in the kitchen, for the kitchen

~in the sink

~by the sink

~making salad

~making potholders

I actually cut out the material for these potholders before our move. I finally got around to sewing them up this weekend. A really small satisfying project (although I found it interesting to sew bias tape around a circle:) The pattern for these potholders are in Handmade Home.
Hope you are having a great Tuesday!

crafting for Chester

Since I made little gifts for the family (knitted slippers for the girls, the ribbed hat for my husband) I thought Chester needed something too. This weekend I got sewing and made him his own cat pillow~

~ leftover fabric strips from cutting-the eight strips I cut out are not the same width, but are the same length.

~sewing the strips onto a cotton batting

~strips sewn onto cotton batting, now time to add back fabric for pillow

~stuff, stuff, stuff! with polyfill and leftover fabric strips from the cutting (really I didn't over stuff the pillow, I wanted it to be a little bit on the floppy side.
~pillow washed and dried-to get that crinkly quilted look

time for photos Chester-he's so good with the camera

until he starts playing with my camera strap!

Can you tell we are totally enamored with our kitty? Pets really add joy to the home (I haven't had one in such a long time that somehow I forgot this fact-but with all the moving, plus being renters, on and on- I digress). Now I'm so glad we have Chester, and that he has a cozy place to nap, while I'm taking my nap too!

makin' something for Christmas

Remember this post, about wanting to make small knitted gifts for the family? Well I got around to it and knitted these for the girls~

slippers, originally uploaded by *nichole*.

The pattern is found in Knit Simple.I like to think of them as "peppermint slippers" because of course they are colors of peppermints. For my youngest daughter I used smaller needles and decreased the number of rounds knitted-also a crocheted draw sting was also added so that the fit could be a bit more snug. The girls tell me that the slippers are cozy, which of course makes me happy.

I also did a little sewing for the small pillows on the couch~

patchwork style, my seaming could have been a bit more precise, but I still think they add a colorful touch to the living area.

In the kitchen~

Swedish fruitcake, originally uploaded by *nichole*.

fruitcake-Swedish style, I made this last year-I love it, it's light and not as dense as the traditional fruitcake. I didn't have all the dried fruit that was listed in the recipe, so I just used what dried fruit I had in the cupboard, which included dried cranberries, dried apricots, candied ginger, and raisins.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to all the new possibilities of the New Year.

big purse, small stuff

Do you carry a large bag or purse? Well I do. I love big bags, in fact my husband likes to ask me from time to time "what in the world do you carry in there?" Lets see-my wallet, various papers, pens, pencils, broken crayons, magazines, loose receipts, old sticky cough drops, maxis, crumpled tissues, plastic spoons, restaurant napkins, okay-I think you get the picture. Yes I have an affinity for big bags, but not so much for the bottomless pit syndrome that these bags create. Reaching down in my bag, "okay I think I have a pen" I say to myself, gotta write my grocery list (on the back of an old receipt of course), but instead I pull up a used straw, "how did that get in there?"
In the attempt to be more organized I decide to make myself a small pouch. I wanted this pouch to hold my travel sized lotion, lip gloss, and lip balm. I got the pattern for this small make-up bag from the book Sew Pretty Homestyle (which I checked out from the library-the pattern is on page 95). This was my first time sewing in a zipper (and yes I found that part a bit tricky) in fact I had to go back and do a little hand stitching to get the zipper just so-but still I'm pleased with my little bag. Another challenge I found in this pattern is that seam allowances are not included so they must be added in.
Perhaps these small attempts at organization will lead to bigger attempts-one can hope, can't she?

~layers


~little make-up case


~some of my stuff, contained, yay!


see you here tomorrow for green smoothie Wednesday!
wishing you a good evening friends.

old sheets, will work

A couple a weeks ago I found myself wandering around the department store looking for curtains, I needed some for the girls room. As I kept looking through the curtains the prices (along with the styles) kept me from financial commitment. I then had that thought "why not try and make some". I also needed king sized pillowcases, so I decided to go ahead and sew some up too (I got one of the pillowcases finished, the other one is in the works).
Last weekend was the first weekend in a long while since I had time at the sewing machine, and it was time long overdue. I just took some thrifted sheets (along with some fabric squares for the pillowcases) and transformed them into what I needed~

"new"pillowcase


curtains, homemade style




All in all I'm pleased with my small sewing projects after all I was able to incorporate the 3 R's-reduce, reuse, recycle.

yay for thrifted sheets!

small random bits

Remember those allergies? Well they were really getting the best of me so I decided to go to the clinic on Wednesday. The doc gave me a script for nasal spray and the suggested using a neti pot. Immediately after my appointment I went to the co-op and purchased one. It is like a little teapot for the nose. You simply make a saline solution put it in the pot and then irrigate your nose with the solution. There are so many you-tube videos about the process which explain it much better than I'm trying to do here-but let me tell you it has improved my sinuses tremendously. I think it's great when docs offer other alternative treatments-really instead of always relying on standard meds (but believe me I take meds when I absolutely need to like when I had strep-no fun). So the neti pot has been a big plus for this week.



Yesterday the girls made matching dresses for their stuffed animals from material I got from the thirft store. They got to cut out the material themselves and then went on to sew the dresses (they pressed the foot pedal on the machine as I guided the material). I think Minnie and Diamond look quite cute in their red florals.



So this weekend I want to do some instant gratification crafting using some fabric scraps I have on hand . I want to make some simple napkins (pattern in Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol). Surely these napkins will brighten even the simplest of meals (and even those including rhubarb).
Also this weekend will include going to church and planning something for Father's Day (maybe whipping up a big breakfast for the hubby or suggesting IHOP-I think I like the IHOP idea).

summer top

summer top
Originally uploaded by *nichole*

I got around to sewing a little summer top for my daughter. The pattern has only four pieces, but despite this I won't embarass myself in telling you how long it took me to get this top together (I'm sure this top could be made in 2 hours or less, but not by me :)
Bias tape is tricky, but I managed. The top fits and for that I'm grateful.
Here are some things I have learned from sewing with patterns-
*resist the urge of reading ahead in the pattern instructions-seriously. I say this because for me I usually need to complete the first step in order to see what the second step is talking about. So just go in order without trying to figure it all out -this will prevent headaches along with the urge to tear the pattern up and throw it across the room (I think).
*always have scissors and the seam ripper next to you
* if you use pins have a pin cushion or spare empty coffee mug next
you so that you have a handy place to put your pins (no one wants to step on a pin-ouch!)
*chalk up your first time making a pattern as a learning experience
(if it doesn't look exactly like you want). Yeah I know most of all this has already been said someplace-somewhere, but its good for me to type it out for myself. I like making things, but I don't want to get totally bogged down in perfection- after all perfection is over-rated don't you think?

planting and more simple sewing

It finally got warm enough to set out my large tomato transplant (this one is not from our seed starts, I bought this one). I don't think we should be having any threat of frost at night now, after all its May right?


These small seedlings are just getting some fresh air (just a little hardening off). I'll bring these inside for the night-I want them to grow out a little more before sending them out into the the real world full time.


And more simple sewing-a pillowcase bag! This idea was from the June 2007 issue of Martha Stewart magazine. Basically cut the pillowcase on the diagonal, hem the raw edges-sew the middle hems of the bag together, hem the bottom bag and voila', there you have a new bag. This is such a great summer bag, I could see using this bag at the farmer's market to carry lots of fruit and veggies.



The link for the bag is:

http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/sleeper-of-a-bag
Don't you think you should make one?

log cabin it

Sewing up more squares-yes thats what I'm doing. Really I have no quilt in mind when making these squares, I'm just simply trying things out. I decided to make a log cabin square just because it looks so neat and is easy! Can't beat that. So I got all my strips cut out and then headed to the sewing machine (well headed to the sewing maching the following day). Once the center block is sewn together the strips are then just added to the block in a clockwise fashion. As I was reading about the log cabin squares I found out that the center represents the hearth and then the strips of fabric are layered aroung "the hearth"- I like that. Making this was fun and I'm sure I will make some more. I just like seeing how everything comes together at the end-how all those crazy patterned strips/colors come together as one cohesive piece, which kinda reminds me of family(:

sew simple, right?

I like crafts that I can just dive right in to-I do try to read instructions but really thats not my forte'. When I do read instruction books sometimes the words become a jumble and really the only way for me to work it out myself is to do it-you know what I mean?

So lately I've been doing a little sewing. As a novice sewer I have come to realize that sewing in a straight line takes lots of practice-lots (I for one didn't think that would be so challenging). Although the straight line definitely has not been perfected by me, I'm still sewing-still keepin' on. So I was able to sew up a simple spring bag (Simplicity pattern 2750), probably this pattern would take most people a day to make, however it took me about 5 days (working on it a little each day). I was able to repurpose an old sheet in order to make the bag. I've also been drawn into making some pinwheel squares. They are fun to make, but that quarter inch seam is something again that is challenging me. I've put tape on my machine to mark the seam allowance and that has helped alot, but sometimes the squares still come out a little off.

All this sewing has got me wondering how it would be so awesome to learn from some one (family, friend) than from a book and on my own. Most of us now days live far from extended family-you know the auntees, grandmamas, and the other loved ones who may be well versed in a craft or two. I think missing this type of crafting mentor/relationship only places in my heart the yearning to learn even more (even if by reading books and looking at an online videos)-simply with the hope of one day sharing some of what I know with my own girls.

So quarter inch seam, watch out, here I come!