homemade grits: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Craft of the day: Basic bib tutorial

Ok, so I whipped up this simple bib in less than 30 min. Seriously. A great project for beginners. This would make a great addition to a baby gift!

So, I used soft fleece for the backing and Amy Butler's Lotus Tree Peony in Ivory fabric.

1. You first want to start out by tracing a bib you have laying around. Draw on the wrong side of the fabric. The great thing about working with fleece and cotton is that the fleece sticks to the cotton, so once you've cut out the cotton, simply lay it on top of the fleece as your pattern.

2. You can either pin (not really necessary with fleece and cotton) the right sides together, so that the wrong sides are facing out, or lay them together.

3. Begin sewing a 1/4 inch inseam at the bottom of the bib at the halfway mark (I did not which only complicated things, but you can start wherever you want).

4. Make sure you leave a space about 4 inches long to enable you to turn the bib inside out.

***tip- cut off any extra fabric outside of the seam, then cut the fabric around the curve.

5. Turn the bib right side out.

***tip- use a boning knife to ensure sharp, clean edges

6. Pin in the opening so that the edge is flush with the rest of the bib.

7. Top stitch as close to the edge as possible to seal the space. Top stitch around the entire bib (outside and around the neck).

8. To close the bib you can use a button, velcro, or a snap. Since we're going with the theme of easy...I used velcro. I like the adhesive velcro so that I can position the velcro to make sure it works and then I don't have to pin it either.

9. Sew on velcro. You can use a zig-zag stitch (the bane of my existence these days) or a straight stitch. Viola.

Oh and I made the velcro long so that it would be adjustable.

If you use this guide please link back to this post. I would love to see any of the bibs you make!

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Give-away! Custom Owl Pincushion

In honor of all of you lovely readers, I am doing my first ever give-away! I will make a one-of-a-kind owl pincushion for the winner who will be chosen by random. The deadline will be this friday. Simply leave a comment telling your favorite thing to cook or better yet a link to the recipe. Good luck!

Update:If you don't have a blogger account make sure you leave your email address so that I can get in touch with you! Thanks!!

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You're it

My lovely (and persistent;)) friend Christina (aka Anonymously Chic) tagged me to find a picture that sums up my own personal style. Icheywawa, this is a hard one. I don't usually participate in these sorts of challenges, but for Chris I'll make an exception.

This isn't exactly what I was looking for, but it's pretty close. You only get so many "sleeping baby minutes." I am bohemian modern to my very core. I love saturated colors of all kinds, lots of house plants, vintage touches, lots of pillows, bright graphic prints, and cozy everything. I like things to look orderly, but not perfect, and never matchy-matchy. I like quirky accents and lots of photographs.

Here are some pictures of my home...

Alright, so the lucky taggees are:

My nieghbor, Christy, the Simple Wife.

Plum Tree Studio's Dana.

Brittany of Little by Little.

Christy of In the Cottage.

and

Jessica of I heart Veggies.

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Inspiration: Craft rooms

Sometimes others creativity drives our own. Don't you think? Here are some women and their craft rooms.

Amanda Soule is the amazing woman behind SouleMama. Here is her craft room.

source: Craftzine

Making it Lovely's studio:

source: making it lovely

Quaint Handmade's amazing fabric chest of drawers!

source: quaint handmade

Anna Maria Horner's fabulous stash.

source: Anna Maria Horner

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Craft of the day: Gnome Pincushion

I think I've gone a bit pincushion nutty. I decided that the little owl was indeed in need of a companion. After studying the owl's lovely dimensions I decided that he could also be a gnome. Say hi:

Haha. Isn't he funny?

My day also included some tummy time with my favorite teething baby.

She wasn't feeling it. She rolled right over and was much happier that way.

March Garden

A few things are popping up over here.

phlox and pass along iris

Solomon's seal

Foam flower

Lady's mantle

Walker's low and spotted dead nettle

Tulips

Clematis

Jasmine

Blue Star and veronica

Akebia

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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Craft of the day: Owl Pincushion

Just because I think that kindness should be rewarded, this little owl will be making it's nest elsewhere. While I have him for a little while longer here is his evolution. Cheers!

I've never tried my hand at anything stuffed. The first little guy didn't make it.

This base ended up being way too big (there was no pattern).

Help, I can't see.

Sleep with one eye opeeeen.

Tada.

source: moonstitches

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Today

Matilda cut her first tooth. Ouchy. Lots of tears, although you can't tell from this picture. Sweet baby.

This adorable poncho was a gift from my sweet and missed friend, Margot.

My genius husband found a perfect rain barrel and then made it fit perfectly in our garden.

He cut part of the gutter to attach a flexible piece that would flow in to the barrel, he also stapled a piece of mesh to the opening to catch debris and hoisted in up on cider blocks to allow easy access to the hose. I will probably plant something around the blocks to make it look a little prettier.

and I made this:

The Big Reveal: Baby Shower Craft

So, a while ago I hinted that I had a secret project that I was working on. I can finally share it with you! I was working on a shower gift for my friend Kathleen and her arriving baby Amelia. I used this tutorial for the instructions and here are the results:

A diaper changing mat and wipes holder all in one.

I also made a burp cloth with coordinating fabric, but forgot to take a picture of it.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Craft of the day: Ribbon Lovie

While searching for a project to put my Amy Butler fabric to use, I came across this.

See my toes?

This little ribbon lovie was so fun to make. I used scraps left over from a sweet gift. I only put the "tags" on one side because I tend to think sometimes less is more and I went with a monochromatic theme for Til's. on the opposite side is a soft fleece that I plan to use for a few other things...

Here is Matilda when I gave her the blanket directly from the sewing machine. She watched me sew the last little bits.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Sustainable

Sam and I have become increasingly aware of how much we depend on the government to provide for us. Quite frankly we want to become more independent. Take that. We are making small changes slowly to make this happen. We also realize that we consume more than our fair share. This week we put dimmers in our bedroom and dining room, which to my sensitive eyes is a dream come true. We are also going to be planting a container vegetable garden this weekend and setting up a rain barrel. We spent last weekend cleaning up our existing garden which was overrun with leaves and weeds.

One more look at the Akebia blooming. Mmmm mmmm mmmm.

Sam repaired the gate we set up for Guinness.

Guinness investigating a future project.

Matilda's hand/eye coordination is getting better and better. Here she is with her bunny.

If you're in the southeast, enjoy this refreshing rain that is pouring itself out for our tender plants.

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