once upon a time....

...there was a boy whose mother never made him any clothes, because she was always sewing stuff for his younger sister. Then one day, she happened to be in Dollar Tree and noticed the bin of t-shirts. "Oh, it might be nice to applique something on one of these $1 t-shirts," she thought. She noticed that right beside the t-shirt bin, there were cute boxer shorts hanging up that not only were his size, but also matched a black t-shirt nicely. "I know just what I will applique on the front," she muttered to herself, remembering that she had the "boy silhouettes side" from the yard of Michael Miller Silhouette Kids fabric still left over. (The "girl silhouettes side" and diamond pattern were used for pants for.. well, you probably know who they were made for.)

So, she purchased the t-shirt and boxers and 20 or so other items and scurried home.

Iron Iron Iron

Whirr whirr whirr

and

Voila!

The End.

ok you creative types, riddle me this

Do you ever get into a funk because you aren't able to create something?

Thankfully I have been able to sew quite a bit lately. In fact, I have several fun projects (dress for my youngest, pettiskirt of sorts for my oldest, a couple of easy quilts) and one or two "paying projects"; but do you ever feel the need to create something outside of your sewing room? Something that doesn't require a sewing machine?

Today I bought these leftover pumpkins that I thought would be cool to paint silhouettes on for my dining room (which has a silhouette theme). I wanted to hand paint "Thanks be to God" on the larger of the two pumpkins, but the letters all started going downhill and I just did not have the patience for it. Sadly, I crashed and burned. But my family took me back anyway.

I searched the arts and crafts store looking for either stencils or something that might improve the looks of these pumpkins. To no avail. As I type this, they have what was supposed to be a damask pattern plus a "splatter" effect all over them. Dear God, they look like hell. And while I still Praise God in all things, I am thinking even He is shaking his head and muttering "what in the wwwworld?!?!?!"

I shan't give up. In the meantime, I did finally create something good:

It is a pink feather, tinsel, and glass ornament wreath with shiny silver accents.

Hey, besides the fact that everyone in my family is still alive, it's the only thing salvageable about today.

making use of a leotard

My youngest needed some "panty covers" to insure her modesty, so I cut the bottom half or so off a black leotard, added elastic - whammo!

But, the dilemma I had was what to do with the leftover top part. And then it dawned on me:

Gather a strip of Michael Miller's Silhouette Kids fabric and attach it for a neat blouse to wear this fall and winter with "yoga" pants or jeans.

for a weekend away

Perfect for a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and deodorant.... especially nice when there is actually a trip involved.

wordless tutorial

go, watch, now

Several months ago, while browsing blogs about crafts and sewing, I ran across mention of the movie Bright Star. The author of the post was inspired by the sewing genius of Fanny Brawne. I had never heard of the movie and did not know what it was about, but any movie that can inspire someone to sew... I had to see it.

Tonight was a night where nothing was so pressing that I couldn't take 2 hours and watch a movie on Netflix. Hubby had work to do, the four younger children were in bed, and my oldest was working on an essay for 10th grade Honor's Lit Class.

So, I plugged in the ear buds and sat down for 119 minutes of sheer beauty from the silver screen. The cinematography, the costumes, the actors.... all quite delicious!

Here are some pics I found from the movie:

Abbie Cornish as Fannie Brawne reads a letter from her beloved Keats while wearing an indigo hued linen dress lost in a field of blue flowers.

nyum nyum - Ben Whishaw as 19th century poet, John Keats

The different linens used in the film alone was enough to make my heart stop, but this triple pleated collar... sent me over the edge!

sweetness

This is another peasant dress I made today using the Elizabeth Claire pattern, only I used a solid panel for the skirt rather than sewing strips. I also used elastic bobbin thread for the arms. The fabric came from Joann Fabrics and I am totally in love with the combination. The main fabric has little people making gingerbread houses and other sweets. Christmasy. The fabric I used for the sleeves remind me of peppermint swirls. I love the gold glittery dots on the chocolate brown bodice fabric. And that pink sash... oh! Scrumptious!

Tip: Did you know you can carefully singe the ends of ribbon with a lighter and it won't fray?