Lots of Cuteness!

Life has been busy... Camera problems, birthdays, church and community events, and much more have been keeping me busy lately. In spite of the busy-ness, I have been busy on the new shop and am in the process of getting a large number of adorable photos back from photographers.

If you'd like to keep up with what's new in the shop, I'm uploading all these pictures to my Boutique album on photobucket as I receive them. Check it out and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you!

Tutorial Tuesday: Fabric Flowers

I thought I'd start Tutorial Tuesdays in an attempt to preserve some regularity in posting. I might not get around to it every Tuesday, but I'll try to somewhat regularly post a tutorial I've tried, one I've created, or just an interesting idea I found. If you don't sew, don't worry. They won't be just sewing tutorials. I'll include some new and very nifty-looking crochet and knitting patterns I recently found, some paper crafts, or any good ideas with any art medium. I have a lot of links I've collected over the years that I'm excited to share!

Today's will be fabric flowers. While designing little girl's headbands for our church's 'Made-for-Trade' day, I realized a lacked a basic fabric flower tutorial and 'googled' it. The first result that came up was this compilation of 30 fabric flower tutorials. I didn't realize how many different variations on the basic idea of fabric flowers there are until I saw this! And I'm sure there's hundreds more for those who want to dig deeper.

I tried several of these and I'll include a couple that I have pictures of.

One was the Felicity Fabric Flower. For the seamstress with any experience, the construction method should be fairly apparent from the picture, but if not, you can download a free pdf with instructions and the pattern pieces.
Overall, I liked the way the flower came out, but I think next time I would widen the triangle used for the petals so they aren't quite so narrow.

Here's how mine came out. I used just one layer of petals and added a layer of turquoise and white-polka-dot ribbon on a lime green headband for a tropical/hawaiian feel.

I also tried the felt rose tutorial, producing some darling results. This pattern requires so little felt for a set of clips that it is great for using up scrap felt - something I really needed to do. This was the first set I made, followed by several others which I don't have pictures of. The main thing I changed was using all six strands of embroidery floss for the green clip instead of just two, making thicker stitch lines. Other than that, the picture doesn't do these justice.

You don't have to make these in just pink - I also made yellow and white clip sets and plan to make some in purple and red as well.

Do you have any more delightful fabric flower tutorials you'd like to share or any tutorial ideas you'd like to see? I'd love to hear from you in the comments! And if you make any of these and post pictures to your blog, please share a link; I'd love to see them!

Sewing Machine # 3

Yes, that's right! A friend at church was giving away a vintage sewing machine in its table and I snatched it up. It's a Sears Kenmore Model 14 from sometime in the '60's. How well it runs is another matter as I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it is on the priority list for this afternoon.

The pictures don't do it justice as the olive green wall washes out the mint green of the machine. :)

It came with the manual, bobbins, and a number of attachments I don't even know the names of, all in great vintage condition!

A closeup of the machine

Look, it's even one of those ones with the belt on the outside! Not even Singer 2, my other vintage machine, has that.

The Tale of a Yarn Collector

Once upon a time there was a yarn collector. She loved yarn to the point that her yarn stash became impossible, and she was always acquiring more!

She had yarn scattered here and there - bins and boxes in one room...

Several shelves filled with yarn in another... Yarn was scattered throughout the house and as she had just opened a new shop, this disarray and mess became unacceptable. She had to know how much she had of what!

Home Depot to the rescue! She purchased four large bins, each with a different colored lid.

And then she organized her yarn. After much meditating, she sorted it thus: 

-Wool, wool blends, and cotton yarn in one

-All her pastel worsted weight acrylic yarns in another

-All other worsted weight and thinner that was not pastel in the third

-And all novelty acrylic yarns in the fourth

And currently, the four bins of yarn are in the basement next door, stacked in an orderly manner and ready for use.

And what became of this yarn collector?

It is I, yours truly!

What do you think of my new yarn organization? Any suggestions?

A Confession and an Announcement

Yes, I have a confession to make. I have been, unashamedly, dropping hints of a coming announcement in the form of irresistibly cute baby pictures. Remember the last post?

Here's a couple more from the same talented photographer mentioned in the last post:

~newborn unisex pom pom beanie~

~little flower girl teddy bear hat~

And the exciting announcement!

Introducing...

(click on the picture above to visit the shop)

my new shop, Tiny Tiptoes Boutique!

I would love suggestions and critiques from you, my readers, if you have a moment. I am sure there are many areas that could use change and improvement that I have overlooked. 
So, would you do me a favor?
Send me a message (if you have an etsy account), leave a comment, or send me an email at tinytiptoesboutique[at]gmail[dot]com, and let me know what you think and how you think I can improve.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
~Gabrielle~ 

Adorable Sneak-Peeks of Newborn Cuteness

I've been busy crocheting in preparation for an exciting announcement soon!

~coffee stripe earflap beanie~

~newborn baby boy and girl teddy bear hats~

~newborn pink and white heart and purple and white flower beanies~

All of these pictures were taken by Alexi K. of Child Essence Photography. You can check out some more of her adorable work at Child Essence Photography

Some Current Projects:

I really have been busy lately, and if you don't believe me, here are a few sneak-peaks of some of my current projects!

Included are:

Cutting out the pieces for a new sewing project as I wait for the return of my sewing machines from Sew-n-Vac,

Formulating ideas for sweet girly-girl headbands for 'Made-For-Trade' next week,

Crocheting...with more exciting details to come soon,

And, of course, Algebra, Chemistry, biking, and enjoying the warm spring weather outdoors!

I hope you are having a wonderful and productive week as well!