My project for last week

This is what I worked on most of last week.

What could it be???  Can't say yet but I really had fun making it and it turned out really well (I thought).

I'll be posting more about it in a few days!

I will say this though, people who work with this minky fabric all the time are to be commended.  It just flies everywhere when you cut it.  I keep a swiffer duster in my sewing room all the time because I'm constantly dusting off my work tables to get the fabric lint and strings out of the way.  But this minky fabric just flies everywhere.  I had to get out the vacuum hose to get rid of it.

My Gift Swap Gift to Deathlycute

As mentioned in a recent post, ETC just finished our 2nd quarter 1-1 gift swap. I've showed you the cute gift I received so now I'd like to show you the gift I sent. My Giftee was Michelle of DeathlyCute. She wrote in her profile that she loves Gone With the Wind and likes to decorate with purple.

So I made her this sweet pillow cover with a quote from Rhett Butler. I also wanted to give her husband "ideas" (wink, wink).

The white fabric is some that I picked up recently at the local Salvation Army Garage Sale - don't worry Michelle, I washed it first. The purple flowers were made from scraps and buttons. This was a great opportunity to practice my sewing and embroidery skills and I really enjoyed making it.

Michelle has received her pillow and says that she loves it! I'm so glad. This was a really fun swap!

TAAAAA DAAAAA!

About a year ago, I bought these adorable little crocheted flowers and leaves from Lavenderlizard (she sells them in her Lavenderladybug shop now). Liz even made me the color I wanted and everything. I told her then that I was going to make a pillow for my bed.

Well, here it is, a year later. Liz asked me just a couple of weeks ago where that pillow was. Well here it is!!!!!!!

TAAA! DAAA!

Here is my new pillow on my bed. I used a quilted chocolate brown fabric as the background, then I appliqued fabric stems, flowers and leaves on it. Then I hand stitched the crocheted flowers and leaves on top of that and added buttons as flowers also.

Yes, I know, my appliqueing needs work as does my hand stitching and just about everything else. But hey, I think it still looks great.

This is the back of the pillow. It's an envelope pillow with a pillow form inside. Very easy to get in and out.

So, I had a flower left over. It was a cute flower with alot of petals. I just couldn't bring myself to stitch around every single petal, so I didn't use it on my pillow. But I still wanted to use it.

Lately, I've become obsessed with pincushions. I've seen some lately on etsy that are truly a work of fabric art. So Saturday night, while watching Kung Fu Panda with my two favorite boys (DH and DS) I stitched this little beauty. Well, it's not perfect by any means. But I think it's cute. I used the button on top of the flower and sewed the flower down that way. So all the petals are still free to blow in the wind but it looks cute. I also think I did a better job of appliqueing the fabric flower to the brown fabric. I went really sssslllllooowwww.

The main problem with this pin cushion, which my son pointed out to me, is that I didn't use anything in the bottom to prevent the pins from coming through. I will next time though. Guess I'll just have to be careful with this one.

Look Liz! It's not a UFO (unfinished object) anymore!! YAY!

Lavenderladybug is having a 20% off sale today for First Monday! I've got my eye on these:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21157365 - shabby chic flowers. They are so pretty!

Check out Liz's other shop today, Lavenderlizard, for her Buy One and Get One 50% off sale! Her scarves are to die for! So pretty and soft. And my lip balm wouldn't know what to do without it's lip balm holder. Makes it very easy to find in my purse!

Thanks Liz, for making such a great product and for giving me the bump I needed to finish this pillow. I hope you like it!

My New Skirts

Well, I didn't have a featured etsy artist this week because the person I contacted never responded to me. That's the second time that's happened :( Oh well.

So instead, I'm going to feature the new skirts I've been making for myself. I have fairly good sewing skills, but I'm a little rusty and a bit slow when I sew. But I love wearing skirts and can never find ones that fit right and aren't too short. Also, I like skirts made of cotton and other natural fibers that are cool to wear in the summer.

So I started searching the internet and found this blog that had a tutorial for making wrap skirts. Her instructions seemed easy to follow, so I tried it out. I carefully measured my waist and did the calculations just like it says in the blog. Then I made a pattern. I went to Hancock Fabrics looking for some cheap cheap fabric - just in case I messed it up. I found this blue "tie dyed" looking fabric for $1.99 per yard plus it was on sale for 40% off.

Once I had cut out the fabric and sewn all three sides together, I realized that the person in the blog must have meant for this to be a skirt for little girls who don't have a bit of a "baby pooch" stomach and hips. So I had to alter the pattern from how it was originally described in the blog. Basically, what I needed was 4 extra inches of fabric on either side of the skirt. The back panel was OK but in order to get good closure and not be afraid of exposing myself on a windy day, I needed 4 more inches per side. So my dear hubby said, "why don't you just cut out the extra 4 inches and sew them to the sides of the part you've already made". So that's what I did. With the pattern on this fabric, you can hardly tell I've added two extra panels. I finished the edges with bias tape and used the bias tape again for the drawstring. I didn't line this first one since it was sort of an "experiment" but I am going to line the others I make.

I like this first pic because I think it makes me look thin!

Well? What do you think??

Yes, I know there are wrinkles.

I have one more almost finished - it just needs a button hole and drawstring. I have another all cut out. I'm loving these skirts and can't wait to wear them. I'm thinking about making one out of Micky Mouse fabric for our vacation this year. They're perfect to wear with tank tops and flip flops. I think they'll also be great to wear over my swimsuit to go to the pool this summer.

Let me know what you think. I'm pretty excited about them.