pop garden

  • Personalized Pillows

    ByHeather Bailey

    FeatureFriBanner
    Imagine coordinating all of your child’s bedroom pillows — with some personalization to boot.  With Bella Marie's personalized pillows, you can.

    MarleyBaby

    Seamstress and Etsy shop-owner, Marie Villa,
    loves personalized items, as do her children.  To Marie, her name
    pillows are "the perfect projects to make that not only coordinate with
    a room's colors, but also personalize it at the same time.”

    Marie used an assortment of Heather Bailey Freshcut fabrics for
    the “Emme Pillow” below. Other materials include a background fabric
    (Marie used a solid, pre-quilted fabric) Heat n' Bond™ Lite, stuffing,
    and lots of thread.

    Emme

    According
    to Marie, this is a simple design to make.  Each pillow takes about 2
    hours to complete. "The letters are the only thing that can get tricky
    – but with practice you can get them just right."

    MarleyBaby2Marie's pattern is from one of her favorite websites, www.youcanmakethis.com,
    for $6.95. However, if you don't have the skills nor the time to make
    your own customized pillows — but you love homemade, you’re in luck. 
    Marie will make a custom one for you.  Contact Marie through her Etsy
    shop, Bella Marie Designs, to place your custom order.  Keep in mind, longer names such as Savannah can be fit onto a slightly longer pillow.

    If you don’t have a little guy or girl in mind, Marie suggests a “Mom” pillow for mother’s day or a special “Grandma” pillow
    with grandchildren’s names hand-embroidered around the pillow's front. 
    For pillow inspiration, comb through Marie’s Flickr set here.

    Savannah

    *For more information about Feature Friday & the artists spotlighted, click here*

    Photography courtesy of Marie Villa.

  • Shredded

    ByHeather Bailey

    ReUpholster4
    I just counted and we own a total of 13 rolling office chairs.  That's
    a lot of office chairs.  Of course, the one I prefer at the moment is
    shredded and hideous.  It's the ugliest chair of the bunch.

    My
    neck and arm are all out-of-whack from trotting all over NYC with two
    heavy bags.  This chair holds me together best.  It's a bit
    out-of-place in my studio though.  So, today, I'm slip-covering it. 

    No big style-ambition this time.  I'll be glad to take it from hideous to mediocre.

    Yep, that's exposed foam in the back there.

  • Plumpness

    ByHeather Bailey

    Have I mentioned it's
    great to be back home?  With an expanding roster of help around the
    studio, we're starting to get caught up, even ahead, on some projects. 
    Rachel and Lindsay spent a day or two just putting together a plump
    stock of Strawberry Pincushion Kits, after finishing up the Flutterby Flip-Book Kits.  Emily has kept everything else plugging along.  Being ahead is great.  I highly recommend it. 

    StrawKit

    So, back to The Giveaway.  What a variety of first sewing projects!  I've been reading comments all day. 

    1.  Congratulations Lindsay Brown!  Random picked you for the big giveaway.  Lindsay won a Freshcut scrap bag, a HB sewing pattern of her choice, and a Flutterby Flip-Book Kit.  Here's what Lindsay wrote.

       
    "Hi Heather!!! Let me start out by saying I am an ENORMOUS fan!!  I
    just completed 2 projects for my girls.  I made a pillowcase dress with
    the Lime Paisley and I made my youngest daughter the matching capris. 
    I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your fabrics!!  Thanks for posting this!!"

    Kits2.  Random also picked the lucky Shannon / lilyhaven who wrote,

       
    "Holy cow! 975 comments already! … My first sewing project was a
    tiered skirt for my then 3-year-old daughter.  I was so proud of
    myself!  I wanted to sew for years and years and finally broke down and
    tried.  I've been addicted ever since.  I can't wait to see your new
    fabrics!!!" 

    I'll be sending Shannon a Freshcut scrap bag, along with a pack of HB ribbons.

     3.  Then, for AndieBee, who apparently barely survived her first sewing experience, I'm sending a Strawberry Pincushion Kit, along with a copy of my Fresh Picked Pincushions sewing pattern.  AndieBee wins just for surviving — and for calling me "cupcake."  Here's what AndieBee wrote.

       
    "Hi cupcake! My very first sewing project EVER in life: I was three and
    hangin' out with my Momma while she was making something-probably a
    dress or short set for me. She got up from her incredibly snazzy Singer
    machine in the wood cabinet to do "something", so I climbed up on her
    chair for a better view. Momma always held the pretty colorful straight
    pins in her mouth as she took them out to sew. I decided to help take
    them out while she was away…of COURSE I put them in my mouth just
    like her. And OF COURSE I swallowed one of those bad boys!! LOL

       
    "All I remember of the rest of that day was having to drink something
    icky and Momma monitoring my potties! Apparently it all came out okay,
    since I don't remember having to go to the hospital. ;O)  I picked
    sewing back up again when I was about 8 or 9, when Momma got tired of
    making Barbie clothes, and I've been sewing since."

    Ladies, send me your addresses. 

    Thanks everyone for participating — and for the blogiversary hoopla.  I'm loving being back home and back to blogging, tweeting, etc.  Thanks for sticking around while I was away through May.

    …which reminds me, there's something special posted for @TrashTies followers over on Twitter : )

    And, speaking of plumpness, check out this blog, with it's cheeky background image.  Bacon-infused waffles?  I'll be taking my camera with me next we go out to the fair.

  • |

    Giveaway, Oh Giveaway

    ByHeather Bailey

    Food5

    I don't even know where to begin with all of the adventures
    I went on this month.  I may have to grant myself a
    Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card and skip immediately past Go — at least till
    I'm caught up on some design projects.

    Food2noteThis
    weekend I went through the first round of strike-offs for my next
    fabric collection.  Gah!  I normally wouldn't mention strike-offs
    because, really, it will be months before the fabrics are available. 
    But, gah!  They're gorgeous.  I'm ready to fly over to the mill and
    screen the prints myself if it will speed things up.  I'm dying to sew
    with this fabric. 

    Bridgenote2See,
    now I feel better, and you feel worse.  Which is why I normally don't
    say anything.  But, that's what I'm working on today. And that's where
    my brain is.

    I'm also thinking about a giveaway to celebrate my blogiversary.  It's been 3 years now.  So, how does this sound for a prize?

    Hotelviewnote2
    Leave a comment, telling us what your first sewing project was — or if
    you don't sew, what your first sewing project might be — or if you
    don't plan to sew, why not!?  Or your favorite remedy for puffy eyes. 
    I don't know, tell us something interesting.  Or just say, 'Hi.'  That
    works too. 

    I'll let this go through Thursday night MST, then hand it over to the Random Number Generator for an edict. 

    I may hand out a couple of extra giveaways too.  I tend to do that.

    The photos?  Some shots from my weekend in Pittsburgh.  What a beautiful city!

  • Flirty Skirt, Dirty Dirt

    ByHeather Bailey

    Skirty1Detail

    My
    friend, Jill, has two cute little girls and she always has them dolled
    up to the nines.  (And she's the best hair-bow-maker around — a new
    bow for every outfit.)  Jill watched Charlotte a couple of
    times a week last year.  During that time her girls became like sisters
    to Charlotte — and Jill really did a great job of keeping them all
    busy and entertained with swimming, carousel-ing, park-time, etc.  So,
    as a heart-felt thank you to Jill, I designed her girls some matching,
    skirty outfits.

    Skirty1

    The tee shirts — Talk
    about a high impact-to-effort ratio, decorating tee-shirts can be
    easy-peasy.  I fused floral elements from my Rose Bouquet print from
    Pop Garden to each store-bought tee shirt using fusible web.  I then
    stitched around the edges of each fused piece (with a ball-point needle
    installed in my machine to prevent holes from forming in the knit
    material.)  There are at least three or four flowers in this print that
    make perfect appliques. 

    Shirty1

    The two skirts — I had a lot of fun putting the fabric combinations together.  I wanted them to match each other, but not really match.  I didn't draft a pattern as they're just sewn from various
    rectangles.  I probably should have jotted down some measurements as I went. 
    However, my friend Jona does have pattern for a similar skirt all
    ready to go – The Edith Twirl.  (Check out the embroidery on those
    Edith under-skirts.)

    Skirty2w2
    The floral print in the skirt above is probably my favorite print from Pop Garden.  It's
    soft and romantic, yet electric and sassy.  And the ziggity Zag Stripe to the right is entirely too fun to sew
    with.  I still need to bind a quilt in this print and see what it does.
    Fussy-cut quilt blocks made with this fabric could result in some
    interesting effects too.  More sewing, more sewing.

    I'm not sure if I
    scratched that dern sewing itch well enough with this one project, but
    I expect to do more sewing once my next fabric collection is off to the
    mill here soon. And OH, it's pretty.  And sweet. 
    Sweet and pretty.  That's all I'm going to say.  Like that
    housekeeper-lady says in The Parent Trap, "I'm not saying a word."

    Shirty2aa

    What else, what else?  OH!  I should have mentioned this first —
    yikes.  Tara's baby girl, Grace, was born this week!!  And she's
    stinkin' beautiful.  Which is really unfair to the other bruised,
    swollen newborns in the nursery.  I mean, come on — tilting, exotic
    eyes, high cheekbones, a perfectly-shaped head covered with beautiful,
    dark hair.  At three weeks early, we were only caught slightly
    off-guard.  Isaac's been phone-interviewing for a new Office Assitant
    this week and then final interviews are next week.  Tara will be back
    in a few months in a new position.  We'll miss her while she's away
    smooching on that sweet, new baby.

    Skirty2Detail2
    We're really overlapping about five or six projects at the
    moment.  And as I'm not so great at falling asleep when I'm excited
    about a project – or six projects, imagine my self-satisfaction at
    rolling out of bed on time this morning for my 8 o'clock tap class —
    jazz hands!  : )

    And then there's the yard.  Wednesday
    was Fill-the-Raised-Garden-with-Dirt Day.  Thursday was
    Move-the-Big-Rocks-Around Day.  (Isaac might as well have been at
    Disneyland.  He wouldn't climb down from that bulldozer for anything.) 
    Yesterday was Rake-the-Dirt-All-Smooth Day.  And today has been
    Form-the-Perfectly-Curved-Curbing Day.  Isaac's ready to move onto
    Install-the-Five-Valve-Sprinkler-System Day, but I'm entirely ready for
    a break, so we've pacted to give ourselves a week of
    Avoid-the-Yardwork-Alltogether Days so we can celebrate
    Get-Back-to-What-We-Should-Have-Been-Doing Day – which may evolve into
    a week-long celebration in the end.

    JillBows

    And
    I'm looking to do March of the Tools again this year.  One more day
    till March.  There are a number of gizmos, gadgets, thing-a-majigs and
    who-z-whatzits I'm excited to share.  I'll have the badge back up in my
    sidebar later today.  I'd love for you to join me – yes, please join
    me.  Infact, email me to let me know you're doing March of the Tools
    too and I'll post a link to your blog on the March of the Tools page so we can all see who is playing along and get some leads on new, must-have tools.