Lace-Edged Baby Blankets

It's been a long time since I've done much heirloom sewing.  But a few weeks ago when I received an email from a church friend I knew it was just what I was intended to do.  I've been participating, sporadically, in the prayer shawl ministry at my church over the last year.  When a request went out for someone to make prayer blankets for twin baby girls with cystic fibrosis (CF) I knew pretty quickly that I was the one who was supposed to take on this project.  For ten years I worked in a hospital lab doing breathing tests on patients, and took a particular interest in the ones with CF.  During that time I met a college student, Chris, who was beating the odds and doing very well managing his disease.  We remained friends over the years and the miles.  I have a friend from my college years who lost his teenage daughter to this disease, and just this spring my family traveled to Richmond to attend a fund raising dinner in Lucy's memory.  CF has touched my life many times over the years.  Those of you who know me well will have also made the connection to twin baby girls.  I lost a set of twin girls at 30 weeks gestation almost 7 years ago.  You can see now why I was sure that I was the one to make these blankets.  At first, I hesitated, thinking about how slowly I knit.  Then I had the flash thought that these blankets did not have to be knit, I could sew them.  And I knew immediately what form they would take.

Years before my kids came onto the scene, I used to travel with my sister to various sewing events.  We attended lots of American Sewing Guild conferences together but our greatest times were spent in Huntsville, Alabama attending Martha Pullen's School of Art Fashion.  There I learned to sew delicate, lacy things in the heirloom tradition.  One of my favorite teachers at these schools was Carol Ahles.  Carol is a wonderful teacher who shares her knowledge and encourages students to do their very best.  One year my sister and I took a class from her on making a lace-edged, hemstitched baby blanket.  She provided luxurious cashmere flannel and Cluny lace for the project. The edges were corded and hemstitched, which gave a lovely and sturdy finish.

Here's the blanket I made in that class

and a close up of the lace edge.

I wrote to Carol and ordered several yards of light pink flannel for my project.  I decided that monograms on the blankets would serve to distinguish them from each other, and I used Hope Yoder's Fancy ABC's for the letters.  The Cluny lace came from my stash. 

The blankets measure 36" x 45" and have rounded corners. 

The edges are hemstitched using the Parisian hemstitch and a 100 wing needle. The cording is size 5 perle cotton.  Here is a close up of the hemstitched edge:

Carol's instructions for these blankets originally appeared in the November/December 2001 issue of Creative Needle magazine.  You can purchase the instructions, along with all of the necessary supplies, from Carol's website.

While I was working on these blankets last week my friend Chris lost his battle with CF at the age of 41.  He lived longer than many with this disease, and the timing of his death in the midst of my project was especially poignant.  I pray that the babies who receive these blankets will grow up in a world where there is a cure for this disease.  If you'd like to help support research into a cure, please consider donating to the CF Foundation.

Alabama Chanin Stitchin'

Over the summer, when my sewing studio was nothing but a mountain of boxes, I spent most of my sewing time doing hand stitching.  For a while now it has been obvious to me that what I need in my wardrobe is more basic pieces that I can mix and match.  Not only would this increase the items in my closet, it would decrease the items in my stash, namely the large collection of recycled t-shirts I am storing.  I have been very fortunate over the years to find many matching shirts at thrift stores, and these shirts are perfect for creating basic tops and skirts, as well as smaller accessories, Alabama Chanin style.

It is pretty amazing to me how quickly you can hand stitch a garment, though the binding of the neckline and armholes takes a fair amount of time.  This single-layer corset top was created from a couple of recycled t-shirts.  The hem was left unfinished, as is typical of AC garments, but I am considering binding it with leftover binding to keep it from rolling so much.  Double-layer garments seem to lie better at the hem.

I used the herringbone stitch for the binding and employed my homemade Tiger Tape to keep my stitches evenly spaced.  I am hoping to make several more garments along this line before summer arrives.

I also finished up a project that I started last year, and that I alluded to in this post.  The fingerless gloves were made from two t-shirts; the underlayer is black, the outer layer chocolate brown.  The pattern is available in Alabama Studio Sewing + Design.  I stenciled them with the Bloomers pattern from Alabama Stitch Book in black paint and stitched them in reverse applique.  These gloves only require two t-shirts, one of each color, and are a great project to get you started in upcycling.

I'm in the preparation phase for my annual sewing retreat which is happening in a couple of weeks.  I have quite an ambitious list of projects for this year.  I am very much looking forward to seeing my sewing friends and to having some "quiet" time away to get some sewing finished.  Wish me luck getting everything cut out and packed.

Christmas and Winter

Hello sweet friends, who I haven't seen in so long.  This past year has been so full -- too full, really, and certainly too full to keep up with my blog.  Which makes me sad because I miss it so, both as a form of record-keeping and a way to connect with friends near and far.

As some of you may know, I moved my family this summer and we have still not recovered from the process.  And here it is Christmas already!  We've now landed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in a sweet little house on two acres of (mostly) woods.

It is a lovely quiet spot and we are enjoying being out in the country.  Here's the little treehouse that we are having built for our boys in the back yard.

We are still getting settled here, a task made more difficult because much of our furniture is residing at our old house which is still on the market.  I previously wrote about the construction of my sewing studio, and that area, too, is still being sorted out.  Here's what it looks like at present:

The furniture I ordered to help tame this mess has been repeatedly back-ordered but finally arrived last week.  I'm hoping to get it assembled after the new year begins and get this place under control.  I have been doing some sewing despite the chaos, but some of my furniture hasn't made the move quite yet, so I've been making do.

I was busy this Christmas with lots of projects, most from my kitchen but some from my studio.  I made my husband a fleece vest and matching neck gaiter.  I also made my boys gaiters.  No pictures of those yet.  I also completed a project that has been on my wish list for at least 8 years -- a new star for the top of our Christmas tree. 

I created this from wool blend felt and used this pattern for the design.  The embroidery was done with perle cotton, silk ribbon and silver chop beads.  The pearl beads were left over from the beadwork on my wedding dress and the button in the middle was an extra from that same project.

I stitched an extra layer of felt to the inside of the star, leaving the bottom open to be slipped over the top of the tree.  I used a blanket stitch and more perle cotton to construct the star.

I did quite a bit of baking/cooking this year.  Our church had a Christmas bazaar and I made a number of items for the bake sale table as well as many bags of goodies for gifts to friends and family.

Eggnog Bread

Cookies for Santa

Rosemary Pecans with Cranberries

Salted Caramel Chex Mix

My neighbor gave me a jar of delicious Olive Tapenade along with the recipe so I had to make my own jars.  I'll share this recipe with you at a later time.

I've also been doing quite a bit of hand sewing in the evenings.  My studio is over our detached garage so it is a little harder to access.  I've been keeping a little bag of hand stitching in the house to work on.  I can't share one of the projects because it is still waiting to go out to a friend as a gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise in case she reads this post.  But I'll share once the gift has been given.

I have always found the quiet and spare days of winter to be my most productive time in my studio.  I love the quality of the light which is so different than other times of the year, and there are fewer distractions.  I am already looking forward to turning the calendar to January 2015 and really settling in to get some sewing done.  I hope that my life will now allow me to create more and post more.  I've really missed those things.

Nail File Holders: DIY Teacher Gifts

Our family is sliding into summer.  My youngest's last day of preschool was last week, and in two weeks' time I will have both boys at home with me for several months.  I am hoping to build some structure into our days to prevent the grumpies (for both mom and kids) that come with too much boredom. You can bet that I'm going to build in some creative time each day, especially for me.

The end of the year also brings about the time for little farewell gifts for teachers and friends.  This year I celebrated the end of the preschool year with a number of friends who I have been spending afternoons with on the playground, a group we have christened "The Village" (in the spirit of "it takes a village to raise a child").  Most of us will be moving on to new schools or states next fall, so this celebration had a bittersweet quality to it.  I wanted to make a little memento for these friends, something that would remind them of our time together every time they used it.

I had long ago bookmarked (in the old fashioned way) some pages in a Quilting Arts Gifts magazine (Holiday 2011-2012) for later reference.  The article, Emery Board Holders, by Deb O'Keefe Hysack, outlined the steps for making three different types of nail file holders.  I love what Deb has to say about these little creations:  "I like the idea of reaching into my purse and taking out a small piece of art for an everyday purpose".  As I have written before, I am always on the lookout for little tiny gifts for giving that do not come with a big obligatory price to the recipient, something that says "I am thinking about you" or "please remember me".  These fit the bill wonderfully:  they can be made in very short order with scraps of fabric, are lovely to look at and are practical (one friend commented it would allow her to carry an emery board in her purse without scratching her phone screen).

The holders I made are even tinier than those in the article with a finished size of 4" x 1.5".  Here is how I created my version.

Cut three rectangles of fabric, 3" x 4".  This can be three different fabrics or, as I did, two rectangles of one fabric and one of another.  Fold one piece in half to form a 2" x 3" rectangle to use as the pocket.  Also cut one 3" x 4" piece of heavy interfacing (I used Timtex).  Sandwich the interfacing between the two larger rectangles of fabric and quilt them together in whatever manner you wish.  I used decorative stitches built into my machine or channel stitching but you could also free-motion the stitching. 

Next, place the folded piece of fabric on top of the quilted piece, at the bottom, matching the raw edges with the bottom and sides and with the fold at the top of the pocket.  Baste the raw edges together through all layers and stitch securely through the center of the pocket, forming two openings.  Be sure to backstitch at the top of the pocket to reinforce that edge.  Check the placement of your nail files to make sure they fit the pockets.

Set your machine for a dense zigzag (W 6, L 0.4).  Stitch around the perimeter of the piece to finish all of the raw edges, allowing the needle to just swing off the edge of the fabric on one side. 

Cut a piece of narrow ribbon 15" long and hand tack it to the outside of the case just at the point where you backstitched the pocket. 

Insert the emery boards (I used mini emery boards that are 3" long) and tie the ribbon to close the case.

I made a couple of extras to include in a card to my older son's teachers at the end of the year.  These would make great teacher gifts.

I hope you enjoyed this little project and that you will find time to make a few.  I would love for you to share other DIY Teacher Gift ideas here.

Gathered Skirt Girly Aprons

Aprons!  I've been making aprons!  I've written before about my enthusiasm for sewing some girly-girl items when my boys need birthday presents for their female classmates.  Here are two more examples hot off my sewing machine.

Here's how I did these.  I started with my Child's Apron Tutorial.  I used only the top (bib) section and cut the skirt off, leaving 11.5" from the top edge.  I then cut the skirt panel the width of the fabric and 11.5" long.  I ran gathering stitches along the top edge and pinned the skirt to the top section.  I pulled up the gathering to fit and stitched the two together.  I then hemmed the sides with a double-folded hem.  The ruffles were both cut 4" wide.  The bottom ruffle was two fabric widths seamed together.  The top ruffle was about half the fabric width.  I finished the ends of the ruffles first by folding right sides together and stitching.  I then turned and folded the remaining strip wrong sides together, forming a 2" wide strip, before running my gathering stitches along the matched cut edges.  I serged all of the raw edges on the inside of the apron (waist seam and bottom ruffle seam) for a clean finish.  I bound the top edge and the armholes according to the original tutorial.

Here are some of the aprons I've made.  You can see all of the posts by clicking here.