Using up scrap fabric

I'm big into using up fabric scraps lately. And I wanted to make a present for Jo for Christmas. So how about a memory game?

The game was pretty easy to put together. Just a little time consuming with all the cutting. And I lined each square with interfacing, flipped them right-side-out, and then top-stitched.

Then I stitched up a little bag to hold all the squares and voila!

She's still a little young for the game, but is having fun figuring it out.

It's a new year!

Happy 2014, everyone! It's a brand new year and it's going to be awesome!

I've been doing a lot of fun sewing lately including most of the Christmas presents I gave to friends and family. Here are a few of the things that I made for my mama (whose pot holders are holy and falling apart).

For my pot holders I started with this tutorial from My Girl Thursday. I actually used Insul-Bright for my batting, but I also bought some plain cotton batting that I'd like to play around with as well.

If you've got fabric scraps and just can't bear to throw them away (like me), this is a great project. Plus it's super fun to put different print combinations together. Mix and match! Go a little crazy!

Add these little pot holders to the new pots and pans we gave my mama and she's ready to cook!

Four years!

It's been four years today since Nick and I got married. Yay! Here are a few of my favorite pics from the events four years ago.

Photos by Moments Shared Photography

...and we're still going strong.

R&D - leggings

I've been working on a bigger leggings pattern (2T-4T). I'm finding as Jo grows that she doesn't get much bigger around the waist, but her legs just get longer. That means that I can't just take the baby leggings pattern I've been using and enlarge it. Toddlers (for the most part) have a very different body shape than babies. So here we go.

I'll be trying the leggings on other babies besides Jo, but for now she's our only "fit" baby. This is the first try.

For the 2T size I need to add to the length in the leg and also to the rise in front and back and then they'll be perfect!

 Jo gets treats when she models for me. Maybe one day she'll do it just because she wants to help me out...

The top is a pattern I'm work-shopping as well. I think it's super cute. Also working on a 3/4 length sleeve for Fall.

Wahoo! Back to work.

Shibori + kimono top = super cute

 I tried photographing my shibori results, but just plain fabric doesn't look as great as finished garments...at least that's my opinion. Plus I have new patterns that I'm trying out. So I whipped up this little kimono for Jo.

I'm pretty excited about the fabric. I even washed it after I made it and nothing bled! Woohoo!

Jo likes wearing Nick's bike helmet.

She also likes bananas.

Then she wanted to pose with the little child form. I don't know if you can see it, but she has her arm around the mannequin.

So there you go.

Later addition to post: I don't think I mention it here, but I hand-dyed the fabric myself. Yay!

Fun with Shibori -- Part 3 -- The Reveal

I said that this would be a three part series, but I'm actually only doing a partial reveal today. Sorry, folks. I haven't had a chance to photograph all of the fabric that we dyed and hopefully will be able to do that next week. In the meantime, here is what the process looked like after the dyed pieces sat in the sun for about two hours.

I opened our test piece up right away just to make sure that it looked the way I wanted it to. It did.

Then I started rinsing the other pieces (still bound).

 Still wearing gloves, of course, as the dye wasn't completely rinsed out yet.

I love the way this red piece looked as I was rinsing out. Kind of like a heart or a placenta. Gross? Yes. And also kind of cool. 

After rinsing until the water ran clear, it was time to remove the bindings. This was the fun part...sort of. It was pretty meticulous work to snip all of the little bindings, but still mildly contemplative. I actually really like small meticulous tasks -- it allows my brain to stop thinking for a bit.

I only snipped one hole in the fabric...

So after I cut off the bindings I washed the pieces in the washing machine with a little bit of detergent.

Woohoo! Next up: you'll finally get to see how it all turned out. Finally. I know. It's about time. 

Fun with Shibori -- Part 2 -- Dyeing

As promised, here is part two of my shibori experiment: DYEING!

I had to make sure we had the right tools: bowls, measuring spoons and cups, plastic bags, rubber gloves, etc... My mama had given me dyes from Dharma Trading, but you can get them a number of places.

 Apparently I was really excited about this project.

Be very precise with measuring. My handy dandy book gave us basic amounts for different color saturation levels.

Grace, my lovely assistant, stood by and carefully monitored the process. 

Notice the kiddy pool in the background? That's where we soaked the fabrics before dyeing. 

Grace became an expert at measuring and pouring water. 

Then the fabric goes in!

 Have to make sure the dye distributes properly. That sounds super official, right?

It looks like this when you take it out. Kind of weird looking. 

 Look at this determination!

After we dyed, we put the fabrics in a plastic bag (one bag per dye color) and set them in the sun for a few hours. The waiting is the hardest. 

Part 3: The Reveal is up next!