Potholders

I made a bunch of potholders!  These are simple and fun.

I found some lovely fabric prints cut squares in 9" x 9".  I sandwiched padding between the fabric. I used a layer of low pile quilt batting and a layer of Insul-Bright.

Insul-Bright is some pretty neat stuff.  It insulates and prevents heat/cold from passing through. It is a padding that is needle punched with metal fibers.  They explain it on their web site. It looks like glitter infused batting and sounds kind of crunchy. I found it very easy to cut and sew.

I made some bias tape and edged the pot holders and made a hanging loop. I keep my pot holders in a drawer next to the stove. I'm not sure why I think they need a hanging loop, but I added one anyway. It just looks like a potholder if it has a loop!

I made potholders as gifts for some friends and for my oldest daughter. I've received nice comments and thank-yous from all. And my daughter would be honest enough to tell me if she didn't like it! My friends would probably say thank you no matter what they thought, but I believe they said they liked the potholders and they genuinely meant it.

After making and giving out a few sets, I decided that I want a pair for myself. My pair is the set that turned out the worst. Such a simple project but I rushed through my own set of potholders. I used green thread on top and brown in the bobbin, both match the fabric but it made for some interesting stitches. I also got one potholder crooked when I made the quilting stitches during the sandwiching phase. Deciding to make it a quick project, I just trimmed the crooked edges to make one potholder a smaller square. This would have been fine if I would have thought to trim down the other potholder to match. Now they are not the same size which is a bit comical, but in my kitchen it is just fine. Sure gave my husband a good laugh though!

We have been using the new potholders and they are great! Nice and large compared to every other store-bought worn out potholder in my kitchen. And they feel thin enough to usefully grab hold of a pan handle, but no heat is getting through.

My daughter set her potholder ablaze. She said the fabric flamed up and burned to a crisp, but the Insul-bright lining did not. The padding was hot and only burned as embers rather than flames. She is my best product-tester. There you have it, pot-holders that resist heat except when ablaze. Then they just resist flames. The fabric on the other hand didn't stand a chance.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

My daughter lost her first tooth!

Somewhere around here, we have a plastic glow in the dark tooth keeper. Of course, when we need it, we can't find it.

Instead, I made this little tooth pillow. I didn't have a pattern or anything. I googled "tooth fairy pillow" and found a million images of similar things. I had an excited little 5  year old holding her first tooth. We needed a tooth pillow and we needed it now! Insignificant details were cast aside.

It's an asymmetrical tooth shaped pillow with a tiny crooked pocket with unfinished edges. She could not be happier!

Thanksgiving Redondo Skirt

I made a Thanksgiving skirt for my daughter. She loves to spin and twirl!  And I saw this Thanksgiving fabric and knew she'd love it. She loves letters and words; this is just her style!

When it's all laid out you can see how the Redondo pattern works.

And it twirls so nicely!

Microfiber Burp Cloths

My 7 year old edged some microfiber cleaning rags on the serger and we have been decorating them to make them cute enough to use for baby burp wipes.

I used an applique method that is super easy!  The secret is some stuff called "Heat and Bond". It's double sided iron on stickiness. I followed a tutorial by Sew Sara and made little letters to sew on the burp cloths. I think she may have even made burp cloths with the same words on them, I am not sure. But, it should be noted that this isn't my idea. I saw it somewhere.

I printed the words on the computer and traced them onto the fusing paper. Important thing that I didn't do, trace them backward! I had to freehand cut some of them because I printed them the right way which flipped them backward and that just wasn't right.

Once I got all of the tiny cutting done, I ironed them on and sewed around the edges of each letter. Easy Peasy!

When all was said and done, we made almost two dozen burp cloths! Not all of them have an applique on them, some have a ribbon or a decorative trim along the edge.

Christmas Dresses 1997

 My daughters in December 1997.  Weren't they adorable!

I made simple long sleeved dresses with zipper backs for them that year. I used a cheap velvety feeling black fabric, I don't remember what it was. I may have picked it up during Halloween when there is a good variety of dark fabrics on sale. The green is a poly/satin blend.

These were the days before I had a serger, so I made french seams down the sides of the skirts to keep them from fraying.  Even when making a limited use garment, french seams will save your sanity! Fraying seams drive me insane, can you tell?

I added a little ruffle to black socks and a bow for a hairband. Just some finishing touches to pull the whole look together.

Waitress Apron

My daughter recently got a new job waiting tables at an Italian restaurant.  After a couple of shifts, I asked her how it was going and she said, "Oh yeah. Can I have $30?"  What on earth for?  "I need to buy an apron."

Seriously, child? Do you not know who your mother is? I told her to watch the kids for an hour and I'd make one for her.

The apron needed to meet specs. It had to be black, durable, no glitter, no flare, three large pockets and then she held up her hands and said "this big".  She also said "don't forget the ties".  Ok, got it.

I used black twill, or whatever it is called, sort of a denim type fabric. It was 9.99 per yard and I used half a yard. I used one piece of black for the apron, making the bottom layer 18"w x12h" and folded the top layer over to make a 9" high pocket.

I turned over the edge and hemmed the pocket, then sewed lines to separate the pocket layer into thirds. Then I made a bias tape for the ties. I stitched up the sides then finished them with bias tape and added the ties to the waist.

After I finished, I enjoyed the rest of my sewing hour in peace and quiet.  Ahhh, I think I'll tell her that my next project will take two hours!