Yellow Aprons...

It's been nice to have a bit of sewing time these past few days. I've been able to wrap up a few of the ongoing projects as well as making a few new ones for others. Here's one of my latest projects...

Here's a close up of the pocket detail.

I bought the fabric from a thrift store. I love making something new from something old... sometimes I find very unique finds like in the case of this fabric... it looked like it had never been used, there was absolutely no visible fading or coloring.

The bias tape I already had from some previous projects... and since it is my favorite color, I was thrilled to use it for this project.

I just posted this "Lemon Blossom Full Hostess Apron" in my etsy store. I'm still in the making process, but check back soon for some really beautiful maternity products.

The grocery bag project...

I just finished the rest of the grocery bags for my in-laws that I had posted about before. Here are some pictures of the finished bags....





I recently got some clothing labels made for my new Sprouts maternity store on etsy, so I was able to try them out on these beautiful olive green/aqua colored grocery bags.

How to... hem a prom dress

I recently hemmed my cousin's prom dress and thought to my self "this would be a valuable skill for young people to know how to do, especially if they don't have the money to hire a tailor." Since most of us don't have that special interlock machine that will finish the hem of the dress, I came up with a simple technique that looks pretty professional in the end.


Step 1: Fold under 1/8" further down from where your desired length would be. Pin to keep in place. Press (with med to low heat iron) a creaseon the fold of the hem.Step 2: Sew 1/8" closest to the folded edge. Taking out the pins as you go.


Step 3: CAREFULLY cut off the extra unneeded hem length with a sharp pair of sewing shears. Try to cut really close to your finished stitch line you just sewed, but try not to cut more than 1/16".


Step 4: Fold under about 1/8" to 1/4" pressing and pinning as you go, so that no raw edges are exposed.Step 5: Sew as close as you can (1/8") from the inside edge, so that you attach the rolled under edge to the inside of the dress.

Congratulations! You have mastered this important life long skill, and saved a bit of money too.

If you would like to see more handmade or vintage products of mine, please feel free to check out my sproutsmaternity shop (for maternity, children and accessories) or my jnsweeney shop on etsy.com (for vintage items).

Our summer garden...

The summer is such a busy time! Running here, running there... staying inside all day to stay cool, visiting in-laws etc. Some times when I've been inside all day I like to come outside and sit under the shade of our patio umbrella to unwind. One of my summer projects has been to tackle our over grown garden. I planted come Cilantro, Basil, Peas and green and yellow beans in the spring and have enjoyed seeing the new growth sprouting up in my garden.

Here are some picts of the plant growth so far...

Day 11: First SproutsDay 12: Sprouts

Day 13: Sprouts

Day 18: Sprouts

Day 29: Sprouts

Another summer project of mine will be building up my new etsy store sproutsmaternity.etsy.com which will feature various maternity products.

more to follow...