Bathroom Curtains

Now that our bathroom remodel is done I get to put the finishing touches on by making a shower curtain and window curtain. I just love this Waverly fabric, it is called "Grand Central". I love the circles and the fun pattern and think it goes nicely with the black and white tile. Here's what the Waverly web site says about the fabric:
"The large colorful circles and squares of Grand Central are overlaid with still more circles and diverging linear paths in an abstract salute to this world famous railroad terminal."
Who knew the fabric was a salute to a railroad terminal?, I just thought it was really fun and fresh and a little retro looking.

At the top of the curtain I did not want the button holes to show, so I made another fold of fabric in front of the button holes and sewed it down an inch on either side. It gives the curtain a very nice finished look.


For the window I have made about a 9 inch valence and will cover the lower half of the window with a sheer.

Sewing a clothing item

It feels like it has been ages, so I am happy to say that I made a clothing item. I made a top from a nice piece of rayon that I purchased at the Sewing expo. The colors in this fabric are to celebrate and embrace my natural hair color, : ).

I searched longer than I thought I would have to for a basic pattern and settled on Butterick 5053. The top is a pull over with a very nice round neckline.
It is very comfortable, having a lot of ease in the pattern. I have worn it twice already, a great work top for under a jacket.

Happy Halloween!

I' m ready to celebrate. I will wear my spider scarf and earrings today. The spider fabric was in Joann's 75% off bin, the piece cost $1. It had a rip that I sewed closed and then I just made a tube of the fabric. I left the ends unfinished, it is a spider web scarf after all.


I hope your Halloween is fun and sweet!

3 for David

My husband David mentioned that he needs grocery bags to keep in his truck, to use when he shops. So, I have continued my bags for men work and made him 3 cloth shopping bags. He looks ready to shop to me!

Ol MacDonald had a farm, e i e i o...

My friend Emily asked me to donate a grocery bag to her church fund raiser. I had some vintage craft panel fabric that came with the fabric that my friend Margaret gave to me. It looks like this:
I thought that lovely farm scene would be perfect for a grocery bag pocket. I put a thin layer of cotton batting between the cow and the lining and then did a little free motion sewing around the cow's face, to help her stand out a bit. As you can see there is a little pig on this print too, so I thought that making a little piggy purse would be cute to include with the shopping bag. I used the tutorial here to remind me how to make a zip top lined bag.



I put a 16 inch strap on the piggy purse, which allows it to be looped around the handle of the grocery bag. Now the piggy purse is easily reached to pinch those pennies.

Seven bags for seven sisters

I couldn't resist making a bag for each of my circle sisters. We gathered last weekend near Lake Michigan. Yes, there are only 6 sisters in the photo. The little butterfly bag is for Molly, who has been hard to capture due to her frequent travels. The butterfly bag is filled with notes to her and a butterfly shaped rock.
We love to collect rocks...

More bags for men, from small to large

My son purchased a new sub-compact camera. He thought that the pouches they sold at the store were just not quite what he wanted. He asked me to make him a case, just to protect it from getting scratched while in his pocket. I used some really soft hand me down denim (thanks Cathy) and lined it with a lining material. The button loop is a pony tail band (a tip I picked up at the Sewing Expo). I purchased a package at the drug store, they come in several colors. ; )

Nathan was very pleased with it. He is off now on a two week vacation, so should have plenty of opportunities to slip that camera in and out of the new case.








On the grocery bags for men front, I found some good base fabric at a thrift shop this weekend. For $5 I purchased 4 pieces of denim or denim weight material. I was able to make up two bags on Saturday, which I delivered to our congregation this morning.


I finished one more today, the body of the bag is a light green denim from the thrift shop, very nice weight for a shopping bag. I just couldn't resist the little line of rick rack on the pocket. Does adding rick rack make it less "manly". It is brown rick rack. Does a little bit of green check gingham make is less manly? I don't think so. Anyway, I am sure someone will find it of use. All $ collected for the bags is a contribution to our congregation fund. This is a great way for me to make a contribution while re-using fabric, promoting cloth grocery bags and getting more creative time sewing. Many wins. What a joy.