Baby Shower Favors

I had to share these cute baby shower favors I made for a little surprise baby shower I attended today. Since there were just six of us to enjoy the intimate party I decided to make the following favors.


Sorry for the photo quality, but I wanted to get one before the sun set. I made them out of scraps I had laying around and stuffed with every inch of their little beings to look pregnant. Each one had a bit of vintage trim tied around to form an empire waist. I then embellished each one hand sewn little beads to form necklaces, broaches, a fancy belt....

Jeff's birthday is tomorrow and he is having some friends over for retro gaming night. I have a bit more rearranging of furniture and cleaning to do to make room for everyone. You know, make sure TP is in bathrooms, toilets are cleaned... standard stuff!

These little party favors got my sewing mojo back and several idea's popped in my head. I will probably take a week or so off blogging and emails to put some of this creative energy to good use. It will be difficult for me not to check email, but when I do I always hit the Reader link and then I am on the computer reading your wonderful blog entries for the rest of the evening. :) One thing I have noticed lately about myself is that when I do read really creative blogs or pounce through Etsy it somehow blocks my own creativeness. Does anyone else feel this way sometimes? Because even though I find great ideas or can really appreciate someone else's creativity it blocks my own original ideas. So we'll see what this little hiatus brings me.

Oh, and my container garden should be finished sometime this week too! I just need 3 or 4 more plants to round out this years theme which is "Texture". Usually its just a color theme, but this is a year for change.

I love my Mom!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there, especially to my very own!

(Hi Mom!)

I made my Mom this little denim zipper tote. I used the Heather Ross Russian Doll fabric that I bought specifically with my Mom in mind. There is a strong Ukrainian influence/heritage on my mothers side so I knew she would like it. The interior is the same doll fabric and then I added texture with pin tucks on the outside. A pretty standard pouch design you see here all the time, but I can't stop making them. They always turn out so pretty! I also included a bar of handmade soup, organic tea, and a variety of chocolates and a matching tissue pouch.

As I was reading some of my blogs I had to laugh and and comment on my own experience using reusable totes shopping. Check out the post here on decor8. My experiences range from cashiers trying to ring up my bags and even throwing my reusable totes in a plastic bag to carry home! Not to sound snobby, but seriously, have you ever seen a grocery store sell anything close to these crazy print bags? It still makes me laugh! If you think you get the 'stink eye' using your cloth bags at the grocery store, just try using them in more non conventional ways like at the mall. I may have to get a little cheeky and embroider a little saying like "place groceries in here" with a down arrow. What do you think? :)

Thanks for all the sewing machine love! I got that baby oiled up and ready to work. One good thing about the older models (as many of you pointed out) is all the gears are made of metal and rarely do they ever get out of time. I still have to take in to get serviced, but right now it's acting as a well needed bedside table. Got to make do with what you got right!

Last week I drove by a huge fabric sale hosted by the local womens auxiliary. I swung in after work and found this very groovy Singer sewing book. It is by far the most colorful sewing book I have read. But it has some good tips on altering patterns and sewing 3-D object. So this book along with the Alabama Stitch book, Sew U: Home Stretch, and How to Eat Supper are all sitting around the house to be read. I am so serious about sewing clothing this summer. I figured I would start with a T-shirt design. I picked up the pattern Simplicity 4589 during JoAnn's $1.99 sale. AND DID YOU KNOW Simplicity now offers a B,C,D cup adjustment collection? Hello? This is where some of my fit problems come from! I see two work dresses in my near future.

Oh, also in the photo above I found that huge roll of chocolate polka dot bias tape. Oh ya! I have completed a few sewing projects recently, but they are all gifts. And since word has spread about my little blog space here, I have to wait till the recipients get their gifts before I post.