Sewing

  • Free Baby Bib Pattern & Tutorial

    ByHeather Bailey

    HeatherBailey_BabyBib_Cover470

    Are you ready for another free pattern? Baby Bibs!

    I've been making bibs for my kids since my first child was born 16
    years ago (seriously?). Now his tee-shirts are bibs. And his jeans are
    napkins.

    This time around, with my littlest—who is now a year-and-a-half, I have these AWESOME laminated cotton fabrics
    to work with. They make the BEST     bibs. Easy to sew, wipeable,
    washable—and pretty. Half of our family stock of bibs are made with the
    laminates and half are made with all-cotton quilting-weight fabric.
    They're both great. But, the laminates are slightly favored.

    So, this is a really simple pattern. You can make a bunch of bibs in
    one sitting. If you coordinate a few bibs and add some
    embellishments—like ribbon or an applique—you can whip up a fantastic baby shower gift in no time. Cute AND useful—the best gifts to get. Download the pattern here—or follow the sidebar link under Free Patterns.

    SlobberMonkeyBabyBib_HeatherBailey

    I'll be sharing My Slobber Monkey Baby Bib pattern on PBS this spring. Check your local listings for Sew It All TV.
    In Phoenix, I believe the episode will be airing next Monday at 9:30am
    and 2:30pm on Eight Life (Cox 80). Tune in for sewing tips, fabric and
    embellishment variations—including a monster bib. For more info about the episode, see this post.
    I don't want to be redundant—except to say that we filmed the episode
    in one, long, 30-minute take. I, myself, am anxious to see how that
    worked out.

    Fun, fun!

    All my love and sewiness,
    Heather

  • Watch Me on PBS

    ByHeather Bailey

    I am guest-hosting an episode of Sew It All on PBS
    this spring. Every PBS affiliate has a different schedule, so I can't
    give you an exact date. BUT, the episode should be airing very, very
    soon. So, visit PBS.org to
    check the schedule in your local area. Sew It All slated this as
    Episode 4, but from what I hear, the episodes can be shuffled around by
    the PBS program directors. And different areas will carry different
    shows. Very interesting stuff.

    SewItAll_HeatherBaileyBW_BabyBib

    Anyhow, we're making baby bibs. Here are Sew It All host, Ellen March,
    and I holding up a baby bib together—it must have been very
    heavy—weighted down with cuteness. I'll post about the free pattern next
    week, along with a little monster you can applique on the bibs—or on a
    kid's tee shirt or bag, etc.

    The fabrics shown above are laminates from my Nicey Jane collection—I LOVE them. They are so fun to work with!

    Chances are, you'll see the episode before I do. Stop back by and let
    me know if you have any questions afterward. We filmed the show in one
    take. One, long 30-minute take. Can you believe it? No pressure, right?

    It was a blast.

  • Live from Marie, It’s Freshcut TV

    ByHeather Bailey

    We have a winner. By random drawing, one shiny copy of Creative Spaces Volume #2 is on its way to Renee G. Giveaways are the best, huh? Let's do a lot of them this year.

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    And, here is fun news. Apparently, my Freshcut flannel fabrics were featured on Marie Osmond's television show this week on The Hallmark Channel. Ellen March, host of Sew It All on PBS, joined Marie to make pajama pants. For more info on the episode and the free pj pants pattern they used, click here.

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    Monster Bash

    ByHeather Bailey

    MonsterBibApplique_HeatherBailey

    I'm heading to Denver tomorrow to tape an episode of Sew It All for PBS. We're making baby bibs. I don't know when the episode airs, but I'll keep you posted. Should be fun!

    If the fates allow, there will be time left to bake cookies with my
    kiddos tonight before I go. And time for sleep—that's always nice. I'm
    terrible at sleeping before a trip. Even a quick little one-day
    appearance.

  • Applelicious

    ByHeather Bailey

    RobinBobbinApples

    With kids heading back to school, sales of our popular Fresh Picked Pincushions sewing pattern always make a discernable spike, as do our apple kits. An apple for the teacher — I love the cheek of it.

    The two apples above were made by Robin (Robin Bobbin on Flickr) for her daughter Sophie's preschool teachers.

    I'm making a bushel of these for my kids teachers. I figure if they
    don't sew, they can use them as decorations. Ones that won't shrivel and
    bruise.

  • Working Girl

    ByHeather Bailey

    DressFormArmscye3

    I'm designing new aprons today for Peking Handicraft. It's the first time I've worked with my dress form in many months. Usually, she just stands in the corner observing my everyday life, patiently waiting for her turn. Today, she is proudly of service, helping me sort out patterns and proportions.

    SlipcoverDressFormwI gave her a brand new cover so I wouldn't run the risk of of tearing her brittle linen any further. True, I have three other dress forms in the workroom, but I'm partial to the old lady. The original, weathered linen is still there, under the new linen, preserved for her moonlighting job as a prop and a display.

    It was surprisingly easy work. I draped the form with muslin, following the seamlines of the original cover, to create pattern pieces for the new cover. I sewed the pieced front and back together at the shoulders only, then whip-stitched each side seam together once the cover was stretched taut on the form (photo below). I then replaced the metal caps at the arms and neck. Finally, I wrapped a piece of grosgrain ribbon tightly at the waist and secured it with a pin at center back.

    If you have a delicate old form, consider taking a couple of hours to clean her up so you can stop being shy about putting the ol' girl to work.

    WhipStitchDressForm

  • Zippity Buzz Buzz

    ByHeather Bailey

    While in Utah for the wedding, we stayed with Nadine & Tom, owners of the fabulous South Jordan quilt shop, Material Girls. Such a fun family! I pulled myself away twice to the shop and picked up fabrics for me, and this adorable beach cruiser embroidery pattern for my niece, Lily—Laura's girl.

    MaterialGirlsBicyclePattern

    Laura lived near us in AZ for a few years before moving out east. Lily spent a lot of time with Elijah and I back then—we MISS her!

    Nadine's store is as adorable as she is—well nearly. And they carry a number of items you can't get anywhere else—such as this bicycle stitchery. Fortunately, it is available online.

    There is so much going on around here. Today is the kids' last day of school; so, naturally, I'm attempting to get a summer's worth of work done today before the noise and chaos level rises. I'll share my secret if I succeed.

    I may have to split my time more evenly between my home studio and my office in order to concentrate—depends on the project. Am I the only one who experiences a mixture of excitement and dread on the last day of school? And why is it I feel exactly the same way about the first day of school?

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    Sunshine & Ice Cream

    ByHeather Bailey

    BaileyEaster_03

    It's been a long time since we've attempted a 12-hour road trip with an infant. It all comes back to me so clearly now.

    We just returned from a week in Utah where we celebrated our niece, Ellie's, marriage to Mr. Jon Cox. Isaac urged me to fly up separately with the baby, then meet up with him and the older kids once there. But I insisted we go The Togetherness Route and all take the car.

    Little bub did rather well. Of course, this is because we drove all night for each leg of the trip. Now it's time for a vacation from our vacation. Isaac and I need sleep.

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    Isaac comes from a giant, collected family which claims 10 kids. Those 10 kids have kids of their own, ranging from 2-months-old to 30-something. It's entirely too rare that we get to visit with a large sampling of this boisterous group. This is a family which will actually DANCE at a wedding. Dance-dance, not sway.

    Ellie was radiant in a 60's-inspired silvered dress which made a gentle bell, just skirting the floor. (Such a neat girl—I really need to tell you more about her and the charity work she is doing!) As Ellie is Charlotte's true doppleganger in the family, my own life fast-forwarded for a few minutes here and there as I caught glimpses of Charlotte as a woman on her own wedding day.

    Charlotte looked like sunshine and ice cream, wearing her new Easter dress to the wedding; Ellie paid her a mighty compliment, saying, "Charlotte is so adorable; she's my top competition today."

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    The reception was held at the Salt Lake Hardware Building—crazy cool place. I didn't have the camera out much, as my arms were full of baby. At nearly 9-months old, holding him is like wrestling a thorny bludger. His will is developing more quickly than his motor skills. Scratchy nails are his best negotiating tool. I haven't processed the photos yet, but if there are any of note, I'll post them.

    BaileyEaster_05At the reception, Elijah learned DJ skills from his cousin Izzy's husband, Johnny. Elijah has since been reading up on sound boards and other equipment in the B&H Photo catalog. (Izzy is one of Ellie's two vibrant younger sisters—the one whose wedding we attended two Christmasses back.) Izzy has a blog now at A Dose of Lovely—that's another post to add to the queue.

    From these photos, you can see that I never got around to posting about Granny's Easter dresses. I pulled up the photos—in a timely manner, I add—but every image was so breathtakingly delicious that I couldn't decide which ones to use.

    So I postponed.

    Here at last are Charlotte, Haley, and Chloe, my mom's three granddaughters, enjoying the Arizona sunshine outside my sister's home on Easter Day. Granny coordinated these three in my Hello Roses fabric, accenting each dress with a unique twist of lemon. These dresses—and the little girls wearing them—make my heart pit-a-pat.

    Charlotte's slouching white socks and mary janes give me a distinct thrill that's surely grounded in the slouching church socks of my own childhood.

    BaileyEaster_01

    It was a truly wonderful trip. As I wrapped up a new fabric collection the day before we left, the timing was perfect to enjoy a brief escape with my kiddos before immersing myself in the next big project.

  • The Tuxedo Clutch & Fresh Style Magazine

    ByHeather Bailey

    TuxedoClutch_2
    There’s a fantastic new magazine out this summer called Fresh Style. The debut issue oozes with luscious color, decorating inspiration, fashionable crafts, and more, including interviews with me, Amy Butler, and Ashley Ann Campbell of Under the Sycamore.

    To celebrate the magazine’s launch, I designed a pattern to include with the article: The Tuxedo Clutch. Instructions for this fast and fun purse are found in the Summer 2011 issue — available at newstands through the end of July. Other projects featured in this issue include an apron made from men’s dress shirts, a chic ribbon headband, custom-bleached shirts,and a super-cool pallet bed. (I love the ceiling decor above the bed too (p.75). Ooo, and I just spotted a Happy Stacker in the basket next to the bed — Ashley Ann, is this your house?)

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    The Tuxedo Clutch packs a big punch of style, yet it is simple to make. My design is inspired by the ruffled front of a funky men’s dress shirt. Think 70s prom. (Whoa, not exactly 70s, but check out this ruffled shirt.)

    The blue brooch? I picked that up at a vintage hoo-hahs booth at Quilt Market a year or two ago. I couldn’t resist. It’s old and a bit skee-wumpus, which has me loving it even more.

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    For more info about Fresh Style, visit their blog at freshstylemag.com. And here’s a handy link if you wish to place an order through Hoffman Media. I think they carry back-issues too, in case you miss the July deadline.