Sewing With a Purpose

A friend of mine approached me at work about a special project she was coordinating at our hospital.  Ms. Donna is a lactation consultant and she is spear-heading a special project during Breastfeeding Awareness Week.  

She asked if I could sew and gave me supplies for a dozen burp cloths and breast pads.

A dozen of each seemed like pretty easy work.

And then I asked how many she needed.

"Oh, just a few hundred!" she said with a smile.

Luckily she enlisted the help of many talented women

 and is well on her way to having her quota!

I figured there should be an easy way to sew this project,

'cause I'm all about sewing on the 'quick and dirty.'

So I came up with a template to make things simple.

I traced around the breast pads to make a cardboard template.

The breast pads are very easy to sew.

Just trace the template onto the wrong side of your fabric, 

cut out, and sew onto the breast pads using a zig-zag stitch.

My burp cloth center was 17"X 4" and I cut 

a cardboard template out to that size.

Place the template on the wrong side of the fabric and cut 

about 3/4" around the template.  

It does NOT have to be perfect!  

Just make sure you have enough fabric to fold over 

onto the cardboard.  

Fold the fabric over your cardboard template 

and press with a hot steam iron.

Remove the template and pin onto the cloth diaper.

Sew around the edges of the fabric and you're done!

I've got supplies for two dozen more to tackle this week,

and when I'm done fulfilling Ms.Donna's need,

I think I'll start on my own stash for baby gifts!

Spring Sewing

I don't think I've sat down at my sewing machine 

in well over a year!

I've either been working too much or just flat out exhausted.

But when I saw this adorable dress pattern by Oliver + S, it was just the inspiration I needed to get back to sewing for my sweet girl.

This is The Garden Party Dress.

It is a pretty quick sew and there are lots of ways to 

customize it for your little Princess.

It's sweet, modest, and perfectly girly!  

As a matter of fact, I used this pattern for Mary Grace's Easter dress (she picked the bunny fabric herself!).

And while The Garden Party Dress is completely fabulous, 

Mary Grace needed something simple and light 

for the hot Texas summer coming up.  That's when I found 

The Good Deeds Dress 

which was a free pattern download from Craftsy....and I'm a sucker for just about any free pattern!

This pattern is so easy and quick that I sewed these four dresses 

in one afternoon 

(about 20 minutes each!).

And while you'd think that six new dresses would be enough,

you'd be wrong.

I had to make a few of these precious

Lazy Days Skirts

from Oliver + S

(also a free pattern!)

These little skirts have been a staple in Mary Grace's summer wardrobe for years because this girl 

would just as soon put on a skirt as a pair of shorts!

And after raising four boys,

it does this mama good to finally have a girly-girl she can sew for!

DIY headbands

 Lately I have become a little obsessed with headbands.

So much so that I spent an entire rainy day afternoon 

making dozens of them:

I had tons of scrap ribbon in my sewing stash so I measured around Mary Grace's head until the ends of the ribbon almost touched. 

 I folded the ends over an elastic hair band (about an inch), and sewed it securely, back stitching a time or two.

Adorable, not too tight, super girly,

and best of all...

It didn't cost me a cent!

The Coiled Rope Bowl

The ladies at Maya Made and Soulemama have been making these wonderful rope bowls for weeks now.  

I finally took the plunge and made up one myself.  

I have a feeling there will be many more in the works!

These wonderful bowls are so simple to make!  

All it takes is some cotton braid clothesline, a spool of thread, 

and your sewing machine.  

I found this clothes line at Walmart for just under two bucks.

Begin your bowl by coiling the rope around itself and begin stitching using the zig-zag stitch on your machine.  Just keep coiling and stitching, lining up the rope edges in the center of your presser foot to make sure your stitch catches both edges of the rope.

When the bottom of the bowl is as big as you like, start tilting your work up a bit.  The angle of your tilt will shape the bowl.

Just keep sewing until the bowl is your desired shape and size.

You can add handles, a loop for hanging, 

change thread colors, even dye the rope.

There are truly endless possibilities in crafting these beauties! 

I will not stop until I have a basket for EVERYTHING!

Fabric Art America

I was looking for some kind of art piece to go in our computer room.  Hobby Lobby is usually my "go-to" place, but everything I liked was out of my budget (even with their 40% off coupon!) so I set out to make something of our own.  

I was inspired from Pinterest to make a fabric art project of the continental United States.

This project is super easy but a bit time consuming.

First, round up all your scrap fabric

 and print THIS MAP of the U.S.

Cut a square of Heat and Bond and a fabric patch roughly the size of the state you are working with.  

Iron the Heat and Bond to the wrong side of your fabric. 

Next, cut out a state, pin it to your fabric and cut it out.  

Peel off the backing and iron it onto your base fabric.

I actually printed out two maps!  

One to cut up and one placed under my muslin 

to make sure the states were lined up properly.

It was really fun!  

Kind of like putting a puzzle together.

A colorful, fabulous fabric puzzle!

I'm thinking of finishing it off with some hand stitching and a little embroidered heart right where we live.  

I'm also thinking I need to take Geography 101!

My knowledge of the states was pretty pitiful!

The Sugar Plum Princess

I have wanted to take Mary Grace to see the Nutcracker since she was a baby, and at the ripe old age of three, I thought now was the year to start that tradition.

She had to have a new dress for her first ballet!

This gorgeous gifted red embroidered satin fit the bill perfectly and I used the Geranium Dress pattern to sew it up.  I used vintage gold buttons (from my prized stash) to finish off the back.  It turned out so cute that I think it will double as her Christmas Mass dress, too!

Nana came with us to the ballet, it was 

'Girls Night Out' afterall. I love these pics of Mary Grace! 

In every one of them her eyes are darting to the side.  There was so much to take in that I'm not sure if she was amazed or scared to death!

Here's what you get when you try to take a selfie 

with a squirming toddler.

I was worried that a two hour production would be too much for her, but she LOVED it!  She followed the story and sat mostly still, going between my lap and her Nana's.  And during the car ride home, she talked all about the Nutcracker fighting the Mouse King and "cutting his tail off!"

I think we've found a new Christmas tradition!

Heavy is the head that wears the crown

Mary Grace is turning 3 this weekend!

She received a cute fabric crown on her first birthday (Thanks, Mrs. Janet!)

but the poor thing is so worn and won't fit her anymore.

I figured it was time for a new one.

I followed this tutorial, 

and in about half an hour 

she had a brand new crown.

And of course she needed 

a matching dress to go with it.

The Geranium Dress from Made by Rae
is the perfect party dress.

Turning three is going to be awesome!

The First Day Dress

Ever since I saw the First Day Dress on 

danamadeit.com,

I knew that Mary Grace had to have it

(or rather, I had to make it!).

And I was not disappointed.

So far I've been obsessed with sewing just the swing dress, 

but the pattern also allows for an 

A-line dress/top, and a swing top option.

I'm not sure yet if I like it better 

with the capped sleeves or without.

I might have to make a few more,

you know, just to be sure!

Mary Grace loves the "twirl factor" from the circle skirt.

And poking mommy with sticks 

when she gets tired of modeling for the day!

That's fine.
I'll just go back to my sewing.

Spring sewing

When I'm not out in the garden, I find myself sitting in front of my sewing machine these days.  Spring is here and that means lots of little dresses are in the works for Miss Mary Grace. 

 I tend to stick with the same patterns 

but I love the different looks 

that these bold prints give. 

 These are different versions of The Sally Dress.  

Above is sleeveless and below is the short sleeve version.  

Both sport those wonderful oversized pockets 

that Mary Grace loves 

(and so do I!).

 But my newest obsession is this sweet little 

Geranium Dress from Made by Rae.

This simple dress comes with directions for a whole host of variations including sleeveless, flutter sleeves, faux cap sleeves, gathers, pleats, pockets, etc...  My favorite look is the faux cap sleeve with side pockets, it just has little Miss M written all over it!

It is the perfect light dress 

for spring and summer. 

Perfect for pockets full of bird seed and rocks, 

and for running outside barefoot to chase her big brothers!

But please, no doodle bugs or snails in the pockets, Mary~

They're pretty gross after a run through the washer and dryer!