Purdue Quilt

I met my husband in the Purdue Marching Band, and some friends of ours, who also met in the Purdue Band are having a baby.  Naturally, I decided to make them a Purdue quilt, but with a music theme as well to add the band connection.  That, and there were only so many Purdue designs out there and I already had a couple of music designs that were perfect.  The parents-to-be play instruments with one in bass clef and one in treble clef, so I felt like I needed to include both (and as a former cello player myself, I'm partial to having bass clef represented).

The top edge is the same as the rest of the way around, it's just tucked in at the top of a bulletin board so it could be hanging up.  The polka dot border fabric is old gold, with metallic gold dots.  It doesn't show well in pictures, but the polka dots reflect the light really well.

I embroidered each of the white squares.  Each design on the body of the quilt was used three times, but each one is slightly different.  For those with applique work (both trains, the block P, and the Big Bass Drum), each one has a different background fabric.  With the exception of the bass drum, I also changed up the thread colors for each design, using only black, old gold, white, silver, and dark grey.  For the treble and bass clefs, I mixed up which parts were black and which were gold, to make each one (of the same clef) different.  It is hard to see here, but the "Purdue" at the top is appliqued with a black and old gold paisley fabric.

Once all the embroidery was done, the rest went together really quickly.  It is really more of a blanket with a pieced top than a quilt, since there is no batting, but it is super soft and cuddly with an ultra cuddle fabric backing.  The "quilting" is done mostly to keep things from shifting, but it isn't quilted close together since there isn't any batting to ball up inside.

 Not the greatest, but a small close-up of the Big Bass Drum.  It's tiny, but it really does say, "World's Largest Drum" in the arc at the top.  I love how this design turned out, but oh boy is it a pain to clip the million (tiny) thread jumps it has.  I'm planning one more thing with this design, then I think I will need to put it away for awhile so I can forget how many little snips it needs.

 I really liked getting to do this logo, which I believe has been changed very recently by Nike.

 This is some old (discontinued) Purdue fabric I bought back when my son was about a year old.  I had enough left from the longalls I made him to do the quilt.  I like this one with Purdue Pete better than the current version that's for sale that replaced Pete with a basketball and basketball hoop.

The squares that appear plain black are actually this cute black-on-black music fabric.  There are tiny little music notes between the treble clefs.  The other fabric I used in the quilt is just black with small, irregular white dots.  It isn't Purdue or music themed, but I liked how it tied the white squares in with the white dots.  There is also a bit of a polka dot repeating pattern in the quilt, and I liked being able to carry that out.



Even though I had a sketch ahead of time, I wasn't sure how it was going to look until this one was nearly done.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and I sort of want one a giant one for myself so I can snuggle under it on the couch.

Twirler Sweat Suit

Now that the weather is colder, Dorothy can't wear just her leotard when she goes to gymnastics and baton twirling lessons.  Changing her out of her regular clothing (typically, a dress with tights) was getting old fast, so I ordered two sweat suits with zip up jackets.  Now she can put the on over her leotard, and we don't even have to redo her hair since it doesn't pull over her head.  So much better!

I ordered plain sweat suits, and appliqued the first one last night.  Hopefully, I'll get to the other one soon, but at least one was done quickly.  Since two out of the three times she needs the sweat suits is for twirling, I made her a "twirler" one.

It is hard to see the embellishments on the front, but there are crossed baton outlines on the left chest and the lower right pant leg.  Excuse her disinterested expression.  Trying to have her pose after gymnastics and before lunch was probably not the best idea.

 Close-up of the pant leg.  I wish I had gotten it placed a bit more to the side, but it doesn't look bad in the middle.

 The left chest of the jacket.  This one could also stand to be placed a bit more to the left (closer to the zipper).  The shape of the hoop makes it seem like it is closer to the left than it really is.  I'm going to need to practice getting a better placement.

 The back of the jacket.  I'm happy that I seem to have gotten the baton and lettering on straight, and I'm glad I went a little low on the placement.  The hood still covers up a fair amount, but the baton completely shows, and you can see a few of the letters.  She tends to pull her hood up anyway (or accidentally gets it tucked inside).  I would have preferred a jacket without a hood, but they are impossible to find right now.

 A better look, with the hood pulled out of the way.  I really like the colors, and all the fabric I used was scraps of things I already had.

Close-up of the applique.  I had a tiny bit of trouble with the bottom edge of the baton.  The fabric shifted when it was tacked down, and I didn't notice at the time because it was just a tiny bit.  I'm going to see if I can clean it up a bit more after it is washed.

I think it turned out really cute and think she looks darling it.  Dorothy is less impressed though and wants to know when she can put a dress back on.  *sigh*

Rapunzel

My daughter really wanted to be Rapunzel for Halloween, so I agreed to make her costume.  I used the Simplicity pattern #2065, and hit up Discount Fabric Warehouse in Chicago for the fabric.  It is easily the most complicated thing I have made, but was completely worth it, and is so much nicer than one I could have bought in a store.  When she put in on for the first time, she kept saying, "Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!"  Love!

 It's hard to see the ribbon stripes on her sleeves, but they are there.  There were so many little details on this dress that make it special.  Unfortunately, I didn't notice that her sleeves were rolled up, so you can't see the gorgeous lace trim on the cuffs.

 I also made the braid, which she loves.  I wove ribbons into it and hot glued flowers all along the braid.  It's so cute and fancy!

 Of all the different parts of the dress, adding this trim was the hardest and most time consuming.  It is actually three separate pieces; the white and silver swirl ribbon in the center and the white with purple ribbon on each edge.  I almost didn't add the second side of the white and purple, but I'm glad I did.  The extra width gives it enough depth to show up nicely.

 The bodice is just full of details.  The light purple brocade, with the dark purple taffeta with velvet flocking under, the grommets and ribbon lacing, and the lace at the neck and waist lines.

 The same lace is on the cuffs.  It's so dainty and delicate.

It was really windy (and cold), but it's a super twirly dress.  It was so cold, she had to wear a coat over it for trick-or-treating, but there were a couple of parties last weekend where she wore it without having to cover it up.  She's also going to wear it for her princess birthday party in a couple of months.

The only part I didn't make was Pascal, the chameleon from Tangled, on her shoulder.  He's a puppet that a neighbor gave us a few years ago, when her grandchildren outgrew them.  He was a perfect addition to her costume.

New Sewing Room!

My sewing room has been in desperate need of an overhaul for a very long time.  In July, I started messing around with the layout and thinking about new ways to organize the space.  I wish that I had taken pictures before I started moving the furniture around.  For a couple of weeks, I would move things around after the kids were in bed, until I finally hit on a layout that mostly worked for the way I sew.  I kept that layout, but replaced my old cutting table and ironing board, then got rid of one or two shelving units and brought in some others.  Here are a few before and after photos:

 Before.  Piles of stuff on the floor, and note the cutting mat on the floor in the front.  My cutting table was such a poor fit for me that I actually found it easier to use the floor instead.  Madness!

 After.  Not quite the same angle, but pretty close.  I took this picture to show the best new thing in my room; the lighting!  My husband spent a couple of very hot days up in the attic installing a light fixture for me so I could get rid of the million lamps that weren't doing much anyway.  I current;y only have two of the new, fancy, full spectrum bulbs in it, and it is already 1000x better than before.  I need to go to the store to get the other two, and it will be blindingly bright in there.  The colors look so much better with the new bulbs.

A slightly better view of the actual room.  I'll talk more about the different pieces in some close up pictures, but note the new cutting table (with storage!) and the new ironing table (also, with storage!).

 

Sewing area, before.  More piles, and a better view of the cutting mat on the floor (with the green fleece on top of it).

Sewing area, after.  Sorry it is not the same angle, but look at the nice, clear surfaces.  I also added a clock that I can see easily from either the sewing area, or the ironing and cutting area, where I spend most of my time.  Before, there was only one, tiny clock on an up high shelf, behind me, and it was impossible to see.  I have left the little clock on the shelf for now, but if I discover that I don't use it, I will probably get rid of it.

Embroidery area, before.  Cluttered, and tons of stuff stacked on the cutting table because I hated using it.

Embroidery area, after.  The ribbons that were hanging on the cane on the wall are now under the ironing table.  Now, the cane holds paper for pattern tracing.  The rack on the far left on the wall is now storing dinosaur dresses for my shop that are partly done.  Before it was just fabric storage, and it wasn't nearly large enough.  My embroidery hoops are hanging on the wall so I can find keep the close without having them taking up table space.

 Another view of the new embroidery area. 

 Closet area, before.  Note the piles of fabric in the lower left corner (I had already started folding it into bolts by the time I thought to take "before" pictures) and the overflowing laundry basket in front of the closet.

 Closet area, after.  The closet still needs a little work, but it is much better.  I have a few projects to complete, that will help a lot as far as getting some large things out of the way.  Just above the green and pink striped bins are two wire DVD baskets that are perfect for keeping my patterns.  Each pattern is slipped into a clear comic book protector, then placed in the bin.  With the plastic protectors, I don't have to get all the pieces shoved back into the tiny paper envelopes, and they are large enough to hold the extra pattern pieces I trace onto paper and cut out.  I love that I can easily keep all those pieces together now.

 

 Cutting table, before.  Like I said, I was actually cutting things on the floor, and not using the cutting table I had.  It was a little too tall for me and I could not reach all the way across.  It also had casters.  Even though they locked, the casters liked to slide on the hardwood floors, making it unstable.  It took up a ton of space and had no built in storage.  A couple of small cubbie units did fit under it, but it was far from ideal.

 Cutting table, after.  It is two IKEA shelving units, back to back, with a large IKEA desk top on top of it.  I love how I now have room for my rulers and templates right on the side, so they are close at hand, but not in the way.

 I folded all my fabric onto comic book backing boards, and they are just the right size.  To hold the fabric in place, I used vinyl coated jumbo paperclips.  It is great being able to see all my fabrics at once.

 There are fabrics on both sides, sorted by type and color.  This side has my lyrca, knits, corduroy, home dec, apparel, holiday, and batting and interfacing. 

 This side is quilting cottons and flannels.  My cutting mat fits nicely between the table and the wall.

I got rid of my old, standard ironing board and built this table instead.  The table is also from IKEA, but it only came in black, so I painted it green.  Then, I covered the top so I can iron on it.  It has a larger surface area than my old ironing board, and I'm really enjoying using it.  I love having the drawers to store little things that I only use at the ironing board, like my bias tape maker, and the fusible lining I use on embroidered clothing.  I also added a white board to keep track of what projects I need to be working on.  I had a shopping list in the upper right corner, but it is gone in the photo because Dorothy and I hit the fabric store yesterday.

I love this little shelf!  I spray painted regular terracotta pots and they are perfect for keeping my scissors, pens, and pencils, close but off of the cutting table.  I added a hook to the side for my tape-measure.  I had been keeping it in a drawer, and rolling it back up after each use which was a pain.  It is so much easier to just grab it and hook it back when I'm done.

I'm not sure how I feel about the hanging jars yet.  For now, they are storing things I don't need too often, and i love how they look.  I think they would be annoying to have to get into all the time.    

 The bakers rack I had no longer fit, so I brought up the two little shelves on the left from the basement.  The bins hold dresses and shirts for my shop; both finished, and plain ones waiting to be embroidered.  On top of the shelves are other supplies I need for my shop, and I love that it is all together now, instead of spread out in three or four different places. The baskets on the right are three different quilts that are in progress.

I'm ready to start sewing up a storm!  I finally have a space for everything, and even a few empty bins and trays, so I can adjust things if need be.  I tried really hard to think about how and where I use certain tools to keep it easy for me to get things out and put them away.  Here's hoping I can keep it this nice while still getting stuff done in there.

Matching Manatees

This is a very late write-up.  I made a manatee shirt for Malcolm a couple of months ago, but didn't blog about it because I planned to also make him a second, different, shirt and thought I'd put them both in one post.  Well, the second shirt never happened, so I might as well just show off his cute manatee shirt.  Sorry, kid.  Better luck next year!

 We were out on a hike, and I told him to hold still for a second so I could get a picture of his shirt, and he struck this pose.

He wore these shorts last year, and they still fit, but the shirt that went with them was too small.  It took a while, but I finally found a red shirt that was a pretty close match, and I used a deep navy thread for the shadowing details on the manatee.  I really like how it came out.

 I'm a dork, and purposely had both kids wear their manatee shirts on the same day (only once though).  I had forgotten that I had flipped Dorothy's manatee because of the little loop on her shirt.  I didn't notice until they were side by side, and they had been wearing their shirts all day.  It is a little hard to tell, but Malcolm's manatee is larger than Dorothy's.  Because of the size of the shirts, I was able to turn the hoop sideways for his so that I could orient the manatee lengthwise and keep it as large as possible, which looks better on the larger shirt.  I'm not sure how many more shirts I'll be able to do for Malcolm since the largest hoop my machine takes is a 5x7, he is starting to need larger designs to look good.

Also, why is it so hard to have two kids stand still, look at the camera, and smile? 

The height of seven year old humor; bunny ears.  I remember doing it as a kid too, but I don't remember why we found it funny.  I guess it's timeless to them though.

I'm glad that he wanted me to make this for him.  I tend to make more for Dorothy, and he gets so excited when I make him something.  I have some plans for some flannel pajamas that he should love.  I already have the fabric (space themed that glows in the dark) and I'm waiting on the pattern to get here.  I had to order it because it had been discontinued.