Soduel

Fall sewing

2011-08-26T18:19:00.000-05:00

It never ceases to amaze how when I sit down to sew something kinda hard how easily my sewing comes together. And when I sew something that could be constructed in my sleep I end up ripping out seam after simple seam. Why is that?

I have a very simple tunic for Ella that I have given up on (no photo). It was meant to go with these legging.

The leggings turned out darling even though I was really starting to hate this fabric. They were no joy to cut out and sew but I love those ruffle legs a bunch. The tunic is a darling owl print. Ruffles and owls. It was going to be cute I tell you. For now I am going to put the tunic down and walk away.

My other successful project this week was a pair of cute corduroy winter shorts for Soren. She loves to wear shorts over thick wool tights or leggings with boots in the winter. So she requested a pair for back to school.

Excuse my lint! What a joy these were to sew. The pattern is from Japanese Pattern Book ISBN 978452904163. I wouldn't say the pattern was easy to understand but in true Japanese style all the pieces did fit perfectly together. It just took me a bit to puzzle through the construction.

There is a problem with them however. Too short! I think my fix is going to be to take off the narrow leg binding and add at least a 1.5 inch binding...maybe 2 inches to be safe. Soren loves them so much that I will make another pair making sure to adjust the length. I also think this would translate really well into a skirt. That's on the sewing list too.

Happy Sewing!

Sonja

33 Days~One Colossal Road Trip

2011-08-16T18:02:00.001-05:00

So some people might say driving around the country with 3 children and one largish dog is not a vacation. For me this was not only a vacation but a mental welfare trip. Yes, there should have been concern for my mental welfare as this first winter living in the Pacific Northwest was brutal. BRUTAL!!! I needed sun. Lots and lots of actually sunny summer.

For the first two weeks my lovely husband was with us as we camped at Yellowstone, explored Mt. Rushmore and then landed safely at his family lake home in Wisconsin. Much water play, boating and frolicking in the sun ensued. Jon flew back to Washington to continue funding our travels leaving the rest of us free to further explore our beautiful country. And yes-oh-yes Ms. America is a beauty indeed.

After leaving Wisconsin the kids, dog and I headed for Taos New Mexico. We visited my parents and played in the land of enchantment. Once again, the sun baked us to a dark golden brown as we laid in our mountain stream to cool ourselves. At this point I hadn't cooked a meal or cleaned a house in a good three weeks. I was one relaxed mama!

After about 10 days there we packed up again and headed for Colorado to visit with my brothers family in Monument for two nights. Then we all travelled on to Steamboat Springs for a bit of summer ski town life. We all fell madly in love with Steamboat. Can't recommend it enough as a family vacation spot.

Whew! Another day and we made it all the way back to Washington. 33 days, 8 mountain passes, thousands of miles, countless adventures, one speeding ticket and I managed to keep all three children alive! I'll take my mother of the year award now. Giggle Giggle.

Time to VOTE!

2011-05-19T10:04:00.001-05:00

My top "MINGLE" made into Rae's Top of the Tops for Spring Top Week. Woo Hoo! I am seriously shocked as the pictures I took of it were soooo bad. In any event I am so happy to have sewn something for me. And of course there is the added pleasure of being recognized as vote worthy : )

So if you feel so inclined please head over to MADE and vote for your favorite top.

Here are a few more outtakes from my spring top photo shoot (me and my camera's timer feature).

Happy Voting!
Sonja

Mingle Top and Wonder Tape

2011-05-10T20:10:00.000-05:00

In my last post I featured a couple of my wadders from the last week. Both tops were meant for Made by Rae Spring Top Week. Ugh! I attempted a third top and was successful. Not like "best top ever sewn" successful. More like "I wore it all afternoon and received several compliments on it" successful. Pretty good right? I'll take it and be happy wearing it. I photographed myself wearing it today as we finally have sun! Pictures were taken on timer so they are baaaad.

The fabric is once again one of my mocking fabrics (if you have mocking fabric of your own join the flickr pool). Its called "Mingle" by Robert Kaufman. It no longer mocks me. Haha! The pattern is Sis Boom Dana. I was on the fence about this pattern while making it. But it has won me over. I will be sewing it again as a dress with a belt or even a tunic. It has an interesting assembly process for the little band and ruffle at the top. You can kind of see it better in this next photo.

The pattern calls for two items that I had not used before. Tricot fusible interfacing which I am absolutely in love with. How did tricot escape my notice before. The second item is wonder tape. Wonder tape is life altering. I used it where the pattern called for it. But I also used it to stabilize my gathers. Did you take that in? Stabilize my gathers!!! So that when I stitched them to the band they didn't move!!!! This is huge people. Take a moment to absorb the life altering info I have just bestowed upon you. HUGE!

If you are in need of some sewing inspiration then head over to the Spring Top Flickr Pool. There are some amazing tops entered by some truly gifted woman. I am just green with envy, I tell you...green.

Happy Sewing!
Sonja

Destashaway Winner!

2011-05-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

Lovely number one, step on down!
Ramona Burke picked via Random.org
Congratulations Ramona!

WADders and a Destashaway!

2011-05-05T12:58:00.000-05:00

I do not usually show my Wadder sewing.
WADder (wod'der') n.: Sewing that turns out so badly that you wad it up and throw it in the trash.
Oddly enough I love it when other sewists show there sewing goofs. Though, rarely do I think other sewists wadders are truly wadders. So let me show them how to do it!
WADder One:

Awe, yes...patternless sewing at its best! So, the top part is a really lovely Sea Island cream interlock left over from an Alabama Chanin project. There was just enough left for this and I thought I was being so very clever to use it up. The bottom portion is one of mocking fabric prints from here. More on that flickr group latter. Once again I thought I was soooo very clever to finally use some of it.

The whole thing was a fail from the start. I made the bodice way to big. So I kept trying it on and cutting it down. Ack! Then I was stingy with the cutting of the print. Why? I don't know. I used a strip from selvage to selvage. Not nearly wide enough to be cute. Stupid mistake. And finally my gathers are so uneven. I mean really a wreck. I didn't bother hemming or top stitching. I do not think one shoulder styles are even flattering on me. So, at least I learned something good there.

WADder number two:

Admittedly, this one is not that bad. Its just not right for my body. I am too bony in the center of my chest and after three kiddos my "gals" just are not what they once were.

The sad news here is that I LOVED this fabric. Even though I can't remember what it is. Michael Miller or Robert Kaufman? I had a strip of this given to me a few years ago but it was missing the selvage with the info. And now I can no longer remember. But I love it. If anyone has some in there stash let me buy it off you...pretty please : ) The pattern is vintage 70's Butterick 6655 from my mom.

I did have some sewing success this morning and I will post pictures of that tomorrow!

On to the DestashAWAY!...

Japanese pattern books. The top one is Nani Iro. None of the patterns appeal to me but of course I bought it for the styling. Kinda cancer ward/ insane asylum chic. Very intriguing. The middle one is from he 80's I think and features Mother /Daughter and some Father / Son patterns. Useful for the number of basic patterns that you have not likely seen in your more recent pattern books. Be prepared to make lots of button holes and update the 80's styling. The third one is more formal recital dress patterns for girls. Some nice accessory patterns and a really nice lesson on making kilts. Lots of fitted dress patterns...once again not the typical pull over styling on many Japanese pattern books.

If you would like the books leave a comment with your email and I will draw a name on Sunday over my morning coffee : )

Cheers!
Sonja

Appreciating Teachers

2011-05-03T18:35:00.002-05:00

All three of my children landed three of the most gifted teachers one could wish for. I scrambled a little bit to pull together Teacher Appreciation gifts for this week. As all three of my darlings are home sick from school today. There just isn't much time for shopping or crafting for that matter with sick little people in the mix.

The plastic Flamingos just add that touch of class...don't you think?

They crack me up and I know they will give our teachers a bit of a chuckle. Especially here in rainy Washington. I picked up the little sea grass totes and flamingos from the Target "dollar" bin for $2.50 each. The potted lillies were $9 each from Lowes. Easy Peasy!

For the flower tags I used up some scrap booking supplies that I had on hand. The center medallion which reads "Thank You for helping me GROW up great!" was found via Skip to my Lou available as a free printable. The creator of the printable and absolutely darling project to go along with it was Kami from Nobiggie.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Sonja

Ottobre Design on Etsy?

2011-04-29T09:16:00.000-05:00

Have you heard? Ottobre Design now has an Etsy shop selling not only the pattern magazine for both children and woman, but a slew of yummy fabrics straight from the pages of their pattern mags. The prices are what you would expect. So, its not a way to get a bargain. But it is fun to take a little peek at all the knits.

I no longer have my subscription to the kids issue since we moved. So, I was happy to find that I could order the Summer 3/2011 issue through the new Etsy shop. It took about 10 days to get here.

I am hoping that they will carry some of their trims but for right now I might like to try out these darlings dots in coated cotton for rain wear.

Can you ever have enough red capped mushroom prints? The green one is right up my alley.

And my very most favorite thing in the shop right now (more is coming) is this olive knit stripe and floral. I just love it! And so thoughtful that they packaged them together.

All the above pictures are linked and you can find the Ottobre Etsy Shop Here.

Cheers!
Sonja

Sewing Something

2011-04-28T13:49:00.001-05:00

Well...I sewed something. And I must say getting one project complete has sort of lifted my sewing block. I feel freed and less fretful. There are possibilities once again. It was too cool and rainy yesterday to have the wee Ms. Ella step out side for a photo op. I'll photograph the top on her when I complete the pants I have planned.

Fabric: Heather Ross Tadpoles gifted to moi by this lovely lady.
Trim: Vintage rick rack in the most perfect shade of green ever! and jersey also in the most perfect shade of green ever!
Pattern: Let's Go Out Girls Clothes ~ Japanese Pattern Book purchased here.

For the pants I will be using Burda Kids 9519 view B. I can not tell you how much I love these pants! My only moment of hesitation is that I will be using the green knit jersey from the above top. This pattern calls for a woven. I wonder is some of the gathering detail on the pant legs will be lost by the drape of the jersey.

Last night I played around with a Marfy Pattern. So the no directions or seam allowances part is a problem. I cut out a practise run without adding any and it looks like its worth the effort. Cross your fingers for me : )
Cheers!
Sonja
PS: My Farbenmix Pattern Giveaway is here : )

World Itellectual Property Day ~ and a Giveaway!

2011-04-27T14:05:00.002-05:00

Whew! A lot of bad stuff has been happening right under my nose. Make me feel kinda yucky inside stuff. Patricia over at zencrafting posted a very insightful, well written and most timely article yesterday on Intellectual Property. April 26th is World Intellectual Property Day (I had no idea). If you create anything at all, I urge you to head over there and read what she has so graciously shared. I learned quite a bit myself and feel so much better about a few things.

Things? So vague, I know. This is what has been happening around here over the last week. A woman posted one of my tutorials to a foreign blog. She used all my pictures and translated my words into her language. She did have a link to my site. That is how I found out. I was getting lots of hits to that page of my blog. Which made me search a little deeper. Not only had this individual not asked permission to use one photograph, as is customary, but she used them all. And all my words too. So I sent her an email and contacted the host. It took 10 days or so, but I am happy to report that it has been taken down.

Wait there is more! A few days a go a neighbor friend stopped by and said "Your children's photograph is on a fundraising poster for the "Japanese Gulch". I thought surely she must be mistaken. So... I drove down to the coffee shop...and sure enough, Soren, Dunn and our dog Max, with our neighbor Bob in the background is on the poster. I was floored! Where could they possibly have obtained this photo? Sorens blog. They took the photo off her sweet little kid blog and put in on posters all over town. The town in which we live. To fund raise for the gulch which our house borders. Major yuckiness there! Here's the deal. I would have happily have allowed the to use the picture. We love the gulch and want to see it preserved. But no parent should have a photograph of their child published without knowing about it first. And I certainly shouldn't have found out about it from a neighbor. So, I emailed the president of the organization and layed into him on the yucky factor. I also suggested that he use this incident to educate his staff on the proper way to obtain promotional materials. I haven't heard a peep back in 6 days. Nothing!

Guess what? Jon and I are attending that particular fundraiser. Better keep me away from the open bar because I have allot I want to say about their silence. Think I will forward them Patricia's article. Might be a nice Hors d'œuvre for them.

Well thank you for listening to my rant. I hope you will take the time to to visit zencrafting and read what Patricia has shared.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!

I have a good spring cleaning urge to reduce some of my sewing supplies. I have four FARBENMIX patterns to pass along. If you would like one leave me a comment with the pattern you prefer and an email address by Sunday, April 24th. I will pick the winners when I wake up on Sunday while having my coffee. I have lots to unload so check back!

Lily

Anna

Weeke

Qumaira

Heather over at FeathertySews is doing a little destashing as well...hint hint hint!

Cheers!

Sonja

Mothers Day Bracelet Tutorial

2011-04-26T12:51:00.005-05:00

Its a challenge to come up with Mothers Day projects for kids to make that is something other than their hand print. Hand prints are darling and I do love all those tiny fingers and wrinkles and what not. But after turkey hand prints and angel hand prints and tree hand prints I am ready for something a little different. This year with my sons kindergarten class we are making bracelets (no colored macaroni in sight!).

This is such an easy project with absolutely darling results. The kids loved making them, the materials are easy to come by and its a relatively speedy project. Working with one child at a time I was able to do 13 of the 26 children in about 1.5 hours.

Tutorial
For materials you will need:
Wool Felt ~ I think the wool ups the aesthetics of this project and makes it feel special.
Buttons ~ I used shank buttons, buttons with holes and self made fabric covered buttons too. Mainly in the 1 inch size. Bigger is better!

Sewing Needles ~ I used large eyed blunt tip needles for several reasons. I wanted to minimize the stick factor and I wanted them to be easy to thread.

Thread ~ I gave the children the choice between embroidery floss and seam binding ribbon (vintage style) depending on the style of button they picked out.

Tools ~ Sharp Scissors, Pinking Shears, Rotary Cutter, Straight Edge, Cutting Mat, Brad Hole Punch

My Process:
Step one: Let the child pick their button first

Step two: Let the child pick the felt color
I pre-cut some of the felt in the colors that I thought the children were most likely to pick to cut down on time. They could also pick from all the colors I had with me. Using my rotary cutter, cutting mat and straight edge I cut my felt to 1.25 inches X 10 inches.

Step Three: If the child selected a shank button (the hole is on a stem on the back of the button) or one with four holes I let them choose the color floss they wanted to use and helped them thread the needle. If they picked a two hole plain button I gave them the option to sew it on using vintage style seam binding ribbon to make it a bit fancier.
***I made a point to make the knot on the floss large and keep a tail of several inches after the knot to make tying it off easier at the end.

Step Four: Using my brad hole punch I put holes in the felt to make sewing easier and neater for the kids. Not necessary, but a nice touch if you have this tool already.

Keep the button about an inch away from the end of the bracelet. That way when you cut the slit for the button felt with show through the slit and not skin.

Step Five: Let them sew away! Start from the back of the bracelet when sewing with floss. Start from the front of the button when sewing with seam binding. Tie off your floss on the back of the bracelet and trim floss so that it doesn't hang over the edge of the felt. Knot seam binding on the front of the button and trim ends in a V shape to prevent unraveling.

Step Six: Cut the button hole (slit). I tried to make the bracelets 8 inches around with my hole placement. Make the slit slightly smaller than the button. You can always make it bigger but you can't make it smaller once you have cut it.

Fold over the tail end of the felt and using sharp scissors cut your slit. *** Remember that if you cut 1/2 and inch you have just made a 1 inch whole because the felt is folded.

Trim the end of the bracelet into a shape or using pinking shears if the child desires.

Happy Mothers Day!
Sonja

Ps: I will come back this evening and add a little link love to this post to show you can purchase similar supplies!

Finding Inspiration

2011-04-22T17:36:00.003-05:00

Inspiration has been lacking around here lately. I have sewing block! I find fabric I like but can't decide on a pattern. Or, I find the pattern but no suitable fabric. I am wrought with indecision. I pour over pattern books, match fabrics up over and over but just can not put it all together to sit down and sew something.

It must be my fabrics fault. It can't be mine...no not me at all. After analyzing my fabric stash I have discovered that I tend to buy the same types of prints over and over. Big colorful prints. I buy linear stuff too...and patterns with strange repeats. I am am a complete fabric purchasing failure.

So, today armed with my new found knowledge I decided to change that. I went to Joann's with the sole purpose of purchasing fabrics with small scale prints. I did buy one stripe. Its on the diagonal however, which is the complete opposite of the horizontal ones I typically buy.

Cute crabs and diagonal stripe (are crabs ever cute?)

Darling Alexander Henry Farmdale

Denyse Schmidt Quilts

Good so far right? Well it gets even better. Fellow blogger and seamstress extraordinaire Heather from Featherty Sews brightened my day quite a bit yesterday when she sent me a package that would of had more than one of you squealing with delight and a tad green with envy. chuckle chuckle.

A little Heather Ross anyone? Heather sent my horse loving Soren (horse crazy really) this darling equipment print. Soren matched up all by herself with a cute vintage print from my stash. I think she did a pretty good job.

Heather also included this Heather Ross Tadpoles print. I have a very cute pair of summer capri pants picked out from Ottobre that are a perfect match up for the tadpoles mixed with a little Amy Butler bias tape.

And yes there was one more. This lovely Kokka print which is just perfect for my Ms. Ella. Maybe I should just have Heather do my fabric shopping for me...?

One last little goody to help me find inspiration. I have a real thing for trim. Trim makes me very happy. I just like looking at it. At my local Pacific Fabrics store I found this button beauty in the colors of the sea. Grey blues and turquoise. Lovely and very clever I think with the mini rick rack strung through a button and then stitched to the crocheted lace.

I would love to know how you overcome a creative block? Where do you look for inspiration?

Cheers!
Sonja

Stash Busting Sunday

2011-04-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

It was a good sewing day.
Lots of scrap fabric used up.
My first hat ever successfully fitted and sewn....Yippie!

I love help pinning pattern pieces and cutting on the lines.
Sitting at the sewing machine with my cutie pie.
Her weight heavy in my lap and heavier still on the sewing machine foot peddle.
I love sharing what I love doing with the ones I love.

It was a really great day.

Hat pattern: Vogue 8440

Cheers!

Sonja

Run away with me

2011-03-26T20:05:00.000-06:00

The best is yet to be.

This is the "Double Layer Skirt" from Ottobre 6/2008. I was inspired to finally sew it after seeing these skirts here. I would kill to have those Heather Ross equestrian prints as that would have made my horse loving Soren a happy camper.

The top layer fabric and trim was purchased from here. The tiny dot fabric on the bottom was in my moms stash that I have since inherited. I will be making another one of these soon as baby sister Ella apparently can not live without.

Happy Sewing!

Spring Sewing

2011-03-17T18:37:00.001-06:00

I am happy to report that we have a bit of sun today! Yahoo!!!

OK, now on to the sewing. It has been a year since I sat down and sewed something on my machine. A whole year! I think maybe this cross country move took more out of me that I realized. I feel like I am over the big hump of getting the sewing machine and serger set up. My first two projects were good getting back in the saddle kind of projects. Nothing tricky.

First up was a little nightgown that Ella has now decided is a dress. I used a dress pattern so maybe that's why.

My first rolled hem on my serger. Kind of proud of myself for trying it. SCARY!

Next up was a vintage Butterick pattern that I have wanted to try forever.

I just love the little sailor detail on the pants. I also thought it was fun that there is only one pattern piece for them. Talk about a quick sew!

I made them in the pedal pusher length and used vintage fabric of my mothers. Unfortunately, I didn't look for buttons before I started and found when they were complete that I didn't have enough of any of my buttons that we suitable. I got crazy and used knotted twill tape which I think turned out kinda cute. It made them a little more girly anyway.

The only change I made on this pattern was to lower the waist band by about two inches. Those vintage pants patterns have some high waists!

If i sew them again I will remember that vintage patterns also have much wider seam allowances. I just serged my seams which was no where near the 5/8 inch seam allowance. They would have been a bit more slim fitting had I done it correctly.

Cheers!

Sonja

Trying to do SPRING

2011-03-13T09:00:00.003-06:00

Could it rain anymore? No, please don't answer that. I already know that in the Pacific Northwest it can indeed. I handled the winter dreariness just fine. But the Spring dreariness is putting me over the edge. In an attempt to stay sane I have been trying to bring a little spring into the house.

It killed me a little bit to buy this old window. In Minneapolis I could have picked up a more interesting window everyday in an alley or by a dumpster for free. This window required a trip to an antique stall and $35 dollars. The egg plates are from my collection. I had a slight obsession with collecting antique book plates in the 90's. I especially love the ones of eggs.

Originally I was going to prop a larger framed egg print in front of the window. There wasn't enough depth to my mantle to do that safely. So I was so happy to find that I had prints just the right size to fit in each pane. I used removable glue dots to adhere the plates to the front of the glass.

Lightens things up a bit I think. Now I need to find something to put on the floor to the right where that wood corbel is. Any ideas?
Happy Decorating!
S~

It's the hard-knock life for us!

2011-03-04T10:10:00.002-06:00

***Warning: Sad story to follow***
I love to sing that Annie song with my children. Usually we sing it when I am making them perform a cleaning task. The singing makes the work more enjoyable. And of course its poking fun at how good their lives are as well. Sometimes, however life really is hard knocks for a kid. And that just takes all the laugh right of of me.

Yesterday was just such a day. We received news that Dunham's best buddy Will (age 6) from back in Minnesota has been diagnosed with a very aggressive and rare Cancer called Sinonasal Teratocarcinosarcomas. He will under go Chemotherapy multiple times, be isolated for months and then be subjected to a pretty rough surgery to boot. Never have I cried as much in one day as I did yesterday. I cried big heaving sobs. You see Will & Dunn spent almost everyday in each others company between school and play dates. When you spend that much time with someone-elses child they become a little bit yours to. There are pieces of our dear Will dispersed through our everyday. Like when Dunn asks for a sandwich "like Will likes it". Or when Dunn is playing Lego's and sets up a play scenario that Will came up with and he drags me by the hand to come take a look. Wills favorite Koolaid flavor, Bionicle, sword ect...its all documented in Dunns beautiful head. Does that make sense? My heart says it does and its grieving and scared.

I cried so much yesterday that my children were at a loss. I just couldn't stop. And so with wet cheeks and puffy eyes I shared the news with Dunn about Will in the simplest way that I could. The look on my baby boys face was immeasurable sadness. Jon used to work at Children's Hospital and so all of our children know what cancer means and what it looks like on a child. Dunn asked me a few questions about how Will was doing and if he was in pain or did his tummy feel sick yet?. He processed the information and walked away from me with slopped shoulders. About an hour latter as I was making dinner he came and hugged my leg. I picked him up and reassured him that it would be all right because Will was one tough little bugger. Dunn then leaned his forehead against mine (I started crying again) and he said "Mom, I know everything he likes and I can make him feel better".

Ah, yes doll that is true. So true and simple. So we wrote down some ideas and came up with a plan for doing exactly what Will likes cause Dunn knows. And as I laid down to sleep last night with all my children tucked safely in their beds the thought of Dunn knowing was reassuring. Is it odd to be reassured by a 6 year-olds knowledge?

This morning as I sit writing this I am pondering how amazing children are. The natural empathy that a small child posses is enough to light up a very dark corner of the world. I am making a vow today to help my children nurture their friendships even the long distance ones. And to make sure that I put some more effort into nurturing mine too. I am certain that there is nothing nicer than knowing what another person likes and that they know the same about you.

Alabama Chanin

2011-02-25T19:07:00.002-06:00

Done! And I have the bloody fingers to prove it.

With any luck I can get some better pictures over the weekend as the light is done for today.

Cheers!
S~

The Day After

2011-02-15T12:08:00.002-06:00

I am not big on Valentines Day as an adult, but oh how I did love it as a child. Spending hours with my mom crafting cute heart shaped Valentines and making sure to spell each classmates name correctly. The anticipation of passing them out and the worry if I would get any in return. Siting for hours and pouring over all my school valentines reading each little message. Bliss I tell you.

Now that all three of my children are in school I still love the idea of the homemade Valentine but I am starting to look longingly at the store bought ones too. Sometimes handmade is just really hard. Like 75 homemade Valentines hard. That's a lot of paper and glue and in our case rocks.

This year all three children decided to make wishing stones. Soren (age 7) wanted to put a message on her rocks. So she stamped the phrase "U Rock" or the word "love" on the back of hers. This was a very long long process that neither of us enjoyed very much. We used individual letter stamps and it took forever...shan't be repeated. No pictures were taken.

Dunn & Ella stuck with each classmates initial and this was a blast. For Ella (age 4) it was wonderful to look at each child's name and then find a letter sticker that matched the first letter. This task was a snap for Dunn (age 6) and he was able to do it all on his own (love that).

After the kids put their stickers on they sealed the rocks with Liquitex Acrylic Gloss Medium & Varnish. ModPodge would have worked equally as well but I had the Liquitex on hand so that is what we went with. They sealed the sticker side first using a small foam brush. The Liquitex dries in about 5 minutes so by the time they did one side of the stones they could flip them over and do the other side with no waiting.

The real Mom labour came into play with the packaging. I decided that there needed to be a little note to accompany each wishing stone so that the recipient would know what it was. Above is Ellas note. They turned out so sweet. I printed the poem onto card stock, cut them out, then added a little highlighting to the edges of the paper pieces with ColorBox Chalk Pigment. Ella helped me glue all the pieces together over a couple of days.

Ella took great joy in stuffing her treat sacks with the stone, poem and a little bag of conversation hearts. She was quite proud of the finished project and eager to take them to school.

Dunn thought Ella's Poem was too girly so we changed the words up a bit. However, the concept was the same. On this one I did all the cutting and gluing (I was running low on patience) and Dunn did the stickers.

Dunn wanted a Robot theme for his packaging so this is what I came up with.

He too had a fantastic time stuffing his treat bags and was a great sport about all of the name writing. What I loved is that I had almost everything needed for this project on hand. The rocks did require two trips to the shore which is part of our normal lives. I had lots of left over letters from scrap booking that might never have been used. All the paper and treat bags were on hand too. The only things I purchased were the star stickers and the candy. I love it when I can use up some of things I already have from other projects. Makes me feel a little thrifty!

Happy Post Valentines Day!

Dunn's Marshmallow Shooter Party

2011-02-06T11:55:00.003-06:00

Boys are nice. They are so very easy to please. And best of all they think their mothers are the best thing to ever grace the planet. My boy is now six years old. Yes, I have managed to keep the child alive for six whole years and I can not think of a better reason to have a party than that.

On Saturday NINE spectacularly boisterous little boys assembled PVC pipe Marshmallow Shooters and proceeded to wreck havoc on the neighborhood. They terrorized innocent doggies being walked by worried owners. They were loud, fast and dirty. They spent three hours truly being boys. I heard the ABC's recited via armpit farts. It was a good day. My neighborhood association will likely send me a letter on Monday requesting that I remove thousands of mini marshmallows from my grass. I am praying that marshmallows are indeed biodegradable. I have my doubts.

This is a great boy party to host and would work well for boys 6 and up. Older boys could cut out all of their own gun pieces and sand them. For this party Jon did the cutting and sanding in advance and the boys just assembled their shooters. On the barrel of each boys shooter I put a name so we knew who's shooter belonged to who. Dunn's shooter name was "Diabolical Dunn". Other names we used were: "Drop The Hammer Drew", "Will The Whiz", "Cannon Ball Carson"...you get the idea. I used my Circuit Expressions cutter to do the lettering in black adhesive vinyl.

For the invitation I used this cartoon blueprint. The blueprint has the directions for building the shooters we made. We did choose to make the mouth pipe 5 inches instead of three inches so that it would be easier to hold and shoot. When priced out each shooter cost about $5 to make using schedule 40 PVC pipe (the nice stuff). You can purchase a kit for $10 here (using a lesser grade pvc). HOWTOONS is a pretty awesome resource for party ideas and fun projects to do at home with the kids. I really want to do this one and this one too!
S~

Feeling Stitchy

2010-06-15T14:31:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures from my current Alabama Chanin skirt. Taos is the perfect place for such a project as life is quite slow and relaxed here.

I used Chanin's organic knit in sand with white fabric paint. The beads are a combination of clear, silver and silver lined glass beads. I did not use a second color for the background fabric mainly because I could not decide what to use. So glad that I forged ahead anyway as I love how it is turning out.

I altered the stencil from the Studio Style book by cutting out the centers with an exacto blade to leave just the circles. I am mixing embroidery and beading around each circle. I am also layering circles on top of the paint on some instead of cutting out the center. This adds a little extra dimension.

With any luck I will finish all the beading this week. Only 1.75 panels to go.

Happy Stitching!

It has been interesting...

2010-06-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

To say the least. I have been on the road with the kids and our dog for 17 days now. The move went very smoothly. I can not sing the praises of professional movers enough. I hope that from this move forward that I am so lucky to be afforded such a service. I should use the word "move" loosely as it's only our stuff that has moved to a warehouse in Chicago. The children and I are still moving about the country.

We spent the Memorial Day weekend at Jon's parents lake home with siblings and cousins galore. It was such a relaxing end to what has been a busy four months. After our stint at the lake we drove down to Kansas City Kansas for a lovely two night visit with our friend Kat and her boys Ficher & Ty. All five kids ran around Kat's kid fest house at break neck speed and enjoyed each others company immensely. I just kept unwinding a little bit each day in Kat's relaxed presence. Thank you Kat!

Off to Colorado we went to stay in Monument with my brother Shawn and his wife Michelle. They have three little girls similar in age to my three. All 6 were busy from the start having a water gun fights, making water balloons and running off lots of energy. Much exploring of the woods behind their house ensued over the weekend along with general mess making and mischief. Just the sort of freedom my little people needed after the constraints of house selling perfection.

We are now in Taos, New Mexico visiting with my Mom & Dad. They have a lovely log home right on a mountain stream in the woods. An idyllic setting for all kinds of relaxing and discovery. I celebrated my 38th birthday on the 9th with dinner and a cold beer at Outback Pizza. A place I always visit when I am in town. We went to Santa Fe on Thursday and visited the Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico Art Museums. The New Mexico Art Museum had a stellar display of Cowboy Boots as art that made me want to run out and buy a pair. Truly amazing.
We will be in Taos for about another week and then we will head back to Colorado where Jon will meet us. We will all then drive to Washington together. Yea! On the house buying front we are still working through the short sale process on one house. We put an offer in on a second house in the same neighborhood and should know today if they have excepted our offer. Cross your fingers for me because this is the house I wanted all along. Will post a link to it as soon as I find out if it's ours.

On a sewing note I am working on an Alabama Chanin skirt. I have to figure out how to get the pictures from my camera onto my mom's computer so I can post them here. I am working on the beading of the third panel (3 of 4). Only one more to go and then I can assemble it. I hope to complete it while I am still here as it's the perfect kind of thing to wear in Taos.
Lastly, Thank you for all of the kind emails, Washington info and suggestions and general well wishes. It always makes my day to hear from you. I have found more interesting blogs and crafty artistic souls since I started blogging. So much inspiration out there.
Happy Trails,
Sonja

SOLD!

2010-04-28T06:55:00.000-05:00

Just a little update to let everyone know our house in Minneapolis has finally sold. I had a celebratory two beer night last night. I also let the kids take out as many toys as they wanted and they didn't have to put them away before bed. Let's just say that made this morning a little more stressful for me but the kids think I am the most amazing mom ever. So off to Mom Hall of Fame I go.

Now on to the actual moving and packing and closing on this house. We put an offer in on a house in Mukilteo, WA. It's a short sale...Have any experience with those? A whole nother beast I tell you. In all likely hood the kids and I will be homeless for at least the month of June. So I am devising an all over the country road trip with three kids and a dog. I am calling it an adventure and not a vacation. During an adventure you expect things to go terribly wrong. Because part of the fun of an adventure is the unpredictability and digging yourself out from under unfortunate happenings. Whilst a vacation is horribly ruined if things don't go as planned. See, it's all about setting the expectations.

Wish me luck!
S~

2010 Textile Center Garage Sale

2010-04-08T09:53:00.001-05:00

I don't get to go this year....so sad. If you live local than put this on your calender because you have got to go. I highly recommend the preview sale on Friday. Don't complain about the $25 entrance fee as its for charity and it's worth every penny to have first dibs on the good stuff. Remember these posts from last year?
http://soduel.blogspot.com/2009/04/textile-center-garage-sale.html
http://soduel.blogspot.com/2009/04/fabric-goodness.html

Textile Center Garage Sale Success Tips~Girlfriends, girlfriends girlfriends! Take some with you and make sure they know your sewing style and any items you are hoping to score
~Several shopping bags. I think several small to medium size bags is better than one huge one.
~Cash
~Arrive at least thirty minutes early there will be a line.
~If you like it pick it up and put it in your bag. You will not get a second chance and you can always thin out your score at the end of the shopping period.

For more information visit the Textile Center website.

Happy Stitching!
S~

Chicken Scratch Cami

2010-04-07T18:55:00.001-05:00

This is what I have been working on the last few days. I have embraced the hand stitching!!!

Photos by Soren Sackett

Soren is having a ball taking pictures of me and my projects and I am enjoying her enthusiasm. The extra set of hands is pretty fantastic too.

Pattern: Kwik Sew 2498 Misses Camisoles

There will be several more little tops made from this pattern in the next week. I sewed a size small cutting view C front and straps and view D back. Pieces go together perfectly and are a snap to sew.

Fabric: Cotton Poly Gingham

Chicken Scratch Pattern from Japanese Book Smocking Nostalgia ISBN 9784277311519

Happy Stitching!
S~

Who steals a minivan with three car seats in it?

2010-03-31T10:07:00.002-06:00

Last night such an individual did exactly that while we all snoozed softly in our beds. A Toyota Sienna Minivan might be about the most uncool vehicle imaginable that one could steal. However mine is a snazzy apple red which might have been the enticing factor.

Here's a recap of my life at this very moment...My house is for sale, My husband is in Seattle (Mukilteo really), I have been single parenting for 8 weeks and now, My only vehicle has been stolen with the car seats in it and we have about one cup of milk left. Oh! and yesterday my less than a year old Electolux vacuum died. You need a working vacuum when your trying to sell your house. You also need a car so that you can get out of your house for showings.

I really feel like sitting down and having an ugly cry...the kind where my eyes get huge and puffy red and snot runs out of my nose and loud wailing noises emanate from a deep hidden spot in my gut. But I can't do that yet because I am waiting for the insurance people to call me back.

S~

Finished ~ Studio Style Camisole Dress

2010-03-29T11:52:00.001-06:00

I will try and post some better pictures while my hubby is home over the weekend. I was so excited to be finished that Soren & I tried our darnedest to get one decent picture. Failed, but here it is anyway!

(Please excuse the no makeup and undone hair. I'm not going to lie to you....that's how I normally role.)

Sizing: I cut out a medium per the books sizing chart. I am 5' 10" 130 pounds and wear a size 4. My measurements are Bust 35 Waist 28 Hips 36 . I think I could have cut out a small mainly because this dress lacks the stenciling and applique. The more stitches you add to the dress the less give the fabric has. I have some wrinkling in the back (not sure is cutting a size small will fix this) and a little room in the bust. I can see where you want a snug fit as this dress is heavy and the fabric will stretch as you wear it.

Assembly: This dress goes together just as it should. Mrs Chanin you are my hero! Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to see pattern pieces fit together so nicely. This is a time consuming project but totally suitable for the novice seamstress. I would also like to mention that I used 75 yards (spool and a half) of button thread.

More pictures at my Alabama Studio Style Flickr Set .
Happy stitching!
S~

Sewing Update ~ Studio Style Camisole Dress

2010-03-27T12:16:00.000-06:00

I have rounded the bend folks! The dress is officially wearable but not done. I need to bind the bottom of the dress yet. I feel ever so HAPPY to be so close to completion! I will save all my gushing for this dress after I can be photographed wearing it. In the mean time here is a little glimpse.

This is the most amount of time I have spent with a sewing project in hand ever. I have a bruised tailbone from sitting and stitching. Worth every ache and pain I tell you. I have decided to leave off the spirals and the beads. I am a stay at home mom of three. I love the dress so much just as it is. I want to be able to wear it all the time. Not just on the rare occasion that Jon and I go on a date to someplace swirl dress worthy.

I have a little tip for you! If you ever need to make jersey binding like this dress calls for, make sure that when you iron your strips in half that you leave them to rest (cool) for several minutes before you move them. See this photo below...

The top strip has been left on the ironing board for several minutes. Seriously, I answered an email while it cooled. The second strip is one that I moved after I ironed the strip all the way to the end of my ironing board. I picked the strip up and moved it down to finish ironing the strip and it quickly splayed open.

It is worth the wait, as it is much easier to manage the binding of the dress if your strip looks like the first one.

Happy Stitching!

GO fly a....

2010-03-22T18:19:00.002-06:00

My Dunn burns through the knees in jeans like only a 5 year old boy can. He's a real professional and it kills me. $35 dollar gap jeans last maybe a month before the knees are a tattered faded mess. He performs this operation to multiple pairs at once mind you. And yes I am fully aware that I could by him less expensive jeans. Have you seen boys in Gap jeans? To stink'n cute to pass up I am afraid. So what is a mom to do? Patch them I say. We have about another 6 weeks to solid shorts weather and I need these jeans to hang in there.

I am on a mission to patch 4 pairs of jeans over the next couple of days. Here's tonight's victim.....

The other knee is ready to bust through but I couldn't decide what should be flown. A spaceship? A plane? the obvious Kite? Or something that doesn't even fly.....like a bulldog? What do you think would be funny?

Dunn was so excited that I was making him something that he put them on right away. I never make the poor boy anything. I feel happy and guilty at the same time. The JOY of Motherhood.

Boys happen to be difficult to photograph because they don't hold still much.

I could go on with the boy pictures but I will spare you the download time.

How To:

Fabric: Natural cotton duck

Stencil: Cut on my circuit personal cutter using freezer paper instead of card stock.

Paint: Ha Ha got to use some of my Jacquard Neoopaque in black from my Chanin project

Fusible web: Pellon for applique

Stitched: With the button tread from my Chanin project as well. Notice I left the knot's exposed on the outside?

Simplicity 2596 Finished

2010-03-18T13:01:00.001-06:00

Don't you just love finishing a sewing project? I wore this right away today under a little pink cashmere cardigan 'cause it's still cool here. You can see more pictures HERE in my Flickr.

I sewed Simplicity 2596 using both views D & E in a size 10. The pattern suggested a size 12 for my measurements but I probably could have cut a size 6 or 8 because I am thin and the cut is blousy. I love this top!!! It's not very often that I truly love something I sew for myself but this was a winner. The fit is cute and relaxed. Perfect with a pair of jeans or shorts. I felt really pretty wearing this and will definitely make a couple more. The next one I think I will do just the elastic at the arms and a regular hem. I like the top without the elastic at the arms too. Yea!!!

Recap from previous post:
Pattern: Simplicity 2956 view D/E
Size: 10 (I wear a 4/6 normally)
Fabric: Dotted Swiss from Joann
Trim: Crocheted from stash
Buttons: Vintage

Simplicity 2596

2010-03-18T06:15:00.000-06:00

For the last couple of days I have been playing around with fabrics and patterns in an attempt to get something sewn up for Spring Top Week. This is what I came up with.

The fabric is an ever so sweet Dotted Swiss cotton with a vintage floral pattern. Purchased at JoAnn's last week. I bought a couple prints because like I said...they were ever so sweet! In fact while they were being cut I just kept lamenting on how cute they were. Dotted Swiss just screams SPRING.

The little crocheted trim is left over from sewing the girls dresses a couple of years ago. The buttons are vintage from one of my button jars. I have cut and sewed Simplicity 2596 view D/E. I still need to add the elastic to the bottom hem. With any luck I will get a picture taken of the finished top today and then I will be back with a pattern review.

Blog Inspiration Sunday

2010-03-14T06:34:00.000-06:00

I have found so many wonderful sewing blogs as of late that it would be remise of me not to share. For the next several Sundays I will feature a blog / blogger that is providing me with much needed sewing inspiration. First Up:

Sinje Lübbke
Hamburg, Germany
blogging at HausMaus

One of the things I adore about Sinje's sewing and blogging is that she models what she sews and posts the pictures. Not only does she model her sewing but she seems to really enjoy doing it. Pumping life and vitality into her creations, giving a true sense of what the garment would look like in everyday activity. I must admit that she is sewing on my dream machine (Bernina 75 Anniversary Edition) and there are pictures of this beauty mid stitch. It's like porn for the seamstress! What keeps me coming back for more is the variety of clothes and acessories that she is wipping up. She also sews in knits frequently, and this is a fabric that I am trying to gain more confidence in working with.

Sinje writes on her blog in German however her flickr pool is labeled clearly in English. She does a fantastic job of labeling her pictures with the pattern number and other important information. I love it when sewers do this as I frequently look up the patterns for myself and take note of them for future projects. As an added little something extra Sinje also contributes to the Bernina Corporate Blog. I think this is quite the accomplishment at the age of 28!

I hope you find inspiration in Sinje's sewing style...Enjoy~

The Wild Woven Tree

2010-03-11T19:33:00.002-06:00

Soren's school does not have an Art Teacher. I know, crazy right? They do have lots of outside professionals that come into the classroom to teach pottery and fine art. I participated this year in the Art Adventures Program through the MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Arts). I was a Poster Person for Soren's Kindergarten classroom. There are two other moms in the class that are doing it too which has made it very fun. As a Poster Parent you take posters of items currently on display at the museum into the classroom and discuss them with the class. Then you create an art project related to the pieces of art for the children to complete. For our first project I bit off more than I should have. I think big and complex when it comes to creating. Our first project was a woven tree. Yep, a whole life size tree. Did I mention it was woven by 5 & 6 year olds.

Twenty four 5 & 6 year olds! It turned out spectacular and was worth all the hard work. It will be a wonderful focal point for this Kindergarten class room for many years to come.

Oh a moment of pride! That is my lovely Soren up front with her finger very close to, if not inside, of her nose. I am hoping she was just scratching!

For the base of our tree we used a roll of chicken wire. The children then wove strips of fabric willy nilly in and out of the holes. I am still surprised at how long they stuck with this. I am also surprised by the number of children this was difficult for in the fine motor skills department. After the fabric weaving, the remaining holes were filled with crumpled brown kraft paper.

It took several more visits to her classroom to make all the brances for the tree.

I created branches out of the chicken wire wrapped into a cone shape. I crumpled the cones a bit for interest and added smaller branches to each limb. The children then wrapped the wire branches in kraft paper strips using watered down white glue. They loved this part as it was quite tactile and gooey!

To assemble the tree in the class room I wrapped the base of the tree around an exposed pipe in the corner. using zip cable ties. The branches were attached using zip cable ties as well, after removing the weaving from the areas where I wanted the branches to go. After they were attached I woven back in the fabric and paper to hide the ties.

With spring coming, the tree will soon be sporting leaves and wildlife created by the children. I can't wait to see all the ways Soren's Teacher comes up with to use the tree!

Not the best start

2010-03-09T15:22:00.001-06:00

So, I spent the first two days of my Alabama Studio Dress project hunting for my massive roll of Butcher Paper (freezer). Butcher Paper is what I use to trace and draft patterns. I love the stuff! Apparently when I was clearing up my sewing area I packed it away thinking that I wouldn't be sewing until I moved. Wrong! I went to two grocery stores and couldn't find it. This is one of those moments where a Walmart is required. People who shop at Walmart are more likely to butcher their own meat. Target people not so much. So, Saturday I trekked to the Lake with the kiddos and stopped at the St. Croix Falls Walmart for a new supply. Sunday I managed to trace the pattern. Most of Monday I stewed in indecision. I couldn't figure out if I loved the circles. I have decided that indeed I do love the circles. What I don't like is the tie dye look of the washed black stencil used in the book. What was I going to do instead? More indecision.... and some samples were made.

I will be doing circles in cream with the leaf stencil from the first book. I am also going to assemble the dress before I applique. Mainly because I am not convinced that this dress is actually going to fit me. I wear a size 4 normally. And in this pattern that is a size medium. I still think it's going to be too small. My measurements are 35-28-36. I am 5'10 and weigh about 130 pounds. It's the waist measurement that's going to get me I think.

Here's my stenciled fabric:

On with the rest of the info......

PATTERN: The length of the dress pattern is broken in half at the waist which annoys me. I know Chanin was trying to save paper but come on. Really? If you have no adjustments to make to the pattern then the pieces wouldn't bother you. I need to add two inches to the bodice length to accommodate my height. Probably should have added another two inches to the length as well. However I think I want this one to come just to the knee. Piecing together the pieces with a two inch gap between the registration marks takes patience to get just right. There are a total of SIX pieces that I need to do this to. Outside of the piecing, the pattern pieces seem to fit together beautifully.

FABRIC: The rest of my cotton jersey from Fabric.com arrived on Friday. There is a big difference between the Fabric.com Organic Cotton Jersey and the Alabama Chanin Organic Cotton Jersey. Chanin's is much thicker but looks piled and worn right from the get go. Fabric.com's has a much smoother finish but alas is much thinner. I was torn about which will work the best. Since the dress is completely self lined (same fabric on the inside as outside) I was worried that the Chanin fabric might be to thick. When your hanging on to six yards of the stuff it's very heavy. After cutting out the dress I have decided thick is good. It is what gives the dress body, allowing it to skim over the flubber without to much hugging going on.

PAINT: After much deliberating at my local fine art store, Wet Paint, I am choosing to use Jacquard Neopaque Acrylic Textile Color. Picked mainly for the amazing range of colors that there were to choose from. I looked at Speedball Ink but the color choices were limited which meant I was going to have to mix the right shade myself. Jacquard colors require heat setting after a 24 hour dry time.

FOE: The dress project does not require FOE. There is a skirt in my future however so I wanted some. Well let me tell you that tracking down 1 inch FOE is no easy task. I was unable to locate a US source so I ordered mine from HERE in Canada. I received my package hyper quick! Like in 4 days. I have no experience with FOE but am looking forward to giving it a go.

That's where I am so far. Hopefully I am over the hump and can make some progress this week.

Inside The Box

2010-03-03T14:57:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love the sound of a package being dropped on your front porch? I can hear the UPS truck coming from the end of the block. It squeals to a stop outside and I can see Mike (yup, I know his name) get up from his seat and head to the back of the truck. I try and act nonchalant (like I haven't been waiting all morning for his arrival) by not going out to great him. Instead I open the door just as he's walking away. Mike always turns around and gives a wave when he hears the door open. Did I mention Mikes hot? No? Let's put it this way....I don't mind the UPS shipping charges when I order online because I know that along with my order comes a visit from Mike. My UPS Man.

So what's in the box your wondering? Not the green sewing machine from my last post. I do own a version of that machine but it's not a Three Kings. I am not sure what brand it is but it is identical. It was my grandmother’s sewing machine and is in perfect working order. Having been sewn on my grandma for more than 60 years I think she's worth saving. It was the first thing she bought herself when she was working in a Seattle chocolate factory during World War II.

So what's in the box your still wondering?

Natalie Chanins new book and 6 yards of her organic cotton jersey in Blue Slate. Yummy!!!

I have picked the Spiral Applique & Beaded Camisole Dress as my first sewing project. More organic cotton jersey will be here this week from Fabric.com. Chanin's cotton jersey is $18 a yard. The pattern I am sewing requires 6 yards as it's completsly self lined. Ouch...do the math! So I ordered more from Fabric.com at a fraction of the price to compare quality. I'll let you know what I find out when Mike brings it on Friday.

I am a little concerned about lining this dress. The Blue Slate Jersey seems quite heavy to have two layers. However, since Chanin is a accomplished clothing designer, I am going to follow her lead for the first project.

Thursday I will be tracing the pattern and cutting out the dress.

Friday I will stencil my applique fabric.

Saturday I will cut out the appliques

And on Sunday I will start a stichin.

I will photograph each step of the process with a blog post outlining any changes or choices I have made.

Wish me LUCK!

Let's get on with it...

2010-03-01T14:28:00.001-06:00

It's March. I can not take anymore. 6 weeks of non-creation have passed by and I am going to crack if I can't sew something soon. So I have decided to just get on with it. "It" being making stuff, because that's what I do. I sew and craft and create. This house selling business has really put a kabosh to all that fun stuff on the account of everything needing to remain perfectly composed. March is bringing an end to that. I have tons of spring clothes to sew for the kids and myself. I want to SPRING up the house, I want to paint in the sunshine. Well, I just want to get on with it. Wednesday, a box will arrive delivered via UPS that will beckon in some new creative mojo. Can't wait to share it!

We are on the market!

2010-02-11T15:01:00.002-06:00

After a whirl wind month of no sleep, truck loads of stuff carted to various places, painters, inspectors and a cabinet maker, our home is finally for sale. Ouch, that hurts a bit to say. I can honestly say preparing a house for sale is more work than I imagined and I don't want to do it again anytime soon. Preparing a house for sale with three little people under foot is monumental! A big apology to all the folks in my universe that have tolerated my dropped balls, missed dates and general tardiness. A super huge thank you to all the brides that didn't leave horrible feedback via etsy for my month off schedule production. No weddings actually missed just shipping dates. But when your a bride a missed anything is panic time. And finally the biggest thank you of all for all the well wishes, play dates, good catches, and general support donated generously by family & friends. On the day before our house hit the market I lost my engagement ring. The next day my husband left for Seattle. Through it all I only cried once. Pretty good I think. Wish us luck everyone as I think we are going to need it.

Here is a little slide show of our house is your curious: http://www.spacecrafting.com/ssp.aspx?id=4e7474f4-c553-4d27-acf0-fda39d1b8861&b=1

Getting our house ready to sell.

2010-01-11T06:30:00.000-06:00

I have never considered myself a pack rat. However if you saw the amount of stuff I have removed from my house over the last week, you would probably beg to differ. Piles and boxes and shopping bags full of stuff. What has been so interesting to me is how easy it was to get rid of it all. I had no emotional attachment to any of it. So why did I keep it for years? I think the answer is two fold. The big one is space. If I have space to store stuff I am very likely to fill that space over time. The second aspect is usefulness. If something has a useful purpose I am likely to store it away for when I need it. I love to be able to create on a whim without purchasing supplies. So my basement has served me quite well.

Here's the big light bulb moment for me in the midst of my purge. A few days ago I was getting the opinion of a fellow parent who is an architect about a new front door for my house. During the conversation he mentioned to me that while house hunting he calculated that his family of four needed only 1200 square feet to live comfortable. I thought that was crazy! 1200 feet is nothing. How can a family of four live in that. Kids get big and they have lots of friends. As I came home and looked at all the space in my home after removing the unnecessary stuff I got it. What is the point of having a big house filled with stuff you don't use? One of the aspects of moving to Seattle that is so exciting for me is the house shopping part. This is my opportunity to get a much bigger house. Like twice as big and I wouldn’t have been apposed to three times as big.

Suddenly this morning, as I drank my cup of coffee and looked through the new listings our Realtor in Seattle sent, the houses didn't look as good to me. They have everything I specified weeks earlier. The big kitchens with the granite countertops and shiny stainless steel appliances, the massive empty bonus room, 3 bathrooms and 3 garage stalls suddenly don't look so appealing. These houses feel a little soulless. Yet my sweet little old house that I have made over time and time again and have been wishing away looks just about right. It lives really well. It has never failed to serve our needs.

Now, as I am making it over yet again with a new homeowner in mind I am missing my house. Because what we do when we sell a house is remove part of the current owners to make room for the new. I hope more than anything that a lovely freshly married young couple like Jon & I were will buy this sunny old house and make it home. That they will have babies in this house and love the sound of their chubby feet on its old maple floors. That they will grow and stretch and just be happy in this house. It’s a house that is good for that kind of thing.

Yesterday as we celebrated our 10 year anniversary (7 of which occurred in this house) we did lot’s of reminiscing about the old gal. What she looked like when we bought her. What she looks like now. How we live with lot’s of little imperfections until your ready to sell it. At which point you fix all the things that annoyed you while living in it. I have had several moments of “Why didn’t I do that years ago?” In the end I am sure we will buy a new home in the same fashion that we bought this one. We will walk in and both of us will get giddy. We will be swept away by the energy of the house. The house will pick us.

New Year Big Move

2010-01-02T11:19:00.000-06:00

The New Year Has started with a bang! I woke this morning around 5 AM freezing my tush off to find that the power was out in our neighborhood. This is Minnesota, so of course it was close to zero when the power went out. The thermostat read 52 degrees inside. Burr!

Last night we made it home from our ski trip to Taos, NM around 8 pm and did lots of unpacking and greeting of our house. It was a much needed vacation for us all. And yet it is so nice to be home. The New Year will find us better rested and more relaxed. At least for a bit. Now here comes the really big BANG! We will be readying our home for the real estate market over the next couple of weeks. Jon has accepted a new job in Seattle, Washington. So with much excitement and a little heart ache we will be relocating there. Jon starts his new job in February and I will follow with the kids when we have closed on a new house.

I am just starting to panic a little bit about the amount of effort this is going to take. Moving cross country with three kids and a dog. Keeping my house ready to show at the drop of a hat with three kids and a dog. I, by nature am an assimilator. I have lived all over the place and am excited to try out a new local. But the process of getting there is a little over whelming.

Blogging and crafting will be taking a backseat until we are settled. I will be popping in from time to time with little updates on the moving drama.

I still plan on doing the sew along! And will be contacting the folks that emailed me while I was on vacation.

Sew along with me?

2009-12-18T16:56:00.001-06:00

Is it to early to post a New Years Resolution? I normally dislike resolutions. This one potentially involves you. So you may really dislike them now too. Think of it like talking a girlfriend into taking an exercise class with you because you know your never going to do it by yourself. This, ladies, is a sewing work out.

I have stacks of old / vintage darling patterns. I want to sew them all and somehow fail to do even a one. What I am proposing to anyone that is interested is that we sew one together. Starting with this darling 1930's number.

The envelope is in bad condition. The pattern pieces are perfect and directions intact. What I love about the pattern is the front seaming detail and the simple button closure on the back. I already have a picture in my head of doing this little dress as a shift with no sleeves or collar. Some piping to bring out the front and cute vintage buttons. I have looked at all the pieces and they fit together beautifully. They will go together smoothly for anyone willing to give her a go. The pattern is a size 4. With a finished chest of 23 inches and nape to hem of 22 inches. This will fit my size 4T Ella perfectly.

The Sew Along Proposal:
I will organize the sew along. Collecting participant information, linking to your blog, creating a Flickr group and so on.

I will trace the pattern and mail it off to the next participant who will then trace it and send it off to the next on the list and so on.

Depending on how many sign up we will plan to start sewing one week in March. I think we will have time to make this an international gig if we limit it to the US and one other country. Let's say 10 sewers total.

Each participant will blog their fabric choices, modifications, problems & success's. Finally posting pictures of their finished garment.

If we all have a blast doing it we can select another pattern and start all over : )

Are you game? Leave a comment here or email me at sonji98 at yahoo com

Click on the pattern pictures for a close look.

Lovely Finds

2009-12-17T19:49:00.000-06:00

A little impromptu thrift store visit yielded the following fun crafty goodness. For local ladies & gents the following finds are brought to you by Unique in NE Minneapolis.

Three rolls of vintage Lions Brand "Petti-Lace" in Mint Julep and Orange Creamsicle. Each roll was originally 40 yards. I estimate that there is more than 50 yards of the mint and 30 yards of the orange.

The polka dots are flocked on a sheer colored fine mesh. The mesh is attached to the net lace underneath and the two layers can be pulled apart.

Fun Fun Fun!

I had to bring this home with me too.

30 yards of striped one inch suspender/belt elastic. There was just so much of it. What are the odds that I will ever come across 30 yards of suspender elastic again?

How about these sweet acetate ribbon bundles. Once again there was just so many of them. I apparently have a thing for volume and the letter S.

Blog Find

2009-12-17T06:10:00.000-06:00

My SMS giveaway lead me to several lovely new blogs to cyber stalk. These were the blogs that on first viewing earned an instant spot on my reading list. Here is my recap!

// Between The Lines // Lovely pictures, clean aesthetic, simple crafty goodness from Paris no less. And best of all it's written in English!

Sew I Do Novita living in Tokyo, a darling wallet tutorial, beautiful pictures of her sewing style.

Stitch-Craft Crafty Mama working for the Associated Press and writing about the things she makes. So many wonderful projects to be found here!

Scrumdillydilly The blog name is enough. Think pink & aqua vintage recycled crafty lovelyness.

Sweet Sweet Life Amy has a very sweet life indeed. Her blog is wonderful eye candy and so is her
"evolving list of everyday inspiration" blog role.

I must have a real thing for blogs that start with the letter S.

Good day!

Growing Business

2009-12-15T16:50:00.000-06:00

It's official! Children have aged me. I can't believe that I looked so much younger 6 years ago. 6 years! That's less than a decade people. Goodness! But look at that sweet little dolly that I am holding. That is Soren, the child I worked so hard to get. She is 6 today. All of my insides are saying "scoop her up and poor her precious body into my chest cavity and keep her there forever". How can love hurt so much. I absolutely ache for the weight of her baby-ness. I don't want another baby. I want this one to stay little forever. Alas, I am told that this is impossible. So I will move on.
I have been on a bit of a sewing binge. I whipped up a Christmas skirt set and Birthday skirt set over the last 48 hours. The Christmas set was worn to school yesterday. The Birthday set was worn to school today. Please excuse the chocolate milk drips and paint.

For Soren's Birthday T Shirt I used 6 tally marks. The tally mark idea came from Erin over at House On Hill Road. It was a huge hit at school today. The skirt is made up 12 panels each in a different print from Anna Maria Horner and Jennifer Paganelli fabrics. The skirt was also a big hit. This was a fantastic way to use up some scraps and fat quarters. Best of all, Soren is crazy about her skirt and Birthday t-shirt.

For the Christmas set I used Michael Miller Funky Christmas fabric. The ruffled bib on the t-shirt was so simple and fun to do. I want to make myself one!

Hard Work

2009-12-12T14:20:00.003-06:00

Wow! I must say that coming up with three interesting, inspiring, thoughtful and useful surprise packages was harder than I could have imagined. I created pile after pile based off my three winners interests and styles. I edited, rearrange, re-thunk, walked away, slept on it, then edited some more. In the end I am pleased with the outcome and hope more than anything my winners will be very pleased too.

I wanted each package to contain some inspiring reading. So I culled through my library and picked books or magazines that I thought had loads of creative eye candy in them. Projects and pictures that these crafty gals could add their own personality to. I also wanted to send at least a yard of nice fabric that the recipient hopefully doesn't already own. Finally, I wanted to send notions that complimented the fabric and allowed each winner to make something without having to buy a bunch of stuff.

Package One: Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross, 1 Yard of Far Far Away Double Gauze, Orange Vintage Buttons, Vintage Orange Bias Tape, Gutermann Elastic Thread

Package Two: Cotton Time, Cotton Friend and Cotton & Paint japanese craft magazines, Japanese Goldfish Linen and a coordinating print fabric, Vintage rick rack and seam binding, Blue buttons and Gutermann Thread.

Package Three: Zakka Sewing Book, 1 yard Michael Miller Pear Fabric, Vintage Cotton Bias trim and Rick Rack, 3 Gorgeous Large Vintage Wood buttons and Gutermann Thread.

These packages will be in the post on Monday!

Surprise after Surprise!

2009-12-07T08:09:00.001-06:00

Well several surprises really. First off I am surprised by the number of people that took the time to enter my surprise giveaway. 396! That is so many more people than I what was expecting. I have spent the last few days visiting everyone that left a comment around cyberspace. I learned so much about all you people. I now know that lot's of you like Orange! Orange? I was so surprised. And that I might very well be that last person on earth not quilting. This next year I am going to save all my fabric scraps from sewing clothes and give them away. I will make a quilter very happy. Surprise! The last big shocker for me is that if you ask people what they like many of them will actually tell you. I mean really tell you in a meaningful way. Answers chock full of excitement, hope, humor and color. Thank you to everyone who shared. It has been so nice getting to know you :) I found some new blogs to follow and still have many that I want to go back and explore. I will give a blog goodness recap on my findings later this week.

On to the Giveaway! Because there were so many entries I decided to give away more than one surprise package. Random.org picked the first winner and it was:

abcgirl
said...
intriguing hook.... you got me!
i currently love to sew quilts. my favorite color is that shade of yellow-y green that could be either yellow or green, depending on what's next to it. and i have a terrible habit of collecting fancy ribbons and not using them because they're too pretty.

Then I picked two more! First I randomly picked someone who has choosen to follow my blog. It makes me feel so good that people think what I am making is worth coming back to look at:

Simply EC
said...
OK, I'm game! What fun. (And I love your blog, you make really interesting stuff, and your oilcloth cover tutorial is JUST what I've been looking for as we need to keep the table that was my husband's grandmother's mess and scratch free!)
I like making bags, jewelry, useful little things. I love to sew, I love making clothes and embellished clothing for my son, myself and my friends' children. I love buttons and trims. I love making toys. And I love vintage patterns. LOVE them. I've also discovered patchwork recently and love doing that as well.
My screenname just about everywhere is "arimethia: (flickr, craftster, twitter, etc.) and other links are on my blog. Thanks for the giveaway!

Then I picked someone, based on their comment, that I thought could use a little pick me up surprise in the mail. It is almost Christmas after all. The perfect time to pass on a little goodness to:

Mama24Monkeys
said...
I adore surprises and sadly I rarely ever get one so I hope I win jst for the surprise.
OK, about me...I don't have a blog to help, so I'll do my best. Mostly sew for kids. I have 4 boys under 5 and tend to sew more for boys(wonder why?) I love making baby blankets and have just discovered quilting this year. I love flannel fabric in fun prints and minky. I have a bad case of stash envy. I have a very pathetic stash (at the moment I have 6 fat quarters) I tend to buy just what I need and haven't brought myself to just buy fabric because I like it. I have to have purpose before I buy. My new year resolution is to let myself buy fabric just because I like it and not because I have a planned use for it. I rarely use patterns, but when I do my projects always come out better with more ease then without. My favorite color combos are blues, greens, greys - reds, pinks, oranges - purple, green, gold. I knit, crochet and crosstitch but want to learn how to aplique this coming year. I think you now know more about me then my hubby. Thanks for the chance to win.

I will be contacting all the winners today. I will post photo's of the surprise packages next week after I know the winners have received them (can't spoil the surprise).

SEW MAMA SEW GIVEAWAY DAY

2009-12-02T07:15:00.004-06:00

I am giving away a surprise.

Kills you doesn't it?

I will tell you that it will be a fun box of vintage sewing supplies (trims & buttons) and modern fabric (from the best of today’s designers) all culled from my vast collection. If you sew for children there may be patterns. If you love Japanese craft magazines I will stick one in your goodie package. Vintage Patterns? I have boxes of them and love to share. You get the idea.

All you have to do is tell me what you love to sew, your favorite color & if there is a sewing item that you particularly love to collect (buttons, fabric, patterns, antique lace) so that I make a custom goody score just for you. The winner will be chosen randomly. After I pick the winner I will assemble a special box of goodies just for you. I will be looking at your blog, shop or flickr photo's to learn more about you ;) so share that info too. The more I know the more special the box will be!

Advent Web

2009-12-01T14:46:00.002-06:00

It all started with this sweet elf, the advent web that I did weave. Well, sew really. Last year I started on this advent elf with the help of Calamity Kim's Tutorial. I had been admiring the advent elf in the Garnet Hill Catalog for some time. When I ran across Kim's awesome tutorial, I sat down in a frenzy of fabric & trims to whip up the rather large fellow. I knew I didn't have time to get all the pockets on before the December so I decided to put one pocket on each day. About half way through December I failed. And so this sweet elf has been sitting for an entire year incomplete. Now, another December 1st is here and I have been unable to face the elf. I am going to sit him by my sewing machine in the hopes of completing him this year.

In the meantime the children still need an advent calendar, right? I decided to whip up a version of this advent calendar from the latest issue of Marie Claire Idée’s.

I had everything on hand to do something similar. This is how mine turned out!

I used 24 inch wide Poultry Fencing (chicken wire) to hang my jute upholstery webbing pockets on. The poultry fencing is finished along the running length. I cut the fencing to size and wrapped the cut edges around sticks from the backyard. I used a black paint pen for the Noel and numbers. Little clothes pins attach the pockets to the wire. I love that the kids can turn each pocket around to the blank side at the end of the day. Even better is that this project took two hours start to finish!

Fitted Oil cloth Table Slipcover ~ Mini Tutorial

2009-11-21T10:08:00.009-06:00

Let me just say right off the bat that this idea has been around forever. My Grandma used to have one of these covering her big round oak kitchen table to protect it from hot coffee mugs and daily wear and tear. Also, let me say, that the green table in the photo's is my kids messy table in our kitchen. I made no attempt to scrap off the layers of glitter, glue, paint and breakfast crumbs that covers each chair. It's a real table that takes on the brunt of my three little people daily. So pardon my mess!

The oilcloth on my table has been in use for at least two years. You could use chalk cloth but I don't think it will hold up as well for a table that sees real use.

What you will need to make a fitted table covering for a round or oval table:

~Oilcloth large enough to cover the top of the table plus at least two inches to wrap around the edge. If your table is very think you may need more.

~Scissors or pinking shears

~1/4 inch elastic (the circumference of your table is more than enough as you stitch it on stretched).

~Sewing Machine with a heavy duty needle

~All purpose sewing thread to match your cloth

Sewing the fitted oilcloth cover:

1. First you need to draw your table on the wrong side of the oilcloth (in pencil). I rolled my cloth out on my kitchen floor and flipped my table over onto the cloth to trace around it. For my cloth I used a metal compass to add 2.5 inches all around my table tracing. You can also measure the diameter of your table ,divide it by two, then add 2.5 inches to that number and use a pencil and string (big compass) to draw your circle onto the cloth.

2. After you have cut out your circle or oval it's time to start elasticising the edge. I just eyed a 1/2 inch in from the edge but you could draw a line all the way around as a stitch guide.

3. When I started sewing the elastic on I tacked the elastic in place with a few back and forth stitches. You can use a zigzag stitch or straight stitch. I do not have a special foot for sewing on elastic. I stretch the elastic as I stitch it to the oilcloth. Stretch and stitch the elastic, working slowly, all the away around the cloth tacking the elastic again at the end point.

4. Done! Sit back with a hot cup of coffee and enjoy your new spiffy table.

UFP's a post about nothing

2009-11-12T13:56:00.006-06:00

I know I am not the only person around craft town with a boat load of UFP's. What is a UFP you ask? Unfinished projects my dears. My whole life feels sorta like one big UFP right now. Shall I give you the run down?

~Ella got 5 stitches in her leg and needs to have them removed today- 1 UFP
~Dining room / Sun room remodel project needs completion and both rooms complete redecoration- Technically that's 3 UFP's
~Several needle felted cake toppers and assorted critters that need eye's and other necessaries - 5 UFP's
~No less than 8 sewing projects cut out and supplies gathered for holiday giving - 8 UFP's
~One advent elf from last year that needs completing before December this year - 1 UFP (though with all those stink'n pockets it should count for more.) Even worse the new Marie Claire Idees has a new one I want to make!

~Boxes of stuff to photograph to put up in POCKETFULL shop - I'll say that's just 1 UFP
~Then there are a slew of inherited UFP's all involving my mother and needle & thread which I feel some historical weight to complete/alter/use in some fashion as I can not stand to throw them out!- 6 UFP's This one I need to photograph for prosperity.
~ Promised UFP's in which I have promised folks tutorials, pattern pieces or some other bit of creative knowledge (1 tut, 1 pattern, 2 life size woven trees and 1 felting class) - 5 UFP's
~The final UFP is a big one and it's probably where all my mojo has gone. That's because it's a secret UFP and I am not aloud to share it with anyone outside my house. I think the weight of this one is preventing me from completing any given task. UGH! - One massive UFP.

Grand total: 31 UFP's

I could probably add a few if I thought real hard about it for a bit. What I am hoping for here is through the public admittance of total complete failure and acknowledging how I am feeling about said failure, I will find a foothold out of my UFP funk.

Ella Boo Bella

2009-10-12T14:56:00.020-05:00

Little Ms. Ella turned three over the weekend. It also snowed here. Both are equally shocking. Cold wet weather does allow for some good party throwing and crafting so that is what we have been up to. Ella having an October birthday in a house with a mama who adores Halloween ends up with a pretty creepy birthday bash. No, not Crappy! CREEPY.

This is the third year that Ella has had Southern Living's Chocolate Pumpkin Cake as her birthday yummy. It is so good and makes a very dramatic presentation. The recipe is HERE. The black cake stand which of course I purchased just for making this cake is HERE. The cake stands come in spectacular storage hat boxes just in case your tempted.
Due to the snow I had tender plants to bring inside. This is a large cast concrete bird bath basin filled with succullents from my garden. Instant centerpiece with the addition of a human skull.

The glittered spider and vulcher silhouettes admired our guests as they supped. I printed off silhouettes from google images and glued them to orange card stock. I then painted in the shape with glue and poured on the glitter. My pictures are not doing them justice as they are quite sparkly and alluring.

Our yearly goul or witch (changes each year) Neighbor Greeter was present to welcome our family, friends and fow. The foot traffic in front of our house increases dramatically after I put up something scary. Lots of kids come up and have a picture snapped or inspect our scary's. However, come Halloween night many of the same children cross the street when they come to our house. We have creepy music playing, rats creeping out of crevices ghosts lurking in the mist. Mostly I think it is the murderous screams that scare them off. Oh well...more candy for me.

What do you think of that playdough hook? Her normal nose just wasn't very witchy.

On the front porch I put my much loved Crow in my also much loved antique birdcage.
On Halloween night I light votives in the cage for a very spooky effect.

I managed to get one spooktacular skirt sewn for Soren. Ella's matching skirt is cut out and just needs to be sewn up. I used the same skirt pattern as this one HERE.
As a little crafty bonus I was able to make this banner for above the dining room buffet using left over scraps of Halloween fabric from the skirts and random bits. It was so fun to make. I mounted the fabric using photo mounting spray from a photography class I took a few years ago. The stuff worked great for sticking the fabric to the cardstock triangles. Addictive! Now I am all tuckered out and have caught a virus. I'll be back in a week or so.

For The Love Of Bias

2009-10-07T13:30:00.009-05:00

I absolutely deplore the making of bias tape.
However, using it is a pure simple joy.

This little pinafore dress is "Siiri" from Ottobre 1/2009 slightly modified to use bias on every edge. I sewed my very skinny Ella, who is wearing a 4T, a size 98 with size 104 length. She is swimming in it! Darling easy to sew pattern. I have plans for another one but I will sew a size 92 with 98 length.

Oh back to the bias. Isn't it darling? I am in love with it's polka dotty crocheted goodness. I ordered it from here. It comes in several colors, stripes and florals. I used a little under 4 meters for Ella's dress. On the next one I sew I want to line it completely like this little number here.

I had a little help in finding the tunic dress and bias from the links above. Heather from Heatherty Featherty lead me the shops that sell both the bias and the tunic. I love Heathers clean aesthetic. Her simple style kind of gives my colorful crazy creative brain a light sweeping and organizing from time to time. Her sweet etsy shop is sadly empty at the moment but go take a peek at her sold items and you will see what I mean. On top of all that, I recently received a fun little package in the mail from Heather.

In doing some destashing of her fabric collection she was kind enough to send these turtles my way. That sweet little feathered fabric bag is what the fabric arrived in. Such a nice touch. Thank you Heather! My Miss Ella, having declared the feather bag hers, is now using it as a treasure sack for all her little bits. The turtles will soon be something sweet for her too.

DESTASH in progress

2009-09-22T12:52:00.006-05:00

Back away slowly. This is your only and final warning..........

Do you know what happens when a woman who comes from a long line of woman who could recreate the worlds history of handicrafts should all of humanity be wiped clean from the earth and along with them every craft book DESTASHES? (insert a little overzealous horn tooting here)

It's almost to much to think about isn't it? I have been collecting an impressive collection of random interesting bits for half my life. Once again I come from a long line of woman who have done just the same thing so I can hardly take credit. I am also fully aware that people naturally think that there stuff is the greatest stuff ever. In any event, having given some thought on how to disperse of my most amazing stuff, I have decided to start another ETSY shop. As I go through stuff and decide that I can indeed go on creating without said stuff I will photograph it and possibly write something quippy to describe it (or not depending on my mood) and then put it up in the shop. It won't happen overnight. This is a slow destash. A destash with thought.

Up first are primarily items for Halloween and fall crafting. Stay tuned for more than a Pocketfull .

Firsts

2009-09-10T09:36:00.005-05:00

I didn't shed a single tear at school. In fact I gave a big high five to Jon and congratulated myself on selecting the perfect school and lucking out with a fantastic teacher for Soren. However, at this moment as I am downloading pictures from the camera I am a little misty. How did I manage to grow a Kindergartner in such a short period of time?

Soren is so confident of herself at this moment. This...I am five and I run the world moment. This...I am a girl and I rock moment. She thoroughly anticipated that we would just drop her off on the school house steps and she would find her own way to class. This was the first push off of many to come. The moment where your child looks at you with those eye's that say "get lost, I can handle this on my own".

So I will say adieu to my little girl and embrace this new creature that has emerged. There is no doubt in my mind that you will find your way darling. No doubt at all.

Hedgehog Parade

2009-08-24T12:52:00.011-05:00

I have a true fascination with hedgehogs. I love looking at them. I love everything about their pointy little faces, and pudgy wrinkly feet. I almost bought one once. Thank goodness I held on to him first because that little guy was prickly. I also adore those big red mushrooms with the white spots. I want to live where those mushroom grow. They make me happy inside just knowing they exist somewhere. Mrs. Ella is modeling Ottobre 1/2009 Babushka Pinny number 2. No babushka yet though :) I used aqua 12 wale corduroy, cotton gingham, red cotton velveteen, wool felt for the hedgie's, grass and mushroom stem. I used the red velveteen to cover the buttons and some of my Textile Garage Sale trim stash for around the bottom.
I think I am going to make a couple more. They will be perfect layered over a t-shirt and leggings for preschool this fall. Not so much dress to manage at potty break time and simple enough for her to dress herself. How many of these would be too many I wonder?

This pattern is a great blank canvas for my imagination.

Applique is addictive......

Acorns for Squirrels

2009-08-21T15:30:00.008-05:00

I have come to the realization that sewing with the fabric in my stash needs to happen quickly. I purchased the acorn print corduroy last fall meaning to sew pants from Ottobre with it for Soren. When I pulled it out this year Soren looked at it and said "too babyish mom". Ugh! When I looked through my stacks of fabric I became slightly panicked knowing she was suddenly going to say that about most of the prints I was hoping to use this fall. Now I am on an Ella sewing binge in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Ella is happy when I sew for her. She doesn't make demands about cut and color. She doesn't have an opinion about whether I make a dress or a skirt or even pants. She just beams at me with her big blue eye's and says "For me mama ? Tank you Mama, Tank you!". Then she gives big bear hugs and wet noisy kisses and holds her new clothes tight to her chest. Awe shucks, she is nice.
"You dress me up mama?"
You bet darling! Can I take your picture too?
"Uh huh mama, I show you my squirrel mama."

Ella, Momma loves you baby!

"Luvs you too mama. Miss you too mama. I get down now mama?"

Jumper: Babushka Pinafore Ottobre 1/2009

Fabric from Joann Fabrics fall 2008

I used the Squirrel applique pattern from the same Ottobre issue. I layered two

colored buttons over each other and sewed them on with embroidery floss knotting

the floss on top of the button instead of on the inside of the garment.

Pants: Portabello Pixie Ruffle Pants

Giraffe Food

2009-08-21T12:04:00.008-05:00

At the Minnesota Zoo a few days ago the kids had the opportunity to feed the Giraffes. Rye crackers is apparently what giraffes eat. Two rye crackers for $5 which I had to borrow from my friend Karen because there are no ATM's in the African bush.

Soren followed up the day with a horrific long black tongue licking her nightmare in the middle of the night. She was so freaked out by the way the giraffe's long tongue was hand like in it's ability to grab on to stuff that's all she talked about for at least 24 hours.

Ella didn't say a word......just stared at the sweet spotted head in amazement

Soren even though she kept screaming and dropping the cracker every time the giraffe tried to take it from her, thought she should comfort her little brother just in case he was scared too. He wasn't but how thoughtful of her to transfer her fear to him so that she could get a little distance from it.

Birds of a feather & skirts stick together

2009-08-15T11:18:00.010-05:00

Erin McMorris Park slope fabric is really amazing stuff. I love the patterns and color ways. I just don't seem to get sick of it :) This is the other skirt I made made last weekend. My sweet heart is not in a picture taking mood so there were slim picking to choose from on the photograph front. I used the Farbenmix Summer Love Skirt ebook pattern (SommerLiebe ebook). It is a four panel skirt with two options for the waistband (stretch knit or woven fabric). If you google it you will find lot's of creative examples of folks sewing with the pattern. Also search Flickr. Amazing! The pattern is a snap to sew with and I love how small each panel is. You can use up a bunch of small pieces of fabric in one skirt. It's so hard to find good printed knits with enough stretch around here. Banberryplace has loads of the stuff in great Euro prints if you go on the hunt and they have a sale going on this weekend. So for this skirt I used my skirt fabric and a third print. I got to use some of my crochet cotton lace trim for around the bottom! Just a note on sizing. I sewed a 136/140 for Soren who is wearing a size 6/7 US. She is tall and thin so I opted for a size bigger than what I would buy in Euro sizes to get a little more length on the skirt.

More Park Slope! I sewed this last fall but never took pictures of it. This skirt is so tea with grandma. It has a sweet girly vintage style to it with a modern pop of color.
The apron is attached. I make apron strings to insert at the side seams of the waistband.
The skirt still has an elastic waistband. And the apron strings are functional. So convenient to not have your apron fall off when the strings come untied.
And here's one more from winter.
This time I took a vintage sheer nylon apron apart and pieced it back together while assembling the skirt. I used the same method of inserting the apron strings at the waistband side seams. The apron even had a pocket with a hole in it that I was able to remove.
I am really looking forward to hitting the sewing machine again in a few weeks. Yea for back to school!

Back to school sewing!

2009-08-10T09:15:00.006-05:00

I loved back to school time when I was a kid. I took Soren shopping over the weekend to pick up school supplies and it brought back all kinds of good memories. School supply shopping was one of the few times each year where my parents let my brother and I get whatever we wanted. It's not the same anymore with a class supply list. Soren doesn't get to label any of the things we purchased as her own. And she didn't get to pick out favorite pictures or characters for school folders. Though I understand the premise behind buying supplies for the class versus the child it does take a little of excitement and build up out of back to school. I think I can make up for it with sewing school outfits that are unique to her! The sewing bug hit hard this weekend and I have several things to share. I'll post today about her first day of KINDERGARTEN outfit and share the rest latter on this week :) I know what your thinking......the apple motif is totally over used. And I agree completely...sorta. I had planned on doing a letter S with flowers but this little lady said she wanted an apple. So an apple I gave her. I had been looking at the Alabama Stitch Book and was struck with hand stitching the applique on instead of using my machine. I love the way it turned out. I used embroidery floss and the hand stitches really added some depth and interest to what is a very simple image. Really it was faster than doing it on my machine just because I didn't have to change thread colors 3 times.
For the skirt I used this fabric from equilter.com
They have lots of fun prints appropriate for back to school. Just type "script" into equilters search box and look through all the prints. Be patient and look at all the pages or you will miss some good stuff!!! Another note about this fabric is the print runs parallel to the selvage. I missed this little detail when I ordered but fortunately I had enough to do what I wanted. The red and white polka dot is vintage from my moms fabric stash.

For the basic skirt I did 2 inch box pleats instead of gathering. I also put a really big 5 inch hem on this one. The combination of the box pleat and the wide hem is really lovely. The fabric lays nicely at the waist and balloons out to the hem. The wide hem gives the bottom of the skirt so much more body. I love the combo and will do it again. By the way I didn't iron this! This fabric washed up very well and came out of the dryer nicely.

Little Vintage House Coat Pattern

2009-07-29T09:57:00.010-05:00

Every once in a while I come a cross a vintage piece of children's clothing that brings back such vivid memories of my childhood. The pieces of clothing that my mother sewed for me are the ones that I recall loving most dearly . This little house coat, though I never had one, was the type of thing I would have loved. Very ala' Brady Bunch don't you think? It is in poor condition, but home it came with me anyway. When I tried it on my almost three year old I swooned (why didn't I take a picture?). I just adored the shape and fit. Now, I don't quilt, but this little coat may be the thing to make me start! It is made from cheater quilt fabric but I can clearly see it made from true quilted pieces. So the little coat sat on top of the wanna-be-sewing projects for a couple of months.
My husband being the most amazing man a crafty gal could be married to surprised me with taking the three little people to the lake for the weekend. Leaving me to my projects and general mess making. While standing around wondering what to do with myself I spotted the little coat and set to work. A lady with more patience and quilting love could probably have fixed this little coat up. Since I am not she, I deconstructed, traced the pieces and scanned them in as a pdf for you to print and make your own. Cheers!

Click here for the pdf

The file is stored on rapidshare. Click free user and then download.
The only piece that I didn't take apart was the lower "skirt" portion. It is constructed in four pieces with gathering along the top edge. For my purposes I am going to use one piece with gathering. The four panels just seemed over kill to me. You folks with good pattern skills can easily recreate the four panels for your own purposes (they are gathered at the top with an Aline shape). The single panel I will use will be a rectangle measuring 40 inches wide by 22 inches. The finished length of the panel is 19 inches once hemmed. This pattern will fit a child wearing a 3-4 T. My Ella has just started to wear a 4t and it fits her beautifully. The sleeve piece is broken up into three pieces on the pdf. I put a 1 inch registration box on each pattern piece. So when you print them you can measure the box and see if the pieces printed to the right scale.

Gathering along top edge of skirt (I know that's not the right term but I am too lazy to search for what it should be called) panel.
Showing bias tape used to finish the neck line.
Zig zag stich along hem
Really nice hand stitches for hemming the sleeve.

I am going to make one out of a vintage chenille bed spread and another with my Flower Power fabric winnings from Sew Mama Sew a few months back. I would love to see what you make! Feel free to ask questions if you have any :)

Blueberry Picking

2009-07-17T15:56:00.006-05:00

The Lilliput people and I spent the morning picking blueberries at Rush River Produce in Madien Rock, WI. My dear friend Karen organizes this blueberry picking craziness each year. And i thank her wildly for the experience each year. If you live in this part of the country make your way to Rush River. Absolutely worth the drive.

So what do you get when you combine 3 moms, 7 kids, an 1.5 hour stunning drive through river towns to the blueberry farm and a rather chilly morning. Believe it or not you get 3 relaxed and tired mamma's, 7 happy blue tired children, more blueberries than can safely be consumed by a small village and a 1.5 hour drive home!

I did not take many pictures, however if you click on the farm link above you can see more pictures of the farm. The children, being unaccustomed to this much space and freedom, ran themselves silly tired in the sprawling maze of blueberry bushes. I am impressed by how long they all stuck with the picking. My three picked for a good hour straight. Of course they ate most of what they picked, so there was the motivation :) Fortunately for us the owners of the farm are long time friends of Karen and they happily let all of our children run free and gorge themselves on the blue stuff.
Tracy, Karen & I, being ladies who lunch, fixed a wonderful spread for our delicate pallets. I am joking of course! Karen is the kind of woman that always comes prepared (she prepared lunch for all of us on the spot). I could go on and on about the joys of being friends with this woman. But time is precious and I don't want to give her a big head. So just let me say that if you have ever dreamed of having one more woman around the house to help with the never ending work, This would be the woman you would want. She does it all with the most splendid sense of humor and flair. Back off! I have first dibs.
Karen made this Guacamole in the field from scratch. See what I mean? A real gem.

Around Here....

2009-07-15T09:26:00.012-05:00

It seems that this time of year I have really big plans but practically zero follow through. There are so many things that I want to make, sew or redecorate however summer time is not cooperating with me. Wedding Cake Toppers are eating up most of my creating time too.

Remember all those wooden hoops I picked up at the thrift store? Well I finally did something with them. I filled them with Good Folks fabric by Anna Marie Horner and then hung them randomly above the lamps flanking the couch. I am just loving the fresh pop of color they are adding to the living room.

And how about this burst of color? Yellow really is a very happy color don't you think? These are large Lions Mane Marigolds that are very tall (3-4 feet). We had a bit of rain and those big blooms ended up face first in the mulch. The problem with this type of flower is that if you cut enough stem for a regular vase you loose a lot of flower buds that will never open. When I have this problem I use my antique rose bowl to contain the flower clippings. I am so crazy about this vessel that I thought I would share a few pictures of it. It is a Victorian piece meant to hold a mass of short stemmed garden roses. There are many flower varieties that if you cut a long length of stem you are wasting a lot of unspent buds.
If you ever find one of these at a flea market or antique shop pick it up. You will never regret the purchase. The lattice pattern on the top acts like a flower frog making any short stemmed flower cutting stay securely in the bowl. Talk about a quick flower arrangement. Nothing could be more simple. And I love how modern the arrangement feels.

On the sewing front I managed to wip up a couple simple drawstring backpacks for Soren & Dunn's mornings at summer camp.

Dunn wanted a military themed back pack. His first fabric choice was army men with guns but I had to put the kibosh on that. I didn't think the summer camp nature center crowd would be appreciative of this type of fabric. So after much negotiating he decided on this camo helicopter print.

For Soren's I used a vintage gingham pillowcase that had white work (embroidery) along the case opening. I am crazy about this one! And better yet so is she :)

Lake Life this 4th

2009-07-06T10:20:00.008-05:00

We are so fortunate to have a family lake home on stunning Deer Lake only an hour from our house. We are even more fortunate to have a slew of cousins to spend weekends at the lake with. I didn't grow up with cousins in close proximity. However, watching my children's relationships with their cousins develop over the years has been a real source of joy for me and them too. I will also say that nothing speaks Americana like a gang of wet, tanned and laughing children running around a watery playground. These are the moments my little people will remember and reminisce about with their own families one day. And these are the carefree imperfect snapshots that I am sure I will be cherishing for so many years to come. Happy Birthday America!

It's a Giveaway!

2009-06-29T06:27:00.007-05:00

I do not do that many giveaway's and I have never had one on my own blog (nothings changed). This giveaway is like a PBS TV kinda thing. You know, your kids watch PBS for years and you never donate during drive time. Well, not you exactly, me. I will admit that I have never donated to PBS (guilt ridden).
However, sometimes something so amazingly Momma altering comes along that I feel a need to participate. This is one such example. I read The Crafty Crow Blog religiously. Incredibly inspiring blog if your a mom of little ones. And after a few visits you will find Cassi's ability to hunt down everything she posts pretty inspiring too! There are days that I visit more than once looking for projects to do with the kiddos. Sanity saving projects for when three Lilliput people are hanging on you all at once, moaning with despair and boredom. So I am doing a little giveaway over on this amazing blog right now! I can't imagine that there is anyone in blog land who has never heard of The Crafty Crow. If there is, and you are reading this right now, then I just did my first PSA (Public Service Announcement). Go bookmark The Crafty Crow right now! Your Momma of the year badge may well depend on it. Thank you Cassi for all that you do!

Collecting Polish Dolls ~ Red shoe diary~

2009-06-22T14:13:00.017-05:00

If I collect something, it is usually a useful item. Transfer Ware china (to complete a set), fabric (for clothing), sewing notions, vintage linens (to use), antique euro lithographs (for art) to name a few. Yes of course, over the years I have collected beyond need in all the above categories. But it's still useful stuff. Just more than I can use in this lifetime.

Rarely do I become smitten with something that doesn't have a purpose other than just making me stink'n happy. The thing that has stole my heart are these.

They are Polish tourist dolls from the 60's. They are poseable, stand on their own and come in a wide variety of dress. Many are blond and have mohair wigs. On the way to me right now are three red head dolls. Two girls and a boy with a beard! I will take pictures when they arrive.

I do love a good pair of red shoes. These laced up boots are to die for.

Oh my that nose! And those sideways glancing eyes......are you in love yet?

Little Bo Peepish.

Tea at grandmas?

Ooh Sailor boy, you do make my heart swoon. The dolls with hand painted eyes are my favorite. But I like the transfer eyes too. I have found no information about why some are hand painted. I am guessing it had to do with artistic ability or the area they were made in.

Ditch the girl sailor boy.

With any luck I will have a Hansel doll on the way to me shortly to complete my Hansel & Gretal Fairytale. And yes the witch is missing her nose but I think I can glue a new wood bead in it's place (that's what it should look like). This doll should have a big ol' round wood nose. Look at her eye brows! Goodness.

Nothing would make me happier than to find a box of blank doll bodies so I could dress them my self. How fun would that be?

Making Vintage Style Play Food

2009-06-12T13:53:00.015-05:00

The play kitchen area at our house has seen a great deal of action over the last few years. The food items and play cookware migrate all over the house to be incorporated into other play. So, as it goes, I too spend a great deal of time playing...er... I mean cleaning up the pretend cooking chaos. I have made my share of felt foods and shopping bags in an attempt to off set the plastic and cardboard store bought stuff . I have purchased a wide range of classic dishes and stainless cookware because it pleases me too. But hands down the best things in our play kitchen are a stainless steel bowl, child size vintage hand beater (couldn't find it today) and these bags of flour and sugar. Items that have "real" qualities to them are always a hit with my little people.

To make the bags I used vintage label images printed in mirror image onto Avery T-shirt Transfer Paper. I made traditional square corner sacks out of light weight linen. Crafty Daisies has a tutorial for squaring corners. Muslin or flour sack towels would work well too. I filled my sacks with real flour and sugar which gives them the most splendid feel and weight. A tiny bit of flour dust comes through the material when you smack it. I find this irresistible but you can double bag the flour or use plastic pellets if you do not. I closed the top of the bags on my serger. I then folded down the top 1 inch and ran a straight stitch across the serged stitches to make sure the contents stay in the bag. This is a super quick project and would make a fantastic gift with a bowl and beater or felt cookie dough and rolling pin.

Here are the public clipart images I used plus a few extra. Just click on them and save them to your computer. When you get ready to print, put the images into a PowerPoint or Word document so that you can fiddle with the size. Make sure to select print Mirror Image in your printing properties so that when you iron on the transfers the words will be readable. Drop me an email or leave a comment if you have any questions.

You can find more wonderful labels in Labelstone's Flickr set (check out the dog and cat food). And at Dover Publishing where you can sign up for free weekly clipart images sent via email (wonderful source of vintage poster art and food labels). Or just Google Vintage Food Labels!

The thing I did Instead

2009-06-11T17:12:00.006-05:00

Instead of the things that I should have been doing. It's not that often that I am granted an afternoon to craft or sew. I usually tuck such indulgences for between 5:30 am and when my first little person rises sometime around 7:00 am. That's my free time to do what ever nurtures me. Today was an exception. My dear friend Karen had Soren and Dunn over to play date with her two kids. The wee Ella took a nice long nap so I had about three hours of free time. Free time which really should have been used to get caught up on chores. But instead of mama washing the windows and prepping for dinner I made something new.

I have been working on a couple of owl patterns for felt. One to sell in my shop and the other for potential publication in a crafty book for Spring 2010. Creating PDF's is hard! Not the PDF part but the drawing of patterns, scanning them in to the computer, fiddling with them for hours, making them pretty and printable. Hard! I have so much appreciation for pattern designers now. There must be some good software for such things. If you know of any please pass names my way.

I love projects like this owl which use up all kinds of little crafty scraps. Crafty scraps accumulate at my house like crazy. It's like they get together when I am sleeping and reproduce. I also spent some time today sourcing wool felt for owl kits that I would like to put together for the fall. Finding wholesale sources for supplies is so time consuming. So, if you know a wool felt distributor pass along that info to me too please.

On the way to me........

2009-06-03T06:10:00.007-05:00

Well, I made out big time in the Sew Mama Sew May giveaway. I made out twice actually. That sounds a little naughty doesn't it? Just a sec........let me wipe the silly grin off my face.

First, on the way to me is one lovely custom tunic similar to this.

It's actually on the way to Soren of course. It would have been too selfish to get it for myself. Even if the lovely Heather was willing to sew it in any size and color. I think this will make an amazing swim cover up now and then a darling top for school in the fall. Heather is the owner HeathertyFeatherty on Etsy which is a very charming little shop if you would like to order one of these numbers for yourself (that wouldn't be selfish).

Since the giveaway gods were apparently smiling on me I will also be receiving this super cute bundle of goodies from the very talented Melody ! Melody's Etsy shop TheWillowTree has sweet softies and the most amazing sock monkeys. Look in her sold items to see her Sock Monkeys because there are not any in her shop at the moment but it's worth a gander (I love the punk one). I have wanted to make a sock monkey forever and now I will get to because the socks come with the directions . As for the baby shoes and taggie I have the perfect baby to gift them to.
Thank you to Heather and Melody for the very generous giveaways!

Far Far Away again.....

2009-06-01T15:27:00.001-05:00

This is the second installment of sewing with Heather Ross double gauze from the Far Far Away line. I used a peasant dress pattern from one of my Japanese pattern books and altered it a bit. I gave the dress a drop waist, full skirt and a ruffle neckline. Soren loves it! I think it's too long and would like to bring the hemline up around her knee but she won't have it. And this is a girl who knows what she likes. So I won't risk her not wearing the dress just to make it suit my desires :) The benefit of all this length is that she will be able to wear it for like 4 years! It's going to fit way longer than her willingness to wear the thing.

The bottom is serged but I have yet to turn a hem . Soren wore it all day anyway and you couldn't tell it wasn't finished. I was a bit worried that this print might be too sheer in white. It's not. In fact, I wouldn't dream of lining this print even if it was a garment for me. This is the second dress that I have made with this ruffle neckline and I love it. I think I will be making more.

How To Make Graduation Caps

2009-06-01T14:15:00.004-05:00

I made 12 graduation caps for Soren's preschool class graduation last week. My baby is off to Kindergarten! This was my second year making these caps and I thought others might like to know how to make them too. The store bought caps just don't stay on sweet five year old heads very well but these work great and are sturdy for the dress up bin at home. I probably should save this for next year but maybe I will re-post it next spring. These would make fun party decorations for any graduation get together as well. The measurements noted here are for a preschool head. Adjust accordingly for an older head.

Graduation Cap Supplies :

~Black Foam Core

~Black Poster Board Paper

~Craft Glue (clear drying)

~Brass Brads

~Pearl Cotton or embroidery floss for tassels

~Scissors

~Exacto Knife

~Ruler

~Cutting mat

~One Nail or an awl

First Cut the foam core into 9 inch square pieces using an Exacto knife and ruler. I got six pieces out of each sheet that I purchased. Use something sharp like a small nail to poke a hole through the center of each square. It's easier to do it now. Just use a ruler and measure on the diagonal to find the center.

My poster board was 22x28 inches so next I cut 22 inch x 4 inch strips for the cap bands. Measure your intended wearer with a piece of paper or a tailors measuring tape around the head right above the eyebrows. If you want to get really professional take the strips to school and wrap them around each graduates noggin and mark the perfect fit. 22 inches worked perfectly for this preschool class.

Mark a 1/2 inch line along one of the long edges and snip little slits all along the edge to the line.

Turn each strip of poster board into circles (tube) by overlapping the short ends and gluing into place. I used clothes pins to hold my paper while it dried. I only overlapped my ends by 1/2 inch as the kids this year had massive heads! I did vary the sizes but a smidgen so that each child would have a cap that fit them well.

When the bands are dry fold over all the little tabs to the center and apply glue to the tabs. Center the circle band on the square and press it into place. Then set something heavy on top until each hat drys. I used cereal bowls inside each hat to hold the band down. Mine fit perfectly inside each hat resting on the little tabs. I also put a salad plate on top of the band for extra pressure.
While all those hats are drying you can get to work on the tassels. You can probably order tassels but they are super easy to make. I used a spool of pearl cotton. Embroidery floss will work well too and it comes in so many pretty colors. I wrapped the pearl cotton around two of my fingers (middle and pointer) 20 times to get it thick enough for the tassel part. Then cut a 19 inch length of the cotton to pass through the center of the little bundle and tie off. Next tie another little piece about 1/4 inch down the tassel to secure the whole thing. Lastly I cut the loops on the bottom. Ta da tassel!
Stick the string ends through the whole in top of the cap and a brad too. Then tie a knot in the string on the inside of the cap and fold down the little brad tabs. Really bad picture....Sorry!

Sit back and soak up the accolades that will rain forth by all the other parents greatly appreciating your efforts at making their child's graduation a shining moment :)

Shoot me an email or post a comment if I need to further clarify any step.

And the Winner Is......

2009-05-31T12:13:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-05-27T13:27:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-26T15:56:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-05T10:29:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-04T14:13:00.000-05:00

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!

I Won Something Fabulous

2009-04-29T10:50:00.000-05:00

It's true. I can hardly believe it myself. The amazing Sew, Mama, Sew blog held a contest for the creative use of fabric flowers in honor of the incredibly talented designer Jennifer Paganelli new Flower Power Fabric range. I entered my flower pocket skirt. I was certain I wouldn't win (what are the odds, right?)after they featured the skirt during a reminder post for the contest on their blog. Not to mention there were some pretty amazing entries in the flickr pool. Rose Hips crochet flower pillows seriously made me green with envy for her talent (grand prize winner). Go check out the Flickr Flower Power Pool for your daily dose of creative mojo.

Yep, I did a whole bunch of happy dancing and grining and chating with crafty pals. And yes, On the way to me is that lovely 12 fat quarters pictured above (or some other combo possibly). You can get one for yourself (no I am not sharing) here. Woo-hoo!

Jumping through Hoops

2009-04-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

Embroidery hoops that is. At my favorite thrift store yesterday I found these wood embroidery hoops (9 hoops for $10). No one needs this many hoops but I was thinking of them as frames. Frames for all the zillions of fabrics that are almost too beautiful to sew with. I have seen this idea floating around the blogs for a bit. So clever! What a wonderful way to create some inexpensive graphic art. And best of all when I get tired of looking at the fabric print on the wall I can take it down and actually sew with it!

After redoing the girls room I have yet to put up art. So I thought I might use some of the hoops for their walls. I am crazy about Etsy artist Elizabeth Hurley's embroidered fabric art. I might try something along these lines with big flowers and vintage chenille. I think they are very charming. She also has some framed in hoops. I had the chance to see one of her pieces in person at Crafty Planet in North Minneapolis and it was very nicely done. Love her fabric choices and color combos.

During the same trip I also found a couple vintage U.S. flags. You are either a flag person or your not. I am. Especially if they are old stained flags. I have this one hanging outside my house this very moment. I just love it.

I picked up this one too. It is HUGE. And absolutely splendid in every way. It measures around 7 long. I hung it from porch swing hooks in my front porch. And as you can see it reaches from the ceiling to about a foot off the floor and is almost as wide as the porch itself. It is way to big to hang anywhere in or on my house but I still had to bring it home with me. If you could see it in person you would understand why. It is stained and discolored to cottony antiquary perfection. God bless America!

Fabric Goodness

2009-04-23T14:10:00.000-05:00

I feel like a little kid skipping around and singing "Lucky me, lucky me, lucky me"! I finally had time to go through my haul from the Textile Center Garage sale. Really go through it....and touch it, and play with it and sort it. Kinda like when I was little and would dump out my Halloween treat bag in the middle of the living room floor and spend an hour pondering and organizing my sugary luck.

I didn't walk away with as much fabric as I thought I would. But what I did get I like very much.

This is a vintage screen printed imported heavy weight linen that was $4 for two yards. The colors are crazy vibrant. I love, love love it. Have no idea what it will become. I just like looking at its texture and color so maybe it doesn't have to become anything.

This one was a surprise! I thought it was vintage but when I opened it up it was actually an Ikea Curtain Panel. It could be vintage Ikea. But since we have one here that is about 5 years old I hedge a bet that it isn't. It is super long and the fruit and veggies are in some of my favorite colors. $3

Absolutely obnoxious turquoise and lime green pique border print. 2 yards $2. Have no idea what this will be either but once again the color got me. And two other woman in my group were ready to snatch it from me if I changed my mind.
Heather Bailey Bijouxi Tiled Primrose 2.5 yards for $10. I already have several of the coordinating prints form this line so I was glad to get this.

I also picked up more bags of trim, laces and ribbon than was appropriate. On woman joked that I was a trim whore. I think she may have been right :) Mind you this isn't all of it.....

Wow! Do I love this color. An almost complete roll of turquoise ribbon with polka dots, roses and crochet running the edges. That blue and green one is knit or something.

Lots of the woven white and red trim. It has a Scandinavian feel to it and I can think of many places to use it. Good velvet ribbon always gets my attention and the fact that this one is in my favorite green makes me giddy.

See the blue floral bias tape in the middle. If I had purchased nothing else at the sale I would have been happy. It is vintage but I can't say for sure from when. It is folded bias and it is beautiful. The top tiny floral is another lucky me. It is double fold bias from the 50's I think. There is just enough for a small project.

Lots more wovens. So fun.

Vintage lace. The very delicate barely there kind. Several feel like linen. All of them are something natural except the big one on the end.

more.

That black and white lace is very fun.

More lace in pretty colors.

Vintage Bias will buy it every time. Especially if I can find it in pretty colors.

Packs of hem lace tape.

I have never seen this Clara Cow Spool Friend before. She had bias trim wrapped around her. Really thin fine good cotton stuff. Anyway, you cut her out and attach her to an empty spool of thread. Copyright 1935. Click the picture to enlarge it!

Lastly another cardboard insert from bias tape with an apron pattern printed on it. So sweet. Click the picture to read the directions!

I could go on with more pictures. On and on but I think everyone will get the idea. Trim whore.

The Textile Center Garage Sale

2009-04-20T20:01:00.000-05:00

Attending the preview night of the Textiles Center's annual fundraising garage sale was the highlight of my weekend. Maybe my month. I have never been to The Textile Center in Saint Paul prior to this so I had no idea what the event would be like. A couple gal pals were wrangled into going with me. There is always power in numbers especially at this type of event. When we arrived at the Textile Center we found a block-long line of women waiting in line clutching carryalls. I had a brief moment of panic realizing that I didn't have the forethought to bring a bag for the treasure I was bound to score. Excitement quickly replaced the panic as the line swiftly moved into the building and throngs of woman spilled into the garage sale room after turning over a $25 fee. I seriously let out a squeal when I saw all the fabric stacked head high on the tables. Not only fabric, but bolts of fabric, trims, unfinished projects, patterns and every imaginable sewing supply one could ever dream up. Total overload! I just started stuffing anything with possibilities into my one paper grocery sack. Then proceeded to fill my arms as well.

After I was so laden with fabric that I could no longer look through the stacks or catch the occasional fabric avalanche off the tables I made a pile against a small open wall. The benefit of going with friends is that while they are searching they score stuff for you and hand it off as they pass. At the 10 minute warning call the gals and I sat on the floor by our piles and quickly sorted through our load trying to thin it out, doing some swapping and congratulating each other on a pretty fantastic girls night out and the many tresures each of us found. I have an urge to do one of those priceless commercials now.

Admission fee to charity event ~ $25

Beautiful fabric and copious amounts of trimmings ~ $43

Sitting on the floor with friends going through your score ~ Priceless

Afterwords we hit a local pizza joint to celebrate our crafty windfall over a slice and a beer. Just perfect!

The Round About Pocket Tutorial

2009-04-15T15:40:00.001-05:00

I have been toying with a circle pocket design (mostly in my head) after seeing a picture of a dress that designer Heather Bailey had sewed. The dress featured a flower pocket complete with petals where the center of the flower was the pocket opening. So stinking cute! I went right to work sewing Soren a skirt featuring this type of pocket. I had no idea how to construct such a thing but pushed forward determined to make one similar. I turned out a wearable skirt but wasn't completely satisfied with the function of the pocket. Many months later I was still dreaming about this pocket and went on the search for a better method. After speaking to a professional seamstress friend I was pointed in the direction of vintage sewing books. Apparently circle pockets were once a popular look in athletic wear in the 60's. Go figure. I eventually hit pay dirt and found a description of how to create this type of pocket. Which I will now share with you. I am no pattern maker but may attempt a PDF if people are interested and can't follow my written directions here! ; )

The first step is to decide how large you want the hole to be. I made my circle 3.5 inches across. You can use a compass or find something to trace around. To make the pattern piece draw your circle on a piece of paper. Then draw a half circle 1 inch larger on the tops and sides of the circle. Draw straight lines down to create the overall pocket size size you desire (make sure it won't hang out the bottom of your garment). I think this picture will give most people the idea.

You will use this piece as the pocket lining (back). Cut one out of your pocket fabric.

Cut a second piece out of your pocket fabric with the center circle removed for the pocket facing.

Now use the pattern piece with the center circle removed to find the right placement on your skirt . Trace around the circle on your fabric.

Cut the circle you just traced out leaving a big scary hole in your beautiful fabric!

If you are going to add petals around your hole do it now.
Put your pocket facing on top of the hole in your fabric with right sides of fabrics facing each other. Sew all around your hole.

Turn the pocket facing to the inside of the garment and press.

Top stich around the circle close to the edge.

Flip your garment over and place the pocket back over the hole alining it's edges with the pocket facing.

Sew pocket facing to the lining. I used my serger.

Pocket Complete!!!

You can use bias tape around the hole instead of facing the pocket from the front. If that makes any sense at all! Here is a picture. Just assemble the pocket and join the pocket to the back of your garment edging the raw circles with bias tape.

Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross

2009-04-14T10:42:00.000-05:00

Love the Heather Ross weekend sewing book. The pictures are wonderful and I have enjoyed reading it. I actually didn't know anything about this designer outside of her lovely fabric. But took the plunge on the book because like my Japanese pattern books I thought the projects would be easy to customize.

The apparel patterns are way off on sizing in this book so I spent the better part of a day drafting the pattern to fit me, cutting and then sewing the dress. After all that I still needed to alter the finished dress a bit more to get it wearable. I am so happy I made a pattern so that I can make another one....maybe. But if I had to start all over again I would skip it. I am a size 4 and I think the summer blouse pattern in a size small is more like a size 8-10.
I took lots of pictures as I drafted the pattern, marked my changes and made the dress. But frankly it would be of no use to anybody because the changes were so extreme. So I am going to skip it. If I do make another dress I am going to change the placement of the bust darts. And make the skirt portion more straight instead of the a-line shape it has now.

I dropped the camera and broke the lens to bitsright after taking the dress photos!!! So sad because I finished a darling dress for Soren this morning that I was dying to take pictures of. A truly blissful sewing project using a vintage sheet with charming results. I hope that I will get to share soon.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

We had the usual Easter sugary goodness and surprise this morning. I did manage to get all three to eat some scrambled eggs and cream cheese before they hit the crystalline sweetness. The best part of every Easter is hunting for the eggs. The children love this! This year they were all lined up at the door like thoroughbreds before a big race. Chomping at the bit and tense with excitement. Jon and I could barely get our shoes on and grab a camera before they shot out the door. We love watching their delight repeated over and over with each egg they find. This is such a simple pleasure that I think I will hide the eggs in the yard during the summer just for fun. Nothing in them. Just for the joy of finding them.

On a totally personal level I am going to confess that one of things I enjoy about Easter is the chance to assemble baskets that I know each one of them is going to enjoy. I love picking out special little things for them with out feeling guilty for buying them stuff they don't need. They are still young enough so that there is no competition between them. No comparing the baskets contents or who collected the most eggs and thus the most candy or money. So lovely. They are in the moment and just excited for their own individual windfall. They also have joy for their siblings happiness too. They congratulate each other upon the finding of an egg or for a discovery made in the basket. What a nice morning filled with very happy children and sunshine to boot. I Couldn't ask for much more.

Sewing New Spring Nightgowns

2009-04-10T07:17:00.000-05:00

Soren is a nightgown girl. She loves them and will wear nothing else to sleep without a pout to go along with it. So about three times a year I batch sew nightgowns. I love how sweet she looks in them. I especially love sisters in matching nightgowns but Ella will only wear one occasionally. Hopefully that will change over the summer :).

For this batch of spring nightgowns I am using cotton fabric and the Claire Portabellopixie Pattern by Sandi Henderson available here. I love this pattern because it sews up quickly and the sizing is perfect. I have sewn sizes 3, 4 & 6 and each fit just as it should with a bit of growing room. The only modifications I make to this pattern for nightgowns is the length (Soren likes them to hit her foot but not the ground) and I make the skirt less full. I have been using the entire width of the fabric for the skirt on all the sizes and have found that to be a practical nightgown fullness. The added benefit is there is no fabric waste which I LOVE!

A craft Pinata just exploded in my house

2009-04-07T16:14:00.000-05:00

That will be my excuse should anyone just pop in to visit this evening or probably tomorrow too. I don't know about anyone else, but I can create the biggest crafting mess you have ever seen. And not just in one zone. I spread my crafty chaos around. No flat area is spared. I walk around while I craft. Dunno why. Just do. This is the buffet in my dining room. I have two projects going on plus some shipping and photographing work. I have been sewing allot for the girls. And needle felting up a storm for wedding orders. Not to mention a few crafty detours along with the work.

There is no good reason for this woolly mess. I had a feverish moment of needing one more wisp of pink wool. Pulled every color out of the bag to find it.

In the sun room. The ironing board is there as well. Couldn't take a picture because it's cover is so ugly. A new one has been on my to do list for at least two weeks. A new iron too. There are more pictures. But I think you get the point. The mess is so big at this point that cleaning it up and putting everything away properly is going to be an undertaking.

I big light bulb moment today was because of this mess. I thought, now I understand how my children feel when in a creative flurry they dump out an entire bin of the littlest Lego's imaginable to find just the right piece and then I say to them now you are going to have to clean that up! (massive run on) The look on their sweet little faces is utter despair. How on this green earth am I ever going to clean this up all by myself? I'll be like 10 by the time I get done. I am never going to say that to them again. My modeling behavior is telling then to be free...create. And that's just what I want them to do. I'll help clean up the Lego's. So let me leave you with a couple happy pictures born from my creative mess.

Sweet little Mint Julep birdie for a custom order.
Flower Pocket skirt for Soren.

Fishing in the Fountain

2009-04-05T15:52:00.000-05:00

What a crazy Sunday. We awoke this morning to find it snowing. Then the sun came out and melted the fluffy white stuff. Warming up the back yard to about 40 degrees. It kinda felt a little spring like. Yes, my son has just a t-shirt on and my daughter striped of her coat. I know it's only 40 degrees and yes they are playing in water. Fishing really. Which apparently works up a sweat. When you spend two months with the temperatures hovering around zero, 40 feels well, like Spring. Looks like it's fish for dinner tonight.