Sewing – Page 4 – Gracious Rain

December 4, 2009February 7, 2021

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Browsing around as some of us do…ahem…I’ve stumbled upon some really clever gift ideas–some of them quick and some are more involved. It’s always more fun to work them up myself and show you–but sometimes imitating the cleverness of others would be like re-inventing the wheel…or the Cheeto.

And you know how I feel about Cheetoes.

This creative planet just goes on and on…

Adorable “Crayon Roll” at Skip To My Lou.

“Easiest-Ever Baby Headband“ at Hooked on Crochet

“Simmering Pot Recipes” at Fragrant Home

“Covered Clipboards” right here at Gracious Rain -shameless plug

“Alien Abduction Lamp” at Dollar Store Crafts

“Monster Repellent” at Little Birdie Secrets

“Personal History Prompt Jar” at Gracious Rain- 2nd shameless plug

“Needle Book” at Nini Makes

There now…something for anyone and everyone.

Go forth…

Create.

November 13, 2009November 1, 2020

Holiday Aprons

Around here–if it’s going to be rainy and cold outside there aren’t really a ton of choices. You either cook…

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or sew. Looking at my pretty little fabric stash–sewing won, hands down.

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I did a bit of exploring online and found some really pretty apron patterns–for free. And since it is the season for playing around in the kitchen it seemed like the perfect thing–Thanksgiving aprons. Ahhhh….

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I chose the “Child’s Apron” pattern from Skip To My Lou first thing. It was just simple and girly enough to suit the mood.

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Seriously, it took about an hour and a half from rummaging through the fabric to actual Apron.

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The trick–for me, any way–is to keep an iron set up and handy as I sew. It comes together much more quickly and there are fewer hitches.

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Now, to find a pretty little lady who wants to help me in the kitchen.

I have a surprise for them…

October 16, 2009October 30, 2020

Spooooky Skirts

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These Autumn days…

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that can’t seem to make up their minds–

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cold? warm? rainy? dry? hot? cool? slippers? sandals? and on and on.

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The cool and cold of these days sends me to my fabric stash or to the fabric shop—which is so much more dangerous–to find something lovely to play with.

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The holiday fabrics are always a temptation because I have these sweet dolly babies that are so fun to dress-up. And so I flew downstairs to my “sewing chamber” to contemplate the seasons and…

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came back up with thousands of Halloween skirts for the little ladies.

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I found the free Lazy Days skirt pattern over at Oliver + S to be positively perfect–quick and easy. My kind of project.

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Of course, it never actually occurred to me to ask the Mamas if they even wanted a thousand girlie Halloween skirts. Wasn’t willing to risk them saying, “no.”

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So I will ask you, my friends–

How do you think it will go over when Lily-foo and Baby Chompy…

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wears pirate skirts….to church?

ha!

——————–

Week #32 Food Storage Prompt: 1 can of tuna, 4 cans Tomato soup

September 24, 2009August 16, 2020

The “Sunday Bib”

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A common complaint from moms all over the place is that at dinner time, their babies are nice and covered with bibs all except for their arms. No problem, unless they are wearing long sleeves. Now they still need to change because they have apple sauce on their elbows. To these moms–I say…Meet the “Sunday Bib.”

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It’s nearly a smock but without so much back—and again, it’s made from a disguarded T-shirt and a cute new washcloth. Sorry, couldn’t help the Halloween colors. It must have been the moon…

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We cut the bottom of the shirt off about 2 inches below the sleeves. Then, just put the washcloth where you want it and pin it in place–to just one side of the shirt.

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Be sure to keep the back side fabric out of the way–and sew the washcloth onto the shirt a few inches below the neck ribbing.

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You may want to take in a bit of the sleeve if the shirt is really huge. Just trim off the excess.

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Slit up the back side of the shirt. You can fold in and sew all the raw edges if you’d like to, but that’s the beauty of using T-shirt fabric–it doesn’t fray, so you don’t HAVE to unless you want to.

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Sew a tie of ribbon or soft string at the neck top, on each side. I used the shiny cord from old gift bags. It’s the perfect length and it comes in every color of the rainbow. Hey, you were throwing it out anyway!

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And there you have it my darlings. It’s quick and simple and every mom that sees it says, “Ohhhh, yeaaaah. That’s what we need!”

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And…poof!

Like magic.

It’s yours.

September 23, 2009October 30, 2022

Washcloth Bibs

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So easy, so fun, so resourceful.

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When you’ve taken all the random T-shirts and made baby pants, and rice pillows and nightcaps and pirate hats out of them…

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you end up with quite a pile of scraps. Perhaps you’ve noticed, but I just have a hard time wasting stuff like this. I’d say it was because I’m a child of the depression, but I’m not. It’s just fun to find a new life for something on it’s last leg.

You will need:

old T-shirts

colorful washcloths

scissors

sewing machine

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