Tooth Fairy Pillow & Hot Pads

Since the weather has us stuck inside and not much to do.. I became bored and decided to be productive in creative ways.. 

The tooth fairy pillow has a little pocket to put some money or toothes [tooth-ez] (that's how my daughter says it!)

I needed some new hot pads anyways, plus these are a litle festive without being really festive.

Boy PJ's with Applique'

I have had this flannel since last year. I was planning to make a blanket with it, but never did. So I made some Pj pants for Ethan and then bought a white t-shirt & appliqued a truck pattern using the leftover flannel fabric.

Cars Quilt

This is for a good friends' son who just turned ONE! They are really into the Cars theme and so voila'! Cotton fabrics on the front, backed with minky fabric I put this baby quilt together & used satin binding.

Buttercup Bag & Cosmetic Bag

If you are still following along with me *I am still here*, I've just been in a sewing rut. Well, a little project has completely broken that free and now I am hooked again!

Here are two peices I have just completed. One is the Buttercup Bag from Made by Rae, love this bag! It took me a trial bag to get it just right, I will be working on that first one to fix what went wrong and will repost later. But for now~~~ Taa daa~~~

The other is just a cosmetic type bag that I have been promising someone for quite some time now. I hated {HATED} the pattern I originally had and gave up on it. So this was the result which took away hours of painstaking annoyance from the last one. I threw in some fun sea mist green liner to add some WOW to it! I am debating about cutting the tabs off.. they stick out rather than fall down, which is due to making the tabs too thick! or perhaps I will just let the reciever decide to cut them off or not.. hmm..

Pillow Sham

I have been working on redecorating Caity's room. Nothing big and fancy, just a little here and a little there. I started with purchasing a comforter; one that was suitable for her age but also something she could grow into, not an easy task when all she wants is Princess. However, Walmart has a new line of Princess inspired bedding decor. The comforter has a quilt look without the quilting and has just enough blocks to make it little girl princess like, but not too much. You can see what we picked HERE. It's also reversible, showing a bright pink and hot pink damask, very nice. I was a bit mixed about this comforter, as it's from Walmart.. not the best quality, but I also figure that IF it lasts more than 2 years that's good enough. Plus Caity wouldn't let me remove it..

So now onto the reason why I am posting in the first place.. I made a sham to go with the new colors. Nothing fancy, just a simple pink & white polka dotted sham. It really adds to her room though & she loves it! I got this pattern from HERE.

Ariel Dress

This was one of those pre-made dresses where all you have to do is sew up the sides and add straps if wanted. I had some unused lace edging leftover and used that up for the straps. Caity loves it of course and it only took me 10 minutes to measure and sew. Plus the fabric was on sale!

Sewing Tips and Information

There is so much information on the internet now and I am personally so thankful for all the people who have been willing to share their knowledge. I have recently come across someone who wasn't willing to share any information, probably because she didn't think it would benefit her (that's my guess), but by not helping me out it has made me aware to not trust or go through this person again.

Most of what I have learned is through the YouTube videos, or countless other tutorials online. Sometimes if I have a question and I'm in Joann's or Hobby Lobby I have been able to ask the ladies a question and get a really great answer.. not always mind you! Some women just don't like to share! Since I like to share I thought I would share a few simple tips and techniques that I have learned over the past 6 months.

• French Seams- it's sewing WRONG sides together and then RIGHT sides. Why use it? Because you will get a cleaner inside seam and it will be stronger! Forget about serging try a french seam instead.

• Sewing Vinyl- use the paper wrap that comes with it so it does get stuck in the feed. If it didn't come with the paper, then use tissue paper. Just cut it to the size of what you are sewing and cover both sides of the vinyl, then when your project is done tear the tissue paper off and voila!

• Do you iron? I didn't at first, but it makes a BIG difference! Ironing and using premium starch can make all the difference in making a project look more proffessional like.

• Iron on Vinyl- it exists, but it's not all that great. I used it for a project and got the job done fine but there were some problems. First of all, I had to turn the project inside and out a lot in order to get all the linings and pockets etc into it.. that caused the vinyl to "break", it looked aweful! Thankfully you can just iron those spots out, but it was a very tiring project.

That's about it for now. I know I learned a lot more, but can't think of anymore at this point. I will more than likely just write up several different "tips and information" when needed or can be done. If you have any questions I am always willing to try my best to answer, if I don't know I will tell you and try to find the information somewhere else. Thanks!