Flowers

I've been practising my hand sewn blanket stitch on a mini blanket for my daughters doll.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Tea Anyone?

 

 
Another tea cozy and carrier bag holder this time they are for me. I finally got around to making one for myself. I bought this fabric at a quilt show a couple of years ago. Been saving it just for this. The colors go great with the color of my kitchen. I am looking forward to using them. The carrier bag holder is already full of carrier bags for recycling  purposes such as cat litter clean up. 

 

Now all I need is to put the kettle on for a cup of tea ;-)

 

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic
 

Sewing Pouch

I have this piece of fabric since I visited my friend in California 2 years ago. Someone had put it in amongst a whole bunch of fabric they had given her for her quilting. My friend didn't want it so it came home with me. I knew I wanted to make something with it just wasn't sure what till now.
 

I sewed a lining into it as when overlapped the purples showed through the whites. Then I folded it in half and attached a zip. OK, it was a little more fiddly than that but the finished product is a little sewing pouch for when I have to go somewhere and need to take sewing supplies with me. I love it.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Simple Fleece Scarf

I made a couple of last minute gifts for Christmas. My good friend was having her dad visit, she hasn't seen him for 2 years and has missed him a lot. I personally know how that feels living half way around the world from my family.

I made him a simple fleece scarf. A strip of fleece that I fringed at each end. I added some matching ribbon at each end as just the fringe did not feel like enough. Silly me though in my haist to wrap it I forgot to take a picture of it.
 

I also made a scarf for her husband (well we didn't want him to feel left out now did we. LOL). For this one I used more fleece and doubled up sewed it down each side and fringed it. It looked really nice (so nice I almost kept it. LOL). This one I did remember to photograph.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Wall or Fridge Plaque

A little while back I made a carrier bag holder with a chicken theme for one if my close friends. She mentioned that she would like to have something from the same material that would hang from the front of her fridge.

My mind went to work figuring out what I could make for her. Finally I saw this awesome idea in one of the Jo-ann fabric flyer's and began making her a quilted plaque from some of the pieces I had left over. I bought a small 6 inch embroidery ring and sewed together a panel using one of each kind of fabric that is in her carrier bag holder.

I stretched it over the hoop and tightened it as much as I could. I got to christen my glue gun as I folded the fabric over the back and glued it in place to stay out of the way. It was looking really pretty. I got just a little carried away with my glue gun as I used little swatches of fabric to hide the mess at the back. Once finished it looked amazing.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Denim Bags

Haven't made these for a while, though they are a lot of fun to make. You don't need much fabric for these.  If you are using kids jeans then you can totally get away with using a fat quarter. Basically the larger the jeans the larger the piece of fabric you will need.

I made 3 as Christmas presents for my daughters friends and have one more on my to do list as my daughter would like to have one also. Only remembered to take pics of 2 of them but they all look pretty similar except for the fabric used. I will try and make a step by step for my daughters so you can see my process

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Carrier Bag Holders

I had big plans for making all my Christmas presents this year. This idea promptly went out the window as time went by and I realized I was not going to make my postal deadline. 

So I made my carrier bag holder design a little more straight forward to try and speed up the process but it just wasn't enough. So only a choice few received one and the rest will get theirs at either birthdays, anniversary's or this coming Christmas. 

Here are some pictures of the ones I got finished in time to mail.

 

 Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Doll Poncho

Another cute and speedy little project. I had some leftover fabric from my daughters Indian costume and it was the perfect size for a doll sized poncho.

Just a pair of scissors made this project possible. A hole and a fringe and we were done. She can now dress herself and her doll in the same thing. Made for one Super happy daughter.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

30 Minute Skirt

Happy New Year to you all.


I'm afraid have been MIA once again. Christmas time gets a little crazy round here and my computer is rarely used.

So I guess I need to get you guys up to date on all the stuff that I got done on the lead up to Christmas and the New Year.

Let's start by talking a little about the last post I made, for the Indian Costume. My friends daughter was also taking part in this and she had bought some fleece to make a skirt with. However she is very new the the whole sewing thing and was talking of pins and fabric glue. It was turning my stomach just thinking about it so I made her come over to my house and got busy.

30 minutes later this little beauty was born. Its a simple straight skirt with elastic waist. The fringe I had bought for my daughter but I had not needed it. I was happy to put it too good use. Both my friend and her daughter were over the moon with it and I had enough fabric left over to make her sister one too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Native American Indian Costume

My daughters class have been doing a project on the Native American Indians of Texas and the final part of this was the kids dressing up as Indian's in a type of wax museum and coming to life (with the press of a pretend button) to tell their part of the story.

My Daughter was a Lipan Apache Shaman. I did some Internet searching which surprisingly didn't turn up much. luckily it coincided with me purchasing a remnant with a fringed edge that was perfect for this. I am addicted to remnants. It it the first place I head for when I go to a craft store. Having said that though the first thing I thought of was a poncho. I found the most gorgeous fleece at Hobby Lobby and made this first. I followed the pattern in a book I had found called 'sew what! fleece'. it's a great book with lots of easy to follow fleece ideas.

The dress was a fairly simple design that came right off the top of my head. I simply sewed up the 2 sides about 3/4 of the way. leaving room for her arms and cut a hole for her head. Fringed each side all the way up and it was looking pretty good.

It was then I came across another remnant in a different store and added a second layer to the top half of the dress. I also used this fabric to make her a belt and headdress. To finish the ensemble we got her a pair of moccasin slippers and platted her hair. Even though I say it myself she looked pretty darn awesome.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Fleece Baby Blanket

Friends of ours are expecting their 2nd baby. I believe her due date is Christmas Day. What a wonderful gift. I am so excited for them.

A few weeks ago they had a baby shower and I took on the task of making my second baby blanket. this time with baby being due in the winter I chose to use fleece for it. I made the mistake of putting batting in the middle. I have a feeling it would have been warm enough with just the fleece but now it is super duper cuddly.

One side is 4 inch squares and the other 4 inch strips. I broke my needle due to the thickness but am really happy with how it turned out. I hope baby likes it too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Hermione and The Doctor

Look at absent minded me again. I came in and wished you guys a Happy Halloween and then promptly forgot to show you all my hard work for the occasion.

My sons costume was fairly straight forward. He wanted to be Dr Who is a famous British based time lord who has an increasing fan base here in America. we were able to watch some episodes of the latest regeneration Matt Smith while we were in the UK over the summer. Ever since he has been fascinated by everything Dr who related. This prompted a trip to the thrift store where we found his jacket and eBay found us the bow tie and suspenders. All I really had to do was sew elbow patches onto the jacket and make an inside pocket for storing his sonic screwdriver.

My daughter wanted to be Hermione from Harry Potter. She got the wand while on a trip to Universal Studios last Christmas. I put together the uniform pretty easily by going to Target. I gave in and purchased a proper Griffindor tie from Party City. The key part to the whole thing coming together was Hermione's robe. I found the perfect pattern and black fabric at Hancock Fabrics. Oh, my goodness did I have fun with this project. Although in my efforts to play it safe on the size front I ended up making it a tad too big, OK a lot too big but I managed to make it fit and she has the opportunity to grow into it for some time to come.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Work In Progress - Tidy Craft Room

That was all the backed up stuff I had waiting to show you. Turned out to be more than I thought it was. Lucky for me though as my craft room took a little longer than anticipated. Here's hoping it doesn't get that out of hand again.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Anniversary Card

My husband and I celebrated our 14 year anniversary this year. I had given in to temptation and bought him a card from the store but I was feeling bad for not having made it myself so when I saw this cute sticker set in the craft store I bought it and sat down and made my wonderful hubby a second card.

Here's a picture of the beautiful flowers he got me and one of our cats who was curious to see what I was doing when I took the photo.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Happy Halloween

Just popping in to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. These are our carved pumpkins this year. Hubby did the Dr.Who one for our son who is Dr.Who crazy and I did the smiley face one for our daughter. Have fun and don't eat too much candy. xxx

Owl Card Front

Do you remember the owl themed birthday card I made back in April for my friends daughter? Well, the card ended up in her sisters room as she liked it so much and it was the same colors as her bedroom.

When I found this out I made another one for the birthday girl, just the card front this time and I used the colors in her room so she could display it with her other owl stuff. I also put her initial on it so this one is all hers and no-one else. LOL.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

School Scrapbook Pages

3rd + 6th Grade

I almost completely forgot to do these. Thankfully I had all the photos I needed already printed off. My daughters page was easy. I made her 3rd grade pages when I made her brothers so all I had to do was add pictures. My sons 6th grade page I had to do from scratch, not forgetting to make a second set for my daughters book. Now he is in middle school i have cut it down to a single page layout instead of a double. They are growing up so fast.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Wolf Cushion

My daughters best friend had her birthday while we were in the UK. I had made her gift before we went but were unable to give it to her till we got back. She loves wolves and I had picked up a gorgeous fleece remnant in Hobby Lobby that was covered with wolves. I chose to do a long pillow so she can hug it easily and it will look cool on her bed.

I bought some ribbon in pink and black which when I cut the fringe I used it in every other knot. Did I mention I am loving knotting stuff. Every project is so easy and quick to do I am having loads of fun with projects like these.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

New Home Cards

 
With the two new home gifts I had made I felt drawn to my stamps. I have not made a card in quite some time. I think somewhere along the way I have lost my mojo or something, not quite sure what but I was inspired to make new home cards to go with the gifts I had made. I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to get them finished but they came together fairly quickly in the end.

I used an image from Rachel Ann miller. The little mushroom house was perfectly suited to the occasion. Then I used a craft card stock base with a red or blue card cuttlebugged to finish it off.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic