The M&J Challenge...

is up! And can I say WOW! Everyone did such an amazing job! I am so honored to be among these talented ladies! You can view my tutorials...





along with the others HERE! Thank you to M&J Trimmings for hosting this challenge. I know it took a lot of work to put this together and it looks fabulous and is truly inspiring!

Placemat Tote: A Tutorial

We are in summer vacation mode. We are leaving next week for vacation. And I have been thinking of some things that would be nice to take along with us. We have our summer vacation dresses. I have been shirring like crazy! I will share some other things I have made later this week. If you you haven't checked out this pattern from Made you will have to before the summer is over!

I was also thinking Carson needed a little tote to put her belongings in for the pool and beach. She is becoming more independent (if that's possible) and wanted a "diaper bag" like mommy. It's so sad when your diaper bag becomes your purse. Mine has, luckily I love my diaper bag! Anyway, I was cleaning out the kitchen and came across some placemats I just had to have 5 years ago. I actually still really like them, but never use them. So, the little light bulb came on in my head and the placemat tote was born. It's super simple and chances are you have it lying around your house too!

Materials:

Placemat

coordinating fabric or cloth napkin

scissors

sewing machine/serger

cutting board

ruler

rotary cutter

Fold your placemat right sides together. Sew or serge down both sides.

Press and turn right side out.

Cut four 2x18 inch strips. These will be your handles.

Now you are going take 2 of your straps and to serge wrong sides together. Repeat with the other two.

If you do not have a serger you will still take your two strips, but will place them right sides together and sew down one side across and up the other side. Rae has an easy tutorial for doing this here! Press.

Take your handles and pin them in place. I pinned them 3 inches from the outside of the tote.

Sew a box stitch.

Now I thought I was finished, but my 2 year old wanted to know where the pocket was where she could put her coins.

I don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place! So I cut a 5 x5 square. I used the edge of the napkin because it already had a hem on two sides. I hemmed the other two sides. Pinned and sewed it into place! Yeah! A pocket for the coins or sunglasses!

And there is a place for your coins!

Now what might a 2 year old place in her tote? What other than every pair princess shoes she owns and a pair of sunslasses (sunglasses)!

If you have any questions let me know! Happy sewing!

Linking up to these fabulous bogs!

Shirr Happiness

I am back! I guess I decided to take a week off from blogging:) I have been tying up some loose ends. I finished up my DIY's for the M&J's challenge that will be posted this Wednesday here. AND I have also been busy making some boy's items for the Blue Whale Boutique. I finally tackled the laundry and mound of dress shirts that needed ironing. Needless to say it was a productive weekend around the house. Now I can focus on more fun things like...sewing!

I did take some time out yesterday to make these!

We are going on vacation next week so what else would be better than a Summer Vacation Dress!

I have shirred dresses before, but when I saw Dana had a pattern for it I thought I would check it out. I knew I would be able to learn something new! She had some great tips for shirring dresses as well as some really cute examples for different styles. The pattern was really easy to follow and didn't take much time at all!

I chose this fabric from my favorite fabric store in town KMIS! I loved the bright, vibrant colors. They screamed summer.

I made Clara's dress shorter so she can crawl. She isn't there quite yet, but it will be soon!

For the arms I made a bias tape from white muslin and use a decorative stitch to give it just a little something extra. I had never used that feature on my sewing machine before and thought I would give it a whirl! I really like how it turned out!

For Carson's dress I also made a bias for the arms, but made it a little longer so I could tie bows at the top of her shoulders. The bottom of the dress has a white border also made from muslin. I chose to use the decorative stitch on her dress as well.

I think it's the perfect dress for summer!

I need to make one for myself too!