lingerie bag

Last year, I made this cute lingerie bag for

my sister as a Christmas present.

It can be used to store special clothes at home,

or to pack lingerie for people who travel (a lot like my sister),

no more mess/embarrassing moments at the security check! 

It is an easy and fast gift to make,

the cover can be personalized with embroidery, name

or like here with its function:

"mes dessous" as in "my undies"

I used 2 rectangles of fabric:

one of cotton pique and one of Liberty of London cotton.

The bag closes with a ribbon.

To make the present complete,

I purchased 2 camisoles.

A useful and beautiful gift!

Tomorrow, I will show you my new version,

with a tutorial.

Happy sewing!

another make and take

This week end, I went to another Archiver's event,

the free make and take they have about every 6 weeks.

I started by making the non-free project!
I know I just said it was a free event,
but because of the cost of the little bucket, and the time it took,
there was a $5 fee....which is not bad considering the plain bucket is about $4.

I learned a few new-to-me techniques on this project,
like how to make the cool JOY banner:
wrap the can with a string and use pop dot to attach
the 3 triangles stamped with the letters;

and how to make this nice circle thingy (cannot remember the name!)
I have done it as a kid, but forgot all about it!
We used a 1 x 12 inch red paper and scored it every 1/4 inch,
folded and hot glued the end.
Then we forced it into a circle, hot glued a small circle on both side
and voila...well it took more than my 2 hands,
I am going to have to work on my technique!

Attached to the pal, a three part tag was made with an embossed snow flake.
a little vinyl stamped ornament,



and a canvas star that I stamped with snow flakes.
I thought this star would make some interesting ornaments or tags on presents,
it is just 2 layers of fabric stitched together....
something I am going to work on,
just put it on the list!


I also made this fast cute card,
the way to attach the ribbon was nice,
it is folded, stapled, and folded again
so that the staples are invisible,
it adds a lot of texture.

I also made a little ornament, but I do not really like it,
I think it needs something else...

but it was still fun to try something different.

Overall a fun time was had by all,
mostly because I went by myself,
happy mom, happy kids!

Happy crafting!

and a partridge in a pear tree quilt

Last year, I made this partridge in a pear tree quilt

for my mother in law as a Christmas present.

She is a fan of the twelve days of Christmas:

"my true love gave to me..."

The pattern is from "quilt it for Christmas" magazine, 2001.

I mostly used batik fabric.

The base shape is a diamond.

The partridge and the ten pears are paper pieced.

To make it more interesting for myself, I decided to not purchase any batik

and just used what I had on hand.
It was sometimes limiting, so I had to use some regular cotton fabric.

Working with a diamond was more challenging that expected,
with a lot of bias everywhere!
The borders were necessary!

I also tried to make one side lighter than the other,

in the tree and the surrounding sky.


I was pleased with it, and my MIL loved it.

Happy quilting!

mug rug for Christmas

I am sure you have noticed all the cute mug rugs

popping everywhere....

Well after seeing Mary's rug mugs at Pin. Sew. Press.,

I knew I had to make some too!

They would make a perfect Christmas present....

I totally copied her designs,

I just used Christmas and snow flakes fabric.

The white fabric has white snow flakes, hard to see on the pictures.

It had been such a long time since I quilted,

it was fun, and being so small,

it is almost a one-day project!

The second one is also a copy of Mary's design.

I just like the simplicity.

I mostly do traditional quilting with a lot of complicated pieces,

and sometimes it feels overworked, not inspiring.

I have been looking into modern quilting,

trying to participate but I have found it challenging.

After making these mug rugs,

I feel like I can try to make my own design...

I bet it will take me much longer to make the next one!

Happy quilting!

 

more make-up bags

Two of my girlfriends are moving away, far away...

well one already left a few days ago.

I made them a little make-up bag,

similar to this one,

as a goodbye present.

I used the same tutorial from Noodlehead.

This time I added a little ruffle, for more texture

and silliness.

And during this transition time, I know they need some silliness!

For the lining, I reused one of cotton of the top

for an added touch of color,
while still keeping the inside light!.

Happy sewing!

for Paige

Last May, my daughter lost one of her friends, Paige.

They were both daisies and had dance classes together.

Paige lived just a few houses down the street.

Her passing was unexpected and tragic,

leaving moms, dads and children overwhelmed with sadness.

here is a picture of Paige, her sister and Miss C.,

3 days before.

Here is an extract from her web page:

"Paige Alessandro was a beautiful six year old kindergartner at Wyandot Elementary school when she passed away suddenly in May of 2010.".... "Paige bravely battled a spinal vascular disease her entire life and suffered a very severe spinal stroke in 2008. After overcoming many obstacles, Paige died peacefully from acute liver failure which was more than likely a complication of her disease.

Although Paige’s life was certainly not charmed, you would never know it to meet her. While children with special needs often have social struggles, Paige overcame her physical limitations with a sweetness that would melt anyone’s heart. She was always the center of attention, laughing and smiling and taking pure joy in the happiness of others. Her friends would argue over who got to push her wheelchair or help her open a marker while she would just smile and tell everyone that they were her friend."

read more about Paige here

Her family is planning a Princess Run/Walk in her honor

on May 21, 2011.

To read more about this race, please go to:

Paige's Princess Run

 All proceeds from the walk will be donated to the Cincinnati Children's hospital OT/PT department

 for use within the Lokomat program, a unique robotic gait training system

that aims to “retrain the muscles” engaged in walking.

While I know May 2011 is a long way away,

may I ask all of you to pass along this information

so that Paige's princess run can be a success?

Thank you for your help.

Morgane



happy Halloween

Our trick-or-treating went well!

The kids got great loot,

I finished just in time the dragon/knight "blason"

for Brick Master knight costume.

Miss C. went as a power ranger (!)

I went as Morgane la fee,

the perfect costume to go with my favorite knight!



The pumpkins glowed beautifully,

the only negative side: my favorite pirate is out of town,

Halloween is not the same without Mon Cheri!



At least there is "Van Helsing" to watch on TV tonight!

Happy Halloween!



almost ready

The pumpkins are carved,

the candies are purchased,

the cookies are baked
but not iced
(and not likely to happen!)

and I have found a way to make

the dragon and the knight

work together:

now, I just need to finish it,
still a few more hours before trick-or-treat!

Happy Halloween!

la fee Morgane

Ever wonder how you got your name?
Well, it was easy for me:

 my parents were into the Arthurian cycle,

  fans of Chretien de Troyes,

and I was born in Celtic land!

So yes I was named after Morgan Le fay.

In honor of my name and because it is Halloween,

I will be wearing my midnight blue sorceress dress

with my silver cape!

And if you have seen any of my previous posts about costumes,
( here, here and here)

you can see I take my dressing up very seriously,

well at least the sewing part....

no I am not into reenactment,

I am nerdy enough, just not into it!

I used Simplicity pattern 2201,

which is more Lord of the Ring than King Arthur,

but it felt right.

It is made of crushed velvet, may be not ideal as it stretches a little,

satin, and silver trim.

The cape was made of some synthetic organza,

and finished off with a small silver trim.

Happy sewing!