Many of you are long time NieNieDialogue readers and some of you have only begun reading about her life recently.  You are all here because we have a common desire to help Stephanie, Christian and their family.

One of the things that really drew me into Stephanie’s online life was her beautiful portrayal of daily life.  I don’t believe for one minute that her life was roses all the time, but I do believe that she chose to see the good in everything that came her way.  I’m sure like many of us she could have complained about the diapers, or the messes her kids made.  Yet, she didn’t.  She chose to find the humor and the fun and the sweetness that comes from being a mother and wife.  She reminded us that “Men (& women) are, that they might have joy”.

So, here’s to helping the Nielson’s & for finding our own daily joy!  Be sure to check out the complete list of auctions here.

I’m offering 2 auctions today, a J Crew Blouse & a Fabric Bunting (click the links to go directly to the auctions for each item).  Please be sure you read the “rules” before posting your bid.

You might remember me hinting about BLS last week, or maybe you remember me mentioning them back in the spring.  It is official now, I am teaching classes at the studio in October.

I’m both excited and nervous, in some ways success scares me.  I’ll be teaching a pillow making class and a vintage sheet skirt class.  If you are local, I’d love to meet you, so please sign up and come sew with me!

Big thank you’s to Georganne- for believing in my work, to Kristin for allowing me to be a part of her studio and to Sarah for making me look pretty!

Also of note- I will be participating/hosting in a silent auction to raise money for Stephanie & Christian Nielson this Thursday.  Check out Design Mom to get all the details.  From what I understand it won’t take long for Stephanie & Christian to max out their insurance benefits, many of us on the internet are doing what we can to raise funds to help cover their soaring medical expenses.  If you would like to help, you can donate using the button in the side bar, wait for thrusday’s silent acution, or come back next month and purchase something from here.   Oh, and if you are local you can come to the Blissfest Market in October and take part in the raffle.  Whew!  That is a lot of options!!

Thank you to all of my readers/customers for your support of my work and creations, I totally would not be here without you and your encouragement!

For the first time in a long time (maybe ever) my husband accompanied me to the fabric store.  The son was at school, the daughter at preschool and husband had the day off, it was wonderful to be alone with him.  Adding to the excitement of the day, Heather Bailey’s fabric arrived in the mail!

I was thinking that I would make a purse/bag with them, the green rectangles being the lining.  Now that I see the fabrics together I don’t think I like the purse idea.  No worries I have about 3 other ideas!

Also, making some progress on the holiday project.

I used to always laugh at the people in the quilt shops buying their holiday fabrics in july- now I get it.  Lots of ideas swirling around, need to start writing them down!

Found in this book.  I thought he would make a great embroidery.  He is supposed to be an illustration of a toy that children can make out of buttons, seeds and thread.  I really want to stitch him but don’t think I’ll have any free stitching time between now and November, so I figured I had better share him!!  If you stitch him up, please shoot me a picture, I would love to see it.

School started Monday and we’ve already had an invite to a birthday party.  In pondering what to get this little girl, I remembered a post that JC Handmade  wrote about a birthday gift idea.  She made a tote, some barrettes (do I have enough time before 3 o’clock to whip up some barrettes???) and filled the tote with books/games.  I loved the idea for so many reasons, no plastic toys that will be thrown out or added to landfills in a few months, I get to use my sewing machine and the games/books promoted learning.

I was pleased with how it turned out, although I think the handles might be a bit long.  It is lined with the same AH fruit print and I put the two books in the bag.  I really have no idea what reading level the girl is at, or what little girls read these days.  I’m more focused on boy literature- just got an abridged version of Treasure Island yesterday.   What kind of books would you recommend for a beginning male reader, I really want my son to love reading and am struggling to find books that aren’t boring and girly to him.

By popular demand here is how to make your own skirt using vintage sheets (or pillow cases if your girl is little enough).

Here is What You’ll Need:
1 vintage sheet/pillow case
1.5-2yards of coordinating pom pom trim
1/2″ or 3/4″ wide braided elastic
safety pin
measuring tape
everything is sewn with a 1/4″ seam allowance

First- go get your tape measure, you’ll need a waist measurement and a length measurement (how long you want the skirt to be).

You’ll need to wash, iron (enjoy the smell of 30 years of different fabric softeners) and square up your sheet.  Then cut 2 rectangles, each rectangle should be Waist Measurement Wide by (Length Measurement)+ 2inches long.  So, if your waist measurement was 20 inches and your length measurement was 15 inches then you would need 2 rectangles each one being 20inches wide by 17inches long.

With right sides together sew the side seams up, don’t forget to finsh them (serge or zig zag).  Iron the seams flat.

To create your waist casing fold over a 1/4″ and press at the top of the skirt.  Fold over again a whole inch and press (see below).

Your going to stitch you casing closed- stitching as close to the bottom edge as possible.  I always like to leave my opening in the center back, so when I close it I can stitch the tag in at the same time.

When inserting the elastic I like to use a safety pin, I find it easier to guide the elastic around, I pin the tail end with a straight pin at the opening.  After you’ve threaded the elastic be sure to stitch it securely closed, I always sew over the elastic a few times, be sure to close the casing when you are done.

With right side up pin pom trim 1/2″ from the edge of skirt- the poms should be facing the waist band.  I used a zipper foot for this part, you want to stitch as close as you can to the pom edge of the trim (see pic).

When you get the pom trim sewn on, your skirt should look like this.

Next your going to flip the skirt inside out and iron the poms back, as close as you can to your seam.

(i should have clipped my threads before taking this pic)

Your going to create a  hem  here by ironing the raw edge over into the trim, like this:

See how the bottom edge of the pic has the hem folded into the trim edge?  Once you’ve pressed it all under your going to stitch as close to the top of the pom trim as possible.

Now, be sure to send me pics of your cute daughters, neighbors, nieces etc wearing the skirt!

Another repuposed/upcycled outfit for my daughter (made using Simplicity 3511)!  I found this sheet at a local thrift store and just loved it, I paired it with some pink thrifted bias tape and voila! I love this summer sewing thing, next week will be pajamas for my son!  Only 1 more day to enter the contest!

thanks to all who entered, I’ll post the winners on sat

I realized today that I haven’t had a contest for July yet, nor did I have one for June.  OOPS!  So, to make up for it, this one will be really good….

I made my daughter a skirt today from a vintage sheet I found at Goodwill for $1.  Not only was it super easy, but it looks SO cute on her.

Here’s the deal, I will make someone’s daughter a vintage sheet skirt, with puff ball trim!  “But wait,” you say, “I don’t have a small daughter” .  For those who are not interested in a skirt I’m offering this cute small vintage pyrex serving dish in the butterfly pattern and I’ll fill it with bits of vintage sheets.

I’ll leave the comments open until friday July 18, and as always feel free to link back.  Just mention in the comments which prize you would like.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Jen Byard of My Three Sons Designs asking me if I would make a travel blanket for her son.  Have you seen the cute stuff she makes and sells?  I was flattered that she wanted ME to make something for her son.

I gave it a lot of thought and decided on something definitely boy- but not cheesey boy (does that make sense to anyone else?).  I had worked with the Star Rocket fabric before and really liked it.  Not only is the print cute it is the softest cotton ever, I swear it has got to be 300+ thread count.  Harrison has 2 older brothers which means he probably gets a lot of hand-me-downs.  I wanted this to be something special meant for him, so I embroidered a patch with his name on it.  I searched high and low for just the right minky to back it in, I wanted red, but theI couldn’t find the right share.  Sally’s had a soft dotted blue that matched perfectly.

So, Harrison- this one is for you buddy!