Tiny Steps

Eden & Eliot - ballet skimmer prototype for Eden

I'm not a very good blogger.  Good  bloggers write everyday or every other day, no matter what, and no matter how they feel.

I'm not a good blogger because I run out of things to say. 

With the world abuzz with Japan's tsunami crisis, Libya's revolt, and now Osama bin Laden's demise, I feel like I ought not to be writing about things like making felted flowers and baby shoes.  Which, truthfully, is what I'd been doing while the world churned with incredible newsworthy events.

I've also had various batches of guests in my house since mid February.  All wonderful people, no doubt, but talking to people all day leaves me little time to talk to myself.  Which is what blogging really is. 

So excuses aside, there is no other way to get back into the groove other than just taking the plunge.  Hence, here is my offering - one half of a slipper I am making for Eden, Prototype 1.0.

Its a ballet skimmer I designed for casual wear in the house (or outside, since it has faux suede bottoms.)  The sole has been padded with cotton batting and lined with felted wool.  The top is also felted wool - so the idea is for the foot to be completely cushed up in soft wooly comfort.  Add a pretty little bit of ruffle and an elastic strap, and this little puppy is as stylish as it is practical.

I would make the other shoe, except now that I've figured out how it can be done, I might as well move on to Prototype 2.0.  Oh, forgot to mention that this baby is completely hand-sewn!  I dig the feel of needle and thread, kind of hynoptic and calming for the mind.  Plus, the added advantage of no loud whirring to wake up the baby who has hearing like a bat.

Speaking of naps - there are SO many Mom blogs with fabulous tutorials/projects made by mothers during naptimes.  I honestly don't know how that's possible??  I mean, how long do these kids nap?  And why aren't these mothers running around, loading the washer, washing the dishes, folding the laundry, prepping dinner, shooing in the dog, picking up bits of lunch from the floor etc. etc...... oh, and don't forget, finally updating their Facebook status or writing a random blog post?

But I digress.  Back to the subject of footwear.  I'll be posting a few more examples of shoes I've made... working on a few more styles and colorways for a new launch on my etsy shop.  Oh, did I mention the felted wool comes from recycled sweaters?  (See first post on sweater slippers where this all started.)

Reverse Applique and Stenciled Hand-Stitched 4-Panel Skirt with Pin-wheel Design

This is what's been occupying my time for a number of weeks past.

I made myself this cotton jersey knit skirt, 100% hand-stitched with a stenciled and appliqued pinwheel design at the hem.  I wore it last weekend, and to my great delight, it was incredibly comfortable and flattering.  (Which, I have to say, is an achievement that cannot be overstated given my post-baby figure.)

So here I am, wearing my skirt in the photograph above - taken a la Alabama Chanin style - thanks to their two inspirational books, Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style.  I read about their stencil and stitching techniques but figured that if I was going to embark on such an laborious venture, I might as well come up with a design of my own.

Eden & Eliot - right side stenciled and stitched before cutting

It took me one evening to design, cut and stencil, but a good many nights of sewing thereafter.  What I gained from all those nights is a lesson that women throughout the centuries have already known - when your hands keep busy, your mind stays calm.

Eden & Eliot - close up of reverse applique, stitched and stenciled

The month of March has been challenging.  And I've needed some calm evenings.  Its brings me comfort to have something to show for it at the end of this time, however small it may be in the grand scheme of things.

True to my New Year's resolution, I have yet to buy any article of clothing for myself this year.  So I'm also glad to have made something I will cherish for, hopefully, a good many years to come.

Circle Applique Baby's Mini Quilt - From Re-Purposed Old Baby Clothes

When I was little, my grandmother made me a hand-stitched quilt with a silk panel and a blanket foldover hem.  I remember the quilt to this day, even though its no longer with me, because being all grown up now, I realize just how much work it took her to make it.

The silk panel on the front always felt soft and cool to the touch, perfect for the hot humid nights where I grew up.  The back panel was made of a scratchy synthetic fabric, which chaffed and irritated my skin.

I remember being conflicted about whether to sleep with the silk panel right side up, which was the pretty and proper side, but which left me struggling under the scratchy side.  Or to forgo looking at the pretty pattern and sleep with it side down next to my skin, letting the dull side face the world.

I don't know why I bothered to struggle with this trivial decision every night because it seems like such a odd thing for a child to obsess about.  But I suppose I was that kind of a child.  I wanted things to look good and feel good at the same time.

Now decades since receiving my grandmother's quilt, I set about making my first one for my baby boy, Eliot.

I'm not a quilter, and have indeed, not made one before. However, I knew I wanted it to i) it look good and also feel good next to his skin, and ii) be mostly handsewn and iii) be made from material that he will cherish as much as I did that silk panel on the quilt from my grandmother.

Slowly, I had been saving up particular pieces of out-grown baby clothes from both my kids, thinking that I will harvest the material someday to make new things.  And this well-worn and well-loved fleece pull-over from Eden was the perfect piece to use for Eliot's quilt.  It had blue circles, which is just the kind of simple motif that little ones can appreciate.  And it was cuddly and soft.

I first cut out all the blue circles, and then realizing that there were too few, I traced circles onto the remaining green fleece and cut out as many as I could.  The key is to use up all the material if you can - some of my favorite circles have seams in them from pockets, armholes etc, which just makes them more interesting.

Next, pin the circles on to the top panel of your quilt.  I used a soft blue fleece and I arranged the circles in a free-flowing pattern, concentrating them on one edge and letting them "fade" out towards the opposite edge.  Alternate between the blue and green ones in a random pattern.  Placing some along the edge also makes a more dynamic composition.  Just trim the ones that hang over the border so you're left with some partial circles.

Using 3 strands of embroidery floss, stitch around each circle with a straight (running) stitch.  Knot off after each circle and start the next one with a fresh knot.  It took many nights in the company of the late night news to finish this step.

Next, I made my quilt sandwich with needled cotton batting and a back panel of the same fleece.  There are many great instructions about how to do this on other blogs - I don't know if I did it the right way.  But I just put my top panel with the circles directly on top of the batting material and cut around it.  I did the same with the back panel.

To make the quilt sandwich, I placed the batting on top of the back panel, and the top panel of circles on top of the batting.  Then I made long continuous lines of pins from one edge to the other, around the circles.

These pin lines mark the position of the quilting lines I will later stitch on the machine.  There is no order to the lines since I was going for a free-flowing effect.  I think of the lines as eddies of current moving around circular stones.  This is what it looked like after pinning.

Machine stitch along the pinned lines, removing the pins as you go.  Don't sweat it if you don't follow the pins exactly.  I improvised as I went along, making sure that they were evenly distributed and all the edges had sufficient lines of stitching so that the batting is secure.  I love the finished effect of the quilted lines flowing around the circles.

The final step is to bind the quilt.  I used pre-made quilt binding, machine stitched it on one side and slip stitched it on the back side.  There are good instructions on the Purlbee blog here.  (Coincidentally, Purlbee put up a post today about a Circular Applique Mini Quilt using their Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.)

Here's my first quilt all done!  I am one proud mama.

And here's Eliot romping on his new quilt!

Monogram Letter Applique Pillows

My good friend, Mel, threw a birthday party for her sweet little girl a few weekends ago, which gave me the occasion to make these letter pillows that I'd dreamed up a while back but hadn't gotten round to doing.

The birthday girl has the initial C, but her older brother's name begins with M.  So, I thought why not bring them both pillows since in my house, good things always come in twos.

The pillows have envelope backs (see my post on how to make an envelope closure), and fusible-web applique letters.  You can put a whole set together for a nursery, use them to spell a word or just do special letters or dates.  Lots of possibilities here - so I daresay I'll be making more of these soon.

But on the subject of birthday parties -  check out this party favor that Mel put together.

She saved these baby food jars for months and turned them into favors by adding nifty personalized labels.  I totally loved how she found such good use out of an ordinary thing but more so that she was planning and thinking of celebrating her daughter's big day, every day that she would put one of these away.  What better way is there  to repurpose what you've got than by sharing your efforts with loved ones.

How to make a Simple Envelope Closure Pillow and Blanket Set

Firetruck pillow and blanket by Eden and Eliot

My new year's resolution for 2011 is to make what I would otherwise buy - which led me to sew this pillow and blanket set for Eden, when her preschool teacher said she needed extra bedding for naptime.

Its a cute little fleece set, patterned with firetrucks, ambulances and police cars (which she helped pick out). But after it was finished, she refused to bring it to school. (You see a pattern here re: my post about the slippers.)

So this has gone to little brother Eliot, who is much more accommodating when it comes to wearing or using the things his mother makes.

This was a really simple set to sew up, and experienced readers will not need any instructions here.  But since I've benefited from very basic tutorials -  I thought, why not write one anyway for all my friends out there who don't fancy themselves crafty.  Children's bedding tends to be expensive, so if you're inclined to make your own - read on, its a cinch.

Materials

• Fleece - 1.5 yards (adjust for bigger or smaller sets)
• 13 inch pillow insert (Ikea carries a really inexpensive one)
• Sewing machine & coordinating thread
• Ball-point sewing machine needle (suitable for knit fabrics)
• Disappearing ink fabric or chalk marker

Instructions

Lay out your fleece fabric on your cutting surface wrong side up, measure and mark a rectangle 36" x 48" for the blanket . With the remaining fabric, mark a rectangle 14" x (14" + 6") for the pillow.  The extra 6" will form the overlap for the envelope closure.  My pillow insert is 13" square, so the 14" width gives me a half inch seam allowance on each side.  If you want a poofier pillow, make the rectangle 13" x (13" + 6"), and it will give the pillow a nice squeeze.

Make sure you mark both rectangles before you start cutting.  Since mine was a patterned fleece, and I wanted to make sure I got a couple of the firetruck/car images intact on the front of the pillow, I didn't end up with the most efficient/fabric saving layout.

For the Pillow

 

With the wrong side of the fabric up, fold in a half inch seam on each of the short sides of the rectangle, pin and stitch.  If you feel comfortable, you can start stitching and fold as you go along.

When you are done sewing the seams on the two short sides, fold the fabric over so that it overlaps as shown in the photo above.  The wrong side should be facing you, and the distance from the top to the bottom folded edges should measure 13".  Secure the side edges with pins.

You can flip open the flap, to check that you have it folded correctly.  Take the time to make sure that your pillow front will show the pattern that you want to end up with.  The pillow front is the bottom most layer in the photo above.  You can adjust the location of the flap to ensure this.

Stitch a half inch seam on the sides, (where you have secured with pins).  You should end up with a seam as shown in the photo above.

Flip the pillow inside out.  You now have a finished pillow cover, with an overlapping flap as shown (otherwise known as an envelope closure).   That overlap is what allows you to insert your pillow and keep it secure without zippers, buttons and what-not so little fingers don't get into trouble.

 

Flip it over to see the pillow front.  If you've checked on the position of your pattern in the previous step, you should end up with a happy outcome - voila!  One intact firetruck and ambulance!  Stuff your insert and you're done!

For the Blanket

This is the simplest part - just fold in a half inch seam on all 4 sides and stitch.  And there you have it - your finished blanket and pillow set all ready to keep your little one snuggly and warm.

A New Year's Resolution - Celebrating hand-made, repurposing old stuff and finding new reasons to love what you already own.

My New Year's resolution for 2011 is to make what I would otherwise buy.  Granted of course, that I can make a comparable, functional and reasonable version of that particular thing.

I daresay I will be screaming for a shopping binge after a couple of months, but that's what's fun about making a new year's resolution.  Its something well-intentioned, not completely thought through, with somewhat dubious chances of success.

For example, take this pair of slippers I made for Eden from a repurposed wool sweater.  Its a pattern from Betz White's lovely book, Sewing Green (note: it needed a fair bit of doctoring to get it to a child's size). I found one of my "so-very-yesterday" sweaters, felted it in a hot wash cycle, sewed it up and voila!

But all the good intention in the world won't get those slippers onto my toddler's feet.  Eden took her first look at them, and screamed, "No!" and ran in the opposite direction.

Its completely baffling because those are her favorite colors, she loves all kinds of booties/boots, and its soft, cozy and so darn cute.  See what I mean about new year's resolutions?  You can make them, but then life intervenes.

I had to buy Eden new slippers.