jack's quilt.

i made a quilt for emma when she was a baby. i had no idea what i was doing... thanks to my friend, amy, i got it done in a week while my husband was out of town on a mission trip to guatemala. she was there every step of the way, so i can't say that i would know what i'm doing now. check her out with her quilt below. it still sits at the foot of her bed, and she takes it when we go out of town. i LOVE it!




it would only be fair to make one for jack... right??? right!


i didn't want it to be too cutesy, so i decided to make it out of some of ian's dress shirts. no dinosaurs, dump trucks, or teddy bears for him. i wanted something that he could grow into and use for many years to come. t-shirts it is!!! i'm lucky that my hubby is a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy.. he doesn't wear dress shirts that often. AND, he has tons of them, so he wouldn't even miss them.

i decided to stick to shirts with a color scheme that i like. so i chose blues and khakis in stripes, plaids, and solids. these shirts will look so much better as a little boy's quilt.. and they will get much more use, too.



i washed all the shirts, pressed them, and cut them up along the sides and the seam along the sleeves. free fabric rocks! next i cut squares... lots and lots of squares. i decided to make them 5 1/2 inch squares and then have 1/4 inch seam allowances to make 5 inch finished squares.



i cut as many squares as i could get out of the backs of the shirts. so i still have the fronts and sleeves for another project. here's another photo of my cutting mat and rotary cutter. these are both time savers and absolutely necessary for straight cuts. i don't know how i would get perfect squares without them.



when i finished cutting, i laid them all out and played with the pattern. this was my favorite.



i am now done piecing all of the squares together. it was difficult to keep all the rows from getting mixed up. i decided to pin the rows to keep them in order. then, for each row, i did the following: sewed squares 1 and 2, then 3 and 4, and then joined those. then i sewed squares 5 and 6, and then added square 7 to square 6. finally, i sewed squares 4 and 5 together and voila! the row was finished!!! i did this 10 times for 10 rows. then, i attached those in the same way... row 1 and 2 together. row 3 and 4 together. then, attached those by sewing rows 2 and 3 together. are you confused yet?? then i sewed 5 and 6 together. then 7 and 8 together. and i decided, what the heck, 9 and 10 together. then pieced those together by joining rows 6 and 7, and then rows 8 and 9. finally, i sewed rows 4 and 5, and then, the entire top was finished! so much work, so much to keep straight in my head, but it was totally worth it! don't you think??


i'm taking a break now, but the next step is sandwiching the top, batting, and bottom. i am going to pin as much as i need to, and then quilt along each stitch. more on that later. stay tuned for more!!

tablecloth for emma's play table.

what little girl doesn't want a tablecloth for her tea parties?? emma actually ran up to me and kissed me to thank me after she saw this in her room. i am hooked! what else can i make her?

i have some fabric that i've bought not knowing what i will make with it. i took out 3 fabrics and asked emma which one she liked the best. she made a great choice.

so this is what i did... first i measured her table. it measured 24 by 24 inches, but i knew that i would have to give it some extra length. i used my measuring tape to see how much i would like for it to hang off the side. i decided i wanted an extra 4 inches all around, which made it a 28 by 28 inch square.

i still wasn't ready to sew though. i knew i had to account for the *seam allowance, so i actually cut a 29 by 29 inch square. i figured that after folding over some fabric on each side, i would be left with something close to 28 by 28. i know most projects tell you whether it is 1/4 or 1/2 of an inch, but i decided it didn't matter too much for my little tablecloth.

after pressing my fabric and cutting as straight as i could, i still wasn't ready to sew. i don't know if this was necessary, but i decided to press the edges in a bit on each side. i folded over a teeny bit of fabric and pressed. this way, when i actually did sew i would have a nice, straight, and more importantly pretty edge. finally... i was ready to sew. and boy, was it fun!!



all the prep work was worth it because it went really smoothly. i started with one side, folding the edge over about 1/4 of an inch (i just eyeballed it.) then i sewed the side directly opposite from that. this way, all the corners would end up looking pretty and folded the same way... there may be a better reason, but i don't know it yet. ;-)

so that was it! about 20 minutes later i had a pretty new tablecloth for my girl's play table. i couldn't be more pleased!

*seam allowance- this tells you how far away from the edge of the fabric you sew...

first project... not really.

this one did not involve sewing. my kitchen chairs were sooooo yucky! they had all kinds of stains, from food and drink to playdoh to paint... you name it. no matter how hard i tried to keep them clean, i just couldn't. oxyclean did a great job a few times, but i decided enough is enough. oh well! stains are a part of life with kids! ;-)

so, i decided to recover them. i went to hobby lobby and found a pretty fabric and used my 40% off coupon. one and half yards and $20 later, i have this. voila!!!



i love how they look. the gold in the fabric matches the wood coloring. hopefully they will look this great for a while.

here's a picture of my little helper at work. she loved hammering the staples into the cushions! i stapled and she hammered. sweet girl... she asked me if she could put a towel over her chair this morning. when i asked why, she said she didn't want to get the pretty fabric dirty. just like her mommy!!




i did sew something the other day. i made emma a tablecloth for her play table... what girl doesn't want a tablecloth for her tea parties, right? photo to follow...

sewing space.

so i hear that you should have a few things in check before you start sewing. several books mention similar ideas on this. if you have a space that can be a designated sewing area, that would be the best. after all, the reason why i don't sew as often as i would like is because i keep my machine in a cabinet in my dining room... and my thread and fabrics in my guest room... and my favorite sewing books in a bookcase in our office... which is no good!

so i decided to set up my "sewing space" in my guest room. i have a big table there, and a big shelf for storing fabric and other stuff. i will keep my iron and board in there. (side story: i didn't own an iron until i started a sewing class a few years ago) i also plan on keeping my sewing books there. i absolutely LOVE them! i enjoy looking at the photos and thinking about who i will make things for. so far i don't have a special comfortable chair... i will just borrow one from my kitchen. and i also don't have a fancy lamp. maybe i can get these things soon... however, i don't think they will hinder me too much in the beginning.

next come the projects! i'm going to start with some simple napkins. i have lots of fabric that i've bought in hopes of making something, not knowing what. i think i will make a set of 8 napkins. amy karol's book has some easy instructions that i can share here when i am done. surely i won't mess up cutting and sewing straight lines!! i'm going to start with something super easy and build my confidence! ;-)

so, in conclusion... if you want to start sewing, you should try to have the following... (and if i am missing something please share)

* designated space where you can keep your machine all the time
* comfortable seating
* good lighting
* iron and board
* fabric, thread, and notions
* books and patterns
*** i'd like to add that i think this place should also make you happy! i like surrounding myself with things that are beautiful, including photos and music. keeping some of your favorite things here will help you look forward to spending time here. at least for me, this helps make it a "happy place!"

happy anniversary to me!

ian and i will be married 7 years this sunday. i took the liberty of buying some sewing books today as a gift to myself. after all, he probably hasn't bought me anything yet, and i really really wanted them. AND i used his amazon prime, so we didn't have to pay for shipping or tax... woo hoo!!! i will be adding them to this blog as soon as i figure out how. :-)

i love this book.

i bought this book quite a while back. i really really like it. its a good book for beginning sewing, so its perfect for me. the author, amy karol, has some really useful information on basic sewing, and she also has some really neat project ideas. i also really love the photography and layout of the book. its one of those books that you can just have on your coffee table because its pretty to look at, too. i'd like to make some of the projects in this book, especially the kid ones. i also plan on using it as a guide to answer basic questions along the way.

amy karol has a blog at www.angrychicken.com. it's really neat. seeing what she does makes me think that i can do it, too. we'll see!

new journey.

i would love to know how to sew. i could make beautiful things if i could sew. beautiful aprons, handbags, blankets, tablecloths, curtains, clothing for my children, all kinds of accessories... the list could go on and on. things prettier than anything you can buy at a store. or at least i wouldn't want to when i look at the price tag. i've seen some gorgeous fabrics out there that i would love to use. fabrics with beautiful prints, different textures, and tons of personality.

currently, i can sew straight lines and make simple things like pillows and napkins, but i don't feel like i really know how to sew. so, i have decided to embark on a journey... to teach myself how to sew. i will start with easy projects and try to work up to more difficult ones. i will write about my experiences and photograph my efforts. i will show you both my works of art and my mess-ups. i will use patterns and sewing books as guides, and of course share all of that, too. my plan is to work on one project each week, but that can quickly change as i see what i am getting myself into. i hear that my seam ripper will be my best friend... let's hope not.

for any of you interested, i would LOVE some company in my journey. if you'd like to join me, you can sew along with me, and we can share thoughts, photos, project ideas, and more. it would be so much fun! contact me at dwarshak(at)gmail.com