For Mandi

There is a reason why I haven't posted in a while. It's because I have been swamped! I still am, and probably will be for several more weeks (I'm entering this competition and have a LOT to do), but I needed a little break from sewing so I decided to blog about all the work I've been doing!

A few weeks ago a 20 something year old girl found out that I do sewing and wanted me to make her some costumes for an upcoming Japanese Ana me' conference she's going to over Labor Day. Apparently these conventions are really pretty popular and thousands of people go to them (who knew?). It's a three day deal, and she wanted several different outfits to be different characters each day. So, she gave me a few pictures of her ideas, the general feel of her characters, and we went to the fabric store to pick fabric. After that, this is what I came up with....

She wanted something similar to this with a few variations.

This is what I came up with:

She wanted this red jacket:

I came up with this:

Mandi wanted this little shirt-dress:

I made this:

This is the best pictures she gave me of this dress, but she wanted sleeves

Here's Mandi in the dress I made her

I love the neckline and details in this dress

She promised to send pictures of the entire costume at the conference, so there may be more pictures to come

Summer Jumper

I love lightweight summer dresses.

When I was making it, I couldn't decide how to do the straps. I'm nursing my baby so I need to be able to do that while wearing this dress, but I wasn't crazy about buttons either...so, I just made the straps a little loose and I can just slip it over my arm.
I think the sewing lines on the straps give it the finishing touch. They make this simple jumper have a little more life.

blogs i heart

coming soon.

For Le Bonheur

A group of women from my church are getting together to sew blankets for Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child be in the hospital for cancer, or RSV, or leukemia, or in the NICU... I can't image the stress, fear, and anxiety of the parents and the children. I hope these flannel blankets that are so soft and warm can comfort those little ones in some way.

Here's a few stats about Le Bonheur:

Emergency department visits per year - 65,000
Intensive Care Unit patients per year - 1,500
Operations performed per year - 9,000
Lab inpatient tests performed per year - 380,000
Doses given by our pharmacy filled per year - 840,000
Stitches in the emergency department - 54,386
Wagons used to carry children - 195
Popsicles eaten per year - 37,894
Diapers used per year - 56,322
Crayons used at playtime - 13,461
Toys distributed through the Bunny Room - 9,000

I love stacks of fabric! I don't know why. Maybe it's just because I love to see the stack of folded fabric turn into an actual 'something'.
This is my first self-binding blanket. That is by far my new favorite method for finishing blankets. Usually by the time I finish making the top and the backing of a blanket, I'm just anxious to have it done, and then I still have to do all the binding stuff. It just seems to take me a long time to do it, so I get a little annoyed. I guess it's sorta like when I'm making a dress or and I think 'oh I only have to put the zipper in and then I'll be done.' Then for some reason, the 10 minutes it takes to put the zipper in turns into 1 hour.

And, binding it's sorta like when I'm making dinner and I think, 'I just have to make salad and then I'll be done.' Why is it that salad always takes so much longer than the 5 minutes I hope it will??

Anyway, I like this self-binding method, because it really is FAST and it adds a cute embellishment to the blanket.

Fondant

This is my first attempt at fondant. I'm not convinced that fondant is my thing. When it wasn't turning out professional on my first time (heaven forbid), I started to get a little frustrated. But, thankfully I have the sweetest husband who was helping me decorate and helping me see that it doesn't have to be perfect the first time. He made the cute little smiley face and was having so much fun. He's so good at helping me remember not to take myself so seriously!
I think sometimes I am a little bit too much of a perfectionist and I want all the things I make to look like they came from Better Homes and Gardens or something. But, part of creativity is learning to be better, learning the tricks and ins and outs of something.
So I need a little fondant cake 101..or maybe S.O.S?? If you can help with any of these questions, I'd LOVE to get the tips!
How do you finish off the bottom edge? I placed the fondant over the cake, but then when I cut off the excess, I didn't know how to make it finished at the bottom--hence the blue 'snake roll'
How do you get rich, deep colors? I tried to get red (which I know is a difficult one anyway, but still it's the principle behind the matter right?) but wound up with a pinkish orange.
How do you prevent/fix/get rid of wrinkles? In the second picture you'll see what I mean. Maybe I just am too much of a sewing minded person, but it seems like it needed a dart, a pleat, or some gathers...just a little too much fondant and not enough cake surface.
What is the best secret you know about fondant??
Jenna, you're my INSPIRATION!! Maybe someday I'll be as good as you are.

Prince E Pillow

Everett is totally into pillows lately. He usually uses his blanket as a pillow, but I think it's time for a 'big boy' pillow for my little prince to rest his head on.
I used an old pillow and cut it to size. I used an old pillow case to make the pillow cover and an extra piece of fabric for the 'E'. I printed off an 'E' from Microsoft Word using font size 700 and used that as a pattern for the 'E'. I'm not very good at drawing or making letters, so I leave that stuff to the computer.
I hand stitched using thick jeans thread around the inside of the 'E' and then used the blanket stitch to finish the edge.

Crayon Roll

I finally made one! I used this tutorial, but just added a few more pockets so I could put more crayons in it. I've hesitated about making one because I wasn't sure if my son would even use it, or if he would just take all the crayons out and then be frustrated that he isn't quite coordinated enough to put them back in their pockets. But, I decided he'll like it even if he can't get the crayons in the pocket yet.