Project #30 ...TBD

I have been so busy the past week and a half, my projects have not been glamorous, several days were spent filling Etsy orders, others working on projects in 'the pile' of items that need to be fixed, some just spent making more fun things...  

Like this Frozen hairbow set...

I have learned a lot about the way I work over the past month and my own creative process. 

1.  It is hard to churn out a project I don't feel excited or inspired about.  Sometimes I get stuck in one spot with a project and just can't get from point a to point b in my head.  This is a problem!  Then the project gets put down and forgotten about. :/

2.   I am full capable of working off patterns but my best work, I feel, is done from my head.  If I can envision it in my mind, I can get it down into a medium I am usually happy with.  Sometimes getting from that vision/idea stage to the mental pattern making takes time, and I have known for a some time that I can not rush that creative process!  I have spent hours sitting in my workspace staring at fabric, not sure where to start, then the next day the lightbulb goes on and in half an hour I have exactly what I wanted.  I can only imagine that's what it can be like for writers...

3.  I forget things.  Like posting pictures.  After I edited them and everything...  My apologies.  

4.  Believe it or not, I have a handful of *really* good projects in my head that just can not be done in one day. They just can't.  To try would be an injustice to the project, not to mention would mean neglecting all the daily things I have going on here, and boy is there a LOT!  I am looking forward to working on these in the coming weeks, each one will be using up a large amount of fabric on hand so I'm really excited about that!   

5.  My biggest disappointment this month is this right here:  

This cream and navy polkadot fabric is smocked and ready, waiting to be made into a little handbag, but I could NOT find purse handles anywhere here!  What I envisioned in my head just was not what I was finding in the store so instead of turning it into something I am not happy with, I will keep looking to find the right thing. 

6.  My daughter asked to learn to sew.  There are no words for how happy I was to see her fall in love with my Singer...she has a steady foot, that one does!  ")   The fabric bookmark was a perfect started project for her.  It covered measuring, cutting, ironing, pinning, different stitches, and how to add things like ribbon.  She loves it so much, she made one as a gift. Does it get better than that??  

7. I want to make another full size quilt.  I have no idea how or when, but this is now at the top part of my 'want to do' list!

8.  With the exception of the fat quarters for the caterpillar and the ribbon for the bows, everything else for the projects was from my stash.  The fabric & ribbon came to $16, thanks to Daffodil Dash and coupons at JoAnn's.  Gotta love a sale!   

9.  Henry the snake is awesomely cool.  He is a favorite in our house now. 

10.  Challenging myself to see things I already have in an 'outside the box' way has really given me a lot of ideas on how I can continue to best use what I have on hand.  Fresh perspective is always a nice thing to get. ")

Stay tuned, I will continue to share the projects as I go along, though at a slightly slower pace with bigger projects to tackle! 

Project #29 - Children's Chair cover

Not a glamorous project by any means, but I have had this chair frame sitting in my workspace for longer than I care to admit, draped with the ripped remains of the old seat.  I knew it would be a quick project, but as usually, other things always came first and so it continue to sit....  Well, since I'm cleaning and sorting, de-stashing and donating, it was time for the seat to get its new cover.  It is double thickness, double reinforced seams, ready for its new home!  Glad to have that done and one less 'needs to be done' project!  Those 'needs to be done' projects just aren't as much fun as the ones I *want* to do...

Project #28 - Girls Tunic top

It's a terrible picture, but the perfect not-to-young-but-not-too-old style top!  She loves my tunics and needed a few more tops so I thought it was a wonderful way to use up the flower knit I had in my stash.  Took about 20 min of active time from start to finish - can't beat it!  Next one I will need to actually make a pattern and take better pictures. ")

Project #27 - Giraffe hat

The fox and the panda needed a friend... 

Project #26 - Playdress renovation

This was a quick up-cycle - one of my favorite shirts from Gymboree's Glamor Safari line was ruined by silly putty.  The very first time Miss K wore it.  Seriously.  I tried everything, I got the putty off, but it left a stain, sadly.  I held onto that shirt, hoping I could do *something* with it.  Miss N now wears that size so it was time to bite the bullet and stop putting it off.  I picked up a half yard of cotton knit, the same weight as the knit of the shirt, it was on sale so the half yard only cost me $3! 

I wanted it to look like it was supposed to be a dress in the first place so I got out my surger book and learned how to use the gathering foot - this was the skirt would gather as it was overlocked to the shirt, eliminating the dreaded task of having to straight stich and hand gather the whole skirt, then see it without ended up with inadvertent folds.  I hate those...  I was beyond pleased with how easy the gathering foot was to use!!  Why oh why has it taken me 8 years to learn this?!?!  This has got to be my #1 procrastination fail ever.... How my life could have been easier had I know how easy this was!  I see knit tired dresses in the girls future this summer....

I was pleased with the result, Miss N loves her new dress, I love the fact that I only had to spend $3 to make it.  " )

Project #25 - Hair bow elastics

I saw these cute little bows on elastic bands and knew they had to be made.  First of all, you can't go wrong with the materials - 2  5x5 piecees of fabric and a hair elastic.  They were simple & easy and and something I will stash in my bag this summer!  Not over the top for an adult mind you, just a little something to take the blah away fom a summer pony tail. ")

Listing here!

Project #24 - Bean Bag Set

What child doesn't love beanbags? Especially beanbags with cupcakes and fruit on them, you can't go wrong.  There are five-thousand and one uses for beanbags, besides being fun to play with, they offer great tactile and sensory stimulation for developing children of all ages.  These are two of my most favorite fabric prints, my most prized hoarded treasure, but alas, they needed to be used and the bag of poly pellets I had made it an easy decision.  Each 4 in x 3.5 in beanbag is filled with 60grams of poly pellets.

View listing here!