Tutorial Tuesday - Twirl Skirt

Before I get to the featured tutorial for this week, I have to brag about my beautiful nieces and nephew. Anna is 3 and is so much fun! We play many games together like pirates, don't wake auntie, Mr. tickle, and princess Leona and Ariel. This week's tutorial is inspired by her - she loves to dance around and I wanted to make her a skirt so she can twirl. I have all the fabric and materials to make it, but with all the playing we have been doing, I didn't have time this week. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend and post pictures soon!

Anna watching Auntie Ariane and Uncle db play baseball on the weekend

Next is my niece Suds - she is 11 and is very cool. We went shopping for a dress for db dad's wedding that is coming up in May, but we didn't find anything that is just right. We did manage to find a cool hoodie at a local surf shop. I think she likes it. We also made the Polymer Clay octopus from my previous tutorial. They were more difficult to make, but we managed. Check out the girls painting their fun craft items!

Suds crafting away!

Suds and Anna painting our polymer clay octopus

And of course there is wonderful Matthew - who is such a happy baby. He loves to cuddle and crawl around. While we were crafting, he needed to sit at the table with us, so db sat with him so he didn't feel left out. It is amazing how much he has changed since I first met him. Soon I will be having to find fun boy things to do with him!

Lara and Matthew cheering the Flames on (before they got knocked out)

Now, the tutorial for the twirl skirt I found awhile back on House on Hill Road's blog, but never managed to get Anna's measurements. The skirt looks simple to make - so I am hopeful that all goes well when I start making it.


Tutorial Link: http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com/photos/twirly_skirt/

Hope everyone is having a good week! I should be back this weekend with more fun stuff!

Tutorial Tuesday - Pin Cushion and Organizer by Oh Fransson!

It's time to craft something for myself! When I sew, I can't seem to be organized and there is pins everywhere, I can't find my seem ripper or my scissors and there is little threads everywhere! Searching around the common blogs that I read, I noticed that Oh Fransson has a Pin Cushion and Organizer tutorial (the tutorial is actually on Sew Mama Sew's blog, but can be linked from Oh Fransson also). I am still debating on what fabric I want to use - I did pick up some nice fat quarters recently - I might have to dive into those! Once I am done - I will post pictures!

So, this is my next project! Hopefully this will keep me somewhat organized, so I don't have to spend so much time searching for my scissors and that db can actually enter the sewing/computer room without seeing my huge mess!

Link to Download Oh Fransson's PDF instructions is available at this link: http://www.sewmamasew.com/media/blog/SMSPincushionOrganizer.pdf

Weekend in Seattle

db and I went to Seattle this past weekend to visit our friend JP and to go to a couple of Mariner baseball games. The Mariners were playing the Detroit Tigers and both the games we saw were really good games! I only took a few good pictures and they are of two of the Seattle players - Ken Griffey and Ichiro.



JP had all this lovely pottery hanging around his house that I was admiring and he let me pick something to take home with me. I picked this pretty vase! I love the colours of it and the size. Now all I need is flowers in it! I think tomorrow I will stop by the flower store!


I also stopped in at Joann's (it's a craft store in the US) and was I in shock! There fabric section is bigger that all the fabric stores in Victoria put together! They had fat quarters on sale for $0.99! I got a couple fat quarters and some pillow forms. I was too overwhelmed that I couldn't think of what I needed. Next time when I am in Seattle, I will be definitely stopping by there to pick up some more fabric and search through the whole store. Sigh... I wish we had better fabric stores in Victoria... even an Ikea would be nice!

Only a couple more days before my nieces and nephew arrive! I can't wait! I have been busy cleaning up my sewing room - I don't want any little feet to get a pin in them! So, I don't think I will be crafting anything for a little while.

I'll be back tomorrow though with a link to a tutorial that I think will be my next project.

Tutorial - Polymer Octopus

I am mixing it up a little today and posting a non-sewing tutorial. I saw this thread on craftster which posted this cute little octopus key chain. There is a tutorial how to create the little octopus using polymer clay. I thought it was cute and looked simple enough to make!

I think I will try and make one with my niece who is coming for a visit next week. I have been searching for fun stuff for us to try and this I am definitely putting on the list.

The tutorial can be found at this link: http://oborochann.deviantart.com/art/Octopus-Charm-Tutorial-45828570

Have a great weekend everyone! I will be back on Monday with news how the trip to Seattle went!

Back, but Re-Grouping

I know I have been back for over a week and haven't posted anything. I apologize! When I got back from my London trip, I managed to get a cold and it took me a week to recover! Then I had to do some major crafting for a craft swap that I am participating in (pictures to come!).

I managed to get all the crafts complete and in the mail today! Now it is time to organize all the photos from my trip! It is going to be quite the task because I have over 200 photos! Yikes! The good pictures will be posted on my flickr page!

I loved the London Eye, Wicked (the show), British Museum, Steph's school stuff, and so much more of London! Thanks again Steph for being our wonderful tour guide!

I am off to Seattle tomorrow night - but I am going to try to post a link for a new tutorial before I leave!