Fun Fonts

monogram pillow 003, originally uploaded by meringuedesigns.

Can you guess what font this is? It's a Disney font called Waltograph. Kind of cute, huh? I made two of these for a client's teenage daughter. Her mom works for anthropologie. (color me jealous) and commissioned these pillows to go with her daughter's new bedding. Lucky girl!

Happy Little Bird

turquoise bird 2, originally uploaded by meringuedesigns.

Some of the best designs come from a client's request. I just love how the turquoise and red came together. I hope the pillows I made for her brighten up her Chicago home this winter. Luscious!

Addicted to Color

Inspired by this pillow (Stitch is my new favorite magazine) I made my own. Anyone who knows me knows I am addicted to color (tastefully, no hot pink walls around here) and that I shun beige. Life is too short for beige.

Poppies Dress

I recently made this linen dress for Hallie. I just love linen. Unfortunately, Hallie doesn’t know that linen is ultra stylish and modern and promptly replied that she hated this gray dress. (“It’s not gray, it’s oatmeal!”) If Hallie’s clothes don’t resemble a drag queen these days, she thinks they are dull and boring and will NOT wear them. She simply won’t. She’ll cry and scream and foam at the mouth. So I told her I’d add the pink sash/bow and that seemed to ease her a bit. Why do I bother? Why don’t I just dress them in sweatshop-made crapola  with nasty sparkly  glittery adornments  with horrid sayings like “Princess” or “Bratz” or heaven knows what else.  I like sweet and simple designs for my girls in natural fibers. Unfortunately, they often like tacky crap.  What’s a sewing mama to do? 

P.S. She hates the Mary Janes I bought from Lands End too. I force her to wear them anyway. I’m tired.

Pattern: Simplicity 4927 with lots of modifications—bound neckline, invisible zipper closure, embroidered poppies, waist sash, etc.

Give Away: Happy Etsy Anniversary to Me!

NOW CLOSED: CONGRATS TO COMMENT #23, 'SMALL GRAPES'.

I bought a new couch cover last week at Ikea. My old one was dark brown and I did like it but there was something defective in the dyes that caused it to bleach out to an orange-like color. Thankfully, Ikea gave me all my dinero back so I bought 2 white covers instead. (That way one can be washed while the other is on.) I’ve always loved white covers and I know they’re a pain to keep clean, hence the two covers. So I quickly made some new pillows to spice it up. I love it!

So……In honor of my 2 year anniversary selling pillows on etsy, I am giving away one 18” pillow cover. Your choice of any of the five pictured here on my couch. Just leave a comment here telling me one thing you like about my shop (stroke my ego) or one thing you wish I would do differently—or both! I’ll pick one lucky commenter using random.org on August 24th (Monday). I’ll notify the winner then and she/he can choose which of these funky designs she’d like. Make sure there is a way for me to contact you—either through your own blog/profile or by leaving your email. Good luck!

Summer Skirts

I was inspired by my friend and fellow etsy seller Candy to make my daughters a couple of adorable Easter skirts a few months back. And since I just can’t seem to be bothered with patterns these days I figured these were a good project that would actually get done. Well, I’ve since made 7 more and with the addition of my new ruffler foot (which I swear looks like something invented during the industrial revolution) I can make these in about 45 minutes now. I will never ever gather anything with two rows of basting stitches again. (Or with the zig-zag over the dental floss trick.) Never because I’d rather have a root canal.

Here’s my formula to make these skirts without a pattern. As if you even need the formula.

Three layered skirt: Measure your daughter’s waist and multiply by 2.  My girls have the same waist of 21”. So I cut a strip of fabric 42”. (If you are brave enough to make a skirt without a pattern I assume you can figure out how long to make each layer.) For the middle layer multiply the width of the first layer (42”) by 1.5”. So that’s how wide the second layer is cut, 63”. For the third layer multiply 63”x1.5. You get the picture. (For the skirt on the bottom left I used my pinking blade so I could leave the raw edges showing. Loved it!)

 

  For the two layer skirt I think it turns out better to double the width of the first layer for the one ruffle. So again, for a 21” waist cut your first layer 42” wide and the second layer 82” wide.  I’m thinking I need to make myself one out of an irish handkerchief-weight linen or gauze-y cotton.  Hallie would rather wear a skirt anyday so I think I’ll make her a couple more. Nothing is better than summer. Nothing.

Camp Sew Fun

The kids have been out of school just about a week now, but so far so good.  I must admit I was a bit anxious as the school year came to an end. After all, the kids fight like cats and dogs on the weekend so who is to say that the other five days of the week would yield a different result? Most days I believe that my kids would sell each other for a nickel—with or without a coat of many colors. So what’s a mom to do? Structure is the answer my friends.

I decided that every Tuesday this summer would be Camp Sew Fun in our house. So for this week’s projects the kids wanted  to make banners for their rooms. Imagine that, their mom makes and sells banners to everyone else on the planet, and yet my own kids don’t even have one. So I put one of my sewing machines on the lowest possible speed (lest Camp Sew Fun result in a trip to the E.R. for removal of a sewing machine needle) and let the kids sew their own banners. They picked their own fabrics, traced the letters, cut them out, and pieced them together. My oldest son had the hardest time cutting out his letters and my youngest daughter excelled at cutting hers.  Go figure. Now I just need to figure out what we can sew the rest of the summer.

 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow it is spring. Or at least over in my shop, because my front lawn still has piles of snow.

Technicolor Pillow $40

Anti-Winter Pillow $27

Spinning Circles Pillow $35

In the News

For better or worse, I was featured in The Daily Herald newspaper and then the very next day on KSL Radio. I've decided I hate being interviewed because facts get lost and I get misquoted. Almost makes me feel sorry for celebrities. (almost) The sad part about being in the news is all the negative comments that quickly follow--there are some meanies who commented on the ksl broadcast and sound so bitter you wonder if they suck on lemons all day to keep up such a demeanor. Nonetheless, read or listen to the broadcast if you so desire.

Oh, and buy the way, I do not work 5-6 hours a day. Yikes! More like 2-3 hours.

Treasure Chests

I have decided that if I want to buy my kids toys then the test should be this: throw the toy down onto the floor in my path of walking, and if it looks good there, then buy the toy. Because that’s the only reason my kids have toys—to make me work harder at cleaning up all the crapola. So being the brilliant person that I am, I have put a moratorium on toys, sort of. For Christmas, this was the test: give the children gifts they’ll love and I will love. Tough order to fill.

I think I've mentioned before that I swap my sewing skills for fabulous furniture with Four Chairs furniture in Orem. In an effort to keep the no-toy-rule this last Christmas (yes, I'm behind on blogging about sewing/decorating) I decided to give the girls blanket chests. I told the girls that these were like treasure chests . So only items they love and treasure should be placed inside—i.e., no crapola. They seemed to like that idea and quickly went around their room grabbing special items to carefully stow inside. And because I love color, they had to be painted cute shades of limey green and turquoise. Mission accomplished.

Pillow Envy?

By now you all know I design pillows right? Well seeing this post on apartmenttherapy.com (my favorite design website…and not just because they’ve featured me twice) made me think the pillows in my own shop were a bit dull. Come on, sushi pillows! And how about the pillow mimicking a pool of blood! Ha!

ApartmentTherapy.Com

A while back I was featured on ApartmentTherapy.Com for my pillows. They liked my designs as well as my low prices. I had never heard of this home decor website before but apparently they have 2 million hits a day. I didn't get two million orders, but I got enough in one weekend that I was waking up at 4 am to cut and sew like a sweat shopper. The hype over this pillow hasn't slowed down--I've sold it 35 times now. So thank you Lily at apartmenttherapy.com for the fab article. I check out your ultra chic and modern website almost daily now. Here's to good design. (*glasses clinking in the air for a toast*)

She's Got Good Jeans

I have been on a kick lately embroidering my girls plain jeans into adorable creations. The hardest part is that I have to rip out the inseam (or side seam) to get the denim to lay flat under the embroidery machine. The rest is easy...pick out cute fabric for applique and sweet colors of thread.

Back to School

The best part about back to school as a kid was getting new clothes. Now that I am a mom I realize I am mean. (Duh.) I try to hide some of the new clothes from my kids--like long jeans and sneakers because it's still too hot. Well, I gave in on the shoe thing but I hid the long pants because I don't want to see holes in their jeans by October. And since I am sewer extraordinaire I made Ilene some smocks. How cute are these? But who am I kidding--the best part about back to school is having 2 out of the 3 kids gone 7 hours a day. As evidenced by my favorite commercial of all time--Staples "Back to School".

Pretty Patchwork Pillows

I have lots of odd scraps of linen lying around. So I decided to put them to good use and make the girls some pillows for their beds. I don't think they'll mix 'em up. I love the coordinating stripe and am sad that I am getting down to just scraps of that as well. It has served me well though in making the girls' roman shades and dust ruffles. Always a sucker for polka dots and a good stripe.

Put Your Feet Up

I'm a sucker for a good ottoman. They make my feet happy. My family room ottoman (purchased at T.J. Maxx a few years ago) was looking pretty shabby. So I bought these two little ottomans at Ikea last week (only $43 without the cover!) and made them some snazzy covers. You like, no? Me like.

Finding Good Homes For My Goodies

Sometimes I wonder what kind of home my goodies find once I mail them off to customers. So nothing makes me happier than receiving a photo from customers with one

of my items displayed in their home (or elsewhere). So I thought I'd share a few with you all. Doesn't that first photo look like something you'd see in Pottery Barn? And

that pillow in the window of a NYC apartment makes me giddy because I dream of living an urban life.

Summer Dresses

I love to make my girls one-hour dresses. That seems to be all the time (and attention span) I have these days. So I look for patterns with only three pieces--a front, a back and a sleeve. This pattern by New Look was a winner. I whipped 'em up this afternoon while the girls played computer games. They look so cool you'd hardly know it's 90 degrees today!

The Touch, The Feel of Cotton

There is nothing I love to sew more than a cute cotton blouse out of awesome fabrics. I go to quilt shops and look at all the gorgeous designer cottons, but I'm not really tempted to buy them for quilts. Nope, my weakness is buying the 2 yards necessary to make myself a cotton blouse with a cute mandarin or rounded collar. And I've timed myself--2 1/2 hours to make this blouse from cut to finish. Not bad for something I'll wear for years. This pattern by Simplicity has been my favorite over the last year. I've made it three times now--as seen in these three photos. (Zoom in) I love the gathered sleeve--it's feminine and it gives enough room in my shoulder area so that I can twist myself into a pretzel position while buckling Hallie in the car. I'm trying to cure myself of my addiction to all things stretchy and wear more woven cottons. Ah cotton, the fabric of our lives.

Fabrics top to bottom: , yellow fabric is from Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt, Pink Coriander by Amy Butler, polka dot by Michael Miller (I think)

Batik Quilted Purse

I've been meaning to make myself a colorful purse for summer. Well, you know the phrase, the cobbler's children have no shoes? It's taken me forever to make something for myself and not for my store. I bought a few of these hand-dyed batiks from a fellow etsy member's shop--A Stitch in Dye--good grief her stuff is gorgeous! I've used some of the pieces for an overly-ambitious queen size quilt I'm working on (stay tuned) and the rest for this gorgeous bag. (The other two Batiks I bought from that horrible chain store that shall remain nameless.)

Last night after dinner I had had it with my kids--their messes, their fighting, and arguing. So I retreated to my studio to make myself a new bag. I quilted this assymetrical bag with feather stitches, a modified zig-zag, and plain ol' straight stitches. I finished it off with a canvas lining with plenty o' pockets and a magnetic snap. Two hours later I emerged with this bag and a smile on my face. Hello, summer!