Leslie's Lap Buddy Sew Along

Come and join me on a sew along!

When my sister, Leslie, had her double mastectomy in March she left the hospital with 3 drains which is a normal part of the surgery. Before she had her surgery, Mary, an awesome nurse that works with the mastectomy patients, gave her an apron to wear to help hold her drains from dangling and pulling on her surgical sites. She said that the aprons that she gave her were donated by Komen (I think) and that they normally cost between $65-75 and are not covered by insurance. These were such a life saver for Leslie! The drains fit securely inside the pockets of the apron and therefore did not hang down and she didn't have to try to stuff them in a pocket or pin them to her shirt.

My mom and I being the crafty people that we are, decided to come up with a pattern and start a sewalong for these aprons to be donated to area hospitals and surgical offices that perform mastectomys. These will always be by donation and will never be made for a profit! We have absolutely no interest in making money off of this! That being said, if you are reading this and want to help out but don't sew or have the time and want to donate supplies we would be more than happy to accept them, just message me here!

We want these to stay in your local communities because unfortunately Breast Cancer is everywhere and these can be used everywhere! If you don't know where to take them in your community please message me and I will find a place for you to send them!

All you need is:

 a fat quarter or a piece of fabric that is 18" x 22"

a package of Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape 1/2" wide or 3 yards if purchasing by the yard

(make sure that it is the double fold so that it is wide enough!) (I may have purchased single fold the first time, ooops!)

and a sewing machine!

First with the fabric laying face down you will fold over one side of the 18" edge 1/4" and iron (if you have a serger you can just serge this edge and go to the next step).

Fold over another 1/4" and iron.

Sew down the edge of the fold that you just made.

It will look like this.

You will then fold down the unsewn edge to make an 8" fold.

 Then bring the sewn edge up 5 " and pin in place.

At this point if you have a serger you can just serge the edges if not just sew with a straight seam. You could probably skip this step if you wanted to, but I think that it makes it easier to keep straight when you sew on the bias tape.

Then mark the middle of the pocket and sew a straight stitch down the center to make two pockets.

Now open up the bias tape. You will cut two pieces that are 8 1/2" long. That will leave you with a piece that is 92" long for the tie.

Bias tape has a wide and a short side, I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out. Put the widest part of the fold on the back side of the apron and the shortest side on the front. This way when you sew down the front you know for sure that you are catching the back side of the bias tape.

Pin the 8 1/2" pieces to each end of the apron leaving the overhang at the bottom of the apron.

You will fold the bottom of the bias tape to the inside and then fold the edge back over, this will make for a cleaner edge. Bias tape will not ravel so you can leave it if you wish to.

But it does look cleaner to me when its folded!

Then just sew down the edge.

Next you will do the same thing with the remaining part of the bias tape along the top edge of the apron. Find the center of the bias tape and match it to the center of the apron and start pinning. Fold over the end of the bias tape like you did for the edges and start sewing at one end and sew all the way to the end of the tie.

That's it! I left the ties really long! The woman that will get the apron can cut to the length that works best for them!

Thank you so much for joining in this sewalong! I just pray that every woman that gets one of these aprons will heal quickly and that she will endure a little less pain when wearing the apron!

Please feel free to share this on your blog, facebook, twitter, etc and please post pictures in the flickr group if you'd like!

This is where I've shared this post!

Roll Up Make Up Brush Pouch

(say that one real fast 3 times!)

I just love makeup brushes! I always have!

I've made several little roll up knitting needle cases from a pattern that I made up myself.

Then I saw a magazine that had a picture of the cutest little makeup brush roll up pouch and it reminded me of  my knitting needle case!

I had some oh so cute vinyl coated fabric (there may be a more technical name for it, but I'm not sure!) and thought that it would be perfect for it!

Easy to sew! And easy to clean up when makeup gets on it!  

What a great easy and quick little last minute gift for a girly girl makeup brush lover like me! 

Two Years, Happy Birthday Little E

Has it really been two years since I wrote this post?

My baby boy would be two years old tomorrow.

There's not much to say other than I still miss him like crazy.

I only have a handful of pictures of him and I cherish every single one.

I saw something about these photographers who take call at hospitals for families of stillborn babies. They go in and take lots of professional photos for the families to have as keepsakes, and they do it free of charge. That is such an amazing thing for these families to have! I wish this had been available for us two years ago! 

Spring Tops Anyone?

I'll take one! Or two, or more!

I've joined in on the Spring Top Sewalong with Rae! I'm so excited!

I'm in major need of some new clothes! For two years I wore maternity and for the last year its been easy access for nursing. But not anymore! Baby Smile is officially weaned!

So that means new shirts for momma!

First up is a white linen top! I just love linen! I don't love that it always looks wrinkled! (oh and btw, mr smile took the pictures and i think i'm going to have to send him for some classes in photography!) I have had this linen, a huge pile of linen for several years. I've used it for so many things! I found inspiration for this top at Anthropologie

I also found this at Anthropologie, and I so want it! .  I had one that I made similar to it in home ec in high school. I LOVED that outfit and wore it out!

For top number two, and I'm not stopping at two there will be more to follow but not this weekend!

I used the same linen. I woke up this morning with the vision of this top in my head! I visioned it navy blue but when I tried to dye the linen navy blue it came out purple. But I love it! I have a dress that is similar to this top and that was my inspiration.

I'm so glad that I saw the sewalong this year, by the time I saw it last year it was too late to enter and I had a newborn, so there wasn't much sewing going on at that time!

On a side note, I'm in the process of drawing up a pattern and directions for a drain apron for mastectomy patients. My sister has one and it has been great for holding the drains to keep the pressure off of them. The nurse that talked to her before her surgery gave her these aprons. She said that they are hard to come by and that they usually cost around $75 each! She had a few in her locker that were donated by Susan G Komen (i think) and was down to her last two. I want to start a sewalong to get some made to donate to mastectomy patients. So if you would be interested let me know! But I'll be getting everything set up for that this week!

I hope you all have a great week! Happy sewing!



Eye Candy

I have some new eye candy! In the form of an awesome new pillow!

Isn't it just yummy! This was my pillow that I received from my partner in the Pillow Talk Swap on flickr. If you are not a part of it, you should be! You should at least go and check out the amazing pillows in there!

My partner did a fantastic job! It will fit perfectly in absolutely every single room in my house! Not only did she send me this pillow with all of these goodies (and there may have been some chocolate in there too, but who knows) she also made a gorgeous lap quilt for my sister! Is that not the sweetest thing! I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'll post one as soon as my sister feels up to taking one and sending it to me! All I can say is that there were several tears from several different people that were shed over that sweet gift! To know that someone that none of my family knows or knows any of my family, and lives on the other side of this country thought enough of my sister and what she is going through to send her a lap quilt AND asked her local quilt guild to pray for her! That's the wonderful thing about the internet, facebook, flickr, blogs. They can all be used for evil, but they can all be used for so much good! And with them you can have people from all parts of the world praying for you without even knowing you! Amazing! 

This is the pillow that I sent to my partner.....

I also made one just like it and gave it to my sister!

Now I'm waiting for my partner assignment in the Table Top Swap! We're making cloth napkins! I'm so excited, I just love cloth napkins! And I'm still working on my mug rug for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap!

I just love flickr!

Btw, update on my sister. She had surgery last Monday. She had a few rough nights in the hospital until she got on the right pain meds. Once her pain was under control she did absolutely amazing! She's up moving around, can raise both arms above her head! She had a double mastectomy with reconstruction. They were able to get everything. Of the seven lymph nodes that were removed only one was positive for cancer! She came home on Thursday and has been doing great! Her husband is spoiling her rotten! He helps her bathe, washes her hair, even shaves her legs for her, and has been doing housework! Lucky for them he hasn't had to cook because they are being flooded with amazing food by wonderful people! God is great!





Good News!

It's amazing how when you keep getting bad news, with every single test, how happy and exciting you get when you finally hear something great! It's almost hard to believe when you hear it because you just keep expecting the bad news.

But this week has been a week of some good news!

First off, she is not a carrier of the breast cancer gene! That's wonderful news for our whole family! (although, it means that I don't get new boobs! but I'll be ok with that! :)

There is no chest wall involvement! And her scans came back clean, which means it has not spread anywhere else! Now we're just waiting for her surgery to be scheduled. She will be having a double mastectomy during this next week.

She has been flooded with meals, phone calls, cards, gifts, visits and prayers! We thank everyone who is supporting her through this!

I did find an amazing tool that has helped with meals! mealtrain.com is a free online website that allows you to post a calendar of when meals are needed and gives you a link to share through facebook, email, church bulletin, etc. Anyone wanting to participate can sign up and choose the date that is good for them and can see what others are bringing so that not everyone is bringing the same thing! You can put your likes, dislikes, allergies etc to help know what to bring! And it takes alot of work off the one trying to coordinate the meals. It's amazing and can be used for anyone at anytime!

Since I've been back home and unable to sleep because I want to be there with her and all I can think about is being there with her, I've been sewing! And making all kinds of stuff! I've made pillows, mug rugs and worked on t shirts for the Susan G Komen 5k in Roanoke VA that we will be participating in for Leslie! If anyone in the area wants to join us by walking/running or wants to donate in Leslie's honor, you can do so by going to this page and signing up with Leslie's Girls!

If you would like to follow along with her journey and see how strong my amazing sister is, she has started a blog here, Lelie's Bumpy Road.

Now we get to go play with some wigs!

So here is some craftiness! I joined up with the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on flikr. And this is the beginning of my mug rug for my partner!  

I just love this! I can't wait to get it finished! It just looks so happy and springy!

Here is the pillow that I have made for my partner in The Pillow Talk Swap on flickr.

I used Terrain from Kate Spain! I am just in love with that fabric! I will be making more of these!

These swaps have been so much fun and a great way for me to keep my mind occupied!

Enjoy!  

Cancer

How can one little word cause so much pain, fear, tears, and grief? How can that one little word turn so many lives upside down? How can that one little word mean so little to someone until its in your family? How can that one little word break so many hearts?

I'm a nurse. I've dealt with cancer on the medical side many times before. I've never been really affected by it on the other side.

My heart is breaking right now. It's breaking for my sister, her husband, her sweet children, my family. She's only 30 years old. She was told today that she has breast cancer. She has a very loving husband and two amazingly sweet young children.

I can't imagine what she's going through. I wish I could take it all away from her. I wish it could be me instead of her. I wish I were right there with her right now, but I'm six hours away. I wish it were tomorrow night so I could be with her hugging her.

I know that she will fight this and kick cancers ass! I have no doubts about that!

Please just say an extra prayer for her and her family tonight.