Sewing Memories

This is my inspiration for making all of the doll cloths. I spent many hours playing with these hand made cloths that my Mother and my Aunt made for my cousin and I when we were little. Those of you who grew up in the 70's might remember the Fisher Price Mandy doll. My favorite piece was the fuzzy blue cape, it used to have a very large metal button that held it closed. The capes were made from the liner of an old coat. The rest were made from old clothes and scrap material.

Cardboard Penguin

Another cardboard prop, the possibilitys are endless. This is the Emporer penguin, in the process of makeing this life size prop I found out that the Emporer penquin is 64" tall!

Temple Mural

I painted this "Temple Mural" along with a stone wall for a fair booth background ,the theme that year was the holy land. I did not get a picture of the whole board but it is a sheet of foam insulation that you put on your house before you side it. Not sure of its exact name, but it is fairly cheep and very light, and reusable. you can just paint over it for the next prop.

Cardboard Ancient Ruins

Again, more VBS props, this was my ancient ruins. I used old paints and recycled boxes. The vines are made from twisted brown bags and construction paper.

Cardboard Dinosaur

I made this dinosaur out of old cardboard and oatmeal containers(the feet) also alot of tape and some old paint. He was a big hit at our VBS that year.

Step 1. start with a large cardboard box, crush the corners to get some of the rigid squareness out of it, have LOTS of newspaper and ductape.
2. add dowels, sticks or in my case pvc plumbing pipe(what I happen to have on hand) IN the SHAPE of a Plus sign or a cross, depending on the shape of the box , I used hot glue and duct tape to secure it to the inside of the box. this will give it some internal support.
3. I use a piece of pvc on the inside of all 4 legs (oatmeal containers) and the dino is resting on that pvc, not the container, the pvc is ductaped to the oatmeal container.
4. Tape wadded up newspaper wherever you think it needs it, I added alot to the thigh and front leg area. dont be afraid to layer it :)
5. for the neck and tail, I added "rings" of cardboard, stuffed with paper and taped together until I achieved the right length and shape.
6. finally , I papermached over any thing that needed it, and painted it with different shades of gray.
I hope this helps, good luck!

Flannel Fish detail

here is a better picture of the the fish and worms, this was a really fun quilt to make. The only large amount of fabric is the background, the rest is scraps of this and that, and some flannel shirts.

Fish Quilt

I got the idea for this quilt from an old quilting magazine (one of my husbands many great auction finds). The magazine was so old that it was impossible to get a pattern. So this is my version, I like to call it "Flannel Fish" because some of the fish are made from second hand flannel shirts. I made my own pattern for the fish, and used the zig zag stitch for the fishing line and the worms. It is a small lap quilt or wall hanging, I have not decided yet! The face of it has been finished for almost two years, I just can't bring myself to finish it because then I would have to give it away.

Paper and wire pot tag

I was looking for a way to fancy up some flower pots that I had some kids make for Mother's day. I made a tag from papers that matched the kids artwork and held it in place with a wire swirly. I used the same Idea on my teacher thank you notes. I don't have any idea what gage the wire is, I found it laying around my husbands garage.

Mini Scrapbook Cover

This is the mini scrapbook below, closed and tied

Mini Scrapbook

Here is a Mini Scrapbook made from 4 square sheets of paper and folds up accordion style. I photo copied some of my husbands baby pictures that were starting to deteriorate. I put up the originals and made this little book so that the next generation can enjoy them !

Thank you notes

I made these thank you notes for a teacher appreciation dinner. We had students and parents contribute thank you notes, and printed them all out on card stock and made these little cards to fit in the homemade envelope. I made a wire clasp to hold the envelope closed and it added a little pizazz. The envelopes were placed at the teachers place settings at the dinner, it was a big hit!

18" doll "bunny slippers"

The pajamas would not be complete without fuzzy bunny slipper. The nose and pink on ears is stitched and the eyes are black seed beads . I used a fuzzy felt fabric which holds together nice.

18" doll pajamas

What little girl wouldnt want flannel pajamas for her doll! again I did alot of sewing in the summer of 2006 and I made many pairs of these as well as pink polyester ones. I had full intentions of making and selling a bunch of doll clothes, but they all ended up as gifts. When I was a little girl my mother and my aunt would get together and sew doll cloths for my cousin and I . We both had Mandy dolls and sat at our mothers feet anticipating the new outfits that would be tossed to us, I still have them all buried in a box in my basement. I think this is why I enjoy making the doll cloths so much.

This is the same pattern as the blue dress, my daughter has alot of fun with all the differant pieces, she can interchange them with some of her other cloths. I have also made this out of a cotton/poyester blend and it has a more casual look.