Oven Mitt- FAIL

I really wanted to make an oven mitt.
I was hoping it would turn out well, because there is a girl at work getting married soon, and our coworkers made a cookbook for her, and I thought an oven mitt and a matching potholder would be a nice gift that would go right along with the cookbook (spoken in a whiny child's voice).
But nooooooo.
This project was a complete failure. Boo.
So the pattern was this one.
I had issues with this from the beginning- I should have known this project was doomed.
First off, as I was cutting the Insul-bright, I was getting all the fibers up my nose. I felt like I was breathing in some sort of toxic-to-your-lungs insulation or something. Then, the peices were too thick to run through my machine. I guess I need to get a walking foot for thicker pieces like this.
Anyway, I finally got the stupid thing together.
Not lookin' too bad here...
But you turn it right side out and you see where I had trouble sewing it together.

Oh, and the best part? This nice little hole at the top.

Ugh.

Buttercup bag

I decided to make something for myself, so I perused the web for a tutorial for an easy purse.
I found (and loved!!) the Buttercup bag from Made by Rae.
So I got out my fatquarter and started cutting.

I've never made a purse before, and I have no idea how to line things or attach buttons/snaps/closures of any sort. But Rae's tutorial was very clear, and I was able to follow it well.

Here's the finished product. I was a little disappointed in the size- the model has *way* skinnier arms than I do, thereby making her bag look larger. Ahem.

It is very difficult to photograph a purse that you're wearing, just so you know.

tool cup and paisley dress

I made a couple more things yesterday.

I decided that the kitchen table was NOT the best place for my sewing machine. It's just too hard to keep my toddler away from it. So, I made myself a little sewing area in our guest room.
I bought a small card table, which I think will actually help my sewing- you can't sew too fast or the whole table will bounce! This will keep my speed in check, which will in turn keep my seams a bit neater.

I needed a place to put my small tools, like my scissors, pens, and seam measure. I had just empltied this Vlassic jar, and decided to upcycle it into something useful.

It works beautifully!

Next, I made a pillowcase dress from fabric, not a pillowcase. I used the tutorial from Prudent Baby. Somehow, I messed up the top and the neck is waaaaaay smaller than it should be.

I think the problem came from the armholes- I cut them from the neckline. Oops.

Can you tell I made a mistake?

I had such a hard time keeping her still for these photos.

I love this dress. I think I'll make more. This time, I'll know how to do it correctly.

Next up, flannel lounge pants!

How. Stinkin'. Cute.

So, I just got my sewing machine out a while back and made the simplest baby blanket ever for a friend. That got me in the mood to actually use the sewing machine a bit more. So, last week I made curtains.

This week, I prowled the world of internet tutorials and found one for this-
The cutest little dress ever.


And it was easy enough for me to make.

I found it here. She does a fabulous job of showing you how to make this dress with easy, step-by-step instructions (with pictures!).

I couldn't wait to try it on my girl.

She was too busy with Granny's iPhone, and didn't want to be bothered for a photo shoot.

I certainly hope this girl likes dresses; I see many more in her future!

"What? My mommy made this?! I don't believe it!"

Now I'm off to knit a shrug to go with this dress....

Crafty Saturday

We've lived in our house for over 3 years, and until today, didn't have any window treatments in our kitchen.
So today I decided to change that.
While Ava slept, I measured, cut, pinned, and sewed three valances for our breakfast nook.
Here's a before shot-

and here's an after shot.

Not too bad for a little over two hours worth of work. And that included hanging the rods!

So, since I was on a crafting roll here today, I decided to embellish one of Ava's old onsies for practice.

I obviously don't know how to use my sewing machine very well.

I somehow managed to slice my finger open. Not sure how, as the needle is the only moving part, and I know a slice this size didn't come from the needle. Thank goodness I still had some Steristrips squirreled away.

We *love* cupcakes.

Mmmm, cake.
Even better in individual servings.
I made cupcakes while Ava was napping, and I planned for us to decorate them together once she woke up.
So, I set out little saucers with different sprinkles, and I pre-frosted a few. Then we decorated our cupcakes.

Did I say cupcakes? Because I meant cupCAKE. She just couldn't wait to eat her cupcake. Her eyes got huge the minute I set it in front of her.

She had to take a bite.

And then she looked at the sprinkles again....

...and decided to add a few more.

I've gotta say, this was not a clean project by any means. Do you have any idea how far non-pareils roll when you try to sweep them up?!

It was fun though. And really cute to watch.