Spring Sewing

As much as I love knitting, sometimes I need to take a few days off (especially if I have been knitting with skinny yarn and tiny needles for too long).

This is what happens when I take a break from knitting... I start sewing. Here are the sewing projects I managed to whip up in the past 48 hours.  I know it looks like a lot, but once I share my secret to this victory you will completely understand how this was possible.

 First, the projects:

1. A Simple Skirt from MADE: This is a great website chalk full of cute free patterns and tutorials. This pattern also included a video tutorial, which I particularly like. There are directions of how to make two skirts: one-layered or two-tiered. The first skirt pictured on Emma is the one-layered skirt made out of Valerie Wells' Nest, which is a super soft light weight corduroy fabric.

The second skirt is a two tiered one with Beatrix Potter pink toile on the top layer and a sweet pink small print ( I think it is called "sweet dreams") on the bottom. 

testing out the twirliness

2. Joelle Hoverson's Super Quick and Easy Blanket from Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts: This was made for my friend's little girl. Like Emma, she is a big fan of all things Peter Rabbit. Naturally, she needed to have this blanket made for her. The pattern suggests using the satin stitch on the sewing machine dotted all over the blanket to help keep it in place (plus it looks really cute). I chose to tie little knots in hot pink embroidery floss instead. My machine is an oldie, so it does not have the satin stitch feature.

3. This morning I whipped up two grocery bag holders. There are collections of plastic grocery bags all over our house. It may not be very green of us, but the truth is, we use them! We line our small trashcans with bags. We have a cat... need I say more? Our plastic and glass recyclables must be bagged in blue plastic bags or they won't be collected (stupid rule, I know). So my family hangs on to these bags and they end up everywhere.

I came across this pattern while looking for a skirt pattern just the other day. It is a free tutorial from Craftiness Is Not Optional. It truly is a quickie. I made two modifications. I substituted 1/8" elastic for the 1/4" elastic suggested (I was out of the 1/4" elastic) and I made my holders longer. The pattern calls for a fat quarter (18 x 22") piece of fabric. I made both of mine from 18 x 24" fabric. And speaking of fabric. These were made with Amy Butler's Midwest Modern fabric (from the Ohio Sky line). Rather appropriate, don't you think?


And now for the big secret reveal...

Sand.

I did do some of the sewing during nap time, but today I made the bags while the kids  played indoors with sand. Crazy? You betcha! The kids play on top of a plastic outdoor circle tablecloth with storage containers full of sand and they absolutely love it. They also make an absolutely gigantic mess (remember, I have a 2 year old boy and a 5 year old girl), but it is worth it to have the quiet engaged playtime so that I can have my own quiet sewing playtime.

And now it is nap time again. Time for some rest of my own.

Happy sewing!