I made this silk-lined wool cape for my daughter's first birthday, which happens to fall on Halloween. I had purchased the wool way back in high school and used it for baby blankets. I had one long, narrow piece left over that sat in my fabric pile for years while I tried to find a use for it. The silk charmeuse came from scraps left over from making my wedding dress.

I dyed the fabric "fire red" with an acid dye from Dharma Trading. It technically didn't cost anything because it was left over from dyeing fold-over-elastic for cloth diapers. The cloak clasp ($3) came from Twin Roses Designs; it's the Art Nouveau clasp in antique silver. The basket ($0.75) came from a rummage sale and added the perfect finishing touch to the Little Red Riding Hood costume. I used a semi-circular cloak tutorial and modified it for a 12 month old. The cape was 40" in diameter (20" radius) and the neck hole was cut 4 1/2" in from the center (and could have been smaller).

Converting regular jeans into maternity jeans

Converting a maternity wedding dress into a regular dress

Turning maternity overalls back into "normal" clothes

Converting a regular skirt into a maternity skirt

Adding a knit waistband onto pants

Converting a normal dress into a nursing dress

Nursing twist top

Overlap nursing top

Gathered front overlap nursing top

2-piece peasant nursing top

I love our historic Arts & Crafts house, especially the large banks of windows that let in so much light. But in the winter, the cold seeps through. One of my upcoming projects is to make insulated window quilts for the draftiest windows (which are in the sunroom and the master bedroom). I don't have time to piece actual quilts together, so I will probably sandwich the batting between unbleached muslin or thrift-store sheets. I like the simplicity of these roll-up quilts. If you have more time, you could make Roman shades, balloon shades, hobbled shades, or side-draw shades. The Warm Window company has made a DIY instruction booklet for making these insulated shades.

The last house we renovated had an awesome kitchen--that is, once we were done with it! I designed the Shaker-style kitchen for our 1896 Victorian house. We helped an Amish cabinetmaker build the cabinets. I enjoyed working with him and seeing how he ran his power tools without electricity. He had a huge diesel-powered air compressor, and he retrofitted all of his power tools to run on compressed air. Really ingenious.

The cabinets are natural cherry with walnut pegs in the door joints. We found period-style bin pulls, hinges, and cupboard latches and chose a brushed nickel finish. When we moved into the house, the oven (30+ years old and  harvest gold) didn't work and the fridge was on its way out. The sink was avocado green. The cabinets were painted to match the appliances and sink: yellow and green. Let's just say that it was a 1940s paradise.

We installed granite tile countertops and backsplashes in the new kitchen. We chose tile over solid slabs because of the price ($4/sq ft versus $80-$100/sq ft). We installed the tile as close together as possible and found an epoxy-based grout with a perfect color match, so that unless you're quite close you can't tell there are tiles. The epoxy grout was indestructible. I found that out the hard way when I tried to remove the grout film from the tiles. I bought several specialized products for removing epoxy grout flim, and they did nothing at all. Finally, I put a 600-grit sandpaper on my power sander and polished the film off. Worked like a charm!

We fondly called this our "yuppie paradise kitchen." It had its intended effect: helping our house sell for a very tidy profit!

 

I bought this lambswool sweater at a garage sale last year, originally intending to make an absorbent pad to go underneath my baby. But now that cooler weather has arrived, I decided to turn the sweater into pajamas. My baby doesn't like having any covers on, so I need to keep her warm some other way. 

I didn't have a pattern, so I used 12-18 month pants and a shirt for my template. The pajama bottoms came from the arms of the sweater; the wrist cuff became the ankle cuff. I turned the waist edge over about 3/4" and inserted 1/2" wide elastic to keep the waist nice and snug.

The pajama top used the original neckband. You can still see the tag, actually! I cut the pajama arm pieces from the bottom of the sweater, so I only had to hem the bottom of the shirt.

I became frustrated with the mound of papers that always piled up on our kitchen counter, so I decided to make a letter and bill organizer. It has 3 main pockets that hold full-size papers, plus an extra pocket for pens and smaller items.

Materials list:

• main body and pockets: heavy unbleached French linen
• back: lightweight ivory French linen
• hanging strap: linen book tape
• support: wooden dowel, 1/4" to 1/2" diameter

Cutting instructions:

• Large pockets (cut 3): 16" wide on top, 9" high, and 14" wide on bottom (slope sides evenly towards the center)
• Small pocket (cut 1): 11" wide x 7" high
• Main body piece (cut 1) 16" wide x 20" high
• Back piece (cut 1): 16" wide x 20" high
• Hanging strap (cut 1): 16" long

Sewing Instructions:

• Cut pockets (3 large and 1 small), main body piece, and backing piece.
• Hem 3 large pockets: press top (longest edge) and sides under 5/8" and stitch down 1/2" from pressed edges.
• Hem small pocket: press under all sides 5/8" and stitch 1/2" from pressed edges.
• Pin small pocket to one of the large pockets, coming on closer than 1" to the bottom edge of the large pocket. Stitch down on sides and bottom. Add vertical stitching lines as desired for holding pens and pencils. This large pocket will be the bottom most pocket on the finished organizer.
• Mark stitching lines on main body piece 3", 6", and 9" from the bottom edge.
• Flip large pockets upside down, so the right side is facing the main body piece and the raw (shorter) bottom edge is facing the top of the body piece. Pin the three large pockets in place along the stitching lines, overlapping the raw edge 5/8". Stitch down all three pieces.
• Flip up the three large pockets, pressing down where the the bottom edge of the pocket folds upwards. Pin the top pocket in place, leaving the top edge slack so it hangs open. Each edge of the pocket should be no closer than 1" from the raw edge of the main body piece. Stitch down 1/8" from edge on sides and bottom of the pocket. Repeat with the other two pockets.
• Stitch hanging strap or rope onto top edge of main body piece, raw edges facing upwards (the rope will be sandwiched inbetween the body piece and backing, and will emerge once it's turned inside-out).
  
• Place backing over the main body piece, right sides together. Pin and stitch all around, leaving a few inches on the bottom for turning right-side out, and a 1" gap on the upper left side for inserting the dowel.
• Turn, press, and topstitch, avoiding the dowel pocket opening on the left side.
• Stitch horizontally 1" from the top edge, creating a pocket for the wooden dowel.
• Cut a dowel 1/2" shorter than the finished width of the organizer, insert, and hang!

I sewed these Harry Potter flags two Christmases ago for my nieces and nephews who were coming to visit. The flags are about two feet wide by three feet long. I made different finial shapes for each flag bottom. The flags are made of two layers of cotton.

To design the appliques, made of a pebbly/shiny satin, I enlarged the Hogswart house emblems on a grid pattern until they fit the flag size. I used double-faced iron-on interfacing to secure the appliques to the fabric (although I've since found an even easier way to do this: a glue stick!).  I zig-zag stitched the appliques on with matching metallic thread, adding additional details to outline the animals.

After I sewed the appliques on, I sewed the two sides of the flag together, turned, and pressed. Then I sewed on the coordinating hanging loop. I bought gold colored cording for hanging the flags from a nail. I drilled holes through 3/4" thick dowels, threaded the cording through, and secured the cord with a knot on each side.