KariLeighCreations.com

Applique Apprehension

karileighcreations — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:38:00 +0000

Back in May I had a fellow teacher ask me to help her make a purse she had started and was having trouble with. The purse pattern she was using involved appliqued hearts but I agreed to the project even though I had never done any applique before.

Slowly the summer was passing by and I knew I needed to get started on the purse if I was going to get it finished before school started back up. I read the pattern directions. I went to the library and checked out books on applique. I surfed the internet and read everything I could find about applique. And I was still apprehensive about starting the project.

Finally, I bit the bullet a couple weeks ago and I finished it today! It may not be perfect, but I think it looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Give me another applique project – I think I’m ready to tackle it!

My life lately…

karileighcreations — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:26:19 +0000

is incredibly crazy! I feel like I have no time to do what needs to be done. It’s been about a month and a half since I’ve sewn anything or updated my page here. In November my grandmother passed away right before Thanksgiving. We spent a week down in Alabama sorting through her belongings and then came home to the holiday rush.

Three days before Christmas Patrick’s grandfather passed away. We held his funeral the day before Alex’s birthday. She turned 12 on December 27th. Luckily we had her party at the local skating rink because I could not have gotten a party together at home. It was a very sad time and also a happy time around here this Christmas.

I am taking a class at school to help keep my teaching certification current. As far as classes go, this one is relatively painless, but it is now one night a week where I’m not home until late. That’s no fun.

We are also in the process of some home improvement projects that are sucking up great deals of our time.

Ainsley turned 4 this past Sunday. We spent most of Saturday shopping for the house and cleaning it up getting ready for the birthday party. I baked a ton of food. My waistline is NOT happy with me right now about that! I really need to get back on the healthy eating plan I had been on, but it just seems so hard when we’re barely home and are eating out so much.

Alex is currently rehearsing for a new play that will open in February. The poor girl has rehearsals planned every Saturday and Sunday and as the show gets closer the rehearsal times are getting longer. It feels like we hardly see her on the weekends.

I’d really like to get back to sewing SOON. I miss it. I am planning on making something for my youngest brother for his birthday. Maybe that will kick me back into gear since his birthday is on the 4th of February, so not far away. Maybe I’ll actually get started on it today. YAY for a snow day!!!!!

Update to “The Christmas Crunch Is On”

karileighcreations — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:12:32 +0000

Here is is January 26th, 2009 and I’m finally getting a chance to post an update about the Christmas things I made. Thank goodness for a snow day!

I ended up making two fleece tied blankets for my in-laws. Dumb me forgot to take a picture of them before I wrapped them up and gave them away. Oops!

For my friend I made this purse out of prequilted fabric:

Ever since I started making purses my mom has been asking me to make her one with a zipper. Zippers have always scared me so I avoided them. Finally, this year I decided to make mom the purse she wanted. It was an adventure and involved cutting the bottom of the lining then sewing it back together, but I did it. I’m sure there’s probably a better way, but this one worked and made mom happy. Here’s her new purse:

My oldest brother had asked me back in November to make him a bag for his razor since the one he had was too small. At the time we were in Alabama right after our grandmother had passed away. She used to quilt before her health declined and had fabric stashed in various rooms of her house. A lot of the fabric was small bits and pieces, but I did bring home a large piece of denim and some patriotic prints. I also found one 9 inch zipper. I was able to make the bag my brother wanted out of those materials. All I used of my own was the thread and sewing machine. This was my second attempt at putting in a zipper and it went much better this time. Here’s the bag:

And the final thing I made before Christmas this year was a donkey costume for my youngest’s Christmas Pageant for pre-school. Here she is:

The Christmas Crunch is On…

karileighcreations — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:50:56 +0000

Like many other crafters, I made lofty plans to MAKE gifts for many friends and family members. Now I’m down to 12 days until Christmas and only ONE item on that list has been completed – yikes! I’d list what I still have to make, but I don’t want any prying eyes to know what they’re (hopefully) getting!

In addition to not having the presents made, the tree has not been decorated and no other presents have been wrapped. The girls have been pestering me for days about the lack of presents. Ainsley informed me that she wants a present under the tree with her name on it Yesterday someone asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she told them she wanted a swimming baby and a swimming doggie, but she probably wouldn’t get it! LOL! And to think that she’s only three…

I am really looking forward to Christmas break this year. Only one more week of school until I can relax for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. I am so stressed out right now and really need a break. Of course, not having the presents done is adding to my stress level right now. I guess I had better get off of the computer and get to work!

I hate making handles!

karileighcreations — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:03:24 +0000

I tell my husband all of the time that I hate making handles. And it’s true, I do. Turning the fabric to the right side after sewing each edge takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R! His response is always, “It’s hobby! If you hate it so much, why do you do it?!?” As I tell him every time, I like making the purses – picking the fabric combinations, watching them come to completion, etc – it’s just the handles I hate and a purse isn’t much good without a handle! Now I always make the handles first so I can get them out of the way and enjoy the rest of the purse-making process.

Tonight I am attempting to make a tote bag for myself out of pre-quilted fabric. I sketched out the design the other day on graph paper and this will be my first attempt at making it, so I’ll be curious to see if it comes out as planned. I’m already afraid it will be smaller than I wanted, but with only one yard of my chosen fabric, I had to make sure I didn’t plan to use any more than that. Of course, I started by making the handles and I’ve already hit a snag. I cut them pretty narrow trying to conserve fabric and now I’m having a heck of a time getting them turned right-side-out. I’ll say it again – I hate making handles!

My “baby” is heading to pre-school…

karileighcreations — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:54:49 +0000

Early last week DH and I decided that we might want to put Ainsley in pre-school. We called our first choice – the only one we could find with a 3-day a week full-day program – and found out they had ONE spot left in the class of our choice. So we rushed there before they opened the next day, were given a tour and paid her registration fee and first week’s tuition on the spot. She starts Wednesday and seems really excited.

At the pre-school the kids nap on small cots. We are supposed to bring in a crib-size sheet, small pillow, and a blanket if she wants one. Last night we went to Wal-Mart and bought her a Dora sheet. I’ve made a crib sheet before, but the elastic was annoying to work with so I decided to just buy one. We planned on using the travel-sized pillow we already had, but I wanted a nice pillow case for it so I made one myself last night. It really didn’t take me too long and I think it came out really cute. Check it out:

And here’s a picture of the purse I finished last night before I made the pillow case:

More progress…

karileighcreations — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:05:05 +0000

I’ve had a lot of sewing planned for my summer and with my time off quickly coming to an end I’ve been trying to get as much sewing in as possible. In the last week and a half or two I finally made the curtains for the playhouse my father-in-law has been building for the girls and I finished two small purses. The playhouse has been a year in the making, so of course, I waited until it was almost finished before even starting on the curtains LOL!

To make the playhouse more “fun” inside we chose a “sonic green” paint and curtain fabric to match. Since I didn’t have quite enough of the curtain fabric to make the curtains the length I wanted, I added a purple piece of fabric to the end of each panel. Even though I finished making the curtains last week, I didn’t get them hung until today. Here are a few pictures of them. The colors in the pictures is a bit off. The curtains are the same green as the walls with bright blue and purple.

Here are the two small purses I finished up this week. I enjoyed making them more than larger purses because I got them finished quicker and they were easier to handle since they were smaller. Plus, I think this color combination was really cute!

Where has the time gone?!?!

karileighcreations — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:32:07 +0000

I can’t believe how quickly my summer vacation is flying by! I had all of these plans for things I wanted to get done and most just haven’t happened.

Ainsley started potty training and then was running to the bathroom every few minutes. Ugh. I finally took her to her doctor and they diagnosed her with a UTI and prescribed medicine which seemed to help. Now she only asks to pee every hour

Alex has taken three classes this summer so, of course, I got to play chauffeur. The constant running back and forth was tiring after a while. I’m sure Ainsley got tired of being in the car so much every day.

Patrick and I took a weekend trip to North Carolina to celebrate our upcoming 15th anniversary. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast while our parents turn turns watching the girls. It was the most relaxing vacation I think I’ve ever gone on. We had a GREAT time just sitting on the balcony of our room watching the water and reading in peace and quiet. Then we came back home to reality LOL!

The last two weekends have been spent cleaning out our basement so that it can be turned into a rec room. We spent an entire Saturday cleaning, organizing, and throwing out stuff and then we priced a bunch for a yard sale. The yard sale was this past Saturday and we got rid of some of the stuff. We hope to have another yard sale in the fall to get rid of the rest. If it doesn’t sell, we’re going to donate it!

All of that has left very little time to sew and my summer is almost over! Where has the time gone?!?!

Another pair of purses completed!

karileighcreations — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:45:11 +0000

It took me about three weekends, working around all of the usual household day-to-day stuff, but I finished two more purses. Here they are:

Summer vacation is just under three weeks away. I can’t wait! I am going to relax, sew, read, and enjoy my time with my girls.

Making progress…

karileighcreations — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:28:31 +0000

Last weekend I started to make two green and purple purses. Both have already been promised so I need to hurry up and finish them LOL!

I got some work in on the purses early this past week, but then got too busy with school. I was hoping to finish them up this weekend, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. Oh well. One of them is almost completed.

I can’t wait until I have more time to sew. Only 4.5 weeks of school left…