a little dress

...for my little girl.

 We borrowed the neighbor's dogs for the photo shoot....

 you know, to up the cuteness factor and to distract her from doing cheesy poses in front of the camera.

The ruffles were a huge pain to sew, but worth it in the end.

Apparently the dress is comfy.

The fabric is vintage gingham from my grandma's stash (yay!). I used the picture perfect dress pattern from Vanessa's book. The pattern was wonderful...and I'm not good at following patterns, usually, but this one came together pretty easily. I'm pleased that it worked so well. Thanks Vanessa, for helping to make this dress possible!

The dress is versatile...it also works for playing basketball. :)

small projects sew along finale

Happy June, everyone! As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm going to be hosting a little link up party today to celebrate the completion of our small project sew along. Thank you to everyone who joined in. The accountability that comes with hosting a sew along is something that I needed, so thanks for helping me! I hope it motivated you to get a few things done, too.

I was going to get all fancy and make a flickr mosaic of all my small projects from the last month, but that's not going to happen today. I've got way too much to do today (as always) so it might happen later or not at all. BUT....I did finish one more project today. My dreaded kitchen curtains.

This is what they looked like before....

Half and half....

At the end.

And closed.

I used an IKEA duvet set that I cut up and lined each panel with other flat IKEA sheets. Making curtains is brutal. I hated the process and I almost abandoned the projects a few times. But, I'm stubborn and I'm a die hard finisher....so I stuck it out. I think I will enjoy the results after time heals the pain. :) I'm thrilled to have them D.O.N.E.

So, here's one last look at the list:

1. Patchwork lanyard
2. Vintage sheet skirt with lining

3. Dress!

4. Zippered box bag
5. Tiny trash cans
6. 9 patch pin cushions
7. Van trash cans x 2
8. Guitar strap
9. Granny square pillow cover
10. Thread catchers (with tiles)
11. Color coded storage boxes for stash
12. Patchwork belt
13. Another flirt skirt
14. Drawstring backpack
15. Kitchen curtains
16. Ticker tape on canvas  I made 3 total
17. Kitchen chair pads I bought some, so they are off the list!
18. Dress for my daughter yet to be blogged about, but it's made.
19. Table topper for TV console table
20. Mini quilt for front entry table

I was able to finished 10 out of 20, which isn't too shabby at all! I'm happy with my results and I'm sooo ready to get back to quilting something...anything!

Now it's your turn! Write a little summary or wrap up post of your small projects on your blog, then link up to your specific post to show off what you accomplished! Link ups will close late Monday night. Thanks for joining in! Hope you have a great weekend!

vintage sheet skirt

Well, I'm happy to be able to cross one more thing off the list! I sewed up this A line skirt yesterday afternoon. I'm so pleased with it! I started with a partial vintage sheet that I got from Heather a few years ago. It's crazy how much lag time there is from acquiring fabric to actually sewing with it...but I digress! I was able to eek out just enough length for my skirt. I added a lining, which is a detail that gave me a bit of trouble, but it was well worth the stitch ripping in the end. Overall, the skirt has a really nice finished look and feel. The lining adds a lot of stability to the skirt...which is nice. :) This is the same pattern I used for this skirt, which I sewed nearly one year ago. The pattern came from the book Flirt Skirts, which is a very handy resource for skirt sewing. The only issue with this one is that it is a little too wide for me. But no worries, I've got big hips. It's good that they are good for something. :)

van trash cans

Before I officially start my post today, I want to mention that I'm doing a book signing and talk about Sunday Morning Quilts at the Calla Lily Quilt Shop in Blaine, MN, on June 9th, which is coming up quickly! You can read the details here and find out how to register to hold your spot if you are interested. If you are in the area, I'd love to see you there!

Ok...I'm still working on my small projects list. I hope you are too! I'm doing one final push to get a few more things completed before May is through. I'm planning on hosting a link up party on Friday, June 1, for everyone who participated in the small projects sew along. It will be fun to see what you got done!

Today I made these a-dor-a-ble trash cans for my perpetually messy van. Here's hoping they help! :) You can find the tutorial here. Thanks Tara!

The oil cloth (or is it laminated fabric? i'm not sure) came from Treadle in St. Paul. The sweet yellow print is one of my very favorite fabrics ever. It's made by Connecting Threads and you can find it here. The little red polka dot fabric is vintage fabric from my grandma. I'm only using it in small quantities for that reason! I absolutely love this fabric combo. I think they all work together so beautifully.

This one is identical  to the first, except I used this gray print from my stash (that I found while I was treasure hunting at Mill End Textiles). I love them as a pair. Now I want to make a yellow and red and gray quilt. Wouldn't that be perfectly lovely? Maybe after I cross a few other things off the list.

I tested these and they look perfectly lovely over my craft room door as well.

Not that I need a trash can there, but a bit of cuteness doesn't hurt!

ticker tape on canvas

I took my ticker tape concept and translated it onto canvas.

Not much to say about it besides the fact that I LOVE IT!

So, I made another. This one is in my chopped rhubarb color scheme. I really, really LOVE this one as well.

Each piece measures 11" x 14".
I'm gonna make more...just as soon as I can!
Another bonus, one more project checked off my small projects list.

more small projects

I am slowly but surely making my way through my small projects list. It feels good!

First off, I made these lanyards for me and my sister at wear to quilt market. A patchwork lanyard has been on my list for over 3 years. Probably closer to 5. I'm so glad that I finally got around to it. Sheesh, that took long enough!

Look at all that patchwork. It makes me happy! I didn't use a pattern, just made them up as I went. I wouldn't recommend the method I used to anyone. ha! They will work, nonetheless.

Also, I made close to 20 of these babies. Thread catchers, tiny trash cans, whatever you want to call them. It's a pattern I made up (which I'm thinking of selling when I get around to it...). I love these. It was fun to play with just two fabrics at a time. I loved putting together the different color combinations from my stash. I gave these to my retreat attendees and we used them to catch our trash and threads when we sewed. They also doubled as a little gift basket. They held a few goodies including their name tags, a tiny 9 patch pin cushion along with some fabulous soap and lip balm (a la Tara). They were fun little projects to make and to give!
So here's what my list looks like now:

1. Patchwork lanyard
2. Vintage sheet skirt with lining
3. Dress!
4. Zippered box bag
5. Tiny trash cans
6. 9 patch pin cushions
7. Van trash cans x 2
8. Guitar strap
9. Granny square pillow cover
10. Thread catchers (with tiles)
11. Color coded storage boxes for stash
12. Patchwork belt
13. Another flirt skirt
14. Drawstring backpack
15. Kitchen curtains
16. Ticker tape on canvas
17. Kitchen chair pads  I bought some, so they are off the list! :)
18. Dress for my daughter
19. Table topper for TV console table
20. Mini quilt for front entry table

Hurray for progress!!!

a dozen pin cushions

I've been having a lot of fun with my small projects list. These pin cushions are proof positive of that. They are small-only 3.5" finished. The more I made, the cuter they looked. :) I may have squealed (a lot) when I was making these. I had to make myself stop at a dozen and move on to the next thing on my list.

I wanted to say thanks a bunch for all the sweet comments on my dress!!! You all sure know how to make a girl feel good. :)

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There are a few giveaways going on right now that you might want to check out.

*Notions (the Connecting Threads blog) is doing a giveaway of Sunday Morning Quilts! They are offering up 3 copies of the book! Head on over and leave a comment to enter your name into the virtual hat.

*Pat Bravo is giving away a fat quarter bundle of the gorgeous new fabric line Rhapsodia over on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog. It's definitely worth checking out!

Both giveaways are going on through Monday, May 7th.

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!!!

dress!!!!!!

I finished my dress! And it fits!

I LOVE it!!!

I'm very happy that it won't be graded by a Home Ec teacher because I don't think I'd get a very good grade. BUT...it fits, AND it's wearable...even out of the house! I'd call that a success.

Pattern: New Look 6557
Fabric: clearance cotton ($3/yard)
Total cost of fabric, pattern, zipper and supplies: less than $20
Not. Too. Bad.