Pillows!
May 15, 2008

After last week's drama I needed to do something relaxing and "homey". So I finally got over my zipper phobia and made two pillows for the back of our couch. These were surprisingly easy and quick especially with the zipper foot that came with my sewing machine.

A trick my mom showed me is to round the corners slightly before you sew the two sides together so that when you insert the pillow form they don't bow out. I'm thrilled with how these turned out and am never buying pillows again! I have the fabric for my throw pillows, just need to pre-wash it and buy more zippers. Yay!

Posted by raya 2:20 PM 1 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty

Wedding Prep
April 25, 2008

We are up in Santa Cruz for my little brother's wedding this weekend. He's marrying a cute Southern Belle who is quite the DIYer even while working all the way up until yesterday - she's amazing. My parents are turning the house inside out to prepare for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner they are hosting tomorrow, and I am trying to help though I am not feeling well and really hope I'm not getting sick.

The decor for the rehearsal is Martha Stewart lovlieness and I look forward to photographing all the little details that are going to make it pretty! I don't have the energy to take any photos right now, but here's the inspiration courtesy of marthastewart.com:

Posted by raya 4:14 PM 3 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Family Life, She's Crafty

Dying to Sew
April 21, 2008

After 10.5 weeks of not sewing, I am dying to get out my machine. If I can swing it today I'm going to at least cut out my pillows. I've decided on these two from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern and a chocolate brown velvet for the couch pillows. I asked Forest if he cares about having pink pillows and he said no. What a guy.

My mom gave me a few pillow sewing tips that I will share when I post the final product. Wish me luck!

Posted by raya 12:22 PM 7 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty

Amy Amy Amy
April 8, 2008

I forgot to share a very fun surprise I came home to after B's birth. Nan at Amy Butler sent me a care package with Amy's new book Midwest Modern and some new patterns to try out. So fun!

I really love this book, especially after my third or fourth look-through when I actually read the words. I do this with magazines too - flip through a few times and look at photos, then actually read the articles. I loved reading about her design process and learning that she still does all the original art for her fabric by hand with paint and paper.

I'm excited to make some of these bags when I get to sewing again and also wanted to send out a public THANK YOU to Nan for thinking of me : )

And continuing with Midwest Modern love, here is what is currently on my inspiration board.

I would be a horrible interior designer because I can NEVER make a decision and stick to one thing in my house. Before I've bought fabric or furniture for my current "idea" I've moved onto something else.

That said, I ditched my old color scheme and now thinking about pink/brown/yellow for the living room. Pink in the living room? Really? Yes, for now. I think. I don't know!

We went to a baby shower last weekend and the mom-to-be's house was beautiful, all neutrals and whites. Then I come back to my golden rod chairs and green kitchen walls and start to doubt myself. Something I heard recently is encouraging though and here it is: "Just do what you do". I think that rings true for me in every area of my life. I have to just do what I do and be myself - with my photography, home decor, wardrobe. All these things have a certain style and I need to just roll with it.

That said, all these pink-y fabrics from Amy's Midwest Modern line intrigue me. So we'll see. When I see them in person that might change, but if I actually get as far as making pillows I will let you know. So far that hasn't happened : )

Posted by raya 8:51 AM 12 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty

Slipcover
March 10, 2008

My mom was in town for a few a days (yay) while my dad and Forest fly-fished in Mammoth. Mom visits are always fun, especially this one because it involved a lot of fabric and sewing talk.

While she was here she made a slipcover pattern for the yellow chairs:

As much as I love my yellow chairs, they really need to be recovered. Maisy attacked one about a week after we got them (thanks, Dog) so one half is permanently covered by a blanket and the other is starting to rip now too because the fabric is old and worn thin. I thought about having them reupholstered in leather or another fabric, but leather is out right now due to budget concerns and with our lifestyle slipcovers really are the best option.

I have said this before, but do you know how awesome it is to have a mom who sews professionally? It's awesome. I am determined to learn slipcovers myself so I don't have to bother her, but I'm starting small with some pillows for our couch.

Part of our weekend involved a trip to LA's fashion district. I have been wanting to take my mom there for awhile so we packed up the baby and went for it. Little B did great in the Moby Wrap for 2+ hours (I CAN have a life and a baby!) and we were successful in our fabric search despite only covering um, 1 of the 90 blocks that is the fashion district. I think we had more fun taking pictures and I'll show you my favorites scenes from Maple Avenue in an upcoming post.

So now, pillows with zippers. My mom says they aren't as scary as I might think. We'll see.

Posted by raya 11:11 AM 3 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Family Life, My Home, She's Crafty

Drawer Lining
February 5, 2008

Taking a tip from Grace's DIY drawer lining, I bought this paper to line the drawers in B's wardrobe.

I love it and it matches the colors in the room - chocolate brown and light blue. Pretty much my favorite color combo ever. These were also our wedding colors : )

Posted by raya 1:19 PM 4 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty, With Child

Don't Worry, I Have a Plan
February 1, 2008

This might be the ugliest thing I have ever posted on my blog...but not to worry, I will make it pretty very soon.

I literally woke up one morning having dreamed up 3 0r 4 projects that night. I don't know if I just think I came up with this stuff while I was sleeping, or if I saw it somewhere and then dreamed that I came up with it all by myself, but whatever...I wrote it all down in my moleskin immediately and have been determined to try and create them.

One idea is a jewelry cabinet to hold my bracelets and necklaces. I have a jewelry box that works well for earrings and rings, but my big bangles don't fit and necklaces tend to get tangled when I store them in there.

My thought was to take a small medicine cabinet and turn it into an organizer I could hang on the wall near my closet. I have been looking forever and finally found this one at a thrift store for $4. I plan to paint it, remove the glass and replace with board covered in fabric, then figure out the best way to arrange things on the inside.

I still might have to wait a few weeks to start this, but I'm so excited to see if I can turn my idea into something real. I'll hopefully have a much prettier version of this to show you soon : )

Posted by raya 11:24 PM 4 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Look what I found, She's Crafty

DIY Draft Blocker
January 30, 2008

Now that a baby is going to be living here in just a few weeks I am starting to realize how cold our house is. This is mostly because we have the original windows from 1951 in our bedrooms and they are pretty much worthless at keeping cold air out. You can actually hear & feel a steady stream of air blowing in. And our one wall heater doesn't do much except heat the 10 feet surrounding it, only to have that little bit of heat escape right out of our inefficient, energy-wasting windows.

I made these simple draft blockers for B's room and am going to make them for ours as well. They already seem to be helping and they're an inexpensive solution until we can replace the old windows with new ones.

To make them I measured the length of our window casing, then divided that equally into 9 (because I wanted 9 different panels, but you can use as many or as few as you like). I then added an inch for seam allowance in the width and cut each panel to be 6" long (also allowing an inch for seam allowance). I sewed all the panels together by the 6" sides, folded it over and sewed around the raw edges, leaving one short end open. Then I filled it with rice and finished off the last raw edge by hand.

I think I also saw something like this in Lotta Jansdotter's book, but they're pretty simple so you really don't need a pattern. It's also a good way to use up your scraps.

Anyway, this is probably one of the oldest tricks for keeping warm air in and cold air out and I only wish I had thought of it earlier. Hopefully this will help keep our little one warm and cozy during these winter months. And maybe I won't have to wear my bathrobe and Uggs around the house all day like I have been.

Posted by raya 9:10 AM 8 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty, With Child

Care Package from Momma
January 23, 2008

Reason # 348 why my mom is the best ever.
She sends me boxes of fabric left over from her sewing jobs. I mentioned that I wanted to make some of these blocks out of a Martha Stewart Baby magazine:

and she said, "oh I have some foam you can use for those and I'll send you some fabric too". What I got was this cardboard box weighing 15lbs, FULL of beautiful fabric scraps and pre-cut blocks for my little project. I am overwhelmed by how much good stuff is in here.


All this took up half of our huge dining table. Guess I will need to re-organize my fabric stash soon - not that I'm complaining.

She also sent me a beautiful little quilt and some of the softest baby jammies I've ever felt. Photos to come soon. Thanks mom!

Posted by raya 9:52 AM 5 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty

New Fabrics from Amy Butler
January 22, 2008

Nan over at Amy Butler Design sent me a preview of Amy's new fabrics and since I've been loving Amy's designs so much lately I thought I'd post them here for all of you.

In Amy's words: My collection is inspired by the vintage modern spirit of my lifestyle book, Midwest Modern, which just released this fall. With luscious palettes called Ohio Sky and Pink and Orange Dahlias, the colors for this group come from beautiful summer days in my Ohio garden. The mix of organic prints are perfect for fashion, quilting and home dec projects, everything you need to create your own Midwest Modern style!

See the entire collection at amybutlerdesign.com!

Posted by raya 5:44 PM 2 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Link Love, She's Crafty

Clutter Control
January 11, 2008

The other day I was hit with one of my first bouts of "having-a-baby-must-clean-everything" - this was an overwhelming urge to clean that I have never experienced before. I can usually think of something else I'd rather do than clean the house, but not this time. I took it out on the office first. My desk was so horribly cluttered - seriously, it was embarrassing. So much junk EVERYWHERE.

I did what I could, but discovered that I have a lot of little wirey things and such that really don't have a place - ipod cables, flash card readers, memory cards, etc...so I consulted my favorite book of the moment to see what I could do about it.

The result is this desktop organizer:


I modified Amy's size so it would fit underneath my monitor stand. The modification was pretty easy with some graph paper and a calculator. Email me if you want more info on that.

Overall it was a project, but not extremely time consuming and not completely un-doable for a novice like me. Of course the lining did not sit neatly inside and was too big. I guess a perfect lining takes practice because I have so far been unsuccessful at having everything match up just perfectly.

I have two more in the works - letter sized trays that will serve as "inboxes" for Forest and me. Four weeks left to get life in order before it changes for-ever...hows that for pressure.

Posted by raya 3:17 PM 13 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty

Projects, Projects
January 9, 2008

I have been sewing a lot since Christmas because of my NEW sewing machine. My old one was like the Model T Ford of sewing machines (ok, not really), but I was always having issues with it. Forest obviously noticed my frequent freak-out moments mid-sewing and got tired of hearing me moan about my difficulties.

I'm sure my mom will appreciate the decrease in phone calls to her asking "how do I thread this machine again?" or " the bobbin is jammed, what do I do?" My mom gave me this machine years ago and I have been so grateful to have it, but as a beginner this new machine is much more suited to my abilities.

I made this apron:


And am working on these place mats:

Both are from Amy Butler's In Stitches. I really love that book - my goal is to make everything in it.

I've also been playing around with the special stitches on my machine. My favorite part is that I can unplug the foot peddle and all I have to do is push a button and it sews magically on it's own. So Fancy.

Posted by raya 12:37 PM 14 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty

Christmas Wrapping
December 18, 2007

Last year I went with a gold/snowflake doily theme for our gifts. You can see photos here on our family blog (this was pre-paper pony and I was just starting to post fun stuff like this). Sadly that blog has been much neglected since, oh July. I'm sure when the baby comes we'll start posting again - I will spare you all the posts with 10 photos of Baker doing something only the grandparents will care about.

Sorry, I'm off topic. Back to wrapping. This year I'm in more of a "use what you got" mindset. So this is what I've got:

Posted by raya 9:37 PM 2 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Family Life, She's Crafty

More Gocco
December 13, 2007

I decided to try and make our personal holiday cards with the Gocco this year. They turned out okay...I learn more each time I use this machine and definitely would have done a few things differently. My designs always seem to go very close to the edge (I just like things like that), but these cards are slightly larger than my Gocco printing surface so the design doesn't get burned in well at the edges and that causes problems.

From now on I will know that I just can't do that on every side - one or two sides would be okay, or I could use smaller cards. Anyway, I'm still so happy with how quick and easy the Gocco is. I have an idea for gifts involving the Gocco and just ordered a bunch of recycled paper & envelopes from here.

Somehow I think I'll get that project done plus the rest of my Christmas shopping all while potentially having a ripped apart house all next week. We might have our floors put in before Christmas because it's either now, or in May. Aaahhh! We're crazy, I know.

Posted by raya 9:39 AM 2 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Gocco, She's Artsy, She's Crafty

Handmade is the Best
December 5, 2007

I received these handmade burp cloths from Sara and just had to share. The colors, fabric, everything...perfect. Somehow she finds time to sew beautiful thoughtful gifts while taking care of her two sons and being pregnant. They just had a little girl - check out the third photo down, what a doll.

Thank you Sara! I will have to think up something extra special for little Gigi : )

Posted by raya 3:28 PM 4 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty, With Child

Let the Gocco Fun Begin
November 13, 2007

I have all my supplies, now I just have to try it.

Posted by raya 12:47 PM 3 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty

Simple Sewing
October 4, 2007

Back in my sewing phase, before I got insanely busy, I made these napkins from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing. They are incredibly easy and I just used any fabric lying around in my stacks. These are intended as a gift so I picked fabrics that matched, but I would like to make a big basket of mis-matched ones for our kitchen.

I use way too many paper towels and can never seem to keep paper napkins stocked for some reason. These would be easy to throw in the wash with the bath towels, etc..And if they get stained - they cost nothing to make so it wouldn't put me out much.

By the way, I just made these ginger cookies from Ina's Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. Wow, they are so good. They have little chunks of crystallized ginger in them. I could eat all 25 right now. But I won't.

Posted by raya 12:44 PM 3 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty

Last Night Sewing
August 24, 2007

I had a night to myself last night, so instead of sitting on my butt watching Friend's DVD's (my current evening past time...don't I sound like the most exciting person ever?) I decided to try and make a pillow for our yellow chair.

With sewing these days I'm trying to use only what I have to keep the costs down. I used some of the leftovers from the clutch for this little 11" x 11" pillow. I didn't really use a pattern, but I did take a few tips from Amy Butler's In Stitches. I made a pillow form to go inside the cover and I used her instructions for tufting with the buttons.

This small accent is going to tie this whole room together, I think. There is so much yellow going on in that chair I was worried it was going to dominate, but I think once we get the art hung and the dining table chairs finished it's going to look nice.

Posted by raya 8:45 AM 1 comments Links to this post    

Labels: My Home, She's Crafty

Sock Softies
August 16, 2007

I'm so excited to finally show you these. I gave them away to their new families last week, but it was hard giving them up : ( I love these because they are easy and inexpensive to make - something I could actually make a lot of without getting burnt out.

The patterns are from the same book the kitty is from and I adapted one of Hillary Lang's Make-a-Long-Story patterns for the outfits. These guys went to Santa Cruz where it's cold, so they needed sweaters. Both sweaters were purchase at Goodwill, then put through two wash and dry cycles to get them felted like they are.




Hopefully little Adam and Tansy enjoy these for a long time and the clothes don't get lost too quickly...I know this won't be easy - none of my childhood dolls have theirs anymore.

Posted by raya 8:37 AM 7 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty

A Kitty for Miss Penelope
July 30, 2007

Come October we will have a new baby in the family - Forest' sister is having a little girl, Penelope Abigail. This is the first baby since my new found love for craftiness so I attempted a handmade gift for the shower last weekend.

Meet Kitty - a sock doll from a Japanese craft book that I don't know the title of...my mom scanned the pattern for me, so she would know if you want to ask her. You can find her over at sewthatsit.blogspot.com.

I didn't have a pattern for the dress, but I winged it and made up my own little pattern which is fine for a baby doll - I don't think Penelope will notice that my seams don't match up on the sleeves and that the arm holes are a little small...at least for a few years anyway.

Never mind that I stayed up until 2am Friday night to finish - I started on Monday but ran into a few issues with the size socks I was using. I recommend boys socks unless you want really big animals. In the works this week are a puppy and a lamb for two other very special babies who have recently arrived...

p.s. I didn't bring my good camera to the party, so these are with our ancient little digital camera. Sorry they are not the best...

Posted by raya 5:00 PM 4 comments Links to this post    

Labels: She's Crafty