Thrifty Threads #3

We've had family over for the past week and one of my sister-in-laws, Anneleen, who has never sewn before, was up for trying her hand at sewing and making a purse together - I wasn't about to turn her down :-). We went through my stash and I re-discovered two Asian inspired pillow covers that I had received in some boxes of sewing stuff passed on to me a couple of years ago. I came across this webpage (a great resource btw!) a while back so we browsed through and chose the Buttercup Bag. It's a great pattern and the purses came together very quickly. We chose to eliminate the extra button detail as it didn't seem to go with the fabric and we also put the straps inbetween the outer and lining instead of attaching them to the outside. My novice sewing sister-in-law even managed to sew the interior pockets and lining! The best part though is that for these beautiful purses I only had to go out and get one magnetic snap!

This blue one we made for my other sister-in-law as a birthday gift, with a matching card to go with it.
And this one was for Anneleen.
Thanks for visiting!

A Lovely Day of Stitching...

...with my youngest sister, Karen. We started last night and stayed up until about midnight. Karen is only 17, but somehow Suzanne and I (and our sister-in-laws Jennifer and Colette) have influenced her life enough that she now loves to sew, and buy fabric too!

This is what we were working on today.



I'll show all when it is finished. :-) It is going to be a quilt that fits in the bottom of the old wooden playpen.



This is a table topper that has been in the works for about a year. Pathetic isn't it? I'm not totally in love with it, which is why it's taken me so long. Just have to stitch the binding down. I'm determined to complete some unfinished projects here.



Some more quilt blocks for my mom. I've been making her blocks like this since May, just here and there. Eventually there will be enough for a lapsize quilt. For now, she just loves getting blocks at different occasions and even in the mail sometimes. They are scrappy so they are all different. Lots of fun!

And finally, this is what Karen is working on. I'm so proud of her. This is her first quilt and she is doing very well. She 'gets' it!



Isn't it beautiful!? I'll post another pic when she is finished.

Thanks to the lovely ladies who've commented on our blog so far. And even some followers! Very fun, thanks for reading :-)

Thrifty Threads #2

For this entry I'm going to go back a few months. Melissa had a great fitting pair of jeans, but she got a hole in the knee. I contemplated putting a cute patch on the knee, but it was almost summer so I dreamed up an outfit around the 'holey' jeans. I used fabric from my stash. I am really trying to use what I have rather than always buying more. The pattern from the shirt is from thatdarnkat's etsy shop. I've made this one at least four times and love it.



She's worn this outfit alot this summer. And you know what is really thrifty about these threads? Deanna can wear it next summer. Gotta love having girls nearly the same size. Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

Sewing with Knits

Lately I've been trying my hand, or shall I say sewing machine, at sewing with knits. You can see one of my efforts with my previous post. This time I made a t-shirt for Benjamin for school. It was nice to make something for a boy this time.



He wasn't totally into posing for these photos. I guess he is an 8 yr old boy :-)

As I sew more with knits, it's getting a little easier. Not that it's hard, but I'd like the clothes to be more professional looking. And they are getting there. If you look at this next photo you can see the hem on the short sleeve. It seems like the fabric got stretched out as I hemmed it. I used the stretch stitch. Should I change the tension on my machine? It didn't happen on the hem of the long sleeve though (it's a different fabric.)



Now I know that not too many people read this blog yet, but if you are reading and have some wisdom to impart about sewing with knits, please leave a comment for me.



Pattern is Burda 9614

Scrappy card

I've seen cards made with fabric before but thanks to a friend who directed me to Make it and Love it I tried it for the first time. A 5 minute project using scraps makes a great little card (and satisfies the sewing craving on a busy day!).

Baby gifts

I finished these bibs the other day. The cute fabric was bought in BC when I was visiting Alisa the last time :-).
I just noticed I need to take some of the basting thread out yet - oops...good thing for pictures.

Thrifty Threads #1

As I mentioned I like to sew without breaking the bank, if I don't have too. I hope to feature outfits I've made or refashioned that didn't cost me too much. I finished an outfit for Carolin (2 and a bit) today which started with this



I bought it at the thrift store for 50 cents. Cute, but lacking personality. Add a metre of this beautiful striped cotton-lycra knit from my stash (originally from Fabricland for a whopping $3) and we have this









It's a little big, but she'll grow into it. (Notice the rolled up sleeves!) The shirt is Burda 9614 and the leggings are Burda 9615. I love Burda patterns. They almost always fit well and are easy to make. One thing about the shirt though. When I tried it on it didn't fit over her head. She must have a big head, but I'll be careful when making this pattern again to make it a tad bigger around the neck. I just serged around the neck again to make it wider, then did the topstitching again.

A fun project. We'll have to wait a bit for the cooler weather to wear it. I can wait.

Welcome!

Hello from the younger sister. Here are my kiddos and my summer sewing accomplishments for them. I won a yard of the Alexander Henry fabric from SewMamaSew in the early spring and made the shirt for my son and I managed to make a skirt for my three year old with the scraps. I made my oldest dress from this pattern and a matching one for our baby from this. All of them have a bit of the green polka dot - even the dress shirt. I used it on the collar and button facings.

Lots of fun! I look forward to sharing my small accomplishments with you!

First Post

Sundress for Carolin, originally uploaded by BusyQuiltMom.

Thank you for stopping by our blog. Suzanne and I are sisters and friends. We are Christian wives, mothers and daughters. We are home makers. We sew, quilt, bake, cook, preserve, clean, launder and much more. We've started this blog to chart our creative endeavors. We also like to make more with less. As mothers of 5 (myself) and 4 (Suzanne) we are learning to create and make without breaking the bank.