Shalini's Sewing Space

I have recently gotten into yarn dyeing. It is so satisfying to see color being taken up immediately by yarn. It's kinda like magic :) Love love love it. This tonal purple was my first ever dye project. I love the variations that came up automatically. I followed this tute . This will probably be longies for Aanya. This one is just sooo lovely. I love the bright colors. I painted the yarn using foam brush and went over every bit. Fun! The green one was done using low water immersion technique. These will likely be a tunic for Aanya. I have to finish knitting my current project which would hopefully be done today and then I can try these out. I'm all out of bare yarn to dye and have to wait for more to arrive this week. Dreaming up new colorways!

I'm busting through my todo list. Here's another coat on the list that can be crossed off now. She loves it!! Also finished knitting the Bliss top/dress. I had started knitting the top on our trip to Myrtle beach this summer. Did a whole lot of knitting on the beach and made a lot of progress then slowed way down. Now I picked it again and off to the finish line. This will be used in the spring and summer. It is blocking today.

Newest coat for Aanya. It is courdroy outer and cotton lining. I love to wear coats and love them on her even more. Makes an outfit look so sharp. Here is the latest.

This is where I love to spend my extra time. My own little sewing room in the basement. Usually it is a mess but I cleaned up the other day and decided I should take pictures. Table setup - I have 2 tables (from IKEA) which are set up in L-shape configuration. On the wall I have 2 floating shelves (IKEA). Jars on the top shelf are also from IKEA and they contain my elastic, lace, binding, etc. The lids are labelled. The second shelf has a lot of things - tape, velcro on a roll, Fold over elastic rolled up, extra serger cones, various cans of sewing related stuff like spray starch, basting spray, glitter glue (ok that's not sewing related), etc. There is also a bowl which contains scrap pieces of lace, ribbon etc. Thread storage - I love the idea of hanging thread storage. This is just pegboard with 1/4" dowels cut into pieces and glued. It was so cheap to make. I love that everything is accessible when I'm sitting down and sewing. The red table cover on the sewing ...

I have made Aanya's cloth diapers for a while now. I guess about 2 years now! I started doing cloth diapers for her because they're good for the environment and less expensive in the long run. They are a wee bit more work but once you get started they're not so much different than washing laundry. If you make/buy them with snap in inserts, no need for putting them together. I feel really good about having done cloth. When Mehul was little I didn't even know them and they weren't quite as popular as they're now. In the last 2 years itself I've watched them work their way into mainstream. At first I wasn't sure if they'd be worth the investment. Let's face it - at $18-20 per pocket diaper they seem way more money than disposables. That's what I paid for my initial batch. DH was not on board and he saw this as something I could never stick to. I didn't either. Very quickly I got into the rythm of washing them every day (I had very few...

I fell in LOVE with this doll while doing something else on etsy the other day. I had thought of making one for Aanya at some point but this little one was just perfect. I had to get her. Let's face it. It would take me a million tries to get the doll sewn just right and it would take tons of time and I'd have to get the supplies for more than 1 doll. It was expensive but when I count the time and frustration saved, it doesn't seem pricey at all. Aanya immediately took little dolly and started feeding her. and then feeding herself and then the doll needed a nap. She is in need of a good name and a bunch of cloth diapers and outfits! Now that is definitely something I can do.

After a few months of lusting after gorgeous quilts I started my first one this year. It is not yet finished, not even close yet. It is the Craftsy Block of the Month project. 2 blocks are released each month. The last blocks will be released in October and then we'll walk through the process of quilting, binding to actually finish the quilt. I wanted to try a quilt but didn't want to spend too much time or money on it. I didn't know if I'd actually enjoy the process and finish the quilt at all! So I bought some fabrics I found on ConnectingThreads on sale and then supplemented from my stash. Funny how well everything goes together. The format of the class is working out really well for me. I do the couple blocks for each month in a weekend and then go on to my other sewing and put them away. Here is how much I've done so far. January - Slashed blocks   February - Half square triangles March - Foundation piecing These are my favorite blocks! I loved pu...

It's one of those times where I get to say never say Never! I wasn't ever a fan of quilting. It's not that I don't like the look - I love the look but it is so precise and seems like it would not be something I would be able to enjoy the process of making. I was afraid of messing up a whole bunch of fabric. The finished product would be worth it but I didn't think I could get all my seams to line up and make a quilt, much less have the affinity for all the cutwork. Well, I tried it and surprisingly it is not as hard as it looks! As my friend N told me, it's not as hard. Just enjoy the process. And I do enjoy it now that I've gotten a little better. Not all my points match up but I was never a stickler for perfection. Gives things a little handmade charm I say. At the moment I am making 3 quilts. One top is completed and the other 2 are still being pieced - meaning I'm making the blocks. The one top that is completed is ready for the machine quilting ac...