Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

Masthead header
Needles and a Pen bio picture
  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

two more outfits from the retreat

I’m late blogging these–I took these pictures right before we all came down with Super Virus 2012.

I love the way this one came together.  It’s still a bit big on her, but should fit well late this summer.

And another sandpiper top from the remaining fabric–I love that pattern!!!!

katie - oh my gosh, so cute! I loved making clothes for my daughter when she was little! I miss those days!

another retro dress

Here’s another of the dresses I made for Ellie at our guild retreat in February.  A pattern from the 60s.  This one was a bit of a disaster–when I cut it out I was like “why are there two pieces for the back?  That’s dumb–I’ll just cut one and save myself sewing the seam.”   Speaking of dumb?  Cutting just one piece for the back leaving no room for a zipper (and not having a zipper and not realizing any of this until the dress was constructed and you’ve got no room to stick a kid’s head through the neck).  I figured a little bias tape and a button would roughly solve the problem, maybe not in a ‘you’ll wear this dress to church’ way but in a ‘good enough for the backyard’ kind of way.  And it did.

Melissa McQ - I love it. Had a similar issue with a dress I made for my toddler last week. The pattern came with 2 options, I opted for the easier one (sans button) and it didn’t fit over her head….grrrr!

a quilt for baby xander

My friend Asia is having a baby boy any day now, so I made this quilt to be there to welcome him into the world!  It’s made from a Sweetwater Reunion charm pack, backed with a DS Quilts print, and bound with a Moda marble that I pulled out from the depths of my stash that happened to match the green in Reunion perfectly!   It’s the perfect size for a stroller/toss-on-the-kitchen floor playmat blanket.

Here it is in all its pre-washed and post-washed glory!  (And look at me being all good and grown-up and putting a label on it and everything like a good girl!)

A.J. Dub (Amy) - I love it! Simple and sweet. 🙂

Rene' Sharp - This is so gorgeous, what a lovely gift!!

Melissa McQ - I just found your blog a few days ago and I love it. It’s my favorite sewing blog ever. I’ve been sitting in bed at night on my ipad going through page after page of old entries so I don’t miss a thing! I “big puffy heart” love your blog as much as you “big puffy heart” love comments 🙂

Suzanne - Rachel sent me over to look at your twirly skirt tutorial and I have happily fallen down the rabbit hole of your blog. I love the baby quilt and the grid quilting.

a new spring skirt

I made this about a month ago but the weather this weekend finally warranted busting it out of the closet!  It uses my twirly skirt tutorial and the pattern from Heather Ross’s Weekend Sewing book.  It’s made from one of the Denyse Schmidt Joann Fabric lines that leaves a lot to be desired in the quality department.  Since it’s a much stiffer fabric, it holds its shape differently than the other skirts I’ve made–it ends up being fuller, which is fun, even if it doesn’t feel as nice on my skin!  I wasn’t moving at all in this shot, but the skirt still holds itself out a little.

I haven’t done any sewing this month.  Ellie had pneumonia and was hospitalized for four days before coming home on oxygen (the company comes today to pick up the oxygen bottles, machine, and pulse oximeter–hurray!) and I fought what was diagnosed as bronchitis (Ellie’s pneumonia was originally diagnosed as bronchitis so I’m inclined to think that mine was misdiagnosed too–if you’re dehydrated pneumonia won’t show up in a chest xray) for four weeks.  Between Ellie’s hospital stay and my own ER visit it’s been a rough month.  But this weekend marked the turning point–we’re almost 100% healthy and back to our normal activities, visiting the park and library and church and gym and I have no doubt the sewing machine will soon follow!

Speattle - Oh, I am so sorry to hear about all the illness in your household. It is so scary to have a sick little one, esp when they end up in the hospital. I’m thankful to read that you are all feeling better. Take it easy still. The tiredness can linger for much longer than you think it will.

Someday soon you will be able to sit at the sewing machine for a little while and that will really give your spirits a boost. I was off mine for about 4 weeks following some surgery in Feb, and it felt so good to even just go run a row of edge stitching on some fabric before prewashing.

Sending prayers for continued good health for all your family!

Jessica - Glad you are all feeling better!

Jane S. - I’m so glad to hear that you’re both feeling better. How very scary to have a wee one in the hospital, they’re so fragile and big illnesses hit them so hard. Fortunately they’re also quite resilient!

Take care and get plenty of rest!

Kari - Oh man, what a bad streak. So glad you are both feeling better now. Now you can get out and show off that cute new skirt!

Audrey - I am so glad you are feeling better, and that Ellie is better, too. I know it wasn’t fun being at the hospital with her, and I know that was scary! I love how your skirt turned out! Can’t wait to see what you are sewing up now!

another sandpiper top

I really am enamored with this top.  It’s just so fast–I made two at the retreat and am trying to resist making more, because at this point her summer wardrobe just doesn’t need anything else.  But they are so cute and so easy!  This one got made up in some pacman fabric.  It was a hit with Nic, as expected.

 

erica - so adorable! I love that style of top and bookmarked a bunch of smock-type things for Izzy when she was little.

when did she get so big?

and those little jeans kill me.

Audrey - I love how it turned out, and she is so stinkin’ adorable in it!

Loretta - That is super cute!

a nightgown

I made this Sweet Little Dress intending it to be a dress, but it’s pretty obviously a nightgown once it’s on!  I could shorten it and it would make an adorable peasant top, but I think I’ll leave it as a nightgown, since Ellie is in need one one when the summer days come round again!

Melissa McQ - I think it’s super cute. I’d put it on my toddler as a dress.

nightgowns for Ellie » Stolen Moments - […] about pesky fireproof pajama laws and can use nice light cotton in super loose designs!  I made a dress-turned-nightgown for Ellie in February and fell in love with the idea, so now that the temps are in the triple digits […]