Heart Quartet Dishcloth

Too many flowers, and the strange urge not to use up all my beautiful fabric. There's the explanation for the lack of new and awesome projects. Sound good? I thought so.

I have been doing a little bit of knitting, however, so here goes.

Heart Quartet Dishcloth

This picture was taken after washing it once, so if it looks a little used, well, that's because it is!!

You will need: 

1 skein Peaches & Cream Cotton Yarn

Size 6 Knitting Needles

Directions:

CO 43.
Rows 1-6: Knit across
Row 7: k6, p31, k6
Row 8: k across
Row 9: k6, p31, k6
Row 10: k {across}
Row 11: k6, p9, k1, p11, k1, p9, k6
Row 12: k
Row 13: k6, p8, k3, p9, k3, p8, k6
Row 14: k
Row 15: k6, p7, k2, p1, k2, p7, k2, p1, k2, p7, k6
Row 16: k
Row 17: k6, p6, k2, p3, k2, p5, k2, p3, k2, p6, k6
Row 18: k
Row 19: k6, p5, k2, p5, k2, p3, k2, p5, k2, p5, k6
Row 20: k
Row 21: k6, p4, k2, p7, k2, p1, k2, p7, k2, p4, k6
Row 22: k
Row 23: k6, p4, k2, p3, k1, p3, k2, p1, k2, p3, k1, p3, k2, p4, k6
Row 24: k
Row 25: k6, p4, k2, p2, k3, p2, k2, p1, k2, p2, k3, p2, k2, p4, k6
Row 26: k
Row 27: k6, p4, k5, p1, k5, p1, k5, p1, k5, p4, k6
Row 28: k
Row 29: k6, p5, k3, p3, k3, p3, k3, p3, k3, p5, k6
Row 30: k
Row 31: k6, p31, k6
Row 32: k
Row 33: k6, p31, k6
Row 34: k
Row 35: k6, p9, k1, p11, k1, p9, k6
Row 36: k
Row 37: k6, p8, k3, p9, k3, p8, k6
Row 38: k
Row 39: k6, p7, k2, p1, k2, p7, k2, p1, k2, p7, k6
Row 40: k
Row 41: k6, p6, k2, p3, k2, p5, k2, p3, k2, p6, k6
Row 42: k
Row 43: k6, p5, k2, p5, k2, p3, k2, p5, k2, p5, k6
Row 44: k
Row 45: k6, p4, k2, p7, k2, p1, k2, p7, k2, p4, k6
Row 46: k
Row 47: k6, p4, k2, p3, k1, p3, k2, p1, k2, p3, k1, p3, k2, p4, k6
Row 48: k
Row 49: k6, p4, k2, p2, k3, p2, k2, p1, k2, p2, k3, p2, k2, p4, k6
Row 50: k
Row 51: k6, p4, k5, p1, k5, p1, k5, p1, k5, p4, k6
Row 52: k
Row 53: k6, p5, k3, p3, k3, p3, k3, p3, k3, p5, k6
Row 54: k
Row 55: k6, p31, k6
Row 56: k
Row 57: k6, p31, k6
Row 58: k
Row 59: k
Row 60: k
Row 61: k
Row 62: k
Row 63: k
Row 64: Bind off. Tie in ends.
You're done!! Hooray!
View this pattern on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hearts-quartet-dishcloth

If you have any problems, let me know!! Let me know how this one works out for you!! 

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Chevron 'n' Flowers Apron

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This apron is SO cute!! I made it for a friend's birthday. I used Riley Blake chevron, and some floral fabric that I got at a local fabric store many moons ago. 

Here's the details:

Cut out pieces as follows:

waistband 21-1/2 x 6-1/2

body (chevron) 37-1/2 x 18-1/2

bottom accent piece 37-1/2 x 6-1/2

tails 37-1/2 x 6-1/2

Pretty simple, huh? My floral pieces were already cut out to the right dimension from a previous project. Jealous? I thought so.

Follow directions for a Basic Apron, except obviously the pieces will be put together differently than in that pattern. Other than that, simple as pie!!

Have fun!!

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Springtime Birds!!

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This beautiful Baltimore Oriole was at our hummingbird feeder recently. He seems to like it even though it's red!! 

Current projects are:

Planting the garden!!

Sewing an apron for a friend out of Riley Blake Chevron (Sneak Peek: it's BEAUTIFUL)

Coming Soon:

Pictures of matching Mother's Day aprons for my mom and I

Friend's chevron apron

Roses!!

Pinterest Projects

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Thanks for visiting!! Come back soon to see what I've been up to. Please follow my blog!

Six Projects in Six Weeks: Pinterest Inspiration

Here's another Pinterest Challenge!! Last time I got 4 out of the 6 done. It is hard having time to sew with all the beautiful weather we've been having. ~Flower pictures coming soon :)

Have fun browsing and come back soon to see what I have made!!

Top row, left to right:

Ric-Rack Napkins

DIY Labels

"Bapron"

Bottom row, left to right:

Anthropologie Apron

Rosette Headband

DIY Heart-Covered Cookie Wrapper

Butterfly Change-ups: Guest Post

I am very excited to have Hayley guest blogging here today!! She is a super talented, amazing sewist. I love all her projects and I'm sure you will too! Thanks so much Hayley!!!
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Hey everyone.  My name is Hayley from Welcome to the Mouse House and I am very excited to be here at Esther's blog today to share a fun tutorial.  Thanks for having me, Esther!

My daughter Ainsley is 3 years old and she LOVES accessories that coordinate with her outfits.  I came up with a super cute and easy way to add some flair to the clothes she already owns.  The best part?  It uses scrap fabrics, which I have a TON of!  

Butterfly Change-Ups

Turn your basic clothing into unique, changeable pieces!

From plain...

To accessorized and interchangeable!

Supplies Needed:

*butterfly template (found HERE)

*scrap fabric

*scissors

*buttons

*clothing that you want to embellish

*thread

*sewing machine

*button hole foot

(optional items)

*fabric stiffener 

*plastic wrap

*cardboard

Let's make some butterflies!

Gather your supplies

I have included two sizes of butterflies in the printable templates.  If you want larger or smaller, it is very easy to switch the printing percentages to get the size you want.

Grab the fabric, cut out your butterfly template and start cutting.

Cut as many as you would like.  More butterflies are going to give a fuller end result, but they will also be heavier, so keep that in mind for the tshirts.  I used 2-3 large butterflies for the tshirts, but 4-6 butterflies for the smaller accessories.

After cutting, stack them on top of each other.

Sew a button hole in the middle of the stack.  

Do that with all your stacks of butterflies

Pick out the buttons you would like to use

And call over your little helper to see what buttons she would like

Sew the buttons onto your clothing items

I chose to sew a large button on the middle of the tank, a smaller button on the pocket of the shorts, and a small button on the elastic headband.  Obviously, you can put the buttons wherever you would like.

Now, attach your butterfly change-ups wherever you would like!

Not only can you create different looks with the outfits and hair accessories, but they are all removable for washing purposes!

Optional

This step is totally optional, but I really like it because it gives the fabric more body.  I use a "fabric stiffener" when I want my fabric to have some hold.

For this step, you need to grab the stiffener, plastic wrap, cardboard, and your fabric butterflies

Spritz each butterfly (and each layer) with a generous amount of fabric stiffener.  

Once wet with the stiffener, lay each butterfly right side down over top of a tented piece of cardboard covered in plastic wrap.  Let dry for at least an hour.  You can speed up the process with a hair dryer.  (the reason you lay it over the tented cardboard is to give it an angled shape!)

Repeat the process for all the butterflies

Once dry, they have a definitely starchy quality and they won't flop around.  Again, this step is totally optional!

Hope you guys enjoyed the tutorial!

Check back next week to see another butterfly tutorial on my blog

(sneak peek!)

Another Monogrammed Half Apron

(sorry for the not-so-good photo, I only had time for a quickie photo shoot)

Another monogrammed half apron! This is basically identical to the first one, except the embroidery is a little different. It's very simple, but putting on the monogram adds a little personal touch.

Measurements:

Cut one piece 27" wide x 22" tall (main body)

Cut one piece 27" wide x 3 1/2" tall (white border)

Cut one piece 18" wide x 3 1/2" tall (waistband)

Cut two pieces 30" wide x 4" tall (ties)

These are approximate measurements - you can do it pretty much any way you want to and it really isn't going to make a huge difference.

Directions:

Follow the directions for a basic half apron, except you will be sewing the border piece to the body horizontally instead of three vertical body pieces. Other than that, the directions are the same. 

Monogram:

I just typed out the letters on Wordpad (equivalent of Word), and then went through the fonts to see what I liked. I wanted it to be fairly simple so that it would be easy to embroider. I am horrible not good at doing "thick-and-thin" embroidery at this point. It takes waayyy too much precision work. The font I used was Calibri Light. It worked pretty good. For tracing, I print out the design on regular paper, tape it to a glass table with a light underneath, tape the fabric to the design, and then trace it with a wash-out marker. It takes a little time, but it works pretty well. 

Have fun!! See the child's apron I made out of this fabric here.

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Pray for the Boston Marathon victims

My heartfelt prayers go out to the victims and families of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. God bless you all. I pray and hope that the person responsible for this outrageous tragedy will be brought to justice.