thrifted placemat dilemna

I bought these crocheted placemats at daycare garage sale a few months ago and I still can’t decide what to do with them. At first I thought I’d make two tall totes, but after seeing them folded in half on my shelf, I also considered four zipper pouches. Then I thought maybe just one large [...]

how to refashion a dress into a skirt
in five easy steps

Even though I wrote this tutorial for a kid’s size dress, you can do this with adult sizes, too. This is the same way I turned a shirt into a skirt.
My daughter and I both love this dress. She only wore it a few times last season because it was too big. This year it [...]

wardrobe refashion: crochet top to tote bag

This top is one of my finds from last weekend’s garage sale bonanza. My friend issued an ultimatum: “If you don’t buy it, I will and turn it into a tote bag.” Well, of course I had to buy it. I couldn’t be out-toted!

It took me awhile to figure out what to do with it, [...]

my creative space

I can’t believe it’s Thursday already! I haven’t been able to do as much sewing as I’d like this week, so my creative space is all about my Chromium Star Blanket. I’ve just started the second skein of red yarn and I’m loving how this is shaping up!
Red seems to be the color of choice [...]

mixing bread bags and wool with crochet

A long time ago I started to crochet a tote out of plastic grocery bags. I thought it would be a good way to keep the bags out of the landfill. It wasn’t fun. The plastic was sticky and it hurt my wrists. Then my recycle guy started accepting the bags for curbside pick up. [...]

east campus garage sales: new fabric and yarn!

Last year I barely made a dent in the east campus garage sales. I had no idea how big they were. I took my husband and daughter to the textile sale and by the time I made my fabric purchase, my family was ready to go.
This year I went with my friend Kelly. We [...]

wardrobe refashion: shirt to toddler dress

This shirt turned into the cutest dress, but it’s big! I figure it’s at least a 4T or 5T. Since this season is almost over, I’m going to wait until next year to have my daughter try it on. It will probably need a dart in the back because she’s so tall and thin. The [...]

handmade baby shower gift

My knitting group had a baby shower for my friend Tana last night. I couldn’t figure out what to make because she has already created so many beautiful sweaters, blankets and quilts herself. I decided to sew something instead. I figured her daughter is going to be the best dressed baby when the weather is [...]

twinkle, twinkle little chromium star

I won’t tell you how long it got me to get to this point in the Chromium Star blanket pattern. I’m not sure why I had a hard time following the instructions because when I look at them now, they seem so straightforward. It helped to put stitch markers at each adjacent dc stitch. Now [...]

twin baby locks

I did a really crazy thing this weekend. I bought two sergers. Yes, I said two. They were $25 each. The models are older, but they’re all metal inside, not plastic. (I had issues with plastic parts in my first sewing machine.) I also decided to buy additional supplies for $50: eight brand new blades [...]

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