Top from Japanese Sewing Book

I fell in love with this top when I first saw the cover of this Japanese Sewing Book (I don't think it is translated to English) and it was put it on my "things to sew" list...
When I was visiting a local shop, I found a beautiful shot cotton in a similar color, I immediately thought about the top.

Ok, it is a little bit brighter, but I still like how it turned out. It was a very straight forward and easy to make pattern; I enjoyed making the shirt.

I used left over faux fur from another project I did recently and made this scarf. It is so fun to coordinate the things you made yourself.

I love this top so much so that I am probably going to make more in the future with different colors. Simple and versatile white or nice and soft muted green...who knows, I will know when I see the perfect fabric for this. :)

Gray Apron Skirt

I have been wanting to make an apron skirt but no luck finding a pattern that I exactly wanted. I looked through my old Japanese pattern books(I bought 20+ years ago!) and found a couple patterns that I thoguht I can combine some aspects from both of them and create my own and that's what I did.

There are a few things I would change if I decided to make this in a different color, but I like how it turned out. Mr.Tea Rose Home said I look like a "farm girl" from the old movies... ok, maybe a little. :)

Quilt Block Charms and More Sunnyside Avenue Projects

I have been making some fun things with Sunnyside Avenue fabrics designed by Amy Smart. This is her second fabric line and it is such a fun and cheerful collection. I have been playing with them and made a couple things in the last few month.

Have you had a chance to take a look at the bag I made back in June? If you missed it, here is the link to the tutorial.

I also couldn't resist maing some bottle cap pincushions with them. Aren't they so cute together? This is such an easy project to do and perfect addition to the Christmas gift exchange with your quilter/seamstress friends.

Now, I made some quit block charms. The idea popped in my head and I couldn't resist. You can make this with pretty much any quilt block designs you desire, but I recommend picking ones with a simpler design. It gets trickier to work with seams, since the blocks are so small.

Here are the four charms that I created and the measurements for them.

*PinWheel (finished size 3 1/4" x 3 1/4")

Cut 2- 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" squares from light fabric
Cut 2- 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" squares from dark fabric

Amy has a great tutorial about Half Square Triangle Short Cut on her blog. With that, you can just piece them together to create the pinwheel.

*Simplex Star (finished size 3 1/2" x 3 1/2 ")

To make 4 half square triangles
Cut 2 - 2"x 2" squares from red polka dot fabric
Cut 2 - 2"x 2" squares from Blue background with white flower fabric

Cut 4 - 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares from red and white fabric for corners
Cut 1 - 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" square from red polka dot fabric for center

*Aunt Ruth's Fancy Finished size 2 3/4 "x 2 3/4")

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 3" strips from white background with yellow flowers
Cut 1 - 3/4" x 3" Strips from navy fabric
Piece them together Navy fabric in between the white fabrics. Cut in half.

Cut 1 - 3/4" x 3/4" sauare from white back ground with yellow flowers
Cut 2 - 3/4" x 1 1/2" strips from navy fabric
Piece them together white fabric in between the navy strips

Use the picture as a guide; piece all the pieces you made and finish the block


*Log Cabin (finished size 3" x 3")

I started with a red square in the middle, which I cut in to a 1 1/4"x 1 1/4" square. Cut the same size of green fabric and piece them together. Then you can keep adding the 1 1/4" wide strips to create a log cabin look.

After I completed the blocks, I finished them with the same steps that I finish a quilt, except, I didn't add batting in between the top and the backing. It will add extra bulk and it is going be harder to quilt. The string is actually elastic, so it is easier to put it on purse handles and such. The scissor charm and little wooden spools are an extra touch which is a completely personal choice on whether to add them or not.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the post today!

Let Them be Little Baby Quilt (Giveaway!!)

Have you had a chance to take a look at a adorable new fabric line by Simple Simon and Company? It is called Let Them Be Little (When I heard the name of the new line, I already knew I would love it!!).

As you can guess by the name, it is geared towards babies and toddlers, but I see some designs are very much suitable to create whatever your heart desires.

I had a chance to create something fun with them and I decided to make a baby quilt. If you are a long time reader, you know that I don't have a baby at home...guess what? I
am giving away the quilt!!! I will let you know how to enter at the end of the post, but let me tell you how I made the quilt.

I drew out the pattern and made the quilt. I don't have a pattern for you to purchase or to download, but here is what I did.



Gingham Baby Quilt
finished size 40 1/2" x 58 1/2"

*What you will need

Black --- 1 1/2 yard (3/4 yard for the top and 1/2 yard to make bias tape)
Gray --- 1 1/4 yard
White --- 1/2 yard
Backing, batting, thread and proper equipment to make a quilt

*How to

1. Cut 35-5"x 5" pieces from the black fabric, 58-5"x 5" pieces from the gray fabric and 24-5"x 5" pieces from the white fabric.

2. Use the picture as a guide, lay the squares out and piece them together. (using an iron for between piecing will help the finished top come out much nicer)

3. Base the quilt, quilt, and bind.

*Here is the link to how to make bias tape if you know how.


Ta-da! And here is the finished quilt. Now, are you interested in finding out about the giveaway???

The rule is simple, just leave a comment here and tell me your favorite things to sew. That is it! It is easier for me to do a giveaway at one place, so I encourage you to 1.follow me on instagram and 2. to leave a comment on my giveaway post there (that counts as two entries!). But, if you choose to leave a comment here, I will count that in. ;)
I will close the giveaway midnight Friday MDT, and announce the winner on Saturday morning. Good luck everyone!

Simple Knit Dress from Thrift Store Fabric

What would you make if you come across a 20" x 2 1/2 yard of fabric at a thrift store for $3? I assume it was originally 50" or 60" wide fabric, but someone used a long strip and gave away the rest. I thought this would make a perfect summer lounging dress for my preteen: which is very hard to find a good size in a cute style. It took me only a couple hours and viola! The dress is done.

I added a sleeve on the back waist to put the ribbon through. This way the ribbon won't fall off and if she wants to wear it as a more relaxed boxy style, she can simply remove the ribbon.

She usually doesn't like to dress up and prefers to wear pants all the time, but she is wearing the dress all day long and even relaxing on the couch! I won't make a big deal about it, then she might stop (grin).

This was a another great find at a thrift store. It is a great time for yard sales and garage sales. Have you found anything good lately?

Floral Hues ~ Pullover Top

Have you already hear about Floral Hues designed by Sue Daley? She is a talented quilt and fabric designer. Also, she is well known for her amazing English paper piecing skill and knowledge. A few years ago, I had the privilege to meet her in person when she was in Utah. I will always treasure the night I spent looking at her beautiful quilts and talking with her.

I was given a chance to work with her new fabric collection, Floral Hue from Riley Blake Designs. I was so excited to find out that they are 100% cotton lawn. Lawn is lighter weight than regular cotton and great for making clothing as well. I decided to make a relaxed flowy top for summer and fall.

Searching for a perfect style, I came across a pattern by Simplicity; number 8417. There are several design options for this pattern, but I liked option B which combines a couple different fabrics. I chose Floral Hues Main Gray and Floral Hues Daisies Gray for my top.

I finished sewing it and I am ready to try it on!

I was wearing it at home at first, but I thought beautiful floral fabrics such as these deserve nice outside light for the photo shoot...

That's exactly what I did (Thank You Mr.Tea Rose Home!)

It was over 100 degrees outside and I was wearing this 3/4 sleeve top but because of the light weight fabric I felt fine. :)

I hope you hop on over to Riley Blake Designs to see the other color schemes. They are worth checking out!

Tutorial ~ Book Lady's Library Bag

There are many things I love to do. Besides spending my time with my family, I love to design, sew, cook, create and read. I always liked to read while growing up and read several books every day to my children. I know many people love their books in digital form now a days, but I still love the actual books on my shelf.

I love the soft muted color of the new fabric line "Once Upon A Rhyme" from Riley Blake designs. Then, when I saw the book shelf fabric I immediately fell in love with it! There are a couple other color themes I had hard time choosing from, but I decided to go with blue. I thought it would be so fun and fitting to make a library bag with this fabric for my daughter.

*Material and cutting

1/2 yard of Once Upon A Rhyme Books Blue fabric --- Cut 2 pieces of 14"x 16" for the outer bag, 2 pieces of 3"x 20" for the handles, 1 piece of 6"x 9" for the pocket

1/2 yard of Once Upon A Rhyme Toss Blue --- Cut 2 pieces of 14"x 16" for the inner bag

1/2 yard of Pellon fusible interfacing (Heavy weight)--- Cut 2 pieces of 14"x 16", 2 pieces of 1"x 20" strips

1 1/2" x 8" of thin fusible interfacing

7" zipper

Matching thread>

*How to
1.Fuse the thin interfacing to the back of the pocket, 1/2" from the edge of the top of the pocket piece. Draw a 7" line in the middle of the interfacing and from the tip of the line draw short (a little shy of 1/4") diagonal lines to the left and right.

2. Cut on the lines. Then, fold the edges about 1/4" and press with the iron. Be careful not to melt the interfacing.

3. Pin the zipper, switch the presser foot on your machine and sew it on. Trim the excess material from the zipper on the sides and press 1/4" around the edges on the pocket. Set aside.

4. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and fuse the interfacing on the wrong side of the 14"x 16" fabrics to make the inner bag.

5. Sew the pocket piece from step 3 onto one of the inner fabric from step 4. Make sure that the center of the pocket and the center of the fabric matches and place the top edge of the pocket 3" from the edge of the inner bag fabric.

6. Put together the inner fabrics right sides together and sew.

7. To make the boxed bottom, pinch the bottom and side seam together. Make sure the seams line up perfectly. Pin and measure 3" (1 1/2" from each side of the center line) and draw a line and sew. Cut off the excess. Do the same to the other side.

8. Sew the outer bag in the same manner as steps 6 and 7.

9. Make handles. Fold the 3" x 20" strips in half horizontally and fuse the interfacing along the folded line. Sew and turn it inside out. It will make the job easier to use a tube turner. Press with the iron and sew both sides with 1/8" seam.

10. Put together the outer bag and inner bag right sides together. Insert the handles between both layers where the picture is showing, and pin. I left 1/2" out from the edge, so when you turn the fabric inside out and do the top stitches, you will go over the handles again. This way, the handles are more securely sewn.

11. Leaving a few inches for opening, sew the top edge.

12. Turn it inside out. Press the opening, pin and do the top stitches around the edge. Then, sew another top stitch 1/2" from the first top stitches.

I am pretty happy with how the inner pocket turned out. This will be convenient for a library card and some cash.

It is finished! I added tassels I made last week to add a touch of detail. If you are interested in how to make them, you can find the tutorial here.

This book shelf fabric is such a brilliant design. You can make so many fun things (skirt, pouch, book cover, pillows for your reading nook and more!) for yourself or your book lover friends. Can you imagine making some Christmas gifts for your book group friends? My daughter, who finally got into reading last year, loves her new library bag and this was a perfect gift for her!