A Moment of Silence

I'm sorry that I have been so neglectful of my blog but I have had good reason. I few nights ago, I was sewing some American Girl Doll clothes for my niece for her birthday and my sewing machine officially died! I actually cried. It wasn't that it was all that amazing of a machine but it was my first and it got the job done. Of course now I have all of these projects lined up and no machine! I have borrowed my mom's machine to at least make the tote bag I had planned to give my girls' teacher for the end of school which is in a week and a half. After that I will just have to save up for a new machine. Any suggestions? In the mean time, I wanted to share fun happenings on other blogs I have found.

Leah at Sew Spoiled will be finishing up her Weekender Tote Sew Along on June 5. Check out all of the great tote pictures on flickr!

Jona over at Stop Staring and... Start Sewing will be hosting a mini-series in June on how to convert an a-line skirt pattern into 2 easy pieces. Also check out her fabric shop at Fabritopia for sales on Moda fabrics and Michael Miller!
Lastly, I wanted to share about one of my new favorite blogs. You have to check out From an Igloo. There are so many great ideas and tutorials here and wonderful new posts every few days. Most are about sewing but she throws in cooking and other fun things too. I think you'll love it! I have already purchased fabric to make the One Hour Sundress for my girls.
So, hopefully I'll be able to get a new sewing machine soon and we'll be back in business. Don't forget to add a comment if you have suggestions for what machine I should purchase. Thanks!

New Labels

I ordered some great new labels for my sewing projects they are from JennifersJewels on Etsy. I really love them. They can either be ironed on or sewn. She has a wide variety to choose from or you can set up a custom order. They came in about a week and half. I also wanted to mention were I got the pattern for the Fat Quarter Handbag that I mentioned in my last post. It comes from Sarah Gilbert Designs on http://www.youcanmakethis.com/

Yeah I finished my first Weekender Tote!

I have been participating in the Sew Spoiled Weekender Tote sew-a-long and I just completed my tote. This e-pattern was created by Leah Williams and was very clear and straightforward. Oh yeah, it's also free! I sewed my very first basic tote this past Easter for my daughters and nieces. I was able to go from that basic tote to this gorgeous one because the directions were so clear. Thanks Leah! I had a lot of fun. For more detailed info on my progress with the Weekender Tote please see my flickr photo stream. Also be sure to check out all of Sew Spoiled's e-patterns on Etsy and you can make this.

Molly Monkey!

My girls were monkeys in their dance recital this past weekend. They were so adorable. A couple of weeks ago I happened open the FREE Molly Monkey Pattern from mmcrafts. Of course I just had to make a couple for gifts at the recital. They love them and they also match some twirl skirts that I recently made for them too. The twirls skirt is a pattern from Pouty Princess Designs at http://www.youcanmakethis.com/. The angel wing tops are from Growing Up with Rosie also at http://www.youcanmakethis.com/.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that everyone had a lovely Mother's Day! I know I did. I wanted to share this tote that I made for my mom. It comes from a very simple e-pattern found at http://www.youcanmakethis.com/ . Here is the link. I did make a change to the width of the straps. the pattern called for 2" before even folding it and sewing. This meant that you ended up with really thin straps. I changed the width to 3" and this was much better. It does however mean that you will need more than a fat quarter for your piece of material for the upper border, straps, and interior pocket. You will now need a piece 18"x24". I think it turned out cute. Oh I also gave the old Fusible Fleece a try. I figured it was a smaller project than the Weekender Travel Tote and would be a good time to practice. It worked out well. I just followed the instructions on the paper backing that came with the fleece. I ordered mine on-line but did discover that Joann's carries it. That would be a great item to use a coupon on!

Second Stage of the Sew Spoiled Sew-a-long

I have cut out my material for the Sew Spoiled Weekender Tote Sew-a-long. I like how it looks and think it will make a cute bag. This sew-a-long is at a nice slow pace which is nice because I can keep going with my other projects too. I will post pictures of those in the next few days. In the meantime, check out the Sew Spoiled Blog , Flickr Group, and the Sew Spoiled Etsy shop.

Starting My Blog!

 O.K., so I am going to give this blogging thing a try. I have just started following blogs myself. Mostly the Sew Spoiled Blog. I really enjoy finding so many neat sewing ideas. It is really fun to see what others are making. I thought I would just start using this blog as a place to showcase what I am working on too. Right now I am participating in the Sew Spoiled Weenkender Tote Sew Along! This is my first sew along and it is really fun. Here are my fabric picks for this project.