Etsy shop in the making and new logo

Well I think this is the first post I am mentioning this in, but I have been working on opening my etsy shop for the past couple of months. A large part of this process has been creating my logo. A wonderful pal from college has been working on designing it for me and she has done an amazing job! Go visit my facebook page Accents by Meme Mae and check it out!

Anyways, more about my shop! Accents will obviously be my theme. Primarily, I will be sell infinity scarves. I will also sell some clutches and some bags in the future. It is my hope to add a splash of color to my customers' lives with my handmade accents. Anyways, I will keep you posted on the progress and be sure to announce the grand opening!

Happy Sewing 

Swoon Pattern Review of Eloise

Back in January, I announced the release of Eloise, Swoon's first wallet pattern, in this post and shared a pic of a halfway completed Eloise. I must confess I still have not finished that Eloise! Haha I am the worst for starting a project, setting it aside, and promising to come back to it.....I rarely finish such projects, because I always want to start from the beginning! I have, however, finally made an Eloise! Last month, the lovely Brianne from Ali Cat & Co. hosted an Eloise sew-a-long and I was inspired to finally make Eloise from start to finish. Thanks to Brianne's wonderful daily breakdown of the project, I tackled the project with determination and finished it during a very busy week. Here are some pics of my completed Eloise, along with my review of the pattern.

Front view (trifold flap)

I love the floral print I chose! And I think the purple polka-dots compliment it well! A great thing about Eloise is you can use a fat quarter for the exterior fabric! I always love projects that use fat quarters!

Back view

I am in the process of getting my own logo and new labels, but since I still have so many of my old ones I still use them for my personal projects. And a label just adds such a professional touch!

As you can tell from the above pics, Eloise is a zip around wallet that has a trifold compartment attached to one side. You can actually make the trifold by itself for a smaller wallet or you can leave off the trifold compartment, especially if you do not have a lot of cards. The complete Eloise has so many card slots; 18 total, I believe. See for yourself!

Card slots in trifold compartment (ten total, two not being used)

The trifold compartment has ten card slots and a bill slot. This is a great place to store your frequently used cards. Trifold is secured with a magnetic snap.

Inside the main compartment, are eight more card compartments, four on each side. There are also two bill slots, one on each side behind the card slots. Right in the center is a great zipper pouch, perfect for holding your cell phone and keys! Things you definitely don't want to loose!

Honestly, with all this room, you may choose not to carry around a bag! But if you do, you can now make an Eloise to match each of your Swoon bags! :)

Supplies needed for Eloise include the following: one fat quarter of quilting cotton for exterior, one yard of quilting cotton for lining fabric, 1/4 yard of double sided fusible peltex (this is wicked stuff!), 1/2 yard of craftfuse, one magnetic snap, one 18inch #5 zipper (you can purchase these at Wawak.com), and one regular 8 inch zipper.

Eloise is definitely NOT a beginner pattern, but it can be accomplished by the determined, patient sewer! The pattern provides clear instructions and excellent visuals. And if you need more help, I encourage you to visit Ali Cat & Co.'s blog and follow the daily sew-a-long instructions, which are still available. Along with breaking the project down into very manageable steps, Brianne provides some excellent pics and videos to guide you. I encourage you to check them out. And join the wonderful Swoon Patterns Group on facebook where you can get more help and encouragement for all your Swoon Sewing and where you can meet other obsessed Swoonies! ;) Hurry on over and purchase Eloise today!

Happy Sewing!

*This blog post contains affiliate links.

Welcome to the Newest Swoon Pattern: India Hobo Bag

I am so excited to share with you the newest Swoon Pattern that has just been released today!!! I know I love them all, but the India Hobo Bag is now my favorite bag! Check out my own special India!

Is she not dreamy?????? I keep staring at her and can't seem to leave the house without her, even if I don't need a bag!

Doesn't she just hang so nicely??? The strap width and length is perfect! Leave it long and wear it crossbody style or tie a knot and throw it over your shoulder and wear it shorty style!

I normally do not fuss over my cutting but for India, I took my time and made sure I  cut the fabric so the bird would be front and center! I was very pleased with how it turned out! By the way, both the interior and exterior fabric are Premier Prints and home decor fabric. Both were purchased online through fabric.com.

 Anyways, enough showing her off! Let's get to the pattern specifics! The India Hobo bag pattern comes with two size options! (The size option shown here is the larger one) The specific dimensions of each size are listed on the pattern. This is a fairly easy sew. Not as easy or quick as Coraline by any means, but I think she may be slightly easier than Eleanor. If you are familiar with Swoon Patterns, you will recognize those patterns. If not, check them out! They are great too! But back to India. She will probably take you around three hours to cut and sew, maybe more, maybe less depending on your skill level. The only supplies required are fabric, interfacing, and two 7" zippers. There is no hardware. You can use either home decor or quilting cotton fabric. As I said, I used home decor for both fabrics and I did not use interfacing, since this was duck cloth, a much thicker fabric. I love the thickness of it and yet it slouches just perfectly. Some people still prefer to use interfacing even with the home decor fabric, so follow your preference.

As to her style, India is completely reversible, so you can get two looks in one bag! There are two zipper pockets, one on the outside and one on the inside. The outside zip pocket is perfect for you cell phone and keys; things you want easy access too but don't want to slip out!

There are also two slip pockets, again one on the outside and the other on the inside, both right below the zipper pockets. These are excellent for holding your e-reader or sunglasses perhaps! Your wallet can go inside the bag or safely tuck it in the interior zipper pocket!  Obviously, you have plenty of storing options with this bag!

This bag is truly amazing and a must have! Every time I throw it on, it reminds me that spring and summer are nearing! Why??? Maybe it is because the sun has been shinning this week and I have filled India with my sunglasses and nook and headed out to read in the sun! Or maybe it is just because looking at this bag brightens my day! haha

Well what are you waiting for?? Go check out the India Hobo Bag out at Swoon Sewing Patterns today! Happy Sewing!

*This blog post contains affiliate links.

A FREE Swoon Pattern!!!

Super exciting announcement for any of you cardigan fans out there! The Swoon Scarf Neck Cardigan pattern (both sizes-women and girls!!) is now FREE!!!! How exciting is that!!!! If you have followed my blog at all you will know how much I LOVE this pattern! I made like three of the women's size and then one of the girls' size!  Remember I shared them here, here, here, and here!!!

Of course, you may not feel like looking back at all those posts, so I will just share some pics here, as well.

Cardigan One

 

Cardigan Two

Cardigan Three

Girl's Version

This cardigan is so comfy and you can make it casual or dressy or whatever you want! Have fun with it! And if you have a little girl, make some mommy and me matching ones! Go get your Scarf Neck Cardigan (Women) and Scarf Neck Cardigan (Girls) today!!! What do you have to loose? It's FREE!!! :) Oh and if you want to add cuffs to the sleeves like I did in pic number three, I shared some short directions here.

*This blog post includes affiliate links. 

Some Baby Sewing (not for me, for my cousin!) ;)

*This blog post includes affiliate links 

Happy Monday Everyone! Hope the sun is shining wherever you may be. It definitely isn't here. :( But spring is on its way!

Several months ago, my cousin found out that she was having a baby boy, which was pretty exciting! Of course, my first thought was "I don't know what to make for boys! I don't think I have any boy patterns or boy fabric!" What would I do? What DID I do? :)

Well her shower was yesterday, so I can now share with you what I made, and I am so excited to do so!

First up are the lovely little baby hats I made using the Lullaby Line Hats and Scratch Mitts pattern by Peek-a-Boo!

Aren't they little cuties???? I seriously am in love with this pattern! It is so easy to follow and such a quick sew! It probably took me less than a half hour to make both of these from cut to finish! There are also three different hat style options: the two pictured here and a single knot version. You also get the pattern pieces and instructions for making scratch mitts! I have not made them yet but they look as quick and fun to sew as the hats! I used my serger to make these hats but the instructions are written for either regular machine or serger sewing. This is an excellent beginner project for anyone new to sewing or sewing with knits! They make excellent baby shower gifts! I heard many women awing over them yesterday. :)

By the way, I used knit fabric from Girl Charlee to make these hats! If you have never bought or seen their beautiful selection of knit fabrics, you are missing out!

The next thing I made was an Infinity Nursing Scarf!

I discovered infinity scarves back in December or November (sometime before Christmas) and fell in love with them! I made several as gifts, if you remember from this post. Well I have seen these nursing scarves all over pinterest and etsy and I just had to make one! It turned out perfect! See the cute little label I made to roll it up in?

As you can see, I used the same Girl Charlee fabric for the scarf as I did for one of the hats, so mommy and baby can be matchy matchy!

Next, I made some burp cloths using this tutorial. (There is a FREE pattern!!!)

Aren't they darling??? They are designed to accommodate your neck perfectly! I seriously love them! They are reversible, so you could use two different prints for two different looks. Or you could just use the same print on front and back, like me! I used flannel for both sides, unlike the pattern designer who used quilting cotton for the front, which would be fun too! For the owl cloth, I added a layer of fleece in the middle to make it more absorbent....you know for those really messy days! I got the idea from this blog. (Some great step-by-step pics here for you visual learners)

Last but definitely not least is the soft and cuddly blanket I made!

I LOVE this blanket! This was my own idea! No tutorial, so I just made up my own measurements and it turned out so beautifully! I used flannel for the top and cuddle fleece for the bottom, both of which I got at Jo-Ann's. It's actually a pretty big blanket. It is easily big enough to cover a crib mattress. I just love how soft and sweet it is! I hope my future little second cousin gets lots of snuggle time with it!

Well that is all! Here is a pic of all the gifts together, plus some store bought pj's my mom picked out, which I think are super cute!

Hope you enjoyed! Happy Sewing!

Valentine's Day Sewing

In my last post, I shared the Tiny Artists I made for my nieces and second cousins for Valentine's Day. Today, I want to share with you the rest of my nieces' gifts. I am so so very proud of this project because I did it all on my own. No tutorial, no pattern, just an idea that formed in my head a while ago that I finally tried! Let me present to you the Peekaboo Heart Pillow Cover (that is what I am naming the project...I think!)!

Peekaboo Heart Pillow Covers!

Aren't they adorable??? I was so pleased with how they turned out! I seriously did a little dance when I finished them!

Close-UP

The idea to put their initials on them came much later than the actual heart/pillow idea came, but it came before I actually sat down to do this project.

Close-Up # Two

Almost two weeks before attempting these pillows, I did a practice run using muslin. I was scared to cut into this adorable fabric before I actually knew if my idea would work! That might have been when I got the idea to do the initials. Or maybe it was because a few months back, my oldest niece became fascinated with finding her H's on things!

Front and Back Pic

I only bought a yard of each of these fabrics, so I did not want to mess up! By the way, I got this fabric from Jo-Ann's, as well as the 14 inch pillow forms displayed here. As you can see above, I used an envelope closure, rather than a zipper one, which I thought might be the safest and softest route for little heads.

I really want to make a tutorial for this pillow cover and I am planning to do so in the future, in case anyone is interested in making one. I have never done a tutorial, so that will be branching out! But this is a fun project and I would really like to share it!

Here they are posing with the Tiny Artists right before getting wrapped and delivered! Well that is a Valentine's Wrap! Hope you enjoyed these and keep an eye out for a tutorial!

Happy Sewing!

The Tiny Artist Coloring Book Crayon Roll by Diedelbug Handmade

So I know it has been awhile, but I have been sewing (in between assignments and deadlines, that is)! Last week, I made these adorable Tiny Artist Coloring Book Crayon Rolls!

These darling little creations were made using the very first pattern ever designed by the lovely Diedelbug of Diedelbug Handmade! I am certain many more wonderful patterns will color her future!

I made six Tiny Artists last week for Valentine's Day gifts for my two nieces and four second cousins! They were the perfect gifts! All the little recipients loved them! I thought it would be fun to personalize them, so I used some felt and added their initials to the front! My niece knows her H's and loves to find them!

Not only is this a fun, fast sew, but it also requires just a few supplies! A great fat quarter/scrap buster project!!! There are no pattern pieces to print out, which means no printing and no cutting out the pattern before beginning! Directions are crystal clear and a helpful diagram is provided! Seriously, this is a great pattern for beginners and a nice relaxing, quick sew for the more advanced.

The Tiny Artists are great for travel, party favors, pre-school graduation gifts, Valentine's Day gifts, Easter baskets, and even stocking stuffers (It's NEVER to early to start planning for Christmas!)! So go get this pattern ASAP over at Craftsy for the very low price of only $2!!!

Also, be sure to go check out Diedelbug on facebook and etsy! You know all those Swoon patterns I test and love to make??? Well, the amazing owner of Deidelbug Handmade is THE queen of bag making! And guess what??? She sells custom bags like Stella and Betty and pretty much all Swoon bags and beyond! She is so talented, so if you can't sew or don't have the time, let Deidelbug make you the bag of your dream! Or pick up a set of ready to ship Tiny Artists!

Happy Sewing!