And the Winner Is......

Sew Funky from New Zealand is the winner of my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway! Love the random number generator :)
I had so much fun reading comments and visiting other blogs and shops. Thank you to everyone for participating in my giveaway and hosting your own. My butt hurts....how about yours?

Give Away Day!

Here is my give away for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!


Whimsical at a minimum, saturated with color...these make me happy. They make me smile every time one of my girls walks into a room wearing them. Fuchsia denim with a scalloped aqua paisley print side border. Scalloped fabric edges are raw and will fray slightly when washed which adds fabulous depth to these jeans. Bottom of pant legs are serged for a neat appearance. Elastic waist for comfort. All seams are professionally finished and I pre-shrink my fabric so there are no surprises when you wash them :) 100% cotton . Both of my girls have this exact pair. And my oldest has a blue jean pair too! This pair is about an 18 months to 2T!
Post a comment with the last handmade item you purchased to enter the giveaway and I will use the Random Number Generator to select the winner at Noon Minnesota time on Sunday may 31st . Willing to ship them anywhere in the world :) Please leave a way for me to contact you. Some folks have blogging profiles that are closed so I can only post the winner on my blog. Leave an email address if you are unsure!
Will post more pictures as soon as my camera battery recharges!

Birds, Business & Other News

Lots of birds around here. The needle felted wedding order variety flew out the door this morning. I am enjoying making these wedding cake toppers very much....most of the time. I am a worrier. So I worry if the bride will be happy. I worry about the fact that I never get these shipped off when I say I will. And finally I worry that the bride won't receive the birdies due to postal service chaos. I have yet to have an unhappy bride or loss in the mail so why do I continue to worry?

I am happy to report that Mama Robin successfully hatched 3 of her babies about two days ago. After the brutal squirrel attack that she endured, and the subsequent loss of one egg, I wasn't so sure she would make it through the 13 day incubation period. But she did! The kids each get to take a peak at the babies once a day. So fun to see how much they have changed in just a couple of days.

The surprise of all surprises today was that I was contacted by a craft book publications editor asking me if I would like to submit a project for consideration for a publication in spring 12010! Huge right? Actually, I am a little over the moon about it as it seems crazy that someone would think one of my projects was book worthy.

Off to the Children's Theatre with Soren and Dunn this evening to see Ramona Quimby. I love going more than they do I think. But don't let them know that as they think it's all for the kids.

Finally one more wedding order that left today........

Weddings

I love weddings! I especially love to make something special for a wedding. It's like giving a little piece of my happy marriage to start a new one. I have spent much of the last 6 weeks creating custom needle felted bird wedding cake toppers for some very special clients. Most of them are pretty traditional colorways. The ones I love doing are in vivid color or have some quirky request attached. This particular bride and groom have personality and are nice to boot. It was great fun to create these birdies for them. And is wonderful to imagine them on their frosted perch surveying the festivities. They are making me feel quite joyful!

Sew Mama & Then Far Far Away

I have been sewing a bunch. Needle felting wedding orders like crazy, and fitting in the garden too! Ella had a grand time with my special prize delivery. We laid out all that beautiful Jennifer Paganelli color on the floor like a big quilt block. Ella jumped and rolled and dug her sweet little toes into all that fabric goodness. Once again a big thank you to Sew Mama Sew for the speedy delivery. I rarely sew with fat quarters so I may have to try a patchwork skirt or do some bag making with it.

I Was finally brave enough to cut into my Heather Ross Far Far away double gauze. I have had four prints from the line in my hands for at least two weeks. It sat next to my bed in a neatly folded stack so that every night I could feel it's beautiful light as a feather softness and dream about what garment should be constructed from it. I have enough to make four dresses out of the four prints. After much deliberation I picked Soren's favorite Japanese dress pattern from last summer. This fabric is about as close to wearing nothing as you can get and I knew it would look best in a simple silhouette. Because this pattern only has three pieces it was a good one for getting used to sewing with double gauze.

Here's what I learned about sewing with double gauze:

~It has a tricky stretch to it on any bias or curved areas. So I am glad I didn't start with a more complicated pattern.

~It clings to it's self and other fabrics badly. So don't make a dress and pants to be worn together. Even folding over the fabric for the positioning of pattern pieces took an amazing amount time to get just right. I ended up ironing my fabric and then spreading it out on my kitchen floor so that I would have the benefit of being able to bend over the fabric.

~This fabric tears like nothing. Soren tore a one inch hole in the back of the dress the first day she wore it. It gets caught easily on any little thing and either runs or tears.

~Double gauze would make the most amazing baby clothes or blankets!

~Sew with a slightly longer stitch length and a slightly looser tension.

~Have a good cry if you have to tear out any seams. You'll be swearing like a truck driver unless you sewed with a slightly longer stitch length and looser tension :)

~If you happen to stretch out a curved area on the fabric (not hard to do). Stop sewing! Rip out the area you have already sewn if it's bad. Take you project to your ironing board and with the highest steam setting on your iron let the gauze have a steam bath. Don't push and pull the iron across the fabric just lift and set, lift and set. You are trying to get it to shrink back up. It will just be patient. Another tip given to me by a seamstress friend is to put the garment in a big pot with a steam insert on your stove for five minutes or so. Then remove the garment and let it air dry in a loose pile on a flat surface. Don't try and spread it out. The steam should have made it go back to normal!

My next double gauze dress is going to be a peasant style dress for Ella. And I think I am going to do a pants and halter top set for her too. Will post pics soon!