The Green Menagerie

Isabelle's pillowcase

2011-09-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Owl Burp Cloths - custom order

2011-09-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Eva Kate's Birthday Dress

2011-08-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

Belle Dress for American Girl Doll

2011-08-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

Giveaway Roundup!

2011-06-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Fort Worth Fabric Studio is having an awesome giveaway! Check it out here!

Cheryl's Teapots2quilting is having another one here!

Tissue box covers

2011-06-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Rhett's baby gift

2011-06-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Burp & Taggie

2011-06-02T06:18:00.001-07:00

Rosetta Ruffle Bag

2011-05-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

The girls call my new purse the skirt purse. The pattern came from youcanmakethis.com.

Nora's Pillowcase

2011-05-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Are we getting sick of these name pillowcases yet?

Easter Dress #2 (and matching doll dress)

2011-04-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Easter Dress #1

2011-03-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Twin Tweens' Birthday Pillowcases

2011-03-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Church bag

2011-03-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

With matching pencil case and marker case.

McKenzie's Pillowcase

2011-02-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

18" doll Valentine Dress

2011-02-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

Texas Baby Gift

2011-02-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Custom order as a baby gift for a Texan living in Washington state.

Feliz Dress, take two

2011-02-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

Love this pattern, and can't wait to make another one!

Feliz Dress, take one

2011-02-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and bought the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love; I'd been dying to try the Feliz dress pattern! The instructions seemed a bit tricky (and vague), so I made this practice dress using extra fabric from my stash before trying a "real" one. Love it!

Katie's Twirly Skirt

2011-01-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

Paperback Book Cover

2011-01-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Footed PJs

2011-01-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

The girls got to choose some fleece for new footed pjs (Melaina chose not to have feet on hers.) Notice Avalie's pose. Such a girlie girl!

Name Pillow

2011-01-14T12:35:00.000-08:00

Sofa Tissue Box Cover

2010-12-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

Embroidered towels

2010-12-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

Henry's Pennant

2010-10-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Owl Pajama Bag

2010-10-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Melaina's Bible Cover

2010-10-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Chair pockets

2010-08-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

A preschool teacher friend of mine ordered 12 chair pockets to fit her classroom chairs. She plans to have the kids keep their daily folders and pencil boxes in them, to free up space on the table. I already have another order from a different teacher for 14 more!

More Name Pillowcases

2010-07-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Tina's Baby Gift

2010-06-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

The necktie onesie was particularly popular at the shower. I will definitely be making more of those.

Owl Applique Wallhanging

2010-06-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

I love these owls!

A tiny muumuu?

2010-06-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

I thought this was cute material... until I made it into this dress. Eeek.

Dust Ruffle Dress

2010-05-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

This dress was made entirely from a toddler bed dust ruffle! (I added the embroidered ice cream cone.)

Wall Hanging for Preschool

2010-05-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

I made this as an end-of-year gift for the director of our preschool.

Fabric Bulletin Board

2010-05-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Mannequin cover

2010-05-05T14:05:00.001-07:00

Before and after. Ms. Curvy also has a black cover, but really, once you've seen one mannequin cover, you've seen them all!

Erica's Birthday Gift

2010-05-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

Beach towel in its own pocket

Another Downy Quilt

2010-05-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Warning: Gymnast

2010-04-22T07:47:00.001-07:00

My latest embroidery design

Name Pillowcase (Rawr!)

2010-04-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Downy Quilts for Kids/Touch of Comfort Quilt

2010-04-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

Downy (yes, the fabric softener company) has partnered with Quilts for Kids and created this awesome program that anyone who loves to sew can participate in. All you do is request a free quilt kit, make the quilt in your own home using the provided pre-cut fabrics and instructions (and your own batting and thread), then mail it back to them. The quilts go to children staying in Children's Miracle Network Hospitals around the country. How great is that?!

This racecar quilt is my first one, and I'm working on a second one from my fabric stash to donate as well. I just need to quilt and bind it, and they'll be off to comfort some sick kids!

Baby Boy Door Hanger

2010-04-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sewing Room 10 Commandments

2010-04-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

Beanie Babies Tote

2010-04-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Melaina is infatuated with Beanies and is always lugging at least two or three around with her everywhere we go. It occurred to me yesterday that she needed a better way to carry her beanie friends, so this is what I came up with. I made the circles with my embroidery machine, cut out the centers, then whipped up the rest of the bag in no time!

Canning Jar Quilt

2010-02-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

Grasshopper Puppet

2010-02-07T19:25:00.001-08:00

My niece is doing a puppet show for LTC (Leadership Training for Christ), and they were in need of a grasshopper puppet for their show. Unable to find one, Michelle asked me for help. She gave me a store-bought ant puppet on which to base the new puppet. I threw together some felt, pompoms, and stuffing, and this is what I came up with.

Gymnastics Bags

2010-01-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

I finally put the girls' names on their gymnastics team duffle bags.

Big Sister T-shirt & Bow

2010-01-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

Baby Garrett's Burp & Taggie

2010-01-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

Kids' Sewing Day

2010-01-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

The girls wanted to sew something yesterday, so we made monsters. They chose all the fabrics and did the pinning and cutting; I just helped sew.

Of course, Melaina wanted to make one too, but she is too little to pin and cut. So I had her draw the monster she wanted, and I made it for her out of felt!

Kellar's Quiet Book

2010-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

A friend at church asked me if I would make something for her 5-year-old son to help with his fine motor skills. He is doing occupational therapy, but she felt he could use some extra help at home. She gave me free reign of the project, and told me to use whatever materials I had on hand. I did some research online to find out some of the skills kids practice in occ therapy, and below is the final product!

I decided to make a "big boy" quiet book (all the premade quiet books are too babyish for a big kid like Kellar!). Here's a run-down of the pages I included (pictures follow):

Cover: Unscrewing. Made from old jeans. I cut the tops off 2-liter bottles and embedded them under the jeans and a layer of thick interfacing. I covered the lids with felt and added some fussy-cut pictures to uncover once the lids are screwed off.

Page 1: Weaving. Used ribbon to make the football field; embroidered some footballs and attached to ribbon for weaving.

Page 2: Zipping/Buttoning. Used an old pair of jeans. Added some manly underwear to discover (what 5-year-old would not think that's funny?!).

Page 3: Pinching/Grasping. Made a clock out of felt; embroidered numbers on felt. Attached numbers to alligator hair clips with hot glue.

Page 4: Drawing/Writing. A simple chalkboard made from chalk cloth.

Page 5: Snapping. Printed a monster truck picture onto transfer paper, ironed it to fabric, cut apart and bound edges. Sewed snaps on back.

Page 6: Buttoning. Bound preprinted fabric shapes and made buttonholes where the wheels were. Sewed buttons of appropriate sizes onto page and outlined vehicle shapes by sewing around them.

Page 7: Lacing/Tying. Made a felt shoe and applied grommets for lacing.

Page 8: Zipping. Sewed zipper into a felt UPS box (Kellar was a UPS man for Halloween this year). Made some simple felt envelopes for him to find.

Back Cover: Made from old jeans. It looked boring, so I added a motorcycle from preprinted fabric attached to a ribbon; stores in back pocket.

Cousin Jill's Baby Gift

2010-01-06T07:27:00.000-08:00

Onesies for a friend

2009-12-11T08:17:00.001-08:00

Wild Jackets

2009-11-24T19:14:00.001-08:00

The girls really liked their old jackets that I had made them out of animal fleece, so this year they chose the same theme, different animals. Well, except Livian (one-track mind!).

Nicki's Nameless Baby: Burps & Taggie

2009-11-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

Halloween Loot Bags

2009-10-26T18:54:00.001-07:00

Tooth Fairy Pillow

2009-10-26T18:53:00.001-07:00

Halloween Wall Hanging

2009-09-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Boy Burps

2009-09-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

Triple Taggie Blankets

2009-09-17T17:52:00.001-07:00

My neighbor Hollee, a mom of triplet 1-year-olds, asked me to make her kiddos some new blankets (spurred by the loss of one blanket on vacation -- we all know how devastating that is!). She now has two new blankets for each child, one to hold and one to wash.

Something cool about the embroidered names: That font is actually Hollee's handwriting! She had her writing made into a font here, and I downloaded it, loaded it into my embroidery program, and voila!

Karis & Kaela's Birthday Twirl Skirts

2009-09-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

The shirts are looking a little odd because they are hanging on HUGE adult-sized hangers. Oops.

Emily's Birthday Pillowcase

2009-09-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

Lime Sheetgowns ... er, Nightgowns

2009-09-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

Old sheets from the thrift store make the BEST nighties!

Owl Jumper

2009-09-07T07:22:00.001-07:00

Melaina requested a dress made from this adorable owl fabric. How could I resist that grin?! I even made a big pocket on the front to hold all her treasures.

Nightgown

2009-09-07T07:21:00.001-07:00

Custom Order: Ladybug Baby Set

2009-09-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Girlie Burps

2009-08-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Joanna's Jumper

2009-08-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Prayer Blanket

2009-08-18T19:47:00.001-07:00

Crocheted afghan for my father-in-law, recently diagnosed with leukemia. Here is the poem I included with it:

Prayer Blanket

Things happen in this world that we just don’t understand.
So we take it to our heavenly God and leave it in His hands.

But sometimes I can’t bring myself to let it completely go.
That’s when I pick up my hook and crochet row after row.

Each stitch becomes a prayer to my awesome Lord above,
Asking Him to shelter you in his gentle, protective love.

So as you wrap this gift around you, may you feel His presence there,
And may you know so many are praising and thanking God for you in prayer.

Adult T-shirt to Child Raglan Tee

2009-08-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

"Thanks for the t-shirt, Grandma!"

Personalized Minky Pillowcase

2009-08-10T21:00:00.001-07:00

Bargello-Patterned Baby Quilt

2009-07-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Smiles and Rainbows

2009-07-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

Made from seven fat quarters. Melaina wore it on our errands today and got SO many compliments!

Lauren's 6th Birthday Gift

2009-07-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

Embroidery: 2009 Stephens Swarm Shirts

2009-07-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

Rag Quilt for Baby Eva

2009-07-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Shirred Fourth of July Dresses

2009-06-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Twirly Skirts & Shirred Tops

2009-06-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

Painfully Loud Beach Bag

2009-06-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Maternity Pants/Jeans to Skirts

2009-06-25T07:53:00.001-07:00

Chloe's Bookbag

2009-06-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

101 Dalmations Summer Outfit

2009-04-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

From an XL women's turtleneck from the Disney Store (found at Goodwill), to this...

Easter Dresses

2009-04-14T11:57:00.001-07:00

Katie's Birthday Outfit

2009-01-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

Melaina was kind enough to model this outfit I made for our neighbor's little girl, who just turned 3. I love my embroidery machine!

Wall-E Dress

2009-01-14T06:39:00.000-08:00

Custom Order

2008-12-01T20:31:00.001-08:00

Diaper Bag, Wipes Case, & Bow Holder

Cowboy Nolan's Book Bag

2008-10-29T19:46:00.001-07:00

Take a $2 Walmart bag, some bits of trim and fabric, and a little time on the embroidery machine, and what do you get? A spiffy new church bag for my neighbor's little boy (who just happens to be infatuated with horses and cowboys these days).

Strawberry & Chocolate Goodness

2008-10-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

You can't see it in this picture, but Melaina's dress has a pink ribbon around her waist, to match her pink shirt. She would NOT put those Beanie Babies down for anything!

Halloween Jumper

2008-10-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

I spent some time playing with my ruffler, and ended up with miles of orange ruffles. So of course then I had to make something to put the ruffles on!

Crazy Twirl Skirt

2008-10-23T07:38:00.001-07:00

It's hard to see in these pictures, but the pink fabric has shoes and bags all over it, and the black and white has '40s-era women on it.

Unicorn Costume

2008-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Monochromatic with a Splash

2008-09-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Shirring

2008-07-08T19:36:00.001-07:00

Sundresses

2008-07-06T20:25:00.001-07:00

Simplicity #2994

Oven Door Dresses

2008-05-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

These girlie kitchen towels were Mother's Day presents this year!

Oven Door Dress

2008-04-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on getting the pattern shape right; this one was a practice attempt (thus the ugly fabrics). And yes, it is a functional kitchen towel!

Bow Holder for Annie Brooke

2008-04-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Annie's Burps & Sibling Shirts

2008-04-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Baby Mikayla's Bag and Burps

2008-03-28T22:02:00.001-07:00