Maggie Rabbit

Just had to share this sweet little rabbit with you. When Alicia from Posie Gets Cozy announced she would have a kit for this sweet little rabbit, we knew we had to order one for Miss Lucy. It arrived just in time for Country Mouse's weekend visit and we couldn't wait to start!

And here is Missy Lucy meeting Maggie Rabbit for the first time....we think they'll be great friends!

Can you believe she is almost 8 months old?! 

Valentine Bib Tutorial

One of our goals for the new year is to sew something for ourselves (ahem...baby Lucy) at least once a month. The girl is constantly drooling and quite a messy eater so we go through lots of bibs! And of course we take lots of pictures of her eating because is there really anything cuter than a baby with food on her face? So we need lots of bibs and want them to be extra cute for all of the pictures. It only makes sense that we would try to make some!

We kept it pretty simple because the little girl still sometimes only naps for a half hour and it's a bit difficult to focus on anything complicated in that short time frame.  If you want to get fancy you could embroider the front or do an appliqué.  

Materials you'll need:

• 12 x 12 fabric (front)
• 12 x 12 fabric (back - we used chenille for ours)
• 2 - 15 inch long ribbons
• bib template - you can download ours here: Bib Pattern (let me know if this doesn't work - this is the first time I've used a pdf on the blog).

Optional:

• lightweight double sided interfacing (if appliquéing)
• embroidery floss and needle (if embroidering)
• disappearing ink marker (to draw your embroidery design)

Step one: to cut a heart shape out of your front fabric.  If you are using ours, just fold your fabric in half and cut out the heart shape. This would be the time to embroider or appliqué something on the front if you choose to do so.

Step two: pin your ribbons for the ties on the right side of your front fabric.  Stitch in place.

Step three: Lay your backing fabric (ours is chenille) right side up. Lay your front fabric right side down and pin the ribbons to the side so they don't get caught when your stitch around the perimeter of the heart. Pin in place and leave about a three inch opening for turning (where your pinned the ribbon ends).

Step four: Stitch around the perimeter using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Trim, turn (you can carefully pull the ribbons to help turn), press and then top stitch around the entire bib to close the opening.

Once you start, it's hard to stop, they are so quick to make and very forgiving if you have a lot of interruptions - such as a baby that will only take short naps!

And you can't see it in these pictures, but guess who got her first tooth?!

Sewing for the New Year!

It's been quite some time since our last post! Time really does go by so much faster when a baby comes along. It's been six months since baby Lucy arrived and our lives changed (for the better!).  

I'm not going to lie and pretend everything was rosy and wonderful....the first three months were much harder than I could have imagined - anyone else experience a colicky baby?  Our "unhappy" hour was from about 4pm - 7pm every evening (lots of crying!).  Our coping method was to go outside for long walks, because being outside with a screaming baby is much better than being inside.  And thank goodness for grandma (Country Mouse) - lots of help with cooking, cleaning and holding a crying baby.

Luckily, Lucy has grown into a happy (and most importantly healthy) 6 month old. She is growing and changing every day. At the moment she loves to practice her newest noise - screeching! It's a lovely thing to have her practice when we go out to eat :) Oh and her laugh, it's the cutest....really nothing compares to a baby laughing, such a sweet sound.

One of our goals for the new year is to sew a few things for ourselves (well, let's be honest - mostly for baby Lucy!).  And we plan to share those projects here on our blog. Here's a little peek at something in progress on our messy craft table:

We'll be back with more soon, we promise it won't be so long in between posts! Happy New Year!

The Nursery....finally!

Everyone said time would go by even faster after a baby and it's so true! Country Mouse and I have been meaning to share photos of Lucy's room, but just have not gotten around to it yet.  It's a good thing that it took us awhile because Jessica took some beautiful photos during our newborn session with her...

Resource list:

-mirrored floral dresser and tall floral dresser: from when I was a kid
-crib: Lollipop
-bookshelf: ikea Kilby
-wall decals: love mae
-You Are My Sunshine print: the wheat field by Katie Daisy
-woodland mobile: pattern by Little Dear
-quilt pattern: scrappy plates by Bunny Hill Designs
-curtain fabric: by Anna Maria Horner

photos by Jeff Loves Jessica

Hoping to share more projects and shop news soon...

Ikea Chair - Before and After

This week I started my new Summer schedule at my day job.  I'll be working 3 10-hour days per week and having 4 day weekends! I am so happy that I made this change. I had been thinking about it for so long and finally decided I needed to take the opportunity and use the time to focus on things that are more important to me than pushing paperwork and punching numbers all day in a dysfunctional office environment!

So for the next 10 weeks I'll be spending my extra time working on things for City Chic Country Mouse and enjoying Summer! Of course, I have a long list of projects I would like to work on including giving some of my furniture pieces a facelift.  

Last time Country Mouse was here, we tackled my red ikea chair that desperately needed a new cover. 

Before...

After...

 

 

What do you think? Do you have any fun Summer projects you'd like to tackle? Summer is the perfect time to bring jars, frames, and furniture outside and give them a facelift with some pretty colored spray paint.  I'm hoping to do that this weekend if the weather cooperates! Hope your Summer is off to a great start!

Weekend Photos

Last week flew by with Country Mouse. Here's a little recap...

Craftstravaganza! So many wonderful vendors and shoppers!

Spring Soiree in North Saint Paul with Design Vertigo, a fabulous shop!

 

Just a few of the items I purchased at the shows and local shops. We even got to have our picture taken at the Spring Soiree, we loved this idea! 

 

I took Country Mouse to a wine bar in Afton, yum!

 

 Just a few of the projects we worked on. My chair has a new cover :) And the quilt we started for my 30th birthday (back in January!) is almost complete!

Doilie Placemats for the Sewing Table

 

I was having a little problem with my new sewing table...when I would be serging or sewing fast (that's the speed I like to go!) the machine would start shifting due to the vibrations. It made me little nervous that if I was not paying attention one of the machines could make it too close to the edge of the table and fall off, not to mention it was slightly annoying to have to reposition the machine constantly. 

I had picked up these doily placemats awhile ago at a local shop and used them as part of our craft show display.  I found they are the perfect size to slip under the my machines and they prevent them from shifting while I'm at high sewing speed! And they are pretty too, yippee! I love the bright pop of color! They are still available in a few different colors at Urban Outfitters.

Do you see a bit of red in the background? That's a new chair I found on Craigslist and I can't wait to recover it, I just need to decide on a fabric to use! Country Mouse will help me come up with a slip cover design. It will be a before & after project that we'll share with you eventually.

Winter Flower Pillow by Country Mouse

I had to share this pretty pillow Country Mouse surprised me with when I visited her last weekend. Isn't it gorgeous? It's made with Cloud 9 organic fabric, grey felt, and a vintage doily. It reminds me of the colors I used this Christmas for decorations. I really like using blues and greys because I feel like I can leave them up past the holidays and no one complains. I totally neglected to post some pictures of our Christmas table and decorations but thought I'd sneak them in here, hope you don't mind...

 

Poms from Pom Love on Etsy

I used pink, white, and blue streamers for the table runner. 


And yes, I know today is Valentine's Day! 
I'm only one holiday behind :)

Things Said in the Sewing Room

As I mentioned in my previous post, Country Mouse and I spent a good amount of time in the sewing room when we got together over the holidays. Once we set foot in the sewing room, it can be hard for us to leave! We get going on ideas and sewing and only take a break to fill up on coffee (and of course stop at the bathroom!). 

Our husbands and furry friends sometimes don't understand how we can spend all day doing what we do. Our furbabies are not shy about reminding us "Hey, it's time to eat!" or "You better let me outside or I'm going to burst!" They really do mean well and just want to spend time with us, but sometimes we just wish they would cozy up all cute and peaceful in their beds.

We decided to make a wall hanging in case you might have the problem of furry friends (or husbands) that want to play while you are busy in the sewing room. Our shop is now updated with the new items our furry friends allowed us to complete, all made from our latest vintage finds. Happy Sewing!

 

Sweater Pillow Tutorial

I came across some cozy sweater pillows while shopping the other weekend and wanted to bring them home with me. I like to change the covers on my pillows quite often so I don't like to spend a lot of money on them (especially when we have a sewing room full of fabrics available!). 

So the other weekend when Country Mouse and I got together we tried making our own and loved how they turned out.

We thought we'd share with you how we made our own sweater pillows. It's the perfect way to recycle some of those sweaters that have been taking up room in your closet since last season (you know you have some!). And a quick project - you can probably finish one in less than an hour.

Materials/Supplies (for an 18" x 18" pillow):

• One old sweater (a cableknit makes a beautiful cover, but if you only have a plain one you can hand sew some kind of embellishment to it at the end like we did with the blue sweater)
• 18” x 18” Muslin or any cotton fabric for backing your sweater piece
• 25” x 18” fabric piece for your envelope backing
• One 18” x 18”pillow form
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Walking Foot (helpful, but not absolutely necessary)

Instructions:

1.Determine what part of your sweater you wish to use for your pillow front. Be sure you are able to cut it the size of your pillow form! Cut out an 18” x 18” square.

2. Cut from the muslin one 18" x 18" square. From your fabric for the pillow back, cut two 12 1/2" x 18" rectangles.

3. Pin the sweater piece right side up onto the muslin and stitch ¼” seam around all four sides.

4. Take one of the rectangles you cut and fold over ½” along the long edge and press Fold over another ½”, press and pin in place. Stitch down the fold, sewing about 1/4" in from the folded edge. Repeat with the second rectangle. 

5. Lay the 18" square right-side up, then place the rectangles right-side down on top of the square with the folded and stitched edges overlapping in the middle. Pin around all edges.

6. Sew around all edges of the pillow with a 3/8" seam allowance.

7. Turn the pillow cover right side out, push out corners. Insert your pillow form and get cozy!