Divided Basket

My friend A loves color and pattern. She also wants her things, and her kids' things, to be organized. I've made several fabric baskets for her to contain mail, Legos, and random items. Today I finished a fabric basket with an internal divider for holding board books and toys between the carseats in the back of the car. By piecing the canvas lining instead of beginning with one large rectangle, I was able to insert the dividing panel in partially-sewn seams right before joining the lining to the outside of the bucket. I'm pleased that my puzzling skills yielded the result I intended. That doesn't always happen with fresh projects.

Halloween Bucket

My new nephew is gearing up for his first Halloween. He plans to go around the neighborhood dressed as a penguin. Even though he's only a little over 4 months old, folks are sure to give him candy. He'll need a place to store it until he eats that kind of food, or has teeth, for that matter. I reprised a cute scarecrow applique-patterned fabric bucket for the job. Made exactly according to the pattern, it still looks different from the same bucket I made for my son and another made for an older nephew. Once again, I prove to myself that I really do need to keep buying fresh fabric. That way, when I repeat old patterns, the result still looks brand new.

This Is Why We Don't Have Pets

The month after my first child was born, I got it in my head that I needed a new hobby. It would need to be something I could do while the baby napped, an event I imagined would happen so regularly and in such length that I would need a meaty hobby to fill my vast spare time. So, I bought a sewing machine. I planned to make marvelous quilts and assorted items for my home, so I splurged on a glorious German sewing machine. The truth of young children allowed years of dust to gather on the machine, but I've sewn and quilted periodically over the years. Since launching a farmers' market business, the machine chugs along nearly every day....until now. In one week, the fuse has blown on a circuit board the company no longer makes, and the bobbin hook has failed completely. Somehow, my geeky husband replaced the fuse (after taking this colorful reference photo of the guts of the sewing machine), and the hook was swapped out. The lady at Sew Sassy who replaced the damaged bobbin hook advised me to start researching a replacement machine. I don't want a replacement. I want my regular machine; I know how it works; I know how it sounds. My fingers find the function buttons without my eyes needing to look for them. I am experiencing the hobby version of stages of grief over the impending loss of my best tool and toy, and I don't like it. The whole process of frustration and denial and grief reminds me why we don't have real pets. My sewing machine has been my pet, and it will be some time before a replacement feels as comforting.

Rainbow Room Rest

My niece would like her whole bedroom to reflect her current favorite color scheme: rainbows. My sister has repainted the wooden stuff-and-stuff bins on her shelves in all the colors of the rainbow and clustered multi-hued paper lanterns up at the ceiling in one corner of the room. To jazz up the bed, I made these two-sided chevron pillow covers with piping. They are huge (26 inches square) and will comprise the last layer of pillows on a rainbow-themed bed. I'll mail them in the morning because I know that everything for a 6-year-old is time-sensitive. They are washable (flu season is coming) and generic enough to migrate to another kid-friendly room in the house when my niece moves on to her next theme.

But Wait, There's More

I just couldn't resist. The Urbana Market at the Square runs into November each year. Typically, I commit to the summer Saturdays I will have a booth there during the winter. This year, I'm ready for a little more. I have registered for another Saturday market, this coming Saturday. Expect to see some of my new fabric made into new baskets, pouches, purses and key fobs. I will also have small Halloween-themed baskets for holding the prime candy of the upcoming season.

Maxi Piping

The kids are back at school. The rush of summer farmers' markets is over. The holiday craft market season has yet to begin. I have crafting time on my hands. Sewing is an easy venue for me to employ the life strategies I would wish to use all the time. For example, when I have more time, I'd like divert extra energy to learning something new. Right now, I'm curious about piping. Thanks to the internet and Pinterest for the directions to add piping to pillows and bean bags. When the kids aren't home, my family room looks coordinated and customized with zippered and (even) piped pillow covers and a bean bag piped in turquoise.

Fitted Cover

My friend K is changing the scheme in her family room. Part of the make-over is a slip-cover for a large ottoman she uses as a coffee table. She found lovely fabric online, and I constructed this basic boxy cover. I aimed to have the diamonds on the fabric march around the four sides. They cooperated. Installed in her home with a tray on top, the ottoman coordinates with new persimmon-colored couches and chairs to be slip-covered in painter's cloth (my next furniture project). Photographed here is K's ottoman next to my own gray couch. I like it! As a bonus, I had to pick up the Legos and books from the family room floor to take the picture. Even without a new-looking ottoman, my house is refreshed.

Y2K Pegs

My first child was born in April of 2000. At the time my husband and I were painting the new baby's bedroom gender-neutral yellow stripes and buying teenie diapers and back-up pacifiers, the news ran stories of folks stock-piling general essentials in case computers, traffic lights and banking systems went hay-wire when the century changed. One baby's room project was a peg board for displaying cute clothes. My husband carved frolicking rabbits into the board, then bought pre-made maple pegs to finish up. The pegs came in a box of 50, vastly more than he needed, but much cheaper on a per-peg basis than just buying the 6 he would use. Let's call it his Y2K preparations.

We have been working through that box of pegs ever since. Now that our son is half-way through middle school, we have reached the bottom of the box. I love, love, love my new wall storage rack for oil cloth and laminated cotton rolls. Three rows of stout maple pegs give plenty of support to my raw materials. No trip to the hardware store is necessary; we have the ingredients for countless projects right here at home.

Sewing and Minecraft

Over the long, very hot summer, the go-to activity at my house has been playing Minecraft. All my kids (and my husband, too) have created elaborate worlds, filled with houses, railroads to nowhere, bottomless swimming pools with diving boards and vast farms of wheat, red and yellow flowers and sheep. They have learned that if you put two adult sheep together you will get a lamb. The baby will be the color of one of the parents. My son performed a vast, virtual Mendelssohn pea experiment with Minecraft sheep, all housed in separate pens and sorted by color to prove that traits are passed down through the generations. Lately, my sewing has been working the same way. My so-called large essentials bag is designed to look big enough to be a gift. It can contain bathroom supplies, home office bric-a-brac, or cords and chargers for travel. My sister gives large essential bags filled with baby items as shower gifts.

One of my customers, W, asked for a slightly taller and deeper bag to be made out of oil cloth and laminated cotton to serve as a toiletries bag. (in back of photo) At a recent farmers' market, A asked me to put a handle on a large essentials bag. She saw the shape and size as purse.

Tweaking my standard pattern, these projects push me to move to a new generation of sewing items.

Cover It Up

I love, love, love to sew the same thing over and over again. Varying only the fabric, I relish the productivity of repetition. And yet, there isn't much chance that I'll learn something new if I repeat a pattern indefinitely. This is why it's good to attempt the occasional one-off project. My friend A wanted a cover for her toaster. She knew she wanted the letter and the orange dot fabric worked in. Using my mom's sewing machine cozy as inspiration, I made this. It wasn't difficult, but it was something I haven't made before. It's good to vary the routine.

Christmas in July

My daughter turns 7 in November. She has started her birthday wish list already. It is dominated by various lovelies we have seen at the Eclectic artist co-op on Main Street in Urbana while we add to the stash of pouches and whatnot I'm selling there. My daughter's enthusiasm for approaching holidays is a good reminder that the best time to prepare for special events is when you see something you like. The above Christmas fabric is new; I bought it because it's time to get ready.

Nephew's Luggage

I have a new nephew. Though he is quite small, he needs supplies. This denim and Ed Emberley dragon print diaper bag should hold the necessities for a little boy out and about. The zippered top closes over two open interior pockets, one snapped pocket and a zippered compartment for valuables. Outside is another zippered pocket and an open pocket with elastic across the top to allow some expansion. The shoulder strap adjusts and removes, in case Mom and Dad want to carry the bag by side handles instead. Enjoy, Baby Simon!