While the Hubby is Away...

...Mommy will SEW and CRAFT and MAKE ALL KINDS OF THINGS!!!

Yes, I was "safe" and waited until he was home to post this... don't need to let the crazies out there know I was home alone with just the little man and the goofy dog.

I totally had a babysitter come over for 4 hours on Saturday morning just so I could "do stuff"... BEST.DECISION.EVER.

Finished some Christmas presents for some special littles! I only have ONE more project to {hopefully} finish this week.





Made a Christmas table runner (but not so Christmas that it can't be used throughout winter)




Made an upholstered headboard with plywood and painters canvas (SO EASY!). I still need to add the nailheads because I'm going to have to order some. The big ones are hard to find in bulk. That detail will totally make the headboard. It already looks good, just needs a little something extra. Separate post to come on this one...





Started an owl fabric art project for Baby B... SOOOO excited about this one... but it's a secret! I'll only post a "preview"... I want Mommy G to be surprised!!


I learned to knit over Thanksgiving, so I've got two projects going there as well. I'll post a pic when there's something more exciting than 4 inches worth of knitting to look at.

I also got all our Angel Tree gifts for church and got our house as organized as it ever gets. I was supposed to work over the weekend, but that didn't happen. I was having WAY too much fun out in my new Sewing Hideout... I was out there until midnight two nights in a row and didn't even realize it. Probably why I left the keys in the door overnight...I was a little sleep deprived from all that I was getting accomplished...and LOVING every second of it! I SO wish I could have that kind of block of time on a regular basis... AMAZING what you can get done with no interruptions!!! I did have lots of quality time with my little man too. We had a great weekend being silly and running around town!

More Completed Projects!!!

This Mommy has been busy!!!
















And I have my 1st "commissioned" project... woo hoo!!! Max will soon have a reindeer shirt too!!!

Drumroll, Please...

And the Husband of the Year award goes to...

ANDREW PETERS!!!!

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Andrew surprised me with my birthday present a little early this year....
To some this may not be a big deal, but to me, it was the MOST thoughtful gift he could have given me right now.

That's right... he did some serious reorg in the Man Cave, HIS Man Cave, and created my own little "Sewing Hideout." He bought a desk, light, and chair, and cleared out a bunch of shelf space so that I no longer have to sew at my work desk or in the living room. All of you crafty people know you HAVE to have space to spread out and to be able to leave a project until you can work on it again. I didn't have this. Thus, my office was a constant disaster of piles of fabric and 1/2 completed projects... on top of all my work stuff...this made for a not very organized work space and lots of distractions.


Women kind of get screwed here... we don't get "Women Caves." The lucky ones do have a craft room of some sort, but not many. I cannot tell you how excited I am that I finally have a little space of my own, not to mention, I was able to empty about 1/2 the stuff out of the closet in my office and move it out there.




Our JOINT set-up (he's got a little desk/work bench in the back left corner that you can't see)...


The room has AC and will also stay warm very easily with a floor heater. It has a fridge, radio, and TV (no cable though).

So, in case you can't tell... I'm PUMPED!!!

More pics to come once I get all moved in!

Thank you, ANDREW!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Sneak Peak!

Two girly shirts!

Believe it or not, one is for Thanksgiving and one is for Christmas! YAY for fun fabrics!

More Creations...

A couple more recent applique creations....

Baby Owl for a Baby Girl (Chi Omega shout out!)






A little Dallas Cowboys (in navy houndstooth) for my cousin's baby...






The FUN part...FINALLY sending everything!!!


I bought a ton if fun fabrics on clearance at Fabric.com, so I am SO excited to try some new things. Up next {hopefully}, a turkey!!!

The Art of the Applique

I have a new sewing obsession - APPLIQUEING.

I first dabbled in this fun little technique a month or so ago when I made some camo monogram shirts for all the kiddos at the Dove Hunt. I have since changed my approach and made several things that I happen to think turned out pretty cute. The 3 flaws with my original approach were the following:

1. Straight stitched the applique, thus letting the natural fraying occur around the edges. This is still a perfectly fine technique, but to give a more polished, boutique look, I've started using a zig-zag stitch around the edge instead. I sometimes go over it twice to give a heavy, embroidery machine look. This makes a BIG difference and makes it look less artsy-craftsy.

2. The letters were too big. Smaller is better and less cheesy.

3. White shirts just don't look as professional as a colored shirt. This isn't really a flaw from before, I was just using onesies and shirts Carson never wore. White is fine, I just prefer a color. More interesting.

Here were some of my originals:

Onesie using an old Texas A&M DU shirt and camo shirt of Andrew's
Close-Up (I do like the rough edges on this one)


Tie T-Shirt with leftover nursery fabric


Close-Up


Hudson & Kimberly in their camo monogrammed shirts (Letters are WAY too big and a colored shirt would have been WAY cuter...this a last minute project with LOTS of mistakes)




And here are some of my newer projects using the different techniques described above.

Camo "T" and "L" Monogram using a pair of Andrew's shorts (Still wish I had a colored onesie...soon... I'm almost out of these that he never wore.)




Close-Up


Free-Handed Duck using an old DU t-shirt for the wing and Andrew's shorts for the body


Rangers shirt for Carson using the logo printed on t-shirt transfer paper, ironed to a scrap of white fabric, then appliqued to red shirt


Close-up resembles a patch


Free-handed duck for Baby B using purchased fabric and some random pink button I found in my button bag


Close-Up #1


Close-Up #2



What's so fun about appliqueing is that you can create ANYTHING with a little creativity! There are a lot of templates and patterns on the internet for different things, but you have the freedom to change it up. Different fabric prints can also completely change the look...just take those two ducks above for example.

If you have or are going to have a kiddo, don't be surprised if one of these shows up in your mailbox. I'm just having a BLAST making them but need LOTS of practice! I'm still trying to master the art of getting the curves looking pretty. That's the hardest part, trying to turn the fabric without it puckering. The next kiddo will NOT have a first initial that is one big curve! That's why you don't see many things for Carson. If anyone has a project for me, I'd love to give it a shot!