Key Fobs

My 14yo daughter has a shopping addiction. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to fund it. As a mean mother, I force her to earn spending money. One of those ways is through sewing. She has made doll clothes in the past, but now that she is a little older she is transitioning to new sewing ventures. Her first product line is key fobs. I have them listed in my shop if you are interested. If you click on the pictures it should take you straight to the listing as well.

So, now it is your turn...

What was your first source of income? Did you have a babysitting job? A lemonade stand? Mow lawns? I did a tiny bit of babysitting and I also tutored students in English after school.

Hipster Cat Dress

My niece just turned 5 years old and she is such a cutie pie! She has big, pink glasses and she was wanted a "kitty" birthday party. When I saw THIS fabric on Joann's website I knew that I had to make her a special dress for her birthday.

She is also very thin with long legs so I thought it would be nice for her to have something sized just for her. I decided on the Charlie dress pattern from Violette Field Threads (one of my Project Run and Play prizes!) because it has a retro feel that worked well with the fabric. It has that cute, knot detail in the front, a very full skirt, and pockets in the side seams.

I happened to have JUST ENOUGH of the pink polka dot fabric in my stash and it matched perfectly! I lined it with a matching, bubble gum pink solid. I debated on which buttons to use and took an instagram poll with the pink ones winning.

This pattern went together pretty well. I did have some trouble with the cap sleeves/enclosed side seams so I rigged it. If anyone has a technique for that, please teach me!

I wish I had had enough fabric left for the matching knot headband. Bummer! The free pattern for that is HERE if you want to check it out!

Fabric: Joann and my stash Pattern: Charlie from Violette Field Threads

You may also like...

Twirly Lace Dress Tutorial

The Flower Girl Dress

Isabelle's Bubble Dress Tutorial

Unicorn Dresses

A few weeks ago someone absolutely destroyed my sewing scissors. I still don't know who or how it happened. I don't think that mere paper could have caused those nicks and warped the metal blades. It is a mystery.

But I was in the mood to sew something, so I turned to the pile of projects that I already had cut out.

I am not 100% happy with these, but they will probably stain and destroy them fast enough anyway. At least they are finished.

Fabric- Joann Pattern- Uptown/Downtown Dress

My girls love unicorns! If you like them too you might want to check these out...

Red Tractor Dish Towels

Most people do not understand, but there is a lot of disagreement within the farming community. Red vs. Green

There are other tractors, but the main rivalry exists between John Deere and International Harvester users. I married into the red side. (My dad was just happy for a working tractor- color did not matter.) Snarky t-shirts are often seen at family picnics. My youngest daughter refuses to wear green or yellow. The kids argue at school with classmates about "Junk Deere" tractors.

I thought it was perfectly appropriate to welcome a new bride into our family of red tractor fanatics with embellished Farmall/IH dish towels.

I had some fabric with rows of red tractor designs left over from THIS quilt back. So, I carefully cut strips and sewed them to some bar mop dish towels for an accent border. These were fairly simple to make.

I cut the rows apart with my rotary cutter and cut the width a little more than a half inch wider than the dish towel. I pressed the top and bottom edges under 1/4" and pinned them to the towels, following the textured rows of the towels. Then, I folded the ends under (saving it for last because the fabric can shift) and pinned them in place just inside the towel edge. I slowly and carefully stitched all the way around the fabric 1/8" from the folded edge.

I thought it was a cute gift idea and I think the groom will appreciate it. :)

You may also want to check out these posts:

Farm Animals Quiet Book Page

Hole in the Barn Door Quilt

Naomi's Quilt

Guest Book Quilt

Last fall we had a 70th anniversary party for my grandparents. My Meemaw and Pappy are just so spunky and we are so blessed to have them in our lives and in great health! My Pap makes quite an impression. He says the wildest things and tells the funniest stories. He has a knack for finding amazing deals and making a quick profit. He also makes wooden crosses in his workshop and carries them in his pocket to give away. My Meemaw is such a sweetheart and, although she might flare her nostrils at him from time to time, she tolerates his antics with a little smile. She still sings in the choir and volunteers at church. She comes to as many of her great-grandchildren's sporting events as she can. (Her senior admission card is falling apart but she is so proud of it!) She pretty much just radiates sweetness and love.

We celebrated their anniversary (and Pap's 90th birthday) with a party last fall. As an alternative to a guest book, I offered to make a quilt. I had several charm packs (sets of assorted 5" squares of fabric) that I had won in giveaways and I cut some additional 5" blocks from solid white. The guests used fabric markers to sign the squares or add a special message.

Then, after letting them sit on my desk for a few months, I finally got around to making the quilt. I just did basic patchwork, arranging the squares pretty randomly and even using the unsigned squares in case anyone wants to sign it later. I added a white border and then did free motion quilting. I am not very good at free motion quilting. I need a lot more practice. I basically just decided that finished was better than perfect.

It is just a lap size quilt. I probably could have added in some other quilt squares to make it bigger, but I kind of just picture this draped over Meemaw's couch or Pap covering up with it while sitting on his recliner. :)

I was running out of daylight to take these pics- and we had snow- but I am going to now bombard you with quilt pictures because this was a fun project and it has been awhile since I actually finished a quilt:

If you would like to pin this idea for later... I mean, it isn't anything super original, but it will get much more use than a regular guest book and the charm squares did make it significantly easier!