Card Table Playhouse

I'll admit - I'm guilty.

Guilty of stealing...

Ideas.

I'm one of those people who browse Etsy to look for craft ideas. I wish I had more time to be come up with original ideas but with work and kids, I don't have much time to think that way. It's kind of sad, really.

In searching for something fun for a cupcake party, I came across a felt card table "cupcakery" on Etsy. It was so cute that I wanted to make something like it. But instead of using felt, I needed something more sturdy (knowing how rough the 5 year old is). So I used canvas duck cloth for the outside and cotton for the lining inside.

This is a belated Christmas gift for my girls. My intention was to start this project in mid-September since I knew we would be quite busy from October through December. If you read my previous post, we have been hit hard with two family deaths in September and my project had to be postponed. So I started in the beginning of December. It wasn't nearly enough time to get it done by Christmas - especially while keeping it out of the sight of curious little eyes. It meant a lot of night sewing and cutting at my friend's studio.

I'm proud to say that I got this project done while it's still Christmas (since for us, Christmas doesn't end until 12 days after Jesus' birth) and BEFORE the new year.

Looks simple, right? Well, not quite. I pondered over the best solution for the scalloped roofline and had to figure out how to get everything I wanted in there. You'll see what I mean...

As you can see from the top, there's a "working" mail box and a paned window with a window box for flowers (I still have to put flowers in there).

Here's a look at the back and the other side:

You can slide half a sheet of paper in the frame (for a menu) and the teapots and cups are removable, made out of magnets, fabric and mod podge. I've sewn a slot to insert (and remove) 8.5x11 magnetic sheets.

Take a look inside. This is the back of the house:

The cookies, cakes and chocolate box (with chocolates) are removable. The shelves and table top have magnet sheets behind them. I made everything but the cupcakes - those were made by my friend Pam's daughter, Amber (who's also a cupcake aficionado) who resides in Minnesota.

Here's the left side:

There's a "storage bench" which is really a big pocket.

And the right side:

There's a "shelf" which is separated in three sections. The girls have already put toys in it.

The good thing about a playhouse like this is that it's fairly easy to clean and you can easily fold it up and put it away. But right now, it's probably going to be out for a while. Both the cats and the girls are having fun in it.

What's in a Box?

So many things!!

I'm jumping the gun with this post as this project is for a future gift for someone. But I couldn't wait. Since my life has been quite hectic I would probably forget to take photos and give the gift away without one last memory except for the scraps that came out of it.

I apologize for the grainy/fuzzy pics. I was losing natural light and my ISO was a wee bit high.

So on with the show…

Sushi anyone?



How about some noodles with beef?


Perhaps a snack of sugar snap peas, gyoza, strawberries or a cookie would be your speed?

Felt food is so much fun. I started making felt food when I was pregnant with Solana - I wanted to make cookies to go with Mya's tea set and surprise her with them as a gift after Solana's birth. Then I started doing felt food searches on Etsy and boy, did my head get filled with ideas!

So why Japanese food? First off, I like eating it (real food, not felt). But really...when Mya started eating lunch at school I went to Daiso and picked up a bento box ($1.69 - can't beat that!) so that she didn't have to deal with bulky tupperware in her lunchbox. Me being me and having to research everything, I looked up what usually goes in a bento box and found Lunch in a Box and was intrigued. I didn't realize that bento boxes are usually stuffed. Well, I would never stuff Mya's bento that much - she probably couldn't eat all of it (unless it was full of egg-salad sandwich). So I figured that the next best thing to making a full bento is to do it with felt food.

All the food was hand-sewn (no glue). I didn't even use a sewing machine. It probably would be hard to use with such intricate work. I mostly did a blanket stitch around the seams with the exception of the strawberries. The noodles were the easiest thing - they're just 1/4 inch strips of felt.

This is a dual-purpose gift - you can play with the felt food or set it aside and fill up the bento with real food. It's great for trips to the zoo, amusement park, or anywhere where you wouldn't want to buy expensive amusement park food. I'd probably fill mine with what the Filipinos call baon (pronounced Bah-ohn) which is usually rice with some kind of mixed vegetables and meat in a sauce. Then on the bottom (smaller portion) I'd put some cookies, crackers or cut veggies.

So here it is all together... in a bento:

I'm working on more food—A cake as a matter of fact. It's quite cathartic sewing this all by hand. It's like sewing the binding on a quilt... except this travels better. I can sew these little things while having tea or coffee with my friends.

Back from a hiatus - Brayden's Quilt

Yes, I know it's been months since I've last posted something. But I promise you that more things are coming!! I've been on hiatus since having the baby, the holidays, then a crazy hectic schedule with some church events and work. But I promised myself that I'd find time to work on a project during my down time.

I had little bits of down time last week and have been intermittently working of this quilt. This quilt has a story...

My good friend, Mary, was having a baby boy and I had offered to help plan her shower along with her friend. Needing inspiration, I looked towards fabric and found this super cute Michael Miller fabric called "Silhouette Boys." It had coordinating fabric and everything! So I started pulling together some ideas and came up with the inspiration board below:


So the party ended up revolving around the blue and brown color and this "Boy" fabric. I even made invitations to match (A brown ribbon was tied to the top):


I bought the blue boy fabric and the brown fabric with the blue dots to use as decoration for the party. I turned them into table runners and wrapped some cylindrical flower vases with the fabric. Unfortunately, I was so busy at the party that I forgot to take pics!!

I had the intent of using the fabric to make a quilt... and I actually did - in record time!! This came out to approximately 36" x 46" - a good crib quilt size. I had the blue "boy silhouette" fabric, the dots and even the white fabric was the tablecloth at the party. I went to my friend, Pam, again to dig through her stash and found a black fabric with gold printing for my border. I was afraid that it wouldn't really match up since the silhouettes were a very dark brown but I think it worked out quite well.

I machine-quilted this bad-boy with my 301. It was the first time I tried stippling (thanks to Crazy Mom Quilts for giving me courage to try it). Some areas were looser than others but overall it turned out okay.

My favorite part is the back. I messed up my measurements, cutting 2.5" strips instead of 1.5". So I had a whole bunch of 1" strips laying around after fixing my mistake. I pieced those strips together to make the band on the bottom half. I pieced the rest of the leftover fabric and I nearly used up all my fabric! I love it when it works out that way. The quilting really stands out on the black fabric - you can see my stippling and crosshatching on the squares. Oh, and of course, I had to label my quilt. I finally bought muslin and freezer paper - now I have to label Mya's quilt, too.

Well, this was quilt #3 for me. I'm getting the hang of it. I still have to work on pinning my "quilt sandwich." I had a few areas that were bunched up and was real frustrated with myself. One day, I'll have a totally flat quilt... one day.

Oh, I have to add... Brayden was born this past Monday, March 30th. The quilt was finished on the 29th. Good timing, eh?

Next up on my project list:

• Easter's coming!! It's one of my favorite times of the year since I can make Spring treats!
  
  
• I went to an awesome garage sale and bought a Bernina serger for $50!! I'll show you an easy grocery bag using one piece of fabric (no serger needed for it, but having it is nice).
  
  
• Mya needs jeans. Pam recommended a good pattern and I'm going to face my fear of making pants (story on that to come).

Crayon and Scratchpad Roll

Ah, I'm finally caught up! This was one of my latest projects - a scratchpad and crayon roll.

Mya got invited to a birthday party for a set of fraternal twins - a girl and a boy. So I racked my brain as to what to get them for a gift. We usually opt not to get toys for gifts (unless it's educational or promotes creativity) for the same reason we dread any addition to Mya's toy collection - it just becomes clutter after she loses interest in it. I did a search online and remembered seeing instructions for a crayon roll. What a perfect gift - it's practical, portable, refillable, and can be used for as long as kids like to color with crayons! I wanted to add some paper to this crayon roll. I thought about how it would be handy to have when you need to keep kids busy while you're running errands with them.

I found these instructions online: Crayon Roll Tutorial and made an additional 4" width and overall 1" extra in height to make room for the scratch pad (available at any office supply store). It was quite easy to do and I cranked these babies out in about an hour. Instead of using ribbon to keep it together, I used black elastic loop. I figured that little hands wouldn't be able to properly tie a ribbon to keep this together. My husband recommended that next time I make these, I should create a top flap so that the contents of the roll won't fall out. I agreed - my makeup brush roll has a top flap and it does the job! Well, now I know what all my friends kids are getting for Christmas!!

Here's a pic of the girl's and boy's crayon roll:
I used brown for the inside back of both rolls with pink pockets for the girl, yellow pockets for the boy.

The MACHINE (that almost killed the cat)

Notice a theme here?

Let me introduce you to my Vintage Singer 301a - a badass, all-metal, gear-driven, slant-shank, straight-stitch machine with a longbed and carrying case.

I was on the hunt for a good sewing machine for many months when my friend, Pam, steered me towards this vintage machine. She said that Singer machines made in this era (1950's-mid 60's) were very reliable and were built to run forever (or something to that extent). I did some research and found rave reviews of the 301a and even got to try Pam's. I loved how quietly and effortlessly it ran (I quilted my sampler quilt with her 301a) so I went on a mission to find one.

I did a search on Craigslist and one lady said she had one. By the time I got there to take a look at it she already sold it. So I turned to Ebay. It was the first time I've ever bid on a popular item. Boy was it competitive!! I lost about 3 auctions until I finally won this for $108 (including shipping). What a great deal! I eventually bought a zigzagger (which is interesting to use - it moves the fabric, not the needle) and a set of attachments/presser feet.

My 301a arrived the Wednesday after I made my shirred dress. It came with the same blue thread and a fabric/stitching sample that they showed on the Ebay listing. I tried it out and absolutely loved it. So I let the machine and case "air out" its antique smell for the day.

Here's where the cat-killing comes in. Thursday morning, I woke up to Hugs puking on our bed. I immediately thought of the machine and ran downstairs. The spool of blue thread was still there but the machine wasn't threaded. I couldn't recall if I had wound it or kept it threaded. So we took a wait-and-see approach to our cat's puking. We hoped she would cough it up like she did the brown thread.

A week goes by and Hugs is not getting any better. So I took her to the vet and they found the blue thread wrapped around her tongue. They gave us the option of either $1500 for the surgery or euthanasia for $100. Long story short, we talked them into another alternative where they would try to pull the string out while the cat was tranquilized. They did the procedure and called me 15 minutes later to tell me that they noticed that her belly moved and that the thread was wrapped around her intestines too. So that meant I had to opt for euthanasia. Sobbing, I went back to the vet and waited to say goodbye to our dear cat. I got called into the exam room when the surgeon came out and said, "Well, we got it out!" Boy were we lucky. The string was 2 feet long with about a 1 inch knot at the end of it (where it was getting into her intestine).

The vet was amazed that she lasted more than a week like this. He said that in most cases that he's seen, the thread caused the cat's intestines to tangle up within 1-2 days. Hugs was definitely very lucky. She's probably used up 8 of her 9 lives with this ordeal.

Now I keep a good eye on my thread and machine. I can now use my 301a without the guilt that it killed my cat. (cue the "Debbie Downer" theme song).

Shirred Dress (that almost killed the cat)

My husband and I were invited to a Luau for an acquaintance of his in mid-August. While I had a few pre-pregnancy "tropical" outfits, I didn't have one that would fit my growing belly. So I did a search online and found a few shirred dresses worn by pregnant celebrities and was inspired to make my own.

A few months ago, I was going through my stash of fabrics and found a cute white eyelet fabric that would make a perfect summer top for Mya. I wanted to try shirring for a while but never had the guts to do it until I found this tutorial: Sunny Day Dress and Top Tutorial. It seemed so easy - and it was! So I went to Joann's, bought some elastic thread and sewed away.

I still had a lot of elastic thread leftover for my own dress so I found some comfortable stretchy fabric that had sort of a tropical feel to it. I worked on the dress late on a Saturday morning and had it ready to wear by the evening, complete with adjustable straps. I wasn't satisfied with my hemming job (my machine kept hanging up on the fabric) and had a few crooked stitches. But I was in a hurry so I figured that I'd fix it in the morning (no one would notice my mistake at night).

Here's where the "almost killed the cat" came in. On Sunday morning, I went back to my sewing machine so I can fix the hem and noticed that my spool of brown thread was empty. I immediately thought of my string-aficionado cat, Hugs, who must have eaten it. We went to church and when we got back, we were welcomed by some cat puke on the floor with a bunch of brown thread. Boy, was I glad she got it out. I knew that string consumption can do quite some damage to a cat.

The photos that you see here are pretty recent and showcase my 9-month belly during my baby shower. This is a photo of my childhood friend, Aileen, who made this super-cute diaper cake.

I have worn the dress quite a few times and it is very comfortable. I'll even be able to wear it postpartum! Hooray for shirring!

My First Sampler Quilt

Last September, I took a quilting class from my friend, Pam (who is, by the way, a very talented quilter and crafter). I put the blocks and sashing (the borders between the blocks) together last year and its been sitting on top of my sewing stuff for very close to a year. I've had the urge to finish the quilt so I could make another one. One thing that was holding me back was the lack of material. We just used fabric from Pam's HUGE stash in her studio. Unfortunately, the fabric I chose for my sashing wasn't enough to make an inner and outer border. Forward to late July, I headed over to Rosie's Calico Cupboard and found a fabric that would work and went to town on finishing the quilt top while using some creative piecing to make up for the lack of fabric for the border.

Since Pam just taught us how to put the top together and I had to go back to her for some guidance on how to finish it in August. I was a bit impatient and made a few mistakes. But after actually "quilting" the quilt (connecting the top, batting and backing layers by stitching) and binding the edges, I just stuck it in the washer and dryer and magically, my mistakes went away! Or at least they hid behind the puffiness of the fabric.

The photo above is my sampler quilt and the quilt behind me is one that Pam used as a reference for her quilting class. It's amazing how two quilts with the same blocks can have different looks just by fabric choice and block placement.

Quilting is fun - but it will get me in trouble since I can probably do this all day and I'd spend a fortune at the fabric store.

Reviving a tired dress

I was on the board of a charity event that I attended a few weeks ago and as usual, I struggled over what to wear. I have a few semi-formal dresses that I bought pre-baby. I never liked the way they fit before I had my daughter. Even now, they just don't fit right.

I have this sparkly asymmetrical dress I bought 3 or 4 years ago at Macy's. I'm 4'11" so any dress that goes below the knees make me look even shorter. This dress started at my knees and went down to my calf. I was tired of wearing long dresses and couldn't find any short dresses that weren't "hoochie" so this dress was a compromise between the two. I never felt that it looked good on me even though it was comfortable. This photo was taken on our Eastern Caribbean cruise this past January it's why I'm tipping to one side - the boat was really rocking.

I finally decided it was time to put my sewing machine to good use and shorten the dress. The DAY OF the event, I put my dress on, stood on a step ladder in front of a bathroom mirror and pinned where I thought I should cut it. My initial intent was to just make it one length and hem the bottom.

I put my daughter down for a nap, quickly measured and pinned my cut lines on the dress (my chalk pencil was too hard for this dress) and started cutting away. It was quite easy - I probably chopped off nine inches. I tried the dress on and lo and behold - it's too short! Duh, I forgot to add an extra 1-1/2 inch to the cut line to make room for the hem. That's what I get for trying to rush through a project during Mya's nap time. The material is not the type where you can make a rolled hem so that was out of the question. So I decided it needed something more.

Once my husband got home from his errands, I quickly headed over to JoAnn's Fabric store for some fringe. I couldn't find the right thickness of fringe but I found one with the right length. The fringe was a little light but it's all I could get. $8 later (I bought a new ripper, too), I'm home pinning the fringe to my dress.

My daughter woke up from her nap and watched as I started sewing the fringe to the dress. It was a painless procedure and I only made a mistake in a one inch area where it didn't attach to the dress. It was a quick fix and the whole sewing part probably took less than 10 minutes. I tried it on and was satisfied. It was okay for a 2 hour project - most of it was waiting time for my husband to get home and traveling/shopping time to and from the fabric store.

I got many compliments on the dress at the fundraiser and I felt good in it. I had quite a story to tell whenever someone asked me about it. Unfortunately, all photos taken of me during that evening had me from the waist up.

The final product...