Eldra Ann

My mother and grandmothers taught me to sew. It's in my blood.

I love the heritage that they passed on to me. I have watched them create things perfectly because they love doing it, and they love doing it for other people.

My newest kick is in bag making (or fabric shopping...). I have an Etsy shop named for my grandmothers.

Kate diaper bag

Need:
3/4 yard outer fabric
3/4 yard inner fabric
1/2 yard pocket fabric
3 yards light/medium weight fusible interfacing (I use Pellon 808) - unless you use heavier weight fabric like duck cloth
Thin elastic, 22"
Magnetic clasp or Velcro, if desired

One more for the family (4)

I had no idea what to make for a six-year-old.

So I made him something that hopefully he can use with his other toys (trains, cars, whatever). I also made one of these for my nephew's birthday. 

I picked out this fabric because he plays a lot of baseball.

It unzips on the sides and becomes a play mat. 

This is a pattern I bought online, and I really like the way it turned out.

The cubes are 4" by 4" squares, sewn together like a cross, leaving 1/4" on both sides of a seam so you can sew between them. Fold the cross up into a cube and keep sewing. Leave one side open to turn it, but be sure to back stitch on either side of it. I bought a giant piece of 2" foam and cut it into 4" squares. I stuffed and wiggle and fit 2 squares on top of each other into each cube, then hand stitched closed.

The little balls are just pentagons that I created on Word again with different sizes (be sure to lock the side ratio to size it) as a pattern. I cut 12 pieces the same size. I sewed 6 together like a flower (one in the middle, five around), and sewed the five sides together as well. I did that twice, and then sewed the two halves together. Leave one side open to turn and stuff (and stuff and stuff and stuff) until it's the right density. These are my brother's and nephew's new favorite indoor toy, now that it's getting cold outside. 

This is my nephew's box-mat before I finished it. 

Family of toys keeps getting bigger (part 3)

I was wracking my brain trying to think of something a little 3-year-old boy with a 3-year-old attention span with a new baby brother would want or need or tolerate that I could also make (because making things is more fun), and I decided to try a quiet book. There's tons of ideas for different pages on Pinterest, but I settled on these four spreads:

The "My name is ..." page

I had already made these cute little alphabets, so I sewed some letters on the page and two strips of Velcro. Then I picked out the letters needed to spell the names in the family this is going to, and sewed little pieces of Velcro on the backs. I was planning on just sewing in the zipper pouch, but mom suggested using ribbon so the letters don't get lost. In hindsight, mom didn't like this idea, and o don't know if I recommend it or not. You'd have to ask the kids and mom it's going to. They can always cut the ribbon off.

So I backed the two pages with fusible fleece, sewed the zipper to the page and the front of the zipper pouch to the zipper. Then I folded under the sides and top-stitched them. I pinned all those ribbons and put the front cover and first page right sides together and sewed three sides. I made the stitches teeny tiny over that ribbon area. Then I turned right-side out. I realized it would have been better to think about doing page spreads with pages 1&8, the. 2&7, and so on, rather than the way I did it, so I'm not going to break down how I ended up binding it. I don't recommend it. 

The "Tying and time" page

A lot of baby books have a shoe that you can lace and tie, but I sorta think that's lame. So I did a football instead. And since this is a baseball family, and since the football wasn't as big as I expected, I added the baseball. I just found football and baseball outlines (or coloring pages) online and cut them out. I alternated using fusible fleece and thinner interfacing so the pages didn't get too thick, so this page spread has the interfacing behind it. I zig-zag stitched around the football and baseball, and then used decorative stitches to get the effect I wanted. Found shoestrings at Rack Room that were the rights size for the little round button holes in the football. 

The clock face I designed and embroidered. I zig-zag stitched around it, made the two hands and stuffed them with a little Polyfill, then put a tiny round button hole in them. I sewed a button to hold them there so they could move but not come off.

The "Count to ten" page

This might be my favorite. I love the beads my mom found (little Noah's Ark), because they fit the theme of the cover fabric with the little animals. I had some numbered sticky notes that I used as stencils for the numbers, and I quilted them directly on the back without finishing the edges in any way. I used a lot of tape to keep the ribbon and beads in place when I sewed them on, again, using the tiny stitches. I also, per mom's suggestion again, sewed tacks a little closer to the beads, so the ribbons wouldn't flop around too much. The beads can slide about an inch or two. 

The "Shapes and matching" page

This page is fun and colorful. 

I used the Roy G. Biv rainbow color scheme, and I printed out my own shapes just by using those default shapes on Word. I have tons of buttons, and I wanted it to be sort of a matching game. I like how it turned out. 

This is he cover and back fabric. So adorable. 

Family of toys 2

The next thing on my to-do list was the stacking rings. I've already shown you one version. But here's the set for this family:

To go with them, I also made these stuffed animals. 

I found these patterns on some Swedish or Russian website that I could no understand at all, and google translate couldn't really, either. So I just printed out the pictures and did it myself. I put interfacing on one side, cut out two right sides together about 1/4" away from the edge of the pattern. I sewed the eyes and other facial features on first, then sewed the two pieces together. Obviously, I learned how to make the eyes and mouth a little more cute and less creepy on the second try. The tails are made out of shoe strings that I had bought for another project. 

A whole family of baby toys

I've already said that I've been on a baby toy kick. I've been working on a family-wide gift for this family that I love but rarely see. They just had a new little one around the same time my new niece came along, so I've made some duplicate things. I've been working on these things for a few months now, so my proud level is much higher than your average project. 

The first thing I started (and almost the last thing I finished) was a crocheted baby blanket. 

I started with a gray Bernat baby yarn. I did a row of half double, and then a row where I did two doubles in one stitch, and then skipped a stitch. I alternated that throughout the blanket. The color change progression goes as follows:

12 rows 1st color

1 row 2nd color

3 rows 1st color

3 rows 2nd color

2 rows 1st color

5 rows 2nd color

1 row 1st color

12 rows 2nd color

Then bring in the third color and repeat that pattern. I brought the first color back after the third color.

The. I decided o try something new.  Sure, I had crocheted baby blankets before, but sewing something to the back? Noooo. Why not.

I got some gray minky fabric (I doubt I will ever spell that right), and I washed both the crochet fabric and backing together on delicate. I stretched the crochet out on a towel and let it dry. 

I went over to mom's to use her handy-dandy quilting table and clips and pins. I stretched the backing and clipped it to the table and placed the crochet over it. I pinned all around the edges very closely and a little throughout the middle. I took a needle and thread and hand-tied about every 2-3 inches in the middle. Then I used a walking foot and bound the edges by machine. I actually really like the way it turned out, the weight and sturdiness and everything. 

I'll be finishing a pink version for my niece before Christmas.

Baby toys

With the new niece on the way [I always spell niece wrong. The i before e rule isn't enough to convince me], I've been on a baby-toy-making kick. I got a pattern for this from Etsy, and I've since made three of them:

 The rings are different sizes, fabric, stuffed with fluffs. The cone is, too, so it's not hard like the plastic version of this. Plus, I can make it out of whatever cute fabric I want.

Of course, I've made an all-pink option for the future niece, and I have a less girly one for an all-boy family. 

New niece on the way!

I have been an aunt since I was 13 years old, and in that time I have gained 5 nephews. Now, 14 years later, I am expecting my first niece! Everything crafty in my family has magically turned from blue to pink, and my sewing/craft room is no exception. I have about 9 projects that are all unfinished, but the first thing I completed was a request of my mother:

It is a standard granny square crocheted blanket. I used Bernat baby yarn with a pearlized sheen, so it looks very fancy. 
For the ribbon space, I used a treble stitch with chain 3/skip 3 in between. 
For the scalloped edging, I crocheted single, half double, double-treble-double (all in one stitch opening), then the reverse, and a slip stitch in between each scallop. 

Mom wanted this for baby Ivey's dedication. I am supposed to make booties and a hat to match. It's on my project to-do list. Currently I'm crocheting Ivey an afghan of my own choosing, and a little boy one to match for my best friend's upcoming nephew.

Winter weather means lots of crafting

I came home from buying more craft supplies today...

and I realized that I probably have bought/started/planned approximately 20 projects.

So here's a few that are actually in the process:

1) Woven fabric rug.

Big Lots has jelly rolls for $7. I'm almost finished with it (finished picture to come later), and it looks like it will take around 2.5 jelly rolls.

Crafting for a cause

A very good friend of mine and her husband are adopting a little girl from Bulgaria! It's so exciting to be part of their lives and the new life that is coming soon. They are raising funds for this adoption by making homemade, personalized items for the home--to help bring their little girl home. 
Check out From Bham with Love on Etsy or Facebook
And I am so blessed that I get to add whatever talents I have to this project.

So here's some things I've been doing:

Tiered cake stands

Michael's had these super-cute chargers with three different sizes. I liked picking three different colors to use. The larger two were $2, the smallest was $1.50.

I couldn't find anything at Michael's to tier them with, so I picked up some $2 bud vases and a pack of those pretty glass rocks to fill them with. I ran into a problem with that, however. 1) The glass vase broke when I put the glass rocks inside and shook it a little. 2) The tops of the vases weren't level, so it would have made the plates uneven, likewise.

Fortunately, Target came through for me. Found $2 taper holders.

I hot glued the taper holders to the top two tier plates. I decided not to glue all of them together so that I can use them separately or stacked, depending on what I need from them. The chargers said not to use for food, so I'll probably get some pretty doilies to put on them when I need to.

Great-grandmother's table

My mom gave me her grandmother's table and told me I could do whatever I wanted to it. It wasn't in the best condition: had a split down the middle, paint was chipped, and had paper glued to it. But it was a good size for a specific area in my kitchen.

Mercy

Mercy - Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

is one of my favorite songs right now by one of my favorite artists.

So, to commemorate--or rather, to have this very important verse where I can read it regularly--I decided to craft it.

Here's the process:

One week, two quilts (part 1)

This quilt is for Cooper. He is currently 6 months old, but I believe he gets older every day.

This was purchased as a package--it included the pattern and the material, which was mostly fat quarters, except for what was to be used as the border. There were 9 fat quarters and 1.5 yards for the border. The pattern made a crib-size quilt measuring 46.5" x 58.5" with border.

I just love all the colors

One week, two quilts (prequel)

I made two quilts in less than a week.

It was a little crazy.

But definitely worth it.