February Sewing Projects

Reflections, Sewing, Tie-Dye

I know February is long gone but I thought I would take a few minutes to show you the sewing projects I completed during the month.

First up is the set of pillowcases I made for me and my husband.

Last fall, when shopping a Hobby Lobby, I came across this Amazing Grace fabric and thought it was beautiful. I had no idea what I would make with it but purchased two yards anyway. When one of my sisters mentioned making pillowcases I decided that would be the perfect project for this fabric. I set it aside until after all of my Christmas projects were finished and it wasn’t until February that I around to it.

I followed this tutorial and the pillowcases came out beautiful. They look professionally made.

I made myself another hoodie (I love wearing hoodies in the winter). I then made hoodies for the grandkids.

Addie’s hoodie (front)

Addie’s hoodie (back)

The tie-dye fabric that I used for my hoodie and Addie’s came already dyed. Although I have done some more tie dying I have not yet combined tie dyeing and sewing to create a project.

Jackson’s hoodie (front)

Jackson’s hoodie (back)

The characters on Jackson’s hoodie are from the Disney movie Luca. I have never seen the movie and was not familiar with the characters, but my sister offered me the fabric that she had left over from making hoodies for her grandson and great nephew. I checked with my daughter who said that Jackson had seen the movie and would probably like the characters on his shirt. It turned out really cute, so I hope he wears it often.

My last and most challenging project in February was the dress I made for Addie.

The gray fabric of the bodice and sleeves has Disney princesses, Ariel and Belle on it, and the top layer of the skirt has iridescent swans embedded in the tulle. I found this project challenging as it required a lot of gathering (sleeves and skirt) which I haven’t done before. Also, I was nervous about working with tulle for the first time. Thankfully it all came together nicely.

I mentioned earlier that I had done so more tie dying so I’ll show you those as well while you’re here.

The first two tie-dye projects were shirts that my sister asked me to dye for her. They were both light colored and she wanted to wear them for work. Since she works in a warehouse, and it can be a dirty job, she thought that the light-colored shirt would show the dirt too much. Adding the darker color would make any dirt less obvious. She asked for this blue marbled pattern and was pleased with the way they turned out.

For the other project I used a new (to me) method called ice dying. I first got the garment wet then bunched it together and placed it on a rack in the bathtub. (I had lined the bathtub with a large plastic bag because I didn’t want the dye to stain the tub.) I then covered the garment with a layer of ice cubes. Next, I sprinkled the powdered dye on the ice. I decided to do rainbow colors.

I then covered it with another plastic bag and let it sit until all of the ice was melted. (About 24 hours.) As the ice melted the dye dripped down into the fabric creating the shirt you see pictured below.

Ice Dye hoodie (front)

Ice Dye hoodie (back)

I like the really like the way it turned out. I think I will do this again in the future.

Thanks for visiting.

What’s keeping you busy these days?

More Fun

Reflections

Today’s weather was a repeat of yesterday, but when my husband went to the farm with the kids dogs I stayed at the house to get some chores done. The sunshine was so inviting I slipped on my flip flops and stepped out on the deck to see if it was as warm as it looked. It was pleasant enough that I decided to finish clearing the snow from the deck, any excuse to spend a few minutes in the sunshine. As I moved the heavy, wet snow with the shovel it formed chunks, “packing snow” I thought, “great for making snowmen.”

I haven’t made a snowman in years decades, but I just couldn’t let this snow go to waste.

I piled the snow on the table in a snowman-like shape, but when I added the pebbles for the eyes and a nose I realized I created a snowdog.

When my husband got home I introduced him to our snowdog. Then he joined in the fun.

“I gave him a tail,” he announced. (No wonder he didn’t realize it was a dog.)

It’s said there is a first time for everything and whether that’s true or not, this is certainly the first time I have ever made a snowman or snowdog while wearing flip flops. LOL!

Thanks for visiting.

When was the last time you made a snowman?

Fun In the Snow and Sun

Reflections

In the aftermath of last night’s winter storm, that dumped between 6 and 8 inches of heavy, wet snow on us, the sun came out and temperatures warmed to around 40 degrees F. It was too nice to stay inside all day, so I ventured to the farm with my husband and the kids dogs for a little fun in the sun.

The chickens, who hate walking in snow, couldn’t resist being in the sunshine either.

They stayed mostly on the path that my husband shoveled for them.

and were happy to find some grass to peck in.

Ruby’s idea of fun is always playing ball,

and Ranger always has fun sniffing.

My fun was riding the 4 wheeler,

and taking some pictures of this glorious day.

Thanks for visiting.

Monthly Inspiration

Inspiration, Reflections

Hello and welcome! I’m having a hard time believing it’s March already, but all of my sources, (phone, computer, wall calendar) assure me that today is March 1st.

So, without further ado our monthly inspiration.

From my 2023 wall calendar.

This morning when I saw the cardinals on the calendar I was reminded of a post I wrote in 2016. Since I have a lot of new followers since that time I will share the link to that post here. I really do think it’s worth reading.

Thanks for visiting.

This Makes Me Smile

Flowers, Planting, Reflections

Last year we waited too long and in April when my husband made a phone call to the greenhouse where he worked in 2019, to see if they had pansies for sale, they told him they were all sold out. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

He called them yesterday morning but only got the answering machine. He left a message asking when they would have pansies for sale and received a call back in the afternoon. They had pansies ready, and we could come out and pick some up.

I wish I would have taken my camera along. The green house was enormous and filled with pansies. There were pansies in round pots, pansies in square pots and pansies in flats. There were sections that had flats of all yellow pansies, and all purple, and all red, and all orange, and all white and there were sections that had flats of mixed colors. It was a sight to behold. We selected two flats of mixed colors. Each flat had 18 pansies in it.

We went back to the farm where my husband brought out some flowerpots and opened a bag of potting soil.

I put three flowers in each pot and ended up with 12 pots. You only see 10 in the picture because I took one to my next-door neighbor and the other on would not fit on this table.

Pansies thrive in cooler temperatures, between 40 and 60F but can survive temperatures well below freezing as long as the soil does not freeze. I am eager to put them outside to adorn the flower bed beside our deck but have decided to keep them indoors for a while, at least until after the ice storm that is due to arrive tomorrow.

Getting my hands in the dirt and potting up these cheery flowers certainly made me smile. I hope this picture makes you smile too. 🙂

Thanks for visiting.