Archive for the ‘sew it’ Category

It was a lovely, good, long weekend with lots of time to relax and enjoy.

While we watched Masterpiece Theater’s Sense and Sensibility and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, I helped my girls sew new dolls from Alicia Paulson’s wonderfully sweet book, Stitched in Time.  (Alicia is the creator of one of my favorite blogs, Posie Gets Cozy) I was so proud of my girls who embroidered and machine-stitched every part of their dolls with almost no help from me other than guidance and advice.

Everything was going swimmingly until they got to the hair, which was totally impossible for my girls to handle.  Having never really made dolls before, I’m struggling with the hair myself.  Stitching the yarn through the fabric and stuffing is for the birds.  I’m using a nice sharp long needle, but I think it may take few days and some Advil for my hands before the dolls are done.  Plus the doll’s face is wrinkling a bit with what I’ve done so far.  Perhaps the girls didn’t stuff enough?  It isn’t bothering Lily, but is bothering me.  I’m hoping the yarn in the back of the head will pull her face taut once again.  Anyone out there with brilliant tips?

On a side note, my girls wanted to watch Downton Abbey with me this weekend… but a word to the wise if you happen to have girls like mine who are actually excited to watch something like Downton Abbey… I found out the hard way, it’s not as kid friendly as I would have hoped : ).  Oh well.  At least I can watch it on my own… and I am.  I’ve watched 4 episodes now and I’m hooked.

On a happier note, I also started putting together a quilt that is long overdue.

I’ve had this stack of half square triangles niggling at me since last fall.  I had made around 200 of the 284 blocks needed for the quilt.  But then life got way too busy and the quilt went by the wayside.

Last week I finished up the last blocks.

This weekend I laid the quilt out and numbered each row.  Since the quilt is on point, I also called my mom for help in calculating the side triangles and corner triangles.  Thanks mom!

And started putting it all together.  I decided that I’m not going to add a border to the quilt, since I love the simplicity of it just as it is.

It’s incredibly hard to focus on sewing doll hair when a quilt is this close to being done.  But doll hair must come first I think.

On another note, our family went skiing yesterday and we all rode the lift where Lily fell.  It was a very emotional experience.  I rode the lift with a stunned awe at how truly high it was.  The place where she fell was shockingly high and I was filled again with immense gratitude that she fell safely.  I was proud of Lily for facing her fears and getting back on the lift.

Progress, and all in all, a good weekend.

I thought I’d share a little gift I gave my girls for Christmas this year.  The tomato pincushions are from a tutorial found here on Martha Stewart.  The embroidery scissors, while not the world’s best scissors, are a big step up for my girls.  They are great at cutting embroidery floss and yarn, which is just what my girls needed them for.  Plus they are super cute.

Our favorite part of their gift was the needlebooks, made from the fabulous tutorial from Amy of nanaCompany.

I just love when something useful can be so pretty.

You can individualize the style of your needlebook just as you please.

I am super tickled about this Union Jack needlebook I made for a friend.  She loves to quilt and all things British, so I hope she loves her book.

I made the back “X” out of stitched grosgrain ribbon, stitched carefully down each side using matching red thread.

I made the cross using a tiny polkadot fabric.  I cut the strips wider than I needed by 1/2 inch so I could press 1/4 seams, then stitched it down the sides using the matching red thread.  It made an easy Union Jack.

I cannot get enough of the Robert Kaufman leafy stem and bird print.  I have it in a charm pack and have purchased several colors.  It’s the sweetest fabric.

Her needlebook has a patchwork back.  This project is a great way to use up tiny scraps of your favorite fabrics.

Since she’s a quilter, I added a little flap of linen to hold her small quilting needles.

If you’d like to make a needlebook, you can find Amy’s tutorial here on her blog, nanaCompany.

My girls have loved their gifts and are already putting them to good use with their embroideries.

The other day our sweet neighbor girl and friend was visiting and saw Lily and Emma’s needlebooks.  “Oh!  I love those so much!  Are they hard to make?  I’m always loosing my needles!”

“I’ll help you make one.” I offered.  So I’ll be making several more needlebooks this next week.

They only take a few hours and couldn’t be easier or more fun to make.