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!