Monthsies? Yes, Monthsies

So waaaay back in 2011, a sweet friend asked me to make some monthly onesies for her grandson. After his first year of life, she was going to make a quilt out of all the onesies. "What a great idea!", I exclaimed and immediately went to crafting my own design for these little keepsakes.  The name MONTHSIES literally popped into my head. I googled it and it was nowhere to be found, therefore, I'm taking full credit for the name...(pat myself on back :)  AND, I'm putting my unofficial copyright on the name...so there! (yeah, that outta hold up in court).

 

My friend was kind enough to find all the fabrics to match each month and I machine appliqued each one.  Every month I was so excited to watch this tiny thing grow into a bouncing big boy. Earlier this year, my friend and her daughter finished the quilt and it is nothing short of spectacular.  I wish I had the know-how and time to quilt, but that kind of construction and detail is beyond the perimeters of my attention span.  Needless to say the first set was a hit and I've been custom making Monthsies since then. Many sets are in the works this year and I can't wait to see them all complete.

Too cute, huh? They're a labor of love, but sooo worth it. I only wish I could turn back time and make them for my kiddos! They're also super-adorable on the babies. I won't post pics of the models on here, but there are some in my fan photo album on FB.

Sew long for now!

My Fairy Lil Lady

DISCLAIMER: This is going is a long story (rant), so be prepared.
Editor's note: their was know thyme to edit this post, sew forgive th errrrrors :)

So Baby Girl has a wiggly tooth and I've got to get crackin' on making a tooth fairy pillow! I made a boy version for a friend, like ya know 18 months (OR MORE) ago & kept saying, "I gotta make a girlie one for Miss H, but really, there's no rush."

Tooth fairy pillow front

Tooth fairy pillow back

(Boy version above: turned out super-cute. The front is can be displayed year-round & the back is for those toothy times).


Okay, back to my story...Thinking I had a LOT more time, I simply forgot about it, until last week when "Mom, MY TOOTH IS LOOSE!", came bounding into the kitchen. Of course, I always work better under pressure, so we immediately went looking through my hoards of fabric to create the perfect pillow for the upcoming toothy event.

Naturally, Baby Girl HAD to have fairy fabric, because...well...ya know...a fairy IS coming! I knew my local shops didn't have what we needed, so I started the long arduous process of googling for just the right pixie pattern. Everything I showed her was "NOPE", "ummm, that's not it", "there's not enough pink", "too tacky", etc. You get the point...she's knows what she's looking for and won't stop until she finds it. I finally come across this adorable Michael Miller fabric with the sweetest fairies you've ever seen. We both fall in love, BUT the print is apple green & there's no pink (aka: we have a problem). I assume there has to be other variations of this pattern that include pink, so I go about using my super-savvy searching techniques and bam...Michael Miller Petite Fairy in ROSE appears all google-fied! FOUND IT FOUND IT!!! I immediately order a yard (after seeking Baby Girl's final approval) and we are soooo excited.

Meanwhile, the tooth is getting looser & I'm getting nervous...like really nervous. But it'll be okay, because it just has to be okay. Shockingly, the fabric arrives one day after ordering. I run in the house all a buzz with the holy grail of fairy cotton and wouldn't you know it...it's LAVENDER!!!!! Like purple, not rose, not pink, lavender! At this point, Miss H kinda throws a hissy fit because this IS NOT WHAT SHE WANTED and I really feel for her...I mean really feel for her. I try to talk her into the purple, but it's NOT happening. So I email the fabric shop & they promise to send me the rose fairies asap.

And now we are still waiting for the rose fabric to hit the mailbox. But, I'm so excited to try out this project, that we decide to make a tooth fairy pillow for her cousin Krissy using the lovely lavender. Her teeth have a few years left to wiggle, but at least she'll be ready when they do.  So, here's the first GIRLIE TOOTH FAIRY PILLOW and WE (yes, Miss H too), LOVE IT!

Stay tuned for the ROSE VERSION COMING SOON!!!!
-sew long

Uptown Girl Baby Blanket

This will be a quick post, but it's NOT a quick project (at least for me). But, it's just soooooo preettttttty!

SEWING...takes me away from where I'm going

Today I celebrate the magic of my overactive brain. I was asked to create a baby shower gift to match a very specific theme and color palette. Sometimes I know exactly which fabrics I'll use & the styling is automatic. And other times, I ponder, toil and wrestle with the design for days (or weeks), this was one of these times. I LOVE custom requests, but when the specifics seem, well, specific, I really think a lot about it & there's no automatic. Truthfully, I do my best brainstorming when I should be sleeping, but who can sleep at 3am when you've got magic to perform? Well a few sleepless nights led to this & I'm quite happy with my final product. I give you the ...AHOY...IT'S A BOY! (tiny trio set) & I'm love my whole sleep-deprived process!

SEW TO SPEAK: Autism Awareness

Guess what....I'm not just your typical wife, mother, daughter, sister, grand-daughter, niece, friend, neighbor, over-caffeinated sewing machine. In fact, little in my life would be considered "typical", at least by typical standards.  You see, I'm also a richly blessed Momma to a super-star-super-hero-rock-my-world-normal-is-anything-but! son with autism. April is Autism Awareness month and although our family is ALWAYS aware, many are not educated nor tolerant of my son's often hard to comprehend disorder. FACT, 1:88 children and 1:54 boys are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, so the odds that you or your children know and love someone with autism is pretty high. To increase research, understanding, compassion and education, I've started a fundraising project thru http://www.autismspeaks.org/.

Please help me complete our puzzle at  http://bit.ly/ICgG7W to "purchase" a puzzle piece. Each piece is $10.00 and 100% of the money goes to Autism Speaks. To thank you for your gracious tax-deductible donation, I'll send you one (1) of my handmade "Sew To Speak" hairclips (for free). There are only 20 pieces to this puzzle and 20 clips available, so don't hesitate to donate now.



Sew to Speak hairclips or magnets



This fabric was selected for my son's love of alphabets, reading and colors. You can choose blue, green, orange, yellow or purple thread. After making your donation, just email or FB message Sew Sweet Princess with your color choice and mailing address.  (NOTE: I can make these as MAGNETS instead of hairclips if you'd rather :)

Thank you in advance for helping make our world better,

Not-Sew-Typical-Sweet-Princess

Peek-A-Bum

Time is flying by this year! It's coming upon Spring & I'm in the thick of sewing many an Easter design. I just finished this super-cute Cross patch one a monogrammed peek-a-bum onesie. I know egg hunt pics are going to be darling with her little ruffled bum showing underneath a sweet skirt. This classic front is still perfect for church.

Well I better hop to the next project...SEW LONG!

NOW in 3D!!!!

ZEBRA PUPPY LOVE

(or something like that)

Thanks to Applique Momma for giving this free design to her fans to try out 3D applique. Yep, those floppy ears aren't totally stitched down. They're, well, a little floppy.

Turned out so cute, or should I say SEW SWEET? 

A Break in the Action: FRESH APPLE SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

There are times when I have to scrap all obligations and clear my head. Between being a wife, mom (to 2 adorable kids ;), school volunteer, laundress, professional shopper, master calendar keeper, "sewing machine" & part-time insomniac, I find there's one thing that refocuses me when my brain gets overloaded...baking. Actually it's baking something new, something different & something loaded with chocolate. The problem is I've given up chocolate until August...WHAT???...ummmm, yes...WHY???...ummmm, I like a challenge.?.

So, my brain was in the frying pan this week. That whole "Just Say "No!"" campaign should be remarketed to moms. Too many commitments, errands, jobs & insomnia plagued my cranial gears from firing off in the right sequence, and I knew baking would reset the mechanisms. My daughter has been on an apple kick, so I had plenty in the fridge & decided to work my baking project around this fruity staple. You know "an apple a day" & all that business. I scoured Pinterest for a recipe, but didn't find what I liked, so I went old-school & hit up my shelves of cookbooks. I found exactly what I wanted in Texas Ties...Recipes and Rememberances from the Junior League of North Harris and South Montgomery Counties, Inc. The homeland was calling me & there was no turning back.

Here's the recipe with my modifications:
BATTER
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose & 1 cup white wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)
2 cups finely chopped Granny Smith apples

BROWN SUGAR TOPPING
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbls melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I didn't add nuts, because daughter no likey :)

• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt intoa bowl & mix well.
• Beat sugar & butter in a separate bowl until light & fluffy. Beat in eggs & vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with the sourcream, mixing well after each addition. Fold in apples.
• Prepare Brown Sugar Topping by combining brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well. Stir in pecans if wanted.
• Spread into a buttered 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle Brown Sugar Topping all over the top of the batter. Baked in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

I wasn't expecting to blog this recipe, so I didn't take a good picture. But after this FB post: "It's hard to tell from the picture, but this might be the best non-chocolate dessert I've ever made! Fresh apple sour cream coffee cake...holymoly!", I had requests to share.

Let me know if you try it too. It's perfect for brunch, dessert, midnight snack, midmorning sugar-booster, midafternoon sugar-crave and anytime you're in the kitchen.

PINTEREST!

I just pinned my first item to Pinterest...exciting, huh? I'm working on a super-cute outfit for my daughter, plus a couple of NEW birthday designs...can't wait to see how they all stitch out. Now, off to the movies w/ the kiddos!

3rd isn't sooo bad after-all!

Today is my 3rd post this month (whoa), and I'm working on the 3rd installment of the 3rd SET of monthsies I've made. They're time consuming for sure, but TOTALLY worth it when clients send me pics of their little darlings growing each month...seriously, SEW SWEET!
Here's how one complete set turned out :)

Well that's it for today...sew long :)

WHOA...a 2nd post...in the same month...getting better

I really don't have much to report today. My head is swimming with ideas for some new orders & my closet is swimming in a sea of fabrics and blanks ready to be embellished. I'll admit that I'm a total sucker for a sale on blank tees. If I see them, I get them. period. The real problem and I do mean problem is that I never have sizes and colors that I need, so I'm always buying and stashing and buying and stashing. I guess that's true for most peeps that do what I do. Oh fabric, I'm addicted, I admit it. I'm good to never buy large amounts, because I use such small pieces when I applique, but I use a gazillion different kinds and going to the fabric store is like a going to the candy store...I gotta sample everything. I have grand plans to de-stash some stock, but can't find the time to make the tough decisions on who stays and who goes...Oh well, not going to make any progress today, but I can pat myself on the back for blogging twice this month...pat, pat :)  Until we meet again...SEW long!

When will I ever get this blog going?

Hmmmm....so months have passed since I've posted a blog entry. I have to admit that FB is my go-to spot for posting info about me and Sew Sweet Princess. I have grand intentions of using this tiny patch of bloggness to document my sewing, crafting and daily life adventures, but it'll have to wait for another time & place. For now, "Like" me on Facebook for the latest & greatest. But, I PROMISE to be better about updating THIS with a couple of posts a month (from zero to 2 is good start, i guess :)

In case you were wondering if I'm actually sewing anymore, heres' a proof of a set I recently completed...totally cute, huh?