Hearts and More Hearts

A stuffed heart for our door made from an old skirt and salvaged lace trim.

Sarah's stitched hearts.

I made my love a pillow for our bed of a felted sweater.

My love woodburned this for me on a heart shaped piece of birch.

A special treat of heart pancakes for  breakfast.

There is something about Valentines Day that I enjoy.  It is so much fun to be crafty with hearts and so nice to give everyone a little extra treat on this day.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Knit Vest Pattern

I've had several requests and here is the link to the vest pattern.

The doll kit I purchased from a local museum shop.  The kit is called - Miss Poppet, An Early American Cloth Doll Kit.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

Some Sewing and Some Knitting

I just love this time of year to spend more time on handwork.

Another infant wool vest for our shop

After supper last night, Abby and I sewed up this little rag doll.  It was so nice to work together.  She is 10 years old and she would stuff and braid and help cut the pieces.  She has begun to use the sewing machine as well.  We purchased it as a kit.  Very simple.  It makes me eager to try our skills at more - like this one .

Good thing we have lots of winter left.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Just Love Seeing ...

My ten year old daughter sewing up some mini-bean bags for a bean bag toss board she made.

Skort Capri Tutorial of a Pillowcase

I am not sure what to call these pants/shorts/capris/skorts, but I stumbled across this idea after making a pair of shorts for Abraham following the guide in Amanda Blake Soule's first book, The Creative Family, using an old t-shirt.

~Abraham's shorts~

Super easy to make. Then I knew that Sarah needed some more shorts and I had not been able to find any at the thrift stores of late (nor have I had much time to get to the thrift store). In addition, she has a tiny waist and we prefer longer shorts or skort style pants. I did have some thrifted pillowcases (25 cents each!) and realized I could basically do the same thing that I had done with a t-shirt.

Here is how ~

Holding the pillowcase the long way, take a pair of shorts the approximate size of the person you are sewing for, and with the shorts folded in half, line the sides up like in the picture below. The bottom edge of the shorts will be the already hemmed opening of the pillow case, so plan accordingly.

~I used chalk to draw the line. The pillow case is not turned inside out.~

Next, cut out on the purple line and then use what you just cut out, flip it over and line it up on the other edge, pin and cut out.

Next, open up both pieces and place right sides together and pin. Then sew from top down to crotch on both sides.

Now open piece up so seams are in middle of front and back and place pins down leg sides and then sew from crotch down to bottom of leg for both sides.

Roll down the top waistband 1/4" and press and then fold over another 1 1/2 inches, press. Sew around, leaving a 1 inch opening where you will insert the elastic.

Using a safety pin, pull the elastic around the waist opening. Be sure to measure your child's waist. Cut and sew two ends of elastic together. You can hand sew the opening closed.

That is it. I am not an experienced seamstress, but was happy to make these in only about 20 minutes or so.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Happy Ten Years Abby

Our Abby turned 10 yesterday. She is such a beautiful daughter, wonderful sister, very creative and artistic, an excellent baker, quiet and thoughtful.

She began her day with her father taking her out to breakfast. This is how each of our children begins their birthday morning.

I decorated simply with a newly sewed banner and table quilt.

and sewed some goody bags which contained a lollipop, mints and a hand sewn ball filled with beans.

In the afternoon she had three friends over and with our family of eight - made a nice number of people.

They had an outdoor scavenger hunt that Abby made up: 4 different kinds of leaves, 2 different wildflowers, 2 feathers, 10 rocks, run and get your color flag at the end of the driveway, 50 pine needles, 10 ferns, 15 twigs.

She made a "Guess How Many Beans" jar.

Abby made and frosted her own cupcakes.

A simple birthday that I hope was filled with joy for you dear Abby. We love you.

Love, Mom

Sewing

On our way to do errands in town on Friday, our truck made a detour into the parking lot of our local fabric shop. My daughter Abby, age 8, went inside with me. We had a wonderful time searching through the by the pound remnants and I couldn't resist a stack of precut squares in country colors and patterns.

Over the weekend Abby and Isaac, age 10, have had lots of fun sewing up mini pillows for their stuffed animals. Sarah, age 4, wanted to be involved as well, so I came up with the idea of cutting her out some squares and triangles and letting her make her own quilt by gluing her pattern on a piece of paper.

I hope to try my hand at some simple quilts soon.

Warm wishes,

Tonya