Advent calendar

I've been wanting to do an advent calendar for a couple years and I finally made one this year!  My kids are as excited as I am!  They are counting down the days to Saturday in anticipation to start!  Hopefully they enjoy it all month long!

This is my inspiration from pinterest. . .

And here is my calendar!

I cut stars from a brown grocery sack and sewed them together except for the top triangle.  Then, since the stars weren't big enough to hold gifts/candy, I made an activity advent calendar.  Inside each star there is a slip of paper with an activity on it for the day (ie:  read a Christmas book, make Christmas tags for presents, eat a red and green meal, go Christmas caroling, etc).  On the back of the paper I put a name/title of Jesus (ie: Jehovah, Redeemer, Shiloh, Truth, etc) with a scripture reference.  As a family we can look these scriptures up and the definitions of the names/titles.  I'm looking forward to sharing this with my kids!

Canvas Tote

Probably my favorite part of sewing for others is to see all the ideas people come up with!  Robyn asked me the other day if I could recover her wire canvas tote that was ripping out on the bottom.  Who would have thought?  Sure!  I'll give it a try!

Her tote used to be this red canvas and was getting very worn out. . .

She chose a black corduroy to replace the red canvas and here is how it turned out!  Great idea Robyn!

I hope you enjoy your "new" tote!  :)

Shower curtain

Mike's cousin contacted me to do a shower curtain for her.  Here is her inspiration:

Flamenco curtain from Anthropologie

Waterfall Ruffle curtain from Urban Outfitters

And here is mine (well. . . actually Sharlins!)  :)

Look at all those ruffles!

I used a full size flat sheet and a king sheet.  It was really nice to not have to hem all the edges.  They were already done!

And I didn't have to hem the top because that was done too (just the top of the full sheet!)

Hope you enjoy your curtain Sharlin!

Bethany's slipcover

Bethany recruited me to do a slipcover for her.  Her couch was moved into Al's shed and she wanted to make sure it stayed nice in case she moved it back inside sometime.  So, Al got a camo couch!  Here is the before. . . 

And the after. . . :)

Baby room

Jackie and I have been working hard the past few months designing her baby room.  I loved every part of this project!  The colors and fabrics were so fun!  

Baby quilt 

Curtains - Jackie bought plain white tab top curtains and had the idea to just add fabric to them.  It was a great idea, and they turned out so cute!  

Pouf :)  I love poufs!

Bumper - Pink chevron on the outside and orange inside

Pillow, changing pad covers, and crib skirt - We did the crib skirt just like the curtains.  She bought a white skirt and added the fabric to it!  Darling! 

Thanks, Jackie, for this project!  I loved helping you out with this!

Blanket and chair coverings

Need a cozy blanket for this winter?  Put minky on the inside and snuggle up!  Beth had leftover fabric from her slipcover, so we made a blanket or toddler/twin comforter.  

I got to use my staple gun some more this week!  Excuse the sideways picture!  The white is the old covering on some kitchen chairs, and the stripe is the new!  Just look what fabric can do!  Adds so much color and character!

The same customer had some vintage chairs she wanted to recover.  The orange is the old and we found this  great butterfly/dragonfly print that keeps the vintage look/feel!  Love it!

A few other sewing projects

Hallie's daughter needed some gaucho pants to go with a Persnickety top she bought, and this is what the result was. . .

Won't this be a great Christmas outfit?

Working on bulking up the girls fall wardrobe:)

Knit pants with a little lace trim.  All of a sudden I'm getting into lace:)  I used to hate to wear lace when my mom sewed with it!

The 2nd pouf I've made, and another in the making. . .

Burlap curtains

I just have to rant and rave a bit about these curtains!  I love, love, LOVE how they turned out!  So here is their little story:)

Hallie, the good garage saler that she is, picked up some tan burlap curtains and a thinner set of dark brown curtains hoping she could somehow make them work for her custom window treatments.  I immediately fell in love with the idea of burlap curtains and brainstormed a bit with her on what we could do.  The first item of business was to lose the brass curtain rod:)  

Grab a can of spray paint and we were good to go!  Look what a difference it makes!!!

Then we had to replace these curtains.  We were so excited to tackle this project that we forgot to take the "before" picture!  So, you'll have to imagine 4 of these curtains hanging in her living room.

We put our ideas together and came up with these striped burlap curtains!  Can they get any better than this?

They came together beautifully!  I was so excited to see my stripes matched up!

And the texture!  So fun!

Thanks Hallie for this project!  I loved it!

Slipcover #3

Another couch!

Jolene and Susan were both brave enough to be my first customers with slipcovers!  Thanks to you both!  Here is Susan's couch before and after. . .

What a transformation!  Its so fun to change something old to something new!  Enjoy your slipcover Susan!

Napper

I was challenged last week with a new kind of project - thanks Tiffany!

I was given this bumper pad to make into a blanket/sleeping bag/some kind of keepsake:)  Do you have a bumper that you're not ready to part with?  It's just too cute to use for only 6 months?

Turn it into a "napper"!  (Kind of like a sleeping bag or a cushion/blanket/pillow combo:)

I started by removing all the binding from the bumper pad.  Then cut the bumper into 3 equal parts.  Open the top and bottom seams.  Align the 3 bumper pieces side by side and re-sew seams together (tops to tops and bottoms to bottoms).  Throw a piece of fleece fabric on top to fit and use ribbon for binding.  I made a pillowcase and attached it to the top for ease with washing the napper.  

  

It actually turned out almost the same size as a sleeping bag, so her son should be able to use this for years to come!

#2 slipcover!

Thanks Jolene for being my first (along with Susan - coming soon!) slipcover customer!  This chair went together beautifully!  Still had a lot of cushion left in it, just needed an update and to cover up a couple holes:)

And what a fun fabric choice!  Giraffe!  

I love how it turned out!  What satisfaction delivering this and slipping it onto the chair so perfectly!  I love to sew!  :)

Curtain and cushions

I like to share projects I have done for others to inspire YOU and let you know what I can make for you!

This is a valance with hidden tabs on the back (see 2nd picture)

Seat cushion with ties for a little girls room (this is my "broken" chair posing for the picture!)

 A mattress/cushion for a doll crib:)   Lots of fun in store for this little girl!  :)

Blanket band. Complete with velcro closure.  A great way to display or just keep track of blankets!  I made 4 of these bands for her blankets, and she was planning to keep them all in a basket.  Great idea!