they print the fabric to order so they never run out :) When I received the fabric it felt different than usual quilting cotton, they sent a note about washing and about using a finer needle since their thread count is so high. I always prewash when making clothing but this TeePee won’t ever be washed so I worked with it how it was, which was awesome since the fabric is somewhat stiff after printing.

Their newest line, Forest Fables was inspired by the classic tales of “Three Billy Goats Gruff” and “Chicken Little”, as well as handcrafted embroidery and paper cutting. As soon as I read that I was all in haha! I love the blush and mustard colors in the Harvest Palette. I obviously had to go with the Folk Tails for the main body and I accented with Floral Stitch for the door.

I did a little bit of “DIY TeePee Research” and it seemed like all the ones that I found online that I like originated from this one HERE. The tutorial is great and worked perfectly for me! I love when I don’t have to reinvent the wheel :) I was inspired by a few solid lace TeePees I have seen in blogland so I wanted to incorporate some lace in mine too. I traced out a pattern piece for the panels that I found in the tutorial but I just hacked it on the top part. I cut fabric panels of the bottom pattern piece and lace panels for the top (don’t forget seam allowances on both pieces). Then I sewed them together, ironed the lace toward the fabric side and top stitched. From there I could just follow the original tutorial just the same.

I was originally going to make my own bias tape but I had been hoarding that gold tape for almost a year and this project seemed perfect!

Lastly, I added some “Bohemian Flair” to the top. I wrapped yarn around the top and attached it with hot glue.

I used some more fabric from the line and a scrap of gold that I had to make some hanging embroidery hoops. I also did a little fabric bunting out of long scraps that I had.

We basically all (the kids and I) love it! And the fabric couldn’t be more perfect! Let me know if you have any other questions about the TeePee! But now for the best part…

A GIVEAWAY!… One lucky reader is going to win a Forest Fables Fat Quarter Bundle in the Harvest color way!

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Be sure to check out all of the other fabulous blogger on the blog hop!

Monday, December 7th – Brooklyn Pattern Co.
Tuesday, December 8th – Clover and Violet
Wednesday, December 9th – Taylor Made
Thursday, December 10th – Film in the Fridge
Friday, December 11th – Hawthorne Threads

Floral Avery Dress and a Giveaway!

December 3, 2015 By Taylor 3 Comments

Who can resist a cute toddler in a floral dress? I can’t thats for sure :) I jump at the chance to “girl” up my girl whenever I can so when ModKid Boutique asked me to participate in the Merry Modkid Blog Hop of course I said yes!

Bee was in need of some more long sleeved dresses since were (finally) going into winter over here so I thought the Avery Dress would be perfect! I also love patterns that are girly but still a little bohemian. And don’t get me started on these fringe boots.

The Avery is a drop waist dress and there are actually 3 sleeve lengths and a few extras like a pocket and belt loops. I went with one floral fabric all over (it’s a Voile that I found at Joanns) but the pictures of the contrasting peter pan collar were adorable too! I also am a sucker for anything with a lot of buttons… 7 to be exact.

I wish I would have sized up because I think she will only be able to fit into the dress this season; which only means one thing… she will be wearing it a lot :) But that’s OK because its perfect for playing with dolls, or taking your bow off to play swords with your brothers!

Overall we both love the dress! She might not keep a bow in her hair but sister loves a good twirly dress!

Now for a giveaway! Merry Modkid is giving away 2 PDF patterns of the winner’s choice! For any of you who have to get your patterns now, I also have a discount code for you! Also…. Don’t forget to go check out all of the other amazing creations fromthese talented ladies!… Good luck and happy making!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Discount Code: The coupon code MERRYMODKID25 gets 25% off an entire order on the Modkid Etsy store, valid Monday 11/30 through Friday 12/04 at midnight EST.

DIY Roach Costume

November 3, 2015 By Taylor 5 Comments

Yes, you read that right! My son wanted to be a roach for Halloween and I said yes :)

A few months ago I was throwing around group costume ideas for the three kids. Nothing was sticking then my oldest said, “what about bugs”? I immediately liked the idea because my daughters name is Bee so naturally she could dress as a Bee. Then my four year old got super excited cause he wanted to be a lizard. Who am I to crush his dreams and tell him that a lizard isn’t actually a bug? A Bee and a Lizard, done. But then my oldest son said he wanted to dress up as a roach?! I tried to talk him out of it because how does one even go about sewing a roach suit?? But he was determined and I like a good sewing challenge so I said let’s go for it!

There is very little roach costume inspiration out there, which is good and bad haha. I didn’t have anything to live up to in the era of Pinterest expectations but I also didn’t have a clue how to make it! After a good ol’ google search, I did find one awesome “cape” that a legit costume designer made and I pinned it HERE. After I saw that I knew a cape was the way to go. I found some brown jeans and a brown tee from the mens section so I just cut it down and sewed up the sides) for the body and got to work on the roach cape.

I bought brown suiting for the legs and ironed a very stiff fusible interfacing to the wrong side so they would be extra stiff. I used hot glue to attach a thin strip of brown faux fur to each leg… creepy right? For the antenna I used the suiting with some jewelry wire inside and a little brown pom-pom glued at the end.

Then I freehanded roach-shape-wings on to some brown satin. I used quilt batting inside them and sandwiched it between. I also sandwiched the legs between the wing layers before sewing right sides together. Then I flipped them right side out and top-stitched. The wings are two separate pieces but sewn together at the top where they connect. Then I added a neck hood/cape part with double batting and a layer of felt in between so it would stand up a little more. It was so thick that I really would have liked to hand-sew it so there wasn’t a huge line down the middle but, it was the day before Halloween and mama only has so much time.

I added a neck piece made from the suiting and used velcro to attach it.

Overall I’m really happy with the way it turned out, and he was super excited about it! I also learned that some people have quite the aversion to roaches… even when the model is a cute six year old haha! Stay tuned for the lizard and bee later this week :)