amy butler inspiration #5

And again!  More dots!  Coordinating with an older print.  I just love it.  This is one of my favorite fabrics.  This fabric from the Belle collection didn't strike me as being much from the little thumbnails I saw in my online fabric shopping.

image via maddymazestudios on Flickr

   But when a friend picked it out for her bag I had a chance to work with it and more importantly see it in person (read what I got in exchange!).  This is the bag I made.

One of my favorites, for sure!
The dark blue has a teal-ish quality, while the rest of the print boasts my favorite light blue/turquoise!  It's gorgeous.

Gorgeous enough that I bought a yard, framed it, and hung it on the wall.  Too bad the rest of the mantle doesn't look as good as the fabric.

Friday's the day!  Have you been spending some quality time with your Amy Butler stash?  This is the last inspiration post.  I'm really looking forward to it!   Let me know if you are planning on posting on Friday!

sew & tell - on a roll

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I don't know what's happened the last few weeks!  I feel like a sewing maniac!  You might be surprised to see two things that I have never made before.  And only one diaper clutch.  :)

I owe all of you a big thanks for keeping me going.  Part of getting these things finished is so that I have something to post each week too!  Otherwise, I'd have a ton of UFOs laying around. (Like the bumpers that I have cut out for my almost 5 year old daughter when she was a baby...)  I wasn't feeling too great yesterday (darn pollen) and I wasn't feeling like finishing up the big thing for today - but I went ahead and kept plugging away and it really only took about 15 minutes.  And I'm so glad I did!  So thank YOU!

Alright, first up.
I totally get the bunting thing now!  I keep seeing people make them and I've wanted to make on too.  I  just hadn't had a reason to until I helped my gorgeously talented (and gorgeous) friend throw a baby shower last weekend.  Here it is hanging up in my sunroom/sewing room/home office/workout room (I told you I was a multi-tasker!).

And here it is after the party had been staged.  I LOVE it so much and now I want to make one for every room in my house.  And I hope you noticed the Amy Butler Wallflower in there!

I just made a template out of a cereal box and used it as a guide to cut with my rotary cutter.  Then I sewed it to some hem tape, because that's what I had.  These aren't lined and may fray a bit, but then they'll be *vintage*.  Right? 

If you like gratuitous food and decor shots go here to see more of Heidi's magic!

Next up.
The gift for that shower.

Shocker, I know. I can't get enough of these!  And Amy Butler in Daisy Chain is always nice.

Lastly. (But not leastly.)
Are you ready?  Are you sure?  I finally got to the bedskirt with my newest fabric crush in my favorite colors.

And I love the way it turned out!  I'll admit, it was a little bit of a bugger to figure out.  I wanted to match up the large print and make sure it wouldn't look totally ridiculous.  I needed more than one width of fabric to make the long section, so I had to work that into the equation.  I really did do some algebra to figure some stuff out!  (My teachers were right after all... you may just need it some day!)

I ended up using a different dot for the inset pleat, but I thought it matched better.  And after all was said and done, I still screwed it up, but I'm not saying where and I don't want to know if you can figure it out.

I also have the mattress high right now, since she's still pretty little, so it will look a lot nicer when it's hanging to the floor.  And even better when this becomes her toddler bed.  The quilt is doubled up here, so it should get a lot of good use too!

The best part is I just used an old crib skirt for measurements and THEN instead of sewing it to a big piece of fabric, I JUST TAPED IT TO THE PLATFORM.  YEAH!  I felt like such a rebel/cheater!  I think it will actually work better and not get all wonky all the time.  I had read of several other people doing this too.  I may have to go back and tweak it a bit, but I'm happy with the tape method.

And thank you Target, for making awesome matching sheets (I bought 2) and cute-as-all-get-out Owl pillows!

oh, and can I tell you again how much I love my serger?  Especially for hems?

So if you made it all the way down here, THANKS! This was a long one.  Remember, next Friday is the big day!  I can't wait to see what you guys have been working on and I'm super excited about the giveaways!  I'm adding a few handmade things to the pot as well!    Leave me a comment today and tell me what you are working on for the Amy Butler Challenge (or for you over-achievers what you have already finished!)!


P.S. I'm not going to be around much this weekend - so if there are any questions or problems I will get back to you - it just might take a little longer.

What sewing project did you finish this week?

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1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

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amy butler inspiration #4

Here are some lovely clothing items made from some of my favorite Amy Butler prints!

Every little girl needs a twirly skirt! And one with roses AND polka dots? Priceless.  Am I too old to wear this?

image via littlegirlPearl on Flickr

And a little dress?! With coordinating sleeves and ruffle?  Yes, Please!  I have this pink and brown print for an apron...

image via personalized for you on Flickr

Speaking of aprons - wow. 

  image via pamwares on Flickr

I love how these full moon dots in green coordinate so well with all of her fabric lines.  It's from Lotus and above paired with a Daisy Chain print and here with Midwest Modern.  Genius I tell you!  I have several yards just waiting to be used for the perfect thing.  And I think I just thought of it....

There's still time to pick a project to post for NEXT Friday's Amy Butler Sew & Tell!  I'm getting so excited!

sew & tell - cute overload

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

How are you guys? I hope everyone has had a great week.  I was on a roll last week - I can't believe what getting your machine going for a few simple projects will do to a girl's motivation!  It helps that there are a ton of people here that are having babies for whom to make some little lovelies.

So to start off - how about another diaper clutch?  Hello, black and white and pink.  Have we met? Let's be friends.

I did a couple things different this time.  I added ribbon to swoop around the button instead of elastic (the elastic and I weren't getting along).  I also left out the interfacing.  Faster and the pink is a heavier linen weight, so I decided to do without the extra bulk.

I finally got around to the other dress from this pattern that I made earlier this summer.  It's a big hit!  I just need to get a picture of her modeling it.

These Nicey Jane fabrics are so . . . well, . . . nice.  And again, can I say how much I love my serger for finishing off all of those gathered inside seams!  Plus it makes hemming so much easier.

I have an Amy Butler project finished, but it's under wraps - I'll show it next week.  Hopefully along with this lovely fabric made into something extraordinarily fun! Any guesses?

I can't help it.  Every time I see this fabric laying around I want to take a picture of it!!

Don't forget! Only 2 more weeks!


What sewing project did you finish this week?

Please show good bloggy manners and follow the linky rules.  Refer to the sew & tell page   if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been  deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this  post (link or button) so everyone can join in.
3.  Pat each other on the backs in the comments! Please, don't just link up and leave, we all want to hear from you!
 

amy butler inspiration #3

image via studiocherie on Flickr

StudioCherie is amazing!  I found this chair cover and loved the image as well as the color  (no surprise there!) and print.  You can buy her pattern on Etsy here.
 
While browsing her photostream on Flickr I saw this and stopped breathing for a minute!

image via studiocherie on Flickr

It's so gorgeous!!  She sells the duffel pattern too.   Seeing these lotus prints makes me want bust into my stash!

sew & tell - pillows + pom pom fringe

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If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Just a few quick items before we get to the good stuff!
I got some great feedback from a lot of you on the sew & tell survey I posted last week.  Go check it out and give me your 2 cents if you haven't yet!
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Please show good bloggy manners and only link up if you can adhere to these guidelines.  One of the best parts of sew & tell is the encouragement we get from one another.  Try and visit others and not just link up and leave!  I know it's not possible every week, but that's part of the fun, right?
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So you do you want to see what I made this week?  Actually yesterday?  While I was waiting to see if Hurricane Earl was going to pay us a visit?  I was working on another project that needed a little more time than I wanted to spend on it.  Plus it wasn't made out of Amy Butler fabric.  I knew I wanted to get this little number done to go with the LOVE quilt.  So I put the other one aside (for next week) and I whipped this up!

Seriously, I love making pillows.  They are so fast and satisfying!  You will probably be seeing some more of them in the next few weeks.

And I can't stress enough how much I. LOVE. POM-POM. FRINGE.  Doesn't it just make it look so happy?

And the dots?  Oh how I love Amy's dots.  All of them.  Every time she comes up with new ones - I have to have them in all colors.  Or at least I think I do.

I used this awesome filler called Cluster Stuff by Morning Glory.  It's little pellets of stuffing so it's very soft and not lumpy at all!  (I may or may not have found it at a big blue box store that still had its sewing department.)


What sewing project did you finish this week?

Please show good bloggy manners and follow the linky rules.  Refer to the sew & tell page   if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been  deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this  post (link or button) so everyone can join in.
3.  Pat each other on the backs in the comments! Please, don't just link up and leave, we all want to hear from you!
 

amy butler inspiration #2

image via sewfunbymonique@ Flickr

Love this Belle Acanthus fabric and not sure I've ever seen it used before in this colorway.  I made a bag out of the same print (different colors) for my mother-in-law and fell in love with this fabric design.  (Go check out Monique's blog for some other fun things she's been working on.)

Do you have some out-of-print Amy Butler fabric that is screaming to get out of your stash and made into something you can enjoy?