This is where creativity meets practicality to bring the art of sewing into your simple living journey. From thoughtful handmade gifts to functional projects for your home, this space is filled with inspiring ideas to help you sew with purpose and joy.
Discover step-by-step tutorials for crafting personalized presents, sustainable home goods, and timeless pieces that add charm and functionality to everyday life. Whether you’re a seasoned seamstress or just threading your first needle, these projects are designed to be approachable and rewarding.
Ready to sew something special? Explore our articles and find inspiration to create items that reflect your values and the beauty of simple living.
For several years I’ve thought about what to do about rugs for my kitchen. Yep, years. While pondering this issue, I’ve had inexpensive rugs in the kitchen as a temporary fix. But they don’t hold up well to washings (or vacuuming). Finally I settled on making jelly roll rugs for the kitchen. There are many …
Between Christmas and New Years we ripped the carpet out of our house and laid down floors. It was something we’ve wanted to do since we bought our house five years ago. It was somewhat stressful but overall a great experience. We capitalized on our college age children being home and not having work or …
Last week Esther and I spend some time making body powder for our family. It was such a fun project and we wrote up the recipe and shared it here. But what’s body powder without powder puffs? So, we made some powder puffs. This is a great beginning sewing project. It took us less than an …
I have a thing for bags and sacks. Anytime my kids start a new activity I start asking “Do you need a bag for…art, dance, scouts, drama and now….crochet?” A couple of our homeschool co-op moms agreed to teach crocheting as a class this year. Oh, I wish I could sit in on that class! But since …
Strip quilts are so easy and fun to make and are perfect for a quick win or for teaching children how to quilt. Using fat quarters instead of fabric yardage makes this project even easier. A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to get some official Little House on the Prairie® fabric from …
Have I ever mentioned that since leaving home at 19 the longest I’ve ever lived in one home is 5 years? Well, it’s true. So, this is the second longest we’ve ever lived in a home and I’m learning quite a bit about myself. Like I have no idea what you are supposed to do …
ok, we (as in I) have fallen in love with making rope baskets. There is something fulfilling about taking something utilitarian (the rope) and creating a beautiful and useful basket. However, you know you’ve crossed a line when you “demand” that the kids take the new rope harvest basket out to collect eggs instead of …
Note: Once a week I share a popular post from the archives. This post was originally published in June 2012. This week we’re going to make a traditional pillowcase dress. If you’ve never really sewn before this will be a great first project. I had intended to use an actual pillowcase for this dress but …
Note: Once a week I share a popular post from the archives. This post was originally published in June 2012. Even though pillowcase dresses are supposed to be simple and carefree, sometimes when you use a vintage pillowcase the fabric is see through and you really need to line the dress. Also, sometimes a pillowcase …
It’s interesting living in two worlds – one being the world of teenagers and adult children and the other being the world of preshoolers. In some ways, the worlds are so very different and, in some ways, remarkably similar. I’ve also noticed that the preschool world that Esther lives in is different than the preschool …
It’s been a while – a long while – since I’ve done fun sewing. Not to say that sewing drama costumes and mending ballet performance costumes isn’t fun, it’s just not that same as spending some time doing a quick project that brings happiness to your daughters. I recently recently purchased some fun fabric thinking it …
One of the quickest ways to brighten or update a living room is to change out the throw pillows. But throw pillows can be pretty expensive, even on sale. So I just recover them. And my favorite way to make a cover is with an overlapping back, so there’s no need for a zipper. I just …
wow! I can’t believe it’s week 5 already. The summer is just flying by. We had fun making this dress today. We saw a similar dress in the quilt shop hop we did a few weeks ago and I knew I wanted to include a back tie dress in the sew~along. So we took the …
Yikes, getting the tutorial up late is becoming a habit. Hopefully one I will break next week. This is our fourth week and if you’ve been making a dress each week I bet you’re becoming quite confident in the construction of a pillowcase dress. Also, I hope you are beginning to realize the variations are …
The first time I made Phoebe a pillowcase dress I made it the traditional way and I thought it was pretty cute. It was a little hard to get the ribbon tied without the dress falling off but we eventually got it done. When Christian, who was then about 11, saw it he declared it “inappropiate”. …
So, what exactly do you need to make a traditional pillowcase dress? Fortunately, not much. Here’s the basic list… pillowcase ribbon sewing machine matching thread ric rac or other embellishments (optional) For some of the other variations you will need… 1/4″ elastic elastic thread bias tape (you can make your own, if you want) extra …
For our summer sew-along I thought we’d make some pillowcase dresses. Before you roll your eyes click off this post, hear me out. As I thought about projects that are fit the parameters that I want to keep for a summer sew along I believe that the pillowcase dress and variations of it will fit …
In our last “lesson” we talked about how to read the outside of a pattern package. Now that we have that down and have picked our fabric it’s time to cut it out. When you open the package you will find some pattern pieces and some instructions. On the first page of the instructions there …
This spring I’ll be doing a lot of sewing for our drama group using commerical patterns. I thought this would be a good opportunity to teach Phoebe how to work with commercial patterns. As I began her instruction, I realized just how confusing commerical patterns can be for someone with limited or no knowlege of …
I hope you have enjoyed the Summer Sewing School. We have had a great time here, it ‘s been something that my children have looked forward to each week. This is our last lesson and if you have done all the projects you have learned some basic skills that will enable you to create all …