Sigh.

In case you were wondering why it has been so quiet on my end lately, let me share the reason with you. This is the state of my "craft room" as of this afternoon:

Thanks to the "hinden-belly" plus a few restrictions on how much I am allowed to lift, the husband has to do all the work all by himself. I can't do anything but stand around frustrated, because all I can do is stand around not doing anything. To make matters worse- last week and for the next two weeks he will be covering not one, not two, but five other colleagues' desks while they are on vacation. On top of his own work of course.

I hope he doesn't mind I completely took over the living room and dining room in the meantime. Do you think he will notice the 58 yards of fabric strewn over every available surface?

On a positive note..... I am well under way with the 4 matching baby quilts (and of course the tutorial to go with them). My new craft room storage is built and I have nearly finished moving all my materials in place, and those 58 yards of fabric is for a massive curtain project that is now well underway. Baby steps, right? All we can take are baby steps and keep on inching our way towards the finish line.....

Save your money.

I had a custom request for a wallet in a specific print come in from Etsy recently, and wanted to share with you. I just fell in love with this fabric pattern!

I really miss making wallets. I miss making them so much, I bought 20 meters of interfacing and 25 new fabric prints to start a new set. Now, I just need to get my new craft area finished this weekend and I will be ready to make a start!

How about this design?

I am working on the design for the baby quilt. I opted for the more modern design of long stripes instead of the traditional quilt squares.

The dimensions are 40 inches high by 30 inches wide, before I add the solid black binding. Through the magic of Microsoft Paint, this is image is pretty darn close to scale. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

The quilt will be used in the crib during colder weather. I will be also making two extra, identical quilts to dot around the house so the future daughter can lie on something other than the floor while she plays, and "one more for good measure" for those 3 am accidents that are bound to happen. I learned from the first daughter that when it comes to babies, you must always, always, always have a spare set of bedding!

What do you think? I would love to hear your feedback/comments/opinions/criticisms!

I will be sure to turn this into a tutorial very soon.

Garment a Month Project: July completed!

Well, that was a lot of fun! This Burda pattern "Retro Redo Dress" zipped right together quick as anything!

I made my version suitable for autumn/winter by using a jean-weight denim. Inside I used standard cotton to line the dress, with my daughter selecting the cute "squiggles" pattern from my stash. She has good taste in fabric selection. The dress is intended to be worn as a jumper over a long-sleeve shirt and leggings.

A note on buttons: Buttons can be a choke hazard for infants and toddlers. I took this into consideration before I made the decision to use them as fasteners and decoration. Firstly, I used extra-strong quilting thread to sew them in place. Secondly, I sewed them down with extra stitches. Thirdly, this is for a newborn when cutting and biting teeth aren't present, which significantly lessens the risk. Lastly, I plan to check the buttons for fastness after every wash and before each wearing. Just some things to consider if you are also considering buttons.

Garment a Month Project: July

Last month was pajamas for the first born, so for July I thought I would make a jumper for our upcoming baby. She's due in the autumn so it has to be a bit warm. I thought a little jumper style dress, to be worn over a long sleeve shirt and tights, would fit the bill. Layers are always good in times of unpredictable weather.

I chose this pattern from Burda: Retro Redo Dress. The only modification I will be making is to actually make button holes instead of using velcro.

It looks fairly simple and straightforward, and probably something I could easily knock out in a couple of hours. Not to mention super cute. The hard part is going to be choosing the fabric. Decisions, decisions.....