Daisy Chain Creations

December Crafting

2012-01-12T09:09:00.005-06:00

I did a fair amount of crafting in December. Actually, I was pretty proud of myself. Because we had visitors coming, I had resolved to have all of my crafting done before they got here (no separate craft room=planning ahead). This resulted in not having any last minute, stay up late on Christmas Eve projects to do. It was nice. I should do it more often. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at taking pictures. Here's what I have.

Gifts for teachers, friends, etc were these. I got the idea here and it was a fun project. I used an old German hymn book (Phil couldn't believe I would use that, but we had 3 of the old ones laying around collecting dust, so I figured why not). I also made them even smaller by cutting the size she used in half once more. I also learned that the messier the tear, the neater it looked so I didn't make very defined creases when I made the rectangles. One other ornament project, that I have no pictures of that I did is this.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of a finished ornament. This is as close as it gets. I did free hand the letter on and I used silver glitter instead. I just liked the way it looked with the black and white of the music.

The project that was the biggest hit this year was this Angry Birds pillow. Clara had seen one in a grocery store and wanted one really bad. I'm not one to buy into trends so put my foot down. The kids each make a present for their siblings and Ethan came up with this idea. I had a round pillow form laying around and all of the fabric as well. He drew it out the face and feathery things/tail (you can't see those in the picture, but there are little black fleece "feathers" stuck into the seam for the head feathers and tail feathers). I used his drawing as a pattern, cut out the pieces and zig zagged them on in black to make them stand out. She loves the pillows.

Other things made: 2 ultra cuddly fleece blankets for the girls, 2 big ultra cuddly fleece pillows for the boys and pajamas for the girls. I think that is about it. Kind of a low key crafting Christmas.

On going projects

2011-11-05T23:16:00.003-05:00

Taking a thrifted sweater and turning it into a dress for my 3 year old. Finished look coming soon...I just need to fix a few kinks.

Thrifted table (thanks to my friend Cynthia!) getting a new life...almost done with the sanding. Need to have it done before Thanksgiving because we need the seating it will provide.

The extent of my Halloween crafting was Sophia's witch hat. She was a stylish witch, so we got a cool pheasant feather thing from JoAnn's and added it to this felt hat that I had made. I also added some black feather boa pieces around the sleeves and hem of her skirt. Except for writing 'Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson) on an orange shirt, I didn't do anything else for costumes this year and that is just fine by me.

My Helper

2011-09-16T23:21:00.002-05:00

I've been making things, but I've been consumed with getting settled. I've made a couple of skirts for the girls, a ballet bag for Clara and tried to make a skirt for me (came out too short). I've also mended a bunch of stuff and sewn on a bunch of Scout patches. If I'm sewing and somebody has let our bird, Parro, out she is usually right there helping me. Sometimes she'll hop up on my left hand and then start trying to catch the needle. That's when I start to get worried that she will get caught by the needle. She's a funny bird, but it's nice to have an audience.

Baptism Dresses

2011-08-09T20:26:00.006-05:00

Sophia needed 2 baptism dresses last week. Okay, she really didn't need two, but she is on the petite side and the jumpsuits didn't really fit so I decided to make 2 dresses instead of one. She picked the J. Crew one above as the one she wanted to wear afterwards. I'm not sure why the picture of her looks so grainy. It doesn't look that bad on the original. Anyway. I tried to do a knockoff, but I always underestimate how small and petite she really is. And since I do most of my sewing after she goes to bed when she can't really try it on, it turned out on the large pillowcase look and not as billowy as in the original. Oh well. It really does look pretty close up.

Dress number 2, the one she wore to get baptized in was made after this Land's End dress we found. Rather simple. I liked how this one turned out. I used a white on white print and added lace around the sleeves and skirt hem. I also added 3 pleats on the bottom hem. There are also 2 flowers from the exact same lace (I saved some) from my wedding dress that I stitched on the neck line. She like this one best out of the two. Mainly because the other one just didn't fit right. I might go back and tweak it some, because that was the one she was supposed to get. This one I was going to save for Clara to get baptized in as well.

What I did instead of packing

2011-07-07T18:16:00.009-05:00

Here's what I was doing the week before our move, when I should have been packing and organizing and that I am now consequently blogging about and ignoring the unpacking that needs to be done. The Scouts in the ward were having a silent auction fundraiser for camp and since Jakob was going to not be there to help out with the fundraiser (he is going to camp with our Atlanta ward though), I decided to donate some items. All were made from my stash and I didn't need to buy anything except for the ribbon on the skirts. A modified version of this dress, with a little pin on flower with a vintage button accent and pin tucking on the underskirt.

A baby quilt in pinks, yellows, aquas and black and whites. I ended up really liking this color combination. The fabric was originally purchased (more or less, some was from my stash) for a bird mobile of a friend who was having her third baby girl. Sadly I don't have any pictures of the mobile. I liked how the quilt turned out. I just randomly pieced it and machine quilted it.

This is the first time that I pieced the back. Cynthia does it all of the time and always loved the way it looked. I think this one turned out rather well too. I like how the quilting design is easy to see in this shot.

Finally, a lazy day skirt and matching headband. I think this one was my favorite. It's a fun print and I love polka dots.

Hopefully, they all went to good homes and made a little money for the Scouts that needed it in the process.

I also made 2 more lazy day skirts, one for a friend of Sophia's who turned 9 and a matching one for Sophia.

Loving this new Line

2011-06-17T12:21:00.002-05:00

Many of you might know Lisette as the mastermind behind Oliver & S . Amazing patterns with amazing, well written instructions that help you become a better seamstress. I've loved both of the patterns I've attempted and think they are well worth the extra cost. The patterns themselves are more durable than your basic Mcalls or simplicity patterns. The instructions are well thought out and written in a way that you can't mess up. And like I said, they seem to be written to teach you along the way.

That being said, I have anticipated the release of some adult sized patterns. So far there are just 4 out and this one I think is my favorite. I think I'm going to have to attempt it. Over at Purl Bee they've stitched up in some Liberty of London lawn fabric. That would be heavenly to make a dress out of. I think my favorite is the navy helena's party. The only drawback; the $35 per yard cost. I'm trying to rationalize it with the fact that a new dress would cost about that much at a nice store, but it probably won't happen.

Best Uniform Dress Ever

2011-06-06T15:46:00.002-05:00

I never did post about this dress and since a lot of people seem to come here looking for uniforms, I thought I would go ahead and include it. This dress was made from a light weight navy blue poplin out of my favorite Oliver & S pattern

I have loved how this dress has turned out every time, but this one is my favorite. The poplin was perfect for this dress and it washed so well. Sophia said it was super comfortable as well. I wish I had a better picture of the dress. I'll have to try for one before she outgrows it.

Being Highly Unproductive But Still Producing

2011-05-26T09:33:00.005-05:00

We've been a little consumed with the ocean around here lately. It might have something to do with all of the seashells that we brought back from our trip to Florida. The other day the girls declared that they would like mermaid outfits for their dolls (all made from the Magic Cabin doll kits, which sadly I think they are discontinuing). Here are the finished outfits. Each a little different. I'm still contemplating gluing on seashells instead of the buttons that I put on, but I'm worried about the choking hazard. While I don't have any little ones around, we still have a lot of friends over that have little people crawling around. So even though I'm not getting done the things I need to, I've had fun the last day or two with my girls coming up with these outfits.

Baby Violet* in shimmery pink
Baby Lily* in purple and pink

Baby Rose* in green and yellow

Tomorrow I'll post a quick and easy how-to. The girls had a lot of fun setting up this little photo shoot as well. All shells were ones we found on Sanibel Island, FL.

*Wondering about the dolls names? Here's the story.

Purple Birthday Apron

2011-05-26T09:21:00.007-05:00

Last week Sophia was invited to a last minute birthday party, so I sewed up an apron for a present. Can I just say that it makes me immensely happy that I can whip up a last minute gift, without having to worry about running to the store? I had everything I needed in my sewing room. As I was making the apron (sadly no pictures), Clara declared that she wanted an apron for her birthday that was the next week. She then proceeded to pick out her fabric from my stash. Of course they were all purples and I was able to work them all in.
I even found a purple bunny button for the finishing touch.

The apron is reversible. On the one side is a yellow 'C' for Clara, as she likes to tell me. She was not happy with me at first when I put yellow on the purple apron, but I like how it stands out and she is just happy with the 'C'.

The other side has a pocket.

Easter Dress Number 1

2011-05-23T18:57:00.005-05:00

So here is the fabric, some very pretty feed sack material with a defined border. I still can't believe how pretty some of these feed sacks are. Something so beautiful that is also practical.
I just used a basic dress pattern and put the border at the top instead of at the bottom, as I tend to do with these kinds of fabrics. I did end up cutting off some of the pink and using that as a ruffle, because I wanted to make sure the flower border was closer to the top.
Here is the finished product on a not very willing model. I also made some fabric covered buttons for hair things, but she would not let me get a picture of those at all.

I really wanted the flower border to go all the way around the sleeves as well, but there just wasn't enough. Instead I took what was left of the really floral part and inset it into the sleeve. I've heard this method called window pane inserts, but I'm not sure if that is right. I just cut the sleeve in half and took a football shaped piece of the floral part that was the same length on the curve and put in in.

I'm still creating and I so want to make this

2011-05-17T20:25:00.005-05:00

So I have been making stuff...I just haven't been taking pictures of it. I did do the vest for this crazy crew. I could have done the dresses instead, but I didn't think I could look at that green for very long. Don't get me wrong, I love green. It's my favorite color. It's just that this green was an awful mix of lime, fluorescent and apple. Hard on the eyes up close but looked great on stage. If you want to see them, check the number out on youtube just type in 'atlanta temple celebration' and pick the Motown number.

I also managed to make two Easter dresses in one week. Unfortunately, I always forget to take some pictures when the girls are wearing them. This was the beginnings of Clara's. It was some old feed sack material that I kept holding on to, just waiting for the perfect project. I turned it into a simple dress, with a ruffle on the bottom and window pane sleeves. I promise pictures as soon as I get them. Then this week I made a mobile of birds for a baby shower present and a kids apron for a birthday present for one of Sophia's friends. Sadly, no picture of those either. You see, I can't find the battery that my camera needs. I need to go somewhere where I can ask someone some questions, because it is kind of frustrating not having a camera.

But do you want to know what I really want to be making right now...this. It looks crazy hard (can I just say zippers in weird places!), but I think it is so worth having that I'm going to have to try...sometime in trying to pack up and move in the next month. Hmmm...

To Build a Quick Frame

2011-04-25T08:46:00.002-05:00

I've had this up for a while, but just saw the wall art in a random picture the kids took. See that red and white tapestry looking thing in the corner? It's really supposed to be a table cloth. Phil brought back from Ghana 4 years ago where he was working at a Baptist hospital in the middle of nowhere. The care taker of the house also dyed fabric and made things from them on the side. Phil had her make a dress for Sophia and I and some clothes for the boys. He also had her make a table cloth. The problem is I hate using it for a table cloth because it gets dirty too easily and then I have to wash it and the dye isn't set very well so it bleeds in the water and gets less vibrant. Solution...make it wall art. I went to Home Depot to pick up some 2x2s and one of the people walking around asked what I was going to do with them (I think I had that clueless look on my face). I told him I was going to make a simple frame too staple some fabric to, to make it into wall art. He steered me to these pre-cut 2x2s that have the 45 degree angle cut into them already, making them perfect for a frame. It was actually really handy. I just put a little wood glue on the angled joint, stapled them together and when they were dry I stretched over the fabric and stapled that on making sure to protect the fabric with some white flannel first. I really like how it looks hanging up and depending which way you hang it, according to Sophia, you have either waves or mountains.

The Journey of a Butterfly

2011-03-28T10:20:00.008-05:00

Some very dear friends of ours finally got their little girl. She came a little earlier than planned, which was probably a nice surprise after waiting 8 years. A couple of months ago, the now new mom asked a bunch of us, her friends, to add something to a gift basket for the birth mom. I thought I had a little more time so I didn't get it to her time, but it's on its way now. When she told me the story of how they were picked as parents and the story of the birth mom, all I could think of was the journey that a caterpillar makes to become a butterfly. I thought it was a good metaphor for the process of adoption, especially for this lucky little girl. I wanted to somehow incorporate it into my gift. My original idea was to make a shirt for the birth mom with a this picture on it, but once I sketched it out, it kind of looked like an Eric Carle book, so I went a different route. I liked the picture though, so I sent this along.

Since I already had the shirt, I went with something that kind of symbolizes what the picture shows. From another shirt I cut a long thin strip, gathered it and attached it as a ruffle, but it represents the caterpillar. Up in the corner is a little gathered flower along with a braided flower thing that is supposed to represent the cocoon. This birth mom has put a lot into providing this little girl a good start to her life here on earth, just like the caterpillar makes its way from plant to plant, nourishing itself and then building a safe place for the butterfly to grow.

Then there is the butterfly, the little girl she has given wings to, so that she can fly. The butterfly I put on the onesie using the freezer paper stenciling method.

Finally, I personalized onesie for the new babe.

A Little Knitting

2011-01-23T13:16:00.006-06:00

Here's Clara's new winter hat. Sadly, she outgrew my favorite green one. I guess I shouldn't be too sad, because it made it through 2 winters. This one I made the same way, about a 1 1/2 inch ribbed edge and then alternating 2 knits/2 pearls every 2 rows. Once it was big enough I just started a simple decrease. Really pretty simple.
Clara picked out the yarn herself, a pretty purpley alpaca blend.

Christmas Dress

2011-01-23T13:03:00.006-06:00

There are times I wish I had a good camera. Usually, it's when the pictures I take don't do the thing I made justice. This is one of those times. This was Sophia's Christmas dress. It is a brown print, with the viney green and rose colored flowers (Brother and Sister design, bought at Hobby Lobby--I do love that design line). The green matched Clara's wool jumper, which was a hand me down from Sophia, who inherited it from someone else. If I remembered, I would have taken a picture of the girls together. I didn't.
The pattern is an old (circa 1960) McCall's pattern #7929, which sold for 50 cents at the time. On it is has 2 disclaimers: 1. A dressmaker tested design. 2. Suitable for Chubbies (I kind of love how politically incorrect this is. The pattern included instructions on how to make it larger). This dress was easy to make and came together in a couple of hours.
I added the vintage wooden buttons and the lace around the collar and sleeves. I also added about 3 inches to the hem and it still only comes to Sophia's knees. Tis the style of the time, I suppose.
Here are the details on the sleeves.

Project Run and Play

2011-01-15T15:03:00.004-06:00

If I knew how to "grab a button I would, but I don't, so go here to see what I'm talking about.

I've always like the idea of Project Runway, but have only seen maybe 3 episodes. I like the idea of giving someone a theme/idea/item that they have to go with. It fits my way of crafting, because I have a hard time coming up with something out of the blue, however, give me a purpose and I have a goal.

This idea 'Project Run and Play' is a new take off on the original. They've invited a bunch of blogging seamstresses to create 6 things in 6 weeks, each week being a different theme. This weeks theme was "Winter Wonderland" and it was a lot of fun to see the different interpretations of it. I also had fun thinking of what I would create. I think I would have created a skirt out of light blue, soft wool, maybe with snowflakes around the bottom or some cream velvet accents. For the top I would have done either a soft knit sweater or a cream velvet jacket with fake fur around the neck and front. How about you? What would you come up with when given the theme of Winter Wonderland?

If you want to vote, do so on the sidebar. Take a look though. There a lot of pretty things. Oh and the neat thing is, I think they have to have a tutorial for something they made, so there should be a lot of neat ideas coming out of this little competition.

Christmas Crafting Part 2--Gifts for #1 and the Nephews and New Niece

2011-01-13T15:17:00.008-06:00

It's hard to craft for a 12 year old boy, do you know that? And seeing that I really want to stick to our 3 gift--1-something special that they want, 1-book, 1-something made by me--I have to think really hard to come up with something. This year I had this brilliant idea, a book with a hidden compartment to hide something that keeps getting found by the younger brother. All I did was google how to make a hollowed out book and found lots of help. I have since deleted the bookmark of the actual one I used (this only works if it remains a secret after all), but they were all pretty much the same and most were easy to follow. I hunted for a book big enough at a local thrift store and then went to work. Between cutting out about 1000 pages with an exacto knife and the carving for the girl's gift, I think I gave myself carpal tunnel. So far, the book has served well as a hiding place for a certain electronic gadget that he doesn't want others to find.
This is just one of the two capes and crowns that I made for 2 of my nephews. The other cape was yellow and the 'N' was on blue. I hope they like them and that CA has 2 new super heroes. Their little sister got some magnetic dolls and a purple crown (I forgot to take a picture of the dolls).
Then the newest member of the clan got this little onesie and 2 of these birds (they really do make great chew toys). She was born on Dec 18th (I think I have that right), but they didn't find out what they were having, so I had to make the gift gender neutral. The onesie was made using the freezer paper method of stenciling.

Sibling Gifts--Round 1

2011-01-10T13:49:00.004-06:00

Ethan wasn't too happy to be getting his picture taken. He probably won't be too happy that I used this picture either, but hey, if he's going to be grumpy about it this is what he gets. Jakob made these shirts after seeing the idea here. I thought I was being smart by suggesting a bleach pen for the words. You can see the result, it still bleached out a lot more than we planned, so he went back with fabric dye and wrote out the letters. The first go of the girl's shirts didn't work either and we had to get new ones and start all over. He tried just using snowflakes cut out of paper and it still bled underneath the design. The second time he cut snowflakes out of freezer paper, we ironed it on and used the bleach pen again, this time dabbing it on the design. The girls were really excited about their shirts and Ethan thought his was really cool. It was fun to see Jakob think of each of their personalities and what they would like.

Christmas Crafting Part 1

2011-01-04T12:41:00.009-06:00

This is THE project, the one that I've been thinking about for a long time, the one that took a lot of effort to make and the one I had the most expectations for (you know, that excited smile on Christmas morning that lets you know you hit the spot). I think this one met all of those expectations. Santa provided the fairies and gnomes and the little wooden things to go with the fairy house, plus a little wooden box to put everything in. Mom provided the house, the furniture and the little extras to imagine with.
I put a lot of love into this creation, along with a lot of sweat equity. Here's how I did it: sawed the log in half (by hand), drew out how I wanted the rooms to go and drilled out most of the excess with a wood bit. Then I did the fine carving by hand with some carving tools. A little late in the process I thought of including shelves and the likes for all of those little wooden things that Santa was bringing. I learned a little about wood in the process, like freshly cut wood would have been much easier to work with and would not have split on me (some mending was required with wood glue and a clamp). I finished it all with by rubbing in some beeswax, which gives it that nice golden color. The swing was added for a little fun.

Here is Sophia's first set up, with the help of a cousin. It's amazing what they came up with just using the wool roving, pieces of silk, 'leaves' cut from a felted wool sweater and the things that they got in their boxes.

Here are the sleeping fairies and their collection of berries and a fire.

Here are some of the miniatures that they got in their boxes. And then here is Clara's set up from today.

Christmas PJs

2011-01-04T12:28:00.003-06:00

Here are the girls in their Christmas pjs. I had picked up the knit fabric with the summer clearance fabric at Hobby Lobby, thinking it would make Christmas pajamas. It's bright and cheerful and not really Christmas-y, but it made great pjs. For Sophia's I used one of the latest from the Oliver & S line. Again, I loved their very detailed patterns/instructions and again, I realized their patterns run a little small. For Clara, I used my go to dress/pjs pattern and then made up some pants/bloomers because she said she really wanted pants too. This year the boys got store bought ones. We don't live close to a Joanne's to get a good price on the good flannel and really at their size, it's cheaper to buy them (especially on the after Thanksgiving day sale).

For the Love of Fabric

2010-11-24T20:46:00.005-06:00

I have a little folder in the column on the side labeled 'Fabrics' and I was looking through it tonight for some inspiration for Christmas dresses for the girls, when I stumbled on the link for this fabric store. I could stare at these fabrics for hours. I love the design, the colors, the simplicity of it all. I'm not sure if they ship to the States, but even if I don't think I could afford it (those prices are for a 1/4 meter, yikes!). They are sure fun to look at though. I think these are my favorites, but really I could buy any of their patterns, in any color and be happy. Check them out!
What would you make with them? The top one I think would make some lovely pillows for our living room. The middle one I could see as a dress with clean lines. The bottom one I'm not sure, but I just love it.

Poodle Skirts

2010-11-15T15:45:00.004-06:00

Nothing like using your brain to figure something out sans pattern. These skirts made me do just that. They are complete circles and I had to figure out how big to make the holes in middle. I ended up doing Sophia's with a waistband and button closure. Clara's is just gathered with elastic. Really not much sewing at all since they were really just one big circle, just finishing the waist and then I zig zagged the hem. Hobby Lobby sells the iron on poodles (only in pink) if you ever need them in the future.

The Curtains

2010-11-05T08:03:00.004-05:00

The curtains for the girl's room are finally finished. I used the lovely handkerchiefs that I inherited and had fun picking out which ones to use.

Easter Dresses in September

2010-09-26T17:03:00.010-05:00

I finally got the dresses done, that I had intended to be Easter dresses. Sophia's is made from the Oliver & S jump rope dress pattern, with a couple added embellishments. I really like this dress and how it turns out. This is the third time I've made this and I have one more to make with long sleeves.
Here's Clara's dress. It's the one that I redid from this dress. I like how it turned out, but I do wish that I could have found some ric rack to match. I was hoping for some off white, but there was none to be found. I think it is still a little plain, but I'm not sure what else to do with it.

Here are the hair things that I made from this idea.

Sophia's is still just the fabric covered button idea, but with the lace I used on the dress. She just wanted it pinned to the headband.

The Cleaning Process

2010-07-26T22:17:00.003-05:00

Remember these beauties? Well they are now laundered and much prettier with some of the grime of years past removed. I had to put up a make shift clothes line on our deck to sun/air dry them out and hopefully get out some of the stains that didn't come out in the soaking or washing. It worked rather well. Sophia had to be my little wind fairy and catch the ones that blew off. She took a book and sat out there about for over an hour. Once they got dry enough they would start to blow off the line so she would rush over and put it back on.

I have now pulled out 8 of them that I want to have framed and hang on the girls wall. The rest I'm going to use to make kind of a valance at the top of the curtains for the girls room and some I'm just going to randomly sew onto the all white shear curtains. The ones that are left over from that will become blankets for the dolls, I think.

Lately I've been staying up working on some wool felt Christmas ornaments. Just simple wool felt and embroidery, but finishing something so quickly gives me a lot of satisfaction. Next on my list, a couple of outfits for Sophia. We reached the end of the hand-me-down box and she needs some clothes. I also finished a recreation of this dress, which I think turned out really cute. As soon as I get a picture of it, I'll put it up.

From pillows to outfits

2010-05-01T21:50:00.005-05:00

I stopped in at our local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw/fell in love with this fabric (It's a Brother and Sister Designs, but I couldn't find a link to it on the web). I thought I could make it work as pillows. I've been trying to figure out how to work in green with my blue/brown color scheme for our living room and thought these fabrics would work. And I thought the one would make a cute skirt, so I picked up a little extra and some ribbon to do a lazy day skirt. I brought the fabric home and didn't like the living room pillow idea. The green was just off--I'm going more for a mossy/fern/grass green and less yellow green. But I still loved the fabric, so what to do? Outfits for my favorite girls of course. I had 2 cuts of 1/2 a yard (Clara's shirt and Sophia's skirt) and a yard of the other(Sophia's shirt and Clara's skirt). I had bought a spool of ribbon so I had plenty of that as well. I went with the lazy day skirt idea and the simple dress/shirt pattern. Originally I had planned on putting the ribbon on the bottom of the shirts as well, but they belled out too much and it looked kind of funny. For Clara's shirt, I've gone back and put a ruffle on for a little more length. I should have cut it out longer. I then used the extra ribbon for headbands. Can I just say, I really like these outfits?

Little Pieces of Beauty and Practicality

2010-04-12T14:30:00.004-05:00

On my recent trip to PA I helped my mom go through some things. Tucked away in a box of my grandmother's was a little zippered case of 68 little beauties. I've always loved little hankies. I remember using them as doll blankets when I was little. Now I am always impressed with the creation of something so elegant for the purpose of something so practical. Now what to do with them...

Practical Crafting

2010-03-18T19:44:00.004-05:00

What do you do when you have a cheaply made, foamy thing that is not any bit comfortable resting on your neck for the next couple of months? You tell your mom that she really could make something much more comfortable, because she is awesome that way (okay so he didn't say that but he did say since I was so good at making things). So here is what I came up with, nice soft flannel on the inside, something cushiony in the middle and some soft canvas for durability on the outside. Add 4 huge button holes on each side and there you have a much more comfortable neck strap thingy that is much better than the cheap foamy thing they give you at the hospital. You also get one happy guy who no longer has a rash on his neck. (He is a little smelly though, because it's really hard to bathe him and don't get me started on that armpit that really can't be touched...)
You see that spot about 2 inches above the cast? That is where the actual break is...not casted and kind of scary for this mom. The idea is for the cast to make his arm hang down straight so the new bone can grow around the break. The cast kind of weights his arm to add some tension to the upper arm and keep the bone relatively straight. The thing around the neck is supposed to help him hold up the cast without using his shoulder muscles and kind of keep it immobile. I'm glad I could make it a little more comfortable for him. He's been a trooper about the whole thing.

I think I need to get me one

2010-03-09T10:46:00.004-06:00

The Spring line for Oliver & S is coming out soon and I think I really want to get the pattern for the music recital shirt and skirt (scroll down to get a look of the real ones--the drawing doesn't really do it justice). Justification for getting another skirt pattern--this one comes with a really cute shirt and even though it looks really difficult, I'm convinced that I could sew anything with an oliver&s pattern--the steps/descriptions/explanations/helpful hints are written that well. So go check it out and tell me what you think.

January Crafting

2010-02-03T09:39:00.006-06:00

Not much crafting going on here this past month. Not quite sure why. Maybe it's just that December was very full of crafting and I kind of got a little burnt out. I have done some mending and trying to tackle that pile of things. I've also been trying to organize my pictures and learn the ins and outs of Quicken. Nothing too exciting, really. However, I do have some Valentine's Day crafting lined up and am thinking about Easter Dresses already. Oh and I'm already thinking about this year's Christmas projects. One of the ones I have in mind requires seasonal fabric, so I have plans to catch the sales after each holiday/season. That being said, here is one of the projects I started/tried out and have plans to make a couple of more for the girls using these two patterns: flower clip and the rose clip (they are 2 different tutorials).

This one falls under the mending category. Clara tried out the stroller herself one too many times and the flimsy polyester just didn't hold up, so a repair was called for. I gave her the choice of paisley or stripes and she chose the paisley. I also made a little pocket to hang on the back, made out of the stripe.
I just unpicked the old one, making sure to put the binding and such in seperate piles for back and bottom, used the old pieces for a pattern, cut out the new one and used the same binding and all for the new one, this time reinforcing it a little bit more. I really like this one much better. It's much cuter, if I do say so myself.

Finally, here is a picture of the girls in their matching Christmas pajamas and the coordinating pjs for their dolls.

A Rose by any other Name...

2010-01-19T19:35:00.004-06:00

Lily, Rose (Ellie the Elephant) and Violet

--and cute Clara in the backround pushing the stroller much too close to me for me to get her in the shot

I said there was a story behind the flower names, so I thought I'd post this cute picture of all 3 dolls and tell the story. Way back when I was pregnant with Sophia, just after we found out we were having a girl, we started the name game of trying to agree on a name. Phil and I have always had much different opinions on girls names. Just to give you an idea, it came down to either Sophia or Melia (taken from the name Amelia). Two really different sounding names. Anyway. On the weekend days that Jakob woke up early (which is every day), we would have him crawl into bed with us and sometimes we would have him come up with names for his little sister. I remember that some were crazy ones taken from characters in books and his imagination, but the one that got the best laugh was when he suggested the name "Rose". Not a bad sounding name, until you put it with our last name and say it fast. It starts to sound like rose bud and images of 'Citizen Kane' flood my head. When Jakob suggested it, the first thing we did was say it together with our last name and then we started laughing and couldn't stop. I just remember how good it felt to have a good, long, belly laugh. And of course I could never think of using that name without getting a case of the giggles, so we never seriously considered it, but Jakob was set on it for a long time...really until we told him we settled on Sophia 2 days after she was born.

Fast forward 1 1/2 years, Sophia was getting her first Magic Cabin doll for Christmas and Jakob again said that we should use the name 'Rose', after all, she had red hair. So Rose it was and then she went back and named her yellow haired doll 'Daisy' (she's not in the picture and is the only non-Magic Cabin doll she has). When she got her dark haired doll, she picked the name Violet (our yard was always full of those in Spring time and Sophia loved to pick them). When it came time to name Clara's doll of course we had to come up with a flower name and we already have a name picked out for her second doll that will come in a year or two. So that's the story of the flower names. I also have to say that I'm so glad I have been picky about the gathering of dolls. Sophia has her 3 dolls all hand made and loves them very much. She still cuddles with them at night, dresses them up and pretend plays with them. Clara is already doing the same and I'm going to try my best to limit her dolls to the ones I've made for her.

The Other Two

2010-01-11T08:05:00.008-06:00

Now time to tell what I made for the other two. Jakob got the book cover and Sophia got the quilt. While those two projects were fun in their own way, these two were especially fun, because I was bringing something to life in my own way.

Clara has been sleeping and using one of Sophia's Magic Cabin dolls on loan for a couple of months now. It was decided way back in the summer that she would get one of these dolls for Christmas, so Sophia was happy to make a temporary loan. After finally deciding on the coloring of the doll, which went through many changes until I finally decided on something similar, but not quite the same as the one she was borrowing, I ordered it. The kit arrived and sat...funny that this is the one present that I knew I was going to make way back in July, but it was the last one I made. Baby Lily, as she has been named by the older 3 (all of the dolls have flower names...there's a story behind that) was made in a couple of late nights the week before Christmas. I went with the 'Anne of Green Gables' look. Clara loves her. Here she is opening her Christmas morning:

And here she is lying on the quilt that I made to go with her. Again I used some pieces from another embroidered pillow cases.
For Ethan I went with felt animals. He's been asking for some and I think he really liked these. He got a rabbit, squirrel, beaver, robin, cardinal, turtle and penguin. (The basic critter pattern was created by Valerie, the turtle pattern was from a book I checked out at the Nashville Public Library...I know I wrote the title down somewhere and just can't find it and the penguin pattern I think I got from Valerie as well, but I think she got this one from somewhere else)
Can you tell these are all from the same pattern? He's declared the squirrel his favorite.

Christmas PJs

2010-01-09T15:07:00.006-06:00

Clara in her Christmas pjs. She got a longish shirt/short night gown and pants.

These are not the greatest pictures and I really should have taken some while they were wearing them. The one of Clara is the best I've got. These were my 'really alter the pattern and make up the pants pattern' pajamas and they turned out really cute. I found the fabric at House of Fabric in Nashville one of the times they were having their 75% off remnants sale. It's this great cotton/lycra mix which meant really fun ruffles on the edges (no hems, just stretch and zigzag!). Their dolls also got a night gown. For those of you with Magic Cabin dolls and who still use the clothes patterns that came with it, if you use the stretchy fabric you don't have to leave the back open. It made it rather easy, no hems and just one casing for the neck elastic.
Sophia just got a nightgown and boys just got pajama pants. This year I said I would probably just buy them (cost wise it's about the same since I try to get the softer flannel), but they really wanted me to make them, so here they are.

Sibling Gifts from Kid #3

2010-01-09T10:32:00.007-06:00

I think fleece is a good fabric to learn to sew on, so that's what we went with. She really wanted to sew. For the oldest, she made an ipod case (simple drawstring pouch).
For the next brother, she made a pokemon pillow. She sewed the circle, stuffed it, cut the little fringes and glued on the pokemon face she drew and cut out.
For her sister, she made a doll blanket (more on the doll she got from me coming soon). She sewed a zig zag around the edge and the cut the fringes.

Sibling Gifts from Kid #1

2010-01-09T10:18:00.004-06:00

A pillow case for his brother (he really likes making these and sews them himself).
A backpack and painted numbers for the youngest sister. She loves backpacks and he said he wanted to help her learn her numbers. While we were at the craft store coming up with a gift idea (he originally wanted to do a block puzzle with 6 different pictures, but they didn't have enough blocks), he saw the letters and said how cool it would be to have his initials. I had to smile because the other gift had already been made.

The other sister got a piggy bank he bought. Not homemade, I know, but the idea to encourage her to save was good enough to get me to let him buy it (it's green and glittery).

Sibling Gifts from Kid #2

2010-01-09T10:11:00.003-06:00

Hair accessories to his sisters--fun ribbons, flowers and scrapbooking brads. This is what we did on the day he stayed home sick.
He painted his initials for his older brother to hang on his wall. He was very picky about the colors, making sure they were his favorite colors.

Crafting for the Other Budge Brood

2010-01-08T15:39:00.015-06:00

There is something about homemade gifts. I feel like I'm giving a piece of myself or in return, receiving a piece of someone else. I love that feeling and I find myself trying more and more to make homemade gifts. This wonderful family also got a manacala set from Togo, but I wanted to give them each something and stay in budget. Here is what I created for each of them: For the ever so talented mom and manager of 6--an apron made from the embroidered portion of a pillowcase my grandmother had embroidered (my oldest sister got one of these as well, I just forgot to take pictures of everything I made for their family). The pillowcase was beyond repair and I wanted to somehow use the embroidered part. I thought it made a nice apron bottom because the lace was already in tact. Plus she got two felt ornaments.

The oldest, who happens to be a boy, got a book cover. While my oldest put his to use right away, I'm not sure what the nephew thought of his.
Next comes 4 girls so I made them each a skirt and matching hair accessory. I had a bunch of tan poplin sitting around, but I wanted to make them each individualized as well and keep it simple, using up what I had around (successful, except the elastic--4 skirts uses a lot). I used the lazy day skirt idea in a couple of different ways and then added some fun embellishments. First up, elegant and refined meets up with a little girly--after all she is turning 12 this year. The bottom of hers is a black on white print, cut on the bias, trimmed with pinking shears (an early Christmas present to myself which I found many uses for during my holiday crafting crunch), and then gathered using 2 different runs of a gathering stitch. You just gather, pin, sew in between the 2 runs using the lazy day concept (treat the ruffle as the ribbon) and then pull out the gathering stitches. I ran the extra up the side of the skirt a little and put a black velvet bow on the top of it (lousy picture, I know). It also has another velvet bow on the upper right leg area. Her hair accessory is a length of brown bias tape with a flower on it made out of little circles pinched/gathered together and then tacked on(I got this idea from Valerie, so if she passes on the link I'll pass it on too). I used some more of the black on white fabric and plain black. I then added a little black button in the middle of the flower.
Second was for the very classy and stylish minded sister. She's usually the one out jumping on the trampoline with the boy cousins, but she's the one that likes to have her hair done and asks if things match. I think polka dots over flowers when I think of her, so polka dots it was. I just used the lazy day ribbon idea with 2 inch wide brown with pink polka dots gross grain ribbon and then made a bow to put on the upper right leg area. The hair thing is some of the extra pink polka dot ribbon turned into a head band. I just used one of the clear, rubber bands that get kind of stretchy and sewed it to the ends of the ribbon.
For the third I went with simple but elegant. This girl has one of those Audrey Hepburn faces and she is a simple kind of girl. I took purple lining fabric, cut out strips on the bias and did the same thing as I did for skirt #1. I then used smaller strips to make the rosettes. They turned out a little harder than I thought they would be, so they are a little wonky, but still pretty. Her hair thing is a purple flower glued to a ribbon covered clip with a glittering stone/brad stuck in the middle (scrap booking brads are great for this kind of thing).
Finally the youngest, something really girly. I used light green brocade trim instead of ribbon and then ran it up the side for the flowers stem. The petals are various pink and white scraps cut out with pinking shears and then sewn on to resemble a flower. I added a button in the middle and the hair clip is covered with the same green trim and a matching button attached.

Here's a close up of the flower.Finally for the youngest, a very active 2 year old boy. He got an eye spy beanbag with a lot of stuff to find. Hopefully that will keep him still for a couple of minutes.

Here's the list. I really liked the orange on grey look.

Pictures of Projects and avoiding more Projects

2009-12-18T20:32:00.012-06:00

Here are some pictures of the finished mushroom book covers. I liked how this one turned out. I think Jakob is getting this one and his cousin the other. I'm not sure which one I like more though.
Here is the quilt top that is going to be Sophia's Christmas present. She already knows that hers won't be quite finished, but I'm still going to wrap it up with the fabric I'm going to use for the back. There are a couple places that bug me, but over all I love the scrappy look of it all. It doesn't really show up in the picture, but the different white on white prints look really scrappy too.
Here it is with the backing. It doesn't quite match, but I think she is going to love it. It's got butterflies and red and pink, some of her favorite things.
Finally, I finished one!!! That is, one of the jump rope dresses from Oliver&S. It was an amazingly fast sew, given how complicated it seemed. It was hard, but the directions were wonderfully written to make every step easy to understand. It did stretch my skills as well and I love the end result. What happened was my original idea for Sophia's Christmas dress went down the drain when I discovered the gray wool that I intended to use was full of moth eaten holes (it was going to be a jumper with kick plate pleats and embroidered snowflakes, my own creation) Plan B turned into this dress from some old purple and gold fabric from my mom's stash. Love the vintage look of the fabric and love the way it looks on her (she tried it on with her eyes closed for me, just so I could see how I did). My review of the pattern: Loved it! Easy to follow with great "hints" written into the directions Challenging, but worth it. My only negative thought is that it runs a little small. My experience with patterns so far has been that they run a little big, so when I measured Sophia and she fell under 'size 5' I went with it thinking she'll have a little room to grow into it. Not really the case. It's a little tight in the shoulders. Now I know.
Oh and Baby Violet gets a "matching" dress too.

Now back to the rest of the sewing I need to get done before Christmas...

Gift Idea for the Reader in Your Family

2009-12-12T19:50:00.019-06:00

Here it is, my first ever tutorial. As my son gets older the dilemma of what to make him for Christmas (every year each of the kids gets a homemade gift from me) gets harder. What do you give an 11 year old boy when your talents lie in the sewing/crafting department? This year I came up with what I thought was a clever idea. Seeing as he is a precocious reader, who is always bringing a book to the table and always searching for something to use as a bookmark, I thought this fit the bill. We'll see what he thinks in a couple of weeks. My idea--a book cover that has a bookmark and some handy other things as well.

To start out you need to gather your supplies and measure 2 books, as the amount of felt you need is determined by how big you need to make it. I used the paperback version of 'My Side on the Mountain' and the hardback version of 'Mysterious Benedict Society'. You will also need a snap, a piece of ribbon, thread to match and interfacing.

1. Cut out your pieces. Your main pieces are: 1. The inner piece which is the size of your bigger book opened + 1/2 an inch. 2. Interfacing the same size as piece #1. 3. The outer piece which is the size of the inner piece + 2/3rds more (it will get folded in to make the 'pockets' to hold the bigger book...look ahead to see the finished product if this doesn't make sense). You will also cut 2 inner pockets which are about the size of the cover of the smaller book + 1/2 inch (lay the book open to measure), the pocket for the back which is a rectangle and a triangle-make sure it is not bigger than the cover of your big book. Cut your ribbon to go from the top to bottom of your inner cover + 2 inches. You can also cut out embellishments.

2. Fuse interfacing if needed and draw a line down the middle of the inner and outer pieces for reference.
3. Pin inner pocket pieces to inner piece and interfacing. Sew around 3 sides. For placement, open book and line binding up with middle line.
4. Sew snap onto back pocket. Then attach pocket to outer piece, with a piece of interfacing on the opposite side. To find placement place book in the middle and fold flap into book. The pocket should go on to what will be the middle of the back side.

5. Sew 3 lines down the middle of inner, interfacing and outer pieces.

6. Now is the time to add embellishments so the backside of the embroidery is hidden. Also pin the ribbon right next to the 3 lines of sewing on the right side. You can add an embellishment on the end of the ribbon or finish it with something to keep it from fraying.

7. Pin and then sew around the inner piece to secure. Fold in outer flaps to make the bigger pockets and pin. Sew around the entire thing again, following the seam from when you sewed around the inner piece but making sure to catch the upper and lower edge of the big 'pocket'.

8. Finish edge. I used pinking shears or you could use a blanket stitch.

I'll post a picture of the mushroom one as soon as I can. I think they turned out cute and I hope they get some use. The other one will be for my 12 year old nephew. So what do you think? Let me know if it didn't make any sense. And feel free to try it, just don't use this idea for profit.

Remember this Hat

2009-11-17T09:32:00.004-06:00

It still fits!!! I love that it still fits and that it matches this sweater I had found for Jakob ages ago at a consignment sale for $2!
Here she is, growing up fast.

The Good in Sewing

2009-11-08T20:52:00.004-06:00

Jakob asked me a little while ago what the usefulness of sewing was. I had had someone over to teach them how to sew and so he asked me why they would want to learn. I said because it's a good thing to know how to do, to which he said that you can buy everything you need already. I went on to describe the creativity that goes in to creating something by sewing and mentioned that it can also be a frugal skill. He just kind of shrugged his shoulders and changed the discussion.

If he asked me tonight, my answer would be, "Pants." Sophia doesn't have any pants that she can wear to school (they have to be navy or khaki) and for PE days she prefers shorts/pants over skirts and dresses. Tomorrow is a PE day and a little too chilly for shorts. After not quite 2 hours of sewing, she now has pants. Nothing stylish (although the corduroy is really quite soft and cuddly), but I didn't run out to buy them and they are probably better than what I would have found at the store anyway. If I had thought about it, I might have added some "personality" by putting in hidden pockets made from a fun fabric of her choosing, but I didn't think that far ahead.

Continuity

2009-10-19T12:06:00.003-05:00

My house and decor are somewhat lacking in the style department. I like to blame the lack of funding in that part of the budget, but it's also my own personal lack of style. I've personally acknowledged that I will never have a home worthy of a spread in a style magazine. It's just not me or dare I say, my style. My house will always be a little cluttered, because I like those "treasures" that make a house a home. I will never have a perfectly pulled together room, because I have a hard time forking out money to pull it all together (I know some of you will say you can do it on a budget, but even that takes money) and also my refusal to get rid of things that don't go with the room, but really have no other place to go either. There will always be pieces that are mismatched and things I keep even though they don't go with the decor. That being said, I've been feeling like our living room was a little more college apartment style than I liked. I've been slowly gathering fabric to go with the colors I've had in mind for a long time and I have 2 chairs that I'm refinishing to actually match, but haven't done much else. This past week I had had enough and wanted to do something with my lack of continuity in the room and made pillows to go on all of the chairs that match. JoAnns had their pillows on sale, by one get one free. Some of the fabric was from dish towels I had picked up somewhere, just because they were the colors I liked. Some more of the fabrics were remnants I'd pick up here and there. The one dotted brown I picked up at Hobby Lobby on sale last week. I went and got some trim as well, just to make them a little more interesting. All said, I think I spent $50 total. Now I just need to make a slip cover for the ugly, but oh so comfortable worn out orange chair and I think I can live with the room until we can afford the chocolate brown leather couch I've had my eye on.

Simple Dress Made Fancy

2009-10-09T08:18:00.009-05:00

This dress is a simple pattern*. One introduced to me by Valerie. One I've made countless dresses out of and one I've used to teach many friends how to sew. It's an easy sew with only 5 pieces to put together, but it teaches some good skills like how to gather and make a casing. It also lends itself to variations. Here is one of those variations:

I added the ribbons as ties, the brocade (I think that's what it is called) across the bodice and down the middle of the bodice, put 7 rows of pin tucking along the bottom bordered by velvet ribbon.
Instead of putting elastic in the sleeves, as the pattern suggests, I left them as is and just gathered them in at one spot which is secured with a little button.
I also tried the lined hem taught at Oliver & S. I really like the finished look of this and will definitely use this more in the future.
Here is what Clara did while I sewed. There's nothing like playing under a table.
*(This dress pattern is out of print. It's a McCall's pattern #3417.)

Do you remember this dress?

2009-10-03T19:35:00.002-05:00

Okay, I think I really have blogged about this dress enough, but I did it! I bought the pattern and it came today and I'm so excited to start on it. First run in the blue poplin. It's a school dress and won't be worn anywhere else, so I figure that works for the test run. Then I will find some fun fabric to make a Sunday dress. After that maybe one in the long sleeved version. I'm so excited. I'm also excited about the fact that this pattern will s..t..r..e..t..c..h my abilities a little...okay, a lot. I haven't done that with my sewing skills in a while. It should be fun, I hope.

Little and Lovely

2009-09-18T20:40:00.005-05:00

Here is what I have been making--a bunch of doll quilts. Except for one small zip lock bag with green strips and a bag of dark blues and navies, which didn't seem to work as a doll quilt and a couple of other random scraps that just didn't go with anything else, I used up all of my scraps smaller than a fat quarter. My mom is headed to a craft show in WV (Harper's Ferry, I think) so she is going to try and sell them there. Here's a collage of the various quilts.

Sophia's favorite, the crazy one at the top of the turquoise picture; my favorite, the ones in blue. Hopefully, some little girls go home happy from the craft show.

Latest Baby Wave

2009-09-10T09:45:00.006-05:00

Personalized onesies for the next round of babies that we know. Twins, Bryce and Ian, up in Nashville and a little guy, Liam, born into a family that we've gotten to know here.

Dress pattern

2009-09-07T20:12:00.008-05:00

I'm still tempted by this Oliver & S pattern for their fall line, especially after seeing the long sleeved version. However, the short sleeved version just isn't quite what I had in mind for a school uniform dress for Sophia. These two dresses are more like that. I've pictured a little more fitted, less skirt and buttons all the way down and these kind of fit that bill, don't you think? I found them, thanks to Valerie (speaking of Val, check out the little green kimono type shirt I made for her little guy to go over his post surgery days with bulky wrappings...I put in way too much time with way too many little details, but it was way too much fun--I just forgot to take pictures of all of those details), over at the to-drool-over site of Chasing Fireflies. The drooling factor is slightly diminished by the price tag factor though and the thought that I can easily (ok, almost easily) make any of those dresses makes me want to try (just look at the christening dresses and you will see one that slightly looks like the one that I made for Clara, which made me happy because I designed mine without having seen that one). They are pretty classy looking clothes though. That being said, I can't find a single pattern for a "shirt dress" or "safari dress", which I've seen these types of dresses called. Any suggestions?

I really like this one the best, it just has to be in all navy, so sad, because I can think of so many cuter combinations of fabrics than plain navy blue.

Latest Project--Organization

2009-08-29T19:23:00.003-05:00

This is going to hang on the wall in our kitchen next to the table. $4 piece of wood covered in magnetic primer and chalk board paint. The plan is to have the days written our with our schedule on there and meal plan for the week, plus any chores for the kids. Under this there will be the wooden letters, you can find at craft stores, for each kid painted with the chalk board paint as well (for reminders and fun little notes of love) and then a hook for their back packs. Lately, we've been a little scattered. I like the little footprints that showed up from Clara walking through their chalk creations and then on the board. And yes, they did wipe off...although a little reluctantly on my part.

This dress

2009-08-23T16:06:00.005-05:00

I love this dress! It's on my crafting list to recreate it. Sophia called Clara the German Maid all day, maybe that's why I like it. I have pictures of Sophia in it as well, but they are still packed away. I think my mom made it, because there is no tag, but there are a couple of things that suggest it might be store bought. I don't think my mom would have had a serger like machine (did they even have those 40 years ago?), and the seams are all serged. Maybe she did. I found it in a box one year when I went home and figured it would fit Sophia at the time. It's the perfect spinning dress, with the skirt being really gathered and the bodice has darts in it so it doesn't seem so boxy. The gathered cuffs (can you call it that?) are a great look too. The sad thing is, it is falling apart a bit and I don't think I can fix it to have it last much longer. Therefore, I'm going to attempt laying it out and creating a pattern from it. Right now I'm in search of the perfect print for the fabric. Something vintage looking, similar to this one. And then there is the ric rac...I love the look!

Uniforms

2009-08-13T07:17:00.002-05:00

Check out the new Fall patterns from Oliver & S. I've been sketching out a dress similar to this one, for Sophia. You see, she has to wear a uniform, even more strict than what we had in Nashville. All they can wear are navy or khaki bottoms and navy, red or white tops with collars. Navy works as a dress, so that is what I was thinking--a navy poplin dress, short sleeve with a tie at the waist. What do you think?

It's coming along

2009-07-18T18:02:00.004-05:00

The crib skirt is done and I think it turned out pretty cute. I go back and forth between thinking it is too busy and not coordinated enough and then really loving the scrappy look of it all and how there are so many fabrics represented from other things I have made and loved. What do you think?

The birds are hanging again above Clara's head to her delight. All but a couple of the fabrics found in the birds are in the skirt as well.

Work in Progress

2009-07-12T15:44:00.004-05:00

First up, a quilt for Sophia and a crib skirt for Clara. Now that they have their own 'Girl's room' it needs some fixing up. These squares are going to be turned into a pinwheel quilt with white in between and some kind of colorful border and a colorful back. For the skirt, I'm just taking 10 inch strips of colorful fabric of random widths and sewing them together, gathering them and then sewing them on to a crib sheet cut to fit the size of the crib. A lot of the fabrics will be the same in the quilt of Sophia's and some are just scraps I have laying around. I think it will really brighten up their room.

Zippers and Pillows

2009-06-22T10:17:00.008-05:00

Zippers have always scared me, but I really wanted to do the trade that Sara B. was offering for her photography skills, so I said yes to making 4 pillows with hidden zippers. She picked out the great fabric and asked to have piping as well. I wasn't sure if a zipper would work right up next to the piping, but it did. And I learned that hidden zippers are surprisingly easy and I would chose them over the regular kind any day. The trick is using a zipper bigger than what you need so that you can finish it off before you get to the actual end. It made for a nicer looking finish and a zipper that stayed hidden. The bolster was a lot easier than expected and stretched my geometry skills (or lack there of).
I think the fabric was called Storybook, but I can't remember the designer.

(Edit: I was wrong, it is Wonderland by Momo for Moda Fabrics--Thanks, Val!)

This fabric really grew on me. At first I thought it rather busy, but it made lovely pillows. There are a couple of color variations of the print, this one, a bright one with black and a pastel one. Even the boys really liked it. I think they liked the birds the most. Ethan was asking for pillows too. There were 2 covers made from this, each a little different. I should have taken a picture of both, but I didn't.

Flower Fairy Skirt and Crown

2009-06-07T10:53:00.006-05:00

I love creating something new without a pattern. A lovely idea floating in my head that worked out just right (for every one of these, there are probably 10 that either don't make it out of the floating stage or that don't work out just right).

This idea was for a birthday present for a lovely little 'Mia'. I had saved the fabric scraps from many dress-ups that I've made, one day hoping to make a crazy quilt, but then decided on this idea: A skirt made out of 'petals' with a couple of leaves and then I added ribbons and some silk flowers tied to the end. I thought it turned out quite lovely. I was determined to use just what I had (including using up all of the random pink thread I had--there are 3 different colors included) and only ended up having to buy a spool of pink ribbon. I just didn't have any to match.

May crafting

2009-05-21T10:46:00.012-05:00

I love green and yellow. So when I saw this fabric, I wanted it. When I was 8 I got to pick out the colors I wanted to paint my room and no joking I picked almost these exact shades of yellow and green. You thought you knew me, right? Well I held on to this fabric for a while trying to decide what to make with it and when I needed something bright and cheery for Clara's 1 year old pictures, I decided to make something out of it. A little busy for a full dress on a little one, I decided to go with a white bodice with a green ric-rac trim. I added little flower buttons on the back and a little kerchief/head thing with a hand embroidered daisy and voila, you have a cute ensemble. Did I mention I love daisies too? I used the Burda 3025 pattern and as usual, altered it a bit. Basically I lined the bodice instead of using binding and made the skirt a little less full. Doesn't this just say Spring? To see Clara in it check out her pictures over at Sara's site (she took the one year old pictures for me, I'm sewing pillows for her): http://www.sarabphotography.blogspot.com/

I've also been making some personalized onesies for baby gifts. I thought these turned out cute. The kids and I have fun coming up with the thing that starts with the letter, but also has to fit with the gender.

Easter Dresses...and a hat

2009-04-14T13:28:00.005-05:00

Easter dresses...what memories and what fun to make. This year's were a little extravagant for my simple taste, but I found the pale green taffeta like fabric way back in January at the remnant sale of a great, but little pricey, fabric store. I added some lavender ribbon with green scroll work in it to match(which by the way cost me 3X as much as the fabric because who can beat 75% off). After a couple of months culling ideas here are the end results:

For Sophia's I loosely used this pattern. By loosely, I mean I used the pattern pieces to cut out the bodice and sleeves, which I still altered a bit. I dropped the waist and made the skirt a balloon skirt by making the underskirt smaller than the top(in length and circumference) and rather than hemming them both I gathered the top to fit the underskirt. Make sense?

Clara's is loosely based on a Burda pattern (3025--can't find it on their site). Really again I just used it for the bodice, which I decided to make it tie at the shoulders rather than button at the back. By making it fully lined, it sewed up really fast and all I had to do was turn it right side out. I alternated fabrics for what was on the outside. Since I lined it, I added an underskirt that would show. I did 6 pin tucks with lavender thread at the bottom of the white underskirt. Then on the top green one I gathered it in 3 places (middle and at 1/4 and 3/4 between the side hems). At the gathers I added little purple ribbon flowers (Sophia has 2 at her neckline--I really wanted to use those to make barrettes for Clara, but she really wanted flowers on her dress). In the end I also took a scrap piece of the white and ran a bunch of pin tucks across to add to the neck line, kind of like an insert, because it was hanging too low to even look good (Sophia's hand is covering it up). Now totally irrelevant to Easter, but something I created: this hat. No special pattern, just 10 rows of k2,p2 and than alternating k2/p2 every 2 rows to make the bauble effect. Simple decrease of subtracting 1 every round of when to do the double knit (ie hats 60 stitches around: first time every 12th stitch do a decrease, next time every 11, etc--I know there are better explanations out there somewhere). I just love this hat though. I love the color, the cuteness and I'm sad winter is over because I'm pretty sure it won't fit next year.

Pay it Forward

2009-04-07T14:49:00.003-05:00

Here's the idea: first 3 people that respond get a little, lovely something from me, but they have to agree to pay it forward by doing the same on their blog. Here's where I got the idea from:
http://luminousquilts.blogspot.com/2009/02/pay-it-forward-with-craft.html

Haven't quite decided what exactly I'll give, but it will be something unique and just for you, so sign on up and pass it on!

(I'll still do the other give-a-way, this one just has the catch of passing it on)

Spring Give-A-Way

2009-04-03T16:19:00.002-05:00

I meant to do this monthly and life happened. Plus the responce from the last was not that overwhelming. Ask Emily P. though, she got a pretty awesome skirt out of it. So since I had a Fall give-a-way, now I'm going to do a Spring one. This time up: a cottage dress or apron. Sorry no pictures right now, I'm dealing with a water damage crisis, making it hard to find the stuff I need. Just leave a comment and I'll pick a winner at random. Of course, if it's like last time, your odds are pretty good.

Truely a Design Mom

2009-04-03T16:17:00.001-05:00

I love her blog, her style and ambition. Check her out:
http://www.designmom.com/2009/03/ask-design-mom-week.html

Some new creations

2009-03-29T22:18:00.006-05:00

This has been a fun project. I really wanted sweater dresses for the girls this year, but A) didn't find any I really liked and B) couldn't afford the ones anyway, so I got this idea of buying a big sweater at Goodwill/Salvation Army, felting it (throw it in the washing machine), and having it come out to be the perfect size for Sophia with some minor snips here and there. Didn't quite work out that way. So from a beautiful (if it hadn't had a couple of moth eaten holes in it I never would have done this to it) Pendelton wool sweater, came this creation for Clara. I took one of her jumpers and used it as a pattern. The only sewing was up the side seams. Since it's felted no need to do anything but snip for button holes. I did reinforce the beautiful, blue, vintage buttons (from my mom's stash) with some white felt, but wish I had used scraps from the sweater. For a nice finishing touch, I blanket stitched around the neck/arm holes. I was really happy with the finished product and really sad that winter is over and she can't wear it anymore.

Another baby gift I've been doing, personalized onesies made with the freezer paper stencil technique taught to me by this lovely lady. (Don't hate me Val, for using this link:) The kids have had fun coming up with the picture to be put in the middle. It's always something that starts with the same letter as the name. Get it?

I'm into knitting now. It's my therapy and it's productive at the same time. All the kids are getting hats as well as many babies. Here's the pattern I used for the boys hats. Here's Ethan modeling his. I loved the decrease in this one and I think I will use this one a lot.

2008-10-27T08:56:00.008-05:00

Here's another jumper that I've made. It takes a lot of fabric, so it costs a little more, $40. It overlaps in the back so there is only the button closure in the back. Unfortunately, I can't do the monogramming. The friend that I made this for gets it done somewhere else and I put it in the jumper.

Monthly Give Away!!!

2008-10-09T09:25:00.003-05:00

I'm going to start something new, in hopes of getting the word out:

A Monthly Give Away. First it will be some things that work for standard school attire, but I might branch out as the school year gets closer to the end. First up: A Ruffle skirt in black (see the example below). Made out of thick black knit, I will custom make it to fit at the waist and hit at the knee of your little girl.

Here's what you do: leave a comment with your email and I will randomly pick a winner at the end of the month. I'll contact you to get the measurements and have the skirt to you in 5 days from hearing back from you.

Recent creations

2008-08-16T10:26:00.005-05:00

Ruffled, knit skirt

Poplin jumper with shoulder ties, lined bodice and pockets with vintage accent buttons.
Khaki twill jumper with lined bodice, matching buttons and pockets.

Standard School Attire

2008-08-08T14:56:00.003-05:00

Interested in purchasing standard school attire?

Here are some examples of what I offer: