Snuggle Up! with Letter Pillows

I know a pair of girls who turned 7 this summer...  and I wanted to make them some personalized pillows in the shape of their initials.  This project is only slightly less basic than sewing a throw pillow - pretty simple. 

I began by drawing a pattern.

 My favorite method for sewing my own patterns (probably the "lazy" method) is to trace around my paper pattern with a pencil, then sew on that line.  This is quicker and easier than adding seam allowances to my pattern.  It also ensures that I stitch precisely where I want my seams to end up.  

I used a stretchy, soft fleece for the backs of my pillows. Super cozy!

Once I had sewn along my pattern line (leaving a couple inches open to turn my pillow right-side-out), I trimmed the edges and clipped the corners.

I typically use a large crochet hook when turning my projects, which allows me to push out crisp corners and edges without poking through my fabric by accident.  

The "A" challenged my spacial reasoning skills at first... 

I had to leave the center seam open in order to turn it right-side-out, then hand stitch it closed. 

Once turned, I stuffed my pillows (really really full, so as to avoid a "floppy" appearance) and hand stitched the opening closed.

I was so thrilled with how this quick project turned out that I made a couple for my own babes too!

A Little Hand Lettering

 

So much time has passed since my last post (nearly 7 months!?!).  I guess that's what you get when you are the mom of 2 kids under 2!  And, oddly enough, life has actually gotten easier since our graduation from the "2 under 2" club (Little J turned 2 a few weeks ago!).  He is also bubbling over with excitement about his new vocabulary, especially his ability to point out every car we pass on the road... The new Baby Coconut is almost 6 months old now, and finally following a loose daily routine - and sitting up all by himself! Busy, busy!

Luckily - for my own sanity - I have managed to make some time for myself lately to work on some art projects.  This one (above), is one that I painted for my mom to use as baby shower invitations back in November.  I added my invitation text digitally, then had them printed at Staples.  (My Autumn Baby Shower post can be viewed by clicking this link).

But the original painting had a big blank oval that I never had time to fill in.  I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to fill it with anyway... so this project got pushed to the back, back, back, back burner.  Until I had a free evening last week!

I painted a watercolor panda for Little J when I decorated his nursery, and I wanted baby #2 to have a Mommy Painting of his own.  Since I painted this little bad boy while I was pregnant with Baby Coconut (and since it was the inspiration for his baby shower theme), it seemed appropriate to officially make it his painting.  With hand lettering!

Autumn Baby Shower

It seems like the final weeks of this pregnancy are racing by.  It's as though every time I blink, an entire day has passed.  I'm in full-on, panic-stricken nesting mode now - at 34 1/2 weeks - and for the past few days I've been stuck on the couch with a yucky cold.  I keep scrolling down my huge to-do list, wishing I had the energy to get up and accomplish just one task.  And my main helper has been stuck in the adjacent recliner with the same cold, so the only thing we accomplished this week was finishing a full season of Supernatural on Netflix... 

I also managed to find the motivation to upload recent photos from the beautiful baby shower my mom hosted a couple weeks ago:

 Painting is one of my many hobby passions, so I was happy to provide some art for the invitations.

32 weeks pregnant! Ready to party...

I am so thankful to have such a wonderful network of women in my life - especially my mom! And I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the upcoming arrival of my second baby!  Every baby is a blessing and we really felt like Baby #2 was honored at this little party!

Autumn Woodland Baby Shower

The acorns on our table fell from my parents' oak tree a few weeks ago.  I painted them gold and glued the caps back on so we could use them for table decoration.  Super easy and adorable!

The brown "baby" letters I cut from scrapbook paper and my mom pinned them to a leaf garland with miniature clothespins. 

Hot Chocolate Bar

Coffee Creamer Bar

Acorn Donut Holes

Our hot chocolate bar was stocked with marshmallows, white chocolate chips, crushed peppermints and, of course, whipped cream.  My mom used a great crock pot recipe for the hot chocolate, which can be found here. 

We gave our guests some tasks to complete while they sipped their hot cocoa:  a Wishing Tree, Mad Lib and Diaper Message Center.

Wishing Tree

some lovely "wishes" for baby!

leaf confetti using a leaf punch

Our shower favors were little bags filled with a delicious autumn trail mix (recipe adapted from this one) using caramel-flavored candy corn and cranberries.

The men-folk enjoyed their time together (and the leftover shower treats)!

Ruffled Apron Tutorial

Yes! I know this post was promised weeks and weeks (and months) ago, but I finally got a chance to make another apron to share! This time I photographed the steps as I went so that my strange and confusing instructions might make a little more sense.  I must preface this tutorial with a disclaimer: I don't have a pattern for this project, and I never seem to use the same dimensions more than once.  Truthfully... I just sort of eyeball the whole thing (which isn't very nice of me and I yell at other bloggers who do just that in tutorials!)

Additional disclaimer: Due to updates to the Google+ Picasa Photo Editor, I can no longer add text to my photos.  My "Buckley House" branding will be gone for now - until I find a photo editor that I like.  Also, due to my frustration with this discovery and my innate stubbornness, I chose to not edit my photos at all (call it a rebellion?) so... they suck.  Apologies!

This is by no means a difficult project - I'd say, even with my lame instructions, that it only requires moderate skill.  It also requires very little fabric (I always use scraps for most of it).

The largest pieces of fabric needed are for the base/back of the apron itself and for the tie (that goes around your waist).  My rough dimensions for the base of the apron tend to be about 14 x 22 inches.  I typically use a neutral or dark color - this fabric will not really be seen from the front if you add ruffles the whole way up from the bottom.  I always hold the fabric up to myself to make sure it covers me from hip to hip and is long enough to keep counter-crud off of my pants.

Hem the edges of this piece of fabric about 1/4 inch (I double hem so that there won't be any risk of fraying edges)

The next thing I do is pick out a few coordinating fabrics for the ruffles.  I usually choose 4 fabrics, but it really depends on how tall you want your ruffles to be.

 

Do some simple math and calculate (adding about 1/2 an inch for hemming and another inch for overlap) how wide the ruffle strips need to be to cover the apron from top to bottom. For example, my apron base ended up being 12 inches tall after I hemmed its edges - in order for 4 ruffle strips to cover this, I cut them to be about 4-4.5 inches wide.  (12 inches divided by 4 fabrics = 3 inches each, plus 1.5 inches each for hem/overlap = 4.5 inches)

In order to determine the length of the strips, measure the width of your apron and add "half again more" (a phrase my mom always uses...) so since my apron was about 22 inches wide, I cut my strips to be 33 inches long.  (22 divided in half is 11.  22 + 11 = 33).  This allows for gathering to create the ruffled appearance.

I didn't take a photo of this part of the process... sorry :(

Next, I hem all the strips 1/4 inch (double hem if you want), but only on three sides, leaving one of the "long" edges raw.  This is the edge I will end up gathering, so I simply sew a zigzag down this edge to prevent too much fraying.  It could be hemmed, but I'm lazy. 

Next, gather that raw edge.  My technique for achieving this is to sew a straight stitch the length of the strip using the longest stitch setting my sewing machine will allow (about 4).   It will start to gather as you sew, but will probably need to be pulled even more to fit inside the width of the apron, so leave long tails of thread!  To gather to the desired length, pull the top thread tails on both ends.  (A wonderful tutorial for how to gather can be found here)

Then pin your ruffle to the apron back.  I usually start from the middle and work my way to the edges, so it doesn't end up too heavy on either end.  I always pin all of my ruffles before sewing any of them down in case I need to do any adjusting.

Overlap the ruffles by about an inch so that the raw edge is well hidden.  Then sew them into place!

 

The hardest step for me is always the waist band.  I usually have to piece two lengths of fabric together for this part because it is so long.  Measure around the part of your waist where you want the apron to be tied, then double that length (this measurement can be adjusted to your taste, depending on how long you want the ties to be). 

Once you have this measurement (let's say it's 60 inches), cut a strip of fabric 3-4 inches wide by 60 inches long. Fold and press the strip in half down the whole 60-inch length ("ugly" sides together) then fold the edges under and press and sew.

(You could also sew the strip "pretty" sides together and turn, but that requires turning 60 inches of fabric inside-out.  And trust me, that is not fun).

Once sewn, line up the middle of the waistband with the middle of your apron.  The top ruffle should still have a raw edge.  Make sure your waistband covers the raw ruffle edge completely and sew onto the front.  I always struggle with this part and the technique I use for this step varies from apron to apron (I know, not nice!).  The key is to make sure you don't have any raw edges showing, which usually requires sewing along the top and bottom of the waistband.  Good luck! 

I couldn't really use my pregnant self as a model, so my dresser had the honor of displaying the final product!

To see some of the other aprons I've made, including a couple Kid-Sized ones, check out my previous post here

Decorating for Fall

Fall is usually my favorite time of year: the cool air, crunchy leaves, scarves and jackets, hearty homemade meals... And I love decorating for this season.  I find significance in the task of pulling down all my summery flowers and brightly colored vases and replacing them with warm orange and brown decorations.  The house feels cozy when it's full of pumpkins, and my mood always shifts in a more positive direction after this symbolic change in decor.

In past years I have felt the urge to buy more fall decorations to suit our current home.  This year we are A) living in the same home as last year, B) on a tighter budget, and C) pregnant.  So the amount of effort I desire to put forth has dwindled a bit... but I still wanted to decorate!

So this is how I added some fall touches to my "normal" decor without spending any money or using up too much of my pregnant energy supply.

Leave usual decor as is, just adding fall items here and there

Add a stem of fall berries to an existing arrangement

Add fall leaves to an existing wreath

Incorporate fall decor amongst usual items on a mantel

I love garlands!

The Autumn sign hanging above my mantel was a freebie - I snagged a nice piece of wood from my dad's garage, glued on some silk leaves (with Mod Podge, of course), and painted on a fall scene.  I used colors and texture that made me think of Autumn in the park.  Once dry, I stapled some twine to the back (with the heavy duty staple gun from my "lady's" tool kit from college) and hung it up!