Clothespin Bag

A few years back I made myself a clothespin bag. I didn't actually use it for clothespins, mind you. I used it for canning jar lids. A friend of mine recently ordered two of these from me because by golly, she actually hangs her clothes out to dry! Sometimes I hang my clothes out to dry, and they come in magically folded and smelling of fresh air and daisies. Then I wake up and remember that the same load of clothes has been in my dryer for the last two days and that there is no way I would ever have the mental wherewithal to studiously hang and unhang a million little socks, jeans and shirts. This is the first of the two clothespin bags. The smocked lace trim is some vintage stuff I picked up at a yard sale last summer, when I hit the mother lode of sewing supplies. I have never seen anything like it before.

Clothespin Bag

I used this tutorial to make a clothespin bag. This is a really quick project, and doesn't take much fabric either. I used scraps from another project. The trim is this funky vintage stuff I picked up somewhere. It is one of those trims that won't go with many things, but I think it works here. Instead of finishing the neckline with bias tape or fold-over braid, as the tutorial shows, I pressed the edge toward the right side of the fabric and then stitched the trim on. That gave me a neat finish with no raw edges. These bags could be used for so many things. I have one hanging in my kitchen to hold my canning jar rings. Another idea I have for this pattern is to scale it down and make several in varying shades of lavender to hang in my daughter's room. That way she could keep all her little trinkets in them.

Vintage Lace Doll Dress

I made this doll dress from a vintage reproduction pattern from Butterick. The lace was a garage sale find. While this dress came out very cute, it is quite possibly the strangest construction I have ever seen. The dress itself is one very oddly shaped piece, with pleats, gathers and a placket in the back. The only additional pieces are a placket facing and the ties. I had to make a few modifications as there was supposed to be two more pleats on the front with lace, but as you can see, that would have been overkill. For the closure I used Velcro for ease of use, since it is being made for my three-year-old.