Sewing with Sissy

Yesterday I made up a project for my daughter to do.  I bought a bunch of felt a while back from Fabric.com (she picked out the colors.)  I let her pick what she wanted to sew.  She decided to make a purse.  I had her cut out shapes to sew on the front of the purse.  I should have thought of using felt before.  It is 'sew' easy for her to use!  She had a ball decorating and sewing her new purse.  We even got out the Bedazzler (it's cheesy but the girls love it.)
I machine sewed the purse together when she was done.  It is the first "purse" or bag I have ever made.  I am now wondering why I haven't done so before?  It was so much fun.  Of course the felt is super duper easy- so using heavier fabrics would be more challenging for sure.  I had to remind Sister that the purse will not hold up well and not to put too heavy of objects in it.  She was so proud!  Of course she had to take it to school today.  Hopefully it made it through the school day. :-)

I love that she enjoyed the project.  I told her we could make pin cushions next.  I think for her birthday coming up in May I could get her her own sewing kit or basket.  They have some really cute sewing kits here she would love.  A basket would be good too- something to put scraps in that she can sew on.  I remember when I was a little girl I always begged my grandma for her scraps.  I started hoarding fabric at a young age. ;-)

Like I said- sewing the purse made me want to try making one for myself.  It reminded me of these cute purses sold by Persnickety Designs in Bellingham, WA.  They had the cutest bags!  I am not sure if they are still in business or not- I think maybe they closed their shop and starting selling on Etsy.  Here is an example of one of their bags.  They are made of a kind of vinyl/leather like material.  I am sure if I did some research I could find out what that stuff is called.  I wonder how hard it is to sew on? 

Piggies & Jammies

I admit I have not sewn much recently.  I have started teaching English to some local Japanese women.  It is in my home- so I have been working on cleaning my house so that it is presentable.  But tomorrow I am going to buy a table to put my machines on so I keep them out and handy.  I used to have a sewing table- but it was an old one where you put the machine in and can drop it upside down to store.  My machine didn't work with that.  So I had a big piece of plywood over the top.  It was ugly- but it worked.  My dream is to have a beautiful sewing table.  Of course I can't order one now that I am overseas- they won't ship- and if they do it is way too expensive.
I am sad to say I never finished that Valentines jumper for Sister in time.  The sad part is all that is left is the straps and buttons.  I hope to finish this weekend- she will still love it.  I have the pieces cut out for one of the dresses from the Japanese patterns I bought- also for Sister.  Hopefully I can get started on that as well.  After that I plan to sew for me. :)

I finally got my pictures to upload so here are a couple of things I made last month:

Miss Hogs 'n Kisses- the sock piggie.  Sister LOVED it and took it school everday for a week.  Now it is a bit dirty and worn- but here you can see her brand new and clean.  I got the idea from a really cute book my mom sent us called Stray Sock Sewing.  We love just looking through this book- it is so fun!  Now when I see cheap but cute socks I find myself picking them up to make sock animals.  Brother wants one now too.  And Sister's best friend gave me sad eyes and told me that her mom doesn't have the stuff to make her one.  I think I need to make one for her as well.  Looking the book up on Amazon, I found out there is a sequel to the book- Stray Socks Sewing Too!  I think that will be included in my next Amazon order.

She's not perfect- her feet and eyes are different sizes- but she is loved all the same...

I finally made Brother the PJ pants he wanted (that I meant to make for Christmas.)  He loves the soft fleece- I admit they are quite cozy.  It is supposed to be "non-pill"- but I know they still won't be that soft forever. I love fleece because it feels so good and it is easy to sew- just wish it lasted longer.

Now I need to get my machine back out...

My first Japanese patterns (I am so excited!)

I finally got my scanner to cooperate with me, so I thought I would share some pictures from the beautiful patterns I bought. 

The first is a simple pattern for baby britches.  I have seen Japanese babies wearing these and thought they were just adorable.  The cool thing about the pattern is that it is an iron-on.  It is printed on what feels like freezer paper- you just cut out and iron on to the fabric.  It probably would be a little difficult with darker colors, but it is nifty nevertheless.  Notice it says Simplicity on the back?

The second is a pattern book.  The little girl in the pictures totally sold it for me.  Isn't she beautiful?  I love the outfits- they are simple and feminine.  I didn't realize until I got home that the book also includes patterns for mom too.  Bonus!

The third is another pattern book.  This one is for me.  There are some cute summery outfits in there (the second one I must make), perfect for the hot humid summer here in Japan.  It also has a recipe for the cookies as well.  I can follow the patterns ok, but I will have to have the recipe translated for me if I want to be able to use it.  I did decipher the sizes and measurements- using my Hiragana workbook and my Japanese-English dictionary.  I need to study up more on the Japanese characters, I am starting to recognize a few though!

I ordered some dotted swiss fabric from fabric.com- I think they will be perfect for some of these patterns!  The only drawback here is that now I need to trace the patterns- they have printed the patterns full size- but on both sides of the paper.  So I need to trace my size out and add the seam allowance.  I am not looking forward to THAT part. I'll keep you posted! *smile*

I Heart Sewing (changing my blog title once again)

As much as I loved being called Nancyfancypants by my friends- I didn't like seeing it as the name of my blog.  Soooo, I came up with I Heart Sewing.  What do you think, is that better?  I think so.

Stay tuned, I got my scanner to work, I plan on posting the pictures of my first Japanese patterns soon.  I Heart them!

The finished projects

I wanted to post pictures of my projects so far.  Of course the "good" pictures are on the camera my Hubby has with him back in the States.  So I took a few with my iPhone- not the best but you get the idea right?

Sometimes it just takes a simple and fast project to get my motivation going.  There is nothing better than finishing a project.  I still need to take this to my friend.  We had sickies in the house so I didn't want to spread any germs to the baby.  Soon though...

The jacket I made for Sister came out ok.  She absolutely loves and would wear it everyday if I let her.  I finally ripped it off her and threw it in the laundry pile- it was filthy!  I made a lot of mistakes- the pockets are sideways for one.  But, I learned a few things so it is all good I think.  I have received many compliments for it though.  While that is nice I have to remind myself not to point out all the things I did wrong- like the lining for the pockets shows on the sideseams. (I really should have ripped them off and started over.)  No one seems to notice- but I am sure another seamstress would! I would like to make another hoodie for her, I have some really cute striped one sided fleece- it is like Rainbow Brite colors.  The kind of colors that make you happy.

I have another baby blanket in the works- the one for Hubby's friend's baby.  I used the same pink Minky fabric from the hoodie and basically just sewed two pieces together.  Unfortunately, I ran out of the satin baby blanket binding.  I am going to try a trip to Yuzawaya soon before I break down and order some from the States.  I have the stuff in blue- I wonder if that would work?

I am still trying to find a poject for my daughter to do, any ideas?

A challenge

Because any kind of decluttering is conducive to my creativity, I decided to join in the Declutter Challenge at The Finer Things in Life.  My goal is to get rid of/donate 730 ietms- that is 3 things a day.  I should double that- 1 item each person each day- but that may traumatize the kids? lol
I'll keep you posted on my progress..

Babies!

My sweet friend I met this summer had her baby.  They thought she was having a boy- so imagine everyone's suprise when a beautiful baby girl was born!  Poor thing had to go take back ALL of the boy clothes she bought- it was quite an ordeal.  (I said poor thing because of all the hassle- not because she had a girl!)
I am excited since I have some really cute baby girl patterns.  I love sewing baby things.  I must had made a million blankets for my daughter expecially.  My kids still love blankets to this day.
So far I have made a blanket and cap made from a lavender fleece that has been hanging around in my stash FOREVER.  I love how easy fleece is to sew and how soft and comfy it is.  I just hate how it pills and looks bad after being washed one too many times.  But I had an idea when I was working with the fleece how that would be a good starter project for my friend who just bought her first machine.  (I am still thinking about offering classes- but I haven't worked out the details in my head yet.)
With the left over fleece I made sister her own cap and a scarf.  In hindsight I realized I should have made them for my friend's older daughter- so she can match her new baby sister.
I wish i had pictures- but I can't get the pictures to download from my memory stick at the moment. *enter un-smiley face*
Currently I am working on a zip front hoodie for Sister.  I cut it from the beige paw print Minky fabric I bought from Fabric.com.  I also have it in pink and baby blue (I intended the fabric for baby blankets and the like.)  I used the pink to line the pockets and the hood.  It is about 60% done right now.  I probably would be further along if I didn't have things like feeding my family and laundry to worry about! ha!  (Oh I could get my behind off of Facebook too- how sad am I?)
I had a ball cutting out the pieces for the hoodie.  Sister (who is 7)- was really into it.  I explained to her how the pattern pieces are laid out and how important it is to cut the pieces out neatly.  I think she totally got it.  I LOVE IT.  She told me she likes watching because "watching is a good way to learn."  This weekend I am going to put together a project for her to work on with some felt- I just need to think of what?
Once I get the pictures on my 'puter I will post them for all to see.
Oh- I bought my first Japanese patterns.  I AM IN LOVE.  Since I can't get any images up- I will save my comment about my patterns for next time.  I can't wait to show you the cute baby britches pattern I found- very simple and so darling!
I have another baby to sew for as well- one of Hubby's sailors that worked for him just became a dad.  I will disappoint Hubby greatly if I don't crank out another baby blanket.  This one will be made from the Minky fabric.  I love that stuff- I can't wait to get to it!