A little "whip-up"

"Wear it and work it, girl!"  At market we were, of course, showing off all the great items in Lorene's booth. I wore one of her snazzy aprons on Thursday, so I decided to whip-up a little t-shirt to wear on Friday.  I figured I could be a walking model for Lorene who was demonstrating techniques using Texture Magic.  Hey, Wendy wore silk pajamas that she made and she pulled that off quite nicely!  So, what the heck, right?

All it took was a cotton t-shirt, a few small pieces of pretty fabric, embroidery floss, some Lite Steam a Seam 2, and Texture Magic - all things I already had in my stash.

First, I fused the Steam a Seam to the back of one of the pieces of fabric and then cut out the pattern I wanted to iron to my t-shirt.  

Then, I pinned the Texture Magic to the back side of another piece of fabric.  I sewed the two together using free-motion around the outlines of the flowers.  I then fussy-cut around to get the shape I wanted and used my iron to apply steam to the fabric.  (I didn't touch the iron to the fabric.)  The steam works like magic and the fabric draws up giving it, yep - texture!

After I played around a little with the placement of the pieces, I ironed the flat piece to the shirt with some smaller leaves and loosely sewed around all of the edges.  A very loose applique.

I sewed the textured piece to the t-shirt and used the embroidery thread to add a few stems.  Done!

Had I not needed to actually get any sleep, I could have added other layers, beads, more embroidery - you name it!  

Have a great weekend!

Mona Pin It

To market, to market!!!

Martha Pullen Sewing Market, that is!  I discovered this awesome event several years ago right here in Arlington and have gone each year since then.  The first year I just walked around, each day for three days - amazed, like I was on vacation!  No kids, no phone, no errands - just me and fabric and thread and sewing toys!  If you love heirloom sewing, this is the place to meet Martha Pullen and some of her great staff.  They have classes and demonstrations and a retail area that will make your head spin!

On my next visit, I purchased my Janome sewing machine from a local dealer.  Oh yeah, I had been scoping this machine out and I think it was meant to be (at least that's what I told myself) because it was on (enter announcer's radio/tractor pull voice) "SHOW SPECIAL"!!  After about a week of feeling really guilty, I finally took the machine out of the box and I never looked back!  I got over it speedy quick.

My third visit was even better!  I bought my Babylock Evolve serger.  That's right.  The mac-daddy of sergers!  And guess what?  It too was on "SHOW SPECIAL"!  I guess I'm just lucky that way!  I didn't feel as guilty and had no problem getting that little baby out of the box. 

And this year?  Well, I was asked by Lorene to help work in her booth.  She is the genius behind SewItUp.com.  She not only carries fabric and sewing notions, she makes up these great kits.  She picks out the best fabrics and puts them together with the trims and patterns and has them all packaged and ready for you to... that's right - go home and "sew it up!"

Ok, work is a strong word.  More like play - greet fellow sewing enthusiasts and fondle fabric all day!  Uh huh, child's play!  The other ladies working with Lorene were so sweet and helpful, too.  So, thanks everyone for letting me play!

Mona Pin It

Pink joy and caffeine!

The past several weeks - and the next few weeks to come - have been and will be crazy, super-hectic.  But, sometimes you just gotta stop and...

Am I right people?  I try not to go there often, but "they just keep pulling me back in!"  Can anyone tell me what movie that line is from?

Happy joy,

Mona Pin It

Apron Fun!

I also had a blast this past week making these super-easy child's aprons.  I found this pattern at the Sew Liberated blog.

I wanted to make one for my youngest daughter's best friend.  It was her 4th birthday and I thought she needed an apron to go with her new kitchen.  She also got matching hot pads!  It was funny to see her expression when she opened her gift.  Kind of, "Huh?"  But, after all the other little party-goer's left and she and my daughter were alone to play, she put on her new spiffy apron and they got busy as four year old's do!

Having put that one together so easily, I dug through my stash and found the perfect material for my daughter's apron!  I love it when that happens.  You know, when you just have to have the fabric but you're not sure what you'll do with it?  (Hint - always get at LEAST one yard!)  Perfect!

It is a little hard to see because it is on top of the colorful cherries and flowers dress.  I added two ric-rac pockets to the front.  Just fun!

I had left over material from the first dress and already had the fabric cut and ready for yet another apron.  A friend was visiting for lunch and asked me how much I would charge for one.  Well!  I told her to just sit down and visit for a little bit and while we chatted away, I made a third apron!  She needed it for a 4 year old's birthday party.  So, now she owes me lunch!

I've been diving into the world of Photoshop CS4 in class and hope to be shooting more pictures soon and playing with them on the computer.  Now I just need more time!  Ha!  Who doesn't, right?

Thanks for coming by to browse.  Leave me a note and say hi!

Mona

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Really? It's been THAT long?

Okay, where did the time go?  I looked up and apparently a month has gone by!  Seriously, April and May are two of the busiest months between birthdays, end of school functions, recitals, baseball games, field days, teacher appreciation luncheons, meetings, photography classes, and well, life.

I thought I would take a minute to show you a few of the fun things I did squeeze in besides all the other fun things I've been doing!  When Joann's had patterns on sale, I just couldn't help myself!!  I had to add to my stash.  Hey, for $1.99 - I buy them because it would be a crime NOT to!

I made a cute little dress for my youngest daughter from McCall pattern #5836 with Joann's Tutti Frutti fabrics.  Oh, the fun colors and combinations!  I found the cutest trim to go with it, too!  The planets must have been in alignment on that one.

Once I figured out some little tricks on the straps, it all went together very quickly.  I love the pleats on the front and back which eliminates lots of gathering.   The bodice is fully lined and looks so nice and neat.  The skirt can be shortened to just a top (leave off the ruffle), and shorts or capris can be added to create another fun outfit. I also used my serger to hem the skirt and skirt ruffle with rolled hems.  Let me just say, if that is all I ever do with my serger, it was still worth the price!!

I had so much fun with the cherries and flowers dress that I made another for my daughter's best buddy.  Maybe it will help offset a bunch of babysitting her mother will be doing for me in the next few weeks!  I, slowest seamstress in the U.S., actually sewed it in just a few hours!  I just have to slip-stitch the bodice and add a yo-yo or fabric flower and voila!  I'll have to post a picture of that one later on.

To keep this post relatively short, I'll show the other goodies in a day or so!  I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day!

Mona Pin It