Flashback Friday: Jenny from Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts

Here's today's Flashback Friday...

Today we get to welcome Jenny from Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts for Flashback Friday!  Jenny's blog is a perfect mix of sewing, photography (I could pick her brain for hours on that one), and life as a mother.  I only wish I had gotten to know her blog sooner, I've been spending WAY too much time reading back through her old posts!  On that note, Jenny has a great flashback to share with us today, so let's sit back and reminisce with her...

Well hello!!  Thank you so much for having me today, Abby!  I will sheepishly admit right off the bat that I had never heard of this blog until Abby got in touch with me.  "Are you serious???", you may be wondering?  Unfortunately yes, but I have remedied the problem and immediately became a happy follower of Sew Much Ado.  


Flashback Friday... what a fun idea!  I have had a hard time deciding what to share with you today.  I finally decided to share something that my husband's grandmother made for our daughter when she was born.  Grandma Willis is an avid quilter.  She has been quilting her whole life.  At 83 years old she is still going strong, quilting for her family and the families in their community in Oklahoma and teaching quilting to at risk children.  Hundreds of quilts have been made by her hands.  When she asked me what kind of quilt I wanted for my first daughter Abby and handed me a few quilting books for ideas, I chose one with appliqued flower pots.  I later found out that she had never tried applique before!  I have to say that she did a bang up job and I love it... so does Abby.

  

I love the little clock in the center of this flower!

Last week Abby spent the week in Oklahoma with her grandparents and was able to spend a lot of time with her Great Grandma Willis.  Abby asked her when she would teach her to quilt, which really meant "Will you teach me to quilt right now?".  Great Grandma did not disappoint.  She and Abby made a quilt for Abby's oldest friend, Bear.  Bear has been with her since she was born... he is her companion.

This is bear when he was new, fluffy, and white.

Notice that BEAUUUUUTIFUL Singer machine!

This is Bear today with the quilt that was made by loving hands, just for him.

I love that Tom's grandma took the time to share her love of quilting with Abby.  I myself have never made one, but I think this has inspired me to do so.  I know Abby will always cherish this quilt and the memories that she and her Great Grandma made together.  And I will as well.

Thanks so much for letting me share this with you today!  I hope you'll come by the Southern Institute and say "Hello", I'd love to meet you!

We Did It! Wednesday.

I was so impressed with all the links for last week's We Did It! Wednesday party, thanks to everyone who participated!  I had a really hard time picking some favorites to highlight, so I have to add a few extras this week.  Here they are:

J Crew inspired tee from A Few of My Favorite Things:

Birdie place setting from Fowl Single File:

Sesame street hats from Girl in Air:

Fold up play kitchen from Frugal Family Fun Blog:

Fabric baskets from Just Make It:

T-shirt dress from Realynn:

Here's a button for those of you who were featured:




Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.
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Here's how We Did It! Wednesday works:

1. Enter a link (specific blog post, not your homepage) using the Linky Tools below to something you made that you want to share.  It can be something you sewed, crafted, painted, baked, or anything else you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.




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Guest Blogger: Paige from Simply Handmade

I have a special treat for you today.  When I first got to know Paige's blog, Simply Handmade, I couldn't help but love her, and I'm sure you will too!  It's so fun to see a young person being so ambitious and creative, and I wanted you all to have the pleasure of getting to know her and her talents.  Take it away, Paige!

Hi everyone! I am Paige from Simply Handmade and I am so excited to be sharing my "Ruffle Tank" tutorial here at Sew Much Ado today!

A little bit about me... I am 14 years old, I love fashion, sewing, beading, and making anything fun and bright! I am living my dream of being a fashion designer through my etsy store "Pink Lemonade". I love designing clothing and making something that will bring joy to people!

Today I am going to show you how to turn a boring long sleeve top into an adorable ruffle tank!

So, you start with a long sleeve shirt...

 Then you lay your favorite tank top over it, and cut around it...

After it has been cut...

 We don't need that collar!

 So, we make a slit...

 And cut around it...

 Yay! It's gone!

 Then, I trimmed the closure down (you don't have to cut the whole thing off because the ruffles will cover it)...

Then take the sleeve and cut it on the seam....

It should look like this...

Then cut it into a square (or rectangle)...

 Cut that into strips...

Then do a gather stitch along the edge... 

 Gather it...

 Pin the ruffle on...

 Sew it on, and repeat the whole ruffle process until to have the fourth ruffle pinned on... Almost done!

Sew the fourth ruffle on...

 Pin the sides of the shirt...

 And sew...

 Yay! We are done!

Now we get to enjoy our lovely ruffle tank...

Thank you so much for having me, Abby!

Antique Dresser and Mirror.

Here's the before picture of the boys' dresser (the mirror is not pictured) that Joel's parents had given us a while ago.  From what we can tell from the date on the mirror, it was built in 1918.  Like I mentioned earlier, Joel's mom had found the dresser in a barn quite a few years ago.

And here is what it looks like now!

We went with the same blue that we used for Wyatt's bed.

We distressed the dresser and mirror, and found some boyish knobs.

Yes, that's a rubbermaid bin in the background.  I pretend that since it's green it's supposed to be used for toys.  Next on our (meaning Joel's) list to build is toy shelves :).

I'll be joining a few of these linky parties!

Guest Blogger: Aly&Ash

Today I'm excited to blog swap with Jax from Aly&Ash. I'm doing a Ruby Lou Doll pdf pattern giveaway at her blog, and you actually have two chances to win because 733 is also doing a Ruby Lou Doll pattern giveaway here as part of their Creativity Week. It just so happened that they both started on the same day, so it gives you all an extra chance to win! Okay, that's all from me for today, here's Jax!

Hello there! I'm Jax from Aly&Ash and I'm so excited to be guest posting here today! I'm a SAHM and part time photographer . My little man Asher and I are currently vacationing in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada at my parents place and LOVING the cooler weather! Did I mention we reside in Phoenix, Arizona! Way too hot!

Me & my little Charmer!

I'm excited to be swapping with Abby today so you'll have to come check out her awesome post and GIVEAWAY! You see how she's totally awesome like that! I on the other hand hate to admit I haven't done nearly enough crafting since I've been here but have supplies and projects sitting, waiting and wishing to be made into something great! I have put together an amazing best friends hometown gettaway for tonight though! So I'll be blogging a how to guide and pictures for that soon! You'll have to check back at Aly&Ash for that! And in the mean time come snag some free tutorials from my pre-vacation productive days! Make sure to click the images to view the step by step tutorials!

Interchangeable Fabric Headband Tutorial

Rock Star Tee Tutorial & Template

Little Lace Flower Tutorial

Tea Towel Cake Tutorial

Too Cute Towel Hanger Tutorial

Well I hope some of my projects have sparked your creative interest and you'll come visit me at Aly&Ash! There is definitely more where they came from and I look forward to sharing with you!
Thanks again for having me & have a great weekend!
-Jax