Diaper Sewing... Take 2

On a recent trip to Rock Hill I had to stop in at my second favorite Hobby Lobby to see if they had anything "different" than ours at home. (Any excuse to go to Hobby Lobby!)

I found THE most adorable piece of minky microfleece in the remnant pile marked 60% off. It had to come home with me.

Since lime green with polka dots is my all-time-favorite color and pattern combination, and I love to put Gray in MY favorite colors....It needed to become a diaper. Something soft and fuzzy for her little butt.

I changed my pattern a little bit from the last diaper I sewed her. I like the fit of the first one better. This one fits fine, but she will outgrow it quicker.

I lined it with one of Hubby's old undershirts, so it's suuuuuuper soft and worn in already.

Overall, It's pretty stinking cute.

And just for fun....some reading pictures.

She gets very excited to read her "Boooooks!!"

She "reads" them outloud. I always wonder what she thinks the book says.

Patterns Are Here!!!

That's right...I said PATTERNS...as in TWO!

Bella Bow Clutch

Carolina Breeze Bag

While my pattern testers were busy putting together their Carolina Breeze Bags, I was busy putting finishing touches on my Bella Bow Clutch pattern.

I love them both and have had so much fun making them Over and Over and Over again to get them right to make a pattern for YOU.

I made these three little babies last week...

I Love love love this leather clutch.

I decided to cave to the chevron trend. It's growing on me.

The pattern for the Bella Bow Clutch has an option for an interior pocket.

The Carolina Breeze Bag Pattern has options for a large bow and interior pockets.

Don't like to sew?? This one is for sale in the SHOP

Both of these patterns are super-simple and quick to sew, making them a great naptime activity for Mommy. They would make a wonderful gift as well.

You can also sell these bags in small quantities.

(Locally, or in an Etsy shop)

See the full listings HERE.

Pattern Testing

I have had some wonderful ladies working on pattern testing for the Carolina Breeze Bag pattern. I must say they have put some really fun and unique features into their bags, and really helped me out with finalizing the pattern! I had made the bag so many times that I had to make sure that it was as easy as I thought it was, and that I wasn't just making up steps with each bag as I went along. This is where pattern testing is SUPER helpful.

I made one more bag to use to write the tutorial for the pattern, and I think it's my favorite so far.

Here are my Testers' creations from the new pattern:

Alicia from Little Pieces of Us made this one. She opted to use a button instead of a bow. What a unique touch!

Rebecca of My Crazy Beautiful Life made this one using....a DISH towel for her fabric! She found a great chevron towel and wanted to use it to make hers...and it's fantastic.

My "online-friend" Amy made this sweet little number...

I love it in PINK!

Kelli from  Small Town Stitcher made this great Brown and Red bag...

Tara of Mommy Head Adventures made this sweet striped one. I LOVE the stripes!

A HUGE Thank you to these ladies for testing out the pattern and giving me great feedback to make it better for YOU!!

The Pattern will be available in the shop TOMORROW!!!

Sooooo excited!!

Pattern Naming

I've never really thought about pattern naming. Honestly, I've never really thought about patterns. I only learned to sew less than a year ago (Thanks Granny!!) and have fallen Waaaaay head-over-heels in love with creating on my sewing machine. If you had asked me this time last year if I would be making digital sewing patterns I would have (politely) laughed in your face.

I don't even sew with patterns because I can never get the right fit. I've tried a few times, and had a couple of successes, but mostly failures. I'm more of a "cut the fabric and see what happens" kind of girl. This probably isn't the most practical, but it works for me.

Back to naming patterns. Coming up with the patterns, or finished piece, is the easy part. You see a vision in your head of something you want to make, you make it, then you make it again and again and again until you come up with a usable pattern. Naming is the tricky part. A lot of the items currently in my SHOP are named after what color they are, or what they remind me of. There are a lot of food names, mostly because that's something I think about a lot...food.

Now that I'm making more bags, and more bag patterns (coming soon!!!) I've been trying to think of names for all of them. After all of the time and love that goes into making them, I think they should have a personal name. The Carolina Breeze Bag got its name from our many beach trips, and me wanting a super-light and medium sized bag to carry with me.

The two new bags I'm working on need "people" names. I'm considering starting to go through my list of girlfriends, see who the bags remind me of and use their names. Hopefully they won't mind. I think they're both girly and pretty, so they should be fitting.

I'm hoping Gray plays sweetly and is on her best behavior this weekend so that lots of work can get done. If not...I'll take a Mommy-daughter-play-day anytime!!