Today my baby sister is having her baby! I wanted to make her a baby blanket…so I grabbed my bag of my grandpa’s old shirts and found some old satin pillow cases and linen napkins of my grandmas and got to work.

I used this owl pattern that was for a pillow, but I just used the front side of it and appliqued it onto the blanket. Since the edge was curvy I cut out an owl shape out of muslin and sewed right sides together all the way around. Then I cut a horizontal 3-4″ slit in the middle of the muslin and flipped the whole thing right side out. That way there are clean edges all the way around and I didn’t have to struggle to get the edge to turn under. 

I cut open the two satin pillow cases that were grandma and pieced them together to make the back of the blanket. I decided to do a 1″ruffle around the edge out of some scrap fabric I had kicking around that I almost threw out.

The background plaid and eyes was from my grandpas flannel shirt. The bib part was made from one of grandmas old linen napkins that had a crocheted edge. The gray dot was from some pillows nik (baby sister) and I just made for her girls’ room.

I sewed the owl onto a piece of tan linen that I bought at a yard sale on our sisters trip in Manhattan Beach, CA.

The lace dickey was from my other sisters collection that she had gotten at an estate sale years ago. I finally had a good use for it!

My grandmas pillow cases had some light blue embroidery on the edges…so I kept it. I have been keeping this blanket a secret for weeks!  Now Nikki’s in the hospital today having her baby….so now I can show it off. I love that it’s going to be so sentimental for the new baby (Jane?). They are still deciding on the name. Our grandparents passed away about 6 years ago.

Side Note #1–
Last weekend we took the boys up to the cabin for the weekend…we had two beautiful days of 65-70 degree weather. We didn’t even have to start the fire when we got there. All 4 feet of snow had melted from the deck, since the last time we were there. There’s still of TON of snow there.

Here are the boys digging a tunnel.

Heber borrowed his buddies snow mobile and took the boys for rides. It was nice that we could drive to the top of the driveway! Usually we take the four wheeler up and have to park it at the bottom of the driveway and pull the sled full of our stuff up the hill.

– Side note #2– Sausha at Show and Tell showed off her new slipcovers that I made for her in December.

The winner of my slipcover DVD giveaway is “The Monsons”…please email me your address so I can get it shipped off to you. Thanks everyone for “liking” my crazy Ragnar pic on facebook!!!

My youngest broke into our “race bin” the other night and outfitted himself with a headlamp and flashing glasses. He says in 5 years when he’s 11, he’s going to run a race with us! Then me and all my kids competed on the treadmill to see who could run a mile the fastest. My ten yr. old beat me by 1 second!!!

OPened my email this morning and was happy to get such a NICE email and testimonial! It always makes my day!

Got my Slipcovers by Shelley DVD and have watched the entire video a couple times. I just have to say: Girl, you R-O-C-K rock!! I’m an intermediate-level sewer and have a sofa that needs a slipcover. I’ve been putting it off because it is a big project to tackle for my first slip cover, and I was looking for those tips of the trade that are so hard to find in how-to books. Well you certainly provided all the shortcuts and tips! I was able to easily follow your train of thought and understand the steps as you showed them. You make it look so easy! I can’t wait to jump in and start cutting and sewing. I’ve got some other projects in mind as well and I’m so excited about my new-found knowledge. I’m sure I’ll be slip covering everything that isn’t nailed down in no time! Thank you so much for making this video and for sharing your knowledge and talent with the rest of us!! It was worth every penny.

– Trish in Minneapolis

Here are some more emails I’ve received lately about my “How To Slipcover” DVD. I always love to hear back and see pictures of what everyone’s done!

I recieved this email this morning from  Janet at The Empty Nest Blog. I was a little surprised to hear from her already because she just finished her first chair a few days ago, and now she has already finished her SECOND chair! I am so proud of her! She did such a great job! She used a drop cloth for her fabric.

Morning Shelley,
I just tackled my first Wingback!!!! I love the results..thanks for your DVD!!
janet xox
I’m addicted!

Carol

Hi Shelley!
Hope you are doing well! I always love stopping by your website…it is so inspiring!
I am doing well. Ruffled Linens on etsy is going well. I seem to stay booked about 2 weeks out. We just moved to Birmingham, so I am trying to get my name out for slipcovering…I have done a couple of pieces here. I have learned so much about myself during this whole business venture!

Your resources have been so helpful in getting my business started. Joe from Wherehouse fabrics and I chat a lot. I have ordered over 600 yards of linen so far (that is a lot for me!)…I can’t match the price anywhere…

Just wanted to say hey and thanks again for your resources…they have been so invaluable to helping get my sewing business going.

With many many thanks!!
christiana

This is one of Christiana’s listings on Etsy…you have to go check out her shop…she has some amazing tablecloths, curtains, pillows etc…almost all out of linen.

REMEMEBER when you purchase my DVD I send you my supplier list. Many of my suppliers are “mom and pop” type shops and aren’t online. I give you my suppliers for linen, custom down cushions, piping, and zippers.

To buy my DVD ($45 plus $3 shipping) click on the button below.