Hand Pieced Doll Quilt - Vacation Project #2

I went home (Saginaw, Michigan) for a holiday visit - and I made it two days before I had to rush to Joanne and buy some fabric - I just had to MAKE something! My mom does not have a sewing machine so I pieced it by hand - something I loved to do when I had hours of free time (B.C.) I used flannel rather than batting and I machine quilted it. I took it over to Piper's house last night, her Mom Sara just bought a doll bed at a church sale, so my timing was really good!

Detail of Piper's Doll Quilt. I used a few of my fancy stitches to quilt the solid squares.

The pillow-ticking print was the first fabric I found at Joanne - I picked the other prints to go with it, but it ended up as the backing only - too busy to really go with the other fabrics. I embroidered Piper's initials on the back.

Christmas Vacation Project #1

I started this capelet on Christmas Eve. The plaid fabric is from an extra large men's Pendleton shirt I thrifted last year. I used McCalls # M5006 view G. I had hoped to make the whole front out of the plaid, but I just didn't have enough so I used the gold velvet I had in my stash for both the sides and back (the fabric I used to make this hat). The pattern called for a ribbon tie, but I substituted a button with a tab. I used some of my Chinese lantern lining fabric for the lining, and I thought it needed interfacing so I used white flannel for that purpose.

My husband Marc thought is was goofy right off and just kept looking at me funny while I was working on it - he's usually a good judge so I was unsure of myself until I wore it on a visit home. It was a good traveling garment: it kept me comfortable on the train ride from Chicago to Ann Arbor (and back again), and I got a lot of compliments - one man on the train said "what is that you're wearing - what do you call it? - I love it!" After all of the positive feedback I got from Wardrobe Remix, I think Marc just doesn't get it!

Crown button from my mom's button stash.

Custom Kitty Complete!

I finished the Custom Kitty-Kitty on Friday morning. Delivering the finished product is one of my favorite things! Tracey (the client) is so excited to give it to her sister in-law Sharon for her birthday. Sharon's birthday is New Years Eve. I hope she likes it! The pictures I took of the back didn't come out, but this one has black ties to go with the waistband. The waistband has one of my Viking decorative stitches at the top. The kitty faces are lined in black and white gingham.

Each one of my aprons comes with a tag with it's story and care instructions, see the Kitty-Kitty tag below. (Click on the image to
see it full size).

Custom Kitty-Kitty

I'm making a custom apron for the sister in-law of a woman I work with named Tracey. Tracey liked my Kitty-Kitty apron but she wondered if I could customize the pockets to look like her sister in-law's cats. I made simple appliques of the cats orange splotches and then embroidered the faces. Next I lined the pockets with an extra piece of creamed colored fabric because I wanted to face them with black and white gingham. I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far. The red fabric will be the body of the apron, and it will have a black waistband with red topstitching. Tracey and I will collaborate on the name and the story of the apron - that's always part of the fun, and a big part of what makes a custom apron special.

It Was A Very Good Year (1965)

I just finished this one of a kind apron. The pockets are made from a vintage Vera linen calendar. It was unfinished on the rack when I had my sale last week, but it sold to a gal named Marian who I met at a house sale this summer. Marian had a bag of notions in her hand and when I asked her where she found them she handed them to me and told me I could have them! When we met later in line we chatted a little I told her about my apron business. She saw the article about me in the Wednesday journal and came by the sale with her daughter Rosie. Marian bought 2 of my one of a kinds, and Rosie bought 2 holiday aprons. It really made my day! I am off to deliver "1965" this afternoon.




The back view. I like to use contrasting ties whenever possible.


I cut the calendar in half to create 2 roomy pockets.

Puglyfeet's Purchase!

One of my flickr friends, Puglyfeet, posted about my change purses in her blog - unfortunately they were sold out at the time, so she couldn't order one. I made a bunch in preparation for my sale but only sold one so I put them up in my etsy shop and sent her a note to let her know I had posted some more. When I checked in with my shop just a little while later, she and her boyfriend had bought them all! I posted a few more the next day, and they snapped those up too! It's going to be a Practically Necessary Christmas for Puglyfeet's friends and family!