my sewing area

My sweet hubby recently converted the closet in our guest bedroom into a sewing area for me. We'd been talking about it and when it was a balmy 40 degrees here a few Saturdays ago he decided that that was the day to do the project. He went into town, picked up a piece of counter top and within an hour he was done and I was moving everything in. Here is what the room looks like most of the time - a very undecorated guest bedroom! I hope to change that before our next guests come!

Then when you open the closet doors - viola, sewing room!

I was going to wait to show you everything until I was done with it all but that will take awhile so I'll give you a little tour now and another later when I get more done. I had planned to paint the walls but didn't have time beforehand. He got to work on the project much sooner than I thought he would! There was no way I was going to ask him to wait for me.

What I love about this is that it is still totally functional as a closet for guests. Well, as soon as we purchase the closet bar to hang clothes on that is! And I'll just push everything to one side when guests come so that they can set their luggage on the counter. The other great thing is that I can just close the door to hide the mess and to keep little Miss Ava out of it when I am working on something!

My favorite little secondhand shop is closed right now. I'm sure the owners are probably somewhere warm right now! When it opens back up I'm hoping to find a cute chair to paint to keep in here. For now I'm just using a chair from the table in the family room. I also hope to find a dresser to put along that empty wall to store all of my fabric in. Painting the bed frame is also on the to do list along with our old nightstand that is under the counter. It needs to warm up here so that I can get to this stuff! When we finished the basement it took away the area to do painting projects inside during the winter.

I am so glad that we thought to put a light in this closet. We didn't put an outlet in though. An electrician is coming soon to do a couple of things around here and he going to see if it would be possible to put one in since there is one right on the other side of the wall in the bathroom. If not, I'll just use an extension cord and that will work just fine.

Hopefully I'll be showing you some finished projects soon! Elle and I have a couple of bags cut out waiting to be sewn!

a little crafting

I got out the sewing machine for a week or so during Christmas break last month. Elle has been wanting a little zippered bag to carry all of the essential items that a girl must have. I recently borrowed the book 'Bend The Rules Sewing' from the library. It's a great book full of easy and cute projects for beginner sewers. I made the zippered bag using the pattern in there. It turned out cute and was easy enough but I found a tutorial here that I am going to try next time instead because it doesn't involve hand sewing the lining in like this one did. I also made her a matching travel tissue holder from this tutorial. She loves them!

And what are 'the essentials' for a seven year old girl? A small bottle of lotion, hand sanitizer, a fingernail file, cherry candy cane flavored chapstick and of course, a tube of Skittles flavored Lip Smackers lip gloss!

I've since put the sewing machine back in the box but have plans to convert the closet in the guest bedroom into my sewing area. I look forward to having it set up and ready to go for when I have time to sew and feel like making something. Then I can just close the door when I'm done to keep the mess out of sight and little hands out of it. The shelving is bought so hopefully it will happen soon!

still sewing costumes

I haven't had much time for posting lately or responding to comments. I will have more time later in the week. Right now though I have to get back to finishing sewing the kids costumes for tomorrow while listening to the new Carrie Underwood CD! :)

a challenging afternoon project

I spent the entire afternoon making this bag. I intended for it to be a birthday gift for my neighbor girl who is turning 13 but she might end up with a gift card to Target instead. I haven't decided yet. There are so many mistakes that the pictures don't show. I think the fabric choices are what save the bag. My favorite fabric store is finally selling Amy Butler fabrics now!! The busyness of the prints help to camoflauge all of the puckers! I also didn't install the magnetic clasp perfectly so when it is snapped together the handles aren't lined up nice and neat. And the hand sewing in the lining proves that there is plenty of room for improvement! Sewing is challenging for me. I have annoying firstborn perfectionist tendencies! I should just be happy that I actually finished the project and that it is usable. Elle said that she would be happy to have it. :)

new jammies for elle

I've had a couple of old, too worn out to use, pillowcases saved for awhile. This morning I turned one of them into a pillowcase nightgown for Elle. I used the instructions here as a reference and just made changes as I went along to make it work for Elle. It should be cozy to sleep in. The fabric is super soft and they will be nice and cool for the summer.

I'd like to try to make this bag with the other pillowcase. Or maybe Ava needs a nightgown too?! Hers could be a dress since she's smaller. Hmmm....I think I need to find a few more cute old pillowcases. :)

By the way, look closely at that smile in the second picture. Elle lost another tooth on the bottom so she now has a total of 6 teeth missing. The two bottom, middle permanent teeth are just starting to come through. Hopefully they grow quick! The other middle tooth on the top is pretty wiggly!

sewing while it rains

Today has been dreary and raining off and on....a perfect day to sew. This bag was my project for the afternoon and I'm so happy with how it turned out! This is the third one I've made trying to get it just right and I finally did today! This fabric is definately one my favorites that I have found this spring.

spring and sewing

We have been out enjoying the beautiful spring weather this week with my mom and sisters. Yesterday from lunch until late afternoon was spent outside with the kids having jump rope contests, a race around the lake, laying out on a blanket in the sun with my sister visiting and looking at magazines, and Elle planting flowers and seeds with Grandma.

Today Elle has been running a fever so we've stayed inside and she's watched movies while I sewed up this adorable twirly skirt that Erin at House on Hill Road designed and generously made a tutorial for on her blog. (Thank you Erin!) I wish that I could've took her picture in it. I just love this fabric. It has apples, cherries, and strawberries on it....so cheery looking and perfect for summer.

My hubby will be home in a couple of hours after being gone since Tuesday and I can't wait! I've got a messy kitchen that needs some attention before then. Too much sewing and not enough cleaning today! :)

headbands that don't hurt

This week I made 5 of these headbands for Elle and I to wear and have 2 more cut out waiting to be sewn. They are great because you can wear them all day and your ears don't start hurting with them like they do with plastic ones. They tie in a knotted bow at the back of the neck so they look super cute with a messy bun if you don't want to wear your hair down. I found the free online pattern here. They sew up very quickly and are a lot of fun to work on!

BTW, I think Elle looks a lot like her Aunt Nikki in this photo....lucky girl! :)

more spring cleaning

Last weekend we had a couple of days around 50 degrees and so I got the spring cleaning itch....then we got more snow yesterday and it's chilly again. Oh well! I've started the cleaning so it must continue! :) Today I vacuumed the rest of the tops of the cupboards and wiped them down. I took down the curtains in the kitchen, dining room and living room since they are all the same fabric and put them in the wash. Before I hung them back up they needed a good ironing and the woodwork on and around the windows got wiped down. After that, I pulled out the refrigerator and cleaned it and the floor. Several Cheerios had found their way under there! That is all the farther I got today. You'd never know I did any of it either. It's all of the behind the scenes housework!

Tomorrow I plan to finish up the kitchen and hopefully get to some sewing. Scott is traveling again so keeping busy with these projects helps the time to go by faster. I want to make some headbands for Elle that I found here. I have found some of the greatest tutorials online that people have took the time to make and put on their blogs. I'll have to do a post sometime linking to them. I did manage to finish knitting the washcloth that I mentioned last weekend. I kept dropping stitches while I was making it and do not know how to pick them up very well so always ended up ripping out rows until I got to the dropped stitch. You can't have a washcloth with holes in it! :)

i love saturdays

Scott got home on Friday night and it is so good to have him home! We've had such a nice, relaxing weekend together. The weather has been gorgeous....in the mid to upper 40's! The snow is melting so the kids got their bikes out and have had fun riding through the puddles. They made several laps around the lake both on their bikes and on foot. Spring is in site!

Yesterday there was a big yarn sale at a shop in town just a few miles away so I stopped in and came home with these goodies! Can you tell I like the color brown?! :) The brown varigated skeins were 60% off so I bought all they had! I want to knit a shrug for myself with big needles and then see how much is left after that project. It would make a beautiful lap blanket or since it's wool I could felt with it too. The other yarn is a cotton yarn and I love to use it to knit washcloths and hot pads with fabric backs. I currently have a washcloth on the needles right now, a hotpad that is knitted but needs it's fabric back and my felted handbag needs new handles. I also have the fabric to line it now too, so as soon as these 3 projects are completed I will let myself get started on that shrug.

Yesterday afternoon I sewed this little smock for Elle. It has 2 pockets across the front for her to carry around her treasures, and she's got a lot of them! She's my child that doesn't like to throw things away and I'm the opposite! :) It has 2 ties in the back that make it very girly and sweet.

Since the weather was so great we grilled for the first time this year. We made blue cheese burgers, potato packets and roasted asparagus. It tasted so good! We call Scott our Master Griller! :) After dinner we watched the 6th episode of Star Wars which made the kids very, very happy. They absolutely love Star Wars now. They've saw episodes 4, 5, and 6. I think we will wait now though until they are a little older before we watch 1, 2, and 3. They are loving movie night so I am going to have to think back about what some of my favorite movies were as a kid and rent them so they can see them too. Leave me a comment if you think of a movie you think they would enjoy!

Well, I need to go make my family some lunch. I'll post a picture later this afternoon of my little Ava who is 11 months old today!!

grocery tote

I made this bag on Saturday. It's big and floppy and I think it would be perfect to bring groceries home in. I just need find a fun button for it yet.

weekend project

Yesterday the kids and I ventured out into the cold (it hasn't gotten above zero degrees here for a few days!) and ran some errands in town. I came home with some really fun fabrics and yarn and am busy on a few new projects. I am looking into opening an Etsy shop to sell handmade items so I'm trying to come up with some fun stuff to sell. This is a handbag that I finished up today. Elle says she wants to buy it. :)

Scott is in San Diego right now for a tradeshow. I am jealous - it is 70 degrees there!! He came home with these red tulips for me on Friday. Isn't he sweet?!! They look great in the kitchen and make it so cheery. He also gave me 6 light pink roses that I have in our bedroom. I could get used to having flowers throughout the house! :)

Well, the Superbowl is going to start soon so I better go get started on the appetizers we are going to eat while we're cheering on the Colts!