Sewing on a Rainy Day

I've been busy today.   Naturally, there's a story behind this little item.  A good friend of mine needs to keep her cell phone close at hand, and she doesn't always have pockets.  So I thought I'd design a little padded purse for her, with a long strap, primarily to carry the cell phone, but I also put little pockets on the front and back, for credit cards or whatever.  I made it big enough for my Android phone or a standard Blackberry.  She LOVES it.  So today I dug through my fabric collection to make a few more, and here's what I did.

The straps are 60" inches long so they can go over the head and one shoulder for safety. To shorten, just tie a knot in it.    For what it's worth, I actually made up this pattern by myself, so they can be sold if necessary.

Sewing for Tiny Relatives

I tell everyone that my sewing 'specializes in large women and very tiny relatives'.  Those  relatives are usually my nieces, but they aren't all that tiny anymore!  I'm sorry I don't have pictures of the clothes I made for them when they were very small, but I mostly took Polaroid pictures back then, and I don't have a scanner.  I also won't post pictures of them yet (I need to ask their mother if it's okay).  However, I do have pictures of some of their clothes.  For the most part, I've been making Easter and Christmas dresses, with the occasional coat or jacket once in awhile.  They seem to like them a lot.   It's even more fun now, because they can pick out their own fabrics, and that makes for some beautiful dresses.
So....bring on the dresses!
Here are two sets of Easter dresses, from two different years.

This is a blouse and skirt set that they wanted for Christmas one year.  I aim to please.

 But this particular year, I got to play with sparkly chiffon and satin.  It was glorious and they looked spectacular.  On the other hand, they are my beloved nieces and I think they would look fantastic in a burlap sack.  Especially if I sewed it for them.  

Doll clothes and toys

Today, let's try some of the non-clothes stuff that I've made. 
One day, a friend on my sewing list gave us a link to a website that had free patterns for different types of dragons.  I had to try it out, and this is what came out.  Isn't he adorable?  They're a pain to make because of the small size, but oh, so worth it in the end. 

Here are a bunch of teddy bears that I made out of leftover fake fur that I had tons of, after making stuff for my nieces.  I didn't want to throw it away, and I didn't want to give it away, so I got a very nice Carol's Zoo pattern and made as many of the 9" teddy bears as I could.  I think in the end I made about 40 of them.  Some I gave away to friends, but a lot of them went to my sister, who gave them away in the emergency room where she worked.  The kids loved them, she said.  Here are a couple of them.

Let me introduce two of my models, Charlotte and Isabelle.  Isabelle is the blond.  My sister gave me these 18" dolls so I would have models for making clothes for the dolls that my nieces have.  Some of their clothes are models of the dresses that I made for The Girls, but these are just the clothes I made for a present.  For what it's worth, the two top dresses took as much time to make as a full-size adult dress!  Wow.

Brand new stuff

Well, this is my first blog.  Possibly my only blog, as I have no inspiration to be a writer.   However, over the years it has dawned on me that it would be a good idea to have a place to post pictures of stuff that I've sewed, so people can see them. 
First, a little history.
I've been sewing for a long, long time.  My mother started teaching me to hand-sew when I was 4 years old.  I remember that we made matching navy blue gingham mother-daughter aprons.   She chose the gingham so that I would be able to space my stitches evenly.  My mother was rather clever that way.  My sister and I had quite a few mom-made clothes, because she loved sewing for girls, and she was very talented, too.
I used a sewing machine for the first time at 8 years old, when I was in 4-H.  After that, the sky was the limit.  My mother helped me when needed, and encouraged me a lot to keep up with it.   So that's how it all started. 

In no particular order, here are some of the things that I've sewn.

This is my chili pepper purse.  I love this purse. It's just the right size for all of my crap, and has pockets inside and out, for organization purposes.   This is LazyGirl Designs, the City Bag.

 My friend loved my chili pepper purse so much that I made her a doggy one for a present.

I call this my Wild Thing Coat.  There's ruffles down the front and on each cuff.  It's very pretty, but being polar fleece, kind of cold when the wind blows.  

The polar fleece blanky on my bed.  It's wonderfully warm when the weather is cold.  This is just two panels sewn together, with a 3rd pattern on the sides to make it wider.  Simple, yet very effective, and looks really nice!

I think this is enough for one day.  There will be more later on.