two pea[nut]s in a box

This weekend, in between packing boxes and drinking iced lattes to stay cool, I made a second Peanut to accompany the first. Both are now safely packed up and on their way to Minnesota to meet two soon-to-be-born babies!

sewing project: bias tape bag

 

On Tuesday night, I came across this tutorial for a bias tape bag on Prudent Baby, and decided to try it out.

In under two hours, I had an adorable, reversible bag. I used recently thrifted polka dot fabric for one side, and Japanese fabric featuring sheep for the other. The light blue bias tape is handmade and leftover from the quilt that I made for my parents for Christmas.

I was hoping to use the bag as a new lunch tote, but sadly, it was too shallow for my needs. (I seem to have a history of making too-small lunch bags.) I may attempt to make another, deeper one soon.

embroidered button swap: what i received

So for the embroidered button swap, my partner, Adaiha, sent me this lovely set of buttons, embellished with lots of pretty French knots (my favorite!) in blues and greens.

In the package, among squares of vintage fabric, vintage buttons, and chocolates, I also found an adorable strawberry pincushion...

...a matching needlebook...

...and an adorable blue crocheted octopus pin (love!).

Adaiha and I enjoyed the swap so much that we decided to do another one. Next up: tiny embroidery (framed in mini hoops!). I've already started stitching, and will reveal the results in late April.

bend-the-rules sewing swap: what i received

If you recall, back in December I wrote about the pillowcases I made for my swap partner, Mary Ann, for the Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap. Well in return for those cases, I received this beautifully made pair from Jennifer.

The pillowcases' colors (blues, greens, and khaki) match our house really well, and the machine stitching, which embellishes the flowered fabric, is really lovely.

Know who the fabric's designer is? Leave a comment; I'd love to know!

quilting project: table runner

As a Christmas gift for my parents-in-law, I made a quilted table runner, similar in design to the baby quilt I made in October.

All of the fabrics I used were ones I already had on my studio's shelves, and, thankfully, fit the color scheme of my relatives' home.

For the binding, I used the green ribbon left over from all of our Pottery Barn wedding gifts.

On the back, I included a strip of ribbon, which I embroidered with the recipients' names and a greeting.

sewing project: star ornaments

Happy New Year! I'm finally back from a week-long vacation filled with movie watching, fabric sorting, crafting, and quilting by a fire (temperatures were below zero in Vermont!). I was excited--and lucky--to receive lots of crafty gifts for Christmas (which I'll post soon), though the yards and yards of fabric given to me by my mom and aunt (including some amazing vintage quilting fabrics, from the 1930s and 1940s) were among my favorites.

These star ornaments were one of the gifts that I gave this year. Following this tutorial (which was part of Sew Mama Sew's Scrap Buster Contest back in October), I made each star from remnants of Japanese fabric, scraps of ribbon, and buttons.

More gift posts to follow!

bend-the-rules sewing swap: what i sent

A few months ago, I participated in a Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap for a pair of pillowcases, based on a pattern found in Amy Karol's book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing. 

Mary Ann, the owner of the Etsy shop Rumpos (which features playscapes, totes, and household items), was my swap partner, and these are the pillowcases that I made for her.

The front of each pillowcase features a square of flowered fabric from a vintage pillowcase that I cut up and embroidered with dark blue floss.

The gray backing of each pillow is actually from the tablecloths used at my August wedding. I added yellow piping to the back flaps to tie everything together.

sewing project: napkins

As a Christmas gift for a faraway friend, I made a set of four square napkins.

Each double-sided napkin is made from a thrifted vintage sheet (I fell in love with the flower pattern) and pink cotton I had in my studio.

 

lunch tote giveaway winner!

Thank you so, so much to everyone who entered the giveaway! I was blown away by the number of responses and I loved reading each and every comment.

Without further adieu, the winner of the lunch tote and napkin is:

Congratulations, Laura! I'll be in touch to get your address and I'll mail your package this week.

And in case anyone is interested in purchasing their own lunch tote, feel free to drop me a line (by leaving a comment on this post). I have extra fabric (and another one of those red buttons!) and would be happy to recreate it.

giveaway day!

Today is your lucky day! As part of Giveaway Day, organized by Sew, Mama, Sew!, I am giving away not one, but two super cool handmade items.

In celebration of the first ever giveaway on this blog, I'm offering both my recently made lunch tote (which is too small for my lunch, but should be perfect for yours!) and a handmade pink and khaki napkin.

Wondering how to enter? Simply comment on this post (and become a follower of this blog, if you're so inclined), and I will choose a winner at random. The giveaway will close on December 6 at 11:59 pm CST, so be sure to leave your comment before then. I'll announce the winner on December 7.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Unfortunately, this giveaway is open only to readers with U.S. mailing addresses.

sewing project: lunch tote

I recently checked Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing out from the library for the pillowcase swap that I'm participating in. One of the many simple patterns in the book is for a lunch tote, and since Elton (the crazy puppy) recently chewed through the straps of my current lunch bag, I thought it'd be a useful pattern to try out.

The pattern was pretty straightforward (though the book did list the wrong measurements for the handles, which I was luckily able to catch before cutting). The bag features two handles, one long and one short, that can be looped through one another.

The interior and back of the bag are the same charcoal gray canvas-like material (a thrift store find) I used on the handles, and a small pocket, made of the blue ticking, is on the inside. I added a red plastic button (another thrift store find) to the outside of the tote.

Overall, I think the tote turned out nicely; however, I should have checked the pattern's measurements before I started sewing. It turns out the tote can't fit more than one Tupperware container, and adding a piece of fruit to the mix is really pushing it. It looks like I'll have to give lunch-bag making another go.

apron by little suitcase

Back in September, the lovely Toni of the blog Little Suitcase hosted a giveaway for an adorable apron she'd made, as well as the craft book Pass Me a Smile. I actually won the giveaway (!) and a few weeks later, this beauty arrived on my doorstep:

The apron is made from vintage material, with lace and ribbon edgings, and is absolutely gorgeous.

 

sewing project: carolina makeup bag

A while back, I made this roomy makeup bag using the Carolina pattern on Burdastyle.

The pattern was easy to follow and the bag easily accommodates large bottles (shampoo, contact solution, etc.). It turned out to be perfect for our honeymoon. 

**Since a lot of my current projects are Christmas presents, I won't be posting them until after the holidays. Instead, I'll post a few that I did pre-blog, along with a few non-Christmas projects.**

join a swap!

I'm participating in the Bend the Rules Sewing Swap and so should you! Make two semi simple pillows (the pattern can be found in Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol, available at your local library) and send them to your swap partner. The deadline to enter has been extended until Friday, so sign up if you're interested.

quilting project: lexi's quilt

My husband's cousin recently gave birth to a baby girl--Lexi--so I decided to make her a quilt. 

 

I used scrap materials I had in my sewing room to make the top, and purchased the yellow-polka-dot backing and lavender binding.

To make the quilt, I used a combination of three different tutorials. The top came from here, the directions on how to make a quilt sandwich and machine quilt came from here, and steps on how to do binding came from here. The binding is hand-sewn on the back and the finished quilt is about 28" x 28".

 

I also made a rather clumsy attempt to embroider the quilt with Lexi's name, my name, and the date. I'll have to work on improving my embroidery skills...