A-B-C it's easy as 1-2-3 (sing in Michael Jackson kid voice!)

Somebody I know has fallen in love with letters and he "has" all of them, just ask him.  I will give you three hints as to who he is: 

1) He is cute, 

     2) He likes cars, 

3) He is cute.

What grandmother wouldn't come up with an excuse to post a picture of their grandchild sleeping?

I had this fabric, another donation from Nana Myra's "I have made too many things out of this fabric already" stash, and I thought I might make a girls jumper out of it. (how cute would that be on the first day of school?).

But, I've been feeling, well, lazy. So instead I decided to make a wall hanging for our little letter savant.

Choose a fabric that you have plenty of AND one that will be easy to center.

After choosing the fabric I selected an old stretched canvas that I had long since grown tired of looking at.
You can always buy one at Michael's or a craft store.  Simple, Simple, Simple.  This one was already wired and ready to hang!

Now, spread the fabric over the canvas evenly.  If you are using a canvas that is not blank make sure you have picked a dark enough fabric so that whatever is on the canvas does not show through.  Also, it is very important that the fabric is very well ironed before you start. Once I centered the fabric, I made sure to stretch it nice and tight over the canvas, Not Too tight or you might make the print on the fabric look wonky, but firm.  Once you have it in place anchor it at the top with a staple gun.  Now, staple all around the frame. Make sure to keep the fabric centered where you want it.

Edges should be tucked in and folded nice and clean and then stapled in place. I left the excess fabric on because I still might want to make a romper out of this fabric once I get tired of seeing it hang on the wall, or once Danny realizes that EVERYONE "has" those letters.  You would do well to trim the excess fabric first, it made it a little more difficult for me to hang up the finished product.

And you are finished.  Now Danny can find "his" letters whenever he needs them!

Thanks for reading.  If you make your own wall hanging please share pictures!

The Super Hip Walker Bag

Loved this fabric that I found at IKEA and wondered how to turn it into something great.  I decided to make a bag for Nana's new red walker.  While Nana has gone through a lot over these past few months she is still the hippest 90 year old that I know, so I knew she could pull off sporting this fabric.

  

The simple button tab design is meant to hang over the bar of the walker leaving hands free so that Nana can wave at all of her friends as she strolls along.

Since I didn't have a pattern and the one I found on line cost $40.00  (that's right, 40 American dollars for a sewing pattern!) I made the somewhat poor decision to perform a crazy make 'em up of my own.  For this I paid a heavy price in the form of  "what the heck did I do that for" and "where in the hell did I put my seam ripper?".  In the interest of saving the few people who might read this (whom I love dearly), and the one person (whom I love madly!) who might actually make this the same trouble that I encountered, I have decided not to include the directions at this time and instead make another bag incorporating the changes I would make had I only known better.  So, check back for directions on how to make this bag.  I promise I will post it in the NEAR future.

This item can be purchased through my ETSY shop  Baby Cakes Wearable Luv.

The inner pocket is the perfect size for magazines.  The two pockets in front are slightly different from each other in size to accommodate a cell phone, water bottle, paperback novel, eye glasses, or Nana's I-Pad!  Maybe this would make a great stroller bag too?? Stay tuned!

Disco, Rock and Roll Nana!  So happy you are doing better.

Nevada City, a beautiful place for a wedding.

This is the lovely church in Nevada City California where my daughter Alyssa will be getting married on August 4TH.  We are looking for ideas on the following:  Center Pieces, favors, decorating ideas. Alyssa likes to keep thing's simple. I can't wait to see what you have to share!

The Easy as Pie Baby Skirt

I was inspired to make this skirt when I spotted a post at deliacreates.blogspot.com.  The original skirt was made from an old T-shirt, but since I didn't have an old T-shirt and do have LOT'S of material from the scrap bin, I decided to re-create the skirt with what I have.  It was so quick and fun to make that I hope you will try it to. The measurements for this skirt should fit newborn to at least three months old.

Choose a nice jersey knit for the band.  Measure a 13"x 4" rectangle. Letting the material double over and cutting it on the fold allows you to simply sew the piece together creating a back seam for the waist band.

Next, cut out the skirt piece.  I made mine 7 1/2" long and about 24" wide  because I wanted to give the skirt a very full gather.

Using a long stitch sew across the entire top of the skirt piece.  Be sure to leave long thread ends so that it will be easy for you to gather the skirt.  Simply gather the skirt to fit the waist band.  Pin RIGHT sides together.

Now sew the band to the skirt. Next hem the bottom of the skirt. 

You are done!  Throw this skirt over a Onsie and you are ready to take baby to the ballet!

You can leave the band thick, or fold it in and sew it down to make it thinner if you prefer.  If you are using a material for the skirt that has very little stretch you can cut open  where the band meets the skirt and add a hook and eye.

For the busy baby :)

Hope you enjoy my version of this adorable and versatile Easy as Pie Skirt!

Project Runway children's dress AKA Project I need to learn to read a pattern better!

I couldn't wait to start making this.  It would prove to be a daunting task which entailed a fully lined skirt with built in slip.  Tiny red buttons filed (in a semi-straight line thanks to my lack of skill) down the back. I opted to leave off the small bow on the back as I felt it was getting to be a bit overworked.  All in all this was  ridiculous educational for me to attempt . I learned some painstaking useful techniques and it really 

was a fun dress to make. 

I choose some old fabric that Nana gave me from her "I'm bored with this material" stash.  It was fun  to contrast the sheep, cow, and piglets with the striped red and white.

Finished dress with matching doll dress.  I didn't use a pattern for the doll dress so the skirt is a bit of a mess.

The first thing I made.

This is the first thing I ever made.  I wasn't fooling around.  No place mats for me...I got on you tube and went for it with this reversible toddler dress.  Sad, but I probably still can't make a straight place mat.  Pictures of my friends daughter, Maren, wearing the dress will soon follow.  It fit perfectly and looked adorable!



Learning to sew and sharing with people I love....

Well, here it goes!  Follow me on this journey as I learn to sew AND blog all at the same time. I purchased my very first sewing machine in late July 2011.  I brought my new best friend home, gently lifted her from the package, and immediately logged on to the Internet and typed in "what is a bobbin?”

 

Is a blog a good place to share the good the bad and, as you will soon learn happens often, the ugly?  Let’s hope so because I Sew and I want to share my adventure in learning with you!  If I can do this, anybody can do this. I hope you will enjoy following along and sharing your tips, ideas, and projects with me.