Sew Spoiled

This Christmas was filled with surprises! My daughter received a 3D printer! It is amazing what kids can do today, with all of the technology out there. This printer is the DaVinci Junior 1.1  and it prints anything that is smaller than 6"X6"X6". The software for the DaVinci Jr. is made by XYZ printing. Even the software is fairly easy to use with fonts, shapes, and symbols to add to one design. Here is a short video of the DaVinci printer at work. It printed a heart locket first as a sample of what the 3D printer can do. Now the possibilities are endless. I hope our daughter sees this as a huge opportunity to create whatever she wants to create. It is hard to get teenagers excited about anything, but I think she is excited about this. If you had a 3D printer what would you create? Purse hardware, zipper pulls, and monogram stuff comes to mind. I can't wait to try it out too.

I am a music teacher and I love it when my two loves; music and sewing combine. It doesn't happen very often but when it does, it is wonderful! Earlier this school year I designed our band logo. We had t-shirts made for all of the kids and we even played a pep rally all wearing our band shirts. I let the band kids choose what color the t-shirt would be and they chose gray. Since fall is finally here and the weather has turned cold. I wanted a fleece jacket with our logo on it. Also, last year when I attended All-District and All-State all of the other directors had band apparel on. Our band program is only 2 years old and it is growing very fast! The kids love working hard and accomplishing great things together. We are a charter school and I do get asked a lot of questions about working at a charter school. Our school is a non-profit public school. It is also funded just like any other public school with taxpayer money. I am paid the same way through the state and my be...

I used the Sew Spoiled Cosmetic Bag  pattern for these cuties! Adding the wedding date and embroidery inside made these simple bags extra special. The bride picked out these gorgeous fabrics in her wedding party colors. The wedding was beautiful, I love how the fall colors were used for their October wedding. I hope they love this bags and enjoy remembering the special occasion when they read the date inside the bag. The bride loved them so much I made her one too and inside I wrote Wifey. I want to show you this extra tip. If you have enough room on your embroidery hoop, you can embroider two or more designs at the same time using the same stabilizer. Here is another way to use this technique. Below I embroidered three key fobs at once on my 5"X7" hoop. I will definitely create more of these  Cosmetic Bags  as gifts. Embroidering inside the bag a message is a wonderful idea for any gift. Best wishes and tons of Stitches!

Knitting is usually the last thing I think of in the summer. I am swimming, sewing up adorable sun dresses and creating bright beautiful pieces. Why would you want to sit and knit? Well, this summer I tried it. It always takes longer for me to complete a knitting project and I have more time in the summer to create projects so I gave it a try. I have to say I loved it! I watched movies with my kids and knit. I took them to band and cheer camps and knit. It gave me something to do when I sit. It is a lot better than sitting and looking at my phone. I chose this beautiful sea foam color because it reminded me of the beach. The pattern is the Everyday Cardigan by Lisa Clarke . It is a fast knit and there is no button band. I added shell buttons to add to the beach theme and sea foam color. I think it is beautiful and I can't wait to wear it! The yarn is 100% acrylic, With Love from Red Heart Yarn . I like acrylic yarn because it is not itchy, I can wash it in the washer and ...

 I found ruby red slippers! I was walking through Walmart and decided to check the shoe section. I was going to pick up a pair of Ked-like shoes to paint and add sparkle when I saw these! They are kid shoes, but the size 5 fit my size 7 feet. Can't wait to see what costumes I will be able to make. I have created a Wizard of Oz Pinterest Board  to collect ideas with. I love my new shoes and I am ready to follow the yellow brick road through The Wizard of Oz musical adventure. 

I have been on a Wizard of Oz kick lately. I am working with a fellow teacher on setting up a successful show for our students. A lot goes into a show and instead of kicking and screaming it is best just to embrace it and fall head over heels. I searched high and low for the perfect embroidery design for our show, The Wizard of Oz . I wanted only the title so I could place it on the lapel of any polo shirt. We will have t-shirts made too, but I wanted polos shirts for the adults who help. This design is from EmbroideryDesigns.com . It worked perfectly! It is a little dense, so I used Pellon 808 craft fuse for my stabilizer. I didn't want the stitches to move around and get all yucky. If you do use craft fuse, remember to leave the fuse side facing up when embroidering the design. Now I just need to find a pair of ruby red slippers. Any suggestions on where to find them?

I am always on the lookout for new fun patterns that are simple and easy to make. This pattern is from Salme, and it is called the Buttonless Shirt, Pattern #149 . This pattern is a great sleeveless shirt with a super cute collar. After printing the template and taping it together. I realized that the bust dart and the hem were too low for my petite frame. The center opening needed to be stitched up a little higher when piecing the two front panels together.  After making those adjustments and adding the seam allowance, I had the correct size and set to work. I adore the collar, as you can see in the picture above, you do need to use interfacing to help create a sturdy collar. I love that there are no buttons, zippers, or even elastic notions in this pattern. All you need is fabric and thread. You can make this a shirt or dress with a belt. I love that I can use my favorite cotton fabrics to create this cute shirt/ dress pattern. You could use other materials, but ...

Miss Tippy Toes from Dolls and Daydreams Pattern company  is a  beautifully designed pattern that demonstrates how to construct a button arm joint so that the arms can move 180 degrees. I started this project back in December, after cutting everything out and embroidering the face ,  I stopped.  That is right; this is not a painted face. You can buy the embroidery face design from her shop too! This beautiful face is called the Kawaii Doll Face.   I enjoy making dolls but hand stitching the face can be challenging. Using my embroidery machine to stitch the face was fast and easy. I decided to embroider one piece of fabric and then go back and cut out the face using the template. That way I did not have to worry about the placement of the embroidery design.  However once I embroidered the face, I was unsure if the project would work. See the stitch count was a little dense and I was worried the doll would have a wrinkly face. So I stopped th...

I have been on the hunt for the perfect t-shirt sewing pattern. The closest perfect t-shirt I have found that is almost perfect is the Plantain Shirt from Deer and Doe . I wanted a different look so I tried tracing a ready-to-wear knit dress. I wanted the fit without buying another apparel pattern and wondering if the fit would be right. I laid the ready-to-wear dress on a large piece of paper on the floor and traced the front and back of the dress. I traced the whole dress in case later I wanted to make one, then I folded the paper template so I would have the correct size for a t-shirt. I traced the sleeve carefully by using the fold line at the top of the sleeve and drawing the curve. The neckline did not have a collar, so I had to add enough extra fabric to fold the neckline twice to create a finished edge. I love the fit and the pattern cost was $0!!! I have a bad habit of buying new patterns when I have the same one just with a slight style change. Of course,  I like to re...

Every year in the spring I make a ton of these wristlets . They make great gifts for any occasion. The hardest part about creating them is having to give them away. Last spring I created this easy tutorial on how to create a should/ wristlet strap.   It really helps to have the ability to use it both ways. The fabric is called Amelia Paisley, "Release it or Bless it." I saw it and fell in love. I bought two yards without knowing how I would put it to use. These are all colors I love to wear in the spring. I bought different colored zippers to install in each wristlet. The lining is Michael Miller's pinhead dots in stone. If you want to make some of these adorable wristlet you can find the pattern here .

One of the first bags I ever made was the Frenchy Bag from Amy Butler. I love this cute bag and I still have the first one I ever made. Last week was spring break and as I was thumbing through my patterns, I came across the Frenchy Pattern. I couldn't help myself, I had to create another one and this time the larger shoulder bag style. The lower panels and handles are made from dark navy denim. The paisley print is called Bless it or Release it . I have started to notice that I love navy. Everything I buy and make is navy. Bags are so much fun to make and create. One size fits all and they are make great gifts.

It's a Hard Knock Life! I happen to be a music teacher and this year we are putting on Annie Jr.. My two girls are in the show too and we have been busy creating costumes for them and the others in the play. My youngest is Pepper, the mean orphan. Here she is on the swing in her bloomers and patched jumper. My oldest daughter is a servant for Mr. Warbucks. She and the other servants have to match, so I sewed 6 aprons for the show. I created a simple apron pattern that uses only 1 yard of fabric. We are having them wear black dresses under the aprons. The aprons tie in the back along the waist and neck. I was hoping they would need my help for the Annie Dress but no luck this time. I love making aprons. We even had the orphans choosing their own patches. So much fun!

I am always on the look out for adorable accessories to monogram. Recently, I purchased this faux leather scallop purse for Sew For Less . The monogram font I used is Fish Tail by Herrington Design . I do like it but there is not a closure for the top of the bag, no magnet clasp or zipper. So what do you do, create an organizer with a zipper closure. You can do this with any purse, first measure the outside of the purse. Measure the height, width, depth of the purse. Use those measurements for the pieces for your organizer. When you sew them together using a 1/2" seam allowance, this creates a smaller bag that will fit inside the bag comfortably. The organizer will be 1" smaller in height, width and depth. Usually, I do not add a zipper but knowing that I needed a closure for this tote I added it to the top of the organizer. Elastic along the top of the slip pockets help keep the contents inside pockets, along the sides of the bag so I can use the bottom for larger item...

I have been on the look out for a wallet that can hold my iPhone. I love to carry a large bag but it is a hassle to carry it all of the time, I want a small wallet that can hold my cards and phone. I just found the Sawyer Wristlet  at SewForLess.com . They are priced under $12 and make great gifts. I did find out the hard way that it is easier to embroider the wristlet after you open the wallet up. Here is a short video of my machine at work. Also the monogram or embroidery needs to be small but this is a small accessory so it looks fine. Wow, it fits my phone with a phone case on it! Woohoo!