Patchwork Skirts! And a Tutorial!

I'm nearly done with the 9 (!) patchwork skirts I'm making for my daughters and nieces.  Whew!  Here's how my first one turned out:

And I've posted the tutorial on how to make these as a page here on my blog.  You can see it at the top of the blog, right under my header.  Or follow this link.

These skirts are lots of fun to make, and they're such a great way to use up extra fabric scraps.  They go with almost any top if you use a variety of colors like I did, or you could pick one color scheme (All greens?  Red, white, and blue?  Rainbow?) and go with that.

Gotta go!  Hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are.

Patchwork Skirt -- A Quick Peek

I'm nearly finished with my daughter's patchwork skirt!  Taking me forever, as my sewing machine is up in my bedroom, on the same floor as their rooms, so my best times to work on it (ie, when they're asleep) are kind of a no-go.  But I'm really close to finishing it, and then I'll be writing up a tutorial so you can make your own if you think they're nifty.  

Meanwhile, here are a couple of photos from the whole process.

Pile of scraps turned into skirt blocks

Three long strips of blocks sewn together

Putting it all together

And Somehow, It's July

How is it July already?  Goodness gracious me, this summer is flying by.  Probably because I've been crazybusy.  The kids have been playing with squirt guns a lot in this hot weather, which leads to sopping wet and muddy clothing, which leads to extra laundry.  There are days when the only thing I accomplish besides getting meals on and off the table is laundry.

But I've been working on several projects too, as usual.  I finally decided that I could wait no longer to get my sewing machine out, so instead of finishing actually cleaning up my entire crafting nook, I just cleaned off the table.  Here's how it looks:

As soon as I got it set up, I sewed a ring sling for my sis-in-law -- I'd promised to do that almost three months ago, sigh.  Anyway, that pile of fabric at the very right of the photo is for my latest project:  patchwork skirts.  Another sis-in-law found one online she thought would be super cute for her daughter, and she shared the photo with me.  I said, "That is super cute -- I could do that!"  Except, being me, I've decided to just do it myself without buying a pattern, so we'll see how it turns out.  I'm about half done cutting squares, then there's just pinning and sewing and ironing and more pinning and more sewing and inserting elastic... let's hope I finish them by the end of the summer!  Our daughters are about the same age, and there are two more girl cousins that age too, so if I get really ambitious, I might make matching skirts for all four of them.  If they turn out well, I'll try to put up a tutorial here on how to make them.

I'm also working on a second dress for my pixie doll, but that's been derailed by me remembering I need to crochet a baby blanket for yet another sis-in-law, so I'm concentrating on that for right now and letting my other crochet patterns slide, as the baby is due next month.

What's everyone else up to?  Taking it easy?  That sounds like a good plan to me!

Giveaway: Instant Canteen!

What could be a more perfect giveaway item for the summer than one of my Instant Canteens?

They're the hands-free way to stay hydrated -- an Instant Canteen ensures you'll never set your water bottle down and forget it ever again! They're great for any outing, whether you're going to the zoo or beach or hiking trail... or just the playground down the block, which is where mine goes the most. And you can enter to win this Peacock Swirl canteen for free right here!

(I sell these for $10 in my shop if you love the idea but don't like this one -- I have oodles of different fabric designs and strap colors.)


So, how can you win the Peacock Swirl canteen? There are two ways:

+ 1. Comment here listing your favorite item from my store -- www.huggermugger.etsy.com -- and either your email or blog address so I can contact you if you win.

+ 2. Post about this on your own blog. Leave a comment here with a link to your blog post, plus either your email or blog address so I can contact you if you win.


This means you can be entered twice!

Giveaway ends the morning of Friday, July 10th when I draw the winner, announce who it is here, and contact them to get their mailing address. Good luck!

The Ladybug Dress

Voila! If you've been wondering what I've been working on lately, here it is: the Ladybug Dress.

Nope, it's not for Mercedes, it's for a friend's daughter who will turn five next month. I'm hoping to make a little handbag to match it, we'll see.

This is the first garment I have sewn since I was... twelve? I think so. And the first time I've followed a dress pattern by myself. So I'm really proud of it, even though it's a frightfully easy pattern. I did have to use bias tape, so it wasn't all straight hems and stuff. I love the ribbon sleeves too -- I'm totally making a smaller version of this dress when Mercedes is two or so.

And I love this fabric! It's a cotton seersucker, very breathable. And so cheerful! My friend happens to love ladybugs, so I had to get this and make something from it for her little girl. I actually bought more and made a sling for Mercedes from it because it's so cute!

Featured on 88Links

The 88Links blog has a regular feature called Ten Dollar Tuesday, and this week, they're including one of my Instant Canteens! I've gotten a lot of good responses to these, and have sold and traded quite a few. With the weather getting hotter, they're such a great way to carry your water bottle hands-free, like if you're out walking or running, or taking the kids on an excursion. I use mine almost every day when I take Daniel to the playground.

A Tale of Two Curtains

It's been six months since my first foray into making curtains, and I have to say I think my second attempt was much more successful!

We'd had these curtains in Daniel's room since we moved here -- they're just beach blankets that I hemmed on one end so a curtain rod could slide through. I made them a decade ago, and while they were better than nothing, I really wanted something more fun for his room.

Well, our local Wal-Mart is getting rid of their fabric section, like so many other Wal-Marts. They're selling off their current fabric at 50% of the regular price, so I bought a few yards of some different fabrics. One of them was an ultra-cute Veggie Tales pattern, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make curtains for Daniel's room out of it. They had just enough left on the bolt, thank goodness.

So last week, I sewed up one curtain. I just put a plain white cotton fabric on the back, nothing fancy. But I didn't have time to sew them both, so for almost a whole week, Daniel's room looked like this.

But yesterday I finally sewed up the other curtain and hung it in his room. They make his whole room glow a little bit green, and he loves this fabric so much, he kept trying to pull the curtains right down, so I had to use some leftovers to make him a little bitty blanket to play with (which he now puts over his stuffed animals so they can "take naps").

If you don't know what these Veggie Tales are all about, visit BigIdea.com to learn more. They're computer-animated half-hour shows that tell Bible stories and teach lessons and morals, but in a really fun way. I got into them in college, where a bunch of my friends loved them, and we've got quite a few on VHS and DVD. Daniel loves watching the Silly Songs on YouTube (where Big Idea has their own official channel), and I even got him their greatest hits CD to listen to in the car. We don't let him watch "real" TV or many movies, but Veggie Tales are A-OK by us! (In moderation, of course.) They're the least-annoying kids' edutainment I've ever seen, too. Can't beat that!

Busy Moms: Bagel Creations

Today's busy mom shop is Bagel Creations, home of cool coffee cozies and other things made from far-out fabrics like these. Drop by this shop and see what you can find, and don't forget to go here to read an interview with its owner.

Instant Canteens

I'm adding a new product to my store: instant canteens. All you have to do is slip in your plastic 20 oz bottle, and voila! You have a canteen! It's a hands-free way to carry your water or other beverage without putting it in your purse or backpack and letting the condensation ruin your other stuff. Just think -- no more forgotten bottles left at the playground, zoo, or park!

My instant canteens are made from cotton fabric and cotton straps, with a plastic strap adjuster that lets kids or adults use them. So far I've only listed this Coke-themed canteen, but I've got three more made that I'll be adding to the store over the next few days. And I'm always happy to do custom orders!

"Christy"

I picked up Christy: The Complete Series on dvd a few weeks ago, but didn't get a chance to start watching any of it until today. I put on the pilot episode as soon as the boyo was down for his nap, and pulled out some craft projects to work on while I watched.

I'd forgotton how good this series is! And how much I like Dr. Neil MacNeill (Stewart Finlay-McLennan). And how, the first time I saw Sarah Michelle Gellar on TV, she reminded me of Kellie Martin. I'd watched most of this series when it was on TV 15 years ago, and while my little brother wasn't much of a fan, Mom and I dug it.

Sadly, the pilot lasted longer than Daniel's nap, so I'll have to finish it tomorrow. But I did finish pinning together some little reversible purses I'm experimenting with. Now I just need to find time to pin them together. Two of them are made from this lovely springtime fabric, and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Brand New Sachets!

I'm adding a new line of items to my shop tonight: sachets! I've listed three so far, and I'll be adding more patterns, shapes, and sizes in the next few days.

You may ask, what can you do with a sachet? Aren't they something old ladies hang in their closets to make their clothes smell funny? Well, you can definitely put these in your closet, though your clothes will smell good, not funny. Or you can put them in your sock drawer, your linen closet, anywhere you want to be greeted with a nice scent. You can even put them under your pillow at night, or in your car instead of a cheesy cardboard pine tree.

These sachets are handmade from cotton and nylon fabrics and filled with amazing potpourri from fellow Etsy artiste Layla. Her shop contains soaps, potpourri, tea, candles, and all kinds of dried herbs and flowers, and she has a great blog too. The four scents I'll be offering are: cinnamon, lemon, lavender, and honeysuckle rose. If I get a good response to these, I may offer more scents in the future.

It's Curtains for You!

No, actually, it's curtains for my bathroom. Well, not really curtains, more of a, um, valance thingie? We've lived here for over a year now, and I'm only just getting around to making curtains. This is my first attempt at making them, and I think they turned out fairly well, though I realized after I hung them up that I should have ironed them first. Sigh.

Our bathroom has a Coca-Cola theme (see the shower curtain hooks to the left?) because I collect Coke things and am also somewhat addicted to drinking it :-) I've had this fabric for years, since before we were married, and now I've finally found a way to use some of it. Our bathroom is rather boring, so this adds at least some interest to it.