Too Early?

Christmas is right around the corner you know.  One can never really wait until November to get started on some hand made items for the festive season.  Besides, I always like to have a few small projects to do.  It's instant gratification.  Some fabric, an iron, pins and you have yourself some ready made coasters to tuck away for the busy Christmas season.

Should I show  you my big trunk of fabric?  What if Ian reads this blog?  He will know...Yeah,  I know.  This Christmas fabric was in the trunk.  Just a sliver, I don't even remember how it got there.  Honest.

I made a template out of a cereal box.  I need that to keep them straight.

A tiny bit of fabric is pretty awesome for making some coasters.  These were introduced to me by my mother in law, a supreme quilter.  I am not worthy. 

Each coaster requires five squares of fabric, five inches by five inches.  One is for the bottom of the coaster and the rest you fold in half for make the top.  Iron a stack of squares in half. 

Pin the squares to the bottom.  Over lap.  I tried to find a way to make this easy to understand but did not want to over burden you with pictures.

Place the ironed squares on top

Over lap, pin and then sew.

Sew away!  This nice stack is a good foundation for teacher's gifts.  Add a Tim's card and you are done.  Merry Christmas.  Was that bad?

Live High,

Heather

Inspired by Goodbye Valentino

I have a good friend and colleague who is eager to follow me to hell and back.  Sometimes she even leads the way.  Enough about work.  She also is pretty cool and when I saw this post on Goodbye Valentino, I knew this dress was made for her. Or, well, would be made for her, by me.

I emailed the blogger for information about the pattern.  Like any good addict,  I had to have it.  An immediate trip to my two local fabriclands confirmed that the pattern was discontinued.  Say it isn't so!  I checked etsy and ebay.  Success!  I bought it from Australia.  It took a while for it to get here but here it is and as luck would have it, there was a massive sale at fabricland to go with the pattern.

Jennine is a tiny little thing, so I had to make her a muslin to check the pattern.  What if she did not like it?  I had to give her an out.  Apparently, she is saying no to the blog photo of her in the muslin.  A muslin, by the way, is a draft, a tester made of plain fabric to check the pattern, get out the bugs before making the dress out of more expensive fabric.

We may or may not have had a made a quick trip over to the store for fabric.  I may or may not have scared her with my fabric obsession.  I fear she has contacted Ian for an intervention.  My antenna is up!

Let's say that we did find some awesome black fabric for her dress, I did NOT sit in a corner coveting it.  I DID NOT.  I bought a few dozen metres of my own thank you very much. 

(Oh, in the spirit of sharing - I made one for myself - here it is as a work in progress)

It is linen with a design on it, you can barely see the overlay,  I need a better camera...

There are some projects awaiting my attention.  There is this cute little top with this cute little fabric, there is probably a skirt here, and this may be a purse.  Does fabricland have support classes?

I love Goodbye Valentino, if you want some awesome sewing eye candy, head over for a visit.  Tell her I sent you.

More in this dress and other projects.

Live High,

Heather

Cute Little Side Table

It was love at first sight.  Sigh, a leggy, curvy little bit of stuff.  I had to have her.  I called my mom and sometime partner in crime to go get her for me. 

Ohh bad lighting, sorry!

It was a kijji score, ten bucks!  The water damage on the top means that I probably will have to paint her.  I am thinking the antique white with a nice stencil from the Graphics Fairy. 

I think it is walnut.  See the water damage?

Won't she be a beauty when she is done?

Live High,

Heather