Tara Miller Designs

Black Friday Cyber Monday Discount!

This weekend, Black Friday through Cyber Monday everything in my Shops is 20% off, just use the coupon code "blackfriday" to ge the discount! happy Shopping. 

Lining the [wool] hat

 

When I was pregnant I made several hats for my new little one. Two of those hats were knit from wool because being a Sept. baby, Emily was due for some cold days early on and I wanted to make sure that her cuteness not be diminished by some warm hand knits. However, my pregnancy brain didn't trigger that babies don't like to wear  a lot of wool because it can be itchy. This is true for my baby. Two seconds after donning her new hats Emily would imitate our Wednesday Tornado Siren. I quickly decided to line her hats with some nice cotton jersey knit fabric. It was a piece of cake but I wanted to share a quick picture tutorial in case any other babies have moms as forgetful as Emily's. 

First lay out your hat on a big piece of paper and trace all around the hat. 

Remove the hat and add a small seam allowance. It doesn't have to be perfect since this is just the lining. I added 1/4 in. 

Cut out your pattern piece and trace it onto a folded piece of cotton jersey knit fabric. Make sure the stretch is going width wise. Cut out your hat liner- you should have 2 pieces. 

With RS together, serge or zig zag stitch around your hat, leaving the bottom open. 

Fold up the bottom of the hat 1/2 in. toward the wrong side and stitch around the hem. Insert lining into hat and pin in place. Starting on the back of the hat and using a narrow zig zag stitch begin sewing the lining to the hat. Stitch in between rows if you can to hide the stitches. Since my brim was garter stitch, I was able to stitch between purl bumps to hide my stitches- you can barely see them in the bottom picture. Trim your threads. 

Your baby, toddler, or older kid is sure to enjoy their hand knit wool hats much more with a nice smooth lining. I am even considering lining my wool hats for the extra warmth and to prevent itching. I deserve something nice too :)

Chocolate pie!

So Devon has been asking to make chocolate pie for almost a week now but I have been sidetracking her because my MIL brought us a bunch of apples that needed to be dealt with. They were turned into an apple crisp and an apple cobbler. Both yummy and the crisp recipe came off a box of cereal from Kroger!

today Devon and I made the chocolate pie which was just 2 boxes of chocolate pudding and a graham crust, super easy. The best part is the whipped cream topping which I dreamed up: Peanut Butter Whipped Cream. This was also easy to make. Check out my recipe below.

Peanut Butter Whipped Cream
3/4c whipping cream
2tbsp creamy peanut butter

Add peanut butter to chilled metal bowl then add the cream. Start mixer slow and build up speed to prevent splashing. Beat until stiff peaks. Smooth whipped cream on top of chocolate pie, peanut butter pie or even banana cream pie!

New Etsy Shop: Swaddle . Dwell . Baby

I had alot of time to think creatively while on maternity leave and have opened a new store to sell some of the (hopefully) great ideas I had for baby and kids items that I love. My new store is called: Swaddle . Dwell . Baby. The first and in my opinion, the most important, are several swaddle blankets. 

I am a big proponent of swaddling. It kept me sane with my first baby and had done the same with my newly born second child. I created my double layer swaddle blankets because both my babies were/are wee during the cold months and I love stretchy swaddle blankets much more than woven. Flannel is great and cozy but my babes easily pull out of the wrap because I just can't get the swaddle tight enough. I found with gauze I can get the swaddle nice and tight (the way my babies like it) but cotton gauze just isn't warm enough. By backing the gauze with cotton knit I can keep the stretch and gain the warmth. These blankets are so cozy and my added details really make my swaddle blankets awesome sauce! One blanket is hand stamped and painted with open apple slices. Another features 3 polka dotted polka dots and another shines with a Morrocan style reverse applique in a bright green print. I wish I could keep them all but I already have plenty thanks to all my prototype sewing. I hope they will be a big success so I can make many, many more. 

Put your name on it

I have been intending to put Devon's name on her door at the new place for a few months now. I even bought some really neat vinyl at TJ. Maxx (contact paper) for $4.50 for 2 rolls! The plan was to cut it with my cricut and then install it on the door. However, I didn't have any transfer tape. I hate buying cricut brand supplies because the price is outrageous so I researched alternatives. Apparantly you can use clear contact paper (which I purchased from Wal-mart for $5/roll) and used that. Her name cut like a dream. Once I had isolated the letters, I cut a piece of clear vinyl a little bigger than her name and placed it sticky side down on the name and pressed hard to get good contact. Then I flipped it and pulled the backing off. I was left with the clear contact paper with Devon's name backward on it. Then I lined it up on her door and pressed. You want to make sure you use a credit card or hard squeegie for this. You want the letters to really adhere to the surface so you can pull the contact paper away without the letters coming too. 

She loves her name on the door! Once #2 is born and ready to move it with her big sister, I will add her name as well. I am tossing around the idea of labeling the bathroom downstairs for guests....hmmm

First Quilt

And boy am I proud. I make my daughter's bed every morning just so I can lay it out and touch it. 

I started this back when I was pregnant with Devon in 2008 and then, of course, I had a baby and put it away and forgot about it until we moved recently. I started it up again. I toyed with giving it to #2 since the quilt is approx crib size. However, I started it for Devon so to Devon it would go. After a well-earned pressing I made my quilt sandwich. This is no easy task when you have a 3 yr old moving all her toys from her room to the sewing room, competing for floor space and a 8 mo pregnant belly down on the floor trying to get the wrinkles out. But I did it and then pinned and pinned. It was only after all this pinning and keeping 3 yr old toes away from my pin that I re-read Denyse's book and discovered that I should have used safety pins. This would have also eliminated pins slipping out as I quilted. I just stitched in the ditch around each charm square and it turned out lovely. Next I made my binding, cut to 2.5 '' as instructed by Denyse but I can't figure out why she asks you to cut it so wide. My binding is much wider than I would have liked. It doesn't look bad but just too wide for my taste. I matched my binding to the backside of the quilt (a Flea Market Fancy Pattern) because I had planned to machine stitch my binding on and if there were any imperfections if would blend right it and they did. However, I also threw in a blue Flea Market print just because I love the contrast.  I definitely need more binding practice but I am looking forward to it. 

Oh, I forgot the best part. Right before I made my quilt sandwich, I wrote Devon's name out and embroidered it. I love that is is in my handwriting so she will always recognize it. When I gave her the quilt she said "Oh, Wow!" and my heart melted! I can't wait to get started on #2 small quilt and this time it won't take me 3 years! (I hope)

A busy day of nothings

So here is a picture representation of my day today. A lot of this:

Some of this:

Not nearly enough of this:

But plenty of this:

More this weekend when I have rested. We are dealing with separation anxiety in the form of sleep issue with my 3 yr old. Oh and only 8 more weeks till Babe #2 debuts! (insert squeal!)

Quilt: Baby Steps

I'm making my first quilt, y'all! I am so excited because I have long wanted to make a quilt. It doesn't (really) need to be sized or fitted. You really can't go wrong with the colors. Unlike clothing it will always fit and has the potential to be passed down for generations. That last bit is mind blowing to me. 

My grandmother made a quilt each for my sister, me and my brother and we all still have them. Mine needs repair due to love damage but it is still in great condition and I still use it for an extra layer of warmth in the winter. It is twin size so I don't have to burden my warmer blooded husband with an extra layer on his side of the bed. 

I am actaully making 2 quilts, one for each of my girls. Devon's will be a twin size but Baby #2 will be a crib size. I envision using the crib size for at least her first 3 years (unless it becomes a comfort object then a few more years) as a playmat, outside seating until she walks, a car blanket and stroller blanket so I can justify not making 2 twin sizes. I am using Deyse Schmidt's Hills N' Hollers quilt pattern which  calls for hand appliques of 85 hills (60 and 25 hills per quilt) so I am looking into shortcuts. My first option is to add 1/4'' seam allowance to each hill, baste around the edge and then press using the basting stitch and topstitch in place. The second is to use heat n bond but I am afraid of the edges fraying. The second method was used by Blair Peter of Wise Craft so maybe I will send her an email to see how her quilt is holding up. Wish me luck!

Making for baby!

I have been feeling the 2nd trimester energy surge and thus have been making all kinds of goodies for babe #2. First, we watch a good bit of Bones here so when I saw those cute top knot knit baby hats on Brennen's baby, I had to make some for my own little one. I need to invest in some funky knits so I just started off with a really great heather blue so see how the pattern from Prudent Baby worked out.

Umm, the hat turned out Amazing and I am really pumped to make some more. The hat took maybe 10 min to make and it is exactly what I am looking for. 

I have started what I hope will be a collection of chevron stripe hand towels for the girls bathroom. First up is green and I hope to follow with blue, teal, red and maybe a yellow. 

Then I created a knit hat inspired by the Chickadee Hat found on Land of Nod but based on the Kim's Hat of LMKG. I am pretty sure this will look awesome on the new baby. 

 

Lastly, I was inspired by some pricey muslin baby blankets I saw at a boutique in Charleston so I set out on the Fabric.com blog to make some of my own. Needless to say I can wait to swaddle my new baby in these new blankets!

Baby Tutorial Contest

I am looking to serious "make" for baby number #2 so I am in need of some baby project recommendations. Leave me a comment with your favorite baby project tutorial link and why you love it and the winner (picked randomly, not just which project I love the most) will win a $5 off coupon for Fabric.com! I cannot wait to see the goodies you come up with and especially to start working on these baby projects. 

*Toddler and Preschool projects are also encouraged since Devon will want a little something for playing nice while mommy sews or knits for #2*