Sunday Dinner Apron

This apron is a Vanilla House apron called Sunday Dinner.  I wear this about every day....

Doggy Carseat Cover

This car seat cover was my own invention as well (though it's kind of lame to say you invented a rectangle).  It is 45" (top-to-bottom) by 30" (side-to-side).  The dogs is cotton.  I sliced it in half, and sewed my tabs in at the middle seam as well as turned the print around so that "up" is the where the handle is from either direction.  Therefore, even though the print has a top and bottom, the cover is symmetrical.

Anyway, I did snaps on the tabs and put them 10" apart but here's how I would do it next time:

(1) Cut 4 peices 4 1/2" by 4 1/2".  Fold in half and sew, move seam to middle and sew along one short edge.  Turn inside out and iron flat.
(2) Sew velcro onto each of the four peices.
(3) Space along top center seam about 6" apart.
(4) Sew cover top together at top center seam.
(5) Sew cover top to cover bottom, leaving opening.
(6) Turn, iron, and decorative stitch around.

I came up with one other useful feature, and added it last minute.  I made four little ties so that instead of throwing the blanket over the handle, you can just tie half the blanket up to see the baby.

Amy Butler Pillows and Tablecloth

I found out that pillows tend to be star shaped when you stuff them. The bigger they get (and I wanted BIG) the harder it is. So my mom told me to miter the corners by an inch so they corners weren't as poky. Looks great! These are 22" big. They are not square. They taper in from the middle to the corner. By the time I got to the corner, I was taking off an inch.

Of course, I had to make the pillow form myself. It is 21" square #10 batting, stuffed lightly.  The pillow fronts are Amy Butler Fabric and the backs are Cheap-O. The tablecloth was 60" Amy Butler Lotus and 3 yards long.  The important thing was to get heavy fabric. It makes a big difference.

Hot Stuff Hot Pad

I made another Vanilla House pattern called Hot Stuff. It was easier than Fish in the Oven but the fish one is cuter. Link.

Birthday Snakes

I made one for my neices and nephews this past year, each filled with under $5 of items that were personal to them. They were such a hit!  And when the kids were done emptying out the gifts, they had a snake puppet (I hadn't thought of that).

Paper Globes

These paper globes from Heather Bailey are easier to make with a circle cutter, but in my experience (4" circles) they were flimsy and fell apart. I won't make them again.  I made this one for Valentine's Day last year.

L-O-V-E Chipboard Album

This might be great for Valentine's Day.  I made this four page photo album spelling "L-O-V-E" but I haven't put pictures in it yet.  I bought the chipboard from Roberts Crafts but it still took 6 hours to decorate and I still haven't put the ribbons on the clips.  Ack! 

I got the idea from a gift a friend received when she had her baby boy:

A Skirt and a Wallet

While I hand-sew my satin binding to my Sandi Henderson Quilt, I have made a few things that I found free patterns online for:

Little Girl's Ruffle Skirt

I made these for my neighbor girls. They are about the same size because they are only a year apart, and it happened to be the size of this pattern. Unfortunately when the skirts were half done, their family moved to Indiana. So I had to mail them. These are made from Sandi Henderson's Portabello Pixie fabric from 2 years ago. Link

 

Fancy Wallet

Made from JoAnn's fabrics. Used the stiffest interfacing I could find. It didn't turn out well because the fabric was so bulky and zippers are hard. Link

 

Covered Clipboards

Here is one of several tutorials out there for covering a clipboard using modge podge. It gives a clean look (not just wrap it front and back and tape it down like a present). The key is to sand the outside edges.  I made about five but I lost and gave away the rest.