Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is make pie! In this photo: apple, pecan and pumpkin. I hope you have some good eatin' tomorrow and remember to count your blessings.



This is a blog mostly about sewing, so I will share my new kitchen curtains here too. The fabric was selected to be able to coordinate with my Autumn Leaf dishes and pale blue kitchen walls. The walls need to be painted, but this won't be happening soon. So this batik seemed to fit the bill.

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...