monkey, hermit crab, guinea pig

I just finished this custom order. It has the softest flannel with the cutest animal print. The little shoes are even lined with a bit of brown minky. Adorable and made to baby your baby.


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what I would like to be sewing

Boy hats, cute toppers for the little guy.

to kul vintage

whip stitch fabrics

what came first

raw edge circle quilt

Last Sunday I taught a class at the Sew Fun Fabric Shop in Folsom. This is the Raw Edge Circle Quilt.




Of course I came with my own fabrics and precut 5" squares of a charm pack. And of course I had to buy one more! The fabric was just irresistible!

I am still in the process of finishing up this quilt. Which I will then be selling as a doll quilt. I hope to have a stack of them to share soon. They are my "Princess and the Pea" quilts. And each one will be different quilt pattern!

And here is Janet's fabric layout. And Janet, when you are finished, you have to send me a picture!

Isn't it great to see what speaks to us in color and style. I love how sewing lets us explore that creativity and its diversity.

cute and tiny

My sister Mary got a little tired of quilting one day. She wanted to sew a little bag. So she looked online for a cute tutorial, but wanted to change the handle. So I talked her through it.

Then after an hour of chit-chat on the phone, I hung up, and went straight to my own fabric. Mary is always great about sending me bits of fabric that she knows I will love. And that is what I grabbed.

I had a cute stack of 3" squares of Japanese fabrics. So tiny and so adorable! I thought these would be a perfect little sewing project. Something fun to do, not something that I had to get done. That is just the way my sister had felt.

I have made 4 of these bags to date. And have just 3 more ready to sew up. My sister on the other hand, has made up to 13 in various sizes! She is addicted. And I think you need a tutorial on how to make your own. So that will come to you soon :)

p.s. We think these little bags would be cute to use for advent calenders, Barbie's purse, or for a gift card!

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my vintage love

My long time vintage love is the handkerchief. If you know me, I love hankies. And also if you know me, you have given me a few of your own. Such generous girls they all are too!

My own katie jean story started with a handkerchief. I always thought they were so pretty and vibrant. It was too bad they sat in peoples drawers, especially since they were once probably given as a memento or gift.


I wanted to use the hanky! I started sewing them onto baby onesies to make dresses. This I began to see was difficult to do because it was often hard to find two hankies that coordinated with each other but were also the same size. So I had to rethink my design a bit and came up with the hanky apron. It's a sort of top to be worn with pants or a skirt.

Then I kept using the hanky for so many different projects. I would make pillows, shoe bags, blankets, appliqued shirts, and even decorate my daughters bedroom.

I love seeing what fun others are having with their hanky creations too. So I looked online to see what others were doing with their collections. Such gorgeous work! Such great imaginations and wonderful resources. So, hang on to your grandma's hankies. Or send them to me :)

fabric shoes

I am in the midst of sewing for my show in SF on December 11, 12. And sometimes I just get overwhelmed with what I need to sew just to fill in empty spaces in my inventory. That gets kinda boring.

I want to keep things fresh and new. Even for people who haven't seen my creations yet, I want them to see my newest and best things! Well, of course, right?

So I found a new pattern for reversible baby booties. It's fun to sew up something new. And this is a really good pattern with no exposed raw edges.

The shoes are tiny, and tiny can be a bit frustrating at times. Sewing tiny things make me feel like a clumsy giant with giant clumsy hands!

But look at how cute they are!

Now there are piles of fabric around my sewing room. You know how sewers can be easily entertained just by mixing up fabric, talking about fabric, touching fabric.

I am to keep a fresh eye, no preconceived ideas, laying out new fabrics with vintage and organic fabrics. I am spending my day just digging and sorting through my stash!Wanna come over?



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it's a redo

I like to keep things simple in all that I make. I don't like my katie jean items to be too frilly or over the top done. I like the child to be noticed first not their clothing. Simple, right?

Well I had made theses scarves. And people just weren't warming up to them. (Sorry pun!) They didn't know what the long patchwork of fabric was!

So I had inspiration one day to add a ruffle. Sewing by hand is fun and relaxing for me. I just make a running stitch by hand and gathered the fabric into a ruffle.

The ruffle would then turn out to be a little swirl or a floret. And then are stitched down with my sewing machine. I really like how they all turned out.

So a girl won't be overpowered by ruffles. This ruffle just adds a touch of whimsy and fun!