Baby Cuteness

I made some cute baby shower gifts for a friend's brand new baby boy. 

These necktie onesies are my go to gifts for baby boys. They are quick, inexpensive, always please the new mommy and the baby always looks so adorable in them. I love these for dressing up little ones because they are so much softer and comfortable than stiff, dressy clothes made for babies.

Do you have any go to hand made baby gifts you like to give?

~Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Success... so far

Last night I only got as far as washing and ironing about 9 yards of canvas. I figured that was enough to at least get the main part of the slip cover done. I got up this morning and got right to work. It took most of the morning to get to this point of pin fitted and excess fabric trimmed:

It was actually kind of fun and not too difficult to get to this point. I did make one mistake, I must have been distracted by the kids because I trimmed the front way too high. It's OK though because I'll just make it more of a waterfall skirt. I had intended to only raise the skirt about 3" ... whoops!

After a couple more hours of setting up my sewing machine, trying to keep the almost 3 year old from touching anything and general distractions, I was able to get it sewn together. By golly it actually fit quite nicely:

 I am pleased as punch with the results. I did end up with 2 little tucks on one arm but it's not something I feel I need to re-do. Tomorrow after church I will tackle the skirt. Once that is done I will serge all the seams and then I plan on top-stitching for that nice crisp look. I probably won't be able to tackle any of the 8 cushions until next weekend.

~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

New (used) Toy

I guess I shouldn't call it a toy since it is very useful and I will definitely put it to good use around here. I picked up this baby off craigslist for $50. The lady had it listed for $75. It's a Brother Lock 929D I've learned the art of bargaining from my shameless hubby! The one thing I have learned from him is: it doesn't hurt to ask. I had her drop the price over the phone before I drove 45 minutes out to get it.

I really should have taken a "before" picture because it was so dirty! Had I not talked the lady down on the phone I would have once I saw the state of the machine. Nothing a soapy rag, paint brushes, oil and about 2 hours time couldn't handle. I haven't tried it out yet because I have yet to get some cones for it. Eventually I'll take it in for a tune up because I couldn't get into all the nooks and crannies.

My first project is going to be a slipcover for my couch.

~ Norma
blog.petitdesignco.com

Little boy pants

I fell in love with these pants the minute I saw them:
Ottobre 6/08
#11 "Goofy Tweed Pants"
Size: 62 waist, 80 length
Material: Polyester Suiting


I decided to make a pair for a little boy I know. Too bad my 4 year old is to big for this particular pattern. I think they are adorable. I really wanted to make them in a brown just like in the picture. I think brown lends this pair of pants a vintage flair.

Unfortunately I've only got one decent fabric store nearby, and their wool section is rather small. They had wool advertised at 50% off when I went looking for fabric for these pants, but even at 50% it would have still been $9 per yard!

So I was browsing around and I found this pretty heather gray suiting fabric for only $3.97 per yard. I only ended up needing 3/4 yard so the total cost would have been $3. Unfortunately there was an incident. I was so excited to get started so I came home traced out my pattern, and cut out all my pattern pieces. I did all of this on my living room coffee table, then I went off to my sewing room for some notion and left all my stuff out. Next thing I know I hear my son saying, "Mom E... got your scissors!" I yelled "NOOO!!! E...! NOOO!!!" as I come stumbling out of my sewing room (I keep a baby gate across the door to keep the kids and dogs out.) In a short time my daughter had made 3 cuts into the fabric!

So I had to go back to the fabric store for another $3 worth of fabric!

OK here are the pics:

Front
Back

I still need to add buttons to the leg cuffs, but I'm afraid of ruining them! I might just chicken out and do black snaps instead. My sewing machine is not reliable when it comes to buttonholes. I will do a practice run and everything will be great. When I go to do it on the garment, I can usually only make 1 or 2 buttonholes before my machine starts going crazy and will shorten one side of the button hole!

Presser Foot Organizer

About 1 week ago I moved my 2 children into the same bedroom. That left me with an empty room to finally have my own space for sewing. Right now my sewing room is a mess as I try to reorganize everything and get new furniture in there.

Not knowing exactly where to start my mission, I started in my presser foot box. It was just one of those small Rubbermaid type of bins with a lid, about the size of a small box. It starts out with just presser feet in the container but by the end of the month I've got pins, scissors, thread and what not in the box. Plus I always spend 5 minutes searching for the right foot. I had seen a "sewing supply bag" on the Sears website for $30, but I have never actually seen it in the store and looks rather bulky to me. I really like the way the pockets are clear. That's about the only thing I like, so I decided to make my own.

Here are general instructions for making your own presser foot/accessory organizer. Enjoy!


You will need fabric and some vinyl. I used one of those bags you get when you purchase a comforter. for fabric I used some upholstery fabric I had lying around.





Step 1: Lay out all of your presser feet/accessories you want to put in the organizer. Group them by size.

Step 2: Decide how big you want your organizer to be mine measures 7"x30" (add seam allowances.) Hem all edges of your organizer (I used my rolled hem foot)


Step 3: Cut out pieces of the vinyl larger than the size you need, you can always trim it later. Starting at the bottom (with your largest pieces) sew the plastic on. Then sew channels to form more pockets. Pin the plastic often and sew slowly to avoid puckers.

Start sewing at A (back-stitch) go to B, then, C, then D (back-stitch.) Then sew from 1 to 2 and back-stitch at both (Repeat this if you want more channels)


Step 4: Sew the rest of your rows. Make sure you fill the previous row with your presser feet before you determine where to place the next row. This way you can tell how far away to stitch your next row with out having puckers.

Finish it off anyway you want! You can add grommets to the top so you can hang it on your wall, add a magnetic clasp so it stays shut (this is what I plan to do) or tie it with a ribbon. This conveniently fold to about 5"x7" Mine is about 2" thick.



Tuck this baby in with your sewing bag and you're ready for your next class!