Wristlet Pincushion

My mom got a sewing machine for xmas this year, so I thought this would be the perfect gift! I used some Jessica Levit fabric I already had, and it worked so well for the size of the flower! Turns out the wristlet pincushion is every bit as practical as it is adorable!

Little Jems

I made these cute little coffee sleeves for gifts this year! They were super fun to make, and I love all the fabric combo possibilities!

Way cuter than the paper sleeves from 5Bucks!

Reversible Jacket

Love this pattern from Bettsy Kingston pattern that I found on Etsy. I made this jacket ironically right after I got my serger, and since this is completely reversible, there were no exposed seems, so the serger got no use!


I used Anna Maria Horner's fabric from her Good Folks collection. I just love her fabric so much, having a hard time getting sick of it.



And I can't resist. Here is the little chipmunk face again. Sporting her jacket on Thanksgiving.

Giving Thanks....

I'm thankful for so many things its hard to sum it up! Thanksgiving to us is just as much about friends as it is about family. We are so lucky to have friends that we consider 'family'. Although there was family we could not be with this year, we were so lucky to have spent the day with lots of family!

First off, I'm thankful for fall tablescapes, and no one does it better my friend Lainey (maybe Martha, but it would be stiff competition). It was gorgeous.

And of course I have to throw a pic of Melo in. Thankful is an understatement.

I'm thankful for these delicious bacon wrapped pear and goat cheese deliciousnesses. I can wait for a girls day lunch, to have these and 'pear'ed with some girls day wine!

And i'm thankful for my friend Brian's Grandma's stuffing (the best!) And equally thankful for Lainey who makes it every year.

Sooooo thankful for this guy!

I'm thankful that our friends and family go together so naturally. And thankful for wine and bonfires.

I'm thankful that this little girl had a great day, and that I caught this little chipmunk face on camera.

...And that I caught this little face on camera. Big buddy and Melo pooped out after a wonderful day...

Happy Thanksgiving! Time to switch modes, today we got our tree!

Upcycled (if you can call it that) shirt into leggings!

First project with my new serger = success! Kind of spur of the moment, but I pulled an old long sleeved tee from my closet, and looked at the sleeves and though, 'those would be good leggings!'

And to finish the look - put together this headband using this tutorial from Simple Analogy . I'm disappointed that I didn't completely follow the directions, because her flowers are so perfect! I will try again though for sure!

Do you like my purse? I heard it was in style :-)

I still have the whole shirt to use for something else, because this was literally just the sleeves. Oh - and this is one of those cheap-o Old Navy shirts that you buy to wear under sweaters and vests, that only last a season. Fabric is fabric right?!

Punkin at the Pumpkin Patch!

Sunday we took Melody to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and take pictures. She absolutely loved it!

While she took her nap, I put together this top, for her to wear. The colors were great! I can't get enough of Anna Maria Horner's fabrics! This was made from a couple different collections and everything matches!

I just got in the mail today more fabric from this collection and Innocent Crush, her new fabric, and still everything coordinates! Love that I don't have to think too hard! Oh - and the straps are from a really old skirt (like 10 years old!) that I made in college!

My little punkin loving the beautiful fall day!

Mike turns 30!

and I finally cut into the Anna Maria Horner fabric that's been laying in my sewing room for a month!

I made this from her Square Dance fabric, and instructions from her blog. It didn't too long (always twice as long as I think it's going to take). But, I love how it turned out! It's still 95 degrees here, so I think there is some life left in it, before fall. Then i'm thinking it would be cute with tights and boots!

We had a wonderful day with friends and family! Wow - 30!

Minor Distraction

I'm not sure why i'm posting this. I for 1.) Don't have a single follower and 2.) am so super swamped I can hardly breath. I needed a break and just needed to buy something to get me through my day, so I came across these super cute felt flowers on Etsy.
With one click (order complete) Yay! Check them out on AMarketCollection. I'm seeing a fall jumper in Miss Melody's future! Of course by the time I get to it, it might be spring again!

Shirring - Plain and Simple! (Mini tutorial)

Basic shirring. Seems simple enough. I was excited to try this mainly to give elasticity to my fabrics, for more versatility. So I tried. I shirred 3 rows to a skirt, and it worked horribly.

I did some research, and found a lot of people saying the same thing. 'Wrap the elastic around the bobbin loose', 'wrap the elastic around the bobbin tight'...So which one is it? I tried both and saw no difference! I even got the old sewing manual out, now that's desperate!

So I kept trying. Then I remembered reading amongst the many tutorials I browsed through, something about spraying and putting the fabric on the dryer. So with one last ditch effort, before I summed it up to my faulty machine, I tried again.

This is how it went down:
- Wrap the bobbin with the elastic not too loose, but not too tight
- Keep your tension normal on our thread, but use a longer setting, like 3 1/2 - 4
- Shirr many lines, at least 8
- SPRAY with a spray bottle (Watch your material shrink in half! - This was key!)
- Stream Iron



Tada! I'm having a bunch of fun with this. I've made a couple baby dresses, and a skirt!

Ah...Fresh Start!

....And i'm back! Wasn't ever really a fan of my last blog (Sweet Lil Melody), which made for a long hiatus.

So - this makes most sense. The name is tied to my sewing and my little Punkin, which is mostly sewing FOR my little Punkin!

I'm always learning and getting inspiration from fabulous bloggers, and want to share as well! I'm organizing my Flickr stream, and hope to add (when I remember!), and will edit those dead tabs on the top.

Thanks for visiting - See you soon!

Happy Birthday To Sweet Melody

I'm working on getting pics up from the party. I just loaded a few to Project Nursery. Check them out here.

It was an awesome day, we had fun, and so did Melody!

Mother's Day 2010

My first Mothers Day. The 3 of us spent the whole day together (We always do on Sunday's anyways), but it was a very peaceful day and I loved it.

Where have you been Gumby?

In a gopher hole mother!

One of my favorite lines from kids cartoons. So I have not been blogging and I miss it! I've been super busy with work, spring cleaning, dress orders, and getting ready for Melody's first birthday party! I need to spend some QT on the computer with this template and get things fixed or ask my Hubby to create me a completely new page. Stay tuned....

Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow fabric

I loved this new fabric from Joel Dewberry. I was happy that the fabric store I shop at had it a few weeks ago! They have a lot of spring colors, but I decided to get away from the pinks and greens, and do something different.

I made this dress for my neice's 2nd birthday. It's still sitting in the envelope in my car, as I have neglected to mail it everyday for about a week, for various reasons. She'll get it soon though, and I can't wait to see her in it!

Chicky Easter Dress

Last week, I decided last minute to make Melody an Easter dress. I just happen to have the perfect fabric scraps from Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection, and plain white linen.

Instead of a pillowcase dress, I sewed the bow part to the dress, so you could see more of the fabric. I've been dying to applique something, and was surprised how how easy this actually was. The chick design was super easy, and I really love how it all came together! I'll be incorporating more appliques in my sewing for sure!

And...A matching hair bow! She loved her Easter Baskets, Melody had a great first Easter. Next year, we hunt for eggs, cant wait!

Pretty spring fabric! - Glam Garden

How have I never heard of this so so pretty line of fabric?! I stumbled upon it from this True Up blog post this morning. Love True Up BTW! It's a guest post/giveaway from Josephine Kimberling. So then I checked out her collection, Glam Garden and her Twitter page, Facebook page, blog, etc! Her fabrics are so beautiful, and just what I was looking for as insiration for Melody's 1st birthday theme. I knew I wanted a colorful spingy flowery thing, and now I have somethin gto make her a dress from! I heart fabric designers!

Fabric Easter Basket - SO cute!

I googled fabric Easter basket, and this is what I found! It's so cute. My search led me right to the Modo Bake Shop blog, and I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of tutorials (recipes)! There is a 'how to' for this basket. Check it out!

They have the cutest fabric Easter eggs too. I would like to say I would make this, but I don't think I have the time, and will probably end up in the Target dollar bin for our Easter basket. Let me know if anyone tries this!

Melody - 9 months!

I haven't really figured out the purpose of my blog. It's not a full fledged sewing, family or mommy blog. Until I figure it out, it will just be what it is. These pictures I want to share of Melody. They were very random when I took them, but love how they show her real expressions. Melody at 9 months!