A Design Wall for my New Sewing Room

My sewing room - built in November 2021 - is still a work in progress. Once I divided my sewing area into two separate stations, I no longer had a good space to set my (giant) design wall, but fortunately my husband and son came to the rescue.

My design wall had originally been an entire panel of drywall covered by quilt batting. It went floor-to ceiling, but it covered the outlets wherever it went. They trimmed it down, and re-taped the batting.

and then they mounted it on the wall next to my window, right behind my ironing board.

Now, no more climbing behind my design wall to plug things in. And no more loose & tilt-y design wall! This design wall fits tightly against the (real) wall, and I can admire whatever's on it while I iron my stuff. 

Definitely a wonderful upgrade for my sewing room.

Peekaboo Vader Baby Pants

White pants for littles is always a dicey idea, but I have had surprisingly good luck with custom fabric resisting stains. This "Peekaboo Vader" print came up during a special "May the 4th" event at Knitorious Fabrics, and I... just couldn't resist the cuteness. 

The pattern, as usual, is the Bunny Bottoms by Apple Tree patterns. Their grow-with-me line has been a hit among all my friends with toddlers. 

I was able to get two pairs of these (3m-12m) out of a yard. Needless to say my SIL kicked up her heels in joy when she learned they were for her twin boys. 

Surrender to the Warmth of Minky

One of my favorite fabric hosts puts on a lovely Blank-A-Palooza every year, and it's my favorite time to buy fabric for gifts. Blankets are fast to sew up, and all my nieces and nephews are crazy about their "Magic Blankets." Normally I stick to kid blankets when I buy Double Sided Minky (it's expensive, for one), but when this showed up on the site, I knew only an adult-sized blanket would do for my Mother in Law.

It turns out an adult-sized custom blanket topper (which clocks in at a luxurious 72" tall by 60 inches wide) weights in at 3.5 lbs... and that's before you put the backing on! I backed this with Kammie Lou Lou's Signature Brushstrokes in Emerald, and gifted it when my in-laws visited. That put a smile on her face. 

Magic Mouse Shirt

I think I've about covered it all when it comes to my Dad's love of daughter made collared shirts. But it's still fun to find new ways to combine Dad's favorite fandoms - Harry Potter, Trains, and Disney - and in spring of 2022 I pulled a new beauty out of my stash. 

As usual, the pattern was the Peekaboo Patterns Yukon, but this time I had not only my awesome new sewing room (yay!) but also a little help for the job: my son decided that my sewing chair was the perfect size for a little bit of gaming while Mom sewed. 

As usual the collar could have been a little more perfect, but I was pleased with the way it turned out.

At scale and with such a vivd pattern, the shirt was hard to photograph on its own.

But fortunately when I needed to take photos I got some modeling help! Due to timing, this shirt had to be mailed. Dad's shirts are so big they don't really look great on the hangar, but fortunately I had two awesome kiddos (grandkiddos for Dad) who were happy to help me out.

That's little I rocking the shirt above, and A below, test-driving grandpa's new garb. 

And fortunately, the US postal service brought the shirt to grandpa safe & sound. 

Hooray for another success!

Rescuers Magic

You can never have too many Magic Blankets, right? This one might be a little feminine for my Rescuers-loving nephew, but Rescuers fabric is hard to find & he loves his magic blankets so... when I saw it I jumped on it anyway. 

This blanket was gifted in March of '22, making sure my three local nephews always have enough magic blankets to last until laundry day!

Godzilla Hoodie

For the most part, my kids are aging out of wanting my creations. But my son is a huge Godzilla fan, and when I saw this print I just had to take the risk.

And quite the risk it was: this print came from a fabric host in the UK, so it cost more and took longer to get here. But, I needn't have worried: the second my son saw it, it was love at first sight. 

Picking a pattern proved to also be a challenge - the print is very stunning, but very busy if you get too much together - and there was no panel option for blending. So, I settled on the Max & Meena Max Raglan (a kiddo favorite) with the featured print on the hood and sleeves. I tied it together with a tan from PurpleSeamstress that made the print pop. Here it is from the back:

And here it is up front!

It took me a little while to put this together, but my son was very pleased with the final product. And I was happy to have an enthusiastic live-in wearer of my sewing again!

Letsa Dress Baby in Mario!

2021 may be over, but the year of the baby boy continued in 2022! In January one of my closest friends gave birth to a new son, and my daughter's favorite person to share outfits with gained a new baby brother. The whole family is full of Mario fanatics, so this print was perfect. 

This set consisted of shorties, a baby cap, a blanket, and some pillows. The shorties and baby cap are from the Peekaboo Patterns Lullaby line - the Chicka Chicka Bum Bums and the Hat & Mittens Patterns respectively. I really can't recommend Peekaboo Patterns enough; that line is my go-to for baby things and I've been happy with every pattern I've downloaded from there. 

The blanket is, as always, a "Magic Blanket," meaning it's made of incrdibly soft, incredibly cuddly Luxe Double-sided Minky. This one had a great Mario scenic, and I always just sew wrong-sides together, turn, hand-stitch the turning hole closed and then do a line of zig-zag stitches 1" from the outside to help the blanket keep its shape.

This time, I also couldn't resist the urge to add pillows. This particular custom offering came with a set of pillow panels. I ordered them in the "magic" fabric, and then (having learned my lesson on the Final Fantasy pillows, where hand-stuffing them got lumpy pretty quick) I put them over 12x12 pillow forms from Joanns. Double-sided Minky stretches a lot, so I'm not sure how the pillows will wear in the long run. But they looked pretty cute when I finished with them!

This set was gifted in Jan 2022, and in retrospect shorties were not the best gift for a winter baby, but the hat got plenty of use!

A Cousin is Born

My Colorado nephew might have received a Bob's Burger blanket (CL backed with JoAnn's Minky), and a Game of Thrones blanket (Custom Minky) at his shower, but this was his first true "Magic Blanket:"

This toddler topper set, made with "Luxe" (double-sided) Minky (aka the Magic Material) was preordered at my favorite fabric host's Blank-a-Palooza in September.  It arrived in December amidst the Christmas-and-Construction craziness, so it  got sewn in January! The artwork is even more stunning in person, and it was a perfect fit for my nephew's Lion King themed nursery.