Sewing

Whoa!  Two posts in one week.  I can’t remember the last time that happened — it’s been several years at least.  It’s Christmas though, and I like to keep a record of things we make and do, so I’m back again to record my biggest project for this Christmas.

I decided to make an Advent Calendar for FinallyAGirl this year. She’s definitely too young to get the concept of one-ornament-a-day, but I thought she might have fun playing with the ornaments this year, and the calendar will be ready when she knows what’s going on.

I started working on the ornaments during the last week of October.  I knew it would take awhile, but hoped that if I could finish one ornament a day, I’d be done with them by Thanksgiving.  Haha.  I couldn’t keep up.  I finally finished them the first week in December.  Pinterest was my best friend during the process — there’s tons of felt inspiration out there.

Of course, there had to be a little ornament to celebrate her best buddy, Winston.  The little gingerbread man is holding a string of beads that spell her name and the star doesn’t have a hanger because it has velcro on the back to stick it on the tree on the 24th of December.

When I saw felt puffins on Pinterest, I knew I had to include them.  And the same with the little llama (Llama Llama Red Pajama!). (And that orange bell is my very least favorite — it really MUST go.)

It really doesn’t matter what order the ornaments are put into the calendar, although the star really should be last.  And I prefer the little baby Jesus ornament to be saved for the 23rd too  — after all, you’re counting down to celebrate his birth.

After the ornaments were finished, I constructed the actual calendar and I was pretty much just winging it.  I wanted the pockets to be big enough to hold each ornament and maybe a little treat if her Mummy decides she’d like to do that each year.  The numbers were embroidered with my embroidery machine — I love love LOVE that Clarence font.  It’s so beautifully digitized and every time I use it I spend way too much time running my fingers over the letters and numbers because they feel so cool.  Clarence alone is a great reason to buy a Viking machine LOL.  (Note to self for next time I make one of these: the numbers are in a file called TheGirlsAdventCalendarNumbers.  I had to add this note because, two years later,  I’ve spent all day searching for the files and finally found them!)

I used a moda linen fabric for the background and attached the tree, the trunk and the star halo with a thin applique stitch on my machine and then I quilted the whole thing.  The very last step was to randomly attach 23 buttons to the tree — fortunately, I can sew buttons on with my machine.

I finished this little project around the 10th of December.  I didn’t worry that it was late, because, as I mentioned FinallyAGirl is too young to know what’s going on.  But, she loves to be busy and she sure gets the concept of playing around with something fun.  The calendar looks huge, but luckily, she won’t be this small forever.

This was a really fun project and I’m hoping to make more in the future. It was a ton of work though, so I need a little break LOL. Now, back to the wrapping, cleaning and baking and the last minute crunch. I hope it’s all going well for you!

XOXO,
Anna

Well hello — how’s it going out there? Do all you Christmas friends have everything under control??? I’m completely out of it over here. No decorating. No shopping. Nothing. Well, except for a little Christmas sewing — I might be baking or wrapping at midnight on the 24th, but I don’t plan to be sewing LOL.

So, in complete denial about the pending big event, I’ll show you a little doll carrier I made our little cherub several weeks ago. Well, it was probably longer than that — it was when Little Sister was born, and I wanted Big Sister to have a baby carrier so she could carry her babies around just like mommy.

This was such a fun little project and from what I could tell, FinallyAGirl really liked it.  The pattern is from Evelune on Etsy and the instructions were really clear and easy to understand.  I used the Home Sweet Home fabrics that I have available in my etsy shop and I added a sweet little monogram to the front pocket.

I love that the straps criss-cross in the back — it’s such a neat design — it keeps them from getting tangled.

FinallyAGirl spent some time checking all the features out.  Or maybe she was just checking the baby’s diaper — haha.  She definitely takes good care of her baby.  Her baby gets her own little blankie when they go to bed at night.  When they’re here visiting, it’s the little goldilocks quilt that I made for the doll crib.  I love seeing her play with the things I’ve made!

The only extras besides pattern and fabric that you need for this little carrier are snaps and those parachute buckles on the sides.  I had a really hard time finding white buckles locally, so I ended up ordering them on amazon.  While I was making this carrier, I went ahead and cut out one for FinallyAnotherGirl.  Before we know it, she’ll be needing one too.  I didn’t get it quite finished, but I have a little time left LOL.

Anyway, in case you need a quick, fun project for a little girl for Christmas, this is a great choice! Now, I must run back to the advent calendar I’m working on for the cherub. I’m ALMOST finished with it — hoping to wrap it up this weekend — it’s sort of late haha. Good thing she’s too little to know the difference.
Happy Merry Making!
XOXO,
Anna

WooHoo Boys and Girls! The summer travel season is upon us! (Well, it is if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere ;-D)

In preparation, I’ve been doing a little sewing and made a new travel bag.

After 12 or 13 years of faithful service, my long-time jumbo carry-on bag was starting to look a little frayed and worn, so, I decided to make a new one. I stuck with the same general pattern as the original (the ancient Simplicity 9779) and made some modifications.  The travel fabric is a linen print from Rifle Paper Co. that I had in my etsy shop at one time and the polka dots are Moda’s Linen Mochi dots, also now sold out.

For the back of the bag, I used the same travel print, but I didn’t have a large enough piece of the panels that I wanted, so I ended up fussy-cutting little scenes of the fabric and sewing a patchwork panel.  I also added a little sleeve to slip over the handle of my suitcase (and for size perspective, that’s my carryon in the picture, not a full size suitcase LOL).  My old bag didn’t have that sleeve and I had many occasions of rushing through the airport having to make frequent stops to rescue my big bag that had slipped off of the suitcase.  Hopefully, this sleeve will solve that problem.

Another modification to the original bag was to add this zipper gusset. (For the lining, I used the Amalfi Herb Garden print in mint by Rifle Paper Co.)   My original bag just had a loop and button closure, but the button just couldn’t stand up to the pressure of all the junk important items I cram into my bag, so it popped off several times. I’m hoping a zipper won’t rip out LOL. (Of course, I could just not stuff my bag so full, but where’s the fun in that?)

 I also changed up the handles from the original pattern and used leather handles this time.  The fabric handles of the original bag frayed out after just a few years of use.  Hopefully, those four little points of attachment will be able to handle the weight of the bag  ;-0.  And, in a nod to the jumbo monogram on the original bag, I included a tiny little one on this bag.  That way everyone will know it’s mine LOL.

This big bag will be making her inaugural trip on Friday and I’m SO excited! (I’m going to a few places and one of them is on the bag — can you guess LOL? Wait — here’s another hint — I’ll be seeing at least three long-time blogger friends on my trip ;-) ) Btw, if you’re going to be in need of any Liberty or Christmas (Christmas-in-July-sewing!) or other fabric from my little etsy shop, you have until Thursday, July 19th to get your order in, before I’m closed for several weeks. TheManOfTheHouse will still be here, but I’m pretty sure you DON’T want him cutting your fabric LOL!!!

XOXO,
Anna

One day this summer, I was just sitting around thinking about things and it dawned on me that this year marks a very special anniversary for me.  Although the math is a little hard to work out (me being barely 29 and all ;-) ), it turns out that it’s been 50 years since I learned to sew.  It hardly seems possible and makes me feel really ancient.

One day, way back when,  BigDaddy came home with the surprise of a new machine for MeMum.  She said she didn’t really know what to do with it (although she knew the basics of sewing) and “it sat in the dining room for a year “.  Finally, she took a class or two at the local community college.  I loved watching her cut out the pattern pieces and put them together to make something.  I think I must have bugged her to let me sew something, so she finally gave in and taught me how to sew.  I wonder, did she have any idea what that gift would mean to me in the coming years?  My very first project was a little wrap around dress.  The perfect beginner dress — no buttons or zippers.  I remember that my bias tape edging wasn’t perfect, but I wore my little wrap-around proudly.

Long-time readers probably know that I’m a die-hard Husqvarna Viking fan, in part because I was taught to sew on MeMum’s Viking (and mostly because they are amazing pieces of technology).  Here’s MeMum’s little beauty herself — the prized Viking 2000.  This machine is a fantastic little workhorse.  It has the ability to drop down into a lower gear (do machines even have that feature anymore?), so it can do some really heavy-duty sewing.  I even repaired the back of a leather shoe once with this machine.  (I found a fun little video extolling the virtues of the Viking 2000 by a sewing machine repairman on YouTube).

When I was 13, MeMum and BigDaddy got me my own sewing machine for Christmas.  It was a Singer and, after a year (and a lot of frustration), it was decided that I should get the Viking 2000 and MeMum got a new machine (this time an Elna — nothing close to the power of the Viking, but it had a gorgeous stitch and MeMum made all of her beautiful quilts on her Elna.)  The Viking took me through high school and college and a lot of sewing my own clothes.  As newlyweds TheManoftheHouse and I were stationed in Germany and we decided to take advantage of the “bargains” available living so close to Sweden, so we bought a new Viking — the 6690.  It was the first electronic Viking and I made lots of kiddie clothes and learned to quilt on this baby.

Then came the era of embroidery machines.  By now, the kids were in high school, and, of course, I neeeeeeded one.  Enter Hester.  My beloved Hester.  The only machine, for some reason, that I actually named LOL.  This model introduced the even-feed foot — no more walking feet for machine quilting — yipee!

And last year, I guess in retrospect, to celebrate 50 years, I upgraded to the Epic.  I didn’t really need a new machine — Hester is still going strong.  But, Hester’s technology scares me — she takes her instructions on a floppy disk.  You can’t even buy a computer with a floppy disk these days — it’s an obsolete technology.  So, darn it, again, I neeeded to upgrade.  I was forced.  Against my will.  LOL.  I’ll probably never even come close to using the features of this machine — so far, it’s just been a few simple embroideries and a lot of quilting.  I love the 1/4″ quilting foot which I moved from Hester to this machine.  I know just how to adjust the machine to get the perfect 1/4″ seam.

So, anyway, that’s 50 years of sewing for me. I can’t imagine my life without sewing in it — I get a little cranky if I can’t sew at least every few days LOL. I would say I’m looking forward to the next 50, but I think we all know that’s not logical. I’m hoping to get close though!

XOXO,
Anna