St Paddy's Day Sewing Project: Luck o' the Irish Flag Quilt

Hi, friends. If you are looking for a sewing project that is perfect for St Patrick's Day, then I have a tutorial for you. I made my very first sewing video for this post, too. Click over to Sewing Machines Plus Sew Blog to read the step-by-step tutorial for making this fun and easy-to-sew wall quilt. The video shows how to make the patchwork strips. There's a downloadable pattern for the four-leaf clover and all the info you need to sew this project for St Patrick's day or anytime. 

I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about the video and especially about my Alabama accent being on Youtube, but I hope it is helpful and I hope you enjoy making this project.

I really appreciate y'all reading my work over at Sewing Machines Plus! Luck O' the Irish Flag Quilt Tutorial

Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy sewing to you!

How to Sew Valentines: 33 Valentine Sewing Project Ideas

I had some fun sewing valentine projects this weekend. I shared what I made, as well as thirty other sweet project ideas that I collected from all over the web on my newest post at Sewing Machines Plus. There are links to several cute quilts, other patchwork projects, a darling softie toy, kitchen gifts, and many more. I think you will find inspiration and ideas to suit everyone you love. Please click over there to read it now. I challenge you all to show your love by sewing all your valentine gifts this year. Thanks for reading!

Last Minute Gifts to Sew

My latest post at Sewing Machines Plus is a list of quick sewing projects that are perfect for last minute gifts. There are quite a few easy, quick, no-stress gift ideas that are fun to make. Good Luck with all your projects, and Happy Holidays!

Gifts To Sew for Everyone on Your List

Are you starting to think about your holiday list yet? Do you plan to sew gifts this year? If you plan to, it's time to get started. I published a list of ideas for gifts to sew for everyone at Sewing Machines Plus. It includes some of my favorite gifts to sew for babies and kids, ladies, and men.

Click on over and read the list now at SMP: Sew Gifts for Everyone on Your List. I hope you find just the right ideas to add to your holiday sewing project list. I appreciate you reading my work and I hope you have a fabulous week.

String-Pieced Crib Quilt Tutorial

I hope you all are okay today. I'm feeling blue, to be honest, so I thought I'd show off this blue quilt today. I posted the full step-by-step tutorial on how to make it over at Sewing Machines Plus, check it out: Blue Baby Crib Quilt Tutorial.  This quilt was a lot of fun to make while I waited for a special little boy to be born.  It doesn't have to be blue, of course; make it in whatever colors you like best.

Felt Flower Pincushion Tutorial

I posted the tutorial for how to sew this easy felt flower pincushion on the blog at Sewing Machines Plus. This is my absolute favorite pincushion. I also make flowers like this to adorn all kinds of other things, too. This project can also be stuffed with lavender flowers to make a sweet sachet, and it makes a lovely gift either way. Thanks for clicking over to read my projects on the sew blog at SMP.

How to Make Quick and Easy "Loaded" Lasagna Soup

Several years ago, I saw the words Lasagna Soup and HAD to read more.  I found Nicole Morrissey's recipe on her lovely blog, Prevention RD, and we probably tried it out the same night, if not the next.

I made variations from the first time I tried this, and I have continued to improve and vary my version of this for a few years now.

I LOVE lasagna and mine is fantastic, but since I have discovered lasagna soup, I don't think I have made real lasagna once.  That's because lasagna is time consuming and makes a real mess by using lots of bowls and dishes, while this is a one pot meal that cooks quickly and is just as delicious.

This soup is definitely one of my family's favorite meals.

The first variation I immediately made to this recipe was to use ground beef.  I prefer this soup with ground beef (chuck, actually), but have made an amazing meatless version of this using farro cooked in stock.  I have also used a combo of lean beef and ground turkey, and last night this soup pictured in photos was made using a 50/50 mixture of chuck and ground pork.  I did not like this near as much and won't add pork into the mix again.

I also added a ton of veggies into the original recipe, to make this more like my lasagna which is also vegetable heavy.  This can certainly be widely varied, depending on what you have that is appropriate on hand.

I brown my meat (or cook farro if I am preparing this without meat) first, and then drain and set that aside.  Then I wipe my pan and add a tablespoon or two of good butter or heat safe oil and gently saute an onion and a bell pepper or two.

 So many delicious dinners begin like this!

You can also use red and/or green onions and any color bells.  Roasted red peppers are delicious in this soup as well.

Once these have cooked and softened a bit, I add a couple of chopped zucchini.

You could also add chopped mushrooms at this point.  I recommend this, for sure, but some silly people in my family refuse to eat mushrooms, so I usually have to leave them out.

After these have softened for a few minutes, I add a lot of minced garlic, about six to ten cloves chopped.  I quickly add salt and spices. I always use my favorite all-purpose seasoning,  Cavender's All Purpose Salt Free Greek Seasoning 7 oz (NO MSG), Himalayan Pink Salt, and I might use ground oregano, ground coriander, and ground cayenne or red pepper flakes.

Then I add in two cans of fire roasted tomatoes.  Last night, I forgot to thaw the frozen spinach so I added it in at this point too.  I had to take a picture, because my soup hadn't looked this pretty at this point before (usually I add spinach later, once I have added stock).

 

Then I add the browned meat and about two and a half tablespoons of tomato paste, and stir this well.  Then I add two quarts of stock, either beef or chicken or vegetable works well.

After this has simmered for some time, I add fresh chopped herbs if I have them- oregano and/or marjoram, and/or basil if I have that.

Once the soup has simmered for fifteen to twenty minutes, I add twelve ounces of bowtie pasta noodles.  This cooks for ten to fifteen minutes,and then the soup's done.

But don't forget the cheesy goodness!  I mix equal parts whole milk ricotta and shredded cheese.  You can use mozzarella, mozzarella and parmesan, or an italian blend, and lots of black pepper.   Mix well and spoon this at the bottom of the bowls, before ladling soup, or just put a spoonful on top to garnish. Stir the cheesy mix into the soup before eating, and enjoy!

Easy Craft Project: Dragonfly Clothespin Clips

Hi, how are ya'll doing?  It has been YEARS since I have posted here, but I thought this easy project would fit nicely here and interest ya'll too.  These dragonfly clips are an easy-peasy, quick, and cute project.  My kids were interested in helping make these, and they loved the results.

These dragonflies work as ornaments for a Christmas or other seasonal tree, happy unexpected decor (I clipped mine to the curtain in my sewing room), fridge magnets, or as a whimsical air freshener for your car, if you add essential oil and clip it to your air vent.  I'm sure you can think of even more clever uses for these cuties.

We made these on the spur of the moment with items we had on hand.  The idea came about quickly when we wanted something pretty to dress up small wrapped gifts for our holiday giving.  I wrapped beautiful small blank books and tiny boxes of chocolates in white paper, tied with gold ribbon, and clipped one of these on top of each package.  All the recipients seemed to really like these cute dragonflies as much as the actual gifts, and they really did make pretty packages.

Dragonfly Clothespin Clips

You will need:

• Clothespins
• Enamel paint- I used Folk Art 4019 Enamel 2-Ounce Acrylic Paint, Fresh Foliage
• Dyed craft sticks- like these: Darice 9150-82 Wood Craft Colored Stick, 4-1/2-Inch, 120-Pack (or you could dye or paint plain craft sticks yourself).
• Spray adhesive- I used  Elmer's Craftbond 4-Ounce Adhesives Spray Glue
• Glitter
• Carpenter's Glue- Elmer's E7010 Carpenter's Wood Glue, Interior, 8 Ounces 
• Magnets (optional) 
• Sequins or google eyes

These couldn't be any simpler to make!  Just follow these steps:

1. Paint your clothespins.  Be sure to paint the inside front and backs, too.  Let dry.
2. Lay pairs of turquoise, green, and purple colored craft sticks on newspaper or outside. Spray with adhesive, then gently sprinkle glitter to cover.  Let dry
3. Using a paintbrush, apply wood glue to the center of one of each pair of craft sticks.  Press the other on top of this at perpendicular angles, so that the two wings make an "X" shape.  Let dry.
4. Use another dab of wood glue atop the clothespin, just behind the spring, and gently affix the pair of wings to the top of the clip.
5. Attach sequins or googly eyes to the top front of the clothespin with paintbrush and glue. Let dry.
6. (optional) Glue a small magnet to the underside of the clip.

We have found so many uses for the colored craft sticks that ours are almost all gone!  We used lots of the green ones in various holiday projects, and so I didn't have any green left for illustrating this project here.  I used a pair of yellow, but I don't love the way the yellow looks.  I think the turquoise, purple, and green craft sticks work most nicely for this project.  I gave away all of these that I made with green wings, so I don't have any pictured with green- they were my favorites though!

Be sure to make lots of these because they are perfect on packages and you'll also want some for yourself.  We made a dozen for Christmas and these weren't enough!  My mother-in-law admired the ones we made for my sisters-in-law, and I was sorry that I hadn't made any to adorn her larger package.  So that is why we made these just now, as a gift for her birthday this weekend.  I hope that she will be glad that we did!

Let me know if you make them, and what new uses you find for these happy little friends.  I hope to post more projects here soon.

Easy I-Spy Scrap Quilt

It's been a long time since I posted something new here, and this twin bed quilt seems like a good project to share.  I had been saving fabrics to make an I spy quilt for my son, and when we ordered his first twin mattress, I needed to make a twin bed quilt quick.  I didn't want to just sew square after plain square of random novelty fabrics; I wanted to do something to unify the quilt.  I am very happy with how this turned out, and I think the primary colored frames around the different I-spy prints work well to unify both the fabrics and the random collection of colorful toys that often litter my son's room!  I looked online a few times and couldn't find a design for an I spy quilt like this, but I finally found something on google images that inspired me.  That was this quilt, at Don't Call Me Betsy, which was the very first quilt she ever made!  It's an easy idea and I decided to use it in order to both unify and speed along the construction of my bed sized quilt, which I needed to sew quickly!

I finished this quilt so quickly that it was done before hubby has even started building the bed!

I used 6 inch squares for the block centers and 3 inch strips to frame them, and then trimmed each block to 11 inches square.  My son chose many of his I-spy fabrics, and some were such large prints that I used a few 11 inch square blocks without borders.  He was insistent about that Thomas the Tank Engine fabric, and this one didn't work well in 6 inch squares.  I used scrap and stash fabrics in primary colors to make the "frames," although for a few squares I used strips of the novelty I spy fabrics, when the print was small enough.

I used 2 of each fabric so he can also look for matches, as he likes matching games a lot right now.  To make this twin quilt takes 35 blocks, in 7 rows of 5, so you need 2 each of 17 different fabrics, one of which you will use 3 times.  To make this quilt harmonious, I stuck with a palette of mostly primary colors in the prints, and enhanced this by using reds, blues, and greens for the framing strips.

This is an easy, quick, I-spy quilt to sew that uses scraps but has a coherent quality that brings the diverse prints together in a fun way.

I am feeling quite quilt-y lately; I just finished a new top which I will quilt soon and I have a lot of quilt ideas swirling in my head, so I hope to make more posts again here soon.  I hope you and yours enjoy a beautiful day today and that you all have a beautiful tomorrow, too!  Happy Sewing!

Sew Easy Laptop Sleeve with Pockets and a Free Camera Case Pattern

Hi! I want to show you a couple of easy projects and point you to another fun website, too.

I recently wanted to make a laptop sleeve, but all the patterns I found were missing a feature I wanted, which was large pockets.  I looked around at a lot of cool free patterns available online, and you can find some great ideas by doing this, too.


But there are very nice instructions in the One-Yard Wonders book for a quilted laptop sleeve, and I decided to use these for the measurements of the sleeve portion.  Their project example is made from a darling patchwork print and has the pattern for an adorable doggie applique.  But I wanted to make this project quickly.  So I did not follow their instructions of quilting this, and instead just basted the bag, padding, and lining pieces together around all four sides.  I did this with the serger.  You could also use spray adhesive to attach the three layers together.

To make the pocket, I simply made another 3 layered piece with the same dimensions around, and just a couple of inches shorter than the bag piece.  I simply hemmed the top edge of this piece and then layered the pocket piece on top of the bag before I sewed it together.  Now there is a roomy pocket on both the front and the back of this laptop sleeve that can easily hold a power cable and a jump drive, even an ipod and cable, or whatever you need.  Here it is, with a power cord and battery stuffed in the back pocket:

There is bias binding at the top (opening) edge, and I also used bias tape strips a couple of inches long, sewed closed and attached as loops to the top corners.  Then I added key ring loops.  I was thinking this would be for a strap, but with these dimensions that is awkward.  What would work better if you wanted to make this bag with straps would be to attach them at the top and bottom corners (when you sew the sleeve together), to make it a backpack.  Anyway, the key loops on the edge are handy, after all, for pulling the sleeve in and out of a larger bag or from beneath the couch or something.

Free Camera Case Pattern

I used the scraps from this project to make a bag for my camera.   I found a great free pattern (along with a lot more, too) at AllPeopleQuilt; here is the link.  I did quilt this one.  I also noticed that their case was going to be a good bit big for my camera, and so I modified the measurements accordingly.

You can see a strip of bias binding along the bottom in the back; that's because I decided to make this with a pocket, too, for holding the usb cable and a spare pair of batteries.

I should have used velcro on this pocket, though, as my batteries fell out in my purse when I carried my camera along!  The USB wire fits snugly in here though, so you could skip the velcro, too, but also make smaller battery pockets on the inside or outside of the side panels.  This doesn't need a strap, as you will use the camera strap for carrying it. 

I would love to know if you try one of these projects.  And I will love to make another post soon.

Happy Sewing!

A Dress for Every Girl Around the World

Dress A Girl Around The World is an organization that I was glad to learn about, and I wanted to make sure that you all know about it, too.  The flyer above says "Imagine a world where every little girl owned at least one dress."  It is a sad thought that there are little girls who don't own a single dress, and this is something that we CAN do something about!  I am so happy to make pillowcase dresses to send to this organization, and I bet you all would like to do the same.

Pillowcase dresses are SUPER EASY to sew, as I have recently discovered.  You don't have to start with a pillowcase, but if you do they make up in about ten minutes.  You can make them in the traditional way, using bias strips under the arms and casings at the top:

Or you can use elastic across the top, and put casings under the arms, instead:

This didn't work that well for me, and I will never try to put casings under the arms again!  It would be better to use bias here, too; here are easy instructions at Rostitchery for a "safer pillowcase dress."
I will make the next ones this way, for sure.

As I said, you don't have to start with a pillowcase; you could start with a yard (or a bit less) of fabric, or even make one from a skirt:

So, I am sending these off to Dress a Girl Around the World now (after I clip those threads), but I plan to make more and better dresses soon, and send more again later.  I hope some of you will sew some pretty dresses to send for other little girls, too.  Please and thank you.

Happy Sewing!

Spring Wardrobe Sewing: More Wrap Skirts and a T Refashion

Our weather is already starting to warm up.  So I put away the corduroy and fleece yardage that I haven't sewn yet; I will save those projects for later in the year.  Right now, I am sewing for Spring and Summer.

I already posted about the awesome and easy wrap skirt pattern in Chic and Simple Sewing.  But I am just loving this skirt so much that I made more.  I made a slight modification to the pattern on these, which are now better than the first three that I already showed here.  Instead of sewing the sides and then hemming the bottom, I rounded the bottom edges of the skirt and used the serger to hem the whole thing at once.  This works out better in the way that the skirt hangs, in my opinion.

First I made this one:

 
That T-shirt was much too big for me, but too small for Mr. Green, so I resized it and added elastic casings to the sleeves and the neck.  I guess this is really the first tee I have refashioned for me; I will wear it but the next tee I recon will be nicer than this turned out!  Dolly doesn't do the skirt justice, though; the length is exactly right and I love the colors...it really does look better on me than on her, I guess because my legs are so much nicer than hers!  lol

Here is another:

This skirt matches most every tee in my closet, including this blue one, which is one of my favorites.  I only had 2 yards of this patchworked shirting, and so I made the tie with a brown grosgrain ribbon.  I wear a close fitting muslin bias skirt under this.

I made one more wrap skirt, in a color (yellow gold) that I have never worn, but which says Summer happily...I will show that one later, when I have finished the top I am making up to go with it.

I know I said it before, but wrap skirts are super simple and easy to sew, and fun to wear, too.  I am excited to make some of the other dresses in Chic and Simple Sewing for Spring, too;  I hope to show those off soon, lol.

What have you been working on sewing for Spring?

Sew Easy Wrap Skirts for Your Wardrobe

If you haven't gotten Christine Hayne's book, Chic and Simple Sewing yet, here is another great reason to get this book.  A wrap skirt must be the absolute simplest kind of skirt to sew (if you have a good pattern), and I am loving this one. 

I made 2 of these skirts, from start to finish, before noon today. 

 This one was from the same vintage sheet I already used to make short jammies, a ruffled cafe curtain for my back door, and some heirloom seed packets and a covered canister, too!

I also finished up the first wrap skirt I started a long time ago.

This one is a little bit shorter; I messed up the hem when I tried to turn and sew it on the sewing machine, and so I had to trim it.  It is really a WHOLE LOT easier to use your serger to make rolled hems!

Last year I made lots of short bias skirts for the summer, but this year I think this wrap style will be my go to skirt pattern.  It uses 2 1/2 yards of fabric (as opposed to one yard, for the bias skirt), so this is a more ample and fuller skirt.  I am loving this skirt pattern so much for the nice swish-y effect!

There is not so much as even an elastic casing in this skirt, just straight, simple sewing- so this would be an awesome very first pattern for a new seamstress to sew.

I don't have any other yardage I can use for making more of these now, and I am restraining myself from going online fabric shopping.  But I know for sure I will be making a lot more of these wrap skirts.  This is such a classic, and yes, chic, style of skirt, that I know I will be able to wear them year after year.

There are a lot more awesome patterns besides this wrap skirt in Chic and Simple Sewing.  Here you can see my little black dress, and here is another variation of that shift dress pattern, with sweet little sleeves.  I also made the jacket, and soon want to try out the opera and baby doll dress patterns.  You really should get this book now if you haven't!













I really appreciate you making all your amazon orders through links to Amazon on my site!  Happy Sewing!

Easy Quilting Project: Make a Wall Pocket from One Block

I have been working hard on rearranging my sewing room and making a lot of improvements.  I keep sitting down to make a post, looking at my photos, and thinking of another improvement to implement.  I have a lot of new ideas to show you soon.  For now, here is one little project I whipped up for my sewing room.  I used a UFO block that was never going to be a quilt.  I had planned to make a throw pillow cover from this block, but have since decided that we have more than enough throw pillows around here!

I always have a lot of garment pattern pieces tacked on my bulletin board, and this leaves no room for the other stuff I want to tack up.  So I used this orphan quilt block and made a big wall pocket for holding whatever garment pattern pieces I am working with.  I wrote a tutorial, too; here is the link to this easy quilting project.  Please stop by and read my tutorial at AC!

Happy Sewing!

Easy Sew Ladies Pillowcase Nightgown from a Vintage Sheet

If you are looking for a nightgown actually made from pillowcases, click here for my tutorial for an easy nightgown made from a pair of pillowcases.

This ladies nightgown in this post reminds me of the little girl's style of pillowcase dresses.

When my parents recently moved out of my childhood home, my mom gave me a big box full of sheets.  I love upcycling, and sweet girly sheets are perfect for making nightgowns, in my opinion.  I made this from  Simplicity 9505, and I just love it.  

The nightgown pictured above is version E.  I also made another nightgown in version C, with elasticized short sleeves, but I don't like that nightgown nearly as much as this one.  The main reason is because of the fabric I chose.  I got some bargain cotton fabric on a mini bolt on black friday from Hancock, and it is too sheer for me to be comfortable in.  If I make that version from a sweetly printed sheet, I will probably like it a lot better.  

I know I will be making this version (E) pictured here again; I have lots more girly sheets to upcycle and this pattern was super duper easy to make. This is the kind of easy pattern that even a beginner sewist can make without trouble.  It says Simplicity 2 hour pattern on the front, but I am certain this took much less than 2 hours to make.  Mr. Green has looked at me and said "That's pretty," every night that I have worn this to bed, so like I said, I will make this sweet nightgown probably several more times. 

Sew Soft Toy Blocks and Upcycle Baby Clothes

Please visit Associated Content to read my tutorial for keepsake baby blocks.  I make my soft baby blocks differently by repurposing pieces of sweet baby clothes.  Cute appliques make cute blocks, but using premade appliques from baby's clothes helps this project to make up super quick.

These are great for stacking and safe throwing.  I think this is a cute way to upcycle and repurpose baby clothes that have been outgrown, stained, or ruined.  They make great nursery decorations, too.  These blocks are also a little addictive to make; my baby has a huge set of these because I am always coming across cute appliques and wanting to make just one or two more.  Please read my tutorial and make some for a child you love!  There are instructions included on how to get the jingle bell inside to jingle properly and not be muffled by the stuffing, as well as how to successfully make these using knit fabrics from baby onesies.

Thank you for reading my work at AC!  I hope you enjoy this project as much as I do, and I hope the toys you make are played with and loved as well as our set!  Happy Sewing!

Lessons Learned 2010 and Plans for 2011

This has become an occasional blog.  I read another blogger write (in a BlogFrog Forum) that making apologies for not blogging on your blog is a no-no.

But I was doing some backing up and noticed how very many times I sign off a post with a promise to blog something soon, without coming through on that promise.  I am a free spirit, and my muse is as well, so I have learned it is better to go with the flow than to make too many rigid plans for what to make and when!  I am going to try not to tell in advance what is upcoming here so that I do not disappoint anyone if things don't go as planned.

A huge reason I haven't blogged so many things I have made, is because of my (lack of) photography skills.  I made many things for my first craft show, and also for gifts this year, and also garments as well, that I did not blog because my photos are awful.

(McCall's 5987.  Super easy to sew, and inexpensive if made from fleece, you can make this coat in under 2 hours.  This was the first coat I made, and despite how it looks in this photo, it is NOT pink at all!  I made a red one for mom but forgot to take a photo of that one.  I would like to sew another, in navy...maybe there will be a better post on that coat!

Here is the even easier easy jacket from Chic and Simple Sewing.  The contrast on this "print" isn't as strong as it looks here.  But I am still thinking of overdying this in another blue):

I have learned I know little about taking photos, and I plan to remedy this in 2011.  I know 3 skilled photographers in real life, and I plan to ask for their help.  In the meantime, I may show some awful photos of some awesome easy things for you to make.

Baby Color Book, front and back covers, made for a boy.
And here are the front and back covers of one I made for a girl:

I took these pictures in such a hurry that I forgot to tie the bows.  I know that this is my problem with photography- not having the patience to slow down and take lots of time on each shot.  I tend to move quickly and so photography skills do not come natural for me.

 
I started this blog to learn.  I have learned an incredible lot, especially regarding SEO.  I found out that writing on the computer can put me into that same productive state of "flow" that makes me love sewing.  I have also discovered that this is an easy way to make money, and unlike sewing, writing leaves no mess to clean up!  Because I am accepting other writing assignments, I have not had time to allocate for blogging.  Here's an example I can share, a piece I wrote for Yahoo! movies about the costumes in Tron: Legacy.  I have several more pieces upcoming at Yahoo movies.  I am also working on my first book, and I hope to have positive news on that to share in 2011.

So I am likely to continue being an occasional blogger.  But this blog will continue.  I will try not to make any promises for what is upcoming, but instead post what and when I can.  I will say I have noticed there is more sewing than growing here (at least in regards to plants, vegetables, and food), and I would like to post more of that.  I suspect this blog will always be mostly about sewing, however!

Closing with another bad picture of a GOOD thing.   I have been cleaning and tidying up loose ends yesterday and today.   I feel so happy to be closing out the year with a cleaned sewing room (and bedroom, closets, and house).  I am spending the rest of this afternoon finishing unfinished projects, like that flowered nightgown, which turned out too big and needs work before I will wear it.

2010 was an amazing year.  Thank you to all my bloggy friends who helped make it so sweet.  I hope 2011 will be an even better year for everyone.  Happy New Year!

(and Happy Sewing, always).