Reverse Applique-I've gone a bit nuts.

It started a while back.  First, I moved my sewing room.  When we moved here I put my sewing room in the basement in the guest room.  I thought it ideal since we only have visitors five or so times a year.  Then I realized that I didn't like the basement.  It is cold and the 1ft x 2ft window really didn't let much light in.

I had been eyeing A's room for a while now. It is small and the perfect size for a sewing room.  Finally, when she went from crib to toddler bed, she and S started talking about sharing a room again.  They were both leaving their lights on or using night lights so I thought, "Why not?"  We moved A into S's room, bought a loft bed, and voila-I got a sewing room upstairs that is well lit and in the middle of the action.  To make myself feel less like I was stealing a 3 year old's room, I put their white table along with all their crayons, markers and pencils in it and call it the craft room.  A knows the real deal though and, although she colors in there ALL the time, calls it the sewing room.

Ever since moving it up, I have been sewing up a storm.  To tell you the truth I had been a bit worried that I had lost the sewing bug.  But, after two months and lots of projects and a real thought about making most of S's summer clothes (A still has so many hand-me-downs that she is covered), I have concluded that sewing is still wonderful!

My newest obsession is with reverse applique.  I mean, 1. I got a serger for Christmas so knits are being used and 2. you can use a straight stitch and not have to worry about zig-zag and catching the edge!  It is perfect.  I first tried it on some $3.50 skirts that I found in Target's clearance area.

It is not too cute, right?  But then I cut it.  If it went horribly wrong, it only cost me $3.50!!

Then I put in the favorite colors and I have a skirt that they love!!

I also had a couple of shirts that the girls love, but are growing out of.  The one below was long-sleeved and not going to last until next winter.  So, I cut off the sleeves, picked the bottom seam open to give it a bit more length, and sergered the ends using the lettuce leaf style.  Not perfect, but only my second try.  The flower on the skirt was made using the rest of the sleeve!!

I also had a shirt in my stash that E made with the sharpie-tie-dye method.  He wanted to join in the fun when we made ours, but was really never going to wear it.  I used his shirt for the outfit below.  (Almost got in trouble since there was only enough for A's outfit. S got just plain white hearts and she wasn't happy!  I tried to explain that her shirt was right and blue so she didn't need tie-dye, but she was still a bit miffed.)

A is into asking to have the same outfit as everyone else.  I wore a black yoga skirt last week and she was all about it for the rest of the week.  As I said before, I really do think that I will sew most of S's summer clothes so when I went to get several t-shirts from Wal-mart this week (has everyone noticed that Target has all but quit selling plain tees?  Or is it just my Target?) I made sure to get black ones.  I ended up making this dress for S (then adding a third sun after the picture.)  

I got S's done on Friday and A would not let me stop sewing on Sat. until hers was done.  I swear the child is a task-master, not to mention a fashionista!!  She requested a tiny sun on hers.

They both wanted to wear them today-Mother's Day!  It turned out perfect.  I didn't intend it, but you can't beat "you are my sunshine" on Mother's Day.  

I don't know how long they will last with so much of the fabric cut up, especially since I cut that third sun on the seam where the shirt and skirt go together.  I hope they make it through the summer!

Next up are some more dresses either all ruffles or a maxi or some with fabric paint (bought some to try the freezer paper stencil).  I also might buy this pattern for little shorts.  I could just make my own, but hope to get a better fit from this one.  Either way, the serger is getting some use and the girls are getting their favorite type of clothes-stretchy, non-itchy ones.

PS-S made a little Mother's Day book at school.  In it, it says, "My mother makes the best ___________" S wrote clothes!  That made my day along with the "Mom, I love you more than..." She wrote, "my blue frog."  Now that is love people!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Simple, but pretty

I have been sewing a bit lately. On the downside, it seems like I am sticking with what I know and not expanding my abilities. On the upside, I am trying to make those things prettier!

It has been bags lately. I wanted to make some for the Craft Hope Project 16. I am torn between wanting to make a lot since I am using a simple tote pattern and trying to make even the simple things pretty and unique. I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I will never take the time to make the beautiful outfits that are on so many blogs. I have little hope that my kids would even wear them. So instead I will make things that make me happy! I made two totes to send off and sewed on a LOT of buttons to give the bags some heart ;)

Yep, totally in the Valentine's Day mode. I hope those stupid buttons stay on!! I have never quite gotten that part of my machine-sewn buttons down. Maybe I should read all the instructions all the way through. Maybe one day!

After completing those bags, I decided to make another for a friend of S who is having a birthday soon. S conveniently wanted to give her a book and I thought how better to give a book than in a bag!! For this one, I wanted to try something that I had been thinking about for awhile. You know all those ruffles that people have been putting on shirts? Why not make letters out of them! Here is the unfinished bag.

The ruffles were sssssoooo easy to make.  I used the high tension on my machine and it gathered the strips of t-shirt perfectly. I am making the inside and straps so that S can then assemble it herself. She will be so proud!

To end on a downer, I have discovered that I do indeed need to use pins even on these simple rectangular projects :( The bags that I am giving away do not exemplify my best stitching. Thank goodness the seams are hidden inside!!

My first fabric autopsy.

So, I have been a good sewer lately, but not a good blogger.  I hear you can't have everything!

I have had a distraction from both sewing and blogging.  That would be our new puppy, Maggie.

She is so sweet, except for those times when she is biting the living daylights out of you!  A can with some pinto beans inside is finally setting that craziness to rights. That is about our fifth attempt at calming the puppy chewing and my poor hands are happy that she is responding to it!!

Anyway, I have been sewing some (on the new serger :)), but hate to leave Maggie alone upstairs.  Since she isn't housebroken I haven't taken her downstairs where there is carpet.  I finally just brought up my sewing machine yesterday and installed it on the dining room table.  It is not ideal, but 1. I am getting some great exercise running up and down the stairs because lord knows I need all my little gadgets that are in my sewing room and 2. I am getting some sewing done.  Yesterday, I made a draft stopper for an unused door in the kitchen.  It must have been the front door at some point since it and not the current front door has a doorbell, but now it is rarely used.  It lets in lots of cold air though and I have been meaning to make a stopper, but who wants to make a tube and stuff it with poly-fil?  I finally did just that yesterday and the thing works like a charm.

Today, I wanted to tackle a cute project that I had put on pinterest a few weeks ago.  Again, this is related to Maggie.  Since her arrival, we have been spending lots of time in the floor of our living room.  We are not always playing since the cute little thing sleeps a lot, but she likes to sleep on our laps.  Therefore, we often have the computer on the ottoman surfing the web or watching shows while she snoozes.  I noticed just after an hour or two that the computer gets really hot, so I have been placing it on a board that came with a Melissa and Doug toy that A got for Christmas.  It works great and I thought it would be even better as a lap desk.  I started the project today and hoped to get it mostly done in the hour before I had to pick S up from school.  That would have been the case if I had not messed up :(

After sewing the piping (and cutting excess)I thought that I must have measured wrong because the pillow part did not fit the board part.  I had to leave it to pick up the kids, but it was bugging me.  When I got home, I picked the seams so that I could lay the board on the fabric and see what had gone wrong.  I had also noticed that two of the corners didn't lay right, but didn't know why.  Here is what I saw (with the ruined piping on top.)

You see how two corners are diagonals while the other two are squares?  I started the project all over again and not until I made the corners again and ALL of them ended on the diagonal did I understand what I had done--not read the directions!!  You make the line perpendicular  to the RAW edge.  Tada.  Wow, how my life would be easier if I would be more careful about that kind of thing!!  Anyway, 5 hours later, I have a completed, cute lap desk.

I apparently need to work on my hot glue gunning skills, but other than that I am super happy!  Yay tutorials of useful things!!

Christmas Gifts!

I don't know what came over me, but I have been sewing up a storm lately.  The saddest thing about that though is that along with sewing I have been trolling the blogosphere and seeing all the wonderful things everyone else has been making.  Usually blogs make me happy, but right now, I feel...lacking.  That is a bummer.  Regardless, I am happy with what I've done.  Here is a breakdown.
1. Something I can't show because it is a gift.  I will post a pic after Christmas.
2. Zippered clutches for teachers.

I tried out my own shape on this one, but need to work on it a bit more.  I wanted the bottom to be even wider than the top.

I got this idea from another blog.  I like the wristlet even though I wonder if it will get caught on things in your purse.  I guess I will have to make myself one to see ;)  I put little Christmas ornaments that we had gotten from a Christmas market in Germany in the pouches to make them a bit more personal.

I liked making these clutches so much and find them to be such a good gift, that I finally went on Etsy and bought a ton of zippers.  I also started putting ribbons on the zippers.  I saw this on other people's work and thought it gave things a pretty look.

3. S has asked for a sewing machine for Christmas, so I have started letting her sew a little on my machine.  Here is her first attempt at curves.

After she had sewn it, she decided it looked like a penguin.  She made me sew on buttons for the eyes, beak, and wings.  I think it looks like one of those ugly dolls, but smartly kept that opinion to myself!!

We have started on a skirt for her too while she was home sick all week, but she tired out after just a few rows of stitches.

4. I have been meaning to make more pj pants for the girls forever!  I just never get around to it even though S still wears the ones I made for her in 2009!! That is what one can do when one just grows up and not out! Anyway, I bought some owl fabric back in Oct. and finally got around to sewing some pants last week.

They needed some major adjustment the next day (she wore them at night even with a bad fit), but after that they are good.  Her sister's on the other hand, still have elastic sticking out of them.  She refuses to try them on to let me get the elastic size or the length.  Little Devil!

5. She did "allow" me to make her a little bag for her princesses though.

Wasn't that nice of her.

6. The last thing that I did this month was a re-fashion for my sister.

That is her in the middle.  She asked if I could make something for her daughter out of a shirt she (my sister) didn't wear anymore, but liked the color of.  I have had the shirt since October and had basically given up hope of making anything before Christmas, when inspiration struck.  I have, as mentioned before, been surfing the web more than normal these past few weeks.  I had the Go To Dress pattern from a while ago.  Then she posted the Circle Pocket Dress. I took the two and made this.

I haven't gotten any little girl to try it on (like I said, S has been sick and I hate for her snotty nose to go into this), so the sleeves are still unfinished.  I am happy though with how I took down the size of the shirt, but kept the collar and the hem of the sleeves.  I hope they are about the right size.

And that my dear friends is all I got.  I must say, I am a bit sewn out now.  Hopefully the New Year will bring more sewing inspiration!

Merry Christmas!

The School Dress

OK, I am super excited and proud of myself.  I have to admit it.  It took me a long time, but I finally made S a dress out of her school shirt.  She started kindergarten this year and I REALLY wanted her to like it.  It has been a tough year with the move and it has been a bit hard for all of us to find our place here.  I hoped, and have not been disappointed, that a new school year with a new class where most people were new would give us an opportunity to meet people.  It has.  S seems to be enjoying her class and her classmates.  I have met many nice mothers and school staff.

Along with being verbally positive about school, I have also tried to make it positive with things. For instance, like many of your kids, she got to pick out her backpack and lunch box.  She got to buy some new school clothes and shoes.  Back in May, we had kindergarten orientation and they sold school shirts.  I encouraged S to get one even though I knew she might never wear it.  She is not into t-shirts like those.  She would get one each year from her gymnastics class but never wear it.  I don't blame her.  They don't fit like the tees from Target.  They are huge on her.  They are wide, like two times her size, and then the sleeves go down to her elbow because the shoulder seem is halfway down her arm.  But, like I said, I really wanted to encourage her and help her see the "coolness" in her new school.

It has been 4 months now and even though the shirt was washed and hanging in her closet she did not wear it once.  I knew that I would have to alter it if I ever wanted her to wear it.  I have been trying to decide what to do and how to do it for about the entire 4 months.  Finally, I went to Target and bought some t-shirts that were on sale so that I could try to make a dress out of it.  Here were my starting supplies:

My original thought was to make the shirt itself narrower and then to add gathered tiers similar to t-shirt dresses I made before.  The shirt was a youth small but even that was way too wide.  I started by just cutting about two inches from each side, cutting off the sleeves as well.  When I then sewed up the sides and put it on S, it was still very long going below her bottom.  I like the tie-dye look to the shirt and wanted to preserve it as much as possible, so I knew the original idea would not work.

When I think of school skirts, I often think of pleated ones (too many catholic school girl characters on TV). So, I thought that I could just use about 5 in. of the maroon t-shirt (a mens' XXL) and add that to the bottom.  I did nothing to the width, just used the bottom 5 in. of the shirt.  I attached it to the altered KRS shirt by pinning it to the middles and sides.  Then I made the pleats (4 front/4 back) so that all the material was used up.  This saved lots of sewing!!  After I did that, I wanted to make the sleeves long since it is about to be cold up here.  I also needed to make the diameter of the sleeves smaller so that they would fit her arm.  (Even after I did this and tried to make the maroon part of the sleeves narrow, she still says they are big.) So I cut up the sleeves, added the maroon part and then reattached.  I faked the serger-type seam on the sleeves so that it would look more "normal."  Here is the finished article:

 It seems like I still could of taken a couple of inches away from the width, but I wanted it to be easy for her to play in.  She likes it a lot and wore it to school the first day she could.  She even got a compliment on it before school even started.

I so wish we could find maroon knee socks. That would look so cute.  I might buy some white ones and dye them maroon.  That would mean she could wear the dress even in colder weather and look super cute.

Her sister has already asked for one of her own!

I was really wild and crazy this weekend and made the girls cute (in my opinion) little change purses that have a strap.  I saw a little girl at the Y with one and thought it was a great idea.  S has already lost one wallet and I fear it may be in a shopping cart at Target or the grocery store.  With a strap she can just wear it.  So far it has not caught on with the girls  :(

That is all for now.  Hopefully, I will have more soon!

So long summer...

I know that I said that I would write about our staycation and the earthquake and hurricane Irene, but really I don't want to.  Suffice it to say that E planned a wonderful staycation for us that took us every where from the Bethlehem, PA Musikfest to the NY Renaissance Faire.  We went somewhere almost every day and spent a good bit of time there and then I came home and vegged out in front of the TV.

As for the natural disasters that came along, they were the best type for US in that we felt/saw them but had no real damage from either.  Unfortunately many people in our area and others can not say that and I hope they will be able to see some relief soon!!  The earthquake was my first and it did scare the begeesus out of me and S.  A slept right through it.  I would not want to be in a bigger one just as I would not want to be in anymore hurricanes!!

OK, I do want to say that a have sewn at least a little tiny bit.  I got inspired by Casey and Melissa in TX to at least sew a back-to-school outfit for each girl.  I didn't want to make them short sleeves though since the time for that is soon ending here so I made the shirts long sleeves which means that the girls really haven't gotten to wear them to school or anywhere else really. (Can you see I like the word really??)

Here is S's.  She picked out the blue fabric long ago in TX.

I put white fabric underneath for the look but also because the blue fabric is practically see through like so many other fabrics and with the sequins I thought it would be itchy.  S has worn the skirt and likes it, but has yet to wear the whole outfit.

I am pretty proud of the flower because I HAND STITCHED it on with white embroidery thread.  I ironed it on first with webbing so hope between the two it will actually stay.

I liked the double layer of S's skirt so I decided to do the same with A's skirt. She picked out the material so I thought this would be an easy sale.  However, she has refused to wear it so far :(

I had recently read that extras like these buttons make kids like their clothes better, but so far it is a no go.  I hope that when I embellish the shirt she will like it enough to wear, but I can't think of anything to put on the shirt.  PLEASE comment if you have an idea.  She loves sheep, but I don't think I can make a good looking sheep from red fabric on a white shirt.  I really don't know if I can make a good looking sheep on anything!!

And then as I facebooked earlier, I spent more of my time today trying to do origami than sewing or blogging.  This is my treat for S's lunch box since apparently other parents have been putting cute little cards in their kids' lunches.  Oh keeping up the the Jones' has already begun!  One of her classmates (Kindergarten remember) has already gotten an iPod for his birthday.  Oh, Christmas/Birthdays are really going to start hurting I fear.

It is suppose to be a goldfish and a dolphin if you couldn't tell.  I found instructions at http://thestir.cafemom.com/home_garden/2300/Hello_Origami_Club.

Happy Wednesday!

Lots of Attention!

S went to school last week and was the talk of the school for a day.  Why? Because I told her teacher about her new dress.

Usually I do not brag about my work (except perhaps to friends, neighbors, sewing circle pals, etc ;) This day, however, I made an exception because I was really bragging about S.  She has been bugging me forever or at least since we bought this fabric to make her a dress.  I did make both girls tunics using this fabric and pink t-shirts, but S has grown out of hers so she was really wanting another.  I told her to draw out the dress she wanted and the dress above was what she drew.  I was really impressed since I had been wanting to make something like this ever since I saw a similar dress made out of knit.

When we went to school and the teacher told her how beautiful her dress was, I made sure to tell her that S had designed it.  At the end of the day, when I picked S up the kids were on the playground.  While I waited for her to finish up playing, I heard at least two groups of adults talking about S's dress and how she had designed it.  I was so proud!!

I just hope her next design is as easy to make ;)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

Normally, Wednesday means something about New Jersey.  Today, though, we have some special, exciting news. What you may ask. SEWING.  Yes, it has been a long time.  When we moved we had lots to do.  Then, to be honest, I didn't want to make anything that would clutter up my already cluttered house.  I mean there are so many cute things on the web these days like this mini-tent on Sew Mama Sew, but really it is just something else to put in the girls' rooms or heaven forbid, the family room downstairs that I just can't justify making it.  Add to that the cold weather up here that has prevented the girls from wearing dresses and you wipe out almost everything that I sew on a regular basis.

It was hard not sewing because that was one thing that gave me a feeling of accomplishment.  Yes, I do have two beautiful girls and a wonderful husband, but really on a day-to-day basis they are my reason for complaining not for smiling.  Sorry family! That may sound awful, but it is sadly true. After I stopped sewing,  I didn't know how to get back into it.  I had no circle of encouraging friends (nearby) and no real goal.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I pulled out a quilt that I had meant to finish for Father's Day LAST YEAR! I don't remember what prevented that from happening other than a lack of time, but it didn't get done.  Well, I pulled it out and started working on it.  That feeling of peace that comes from sewing finally came back to me.  Yay! I started looking on the blogs again.  I even found some inspiration.

So yesterday, while the girls were at school, I stopped working on the quilt (so hoping to get it done for this Father's Day) and made a book caddy for A's room.  Her room is really one of the worst in the house.  It is so small. (It would be a great sewing room.  In fact, if we stay here that long, I see the girls moving downstairs and me having that room ;)) It doesn't help that we still have the changing table from Germany which is larger than an American changing table.  We also still need a chair in there for story time. With S we just sit on her bed, but A is still in the crib.  There is also a HUGE play kitchen in there that worked great in our big Texas house, but not so well here.  The girls still love it though (seriously probably the best gift we have ever given either of them!) Anyway, the point is she has so much and her room looks awful. There is no room for a bookshelf, but she is soooooo into being read to right now.

I saw a book caddy on a blog that utilized those curtain rods that have two parallel rods.  It looked great and was mounted along side the bed.  I would link to it here, but I have no idea where I saw it now.  I didn't want to buy anything else and I didn't really want to put anymore holes in the wall either. So, I made it a little differently and mounted it to the side of the crib.  I do see A getting out of the crib sometime in the future and if we still like the caddy then we can do the curtain rod thing.  However, with this design we only have to get a curtain rod that has one rod.  I assume that is cheaper.

Here is the the caddy without books...

 And this is it with the books in it.  Due to the design there is a good 6" of unused area that the straps take up.  On the original, that did not happen because there was no need for straps.  However, I like that all the materials were in my sewing room.  I especially appreciate that as there is no Joann's or Hobby Lobby around here.  I have been told though that there is a Fabric World "nearby" but I haven't checked it out yet.

Hopefully, this is the first of many new projects.  But no promises!

I might be a bit obsessed!

Or I might be using my new guest/sewing room as a distraction from the fact that I have no friends! Sad, but true.  Either way, the room is getting lots of love.  The latest improvement? Pillowcases for the new daybed.

Here is the bed...

As you can tell from my wonderful addition to the picture, two of the pillows do not have cases.  I didn't want to put just plain old white cases on them and to be honest, I only have one plain white pillow case.  I don't know where it came from or if I am missing one. It doesn't really matter. I thought the bed needed a little pop of color.

I just happened to have these IKEA duvet covers that E and I bought for our TX room.  I never really liked them on the bed, but I thought they would be great pillowcases.

The little embroidered flowers match the quilt perfectly.

It took just about 1.5hours to complete the two cases.  I used a french seam to finish the one inside seam that was left.  Using the duvet cover saved a lot of time in sewing since I just had to sew one side and the top.  However, truing the fabric was a bit of a challenge.  I assume if I had taken the time to iron and lay out the finished cases, I would see just what a poor job I did.  However, I was too excited to see the finished version AND pick up the girls from school.

The finished product...

The finished bed...

Two things were different about sewing here versus in Texas.  1. There is no Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's here so I had to (dun dun duuuun) use brown thread.  I have a lot of colors, but not this maroon.  Bummer.  2.  I don't have any sewing buddies to drag downstairs and see the finished product.  I miss you girls!

Room officially done. Time to go out and make friends...

Well, maybe I will sew some curtains first and then, I can go make friends!

It is DONE!!

It’s Done! It’s Done!

Before we moved I was somewhat confident that I could combine our guestroom and my sewing room.  When we got here, however, all my confidence went out the window.  The room was a MESS.  OK, the whole house was a mess and the guestroom was last priority since it really isn’t a living space.  So, each day I would go down and want to do something about the mess, want to sew, but there was no time to clean and no conceivable way to fit the old full bed, dresser, my sewing table, and cutting table in the room. 

Finally, about two weeks ago, we had a breakthrough.  IKEA! Yes, I realize that we are probably contributing to the downfall of the West by buying all this Made in China stuff, but I love IKEA.  It came through again with a daybed that pulls out to create a full bed.  I didn’t want to ask our adult guests to sleep on a trundle that was low to the ground and it was hard to find one that popped up. While we were at IKEA for the 4^th time, we saw this bed that pulls out and after you transfer the second mattress over it makes a full bed.  Yay!

Now the room looks like this

and my first sewing project, S’s curtains, is done.  I even made S another dress-up dress out of the material.  There is enough left to make one for A and many of the animals that S has been wanting to clothe.

Before-Trying to keep the curtains away from vent.

After

Sewing Note-This fabric was tough to work with.  It was hard to cut straight, sew straight, and not pull.  I actually don’t know what it is other than to say that it is gauzy.  It is a miracle that the curtains are similar in length.

Sewer's Block

Unfortunately, I don't mean that I am going to talk about a block of a quilt.  I mean, I think I have sewer's block as in writer's block.  Between my month of family visits and a summer schedule that doesn't have a lot of free time (meaning when the kiddos are somewhere else), I've lost not only my time, but also my desire to sew. What is happening to me??  I hope when the summer chaos calms, I will find my inspiration again.  Maybe a new serger will help. Hee hee.  My poor hubby.

Even though my summer has not been full of wonderful creations, I was lucky enough to get the girls' Fourth of July dresses done.  I actually got them ready in time for Memorial Day which was fitting.  I even got pictures!!

The fabric was leftover from last summer when I made place mats and napkins for my mom.  I used the Leisurely Dress pattern from SewMamaSew for Sophia's dress.  Amelia's is just a layered version of the Summer Smock dress from Weekend Sewing.

Both girls were nice enough to pose.  And yes, that scrunched up face is what A does every time someone gets a camera out or says cheese.  Wonder how many years of that we will have? Well, at least she is happy!

Mother's Day

I spent Mother's Day doing something I enjoy: sewing.  I actually sewed some things for my Mother (I won't see her until the end of the month, so technically it is not late.)  I threw in an extra for my sister since she is a mom too (and I had the fabric).  My sewing has resulted in a lot of gifts lately and that makes me feel good.  Mother's Day is a day for all of us moms to do something that makes us feel good.  Some go to the spa, some out to eat, some just to a park with their kids.  I sewed and now I am going to share.  Yay happiness on our day!

First, Sophia's Old Navy dress replica got gathered pockets yesterday.

The pockets are from Made.  I used them on her Easter skirt, too.  They are fast and easy.  You just have to be careful that you turn enough under and that you catch it when sewing the pocket onto the skirt/dress.  I must also confess that I did not put the button on because let's face it, it would never get used by a 4 year old.

My hope for today was to start quilting my quilt top from my class.  Yes, it is done, basted and ready.  However, my Mother's Day gift, a walking foot, did not get here in time.  Boo! Hopefully next week. 

That unfortunate event did allow me to focus on my mom.  She loves that I sew, but she doesn't necessarily want anything that I sew.  It is strange.  So that my feelings would not get hurt and so that I could try out some of the cute tutorials collected for Celebrating Mom, again from Made, I did not ask her what she wanted.   I just picked a couple of things I would want.

First came the brush holder from another fave of mine, Freshly Picked. 

I got carried away and poof, my sister got one too.

Then came the gathered clutch by Noodleheads.  I meant to make my sister one of these too, but ended up having trouble with the zipper in the end step.  It was just too bulky and stopped my machine several times (yes, I do need a new needle soon, but I am trying to push on through with this one for some insane reason.  I am strange.  I do admit it on a regular basis!!)  I think it might have been something about the length of the zipper since I have made zippered pouches before using the end pieces on the zipper and not had trouble.  Regardless, I ended up (after sewing and ripping two times) just taking the whole thing apart and taking off the end pieces.  It worked great after that. 

I plan to revisit the tutorial of the other zippered clutch with end pieces.  I really bet that the end piece was suppose to be 1" long after folding and mine was only 1/2".  I think the pair will make for a nice gift for my mom, though.

The final gifts that were made this week were my teacher appreciation gifts that will be given at the end of the school year.  S has had a GREAT year at school and I think a lot of that is due to her teachers.  She has learned so much and seemed much more comfortable than in years past.  I know some of it is her age, but her two teachers really are super nice.  I made them the Mama Bag from Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule.  The book was generously loaned to me by Melissa. Thank You!!

Like Melissa before me, I added a magnetic clasp and inside pocket.  On the second one I added a large, 1.5", circle of cardboard on the back of each side of the clasp.  It helps a lot to spread the pull on the fabric from the clasp.  I put a bit of cardboard on the first one too, but it was almost the exact same size as the metal back of the clasp.  I feel like I am going to rip the bag every time I open it.  But now, the question is: will the cardboard make a huge mess if the bag is washed?  If anyone has answers for me, please share!!

They look nice and springy though, so I hope they make two wonderful people happy!

OK, that is all for gift time now.  I still have two trinket keepers to make for my wonderful nephew who has a birthday tomorrow.  Again, won't see him until June 2, so not technically late.☺  Then, I HAVE to finish my second quilt top and quilt it BEFORE Father's Day.   That one is a must since I have been late with every gift for my Dad for about a year now. 

Good thing making gifts makes me happy!
Happy Mother's Day to all!