The Zippy

How about that winter light for a December afternoon at 2pm? Fairly dark around here as we approach the shortest day of the year. Our house doesn't get any sun now but I think by the end of January it hits the south windows of my upstairs sewing room - down stairs is still in the dark for a week after that.
More Zippies! This time with ants, hedgehogs, bikes, frogs and cut-away houses or rooms in red, black and white. I make these with Japanese cottons from Japan (thank you karaku!) and the linings are hand sewn in. A handy swivel hook allows you to connect keys and money in one spot. I've four more to make for the Christmas season and then I'm out of swivel hooks - which means I've made 20 of these things already! How did that happen?!

Village Frock by Sugar City

These dresses were fun and a real challenge to make. I thought I read on a blog some where that a woman sewed one in an hour! Not the case for me! The fabric is a cotton/linen blend and the texture of the gathers was amazing after a tumble in the dryer - no ironing required! The Sugar City blog is here and there is a link to her shop and patterns.

The making of the Littlest Onesies

Here are a few new littlest onesie designs for this year (more elephants!). I use American Apparel onesies, made in the USA with long sleeves. I find the short sleeved onesies often get covered up as undershirts and babies never get to show off their smart shirts! If you use cloth diapers, the snap crotch design also helps keep everything where it should be! I tried brown onesies last year and they were a hit so they're back again this year along with basic whites.

A Parade of Elephants!

Here are a few more sleepy elephants, new for the Littlest. Left to right, one from IKEA, one from Brunei, one from New York (state!) and one from Texas! I originally posted about them here and have cut out many more but they haven't managed to get sewn together yet... they're on the list!

Baby Scallop Blankets

Let the Christmas Craft Season begin! Here are the only 3 baby quilts that will be available this year at the Littlest and, if they're still around afterwards, you'll find them at the 12 Days of Christmas. They are a lot of work and a bit slow for my need for speed! But ooo they are lovely and very gratifying to make... (or maybe I mean once they're made!). The pattern is from the book Bend the Rules Sewing, which is a great book for any level of seamstress from beginner to seasoned veteran - as long as you don't mind bending the rules once in a while! Hmm... is this starting to sound like a recommendation for that sewer on your Christmas shopping list?

Tea Towels

Just trying to use up my scraps again! Those birds were a favourite print that I found at a shop in Victoria, sadly it is long out of print.
My mom has a Christmas idea involving tea towels and this lead me to search for funny words or sayings to embroider on tea towels. Here are a few favourites:
Restaurant Menu
Grocery List
"Make yourself at home - do my dishes!"
"Just dry the bloody dishes!"
"i am preparing dinner just as fast as I can dial!"

New Ironing Board Cover

The trouble with lovely fabric is figuring out what to do with it so that you can enjoy it daily. Some fabrics just don't suit clothing and bags are always a great way to enjoy fabric but how many bags does one really need?! Lucky for me, my ironing board cover was looking very tired and Karyn had a really nice tutorial for making your own cover. This fabric is a heavy cotton canvas from IKEA which is working out really well as a cover. It stays in place and I'll wager that it will last longer than a quilt cotton. And as for enjoying this daily? Well, let's just say there's lots of sewing and ironing going on around here - Christmas is coming!! Hello Mr. Fox!

Ticker Tape Quilt

I needed another project like a hole in the head (especially since the Christmas season is just about upon us!) but I couldn't resist this Ticker Tape Quilt by AmandaJean. I've been wanting to do a mini quilt project and this was perfect. Something about the random squares and not having to applique really appealed to me! The edges of each square are left to fray which I wonder about but so far it is extremely cute. I keep threatening (myself) to use up all my scraps before buying any new fabric but I haven't been very good at sticking to this plan. This project won't get through my scraps very quickly either but it sure was fun to play with. Mr. Fox seems to approve too. October was Scrap Buster month at one of my favourite blogs and shops Sew Mama Sew where they listed 5 or more project ideas a day to use up your scraps. The Ticker Tape Quilt was my favourite.