Zakka style sew along!

hello and happy monday!

today marks week 2, of the zakka style sew along, and i am so happy and excited that today starts the week, to make your own version of my house pouch!

this is the original version, and the one that i contributed to the book, but the sweet little design and concept behind the house pouch, makes it easy to customize colorwise, and with as much or little embelishments as you want.

one window version, with a button flower lattice and rick rack trim.

hand stitched window and flowers, vintage fabric roof.

love versions i made in febuary, with a scallop tile roof, embroidered heart flowers, and heart shaped windows.

the house pouch sew along, is being hosted by the super talented Amy, on her sweet blog "during quiet time", be sure and hop on over, as there is also a giveaway going on!

i cannot wait to see all the versions of the house pouch that are being created, and i truly cannot think of a better way to start this week.

around the studio

i have been contemplating my little studio lately, and i

am going to have to move things around a bit.

again.

it might not look so big, but my mele ( who is 6 ft. tall ) has actually gone inside and taken a nap with the puppies in there.

if you can imagine a tattooed, shaved head, thug looking guy, saying " ahh... come on it's cuddle time! " to 3 little dogs.

not sure how, but i need to make this work.

or, maybe if i hint at it, this monster can go into the kitty cats bedroom ( yes, my cats have a bedroom, with  huge windows, awesome view, and better lighting than i have in my studio - ironicaly enough ) which i think they will love, since they keep trying to sneak into it now to nap, but someone ( not going to mention who) shoo's them away. and perhaps, getting another one, a bit smaller for the pups.

ju-ju bean has now been here with us for 2 weeks ( tomorrow ) and is...

just a tad bit loca.

oh. my. god.

when she is awake. she is crazy. seriously. crazy. they run up and down the stairs, they wrestle, they chase each other. she takes flying leaps ( think super man ) off of the couch, the chaise, the stairs, my arms ( which now has me carrying her around in a vice grip, lol) my lap. anything with a bit of height, she launches herself off of. she is getting along much better with ziggy and dexie. play wise, with ziggy. dexie sort of joins in, but she prefers to watch them. for sleepy time, its all about the two girls, cuddling together under a blanket.

her personality is coming out more and more. she is sweet as can be. we had our first visit to the vet, and she was so worried, that her forehead was actually wrinkled up!

she is not a fan of the cats, which has me a bit worried. she chases cutey out of the studio sometimes. but it will all work out. the kittys have all met her, and gave me the "are you frekin kidding me.. another dog?" look, but no growling, hissing or swatting so far.

for now, we are all one big happy family, what more could a girl want?

Here she is....

i'd like you to meet the newest member of our little family

♥ Ju-Ju Bean ♥

formally known as penney.

she is a doxie/chihuahua mix, aprox. 2 months old.

she was originally purchased by some local woman, in front of k-mart, taken home, and then a few days later, taken to the shelter, since she was too much to take care of.

now, she is in her forever home. as i write this short post, she is upstairs in the den, taking a nap with her daddy, and siblings. they are snuggled up, under a bunch of blankets.

the house is so quiet.

i could not be happier.

The house pouch - love edition

hello!

this post is a bit late, but here nonetheless.

i wanted to share with you the Valentines ( or love ) edition of my little house pouch, that i made a few days ago.

this sewing project is really simple, you do not have to have advanced sewing skills at all, to be able to make your own version.

what you need for this project is available in the book, along with a detailed directions, including instructions on attaching a zipper, which is how i add my zippers to all my bags, so if you are tired of having funny looking, or angled corners, this is another reason to buy the book!

house pouch tweek 1- after having cut out the fabric pieces, instead of round "windows", i cut my felt scraps in the shape of hearts.

tweek 2- i alternated between button flowers, and hand stitched heart flowers. you can always have as many or few flowers along the little house pouch, it is up to you.

all done.

here is version no.1

and version no.2

so sweet.

i would love to see someone elses version of the house pouch! feel free to email me a link or picture, so i can have a look: simbiosis_etsy at yahoo dot com

Patchwork placemats / coasters ( a semi tutorial )

because i did not make a "proper" pattern, nor did i write anything down. but for those of u, that are like me ( aka sewing rebel ) and like to make something, just to see " what happens ", here is a step by step on a easy-peasy little set, that is also a scrap buster.

yes.. i know some of the fancy quilting blog lingo

pick your fabrics!

proper way: prewash everything, make sure they all match, and are what all the cool quilting kids are using.

julie way: have no patience to pre-wash, make sure they go together, and that they are not too girlie (for you know who).

checklist:

-pencil, paper, ruler

- cotton fabrics

-linen

-quilt batting

-rick rack

-hot cup of coffee

-puppies

using legal size paper (i have no idea where it came from, but i have alot of it) i drew up what i wanted the placemats to look like.

normally, you figure out your seam allowance, and adjust measurements, so they all match up, perfectly.

i cut out 2 of each in my fabrics, and did not add seam allowance. i love to live on the edge :)

sewed them all together, trimmed of the little bit of excess i had, and pressed open my seams. i ended up with little placemats, rubbed my hands together, and did my evil laugh... the plan is working!

cut out some 2" strips of linen, added one of my printed fabrics to the end of each, and attached them on the outer edges of placemat.

ta dah!

i left the linen plain, but if ever i was to make more of these, i may add some hand stitching details using some embroidery floss, or maybe machine stitched lines, in different colored threads.

using the finished placemat, i cut 2 more out of linen ( backing ) and of course the center layer of quilt batting, because i had some handy, or else a fleece alternative would have worked nicely.

machine stiched some vintage jumbo rick-rack all around. i prefer to use vintage trim, since the new rick rack is stiff, and way too polyester looking for me.

once rick rack was sewn, i sewed the top part of placemat, to the backing ( right sides together ), and left a 3" opening, to turn it right side out, did one more machine top stitching around the edge, done!

ok, almost done.

for the coasters, used 3 each, of 2" wide strips sewn together. i made them round, using the lid of one of my old vintage cannisters as a template.

 make sure to press open your seams, or they will look icky!

quilt batting, rick rack and linen to finish them off, just like the placemats.

done.

so pretty. so easy. and lots of fun to make, when you just wing it, and see what happens.

oh yeah, and the curtains i mentioned?

they are still, draped over one of my dining room chairs.

tsk.. tsk.. tsk..

fabrics in this little project came from here  ( omg... this quilt shop is utterly amazing, and i cannot believe i had never been there before ) and here.