Something For My Boy {because he will be southern}

Today I am 36 weeks pregnant. Last night I described being pregnant as "really neat" to some guy friends of ours and one of them said "neat, I've never heard it described that way." But it truly is. For the past 8 months I have been growing a person inside of me. It's the coolest thing I've ever done. We talk about our boy and what he might look like or what kind of personality he might have, but one thing that's just understood is, although we live in Boston, we will be raising our baby to be a southerner. He will call you ma'am, he will hold your door, he will say good morning when he passes you on the street. And when he's still his mama's baby, he will wear jumpers and bubbles and proper southern baby attire...at least on Sundays.

This week I made him this.

Hand stitching is not my #1 skill. But it turned out kind of kitchy and I liked that.

I used one of the jumpers that I bought several years ago at the Cooper Young Festival as a template. So now he has one for a game day and one for a trip to the Cape. The whale was a nod to New England. Overall it was a pretty easy project. I plan on making several more. And because my sewing teacher is probably going to kill me if I bring in one more "made up" project to class, I bought this pattern yesterday.

My sewing teacher is Russian and hilariously truthful (and an amazing, amazing Paris trained seamstress) But last week she told me that I "know some things about sewing but I have no foundations." She said "you just make it up as you go along." (which was not intended to be a compliment) And I responded "this is true." I promised her next week I would let her take me back to basics. Collars, buttons, and sleeves are all out of my comfort zone, so hopefully she will be pleased to help me with this one.

Now can someone point me to an online source for the little white shoes and knee socks that would complete these southern baby looks? There are no smocking boutiques in Boston. Although I did recently find a good monogrammer... get excited!

Disclaimer: I'm sure there are plenty of well mannered New England boys, whose mamas taught them open doors, pull out chairs, etc. etc. They just don't happen to live in my building.

Sewing Class {a maternity shirt}

The first project  I completed in the advanced sewing class I am taking was the chair cushion. I finished it in 2 class sessions, out of 8 total, so I had to come up with another project on the fly. So right before class a couple of weeks ago, I grabbed a shirt of Mr. Sabbe's and decided I would give alterations a go. Here is what the shirt looked like before. I used this same shirt, but different pattern. He has a billion.

note the shoulders (hanging off of my shoulders) and the super long arms

 AFTER: We originally intended to add elastic to make it gather, but my teacher said at this point (of my pregnancy) I should probably just leave it. So I just added a belt.

The most major thing I learned was how to ease a sleeve. I am no longer scared of sleeves, darts, or minor alterations.



I think I will get a lot of use out of this for the next six weeks! Six weeks! yikes!

Happy Valentines Day!

I don't care what the critics say, I like Valentines Day. It's a holiday where crafting is highly encouraged and unrestrained displays of affection are deemed acceptable. It's my kind of holiday. We decided to celebrate last night. My valentine was on call Saturday so I took the opportunity to spread a little love around the apartment. (this is also a good technique if there is any doubt your loved one may forget what day it is)

 I made heart shaped whoopie pies. They were pretty complicated and I was sad that they did not turn out as pretty as they looked in the tutorial. Luckily, looks were not his top priority.

I still have not learned my lesson and I continue to make crafts for Mr. Sabbe on Valentines Day. It's been 10 years, why stop now? This year I made him a little book to tell him all the reasons I both appreciate and love him. (I also love sewing paper)

And lastly I wanted to share this verse with you. My church is currently going through the book of Ruth, which is one of my favorites. It is filled with romantic love. And although, in context, this statement is from Ruth to Naomi, I think it could be borrowed to compose the most romantic love letter ever.

It's very Romeo and Juliet to me.
Happy Valentines Day!

90% DIY Slipcover

I really should wait to post these until I find time for the outstanding 10% (hemming the bottom and ironing). But I am having a super busy week, so who knows when that will happen....and this is some serious exciting crafting for me.

Here is was at 20%. And now 90%.
taaa-daaa!

Mr. Sabbe said it looked claaaaassy.

I will admit, there were no tears, but this project had some major moments of frustration. We'll see how #2 goes and then I will give you some proper pictures and tips.

Slipcover Progress + tips

Last night my husband was on call, so I took the opportunity to watch a girl movie and destroy the living room with my slipcover project. I thought I was going to hate this project. I was 90% sure it would involve tears (not to count my chickens, still could). But so far so good. I finished one of the arms/wing.

One tip I have learned so far is to go by the seams and pleats that the chair already has. I had plans to delete the little pleats on the wing to give it a more modern look, but once I pinned everything on there I realized it was not happening.

I plan on attempting to add Velcro to the underside of the slipcover and face of the chair to get the underside of the arm to cling tightly to the chair. In this photo I have it loosely pinned. I think I am going to re-do the front face of the arm and add piping. See the original piping showing through? I didn't really hit right on the old seam line and that is bugging me.

Here was the key to getting the pieces to fit correctly before I sewed them.

There were about 3 or 4 versions of each of these before I got the right shape. I used some left over drapery liner, but I think most people use muslin for a template. I have seen a few tutorials where they use their finish fabric right from the get go. I would have had some major issues if I would have gone that route (tears).

And lastly, this is how I figured out how much fabric to order and how to cut it once it got here.

I measured each panel of the chair, according to how the existing pieces were broken up, and rounded everything off into a rectangle. Most of the Internet sites say that wing chairs take 7 yards to cover. I am doing it in 5. I am using white cotton duck. I got 5 yards for $34 after using one of these coupons, which is way cheaper than a store bought slipcover. I reasearched what was best to use for slipcovers and everything was pretty much cotton duck or denim. I opted for the duck, but I am not loving the wrinkle factor. Hopefully I can give them a good iron and starch when I'm finished to clean them up a bit.

This is the most planning I have ever done for a sewing. I am determined to not let this one go into my long list of failed project.

Hope you had a nice weekend!

Sewing for the Little Sabbe

Baby pants, so easy. Who knew? I just used a pair that my mom gave us as a template. I thought Mr. Sabbe was going to die over the corduroy ones. I sewed both while he was on call one day last week. I also whipped up the Christmas tree bunting. I'm liking that alot as well. It's like a birthday party and a Christmas tree combined. appropriate.

I'm 23 weeks today. Feels like 53.

Have a great weekend!

Dear Santa

This future mama wants this.

big time.

Did I ever tell ya'll Amy Butler and I are BFFs? Not really, but she did email me this summer after I wrote this post, pretty much made my summer. She has been a re-occurring topic on this blog since it's beginnings.

Best Fabric Store in Boston

Well, technically it's not in Boston. It's in Arlington. But close enough. They have both sewing and home decor fabrics. I was most impressed with the sewing/quilting fabrics. They are the only shop I've seen in this area that carries my fave, Amy Butler. Fabric Corner. There is a coupon on their website. Does this first photo make anyone else's heart skip a beat?

Have a great weekend!

Craft Blog Crush

Remember how busy I told you guys I was going to be in the Fall? Well, Fall is here. I am enjoying my new teaching position and looking forward to diving in to a new project here in Boston, but I literally blink and my day is over. Tonight I taught a sewing class at the BCAE and it was such a nice change of pace. We made these little ruffle clutches.

They were very similar to the ones I made Mr. Sabbe model back in the day and only took 1 hour! I named a few of my favorite craft blogs for my students to find more tutorials and inspiration and when I got home I decided to check in with a few I have not visited in a while. Homemade by Jill was one of the very first blogs I read daily. She now has a list of her favorite blogs and tonight I found Cluck, Cluck, Sew and I am in love. Here are some of her awesome tutorials.

Rose Petal Pillow

Scrap Buster Fall Pillow

Camera Strap Cover

Snowball Block Quilt

From what I've seen, this lady seems like she has more going on that I do and she still has time to sew. I need to get it together!

Tutorials: For Her Edition

I definitely have not been sewing as much this summer as I was last, but I am still an avid reader of many wonderful craft blogs. So I thought I would share with you some of the great tutorials floating around the blogesphere these days. Last year I posted my favorite baby crafts. This list is for us.

Tops

Ruffle Tank Top

Bow Halter Top

Ruffle Neck Tee

Rose Petal Tee

Skirts/Dresses

Summer Skirt

20 Minute Skirt

Ruffle Skirt

Two Hour Tunic

Beach Cover Up

Accessories

Zipper Rosettes (for headbands)

Rosette Headbands

Anthro Inspired Necklace

Fabric Necklace

Bags

Yoga Bag

Messenger Bag

Reversible Bag

Shoulder Bag

And here are some of the aprons my class made last week. This group is very talented and so much fun!

All of these aprons are from first time sewers.

Amazing right!? 

If you are in the Boston area and would like to learn how to sew, sign up for my next class at the BCAE.

She's Your Lobster!

Do ya'll remember the episode of Friends where Phoebe talks about Ross and Rachel being each other's lobsters? Well every time I see lobsters, which is quite often in New England, I hear Phoebe saying "he's her lobster!" I thought of it again after completing this little set for a friend who recently had a baby.

And I forgot to show you some of the fabulous bags my BCAE class completed a couple of weeks ago.

If you would like to make this project and a ruffle apron, my next class starts Saturday!! 

Sign up today!

Proud Teacher

Check out these awesome aprons my students made in the class I teach at the BCAE.

This first one is Christine's, some of you know Christine.

Are they not awesome!? Some of them had never even threaded a machine before last Saturday.

I have another class starting in July! You should join us!