My biggest sewing pet peeve...misplacing my seam ripper(s).  I spend more time looking for my seam ripper than I do anything else.  I lose it, go buy another then pretty soon the lost one shows up...lose it again, buy another..you see it's a vicious cycle.  While browsing Pinterest one day I spotted the cutest owl remote control caddy.  This inspired me to make my own "Owl You Need" sewing buddy for the Dear Stella/Kollabora project challenge.

This wise old owl sits next to your sewing machine and holds all your important tools for easy access...marking tool, seam gauge, a seam ripper (or two), tiny scissors to cut those loose threads and a fluff brush and tweezers to keep your machine clean and happy.  You can even use him as a pin cushion! 

Cut out your pattern pieces.  *Note: Pattern Piece page 2- if you would like your owl to have a contrasting belly cut this pattern piece out for the front of your owl.  For this tutorial I will be making this version. 

Step #2...

If your making the owl front body only one color you can skip this step.  For the contrasting owl front pin your two pieces together, belly to head, right sides together.  Stitch 1/4 inch seam.  Trim seam and iron flat.

Take your pocket piece and fold top edge down 1/4 inch, iron, fold over again 1/4 inch and iron.  Topstitch in place.

Place wrong side of pocket piece on right side of owl front body lining up edges and pin in place.  Find center and topstitch from top of pocket to bottom.

Take your two eyeball pieces and place on owl front where you'd like them.  Now take your eyelid piece and cut in half.  Place on top of eyeballs and pin in place.  Zig zag stitch around eyeball and across bottom of eyelid.  Zig zagging in a circle can be tricky.  I found that stabilizing your eyeballs with a lightweight interface helps.  Also instead of pinning in place you can use the awesomeness that is Steam a Seam or fusible web to hold in place.  It doesn't have to be perfect. That's what makes your owl unique.  You can attach your eyeballs anyway you like.  See my girl owl below.  I cheated and just used Steam a Seam.

Take two of your wingy ding pieces and pin right sides together.  Stitch 1/4 inch around edge of wing and make sure to leave end open so you can turn inside out.  Trim seam 1/4 inch including the end you left open.  Iron and turn inside out.  I used a point turner to form fingers.  Be careful that you don't poke through your seam.  I speak from experience!  Iron flat once wings are formed to perfection.  Topstitch wing to create a 3 feather look.  Repeat for second wing.

Place wingys on top of front owl body in correct spots lining up edges.  Place owl back piece on top with right sides facing.  (make sure your wings are arranged correctly so you don't catch bottom of your wings when you stitch around edges..hope that makes sense)  Stitch around owl 1/4 inch leaving about a 2.5 inch opening at side.  Trim seam and iron.  Flip right side out, iron.

**Note: You may also chose to attach your feet here too as well.  I actually tacked mine on to the front, which I go through in Step 10 but I later found that actually sewing them on here like you do the wings works just as well.

Take your beak pieces and place right sides together.  Stitch around beak 1/4 inch leaving a small opening at side.  Trim seam and iron.  Turn inside out, iron and slipstitch opening closed.  Now stick that nose on his face!  You can either sew in place or take the lazy route like me...a little tacky glue works perfect!
Now do the exact same thing with his feet.

You are all finished! Now you got a little buddy to keep track of all your tiny sewing notions.  You can leave his wings floppy or you can hand sew or glue them in place.  I like to make mine look like he's hugging all my sewing gadgets.

Embellish these little dudes how you want.  I found these cute little handmade tags at Joann's.  I added a bow for the girl.  Now I can't decide which one I want to use!! They are both too cute!

Hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and make your own sewing buddy. I would love to see him/her! Email me a picture if you do!! I have a couple other Dear Stella/Kollabora projects planned that I'm hoping to get done. Head on over to Kollabora.com to take a look at the projects submitted by the other bloggers. A lot of talented craftiness going on!!

Edit:  Since releasing this free pattern I've gotten such a huge response and pictures of everyone's owls.  I created a blog post showcasing everyone's buddies.  You can see them all here.

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by the talented peeps over at Kollabora and asked if I would like to receive a fat quarter bundle from Dear Stella Design and submit a project or two on their site. Would I?  Would I?  I was totally flattered and yes I was all in.  I chose the Clementine bundle.  It screamed summer to me. What's not to love about summer? And what's not to love about ducks and snails?? Look at em'!

sorry not a very good iphone pic...

Stay tuned! What are you working on??

First off a big ol' thank you for all your wonderful comments on my cherry Bombshell!  I so enjoy reading each of your comments, it's my drive.  My phone was exploding at work that day with blogger notifications.  I feel so loved :)  I have yet to wear it in a pool, soon though.  A friend invited me to go swimming next week.  Maybe I'll test in out in the bathtub first, splash around like a duck and give it a good once over before I put it to the true test. 

I don't have a thrift store remake to share but it is thrifty and that counts cuz it cost me zero dollars.  I've had this dress tutorial pinned on one of my Pinterest boards for long, long time.   You know how you pin stuff, "Oh that's cute" - pin it..."Hey I can make that" - pin it... "I'll try this out over the weekend" - pin it... "ooh that looks yummy" - pin it..."ooh look a puppy!" - pin it...and then you forget it.  Yes I'm a Pinterest whore.  

All you need to make this dress is a tank top, fabric, thread, and a couple hours.  I happened to have all thee above so was on my merry little way one evening.  I used an old tank top of my own.  I don't know about you but you can never have enough white or black tank tops. I'm a w-hoarder as well.   The skirt fabric was from my leftover stash from a dress I made here.  You'll need enough to wrap around yourself one and a half times.

For more detailed instructions, pics and the brains behind the operation please follow the tutorial here.  I'm just gonna give you a quick run through of how I did it.  First I tried on my tank and marked where I would like it to end on my waist and added about 1/2 inch for seam allowance, then cut the tank it half. (taking it off of course, doh!).  Next wrapped my fabric around myself 1 and a half times and cut off the excess.  Pinned what is to be the back seam right sides together and sewed and serged.  Next took one end of my skirt tube and did gathering stitches along the top.  The tutorial suggests using elastic thread in your bobbin.  Once you start sewing your fabric will automatically start gathering.   I didn't have any so I just did the normal gathering method.  Turn your skirt wrong side out, slip tank top inside the skirt hole, right sides together, matching the raw edge to your gathered edge.  Adjust your gathers to fit the tank, pin and sew.  Then I serged. I really wanted a maxi dress but I didn't have quite enough so I cut it off just above my knees.  I serged the end of my skirt and used the awesomeness that is steam a seam to fold my hem and topstitched in place. 

First I just wanna say, HOLY COW I made a swimsuit!!
So last year I was browsing the web for one piece swimsuits.  I've always wore two pieces but as I get older and more self conscious I decided I wanted to try a one piece.  Trying to find something that is flattering and still covers up the squishy parts is a job in itself.  I've always liked the vintage/retro style suits so I fell in love when I found this cherry bomb.   However I wasn't so in love that I could justify spending the $75+ as I hardly ever go swimming.  I think I went swimming once last summer. 

So you can imagine my excitement when Heather Lou from Closet Case Files released the the Bomshell Swimsuit pattern.  I had this pattern bought and printed with in minutes of finding out about it's release.  Heather you are a complete genius!  This swimsuit is the bomb, from it's sexy, flattering silhouette right down to the construction of the suit. 

I bought my fabric at Spandex House.  They have a HUGE selection so if your having trouble finding the right fabric give them a look.  I bought black lining there AND some solid green suiting for a second bombshell in the future. ;)

I'm gonna say it again, Holy Cow I made a swimsuit!  Like most I was scared but really there is nothing to be scared about.  If your worried about sizing make a muslin of the lining to start.  I never fall within the exact pattern measurements so I was unsure about fit.  This pattern has negative ease so  I didn't want it to be so tight I couldn't breath but not so loose you get poopie butt once it's wet.   Based on my measurements I cut closest to my size a 6 at the bust tapering down to an 8 at the waist and hips.  I used some cheap stretch polyester from my stash and whipped up a muslin of the lining within a half hour.  It fit like a glove. 

I followed the sewalong Heather Lou hosted so I really can't give a review on the paper instructions. I didn't look at them once.  But I'm positive they are going to be just as well written and clear as the sewalong instructions and pictures.  I'm not going to lie it wasn't smooth sailing for me all along the way.  The goof ups were my own.  I won't mention them all...my mom can vouch for one of my meltdowns.  I had a little confusion when cutting the pattern lining out.  The lining has a bust dart. The way it's marked on the lining is with a triangle.  I cut the triangle out (luckily I was working with my muslin) thinking the whole time, What the hell is this for and how's this gonna work?..Duh! It's a bust dart ya goof!  I know for a fact I'm not the only one who done it so that makes me feel a wee bit better.

I used my serger for a lot of the construction.  You do not need a serger to make this suit so don't freak if you don't have one.  You can also use the zigzag stitch on your machine.  Something I will do different next time involves the gathering process.  The instructions have you gather each edge, baste using a zigzag stitch to secure your gathers , serge the edges then serge again when creating the seam.   The problem I had here..the basting zigzag cause for a lot of unpicking at the end.  I'll try a long basting stitch next time closer to the edge so it will be covered when serged.   Also when bringing your serged edges together to create the seam, if you don't match the serged edges up exactly you risk seeing your first set of serged lines on the right side.  Well I had this problem anyway...am I the only one?  I was able to fix it easily by just serging over it again.  Next time I will gather...long baste stitch...then serge only one time when creating the seam.  Holy crap I just went back and read all that....Clear as mud!?

Hey Pixie Pants lets pretend these ugly bushes and mulch are palm trees and sand instead!

One other thing I should mention, if you plan to pad your boobies (which I recommend, no one wants their eyes poked out) be wise about the type of bra pads you choose.  Me always wanting a little extra help chose gel padded cups.  I pinned them in tried on the suit and asked for my hubs approval.  After a side pose he says,"They look like pointy slopes".  Upon my own inspection he was totally right.  Nice save hubby!  I quickly returned them and opted for the soft molded bra cup.  Better looking and more comfortable. Weird,pointy sloped boobs be gone!

I'm entering this Bombshell in Peneloping and I Heart Fabric's Copy Cat Challenge.  Click on their image over on the right side of the blog if you'd like to learn more and enter yourself.