Archive for the ‘sew it’ Category

I am almost finished with my Reading Quilt Pattern.  I hope it will be in the Pattern Shop by sometime next week.

The embroidery label for a girl’s quilt is designed and finished.  Can I just tell you how much I enjoyed stitching it?

This quilt is going to my darling niece Abby.  I know she will fill in the label with many wonderful books.

I’m still working on the embroidery design for the boy’s quilt.  Obviously flowers and birds are out.

This was one of those projects that has given me joy from start to finish.

I have been thinking about a reading quilt design for a long time.  I’ve got pages and pages of tossed away ideas.  In the end, I simplified the design and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.  The hard copy patterns will be going to Houston Quilt Market this week.

I’ve also been working on a hard copy pattern of my Night Owl Bag Pattern.  It is going to Market, and hopefully will make it’s way to a quilt shop near you.

It will always be available in the Make it Do Pattern Shop for instant download.

What do you prefer?  Hard copies or downloadable PDF’s?  Are you all about meandering through the quilt shop or instant gratification in your pj’s and slippers?

And last but not least, I have one more quilt pattern going to Market.

It’s called Primrose Path.

The name partly comes from how easy this quilt is to make… it’s a one day project.

I love the large block on point.  It’s a great quilt to show off large print fabrics.  The fabrics for this quilt are from Riley Blake’s upcoming line called Enchanted Garden.   They are young and vibrant.  My girls fell head over heels in love.

They’ve begged for a skirt made out of the Enchanted fabrics…. “Phew, maybe after costumes are done, my dears…”

As part of my series on mending, a few of my friends have complained about little holes they get in the front of their shirts.  Yes!  I said, I get them too!

Do they happen to you too?

You know, holes right where your shirt rubs against your jeans.  I usually get several holes right together just below my belly button.

I’ve been really bothered by these little holes, partly because it means the shirt will be relegated to a cleaning/gardening shirt only.  Buying a new shirt will be in order, which really chaps me.  I especially hate when it happens to a shirt I love.  But mostly I’ve worried that it has something to do with my stomach that still pooches out from when I had my twins… uh hum…  8 years ago.

But the mystery of these little holes deepened when my sister-in-law Marcie, who is very skinny (even though her baby is only 11 months old…) complained that she gets those pesky holes in her shirts too.

What’s the deal?  Is it just cheap fabric?  Maybe.  But I’ve had it happen to shirts from Old Navy or Target just as fast as my J.Crew splurges… so the cost of the shirt doesn’t seem to make a difference.

Is it just the pitfalls of being a mother?  We do spend a lot of time leaned up against a counter after all… folding laundry, making dinner, helping with homework.  That’s a lot of rub time.

I wish I could tell you I’ve found a foolproof way to fix the problem.  I have really put my mind to it.  I’ve thought about patches, ruffles, alterations and other wild solutions.  But nothing seems viable.  I mean, who wants a patch just below their belly button?  And ruffles, which can be fun, just aren’t a reasonable solution for more than one shirt in my wardrobe.

So what’s girl to do?

Then a solution came to me… maybe our apron wearing grandmothers were onto something.  Maybe, just maybe, I need to wear my apron more.  Not just for cooking, but for cleaning too.

So a few months ago, I started wearing an apron more.  As in, I put it on in the morning… and wear it all day.  Unless of course I’m going somewhere, and then I try to remember to take it off.

And guess what?  There’s a noticeable decline in those pesky little holes.

Wearing my apron has other fringe benefits.  It cuts down on stains on my clothing.  An apron pocket is also a handy place to put the Lego block I just stepped on, pennies from the laundry, and clipped strings as I’m sewing.  At the end of the day, my apron has a pocket full of treasures.

So if you don’t have a full apron… or two or three.  Make yourself one today from your favorite fabric.  Be sure to check Barbara Brandeburg’s wonderful  Sassy Little Apron pattern shown above.  I’ve made her Flouncy Little Apron and her patterns are fabulous.

A good apron may just save your favorite shirt.