Gifts: Burlap Pillows

I am in love with burlap right now. I have been seeing it everywhere and I love the look. I hadn't ever sewn it until now. Not my favorite to sew. It did make me appreciate my serger though. I decided to make my friends burlap pillows with iron on transfers for Christmas. You can buy all sorts of cool images on etsy to use or you can find some on the blog from graphicsfairy. I was debating to go with a "christmasy" type graphic or just a generic one that would be okay for all year. That is what I went with.

Honestly, I am not sure if they will survive a washing or not...hopefully my friends won't be hating me by March. I think the worse thing that could happen would they would have a blank pillow. I do think my serged seams will survive.

Tie Sets

A couple new things in the shop. Ugh, I have been so slow to add things. I have a stack that need to go in, so keep watching. :-)

First Craft Show

It was a success! I am so thankful to my sister and sis-in-law. They helped me set up and sat with me while we sold. We were put right by a window and at 5 pm when it started, we were being blinded by the light, so the pictures aren't that great.

I do have a lot of stuff to be listed in the shop now...once all my presents are wrapped maybe. :-)

TONIGHT!!!

The shopping begins: IIDA HOLIDAY SHOP & SOCIAL

what you will find: jewelry, clothes, cards, ceramics, hand bags & baby gear.

PLEASE NOTE: only cash or checks will be accepted by vendors.
member entry requires 3 non perishable items to be donated to SA food bank. non members: $5 entry or 3 non perishable items

12.09.10
5:00pm - 9:00pm
ZaZa Gardens. 723 S. Flores St. San Antonio, Texas 78204

Come and see me if you are in the area. It is my first craft "show".

Personalized Cards

These samples are headed to the craft fair on Thursday. I don't have them listed in my shop, but if you are interested you can always contact me thru this blog for any item. These cards are 5x7 and you can get a set of 6 for $10 or 12 for $20.

Christmas Tutu set

Cowboy Set

A new item for craft fair and/or the shop: I love this natural color chenille.

It is very soft. And this cute cotton print. So TEXAS! Yeehaw.

Craft Fair

I am back...seriously this time...back in the game of crafting. I have busily been working on items for my first craft fair!!!! I am so excited and a lot scared too. I have wanted to get into some craft shows for some time now, but always worry about the inventory I have on hand as well as cost and really the fear that no one will buy anything. But I have decided I will never know what it is like unless I try it. This lady bought a baby gift from my etsy store about 1.5 years ago. She just happens to be the coordinator for her club's (International Interior Design Assoc.) Christmas Holiday Shop and asked me if I was interested. It sounds very comfortable with about 125 women shopping...not too overwhelming. If you are in the San Antonio area, then please come and check it out on December 9th at the ZAZA gardens (downtown) from 5pm-9pm. Admission is free and they will provide appetizers. :-) I will start posting some of the items I will be selling there very soon.

Check out this fundraiser to help this sweet girl.

The Month of the Bib Necklace

August is filled with special birthdays among my friends and family. I like to give a homemade something along with a store bought something. This year I decided to make bib necklaces.

They are so fun to make because the options are endless, plus I get to destash some of my fabric scraps.

Here are some good tutorials if you are interested in making one too:

lots of flower tuts (I took the concept of the #22 rosette)

bib necklace tut

Drab to Fab

I have been seeing cute flowered t's all over. I decided to try one. I took a maternity one from my closet because it is just a little bigger in the mid- section and I could use that all the time not just when I am with child. Then I took one of my husband's old undershirts (minus the pit stains of course) and just kind of started hacking it all to peices.

I played around and came up with this...

I think it is decent enough to wear, don't you?

Too Many Favs

I have talked about these girls before, but Dphotpgraphy gave me so many beautiful photos of my last baby. {sniff} I seriously love all of them. Here are only SOME of the favorites I have.

And if you are looking for someone to do custom invites/cards, etc. then look here. Kelly did a great job on these birth announcements (and my all time favorite pic):

Check out this Blog

Don't you love when you have a relative who is a close friend? Well, my cousin is just that. I would like her even if we weren't related. :-) I have tons of great memories with her and now our kids are making memories together...so cool. Anyway, here is her encouraging blog. You must check it out. Today she featured me. I am so thrilled!

New Baby Items

I have got some new baby items being added to the shop. If you need a gift for someone please remember me. :-) I am trying to get back into the swing of things, and I kind of feel like I am starting all over again since my maternity break. I plan on adding a few more items this week as well. Tell your friends...

Tshirt dress tutorial

If you love a t-shirt, then this is the dress for you. I buy t-shirts everytime I see them on sale at Target for less that $4 because I can never have too many T's. This red one was $3.50 and I decided to try and make it into a fun summer dress. I am lacking a few pictures, but hopefully this will make sense. I am also hoping I shrink into this one because I still have some belly baby weight to lose. It is way comfy though...

You need a t-shirt

fabric for the skirt (I used a yard with some left over, but you need to get enough to go around your widest part + about 15 extra inches)

elastic that goes around your waist nicely

and about half a yard of coordinating fabric (please ignore the zebra print above...I thought I might use it to get a little funky, but didn't)

Set your t-shirt and t-shirt scrap aside for later. Next you are going to press a 1/2 inch seam to your skirt fabric and sew the elastic under it. You pull the elastic gently while you are stitching. The elastic is mega important because it is needed to stretch the fabric or you will NOT be able to get the fabric over your head and body.
Please ignore my nasty ironing board cover...I definitely need a new one!

Now you are going to go ahead and sew your hem and the side seams.

And you are ready to stitch the skirt part to the t-shirt. Make sure that you have the skirt part going up the t-shirt with the right sides togethermatching the side seams as well. This is hard to describe, but the neckline of the shirt should be somewhat near the hem...make sense?? I baste first and tried it on to make sure it was where I want it on my waist and then it is sewn on straight. Then I went back and stitched over it. I have been known to use my seam ripper too much so better to be safe than sorry .

If you want a high waisted dress than you can skip the sash. I cut 2 peices that were 6 inches X 44 inches. I sewed them together to make 6x88 inches then folded in half, pressed and stitched right sides together. Then turn it out.
I sewed the ends up the lazy way and stitched them closed and cut them with the pinking shears.

There are lots of good tutorials for fabric flowers out there. I kind of did a wonky job on mine, but if you are interested let me know and maybe I can try it again taking pics along the way. :-)

Ask if you have any questions...I am still a beginner at tutorial writing, but I hope you will enjoy this comfy ensemble.