Inspiration from others

Lately I have been a bit of a rut so I am going to others for inspiration. To help get my groove back, I will be sharing some blogs that I really enjoy! If you have a blog you want to share, please let me know! Thanks to all the great bloggers, fellow crafters and readers for you’re inspiration!

Making pillowcases to help kids with cancer

I haven’t posted anything for a while and it’s because I have been so busy working on gifts, currently a cross stitched baby quilt. Today however, I just could not bring myself to make one more X. I have to admit that I am kind of tired of it and just needed a break. 

Well, a while ago on a tv show called Sewing with Nancy, I saw a segment about making pillowcases for children in the hospital. I looked up their website and was really inspired by how such a small thing like a pillowcase can help make the kids a bit more comfortable and give them something special. By the way, their website is….   http://www.conkerrcancer.org

  So, today I needed to try something new and I went to their site and got instructions for a pillowcase. I have to admit, it looked incredibly complicated and confusing and I decided it was beyond my sewing abilities. All day long I kept thinking about it and finally, about an hour ago actually, I decided to go for it. What was the worse thing that could happen. I read the directions carefully, measured carefully and took each of the 9 steps one at a time and guess what! Within 15 minutes I had a beautiful pillowcase! I was shocked at how simple it really is to do! 

My problem is all my fabric is from what my mother left me and there is very little fabric for children in bright colors and characters. We live off of one income and my spending money is very limited but then it dawned on me. With any luck, I will make a bunch of these in pairs and put them for sell on my ETSY site and for every pair that I sell, I will have enough money to buy kids fabrics. So, once I get a few pair sewing and I will start on that in the morning, for every pair of pillowcases I sell, I will donate 1 pair to this excellent charity. 

The big problem is their is not a chapter in my area, so perhaps I am will look into getting one started. The pillowcases are fun and easy to make and can make a big difference in those kids’ life. 

Creating a new doll

Yesterday I began making a soft doll. Usually I love making creatures such as owls and bats, every now and then I really like to try new things. I am really bad at following patterns and so I usually just make it up as I go. I started by cutting out her basic body parts and making sure they are all the right size to go together. 

Next, I made her face. I sewed on the blue of her eyes using an old satin nightgown that I no longer fit into sadly, but thought it had a nice shimmer to it that would enhance her eyes. I made my first mistake by trying to use a fancy decorative stitch on two delicate materials and ended up ripping a hole in her face, so I had to redo it. This time I used a simple zig zag stitch that worked well. I then stitched her nose and stitched the outline of her lips. I painted her lips and after they were dry I stitched the outline again or a bit of definition. 

Next I sewed her head to her body and some how got the wrong sides sewn together. It was okay though since I managed to find a way to correct the problem. I then sewed together her legs and arms and I got the body put together. Though she doesn’t look like much now, today I get to do the fun part, give her a personality. Using embellisments I am looking foward to seeing who she will be as her personality begins to shine through. 

Sometimes with my creations, they turn out great and sometimes not so great. The important thing I believe is learning from mistakes, using your imagination and having fun. Just because it does not turn out perfect, does not mean it is not wonderful. Sometimes it’s those imperfections that truly make something unique and wonderful. Never give up!