I can't resist a sale!

Last week Jo Ann Fabrics had all Simplicity patterns for $1
So I ran over there and picked up the pattern that I have had my eye on for years! I could never really get myself to fork over $14 on a pattern, so when I saw the sale I HAD to buy it. I have been wanting to make a corset for a few years now.


Then this week I was wondering around in Hobby Lobby and saw that they had McCall's patterns on sale for 99 cents! So I thought that I would pick up a fun one that wasn't clothing. The cakes and cupcakes look so cute! I have a lot of fabric remnants laying about so that will take care of those. :)
And last night I was at Walmart with my hubby and I picked up another pattern for a cute summer dress. I've been obsessed with light flowy dresses lately, and been wanting them badly.

I have a sewing project that I have almost done with. All that I have left is the buttons holes!


But my machine started acting up on me before I could finish the first hole! Grrr...
I WILL NOT give up! No I won't. I just needed a break before I threw it out the window.

The thing that gets me about patterns are that they are not "regular" sizes that I'm use to. If I buy a shirt off the rack its a size 6 but these patterns run small so I'm like a size 8 or 10. It drives me nuts.

I'm coming along on all my christmas gifts that I'm working for everybody. I'm almost done with one. I will post it when it's completed.

Finally an update!

I started working on christmas gifts for my family.
I finished my mother-in-law's first. It's just a little something that she can put anywhere.


I have untreated wooden frames laying about so I diluted some brown paint and made a paint wash to give the wood a darker and "older" look to it. I think it looks pretty good with it.
the cross stitch project took about a little over 4 hours to complete.

Now I'm working my oldest sister-in-law's gift.
I just hope that they like them.

quick update

I'm still here!!
I've have some life issues come up and they took up a good chunk of my time. But now I'm stitching again and working on christmas gifts. I promise that I will start posting pictures soon of the finished products.

I hope everyone has a save and Happy Halloween!!!!

Hoot!

I like owls, so I made some. I started out making a few tiny ones. I liked them so much that I made large ones. I am very happy with how these fellas turned out. I posted progress pics to share.



I love to make templates. It makes projects flow better for me, and I can use them over and over again.



I cut everything out first and place the piece where I want them to go. I used fleece and felt on these fair feathered friends. I have mixed feelings on working with fleece. It's too stretchy, and I had trouble lining up the front and back pieces.


I made a red and blue one. I stitched them like I stitch all my plushies. It gives them the handmade feel.

My favorite part of these plushies are their "eyebrows".
I plan on making more in various colors.
I'm thinking about putting them up on my Etsy shop.

No needle and thread today

I haven't been able to do any cross stitching for the past two weeks. :(
But I had a really good reason, really I did!
I helped my sister make wedding gifts for a couple that we are friends with. And they asked me to make their cakes along with cupcakes and cookies.
So I was pretty busy.
I am a professional cake decorator by trade so I jumped at the chance to do something fun. If you are interested, feel free to check out my Flickr account, to see what all that I made.


I am very happy with how things turned out and everyone loved my cake, that I want share with you all here.

Now back to stitching up Christmas gifts!!

Questions

I have a couple of questions for all those stitchers out there in stitchyland.

1. where do you get those fabulous frames?

I look at other peoples completed work and they have the coolest frames! Is it a second hand find or garage sale find? Or maybe a dollar store find? I hate to plop down a butt load of money for a frame. My project only cost me a dollar or two. I certainly don't want to spend too much more on a frame. Sadly most of my work isn't framed. They sit in a pile in a drawer, waiting for framing or pillow-ing. :)

2. where do you get your charts from?

Most of my charts and patterns come from the internets! Although I do have a large collection of books and magazines and such, but they are almost as old as me. But I do love to pick up a British magazine from time to time if it catches my eye. They seem to have more fun and whimsical content.

3. What does your significant other think of your hobby?

Mine likes it because it's sew (haha, get it? sew, so) cheap. And it produces cheap but handmade gifts for around the holidays. He wants me to make some sprites (old video game characters) for him.

And just so this post isn't just words. Face it, wordy blogs can be a bit boring looking. :)
Here is a photo of some hand bags that I have appliquéd.


It's only a few bags I have made more of time. They are fun and easy. My favorite is the heart and cross bones.
And since this my blog I will add that they can be purchased through my Etsy shop. :)

More on the shoe sign

I showed my sister the finished cross stitch and she LOVED it! That was a load off of my shoulders!
Then we took it with us to a couple of different fabric stores and picked out some vintage-y looking material.
We are going to make it look quilted. It will have little "pinwheels" to look like flowers to kinda frame it. I can't wait to finish it. I will most definitely post pics of the final product.