Sewing – Page 8 – Thimbleanna

In Like a Lion

22 Comments / March 1, 2015 March 1, 2015 / Liberty Love, Sewing

Well Hello March! The month when spring officially begins in the northern hemisphere. There are no signs of spring around here though. March has arrived deeply entrenched in winter — and it’s probably no surprise that I love it! We had another small storm last night and it’s a winter wonderland out there today. Big, beautiful, white, sticky snow. I should have gone out there and built a snowman!

Instead, I spent the day playing around in the sewing room. I tried to clean and organize a bit, but you’d hardly know it. I desperately need some organizational skills LOL. I also sewed a bit and played around with the latest batch of Liberty fabrics. I’d been waiting until the more masculine prints arrived so that I could make a boy version from Amy’s sweet little bib pattern.

Clearly, a ruffle would not do for a boy, so I added a little bow tie. I love that Checkmate print from Liberty — it’s just perfect.

And I used a blue alphabet print for the back of the bib. I’ve ~~hoarded~~ had that print almost since my boys were babies themselves.

And here’s my favorite part — Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Ohmygosh, I love the little Alice in Wonderland characters — they’re all just too cute!

I worked on some quilt blocks too, but more on those later. Have a wonderful week!

XOXO,
Anna

Sweetly Stitched Handmades

17 Comments / February 10, 2015 March 1, 2015 / Liberty Love, Sewing

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to snag an advanced copy of one of Amy Sinibaldi‘s new books, Sweetly Stitched Handmades. I missed out on her first batch of books, so when she mentioned that there might be a second batch I started stalking her instagram account. I wanted a copy of her new book for one reason:

That. Bib. Pattern. There was a sneak peek of her baby bib a few months ago and I knew it would be perfect for the Liberty fabrics that are in my Liberty shop. Humpty Dumpty patiently waited for weeks, and finally, it’s his moment in the sun. Or, snow maybe. I thought he might be cute modeled on a little snowbaby (to compensate for the lack of real babies around here ;-D).

The Alice in Wonderland print has lots of cute characters — Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee can’t wait for the arrival of a more masculine Liberty print so that there can be a boy version of this bib.

In the meantime, I’m just going to fondle that sweet little ruffle. I LOVE Love love that ruffle! I do have a go-to bib pattern, and I easily could have just added a ruffle to my pattern, but this was Amy’s cute idea, so I wanted to get the book and give credit where credit is due. Amy is the genius of cute!

I’m really glad that I have the book anyway as there are lots of other adorable projects in there — Amy’s style is just Beautiful! I think the book officially comes out in May, so if you don’t have a copy, it’s worth putting on your watch list!

Ok, must run. I’m off on a little adventure in the morning. I’ll be closing my etsy shop for a week. The Liberty shop will remain open but new orders won’t ship until after February 20th. Be Good! (And don’t worry Auntlets — I have you covered on the 15th ;-D)

XOXO,
Anna

The End of the Weekend

19 Comments / January 11, 2015 January 11, 2015 / Around the House, Sewing

{Sigh} Another weekend is over. Why do they always fly by so quickly? Did you have a good one? Mine was pretty quiet. CuteNiece2 turned 18 so I went to her Hot Yoga class on her birthday with the other girls in the family. I’d been avoiding hot yoga like the plague, but it wasn’t so bad and CuteNiece2 is a great teacher.

I also did a bit of sewing — I even dusted off Hester’s embroidery parts and made some seasonal breadcloths for a friend. It took me three times as long as it should have — boy, am I ever rusty!

In between working on the breadcloths, I decided it was time to clean up the mess I’ve made in other parts of the house. Since I started the Aunts’ Quilt, most horizontal surfaces in the house have been covered with fabric. The dining room table, the kitchen table, the couch . . . I make a big mess while I’m making choices for all those little flowers.

Part of the problem has been dragging the fabrics from room to room, so I decided I needed a helper. Can you tell what it is?

If you guessed one of those little Ikea carts, you’re right. I know you’re used to seeing them in aqua in blogland, but I decided to get the cream colored one. The trays are the perfect width for the way I fold my fat quarters.

Hopefully, after the current block I’m sewing, I can narrow my fabric choices. That way I’ll have room for the actual block and scissors and thread in the top tray.

So, that was the weekend — I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear about the cooking and cleaning and more boring stuff. I hope your weekend was fun — and have a great start to your week!

XOXO,
Anna

A Birthday Tote Bag

30 Comments / October 30, 2014 October 30, 2014 / Sewing

If you were reading here at the end of August, you may remember that I had plans to sew with some leather purse straps, linen, and fabrics that didn’t match each other. I couldn’t show you what I was making because they were for a birthday gift and I had to wait for the birthday to occur. The birthday happened while I was in Australia and now that I’m done telling you about my trip (whew! aren’t you glad that‘s over!) I can show you the bag that I made.

A few months ago a little friend of SweetiePie’s was joking with me and she mentioned how much she’d like to have something made by me. She’s a cutie and conveniently, her birthday was coming up, so I came up with a plan. She lives in NYC and she walks a lot and she mentioned that if I made some sort of a bag it would be nice if it was big enough for her tennis shoes. She also mentioned that she loves pink and aqua, and she loves to go to yoga classeses, so I decided to make her an over-sized bag with a yoga theme.

I chose the Reversible Sunday Sling pattern by Amy Butler and I raided my little etsy shop and used Up Parasol by Heather Bailey, Surprise Birthday in Pink, and an essex linen in flax. The biggest problem that I have with bags is that the handles wear out too quickly, so I replaced the fabric handles from the pattern with some leather handles. Then, I highlighted some circles on the front of the bag — yoga symbols from embroidery library, a flower from Up Parasol and an M for her first name. (I think the peace sign is my favorite. Rumor has it that she liked the yoga girl the best.)

I left the back of the bag plain, to save her some embarrassment, in case the front was too much for her. I’ll admit, this bag didn’t turn out exactly the way I pictured it in my mind. That aqua (teal?) fabric is a leeeetle bit bright (I think I would have liked a subtle lime green better, but I was trying to deliver on the aqua preference). And, while I love that Up Parasol print, it looks like it’s screaming at you when you look at the bag.

But. I LOVE those leather straps and the style of the bag. When it’s slung over the shoulder it’s SO comfortable. So, I decided I could overlook the irritants. Especially, when you consider it really hurts the eyes to look inside the bag. The Up Parasol and the Happy Birthday REALLY don’t go together, but I HAD to use the Happy Birthday print. It was a Birthday Present! I figured my little friend is the only one who will see the inside, and I hope she smiles each time she looks in there and remembers that this was for her birthday.

I also personalized the inside of the bag with a “This bag belongs to ____” embroidery. The inside pleat gets in the way a little, but it’s ok.

This was a really fun bag to make and I’m hoping to make another one sometime for me. It’s such a comfortable bag to carry around and I love the little pleats here and there. I hope my little friend will get lots of use out of it!

XOXO,
Anna

Pink Shirt

26 Comments / July 30, 2014 July 30, 2014 / Sewing

Some of you may remember way back in the fall of 2011, I finished these pink socks and posted them with a picture of pink flowers in hopes that I would make a pink flower shirt the following spring.

Well, better late than never, as they say. Luckily, I haven’t worn the pink socks out yet and I can now happily wear them with my new pink shirt.

I used my favorite shirt pattern and Sarah Jane’s Meadow print from her Children at Play line. I’ve been hoarding some of this fabric — I just love those cute little pink flowers.

I’ve only used this pattern with corduroy before, so the fit seems a little looser with cotton. I’m sure it will soften up with wear though, just like the corduroy shirts.

I love that little pleat in the back. Someday I’m going to make a version of this shirt and put a little tag back there. I also love MeMum’s clothesline. I could take pictures of those pretty green wires and the weathered clothespins all day long. Sorry for the distraction!

Happy Hump Day!

XOXO,
Anna