TeamDavis

I’ve taken some time to do some homemaker projects with the sewing machine my mom gave me.  I haven’t sewn much in a long time.  I had a couple machines people gave me and none of them seemed to work quite right, or it could very well have been user error!! My mom gave me one that’s pretty easy to use; the newer models seem to have fewer knobs, for instance, that have to do with tension settings which I think was where my problem was.  Anyway, I managed to do a few small projects.

Among them, I figured the first might be to make a cloth cover for my sewing machine since if I was going to do projects, it might get left out in the living room. I though this would help it hide away and look fashionable if someone did happen to notice it!  I did some searching online.  You can pretty much make one by measuring the dimensions of your machine. I found this on a blog called Spool Sewing, and I made some embellishment changes from the ones they did, using some cording; I added this part just to make it even more difficult. Ha! Anyway I had had this fabric for ages, and glad to finally use it somewhere it will be seen!

Then I ventured on to some smaller projects that I may post about in a different post.  Then I tried out kid’s clothing!  I had been wanting to find more side-snap or kimono type styled shirts for Josiah for bedtime.  They seem to be easier to put on a squirmy child since he still doesn’t really like the over-the-head shirts.  Anyway, I found a design for a kimono top that ties. I believe it’s made for more woven fabrics, but I found that it worked out pretty well with this cute jersey print I found in the remnants bin at Joanne’s Fabric. I was really proud of it. It’s a little big on him, but I need it for the next phase, so it will be good he can grow into it. I even made my own bias tape trim.  I have enough fabric and may either make another or matching pants. Not sure which at this point.

He is very cute in it, isnt’ he??  This picture of the two of us was taken on my 30th birthday.

The project I just completed was one that was inspired by Lotta Jansdotter’s “Book Mates” featured in Simple Sewing for Baby.  These poly filled pillow friends were suggested for stuffed animals or book ends.  I decided to give it a go and try to create a cuter door stop for Josiah’s room from the folded up laundry bag we had been stuffing under the door.  I adjusted the pattern some, giving them a felt bottom for keeping them from wearing out, and gave them little “tails” that we tied together under the door.  Each are weighted with dried beans in addition to poly-fil to keep them as weights to hold the door open and closed.

We like to keep the door slightly cracked so we can peek in at night without him hearing it open. The door has this unfortunate sticking that we can’t figure out how to adjust and it makes quite a racket.

Anyway, the book mates are on either side of the door.  The faces were inspired by Lotta’s own stencil prints on one, and the other I did make up on my own. Instead of screen printing as suggested, I just sewed some felt pieces on.  The fabric is actually a recycled flannel receiving blanket!  We got so many; thought we would need so many…and I found I ended up loving other blankets instead.  So now they are fair game for new projects!  Josiah decided to show off and make his own face; here’s the “door friend” in place.

So that’s a summary of the projects I’ve been up to. Enjoy!