French Country Cottage Inspired Accent PIllow

Welcome back to my little home on the Web, sewing friends!
I’ve always admired French Country decorating
It’s very difficult to find French Country inspired
fabric and supplies here in Utah

One of our local quilt stores does carry a small amount of French General for Moda
That fabric, neutral fabric, red burlap,
and this great machine embroidery design

came together for a beautiful French Cottage accent pillow

The zipper is hidden up there under the burlap ruffle where the two fabrics meet

This one is up for sale at ANotion2Sew – or –
If you would like to make one of your own,
contact me and I would be pleased to share some tips
on how to insert that zipper so nobody knows it’s there
Have a lovely week and please visit again soon.

Kwik Sew K213 Children’s Pajamas and How to Add Trim

Hi Sewing Friends!
If you are doing some pajama sewing for some littles in your life,
I am pleased to recommend this pattern – Kwik Sew Ellie Mae Designs K213
The pattern features a top w/short sleeves, ribbon & lace trim, 
and a casing with elastic at the neck and sleeves,
and pull-on pants with elastic in waist casing
There is also a gown and matching doll pajamas
I made the top and pull-on pants (view A and C) in size S(6),
but I made the pants into shorts
I chose double gauze fabric for this summer weight version
The sizing runs pretty much with RTW
Little Miss Model wears a size 6-7 in RTW
and the only alteration I made was to cut the waist elastic 2″
smaller than what the pattern called for
Here’s the front ribbon detail
The components of my trim are a length of Anna Maria Horner ribbon
flanked on either side by some tiny baby pompom trim
Here’s a short walk through of an easy way to stitch trim together
and apply it to a project:
1.  Use wash away wonder tape,
      it is sticky on both sides
2.  Stick it to the backside of your focal trim piece
(in my case, the Anna Maria Horner ribbon)
3.  Peel off the protective paper and stick the secondary trim to your focal trim
4.  Now add another strip of Wonder Tape to the back side of the entire trim piece
and stick it to the right side of your project
(the Wonder Tape was actually wider than my little pompom trim
so I didn’t have to stick more tape on the back side of my trim piece)
Now it stays in place for you while you stitch it down
Ordinarily, I would add a piece of stabilizer to the back of my project,
but this double gauze didn’t need it, it stayed nice and flat as I stitched
5.  Okay, attach your edge stitch foot (for Bernina it is #10) to your machine,
line up the guide between two pieces of trim,

and select a stitch that catches the left and right sides (on my Bernina, I used stitch #723)
and sew that beautiful trim to your project
Be sure to make a sample first so you know what stitch settings work the best
I narrowed my stitch to 7 mm

Here’s a close up of the completed right side
The left has not been stitched yet
So there ya’ go
Have fun stitching for your littles
and/or adding decorative trims to your projects
These little details add one-of-a-kind personal touches to your sewing
Enjoy!
Thanks so much for visiting today.

Shop Grand Opening! and Apron Pattern Review

Happy August, sewing friends!
Today marks the grand opening of my Etsy shop,
Can you see how excited my model is?

I have an apron to share with you all
This one is the Vera apron by Penny Sturges of Quilts Illustrated
It came together rather quickly
and there are some clever steps to attach those two pockets
without making them “patch” pockets
Fabric:  Veranda by Brenda Walton

The skirt pocket is sewn into the seams
and the bib pocket is sewn into the waist seam
I used my Bernina ruffler attachment to make those great pleat details
The bib features a feminine sweetheart neckline
 and the reverse side is fully lined.
If you’re looking for a polished apron, this pattern just might be the one.
The pattern and completed apron are both available in my shop.
Do you wear aprons?
I almost always wear one when I am cooking.
I do want to protect my clothing,
but the apron puts me in the cooking mind set
and makes me a better cook
(okay, that’s a stretch).
I’m truly glad you stopped in today, friends.
I love to hear from you, so please pause to say hello in the comment section.