American flag round table topper

For my mother-in-law's Mother's Day present, I used some flag fabric (that she had actually handed down to me, so I know she likes it!) to sew a little round table topper.  Since Barb loves to decorate seasonally, I figured this would be cute to set out in the weeks leading up to the 4th of July.

I kind of made it all up as I went along, so I didn't follow any tutorial in particular.  I started by cutting the fabric (which was essentially just long stripes) into four squares and sewing them together in alternating directions.  Then, I decided it would look even cooler as a circle and hacked off the excess.

Before I attached the top to the backing, I quilted the top using two perpendicular lines that intersected in the middle.  Then, instead of binding it, I sewed on some piping, put the backing and top right sides together, and sewed it into a sandwich -- leaving a gap for turning it right side out.  I had to *gasp!* hand sew the opening closed, but that spot is on the back and hopefully not very noticeable.  After I closed the gap, I quilted it with a couple of concentric circles.

The backing is pieced together because I didn't have enough of either the red canvas (left over from Barb's baskets) or the denim (left over from goodness knows what).

Twisted Pleats Zipper Pouch

I love this sweet little Zipper Purse (or as I have been calling it in my head, the Twisted Pleats Zipper Pouch) tutorial from Amy at And Sew We Craft.  Having made about 500 zipper pouches in the past few years (well, that is kind of an exaggeration), I am always looking out for a new spin (or twist?) on the basic pattern.  This was fun to make and I loved the result.

The one tricky thing about this pouch is that you really can't do topstitching on either side of the zipper like you normally do in a zipper pouch to make sure the lining doesn't float up and get stuck in the zipper.  If you did, the topstitching would totally ruin the look of the pleats.  I tried my best to iron down the lining instead but didn't want to go crazy and melt the zipper.  We'll see how it works over time.

I purposefully cut the lining pieces with the stripes in alternating directions, but it's not quite as cute as I hoped it would be.  I love the peekaboo effect of the alternating twisted pleats on the outside, and I also am impressed at how the pleats (backed by just a bit of medium-weight interfacing) give this pouch the sturdiness it needs without a layer of felt or batting inside.  I will be making this pouch again for sure, possibly in even bigger sizes -- it would be darling as a wristlet.

Mother's Day nesting baskets

To round out my mom's Mother's Day gifts, I added a trio of nesting baskets made by referencing (but not strictly following) this tutorial from the Birch Fabrics blog.  They're so stinkin' cute that I am thinking I need to make a few for myself.

I found the outer fabric in the remnant bin.  The navy canvas was left over from the Detroit Tigers tote bag, the yellow canvas was left over from the baskets I made for my mother-in-law, and the striped fabric was left over from the valances I sewed about a decade ago for Erin and Andrew when they still lived in their apartment in Chicago.  I still have quite a chunk of that left, because I had bought a crazy amount due to my inexperience and fear of messing up.

I goofed up the proportions because I forgot to take into account how the varying depths of the boxed corners would affect the heights as well.  They're still cute in the varying heights.

I think the striped one is my favorite.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  Thank you for introducing me to sewing all those years ago when Erin and I made those goofy crop tops.  Yes, it took me probably another decade to pick up sewing again, and then another decade to really sew in earnest, but it all goes back to those little crop tops.

Pleated block table topper

The first gift I made for my mom for Mother's Day was a table topper that featured pleated (and unpleated) blocks.  I got the idea from this cool tutorial, but I didn't want to make anything quite that long.  I thought the aqua and coral fabric looked nice and springy, and the black sashing added a bit of edge to it.

It's hard to tell in the photos, but one block is pleated horizontally, and the other is pleated vertically.

The coral fabric is left over from the valances I made for Charlotte's nursery, the aqua is left over from the cosmetic bags I sewed for Faith Carol, and the black is from the Rescue Bots bag I made for Ben.

The back of the table topper just has some of the black pieced together with the fur-like print turned in alternating directions just for fun.  I made my own binding from the aqua fabric.  There is felt in between the layers, and I chose not to add any quilting because it was such a small project (and was spray basted together).

Oilcloth basket

I had some oilcloth left over from Alex's changing pad/clutch, so I decided to give a tutorial I saw for an oilcloth basket a whirl.  There wasn't anything super special about the method of construction, but it was a nice change to make a basket with a separately attached bottom rather than just boxing the corners (which I never feel like I do quite properly). The folded over top gives it a little stability that would be otherwise lacking, especially since the basket does not include any sort of batting or felt inside.  (It probably could use some batting, if only just for opacity -- you can see where the seemingly opaque lining fabric actually shows the oilcloth's print where the light was shining through!)

I'm torn on what to call the printed material -- is it printed vinyl or oilcloth?  It's certainly not that laminated cotton stuff.  I think I need to look a little closer at the labels at the fabric store.  Whatever the material is called, it made a basket that is the perfect size to hold some random Lego creations in my craft cabinet!

A thank you for a great kindergarten teacher

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at Charlotte's school (at least I think so -- I kind of deleted the email that the administration sent about it and couldn't find it again).  Charlotte's kindergarten teacher is awesome.  You would never know this is her first year as a classroom teacher and that she was probably born in the 1990s.  She has a really calm and gentle manner, and I think it rubs off on her students because I'm consistently amazed at how well-behaved they are when I volunteer in the classroom.  I can hardly get MY six-year-old to do anything I ask her, and somehow this teacher gets 21 of them to do whatever she asks.  If anyone deserved a nice thank you present, it is definitely this woman!

Anyway, I made her this table topper in a herringbone pattern (I think that's the right term, right?) by just sort of winging it.  I didn't get the idea from anyplace specific.  I have a ton of green scraps in my scrap bin, so green seemed like the logical choice.  Charlotte's teacher went to Michigan State (yet another reason we love her), so I knew she would like the tiny bit of MSU fabric thrown in there as well.

Some of the seams line up, and some don't.  Overall, there is a general sense of it all coming close at least.  Just keep a good distance away from it and it works.  I tried to be as consistent as I could, but I probably should have starched all of the fabrics first.  It's kind of fun working with scraps, because it's like a trip down project memory lane.

The backing/wrap-around binding is a black linen from my stash.  I found a tutorial that results in better corners with the wrap-around binding from Cluck Cluck Sew, and I was happy with the results even with using the bulky linen.  I cut each piece on the top to be 2" x 7" and sewed them at 30-degree angles and 60-degree angles onto 4" wide strips of muslin.  Then, I spray basted it to some felt and added the backing/binding.  I didn't do any quilting because I was terrified to screw it up.

More primary polkadot fun

Made another small basket with some more of the Robert Kaufman polka dot strips from the jelly roll I won.  This one is just like Alicia's, but taller and with longer handles.  Not sure why I made the handles this long, because they look a tad silly.  This basket now holds the bill that need to be paid.

I also made a little hot pad/table topper/mug rug/whatever just playing with piecing.  I still have major issues with sewing straight and keeping a consistent seam allowance.  I'm thinking a quarter inch foot should be something I ask for on my birthday.

Again, I tried the wrap-around binding, and again I had issues with the mitered corners.  My friend, Kym, told me she liked the peekaboo corners though, so I'm going to pretend like they were meant to be like that.

I had fun with the quilting on this one, despite the fact that my machine was skipping stitched even after I changed my needle, cleaned out the bobbin area, rethreaded everything, and altered the tension.  I probably needed a heavier needle or something.  My latest theory is that my machine seems to get cranky with quilting spray basted items with felt as the batting.  I will be testing out this theory by changing the variables to see if I can isolate the problem.  Of course, it could also be that I need a walking foot for my machine.  Yet another birthday wish, I guess!