Happy June! It's time for May's monthly report. See past reports here.


Keeping things short and sweet for this month's report! We've been spending time working outside whenever the weather cooperates. A few weekends ago I made a couple of planters for our front porch. I followed this youtube video. I'm really pleased with how they turned out!


I've pulled together most of the dining room, and now have all my vintage enamelware and vintage Pyrex out and on display! I love having it all together again. Here is my shelf with all my Cathrineholm, Dansk Kobenstyle, and Arabia Finel pieces.


I've been sewing, still working mostly on smaller projects. One of which was another little stuffed mouse! I made one for my Mom for Easter (see it here), and this one I made for myself. Her name is Penelope. I used this pattern, and my favorite tiny heart buttons.


To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I'm tracking my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track my here. Here is how I did in May:

May Fabric
Used up: 8.5 yards
Brought in: 9.75 yards
Net: +1.25 yards
Year to date: +23.25 yards

May Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: +218 yards

In terms of stashing, I did okay this month. I bought a few yards of plain canvas for some upcoming bags, plus a few goodies from Bijou Lovely. The rest was gifted to me, which I do still count! :)


One project from last month was this simple mini quilt that I made for my Mom for Mother's Day. I've been holding onto these panels by Suzy Ultman from Appleville for years. I still have a few pieces left, but it felt good to use up a few!

Two George photos this month, because why not? He's been his usual cute self.

Have a great month!

Adventures in Softie Making: Seymour the Whale

It's time to share my latest softie, Seymour the Whale! I've really enjoyed stretching my skills to make these, you can see my last two sets of softies here: Henrietta Hippo and Moo Moo + Baby Bunnies.


For my whale, I used the Seymour Spyhop pattern by Heather Bailey. Five years ago (whoa!) I made an elephant softie from one of her patterns, so I knew this whale would turn out cute. I thought this grey/blue print from Flower Shop would be cute for the main body. For the belly, I used an adorable tiny pindot that I picked up on a whim, but have used quite a bit!


Look how cute he turned out! This is a pretty small softie, much smaller than the hippos I made last.


I chose to make a pretty simple whale, but the pattern includes instructions/pattern pieces for making a whale, orca, or a narwhal!


The eyes are really different, rather than a button or embroidery, they're made from a piece of cut felt and a small black bead. I probably could have pulled them in a little tighter so they sunk more into the whale's face, but oh well!


I think the tail was the trickiest part of this softie, but it really wasn't too bad. Being sure to clip the seams properly after sewing makes a big difference.


I had fun making this little whale, and it was a good excuse to go down by the lake for some photos. Now I need to figure out what softie to make next!

Happy Sewing!

Adventures in Softie Making: Henrietta Hippo

It's time to share another set of softies! This time I worked from the Henrietta Hippo Pattern by Lucy Blaire. When I was looking for my next softie project, I came across this pattern and knew I had to make it. I've been obsessively following the progress of Fiona, the baby hippo born at the Cincinnati Zoo earlier this year. They update their Instagram regularly with photos and videos of her!


I managed to chose the fabric for this project pretty quickly. I wanted a small, dense print and I happened to have just the thing in my stash. I've been hoarding this print from Out to Sea by Sarah Jane since it came out in 2012. I matched it up with some leftover Widescreen for the accents.


Why make one when you can make two? I went ahead and made two softies at the same time, one for my Mom's birthday and one for me. Now we have matching Fionas!


I found little navy buttons for the eyes and stitched them on using purple embroidery floss. Look at those cute ears!


Glad I finally cut into this print, I think it's a great use for it. Plus I still have about 3/4 yard leftover! I auditioned a few other accent prints in the same color, but the widescreen ended up being just right.


These are by far the best softies I've made so far. The pattern was nice and easy to follow and I didn't even mis-cut any of the mirrored pieces! This was a fun one to make, it was nice to work at a larger scale than my last set of softies. Next up, I'm making a whale softie!

Happy Sewing!

Adventures in Softie Making: Moo Moo + Baby Bunnies

I've been on a bit of a softie making kick this year. I have always had a soft spot (hehe) for stuffed animals, so it was only a matter of time before I made some myself! I've made a few here and there over the years (including some made from knit fabrics), but I've never felt super happy with the quality I was able to achieve.

Now that I have lots more sewing experience and knowledge under my belt, I've started at it again. I'm happy to report it's going well, and I have three recently finished softies to share today!


First up, this adorable cow! My Mom made me a stuffed cow for my birthday when I was young, and I always thought it was so cute. When I saw this Moo Moo pattern by Melly & Me, I knew I had to make one. I love the sweet felt details and little floss tail! I dug deep into my Erin McMorris Park Slope stash for this guy. I thought the pebble print sort of looked like cow spots!


Of course I couldn't resist the Baby Bunnies pattern by Melly & Me either. Look how cute! I thought it would be funny to make a bunny out of cat fabric. I'm easily amused!


And one more bunny, because you can't make just one. I've had this repro print in my stash for years and it's still a favorite, I love purple and orange together. I finished both bunnies with button eyes, embroidered faces and pom-pom tails. My embroidery could use some work, I need some more practice.


The two bunnies together. These softies were a fun exercise for me, and I am really pleased with how they turned out. I've already made two more softies (hippos!), since I made these, which I'll share soon. Perhaps I'll share some tips that have helped me improve my softie making too.

My main sewing pull is usually quilts, but I do love working on small side projects like these to keep things interesting and learn new things!

Happy Sewing!