It's the simple things.

I have been busy today finishing up some carseat covers. Tansley, my 3 nearly 4 year old found a discarded piece of material and asked if she could have it. I told her that she could and off she went and I continued sewing. About a minute later she returned and asked if I could put some velcro on it to make a bib for her Fluffy. I have been know to say "When I am done doing what I am doing, then I will do what you want me to do." But today I chose differently. Maybe it was because I felt sorry for her because she has been sick all day with a headache(which I think is totally unfair for a 3 year old), fever and achy muscles. But I'd like to think that it was because I am trying really hard to be a better mom. A more attentive mom. A more patient mom. A mom that just stops what she is doing and takes 30 seconds to sew a little piece of velcro on a scrap piece of material. So, I put the car seat cover aside, found some velcro a put a little piece on, and voila! A bib. Tansley was so thrilled, off she went to put it on her Fluffy and I started on the carseat cover again. A minute later she was back asking if I had another scrap of material to make a bib for her Yellow(she comes up with very creative names for her creatures). We found another piece of material and I made another bib. She told me how much she loved me, gave me a hug and headed upstairs to show her older sister, who then wanted me to make a couple of bibs for her creatures. Another few seconds and I had another child tickled pink. I am still not finished the carseat cover, but that's OK, I'll get back to it now that the kids are in bed. Just pretend you can't see the sewing/crafting mess in the background of this picture.

OK, OK, OK, Here it is..so far(Multi-Texture Blanket - Part 4)

What do you think? This is the multi-texture blanket that I have been working on for a six year old autistic girl. Unfortunately you can't really see the different textures. It sure would be great if you could feel them on your own computer screen, don't ya think?

I'm not totally convinced this is the right lay out. I am hoping that any of you reading this will put in your two bits and help me play around with this so that I can get it just right. I think that the I will do the binding in pink satin, but I haven't yet decided what colour/texture(maybe a simple cotton colour/print) I should do the border. Ideas? Anybody? Help!

Multi Textured Blanket - Part 3

Oh, I am having so much fun with this blanket. I think that I may have all the blocks finished. It will all depend on the lay out. I just finished creating the blocks and I was so excited to show them off that I took pictures of the newest ones and I am here blogging about it. When I am done blogging, I am going to go lay it all out, and try to get a good distribution of colours and whatnot. Only then will I really know if I have all the right blocks or if I am going to make more to even things out. To see the other blocks I've made check out here and here.
These are the newest applique blocks. The cat and mouse/bear are missing eyes and noses, but fear not, they will be adorned with the cutest of faces. The mouse/bear is made from a gray Berber. The cat is made with a really soft animal print short fur. Both the animals are on a kind of satiny back ground. The flower is made of pink satin and on a corduroy background. The star is made of a kind of gold lamee and on an fleece backed with a kind of stiff crinkly fabric, this adds a new dimension to the texture.

Some other fabrics I am using:This I call my cookie monster material. It is furry, but not really soft. It just makes me think of Cookie Monster.This is a blue taffeta with taffeta ribbon embroidery. This is left over scraps from Christmas dresses that I made for my girls two Christmas's ago.
This is called "eyelash chenille". It is really soft and long. This is left over from making wraps to go with my girls Christmas dresses two Christmas's ago. We recently made pillows for the girls out of this and they love them.I used this material in making a cuddly cat for my 18 month old for Christmas. She loves it to pieces. It is a short hair chenille and it is to die for soft.This is a rough wooly type fabric. It is a nice contrast to some of the previous soft/furry fabrics.

Well, that is all for now, I am going to go play around with the blocks and see what I can come up with.

I've been so busy catching up.

I've been determined this past week to get caught up on the cresting that I do for Bert and Macs source for sports, that I haven't been creating much in the way of fun stuff. Just a little tidbit there and a tidbit here. But my mind hasn't stopped. I keep adding to my list of ideas of things that I want to make and have available in my Etsy shop. The good news is, that after today I should be all caught up(and bringing in some nice cash)! Yeah!! I am so excited, because now I can really start doing all that I want to be doing. So sit tight, and soon I'll have more new and exciting things for you to look at, drool over, or just simply admire. Whatever the case, I am so EXCITED!

If you like Give aways...

I've got just the site for you. To celebrate one whole year of blogging, she's giving away a tonne of fun stuff. I've just barely started looking. It's gonna take a while to see all that she has to offer. But it will be fun...once the kids are in bed. Her big ones are a Hoover® Platinum Collection™ Stick Vacuum and a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. You really should check it out. You just might win something exciting! I am hoping to. Never mind that you should just check out this blog often. She always has great ideas for things to do with your kids.

Multi-Textured Blanket - Part 2

I've done a little more work on the multi-texture blanket. I got two adorable blocks done tonight. To see the other blocks I've made so far click here. Aren't they cute? I pretty pleased with them. The wings on both of them are free moving. The Butterfly has really crinkly wings and a fleece body. The bee has slightly crisp and shimmery wings and the body is made from faux suede with rickrack stripes. So far so good. Thanks Jaime for the idea of the shiny/slippery/sparkly fabric. I hadn't thought of that, but I know exactly what I want to do with it, I just need to go buy some.

My New Purse

I've been looking for the perfect purse for awhile, I'd seen this really great, bright, bold and big purse when I was up in Calgary about a month ago. I loved it, but it was quite a bit more money than I am willing to spend on a purse. I've never really been a purse person. I don't have a lot of them, but now that I am a mother of three I am discovering the benefits of a larger purse. So I've been on the look out. But I haven't yet found something that I love. Then my sister-in-law posted her most recent creation, a hobo purse. It was cute and it gave me an idea. So I went to my friend google typed in "purse sewing patterns", and then spent a few hours more than I really should have on searching for a pattern that I loved. I found one, the Gracie Hand Bag. And then even better I found this video that demonstrated how the bag was made so then I didn't have to buy the pattern. Now all I had to do was find the right fabric. That was no easy chore. There are so many fabulous fabrics out there. So many different combinations. So many fabulous colours. How is a girl to choose just enough for one purse? Well I finally managed and this is what I found. I had intended on using one of the panels as a pocket on the front, but I didn't want this purse to be that big, so they panels will have to wait for another project.








They are so gorgeous, I will definitely be using them for something, I just don't know what yet.

So I took these fabrics and I did some measuring and some cutting and some stitching and some unpicking, and restitching and finally I was done and this is how it all turned out. I quite love it. I learned a lot. Next time, and yes, there will totally be a next time, I will be able to do it a lot smarter.

Multi-Texture Blanket, Part 1

A few weeks ago I received an interesting email with an interesting project proposal. This lady has a 6 year old autistic daughter who loves different textures. The feel of different textures calm her when she is having a melt down. She asked me if I could make her a textured blanket. I was thrilled with the idea. So while I have been doing some less fun projects, my mind has been mulling over this project. Today I decided to get a start on it. I went through my stash of fabric to see what I had on hand that would add texture to this blanket, I wasn't surprised by all that I found, but there are a few pieces that I am going to have to go looking for. I really want to make this blanket special, not just practical. I want it to be something that this little girl just loves. I want it to do the job that it is intended for, but I want it to be adorable, to die for cute. I plan on doing some appliques on some of the squares, things like flowers, ladybugs, butterflies, ABC's, 123's etc. These are the squares that I put together today, I like the idea of the flannel rag quilt squares, they are soft with some extra texture.

If anybody reading this has some ideas(is there anybody out there reading this...or am I just talking to myself like I do so frequently?) feel free to leave a comment, I'd love some additional input to keep the gears turning in my brain. I'll keep you all updated with my progress. This is my new pet project.

Pretty in pink

I was looking for some fun valentine ideas that I could get have my girls make to give to teachers and Grandparents. So I typed 'valentine crafts' into my google search. I found a lot of great websites some of which I have listed under 'great sites to get ideas'.
Yesterday we tried making these tissue paper flowers. They turned out so pretty. Tansley is already asking me if we could make more.

I'm on a roll

Alright, for the past month my brain has been really ticking, churning over ideas, things that I wanted to really be doing, while I worked on making Brides Maid dresses for my sister-in-law. Now that I have finished those dresses, I am working on some of my ideas.

I picked up the idea for these totally quick and fun tissue holders from one of my favorite blogs, Sew,Mama,Sew (this site continues to feed my churning brain). I've made a handful of them to have on hand to give as gifts. They are so easy that I used them as the first project for my beginners sewing class that I teach once a month.

My 6 year old thought they were so great that she wanted me to help her make one for her grade one teacher for Valentines day. She has her own little stash of fabric that she chose from. She has a little Singer sewing machine that she got for her birthday, so she did what she could on that and then I helped her use my machine to finish it off.

Darn Tootin' Cute Dress

I just made this adorable little dress this afternoon for the daughter of a friend of mine. I had my Kathryn try it on and model it for me. It is made with quilters cotton. I used the top part of a peasant blouse pattern and I added 5 inches to width of the bodice to make the first ruffle. Each additional ruffle is 5 inches wider than the previous ruffle. I cut each ruffle 6 inches tall. It is super easy to make and super cute as you can see. It turned out just as cute as I hoped it would.

Here are some similar tops that I have made.
If you like these you can check out what I have available in my etsy shop or on my facebook group MaKC Creations. I will also do custom orders if there is something special you have in mind. Just send me an email or leave a comment.

Welcome To the new MaKC Creations Blog

In an effort to make this a more easily accessible blog, I have come hear to blogspot from here. I have great ambitions of adding a new post at least once a week with things that I've got on the go. I am really excited about this. It seems as though I am always doing some kind of project or other and I would just love to share with everyone what I am doing, give some tips and pointers and hopefully even have some tutorials and free patterns available for download and maybe even a give away once in awhile. My mind has been bursting with ideas, so much so, that I find it hard to sleep at night because I just can't shut down the thinker. So, to all my friends, spread the word! I am ready to share with the world!

Quilts and a Cuddly Cat

This past Christmas I was busy with all kinds of creations for my beautiful girls. But there were some that were a bigger hit than others, not that they aren't all loved. First, I made each of my girls a quilt for their bed. This was a new thing for my, I have never made a real quilt before, but I had taken a beginners quilting class and learned some quilting techniques. Here are the results, that I am quite proud of, and my girls just love them so much.


All those these quilts were a hit, my simplest project was my biggest success. I made this really easy cuddly cat for my 18 month old. She is completely in love with it. It solves almost any problem. It goes with her everywhere, and absolutely nobody else is allowed to touch it. She hugs it tight while she sleeps.

This is Kymberly totally in love with her cuddly cat on Christmas morning.

This is my sick little girl holding tight to her cuddly cat, she wasn't very happy with me trying to take a cute picture.

I made the cat with "cuddelicious" in pink short hair. It is stuffed with foam bits. The face is hand stitched on with embroidery floss. I am currently working on a pattern for this adorable cuddly cat for a free download. And soon I will have them available to buy as well, both here, on Etsy and on my facebook group MaKC Creations.