Another winner

Now I get to show you the other sewing project that Courtney worked on for 4-H. This was a bit more challenging for her, because it involved a lot more fabric to maneuver under the presser foot! She and her mom picked out two colors of cozy flannel.

It involved setting some snaps. Courtney's hands weren't big enough to handle my KAMsnaps pliers, so I did that part, but she did the measuring and made the holes to set them through.

Almost done! Here she is, stuffing it...

... and now can you guess what it is?

It's a pillow bed!

It can be used for sleeping on, or propped up to lounge on, or read on...

... or just relax and be a little silly on.

It's very comfy! I know, because I tested it myself (but you don't need to see that photo). It also folds up completely, but I forgot to take a picture of that.

We used a tutorial found here. It was simple and fun to make, with lots and lots of straight stitching, which was good practice. She did a beautiful job, and it earned her a BLUE RIBBON! Yay!

Courtney's been dying to try it out overnight. She could hardly stand to wait for the fair to be over to do so. I have it on good authority that it's going to get tried out as a bed at her cousins' house this week. I suspect she will sleep very well!

Fashion Revue 2017

It's finally County Fair time! That means Courtney's projects have been judged and I can show them to you! She did fabulously!

The first sewing project she made for this year's 4-H competition was a skirt. She and her mom picked out the fabrics, and I helped her with the sewing. She learned to do some new things for this project... things like rotary cutting and ironing. Both were VERY closely supervised by me, as I didn't want any cut or burned fingers. She was very cautious, and all went well.

She also learned how to sew a waistband and insert elastic into it.

Here is the finished skirt. Such beautiful, straight stitching... all done by Courtney!

I took these pics of her the day she made it.

Then there was the public Fashion Revue that we got to watch last week. We had a perfect place to sit so I could get some good photos. She wore her skirt for her 'Constructed' project. (Grades 3-5)

I am proud to say she got a Reserve Champion on it!

She also had a 'Recycled' outfit, which was this.

Last but not least was her 'Purchased' outfit, which she also received a Reserve Champion on! Not only that, but she did such a great job of modeling at the Fashion Revue that she received a purple ribbon for Overall!

That's my beautiful, sweet, confident granddaughter! I am so proud of her! What a first ever Fashion Revue experience for her! Congratulations, Courtney!!

More project results later.....

Encore Clutch

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I'd completed another pattern test. The pattern was released today (well, yesterday in Australia)! It's another wonderfully written pattern by Erin (Erickson) Gilbey of Dog Under My Desk. It's full of very detailed instructions and many photos to demonstrate the how-to's, as her patterns always are. It's called the Encore Clutch, and it can be purchased here (at a special release price until Aug. 20th).

Here is my tester version:

The pattern includes templates for three sizes, and I chose to make the smallest one, because I'd had an idea of using this ribbon (designed by Jess for Renaissance Ribbons) which is only 5/8" wide, so I thought proportionally the small size would work the best. I think it was a good choice. The pattern includes instructions for adding piping or faux piping on the center panel.

The smallest wristlet only has room for a slip pocket for credit cards or whatever, whereas the larger two each have three card slots with a slip pocket behind them for dollar bills, receipts, etc.

The back side is just the background fabric, which in my case is linen.

It's about 6½ inches wide when finished. You can tell by my hand just how small it is.

I think its smallness makes it extra-adorable! It still can hold plenty, though, as all three sizes have pleats in the front and back that give it extra room.

It's a great scrap-buster for small pieces of fabric. All three sizes are fat quarter friendly, and you could make any kind of combination with that panel on the front. It was very fun to make, and it goes together very quickly. It's so fun, in fact, that I just may have made an encore Encore Wristlet (which I haven't gotten photos of yet) to try out making the card slots. Erin came up with a terrific technique for making them, and her instructions are so clear that you just couldn't fail making them 'just right'.

Check out Erin's blog post here for many photos of her Encore Wristlets plus more details about the pattern, and also for how to get even more of a discount if you decide to buy it! ;)

Geranium Top #2

Finally! After a postponement from last spring to this past July, Jess's Spring Quartet fabric for Cloud9 Fabrics has been released for sale! I just had to make another top from the Geranium Dress pattern (see the first one here) because I think the pink Bartlet babywale corduroy is just perfect for that (and because we just happen to have a new grandniece that I could sew it for). Here it is:

It's again the 6-12 month size, so unfortunately the tiny model cannot wear it yet and pose for you. The good news is that I got to use my new KAMsnaps pliers to put in the snaps on the back - yay!

This corduroy is very fine and soft, not heavy at all, so I think it'd be just fine for summer wear in case you happen to have a baby you want to sew for right away... or if you want to make something for yourself. Check out the Cloud9 page for inspiration. It's even been made into a quilt, which I think would be so soft and luxurious! Mmmm!