bye baby bunting

This is a doorway or mantel Christmas bunting I made for a friend.

It's message:

Peace

Next up:

Love

swoon

I so enjoyed reading this interview with fabric designer Joel Dewberry.  As far as I am concerned, he is a design genius.  And now I find out that he and his wife are expecting their fifth child.... beautiful! 

Laminate fabric!  Hello adorable aprons, bibs, lunchboxes, and raincoats!

have you cleaned your machine lately?

Labor Day 2011

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Spent a lot of time in the sewing room this weekend as the rest of the family was out of town in various places.  Made pillows for the home of a soon-to-be-newlywed couple.  They get married in a month and are feathering their soon-to-be nest.  First time I had dealt with this type of trim.  It was thick and didn't really want to be co-operative.

But I won.

The pillows with brown and lime green pom pom ball fringe turned out to be my very favorites!

Y'know, I could do this for a living... 

if only more people needed decorative pillows and knew that I rock at making them.

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After that project was complete, I made a table runner for a friend whose family has just moved to a new neighborhood.  I recovered their dining room chairs in the same fabric.

I'd never made a table runner before.

Y'know, I could sew those for a living...

but then I might put the poor children in China's sweatshops out of business.

And I'd hate to do that.

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At the end of the weekend, I cleaned and oiled my faithful sewing machine.

It was well-deserved and much needed.  She made a lot less noise afterward.  But I am pretty sure I heard a small, sweet voice say 'thank you' when I walked out of the room.

help a fellow seamstress

Christine Haynes, is a genius.  I can highly recommend her book, and have.  She is now attempting to start her own pattern line.  Check out the link below and learn all about it.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/christinehaynes/christine-haynes-launches-sewing-patterns

I'll be honest, after I watched her video, I wished she was my neighbor.... what a sweetie!

beautiful spools

for a sweet little friend on her fifth birthday

For a sweet girl whose favorite colors are blue and green.

And who will be going to Kindergarten this fall!

Happy Birthday Cecilia!

second dress for auction

For a younger tot, this little apron dress would fit about a 12 month old.

Although I really really want to win this giveaway, I want to tell you about it, too. I haven't been this excited about someone else's handmade clothes in awhile!

There are just simply some people in the world who can mix and match fabrics and the end result is phenomenal. My friend Tori is like that. These ladies at Lillie Bee have the knack as well. Gives me something to aspire to.

Just look at some of their genius creations....

Akira Kimono Dress

Baby Bubble dress

Gypsy Ruffle Skirt

Blossom Skirt

a new beauty to love

Singer Model No. 27 circa 1910

Gonna have to practice to get the treadle rhythm just right.

Something consistently scratched this area.

the bobbin... odd, huh?

Bobbin case (shaped like a torpedo)

I am a sucker for the details!

Believe it or not, this was a gift from a friend! It was in her grandmother's house and when they cleaned out the house, she did not want it. I was honored to give it a home. I actually have it in my silhouette themed dining room, because just look at the detailing on the legs!

Interesting to note: Our house will be 100 years old this year and since this is about the same vintage, I will display it proudly. I really hope I can master working it well enough to make something lovely.

one word

Farbenmix!

I just ordered a pattern from Germany and I am so excited about it.

Lookie here!

The one who dies with the most fabric wins.

Ready.

Set.

Go!

first offering for the silent auction

A friend of mine asked me to make a couple of the funky boutique dresses that I have finally started producing (thanks to my inspiration, Tori!). With her request, she also brought me a huge bag filled with fabric remnants from projects she has done in the past (she is a quilter and a crafter).

Let me just tell you, I could not wait to get my hands down in that bag of fabric!

Here is the first offering, a halter front dress with an elastic waistband in the back. It can be a dress for when the winner is a toddler and a fun shirt with leggings as she grows older.

front view

back view

I. Absolutely. Love. the purse fabric with the black background!!

sneak peek

fabrics used for "the birthday dress"

No. 5 has a birthday coming up on "Mawch Fiff" and to help her celebrate the whole month leading up to it, I have a little dress in mind.

finally gave birth to this idea

oooh I just love these fabrics together.

brown, orange, white, and aqua

A-line dress

scallop stitching detail on the sleeves

I wish I had taken the chance to make this dress back in the fall, but I made it big enough so that #5 can wear it for several years, first as a dress then as a tunic. Even though it is made with lightweight fabric, you can bet your sweet tart I am going to layer it over a turtleneck and tights and put it on her this week!

le lapin

C'est un lapin.

I know I know, it looks more like a triceratops than a bunny.

Just don't point and laugh. She might get upset and take bites out of the legs of your furniture when you aren't looking.

a surprise for the surprise

There is a new little pink package that surprised her mommy and daddy recently. Since everybody loves surprises, I decided she needed a car seat quilt... just a little something to keep her cozy on those cooler days.

I loved the paper doll backing fabric so much that I cut one of the girls out and made a quiet dolly for church.

Mommy can also use the mini-quilt for a changing pad or something to put down for a little "floor time." When sweet baby girl grows into a toddler, she can use her blankie for her own dollies, wrapping them tenderly and putting them to bed. If it lasts that long, her mini-quilt can be made into a pillow sham and she can use it on her teenage bed.

Over the years, I hope she knows that it was made with love and prayers for a beautiful childhood.

file under: favorite things

Y'see, I have these towels which are my absolute most favorite towels in the

whole

entired (hat tip to #5) world.

However, it seems that I have loved them to pieces. Literally!

Here you see that one actually has a rip in it.

Oops, did I do that?

However, because I am too cheap to buy new towels....

I now have towels that are even better than they were this morning.

Mended.

Lovely.

Designer even.

what's under the needle......

While at Goodwill over the past several months, I have picked up pieces of clothing with interesting fabrics with the intent of making something. Course, I had no idea what it would be, but the intent was there nonetheless. The last time I was there, I found the most wonderful thing to date: a circa 1960 paisley woman's summer weight robe. Amazing fabric. I knew my older daughters would rather die a thousand deaths than to be caught dead in the thing, so its days as a robe were numbered.

Narrowing down the fabrics to work with was a challenge. To go with my amazing paisley score, I added two men's shirts - one a 3xl orange and brown stripe (great cotton!) and a Old Navy size M red-orange Hawaiian number. To compliment the three fabrics, I grabbed a few scraps from previous projects.

Next, I began the search for just the right pattern that would both showcase each of the interesting fabrics (which were intended to stand alone) and merge them well.

Enter the knot dress.

... which shall, at least in the case of this dress, be called

The So-Ugly-It's-Cute Knot dress.