It’s been a while..... a LONG while!

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Wow - it has been a LONG time!

I promise they're ALL excited about their sister's arrival! :)

Since I last blogged, our family has grown - twice. We have moved - twice.  We have done big ol’ home remodel projects. Life has gotten more hectic but also awesome. I have gone through waves of creativity followed by severe creative droughts. At this point I’m pretty sure “balance” is a make-believe word..... but I do strive to include all areas of my life - creative, Mom, wife, friend, fitness enthusiast, ice cream lover - daily.

Our little Adalynn wearing a dress named after her - The Adalynn from Mamma Can Do It Patterns

I have missed blogging, and have been doing lots more sewing recently, so I’m going to try to get back to sharing about life / my creative endeavors as much as is possible with 4 kids ages 4mos - 7 years!

I hope you are doing well, too!

Pattern Review: Almost One Size Truly Scrumptious Pant

First: let me challenge you to say that pattern name 10 times fast!  5 times?  Twice?!?!?!  Ha!

When Chrissy from Muse of the Morning asked for bloggers interested in doing reviews of her patterns I browsed her selection - and was intrigued by these pants.

Here's why (from the pattern listing):
"Children from approximately 6 mos up to 7 years old can wear them! There is ONE pattern piece, which is cut at the appropriate length."

Oh reeeeeallly!?

So here's what I found out when I gave them a go! {please keep in mind I was given this pattern for free in order to participate in this blog tour / review - but my opinions are honest and not influenced by that monetary savings!}

The Pattern
Sizes: "Baby Bloomers" (looks like about a 6-12 month size) through 7
Options: Basic Pants, Basic Bloomers, Patchy Pants, Strippy Pants (strips of fabric..... c'mon!), optional ruffles on the bum
Pattern Pieces: ONE if you're making the basic pants; 2-3 if you're making the patchy / strippy option.  For EVERY size.  Really, truly.  They all have the same width / rise - - - with length cutting lines for each size
Time to sew: I'd say under an hour for the patchy / strippy pants; 30-45 minutes for the basic pants (and that includes taping the pattern together.... and distracting the kiddos with "really cool" toys so you can get back behind the sewing machine)

What I Made
I cut out four pairs of pants - two pars of basic pants, and two pairs of strippy pants.  One of each style in both 2T and 4T.  As for what I sewed..... here's a little glimpse into the life of a work-at-home, handmade business owning mama.....

The truth is - - - my children do not understand deadlines.  Or "mommy NEEDS to work".... or.... "please-do-not-body-slam-your-brother-into-the-floor, I just have ONE more hem to finish up."

So I had the best of intentions when signing up for this tour - I was going to rock it.  I was going to finally make pants {lots of them, obviously!} from the LARGE selection of fabrics I have been storing up for my kiddos.

But life comes up.... and my plan to get this done WAY ahead of time - well, I failed.  Then it was Monday morning, and despite telling my kiddos (and myself) that I had a deadline to meet - - the sun came out and obviously we had to play outside.  So the Wednesday morning deadline was getting closer and closer by the second and I WASN'T SEWING.

But... the moral of this story?!  These pants are FAST to sew up!  Even the strippy ones!  I cut them out Monday afternoon, ironed all the pieces, then didn't get a chance to sew them up until Tuesday morning (after breakfast was consumed and the kiddos seemed to be happily playing for at least a few minutes).  I put the pedal to the carpet and my machines kept up with my "must sew all the things - FAST" pace.

Then I bribed the kiddos with a picnic lunch outside if they would pleeeeeeeease allow me to take a few pictures.  We got a few.... and I KNOW they love their pants because despite the 80 degree temperature outside I could NOT get them to take them off and swap 'em out for shorts.  So they played in them - enjoyed our picnic in them - and smiled the whole time!

After sewing up the two pairs of strippy pants - and getting them on my boys, I can say that I love that this pant has so many options - all that can be pretty simply incorporated into the base construction / design.  It's great that I can print the pattern ONCE, cut it out at the biggest size, and then fold the pant leg up at the line for the size I'm making!

I did feel like the rise of the pant was a bit long on my 1.5 year old (size 2T), and the legs are definitely a bit wide on him.  Not so much that it's an issue.... just not as "trim" of a look as I'd prefer.  For the basic pants I think I may trim down the legs a little bit!

The pattern pieces printed well - and I loved the use of a variety of symbols at each page overlap.  Between the page numbers and the symbols, you should have NO problem getting this taped together!  The instructions were very clear - and construction was a breeze.  I actually put 1" elastic into my boys' pants because they are pretty skinny and the 3/8" that the pattern calls for often doesn't feel like "enough" (in other items I've sewn) - really just a personal preference thing, but thanks to serging (rather than turning the raw edge under) I had the flexibility to do this and not alter the fit from the pattern as written.

This pattern does not have a cutting chart for the elastic.  For many that probably isn't an issue - but for people like me who are most often sewing for customers / kiddos that they don't have in front of them and ready to measure - this means needing to reference another pattern's cutting chart or a table online.  Not a BIG deal - - - but just something to keep in mind!

All in all - I love how these strippy pants turned out and I'm excited to get the basics sewn up as well.  The boys love them, too!  This was the perfect pattern for that busy but AWESOME OSU Beavers fabric - I definitely wouldn't want a whole pair of pants from it.... but the strippy accent is GREAT!

If you made it through all of that... you should be rewarded, right!? :)

Well you're in luck!

If you click over to the first day of the tour you'll find a giveaway!  Chrissy is giving away TEN patterns of the winners' choice - wow!

Also, she has an active coupon code to celebrate the blog tour!  Head over to the Muse of the Morning Pattern Shop and enjoy 30% off any (or all!?) of her patterns through May 17th using the coupon code BLOGTOUR30.  Wowza!

Thanks again to Chrissy for asking me to participate in this blog tour / review - it was fun!

Giveaway Day!

Who DOESN'T love a giveaway?!

Today is Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day and of course I will join in!

If you're new here - or an established follower - welcome!  My name is Kim and I'm the mama behind Eggo in the Oven - a custom sewing business I started over 3 years ago.  I spend most of my time chasing after my two boys - but I squeeze in business sewing time and occasionally find time to sew "fun" / "just because" stuff, too!  This blog is another way for me to share my passion for sewing.... and fabric!

Up for grabs is this adorable charm pack - "Flirt" by Sandy Gervais for Moda - - - love love love the aquas, shads of coraly red, and greys.  I'll also throw in a a few surprise cuts from my stash that coordinate.

How to enter:

Leave a comment on this post - let me know what YOUR favorite color combo is (aquas / reds / greys is one of my faves)

For a second entry:

Leave another comment if you are a follower - or have become one!  

VERY IMPORTANT: Please make sure you are NOT a no-reply blogger - or leave some way for me to contact you.  I'm going to feel bad if I have to draw another name because I can't get in touch with you!  For more info, click HERE

What a way to brighten up a Monday, right?!

Even my kiddos were excited about the giveaway :)

Giveaway closes at 5pm PST this Friday May 16th.  Winner will be chosen at random from the comments - please make sure you leave a way to contact you if you are a no-reply blogger!  Giveaway is open to everyone - USA and International.  Winner will be emailed by 5/18 - and your prize will be mailed by 5/20.

Good luck!

Staggered clips: a row piecing organization techniqe

It's been a while since I have posted a "Sew with me Sunday" tutorial / tip..... but this week as I was sewing up my Project Quilting piece, I developed an organizational strategy that I thought was worth sharing!

This week's quilt design wasn't quite as straightforward as some of my designs in the past - much harder to tell as I was chain piecing squares if I had accidentally rotated one of the squares and was sewing the "top" of the pair - rather than the right side, etc.

So I needed some sort of strategy to keep track of the correct side to sew - and where each row started / stopped.

Confession:  I severely dislike pins.  Straight pins, safety pins, push pins..... you name 'em, I don't like them.

So when I discovered Wonder Clips - I KNEW I needed them ASAP.  While they don't work for EVERY situation you would use pins - they're a pretty great substitute most of the time!

I had all my half square triangles laid out in my final quilt design.
{excuse the cell phone picture - I didn't think to take a picture with my REAL camera}

I started at the left side of the quilt and laid the square from column 2 onto the one from column 1 (right sides together), column 4 on 3, column 6 on 5, and so forth.  Because this quilt has 11 columns, I had one square that wasn't part of a sandwich (yet) - column 11's square - for each row.

Then I got out my Wonder Clips.  I wasn't clipping them together to line up the sides perfectly ready for sewing - I was clipping with the purpose of keeping track of which side of the square to sew, and which pairing (2&1, 4&3, etc.) this was.

Here you can see rows 9 through 12 of my quilt - with the clips staggered for each row.  And a dump truck.

I used sticky notes to write labels for each row - and just clipped them onto the column 1 & 2 pairing.

Here are a few more close-up shots of the pairs...

You can see that column 11 is not paired up - I left it positioned just as it would be for the quilt.

Then I stacked each row - with column 11's square on the bottom (keeping the "right" edge in line with the clips)

A close-up shot of row 12 - see how the clips are staggered?  Another bonus - - - this makes it so that your clips don't stack directly on top of one another!

Then I stacked the piles for each row on top of one another - in numerical order.  This stack is rows 9 through 12.  I found a stack of 4 rows was perfect - I wasn't afraid it was going to topple over.

As I sewed up each pairing, I continued to clip the number to the first bit of each row.  I sewed 4 rows at a time - so this helped me not lose track of where each row started and stopped.

This picture shows rows 5 through 8.  At this point I had sewn together the pairs - columns 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, and 9&10.  Then I clipped the column 11 square to the 9&10 pair - ready to sew up during the next round.

After that, I would sew together the 1&2 pairing with 3&4; 5&6 with 7&8, and as mentioned above 9&10 with 11.

I kept clipping that number marker to the first block after every step.

When I got done with each row, I'd have the row label clipped to the column 1 square for each row.  I left these on until I sewed all the rows together - even when I was pressing seams, etc. - so that I didn't lose track of the row number or which side was the "left" side of the row and which was the "right".

(another cell phone picture..... with a few scraps of paper, foam block, and plastic "nail" - can you tell I have little "helpers"?!)

No.... I do not know why I wrote out the numbers "one" and "two" - when I went to write "three" I thought "um..... the number would be sufficient!"

I hope you like this little tutorial.  I'm sure this isn't a novel idea - but it was something I hadn't come across before (though I can't say I've looked) and that worked GREAT for me / this project.  When I shared that final picture in the Challenge Quilts group on Facebook there were at least a few people interested in my labeling technique...... so here it is!

This post Staggered clips: a row quilting piecing technique first appeared on Sew & Tell with Mama Eggo and includes my honest, unsolicited opinion of a product, Wonder Clips for which I was not compensated.

WIP Wednesday

This week I'm working on a few custom orders, a pattern review for a PDF pattern designer (which will include some great pics of something I made ON a kiddo - wahoo!), stock for my Etsy shop, and trying out a few patterns I have had for a while and have never sewn up.

Oh..... and Project Quilting!  Guess I should get to work! ;-)

This morning I worked on sewing up six adorable dresses - one for a custom order, the rest for shop stock.

I got them partially constructed..... but I still have a bit of sewing to do tonight!

I posted this picture on my Facebook Page and many people thought the wider chevron was brown / white.  Obviously my computer didn't do a good job of representing those colors (even with an attempt at editing) - it's gray & white!

Sleeves!

I'm considering resetting my expectations for what size project I should / will complete for this week's Project Quilting challenge.  We'll see.  If I don't make a quilt, my plan is to do a quilted throw pillowcase.  Both will be made eventually..... and I guess I'll know better by the end of the week which order they'll be made in! :)

Happy Hump Day (both of our boys LOVE to YELL "hump daaaaaaaaaaaay")

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced - can't wait to see what others are working on!

March Goals!

Why hello, March!  Funny how you snuck up on me!

I guess it's time to set some new goals - - - I'll check in on last month's goals soon!

Year-long goal: Do more sewing that is NOT paid orders:
I have decided on a "space" theme for little man #2's room / bedding - thanks to his love of my "Across the Universe" Project Quilting piece.  So I'm hoping to make a few things to go along with that - but that involves buying some fabric.... so I'll have to get through my 100 items first! (though the hubby says this one counts as a "custom order").

I also did my first foundation paper piecing today - thanks to some wonderful in-person, hands-on teaching from a friend's mom.  We did a small construction cone filler block.  She gave me patterns for LOTS of construction vehicles - - - so I hope to work on more blocks here and there to eventually put together a quilt, or wall hanging.... or????  For little man #1's room!

A Lovely Year of Finishes (ALYOF) March
Goal is to finish up Zoe's memory quilt!  Right now it is almost fully pieced - I plan on using a Quilt As You Go method - so I need to quilt the rows, then piece them together, choose (and piece together) backing, and bind!  Phew!  It's a nice big project - and I can't wait to get it finished up!

Project Quilting 
Challenge #5 - inspired by a trip to the grocery store - was posted yesterday (3/2)!  I've been mulling it over, and flopped between a few different pieces of inspiration - but I WILL be participating!  The last challenge will be posted on 3/16 - can't wait to hear what else we will be inspired by - and see everyone's completed projects!

100 item challenge
I made 54 of the 100 items during the month of January.  My goal for February was to get to 80.... I made it to 77!  But this weekend (the first weekend of March) - I made my way to 86!  Getting close!  I'm actually enjoying sewing through what I have and NOT spending as much time (and money) buying fabric.  The friend who roped me into this challenge (Alyssa from Keep Calm and Carrion) and I are considering allowing ourselves a little window to buy when we get to 100 items..... and then starting the challenge again! (are we crazy?!)

Vice Versa BOM
Can't wait to see what block we are working on this month!  Pattern / instructions will be emailed this Friday 3/7.

Wishes Quiltalong
This one posted early - and I've got it printed out!  Loving how the orange & black blocks are looking together so far!

Aurifil DOM sewalong
Another block, this time from Emily Herrick - looking forward to reading about her, drooling (I'm sure) over her quilts, and working on the block she has shared!

Blog Goals
I still have a few tutorials to share - and I need to fit in some time to share some of the sewing I do that ISN'T quilting!  Funny to me - I keep sharing all these quilting projects..... but I spend a good majority of my time sewing clothes! :)

Other Goals
Finish up my pattern organization (was a goal from February.... I got over halfway done with the patterns I already had printed.... but still want to print out more, and need to get tabs on pages, etc.) - I'm looking forward to this one as I KNOW there are sewing patterns (for clothes.... well, quilts too!) that I own and haven't sewn.... LOTS of them.  Time to dust them off!

Linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes - March Goal Setting!  I'm link #91

WIP Wednesday - Zoe's quilt {progress!}

After a wonderful vacation with a little bit of sewing sprinkled in - I was excited to get back behind the sewing machine {the iron?  Not so much!} this week!

I have a few different orders to work on right now, and each is a work in progress.  Some adorable dresses, a birthday onesie, super cute ruffly PJ pants - - - lots of fun things coming across my machine!

The last time I shared about Zoe's quilt I was sorting, designing, and stabilizing each piece.  Since then, her mom found a few rogue items that fell out of the bags when she took them to be shipped to me (oh no!!!) - so she sent them my way to be added in {phew, good thing I've been taking my time on this project - a few of them were really sentimental / important items!}.

Once I had sorted all the items by the size of the design, I started ironing on the stabilizer.  Stabilizer is important because onesies, etc. are all different thicknesses and most of them have some stretch to them.  Stabilizing them helps protect the integrity of the quilt (won't stretch out / break down).... but it takes time!  I knew I was going to work with three different block sizes - 6", 4", and 2" (finished square size).  I cut stabilizer a bit bigger than each size and ironed it on.

Then after returning from vacation, I got to cutting out squares!  150 of them to be exact!  {okay... actually a few more than that... it's good to have extras on hand - and they'll find their way into the backing!}

I *may* have had an unfortunate incident with my rotary cutter during this step.  Thank goodness some sort of survival instinct (or???) intervened and kept me from really doing BIG damage.  I still have all my fingers!!!!

Then I got my handy dandy colored pencil sketch of the quilt, and started stacking squares for each row.

I plan on using a "quilt as you go" method - similar to that shared by Maureen Cracknell - for this quilt due to its size (it will be around 50" x 60" when finished!).

A side note: Maureen is amazing.  Not only is her quilting beautiful and inspiring, but yesterday within minutes of commenting on a blog post of hers, and asking a question, she had responded by email!!!  To say I was a bit star-struck would be an understatement.  She answered my question, and truly took the time to respond with more than just a quick "thanks for commenting".  She even included photos to help explain her process!  Wow!!!  We emailed back and forth a couple times, and I was left even more inspired than before.  So a HUGE thank-you to her for taking the time out of her VERY busy day to offer some tips, etc., and truly show she is invested in the sewing community!

Anyway...... back to Zoe's quilt!

I now have all of the rows sewn together, and I have to say I LOVE how it's coming along.  I don't know the story behind all of the outfits, but I know how much they mean to her family, and I am so honored to be working on such a big, important project!

I'll be switching gears and working on clothes for the next few days - - - then will pick back up on this project again soon!!!  {though it's tempting to just keep sewing and get it all put together!!!}

What are you working on?  What inspires you?

I'm feeling refreshed from our vacation - and VERY inspired to create!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced - - I am link #116 - so excited to see what others are working on!

ALYOF - February Goal!

February already?!

Since I made something for Colby last month, I felt it only fair that February goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes would be for Brendan.  So..... what do you make for a 16 month old?!

Just this past week I put a pillow in his crib for the first time.  He was REALLY congested thanks to a nice lil' cold - and since he moves around his crib SO much during the night, I didn't figure elevating one end would really help much {though now that I think about it..... how is the pillow really ANY different?!  I guess that's the quality logical thought process you get on wake-up #5 or so of the night....?!}

So... this month's goal will be to make a few fun pillowcases for Brendan's pillow!  While this may seem like a simple goal..... and it is a relatively simple one, it also will force me to think about what fabrics I want to use - - - seeing as I never made him a nursery set, I may take this as the jumping off point for a bedding re-do..... we'll see.... but if nothing else, it will get SOMETHING sewn for him!

Plus... we will be on vacation for 9 days during the month - so a "smaller" goal will be good!

Oh.... and even though we are only supposed to have ONE goal for the month (for ALYOF - I have LOTS of other goals in general.... like keeping my house cleaned up - not just when I know people are coming to visit - HA!  not happening!) - - - my second goal is to make another lovey / security sized blanket for him - cotton on one side, smooth minky on the other, satin binding - as he now LOVES the one I made back when I had the lofty plans of making him a custom dinosaur nursery.  But we have one blanket.  What happens if that blanket needs to go in the wash?!  So yes.... another similar blanket is a must!

Yup..... this little dude needs some mama-made bedding!!! :)

What are YOUR goals for the month?!  Share them here (I love to read your comments!) - join in ALYOF!

Baby R.'s Nursery!

I have now worked on three custom nursery projects {nope... none of them were for my kiddos - hahahaha!} and I have loved every single one of them!

Baby R. is due in March - and I am SOOOOO excited for our friends to meet their little bundle of joy!  They aren't finding out gender before baby gets here - so we knew we were going to be working with a "neutral" color scheme / design.

We bounced around LOTS of ideas for fabrics / colors / etc. using a Pinterest board I set up specifically for this project.  We were trying to coordinate with a sheet Mama R. found - a cute polka dot that included all the colors she was wanting to use.  Suddenly I had a *lightbulb* moment and remembered one of my favorite fabric lines, Simply Color by V and Co. for Moda.

Even better - I had bought a layer cake {for those who don't live / breathe fabric.... layer cakes are stacks of fabric cut to 10.5" square - and include every fabric in the specific line} of Simply Color a WHILE back, and had never opened it up because I had yet to find the perfect project for it.  Well.... it was great - I had samples of many of the fabrics we were trying to look at online - and suddenly the vision came together!

Fabric for Baby R.'s nursery - includes grey / aqua vines, green / orange zig-zag, and green diamonds from Simply Color by V & Co. for Moda, Michael Miller's Retro Clover, Remix Polka dot by Robert Kaufman, and Cozy Cotton Alphabet flannel by Kaufman

I set up a "registry" in my Etsy Shop that included the specific items Mama & Papa R. had decided they really wanted for the nursery - two changing pad covers, a throw pillow cover, a valance, and a pennant banner.  This allowed friends & family to help them get the custom items they wanted!

The Etsy listings gave a little preview of the fabrics / colors I'd be using for the nursery - since all of the items were custom made after purchase!

We were going for a fun mix-and-match feel - so as the orders started coming in, I had fun playing with fabric combinations and layouts.

Two changing pad covers....

(I LOVE using minky on these... can you imagine how soft it will be on baby's head as they lay there and get their itty bitty diaper changed?!)

A couple burp cloths...

Then my friend Kelly came over and we had fun sewing up a pillow together - we mixed in some minky (the grey / white chevron) - and snuck in some plum vine fabric (because it was just too yummy to leave out!)

Front

Back

A mutual friend LOVES my owl applique design - so she ordered a coordinating onesie - I think this is one of my favorite owl onesies to date... and I have made a TON of them!

Another friend ordered a carseat cover (perfect for the rainy / cold days here in Washington) - it will also work great as a blanket when baby grows out of the infant carrier (we can just take the straps off!)

(we don't have any infant carriers at our house.....)

Then I had to start thinking about what I wanted to sew and give to the mama-to-be at her baby shower.  I was going for cute, hopefully at least one practical thing, and stuff that would continue to pull together the prints / colors.

I decided to do a sling bookshelf.  We LOVE these and have three in our house (all of them are overflowing with books!) - it's a great way to customize something commercial (and the fabric slings are SO much cuter than those nylon primary / pastel colored ones that come with the bookshelf!)

Practical, cute, and something I knew Mama R. had loved when I posted the ones I've made for our house!

Then.... I couldn't resist having a little bit of fun.... so I made a couple plushies! :)

{owl made using a DIYFluffies pattern; Elephant made using a Birch Fabrics tutorial}

Seriously - I NEED to make more of these adorable plushies!

Finally.... I sewed up the valance and pennant banner!

I can't wait to see the nursery all set up!  Mama & Papa R. had me get some extra fabric to use on the inside of a re-purposed piece of furniture, and there were other adorable handmade items given to Mama R. at her baby shower.  Baby R. is going to have a WONDERFUL place to come home to - filled with tons of love.... and handmade adorableness! :)

Oh... and because they are Packers fans, a friend asked me to make a custom onesie.... As a big-time Seahawks fan it was a little tough.... but I still think it turned out adorable!

Projects like this - that give me a little bit of "creative freedom" to mix / match / combine are my favorite - I just love taking a stack of beautiful fabric and making awesome, one-of-a-kind items!