Hello everyone! This is what I have been up to lately.
I have been making little girls dresses to sell. I have made 8 so far.
I am now excepting custom orders, so let me know if you need something in particular.
I also opened up an Etsy shop ! You can see it Here

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Americana-Cutie SZ 12 months

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Classic Blue



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Cotton-Candy Hand Embroidery


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American Flag with Ruffles

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Cotton-Candy with Pin tucks and Hand Embroidery



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Burgundy and khaki ruffles

Apron giveaway

I wanted to share a couple of really cute sites with you. :)

http://kristinfriesen.blogspot.com/2009/05/undiscovered-ohsewdelightful.html
You can enter to win a very cute apron here !

http://www.maidenoftheking.blogspot.com/

New Ironing board cover

Last week my sister and I got fed up with our old ironing board cover. It was originally white but is now a icky brown.
So my sister made a new one right then and there !


It is very easy to make, all you do is trace your old board and add 3 inches all around. Then you made a casing and put a drawstring through it. I replaced the old padding with quilt batting.

Here are the pictures.

The icky old one. Don't look to closely I beg of you.







The new, clean, pretty one :)

How to : Make a Colonial petticoat

This is a very simple skirt constructed basically of squares pleated onto a waist band.
I use french seams on this project so that the inside is clean and neat looking.
First step. Measure from your belly button to the floor. You will probably need help with this to make sure you get it right. Now add 2" to that measurement.
You then cut two lengths of fabric however long your measurements came out to.



You should now have two big squares or rectangles depending on your height.
Open them up and lay them with right sides facing out.
Measure down 10" from the top on both of the sides. Starting there, sew your fabric down the sides at a very small seam allowance.



After sewing both sides, turn your fabric wrong side out and press the side seams.


Now sew along this fold at 5/8ths seam allowance.


This is what the inside of your seams will look like. They are now enclosed and you will not have fraying or loose threads when you wash it.



Next step is to pleat the front of the skirt to fit your waist.
Fold your skirt in half from side to side. At the top mark the middle with a safety pin.


Continue doing this and marking the center with a safety pin every time.
You should have about 8 pins in the front when you are done.



Now unfold the front of your skirt and you will have the front marked and ready to start folding the pleats. The safety pins just serve as a guide to help you make the pleats even.




Start in the center with a introverted pleat and work your way out with the other pleats faceing away from the center.


Once the pleats are to your liking baste over them carefully. Then turn under a very small amount and hem the slits that are at the sides. ( The 10" remember ? )
You then will bind the top of your pleats with bias tape. You need to leave about 12" on both ends. These will be your ties to hold the skirt on.



For the back of your skirt you can either pleat it like above you can gather it. Whichever you like best. I usually gather the back of mine.
After you gather or pleat the back sew on the bias tape lie before leaving plenty of room to tie.



The way to put the skirt on is to grab the back two strings and tie them around your waist. You then get the front two strings and tie them around your waist. This way the skirt is adjustable and the perfect fit.

How-to : Make Hand made Eyelets

Step One : Cut a small hole through your fabric. You can use the tip of your scissors or an awl.


You need Embroidery floss, I usually use three strands at a time.

Starting from the bottom push the needle up through your fabric leaving about an inch of thread on the underside.



Now put the needle through the hole of the eyelet.


Continue making whip stitches all the way around the hole binding the edge.



As you sew the tail of thread you left will be incorporated into the back of your stitches so there is no need to tie a not. If there is any extra thread showing in the back when you are done just trim it.


I personally think handmade eyelets are lovely and much nicer then metal ones. Try to take the time and do handmade eyelets whenever you have the time :)
( Disclaimer) This photo is not the best example of a smooth eyelet. The thread kept wanting to sink down into the silk.

Scraps ?!?

If you do almost any amount of sewing your going to end up with scraps. Now , most peoples opinions differ on what size a scrap is. Some people don't save anything smaller then a quarter yard and others (like myself unfortunately ) save every single piece!
The result: You end up with bags of stuff to small to use but to good to throw away ! :-/

I am trying to fix this problem in my sewing room.
One of the ideas a friend suggested to me is to make a scrap quilt. I don't really like the style of crazy quilts but I liked this pattern :)



The Name of the Block is "Log Cabin " It's made up of lots of tiny little strips. They can be any size you want them to be though. I sorted my scraps today and threw out anything I couldn't get a 3'' strip out of. Now when I have enough fabric saved up I will start cutting and piecing it together. It will be fun to look at it when I am done and see pieces from all my projects in the past. :)
I will be sure to post pictures when I make mine ! I also have a snowball quilt that is almost done being hand quilted that I will post pictures of soon. :)



Here is a link where you can learn how to make Log Cabin blocks.
Enjoy !

How-to: Make a Ruffle

Step one :
Cut a strip of cloth twice the width and length you want the finished ruffle to be.

Step 2 :
Fold the strip in half long ways. If you want a flatter, crisp ruffle you can press it at this point. The one shown has not been pressed

Step 3:
Sew a gathering line of stitches as close to the edge as you can get.
Then sew another line close to the first.

Step 4: Pull the top 2 threads at one end , scrunching the fabric up as you go.



You then just sew it on to your project between the 2 lines of stitching.
All done and you have a cute little ruffle! :-D

~ Victoria