I’ve been wanting to take my sewing to the next level, and start sewing more professional looking items. I’m also going to venture into sewing clothes for myself, my husband and my daughter. Plus, with all the diapers I’ve been sewing lately, I wanted to make that a bit easier too.

So I splurged, and bought myself this:

A new serger!! At first, I wasn’t sure if I really “needed” a serger. Its possible to sew any garment or project without one, you just have to take extra steps to ensure your raw edges don’t fray. I had also heard that the learning curve with a serger can be a steep one, especially when it comes to threading the machine or surging corners and round edges.

However, the one reason I really wanted to get the serger was that I love the look of serged fitted diapers. I think they look really cute, and I had also heard that a serged diaper comes together much faster than a turned and topstitched one.

From diaperkit.com, a comparison of serged and topstitched diapers.

So after lots of debate, I decided to purchase one, and I received it on Valentine’s Day. And I must say, I got so much more than I expected with the machine. You can do decorative edges on your garments, decorative topstitching, and so much more! Plus, I love the fact that when sewing a seam, you sew it and finish the edges at the same time, saving you time. Also, serging goes so much faster than a straight sewing stitch, saving time there as well!

I’ve spent lots of time serging scrap pieces of fabric, learning curves and different methods. I’ve also threaded and rethreaded the machine numerous times, to learn how to do it correctly. This learning time I took was really beneficial, and I’ve already been able to start with projects using my serger!

I serged a fitted diaper for my daughter, and I think it turned out really well for a first attempt!

Of course, the serger didn’t take away all the extra steps you need a sewing machine for, but it sure cut the time to make the diaper in about half for me!

I’m also currently working on a shirt for my husband, and I have purchase a couple of patterns to make my daughter. I also bought a pattern for shirts to make myself, but they are a bit more advanced and I will probably wait until I am more confident with my serger before trying them.

Does anyone else have a serger? Do you think its a good investment? I love mine!!

Today I wanted to show a gift my mom gave me: a beautifully stamped notebook. The cover, inside cover, dividers, and pockets are all stamped with a colorful flower theme. As you can see it is still blank inside because it’s almost too nice to be used, but I will fill it up soon when I find something worthy to fill it up with.

And then on the inside, more surprises! Nothing that she makes is ever boring!

I think decorating the dividers would be great for a child’s school notebook too, for the different subjects or a theme they like.

I have also stamped large and tiny pocket notebooks, pens, pencil cases, and index card boxes. Target sells a lot of these blank brown, cardboard paper products that make great gifts, so get stamping!

Bill Dooley October 20, 1953 – February 24, 2004

” Bill Dooley was the first missionary Bruce knew: “I remember thinking, this guy is NEAT-he’s so real and personal.”

“conversations with ABWE missionary Bill Dooley inspired and motivated Beth to consider missions as God’s specific will for her life.”

I would like to introduce you to Bill Dooley, my dad. He was a missionary for 14 years in Chile and later a recruiter for the same missions agency. He encouraged many to know God and love Him. At 50 yrs old, 3 years ago today he flew away leaving us with a hole in our hearts that would never heal. He was a great man and we miss him so much.

I wanted to share with you what I have made for my family so we will always remember him and keep him near. He wore this great sport coat all the time. He looked great in it. It was his favorite. For my mom’s birthday I made this bag for her from his coat. I attached his name tag he wore while he was at conferences and a great picture of his teethy grin. Love that smile!

I made the inside out of the shirt they got on their Alaska cruise their 25th wedding anniversary. The tie tips were a few of his favorites. The blue one he wore at our wedding when he married us. She loved the bag and it’s nice to know that a peice of him is still close to her.

I really started missing him a lot when I got pregnant and wished Lucy could know him. It kills me that they won’t get to play together. So I made her this Lion. (I have a slight obsesion with lions thanks to the Chronicles of Narnia) Papa the Lion is also made from the same sport coat. Recognize the tie? same one. This is the only way I know to keep him close. When you loose a loved one won’t you do the same? Don’t throw all their things away but make something new and keep them close. It’s all we have left of them. Thanks for letting me share this with you on this very special day to me and my family.

I’ve been working on wool covers for my daughter to wear with her cloth diapers. Wool has some amazing properties, it can absorb up to 40% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet, and it allows for airflow which helps prevent diaper rashes. Also, it never stinks!

I’ve been trying two different types of wool covers - wraps and soakers. The first one I made was a wrap that I completed using the Tickle Turdle online pattern.

I used the yarn that I had previously dyed and accented it with purple to make it a bit more “girly”. The wrap turned out okay, but I don’t really like the fit of it on Elizabeth. I think I will try to alter the pattern, making the tabs longer and changing the leg holes a bit.

The second type of wool cover that I’ve looked into is a soaker. I haven’t been able to find a pattern for a soaker in crochet that I like, so I decided to make up my own.

It didn’t turn out very well I had done the first body part in the round, and then switched to back and forth to decrease for the legs. This caused the stitches to look different from each other. I messed up when decreasing at some point, and so I ended up with an odd number to bind with an even number (at the top of the legs) which caused it to bind crooked. The legs are different as well. But now I know where I need to improve the pattern, and I will try again!

If anyone has a good link to a crochet soaker to share, I would love to see it

My fingers have been busy lately! I have become really addicted to felting, which is knitting with wool yarn and washing it to shrink it about 1/3 of its original size. I have posted several times before about the magical mytery of felting and wanted to show off the WIP from a few weeks ago that is finally finished! I can’t stop lately. As soon as I finish one I cast on another. Right now I am working on a gray bag with a pink, puple, ivory, and gray swirly border.

I have an orange bag just like the green one that I often carry and have been encouraged by friends to try and make them to sell so I am excited to try it out. (Anyone interested?)

I am so happy with how they have turned out, which I can’t always say about my work. Felting is magical!

We are getting ready for the fair coming up in April. I’ve been going crazy trying to make sure everything is in order. The idea was much funner in my head. Pulling it off is going to be a miracle. I know it will all be worth it. To chill I just sit and knit.

I came up with this knitted bag pattern that is super easy. There are two things I hate - purling and seams! If I can come up with something where I never have to purl a row or stich something up when i’m done then i’m thrilled!! That is just what I did with these bags. I used the Peaches n’ Cream cotton yarn and double stranded the solid color to make it more sturdy.

I started by casting on 40 stiches on a size 7 and knit in garter stitch for about 5 or 6 rows. Then I picked up the stitches around the edge ending up with a total of 90, give or take a few. At first it is too narrow to put on one circlular needle so I knit with 2 circulars as you would with double pointed needles. I knit the rest of the bag in the round. Adding the verigated yarn about half way thru and finishing up with the rest of the solid color. I made the strap by casting on 100 stiches and knit about 6 rows of garter stitch. I used some fabric I had left over from some Ikea curtains to line it and made a button with fimo. I love the way they turned out. I’m working on a green one now. So i’ll have my little collection of 3 similar ones for the fair.

It’s nice to know I just used some random stuff i had around the house for this. I didn’t spend any money on this and they will sell for at least $15. What would you pay to benefit a ministry in Mexico?

I am so excited about this, I just had to post about it right away! This is a hat that I finished on the weekend, I needed a warm hat for when I go walking in the cold, and I love the look of cables. I’ve always been scared of cables though, they look so intricate and hard, and I’ve never tried them. I decided this weekend to give them a go, and I was surprised at how easy they are!

I found a free pattern online, and I followed it as written, except that I made it bigger (I have a big head ) and I did an additional row of SSK at the end of the pattern, to make the hole at the top of the hat minimal. I should have made it a touch longer, as it only covers the very top of my ears, but it does keep my head warm and that was the goal.
There are a few mistakes that I can see, but all in all I’m really happy with how it turned out. And now I’m not scared of cables.

Here is a great gift idea that you could make and give your loved one for Valentine’s Day. This is what the box looks like put together:

The lid comes off, and this is what is found inside:

I got the idea for this from the cricut.com messageboard, but you don’t need a Cricut to make it. What you do need is 3 pieces of 12×12 cardstock, one piece of 6×6 cardstock and matching paper and/or embellishments you want to use. Start by scoring lines on one piece of cardstock 4 inches apart, making the paper look like a tic-tac-toe board. Cut out the four corners.

On another piece of cardstock, score the lines 3.75 inches apart, and cut out the corners. Repeat with another piece of cardstock, making the lines 3.5 inches apart. You will have to trim the length of the edges as well, as much as you want. I chose to round my corners and distress the edges of the layers at this point.

To make the lid, take the 6×6 piece of cardstock and score it at 1 inch all the way around. Do a straight line clear across the side of the cardstock on each side. Cut very carefully one line on each side so that you can tuck it up under the next side and tape it. Don’t cut past the one inch score line.

Fold the sides in, and glue to secure. Now you can begin layering your cut pieces, putting the smaller ones on top of the larger ones and adhering the middle squares only. Once the box is together, you can decorate and embellish each layer as you want. I did it this way, and found that it might be easier to decorate each layer before you assemble it, but that’s a personal choice.

My box isn’t quite finished yet, I want to add some journaling in the middle of the box, and I haven’t decided how I want to decorate the outside of the box yet. But it worked up pretty fast, one evening, and it makes a unique gift.

Ok, so the secret is out. I’m. addicted. to. stencils. i can’t help myself!! They are soo much fun and so easy. You can make a special personalized gift for anyone with this great idea.

I love this picture! Two of my favorite people in the world. For Christmas this year i gave my best friend Kim a T-shirt that read: Lucy *heart*’s me and a onesie that said KiKi (what Lucy will call her one day) *heart*’s me. Along with the shirts i gave her a coupon for a photo shoot of her and Lucy. We got some great shots. This was one of my favorites. you can see the shirts really well and Lucy looks like she is flying.. AHH love that kid!

The way i work my stencils is i print out what i want my stencil to say, trace it on the Freezer Paper, then cut it out with an exacto knife. Or sometimes i just draw up some silly design on the matte side of the paper & cut it out. Here’s what they looked like after i ironed on the design b4 paint. (if you are trying this, be sure to iron on another piece of Freezer Paper on the inside of the shirt, shinny sides facing each other, so your paint doesn’t bleed thru.) Then i just use any fabric paint, usually mix the glitter fabric paint in pretty much every time! I’ve said it before- love the bling Just peel off the stencil as soon as your done and voila!

This is one of my favorites, a onesie for a friend’s baby. Her name is Vienne. Love this font, thought it was kinda french just like her name..

The other thing i’ve enjoyed is the dye resist. Some of these onesies i dyed and then stenciled with paint. Some of them i stenciled b4 the dye, applying dye resist, as i would paint. When you put it in the dye bath that area doesn’t dye to the intensity as the rest of the garment. (i’m sure you could get the same effect by applying bleach on a colored garment) The bottom 3 are done this way. It looks super cool. Hope this inspires you to start stenciling.

I was going to wait and post this next week but I’m just so excited I couldn’t wait!

While I was at JoAnn’s a few weeks ago, I found this yummy fabric that I knew would look great somewhere in the house. I hadn’t decided what I was going to do with it until I walked in the kitchen and this site stuck out like a sore thumb:

We have limited storage space in our kitchen, so I bought this roll cart to put food in and to add to our also limited counter space. So I decided to make a skirt for it to hide the metal part, and also it’s contents. My mom came over this morning to show me how to use my machine and the first seam that I stitched I was in love with it. I can tell this is going to be a beautiful friendship.

So I worked for two hours, piecing the skirt together, then I finished the edges, added some ribbons, and there you have it - a cute covering for a metal kitchen contraption.

I think it turned out great and I had so much fun doing it! I can’t wait to think up more things to do with my sewing machine (and I know the possibilities are endless).