I'm baaack!

Okay, so I've been MIA for the last few years. I've been sort of busy... busy being happily married and employed full time... doing stuff on the internet...thriftin'... reading... y'know, stuff.
Sadly, not so much in the way of sewing lately. Mainly because, I'm a semi-hoarder and the path to the sewing machine is currently a little blocked. (not as in 'I hoard semi's' - cuz that would be ridiculous.. seriously, I couldn't fit more than what, two? semi's in this whole house .. it's more like 'the stuff in this house would /fit/ into two semi's')

but I'm back now and I'll be blogging more. *whoot* And I am expanding in a few creative directions, so I'll be adding more content to this blogspot soon.

yes, I know you're excited :D we all are

Click here - Handmade by BelleLeDonna

I've listed three more aprons in my etsy shop now - getting a lot of lookers, but no buyers (yet). I am hopeful tho.. I'm pleased with the quality of my work and feel they will serve their purposes well :)



The same day I listed my Blue Bows and Bells apron, I was contacted by someone who said she was added it and my shop link to her blog as a great Mother's Day gift. How awesome is that?!?

Feel free to run over there and take a peek - it wouldn't even hurt my feelings if you felt compelled to buy something LOL

oh yeah! Happiness! The other day, after I listed my Blue Bells and Bows apron, I was contacted from someone who said they were listing that apron with a link to my shop on their blog as a great Mother's Day gift. How awesome is that?!?
I've linked to her blog over there in my sidebar *points - over there* ... so after you've checked out my shop, go back and check out Hairbow Diva if you have a few minutes. ;-)


My current goal is to add at least 1 item every 1-2 days. In addition to my aprons and pincushions, I have several cloth dolls that I will be listing this week.

Here are the ones I've finished and listed in the last few days:

This first one started its life as a two-layer skirt. A sheer, hot pink layer underneath and black over that with amazing embroidered flowers on the top panels. After a few snips and the addition of some pretty ribbons ... it turned into a really cute apron. It has generated a lot of interested so far :)

I love this retro design. The nearly 9 yards of bias tape can be a real bugger ... but it turns into such a cute apron that sculpts a lady's curves juuust right. I totally plan on making more of this style.

This was another skirt I worked over and reassigned to apron duty. Cute, Cute, CUTE! is all I have to say about this one :D

I have several apron designs that I've drawn out and plan on tackling this next week. My mind is constantly coming up with ideas and everything I look at is subject to be fodder for my designs ... I am so grateful I got the creative genes from my mom (not to mention the sewing machine LOL). Sometimes when I'm sewing, I feel her spirit around me. I think she would be happy to with what I'm doing.

It's past dinner time now, so I need to go forage for nourishment for me and my dearest hubby. I'll be back soon.

Huggs ~ Belle

My first etsy worthy apron

I can't believe I finally had one turn out esty worthy!! LOL I'm unsure what sort of price I should put on this apron... But I'll figure it out and probably get the description ready tomorrow and list it ... I've gotta learn out to list on there some time :-)

Anyway .. without further ado ... I am happy to present 'Blue Bells and Bows'


In this next photo, you can see the bell I've attached - The addition of a small jingle bell will be a signature mark for all my aprons in the future. ;-)



feedback is welcomed, as well as constructive critisism, and any helpful tips before I list on etsy.

Saturday's Thrifty Material

Another major score at the thrift store and yard sales. Saturday's take came in the form of material - mainly bed sheet sets and pretty patterned skirts to overhaul and reassign to apron duty. Hopefully, I'm looking at 8-10+ etsy-worthy aprons to come out of it all ... So, needless to say, It's going to be a busy week(s) for me!!!

Butter yellow california king size flat and fitted sheet set, butter yellow gingham sheet set with flat/fitted and 2 -4 matching gingham pillowcases. Also a set of white valances with beautiful cut-out work and 2 more flowery pillowcases. (it's a shame we don't have our king size bed up - the solid yellow ones would be soooo comfy on it).

here's a happy, madras tablecloth and 13 matching napkins - I'm going to have fun piecing those napkins into an apron!! LOL ... and the other is a white flat, twin sheet with matching flowery pillowcase.

I'm reeally excited about working these into an apron. I love the colors, and the dots/stripes/and solid fabrics combo is going to be soooo awesome together. There are two skirts and a scarf.
Two more aprons out of these in pink, black, white colors. There are actually 4 skirts here altogether - but the solid hot pink and the solid black ones will be used for both the print fabric as well as the pink/black one with the embroidered flowers on it. The solid pink one has beaded flowers on the hem too. Cute!!

Two more skirts in the blues family ... I'm not sure what I'm doing with either of these off-hand .. I definitely need co-ordinating colors to go with them. But I LOVE the paisley one - it's velvety too, so it feels really nice. :)

And two great flowery Hawaiin print skirts for two more aprons-to-be. I'm wishing I had a pink bed sheet to go with these ... but I know I have plenty of buttery yellow and/or white (unless I find something else before I start in on these)

I'll post the aprons that get created from these. Gonna be fun!!

Thrift Loot

DH and I hit a church rummage sale last Friday morning and boy did we ever SCORE!! We walked out of there with 3 (THREE!!) practically new cat scratching posts/climbing thingies for a total of $2.50 !!! (obviously priced by someone who has NEVER owned a cat and/or looked to see how much those things go for brand new) ... we have 3 cats who can each have a scratching spot - at the same time. LOL


I got 4 reeeeally great books .. Julia Childs first one, 'Mastery of French Cooking', an old BH&G craft/toy projects book, two sewing books and the BIG score of the day was 'The Apron Book' (for .50 cents!!!)

also found a bunch of great bed sheet sets and pillow cases to cut into aprons and such ... as well as several other craft projects, a bagful of zippers, misc. sewing/crafting supplies, some container do-dads to make pincushions with/out of, a couple stuffed animals I couldn't live without - including another great new long-floppy-earred bunny for my growning collection!

all in all a FANTASTIC haul ... yep, I'm pleased as punch with my new goodies. Whoot!!!

Aprons 4 and 5

Updating with the newest additions to my apron collection.

For the blue/white one I used hospital gowns from a huge stash I happen to have -
Mccall's 3979, view D - retro diner:

and I robbed the linen closet again for the material for this apron. It's my new favorite tho. ;-)Mccall's 5284, view C

close up on the pocket:

Chenille Bunny Friend

Here's my newest floppy-earred bunny friend.

I have a funny feeling I'll be making some of these in the future... too cute not to.

I'll also probably change it's ribbon to something I like better :-D

3rd Apron - Pink Stripe and Rosey Posies

I found these during last weekends yard sale-ing. A lovely rosey posies bed sheet set and 2 pink/white striped pillowcases (the sheet set was fifty cents and the 2 striped pillowcases w/feathered pillows were seventy-five cents apiece). You can't beat those prices!! LOL

I used this great vintage pillowcase apron tutorial as a reference, altho I made some slight modifications.

Here is where I was arranging the separate pieces ...

Close-ups of the patterns ...

... note the inside of the rosey pocket flaps are striped. I thought that was a clever trick :-D

Here's the finished apron. All and all, I'm quite pleased with this one. I ended up with another apron that I will enjoy wearing :-).

And the best part is that I have a whole topsheet, part of the fitted sheet and a pillowcase left of the rosey pattern, as well as another pink/white striped pillowcase too ... so I'll definitely be playing with these patterns some more. Woot!

2nd Apron - Yellow Flowers w/Rick-Rack Butterfly

This is a happy, springy, butterfly-y apron. :-) I used a vintage flowery bedsheet that I found for a couple dollars at Goodwill, along with a solid white sheet (also from Goodwill) for the contrast pieces.

I used McCall's pattern 2947 - view F, with several slight modifications. I LOVE the butterfly applique with the rick-rack outline and antennae.

I'm reeeally pleased with how this one turned out :-D

First Apron Pics

These are photos from the first apron I did. The pattern was from my mom's pattern stash - McCall's 7487 - view A. I used an old bedsheet that was soft from the years of use. The band from the top of the sheet was used for the ties.

I love how this one turned out ... tho I will possibly go back and add pockets at some point.

I'll enjoy wearing this one :)

Happy April Fools Day!!

Richi and I went yard sale-ing Saturday. I spent less than $10 and came home with several 'new' sheet sets, 2 pillow cases (included some really GREAT feather pillows too) an old Singer Sewing book from the '60s and one of those wooden dowel-type clothing drying racks ...
It's rare Richi gets upset at anything/anyone .. but our old drying rack just ticked him off a couple weeks ago. He got fed up with it and angrily tossed it in the trash bin after he'd duck taped the dowels back into their holes 2-3 times and the thing still kept falling apart.
So ... it was good to find a replacement :)

Oh! I also found the most adorable old floppy earred bunny too! At first I thought it was handmade cuz the material is like those old timey chenille line patterned bedspreads .. but he's got a manufactured tag on his butt (no date tho).
I have been (accidentally) collecting these cute, long floppy-earred bunnies now for the last couple years. I'm not sure how many I have since I don't have them set up in one specific place (probably 15-20 tho) - I really should gather them all together and find a shelf for them to live in. *nods*

I almost forgot! We also stopped at Hancocks Saturday and their McCall's patterns were on sale for $1.99 (limit 5) .. so I picked up 2 new apron patterns, 2 tops/blouses patterns for me and 1 kimono wrap style top pattern for sis. Can't wait to get started on those!! tho I can't make up my mind which to cut first! LOL

They also had a 'now hiring' sign on the front window. I'm seriously contemplating about putting my application in ever since the neighbors called the city about our weekly yard sales and we got the 'cease and desist' notice in the mail mid-March. :'(
We're now seriously crunched for funds and as bad as I hate having to go back to work ... and even though with my severe edema it's not going to be healthy for me to be standing for long periods at a time ... it looks like I'm going to HAVE to do something part-time at least.
And the way I was thinking - if I HAVE to go back to work, it might as well be somewhere I'd likely enjoy being for 5+ hours a day. right? :D
..... I wonder if they have an employee discount of some sort ... hmmmmm.... LOL :D

Anyway ... I just thought I'd post an update since my last post was a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow (well, technically later today- since it's currently the middle of the night) I'll post photos of the material I bought last weekend and the 3 aprons I've made so far as well as the bunny.

BiggHuggs ~ Belle