Valance to Skirt - Quickie Sewing Project

I found this blue flowery Disney window valance a the thrift store for 10 cents and figured it would make a cute skirt. I came across it this morning while going through my fabric bin. It was a quick 10 minute project and turned out cute, but was missing something. So I spent the next half hour making a fabric flower for the front. It's darling. My sewing week is coming to an end, and I haven't even posted all the new stuff I sewed. I'll get to it eventually. 

Before: A cute window valance

After: An even cuter skirt

With a darling fabric flower

Nursing Cover Roll-Up

I sewed a new nursing cover today. It was a little bit more troublesome than normal. I think it was just operator error. Everything seemed to go wrong and I spent way too much time with my seam ripper. I'm happy it's complete. I made a few small changes from my other ones, I added a second pocket in the other corner and I made both pockets with chenille. The pockets are great for wiping milk from little mouths and to stick the binky in if you need to. I also added a tie so that the cover can roll up to fit easily in a purse or diaper bag.

My original tutorial can be found HERE.

You can see one of the pockets.

August modeled for me

My First Minky Baby Blanket

I saw baby blankets made with Minky dot fabric on etsy and decided to make one for my brand new nephew.  I've never sewn with Minky before and it was a little challenging. I read a few tutorials while I was seeking advice on how to sew with the Minky fabric. It's extremely stretchy and I didn't want to mess up. That stuff isn't cheap.

A couple of very helpful tips were to, use a lot of pins (I should have used more), lay the Minky on the rug when cutting and pinning cotton fabric to it, and sew Minky side down. 


I really should have used more pins, it appeared that it would have helped maintain better control of the Minky while sewing. If you make one of these make sure you sew very slow. 


I used Kate Spain's Central Park Zoo in Aqua, and brown Minky Dot fabric. The finished blanket measures 43"x44".

I'm linking the tutorial I followed here.

I'm going to add a tip because the tutorial says to get your iron nice and hot and press before you top stitch. BE CAREFUL! Don't make your iron too hot it will iron the dots in the Minky away and they don't come back. I accidentally ironed a couple dots out. *sad face* There are a few imperfections in the blanket that I wish weren't there. I'm sure it's only noticeable to me.

Here is the journey from fabric to blanket.

Cutting and pinning on the rug was super easy

It would have been easier to sew with pins between the pins

Big blanket. More like toddler size than baby size. That's good though, it will last longer.

I love this Central Park Zoo fabric

I can't wait to see pictures of my nephew with his Minky. I have to send this to him, they live far away. *sniff*