Sewing Crazy!

Summer Time!

2009-06-18T20:21:00.001-07:00

Summer is a really busy time around our house, and time just seems to slip away too quickly!

Abby has swim lessons coming up in a couple of weeks now, and needed some more swim class appropriate swimsuits. So today I got cracking on those.

I did make Abby two one pieces, and Andraya a one-piece, but their favorites were the two-piece suits I made them. Andraya put it on, and said, "Oh! You made me a broken swim suit! Like my dora broken swim suit!" I said, "Why is it broken?" And she relied, "See mama, it's broken right here, where my tummy sticks out!" I love kids and the way their minds work :)

I am so pleased with how they turned out, and now the girls are set for summer, playing in the sprinkler and in the pool!

Big Catch Up Post!

2009-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been over a month since my last blog post. What have we accomplished in that time??

A Cow-Cow birthday party for a very special three year old:

A Preschool Graduation for our little graduate:

And a bit of sewing mixed in!

All in all, a great, wonderful, busy time!

Andraya's birthday party was wonderful, with family coming to visit and celebrate with us. Abby was the best big sister, as she decided that she wanted to buy Andraya a special breakfast of doughnuts, with her own money!! So on Andraya's birthday, Abby woke up very early and got Grandpa Bob out of bed (who had spent the night with us), and had him take her to get Andraya doughnuts - at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning. It was incredibly sweet! Andraya got spoiled for her birthday, and is really enjoying playing with everything. I think the cow cow party was a success!

Abby's graduation was way too cute, as a preschool graduation should be. They were all bumblebees, and sang different bumblebee songs (the embedded video is one). Abby was the announcer for the evening, and she did such a great job. A year ago, she never would have trumped up onto their "stage" and announced the songs they were going to sing to a crowd of over 70 people. She is growing up right before our eyes.

Dan is off of work now for the summer, and has been getting a LOT done around the house. The girls are home from daycare for the summer, and really enjoy helping him do everything (though sometimes I wonder about the level of help they provide).

Princess Abby (for real this time)

2009-04-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I never updated my blog with pictures of the Miss Crook County Pageant, which one of Dan's students participated in, and she had asked Abby to be one of her princess attendants.

So here are some pictures!

Before the dress rehearsal:

At Dress Rehearsal with Tonna, and Tonna's other princess, another Abigail!
Before the main event:

Introducing all the little princesses:
Walking with Tonna:

Back to the grind

2009-04-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a huge custom order, and finally completed it and mailed it out this week! So I am taking advantage of some free time to sew for my girls, and also to sew up some instock for my cart.

I decided to start easy and quick, and made them both a couple of dresses yesterday afternoon.

Abby got a mock cross dress from a very spring like print with asian lanterns and fans. I love this print, and I think the color is just perfect for spring!

Andraya found some pink camo knit on the fabric shelves, and asked for a dress with a heart. And a pocket. Okay. Hmmm...... She also needs things with pants for transitional items, because apparently when you are almost three, you think it's funny to grow about 3 inches all of the sudden, making all your pants too short, with 5 weeks left of cooler weather. :) Little stinker!

So this is what I came up with for her, with matching leggings:

That was the one still pose out of many. Most looked like this:

I also sewed up a few things in the girls sizes for my cart. I will photograph those later today, and get my Hyena Cart stocked!

Another project completed

2009-03-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is the week/weekend for getting long planned projects out of the way. First was the swing set we have been planning for spring and summer. Next came Abby's dress for the upcoming pageant. If you have read my blog, Abby is going to be a princess for a contestant in the Miss Crook County/Miss Prineville pageant, and needed an appropriate princess dress to wear (in about two weeks).

The contestant is wearing a red dress, so I thought Abby should go neutral, with a nice white. For an instant I had extravagant plans, and scoured my favorite fabric shops in person and online for lovely fabric. However, I came to my senses before I hit "send order." First off, she's five. Secondly, this isn't *her* pageant or anything of that sort. And lastly, although dupioni silk would have been lovely to work with, I also came to the realization I was having caviar fantasies when my budget was more along the hot dog lines :)

So, coming to my senses, I ran into JoAnns, and picked up a very nice weight, very pretty embroidered satin. It wasn't lovely to work with by any means. It raveled almost instantly, so it forced me to gain a lot of practice on french seaming. But it hangs nicely, and all in all didn't fight me too much. And I think the resulting dress is just perfect!

Here she is modeling it (with her "I've been playing all day" hair):

Back:

Sweet Princess Pose:

It's a full circle skirt, so it's also very spinny!

I am really relieved this is done, so it's not weighing on my mind. With the purchase of the sweet white shoes today, she is all ready for the pageant!

It's Done!!

2009-03-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

The swing set is done!

It takes up quite a bit of room in our decent sized backyard, but it's worth it!

Helping Abby do the monkey bars:

Abby Sliding:
Andraya's turn!
Daddy, my turn!!
Swinging - that smile makes it all worth it!

The girls are in seventh heaven, which is exactly what we were hoping for. There are enough things to do on it, I don't think they will get bored anytime soon!

Summer is coming

2009-03-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

Even though it's about 40 degrees outside right now!

Most of our family has heard that Dan's school district is ending school May 20 (instead of June 13) due to budget shortfalls. Of course this will have a financial impact on our family, but thankfully we are able to adjust some things and make it impact us less.

One of the changes we decided to make was to pull the girls out of their preschool/daycare this summer. They only go a half day during the school year, and they have so much fun there playing, doing art, and all those things that wear them out and make them sleep better. Usually they just continue to do this in the summer for fun, but unfortunately with Daddy's loss in pay, it's an expense we have to cut.

One thing that Dan and I agreed to do was to invest in a swing set for our backyard, something they can go out and play on for (hopefully) extended periods of time. Our budget wasn't a whole lot (equal to about one month's daycare bill), but we were able to get the girls a nice wooden playset:

They are very excited! Now we just have to assemble it. There's a lot of heavy boxes and a LOT of parts. The book even says it will take 6-12 hours to assemble, and I think that's not counting any squabbles over assembly :) So we'll see how it goes!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

2009-03-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Abby announced last night that none of the semi-green things in her closet were suitable for the preschool party today, and asked me very nicely to make her something that would be perfect. Of course, being a spoiled child of a sewing mama, demanding new clothing is not a huge inconvenience.

So, I embroidered and made them each a new raglan, with the last little bit of kelly green knit I found in my scrap basket. At first, while searching for embroideries, I was going to go with shamrocks or something just as festive and typical to the holiday, but then I remembered my goal for this year to make holiday shirts that will be worn again.

I had admired these angels at Emblibrary, but wasn't quite sure what to use them for. However, with green dresses, they worked out perfectly!

Here are my little goofball girls, all ready to go to school:

And they really do love each other (either that, or Draya is secretly planning to knock Abby down):

They had a great party! And reported that neither one of them got pinched ;)

So snuggly

2009-03-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about sewing for other mommies, is that my "customers" become friends too!

One of my long time friend-customers placed an order recently, for some yummy goodies for mamas to be. We were talking about blankets, and she asked if I had minky or something snuggly that I could do an embroidered baby blanket out of. My first answer was no, until I realized that organic bamboo velour would be sooo snuggly for a newborn blanket, and so soft and warm!

So, the bamboo velour blanket was born! Double thickness organic bamboo velour, with a contrasting binding and embroidery. And very exciting for me, I got to use my binders for my coverstitch to apply the binding, and that was fun and worked so well!

The first one:

She loved that one so much (which made my day!), she decided she needed another. We chose a wonderful dragonfly embroidery that refused to photograph well, so the best picture I could get is without the flash on a marginal sunshine day in central Oregon. However, without the flash you can really see the cool embossed effect the dragonfly design had on the bamboo velour. I like this one especially, becuase I feel like it's so delicate and sweet for a baby girl:

Of course, in my habit of oversewing and overstrengthing anything I make, I decided the coverstitched binding wasn't quite secure enough for my tastes. I did a chain stitch, which is really very secure, but I know at least one of my girls loved to gnaw on blanket bindings when she was teething, I think they felt good. So after using my coverstitch to get the perfectly even border, I went back over it with a wide zig zag on my sewing machine. I am certain that binding is going no where now, which will allow me to rest easier.

This is yet another thing I wish that I would have thought of or had the equipment to make for my baby girls. *sigh* But I am thinking it's never too late, and I am very tempted to find some more bamboo velour (at co-op prices, hopefully!), and make them each an embroidered blanket in their size for Easter or just because. I think they need one :)

Princess Abby

2009-03-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

One of Dan's students is running for Miss Crook County/Miss Prineville, and needs a little girl to be her princess at the competition. After pulling some strings because Abby is not yet 6 (as required by the rules), she got approval for her to participate. We are looking forward to the pageant, Abby will just feel so special! I am working on making her a suitable dress for it (still in the muslin phases), which is very exciting for me.

As one of the fundraisers for the pageant, the contestants for Miss Crook County/Miss Prineville put on a princess party for the girls in the community. It was really quite fun! They got their picture taken with a contestant, received a tiara and a sash, and then we ate a light lunch and played games. It really was very cute to see all these little girls all fancied up for a few hours.

Here is Abby, all dressed up and ready to go:

Playing a game (that is Tonna, who she will be in the pageant with):

Picking a prize, in a princess like manner:

Yay!:

The pageant is on April 11, we are looking forward to it! Not something I would normally be involved in, but Abby is beside herself, and being a mom is sometimes about making your kid happy above all else.

Playdresses

2009-02-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

With two little girls in this house, I get a lot of requests for dresses, especially from the big one! I do enjoy making them dresses, but I have been in a huge rut.

As far as knit playdresses go, I am quite picky. There are a lot of styles I don't care for over a certain age, although I don't judge those that do prefer them. One dress I have always really loved the fit of is the Olivia by Farbenmix. I usually just make the underdress on that pattern, which makes a very cute knit playdress.

But, looking back through pictures, that's all my girls wear! I know I have made it a lot, but I didn't realize I had made them THAT many. They will still get some for summer, but I obviously need to change things up a bit.

So, I am trying to broaden my knit playdress horizons. Today I decided to give the Henrika, also from Farbenmix, a trial run. It's basically a drop waist playdress with a full circle skirt, very cute! There are lots of options to add ruffles and all sorts of things, but for the trial run I kept it pretty plain.

I used a Flap Happy overrun fabric, I love this print! I haven't found the perfect use for it yet, but I really like how the fabric works so well with this style of dress. I also used the matching stripe I was able to get to make a pair of leggings, so this cute dress can be worn now while it's still a bit chilly outside:

Abby really liked it, which was a bonus. I think it's very flattering on her:

And like any princess girl, she is most impressed with the twirl factor of the full circle skirt:

The dress went together really easily, and I think I might have another Farbenmix pattern that will become a regular in their closets! Draya will definitely get a dress in this style, I am still thinking about the perfect fabric for hers.

Sometimes UFOs can motivate me

2009-02-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

And no, not the flying saucer kind! UFOs in sewing land are unfinished objects....you know, those projects that seemed fabulous, so you cut them out, and then there they sit on your sewing table for just a few months :)

This outfit was one of those. It's been cut out and embroidered for weeks, but I just haven't felt the need to finish it. Maybe because I wasn't totally happy with the embroidery (it looked cuter on the computer), or I was just not feeling into the project.

Today, I just decided it had to be finished. Period. So here it is:

"This shark is going to bite you, num num!":

I actually do like it now that it's done. I love this forest friends corduroy I used for the pants, and the way the light pink and rust red compliment it in the shirt. Overall, I love it! And Draya was quite happy the pants had pockets. I used my favorite pants pattern for her right now, with pockets, elastic back/flat front waist, and a nice straight leg. I did make them slightly slimmer this time, instead of wide like the birdie pants, and I was really happy with how they fit!

Deja Vu

2009-02-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Dan was looking through old pictures tonight, and we were really surprised at how alike our daughters look at the same ages!!

Abby at a little over 2 years (notice her sense of fashion went back to a very young age):

Andraya at 2 years, 7 months:

Andraya at 2 years, 5 months:

And Abby on her second Birthday with Grandpa Bob:

I just could not get over it, they look so much alike! And it cracks me up that they have the exact same cheesy grin! Dan and I are also thankful that we have moved consistently over the past few years, otherwise some of these pictures would be hard to tell apart in the future! But with the backgrounds changing, we'll be able to use that as a reference to tell which kiddo it is, thank goodness!!

When your five year old teaches you new things!

2009-02-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

I think that is one of the best things in the world!

Abby goes to what I consider to be a fantastic preschool. After one year there, she knew all of her letter sounds, was able to read with some help, could sight read a handful of words, write legibly, tell simple time, the list goes on and on. Since her birthday is in October, she is spending another year there because she was too young to start Kindergarten. This second year has just really reinforced everything, and she is really Kindergarten ready. She can now read simple books with little or no assistance, and is just a very well rounded student. I am constantly amazed by her.

They do spend a lot of time just learning about topics related to different events throughout the year. Naturally this month her class has been learning about Abraham Lincoln. They have learned a few fun songs, and learned about things he did. She comes home and shares these with us, and most of them are familiar. He helped to free the slaves (and yes, we leave it at that simple idea), he carried important documents in his tall hat, he was very tall himself, just random facts about the man.

This weekend she asked us, "Do you know how Abraham Lincoln's mother died?" I responded with an honest "No." Abby proceeded to tell us, "She died from a snake. It didn't bite her, but a cow ate it and she died." Now, I am very happy to learn new things from my five year old, but this had me a little bit confused. So, a quick Google search (thank goodness for Google, I don't know how parents a generation ago clarified things like this without Google!!), revealed that Abraham Lincoln's mother died of Milk Sickness. She contracted milk sickness from drinking milk from a cow that had eaten white snakeroot, passing the toxins on to humans in the milk.

We went back over this with Abby, who stated, "Oh yeah, that's what happened. Yep!" I honestly had never learned this before, and it was pretty interesting to me I love learning things from my five year old :)

Snow is fun!

2009-02-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

We got another round of snow, so the girls were out taking advantage of it:

They get so excited to see snow, and so does Whip. Stretch tends to hang out inside when it's snowy outside, he's a little tender.

Ms. Roboto

2009-02-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

I realized that everything I had made for my guest spot at Necessitae was for boys! My girls, why they definitely prefer girly things, really like fabrics that have monsters, bugs and of course robots.

To keep it girly with a robot spin, I did a fun knit hoodie dress with a pink robot embroidery:

And with a fun knotted hood in the back:

Of course the best part is that if it does not sell, it's Draya's size, so she can wear it this spring!

It's still mama made, but now longer lasting!

2009-02-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy sewing special shirts or outfits for my girls for each and every holiday, it's something that I enjoy! The hunt for the perfect fabric for the occasion, then the design and construction of the perfect garment for that special day, all made with mama's love. Then, the outfits are worn on that perfect day, and usually another day around the holiday or occasion, and then they are thrown to the back of the closet never to be seen again.

*sigh*

So yes, while I enjoy it, I have also become frustrated with the special shirts I make that scream a certain holiday or occasion (like last year's Valentine Shirts) that are worn once or twice, and then never again.

So I have been attempting to make outfits that are appropriately festive for a holiday or occasion, but will still be worn before and after without screaming "I AM A VALENTINE SHIRT!!" or something similar.

This year, when I saw the mad sky hearts and mad sky chickadees in stock at an online fabric store, I knew that the fabrics would be perfect for valentines, but would not look odd worn all year long. So I took the mad sky hearts and made Abby a tee shortly before Christmas, and then for Andraya I made a chickadee outfit about a month ago.

Their Valentine parties are happening at preschool today, so they happily got dressed this morning in clothes they have worn before and will wear again, but yet they look so festive for their parties!

I know I got lucky with these fabrics working out so well! Let's hope I can do it again sometime!

Mr. Roboto

2009-02-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

I am so pleased to guest at Necessitae for their stocking on the 15th! It's such a great group of artisans.

The theme is loosely "Mr. Roboto," and I had some perfect knit fabrics on my shelves for that theme! I had fun cutting into these for spring and summer outfits. I love how both outfits are sort of retro versions of robots, they just make me smile.

First off, a 3T set, raglan tee and board length shorts with embroidered pocket:

I found this little guy to embroider, I think he's a good match, and he is so cute!

A size 6 raglan and boxers set:

And of course, my standby, little bitty boxers! In 3T:

And 4T:

I cannot wait to see what the other vendors come up with for this theme! It will all be available in their cart at 9PM on Sunday the 15th!

Sense of Style

2009-02-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

The conversation today:

Abby: "Mom, are we going anywhere today?"

Mom: "I wasn't planning on it, we did all of our errands yesterday and I have chores to get done today."

Abby: "So, can I wear whatever I want?"

Mom: "Sure, it doesn't matter."

About 20 minutes pass

Abby: "MOM! Don't I look soooo cute???"

She does have a daring sense of fashion! (And yes, she will most likely want to strangle me for this when she is a teenager, but isn't that one of the bonuses of being a mom? :) )

Photography by Draya

2009-02-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Andraya took such a cute picture of Abby and I today! I am usually the one behind the camera, so I had to share this:

Random Cuteness

2009-02-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

I sometimes snap a few pics when the girls are being quiet and still and doing something cute, like:

Cuddling with Stretch: (Doesn't he just look thrilled??)

Lounging in Daddy's chair:

Playing "SUPERGIRLS!"

Cuddling up and watching a movie:

Abby, Carry me!

2009-02-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Something we hear often in this house! Andraya demanding that Abby carry her from place to place:

How she does it, I have no idea. Draya weighs maybe 5-10 pounds less that Abby. What a strong girl! Whip is of course keeping a close watch.

More sewing for the girls

2009-01-05T09:28:00.001-08:00

I am still working on rounding out the girls winter wardrobes, specifically Draya, who seems to feel the need to outgrow everything with a few months of cold winter left to go! :) I made her this elephant shirt awhile back, so I made her some snuggly charcoal gray sweatpants to match:

She was really happy with her elephant pants. I put a stack of elephants on the leg, and I think it turned out really cute for a nice lounging and playing outfit. I love that elephant knit, but sadly I only have a bit more left. I am tempted just to hoard it until someone has a little baby girl I can sew for, it's so cute!

I had Draya try on her pants, and Abby asked, "What sort of pants will you make to match my VW shirt?" as I had made the elephant shirt and the VW shirt for her on the same day. It cracks me up that this kid is so used to having a mama that sews, she just expects things to be made up for her on request. But not wanting to disappoint, I made her a quick pair of velour yoga pants, with a VW embroidered on one leg:

She loved them! She did asked if she was allowed to wear these to school. I told her sure, they are really no different than sweatpants, and she's still in preschool, yoga pants are perfectly acceptable. Her reply: "Oh goodie. These are so soft and comfy they feel like pajamas so I will wear them when I want to be really comfy!" She is really all about comfort anyway, that's why she lives in her jammies. There may be some more yoga pants in her future so she can be comfy and warm all the time.

More presents

2008-12-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

The good thing about visiting family for Christmas over New Years is that it gives me some extra time to get things done, and relieves a little bit of stress!

Our nieces on Dan's side are all little girls. Five little girls, all about six months apart in stair steps (although Draya is the baby, being two years younger than the next girl). They are hysterical together. But I know these girls are like mine, and don't want for anything. So for Christmas, I always try to come up with something unique. This year, I found great big huge coloring books, and made them each a personalized bag to keep them in:

To complete the set, I also made a matching crayon roll (loosely based on this tutorial). There is a pocket in each bag to keep the crayon roll neat and tidy.

I really had a lot of fun making these, and they just turned out so cute!

Next project for the weekend was to work on some clothes for my youngest, who is in between sizes, and just tall and chunky. She's sort of hard to fit (although, as I keep telling her, she would be easier to fit if she would choose to use the potty instead of being stubborn about being the baby and staying in diapers, but that's another story....). So today I made her a shirt from an overrun of mad sky chickadees, and some dark brown no wale cord pants, with a simple embroidery to match:

The pants are big, but not enourmous, and will give her some much needed growing room. I just love that chickadee print, it really makes me smile to see it on her.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was fantastic, with good presents, good food, and wonderful times together as a family.

The girls in their matching Christmas Nightgowns:

With me in my matching pajama pants:

For a present, I made them each a fleece vest, with a coordinating embroidered white tee (if you want to see the embroideries up close, Draya's is here, and Abby's is here)

Merry Christmas! I hope that yours was a blessed and wonderful as ours!

Bumblebees and a busy month!

2008-12-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if I have mentioned this here or not, but my mother in law wrote a children's book, The Bumblebee book. It's pretty cute, and the best part of it is that she had her grandchildren (my daughter Abby and her cousin Samantha), illustrate it! It is so neat.

They had a book signing at her local Borders, and it was a lot of fun. She had stamps made for the girls that were their exact signatures, just in case they got tired of signing. But those little troopers signed every book sold that day, and stamped them too! It was pretty cute at the end, Abby was becoming quite the diva, and every signature also included a smiley face, heart and star :)

Once we found out about the book signing, I was on a mission to make the girls matching bumblebee outfits. Now, bumblebee fabric seems like something that would be readily available, but it's not! I finally found a bit on ebay, and had to squeeze two skirts out of what I had:

We also went crazy and made bumbleebee korker bows to match. It was too much fun!

And here are the girls signing books with Grandma Juli:

It really was a lot of fun. The girls were pretty worn out at the end, but they were so good, and such little troopers!

I have been plowing through orders, and have a stack to get done before Christmas (which I hope to make huge progress on this weekend). It's been busy!

Catching Up

2008-11-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks around here!

Dan carved the other pumpkins, of course (the ballerina is for Abby, and the cow for Draya, naturally):

Abby opening her birthday present from us on her birthday morning (the 28th)

A new Dolly!

The girls were ballerinas for Halloween, they were so cute

And here they are enjoying their rewards of the day/evening:

Just for fun, Abby has been wanting an outfit to match her dolly. I made her a hoodie/leggings set awhile back (you can see it here), so I made her dolly one to match:

They are so cute!

And Draya, being a little nut!

The birthday party and the Pumpkin Man!

2008-10-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Lots of things going on for us this time of year!

Abby had her birthday party on Sunday, it was lots of fun!

This is the birthday shirt she designed, you'll probably see another pic soon for her official five year old birthday picture tomorrow:

Then, on to the fun! We had the party at the local pizza place with a big playroom for the wild monkeys to run around in, they all had so much fun. Their party room is so bright, there are no curtains, it was really hard to get any decent pictures. But the kids had a blast, that's all that matters! I should really find some pizza fabric and make them some curtains.

Opening presents:

The cake:

Blowing out the candles!

She got them all!

The little sister:

She was really happy so many of her little friends came to play. The kiddos were exhausted, it was perfect :)

Now, on to the pumpkin man. Dan has taken pumpkin carving to a new level! A couple years ago, he carved a very cool Dora face into a pumpkin for Abby (when she was going through her Dora obsession). He always does something pretty cool, but his pumpkin this year is just beautiful:

He is working on the girl's pumpkins tonight. I don't want to give away the surprise, but I will be sure to post when they are complete! The sad part is, my pumpkin rotted! I was so annoyed!

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

Daddy didn't have to work on Friday, so we headed over to the pumpkin patch, a fun outing every year. It was warm this year, last year the girls were all bundled up, but this year it was sunny and very nice!

I think I want this one:

TOO HEAVY!
Trying...

Abby found a good one!

Draya picking out one for her class at school:

Abby found a good one for her class at school!

The girls with our haul. :) I was shocked at prices, but we also got some squash to eat (although after having it for dinner last night, the girls were less than impressed), and a couple pumpkins to take to the preschool for fun!

Just one more

2008-10-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

I realized early this morning that the Supergirl knit I have been hoarding would be great for the fantasy theme for Necessitae! So I whipped this up this afternoon before getting down to more serious sewing.

I love the funky look to this shirt, so does Abby. She hopes it doesn't sell, but has been promised a new one if it does :). And I did a reverse coverstitch on the neckline, sleeves and hem to add to the funky look. I love how this turned out!

Fantasy

2008-10-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

I am so honored to be guesting at Necessitae on October 15! The theme I was told was Fantasy, so I came up with some items to work within that!

A dragon hoodie, with a very cool dragon embroidered on the chest. The hood is lined with a Knights of the Roundtable Knit, which has knights and dragons and castles:

And what else? Some matching boxers:

This has been Abby's very favorite shirt, and I thought a custom of it was in order for this theme. It's a perfect princess from Farbnemix, on this fabulous purple sparkle cotton lycra. Can you get any more girly than that?

And this hoodie dress is Draya's, but I am offering a custom:

I adore that dark haired fairy and fairy kitty fabric. It's so vibrant and pretty!

So those are my creations for my guest stocking :) It all goes live on the 15th at 9pm eastern. I am just so honored to be asked, I love guesting!

Sixth Picture Challenge!

2008-10-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sarah took the sixth picture challenge, and I decided to play along! This is the sixth picture from the sixth file in my pictures folder:

We just got a new computer this summer, so it's very recent - Draya kissing her horsey, that Grandma Juli and Grandpa Ed made. :)

If you want to play, do your post and leave me a comment with the link! I would love to see :)

Looky Looky!

2008-10-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am quite excited for my stocking at Hyena Cart on October 7!

Stacy of Nurturing Threads dyed up some brand new colorways to match my fabric, and then turned out better than I even imagined!

Fairy Petals with matching Pretty Posies fabric:

Pixie with matching Lollipop Trees:

I can't wait! I really can't wait to see what sort of custom shirts customers design with these fabrics to match the beautiful yarn!

Ready for the pumpkin patch!

2008-09-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

We are hoping to get over to the pumpkin patch this weekend or next, so tonight I whipped up our annual pumpkin shirts. I really like this years! I snapped up this great jack o' lantern cotton lycra about four months ago in anticipation of using it for these shirts. I found really cute embroideries that match pretty well, and I was so happy!

Here are the girls:

And apparently here Abby is showing off her crazy eyes LOL:

So we are all ready to go and get pumpkins!!

Supergirls!

2008-09-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

The girls love to run around with a playsilk tied around their necks, yelling, "SUPERGIRLS!!!" and jumping all around. It cracks me up!

Awhile back, I ran across a seller who makes pretend capes. I filed her away in my etsy favorites, and decided to finally splurge and just order them. The seller is fabulous, and I received these custom capes very quickly! I highly recommend Superfly Kidz! Of course, it was easy to decide that they would most definitely love the princess capes!

Aren't they just cute? The capes are very well made, I was very happy. The crowns on the back are so perfect, and I love how the two capes are reversed :) And they were thrilled when we got them in the mail!

Andraya has finally adopted a favorite toy. I was really wondering if she was just going to be one of those kids that never did that! Abby goes through phases of what is her favorite, but ever since she was about 1, she has had one favorite toy or another that she drug everywhere with her (the most consistent being Normal Baby - her name for a dolly she has). But Draya never did that. Until now.

She got the cutest little dolly, that is a princess doll with hair. It's just a cheaper Little Mommy Doll, even though I had tried to provide her with a favorite doll in her Bitty Baby and Chou Chou dolls, she was having none of that. What is ironic is Normal Baby is a Little Mommy Doll with no hair. I just think those dolls are so perfectly loveable.

Here she is, their first official photo together:

And a lot of times I will catch her just sitting there loving on this baby. It's so cute!

I made a huge mistake the first night we had this baby though! I was holding it (babysitting it), and I picked up a brush and just starting brushing her hair, it was a little tousled. Draya came flying in and just started yelling at me! "NO COMB BABY HAIR MOMMY! NO COMB BABY HAIR!!" Apparently that was NOT allowed :) She was soo disgruntled, she grabbed her baby from me, and made a big show of rubbing her hands over her head and messing the hair back up to undo the damage I had done. It took all I had to not bust out laughing, but she was so serious, I knew that would just make it worse! Now the poor dolly is just destined to have messy hair forever.

When Big Sister decides she is a hairdresser

2008-09-24T18:58:00.001-07:00

Now that is a fashion statement! I can't believe she sat still long enough for Abby to do that! :)

Shameless Book Recommendation

2008-09-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

I got the most exciting phone call tonight.....my mother in law, Juli, called and asked me to look at a website. In looking at this website, it took me awhile to take it all in:

The BumbleBee Book

Not only did she write a book inspired by my niece, Samantha, and my daughter, Abby, but the girls illustrated it! If you click view excerpt, you can see some of their artwork!

I had no idea she was doing this, and I was just floored. It will be at Borders here semi-locally, and in early November there will be a book signing with her and all the girls!

Abby is going to be so excited when we get a copy of this! I can't wait to see the look on her face!!! And I just get all sappy thinking about reading this to both of them now (the book is dedicated to Andraya), and then someday reading it to my grandkids, too. Makes me all mushy :)

The girls best friends

2008-09-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am just plowing through custom orders right now, getting caught up more everyday! I am just having a little happy mama reflection today.

We feel so lucky to have two sweet little girls, and we also love their best friends :) It's so sweet to see the girls with their puppies, and see how much they baby them and love them.

Andraya and Whip:

Abby and Stretch:

It's funny to me how each of the dogs has really adopted a favorite girl! You can tell how much Whip loves to play with Draya, and Stretch always runs for Abby. It's quite sweet.

Ridiculously Excited

2008-09-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! I have been working behind the scenes on some great collaborations with some other WAHMs, and they are coming together!!

Later this month, I will have the honor of sewing up some shirts to go with gorgeous yarn from Nurturing Threads. Stacy and Jessica are awesome mamas, and I cannot wait to see what colorways Stacy comes up with to match the fabrics I sent! And I am quite lucky that I will have the opportunity to pet some of their lovely yarn while sewing up shirts to match it! I guarantee I won't drool on it though :)

And I have decided to take the knitting plunge. It's just too tempting! I am taking a beginning knitting class the first week of October, so we'll see how that goes!! I hope I have more success than Sarah, but I am not holding my breath yet! ;) If not, I have plenty of knitting friends to send my lovely yarn collection on to where it will be loved and used!!

A little something extra....

2008-09-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

I always struggle with in stock items, when to embellish and when to not embellish?? On one hand, sweet little matchings sets are the things I love most for my daughters, but at the same time, when the shirt only goes with one pair of pants, I feel the need for more mix and match-ability.

So I try to be flexible with customers and their wants for coordination in the tops and bottoms. So when a mama asked if I could add an owl embroidery to my owl wool set, I was happy to oblige!

It's so sweet with this little detail, just the perfect little extra something:

I was surfing around reading a blog the other day (and to be honest, I can't remember which one or I would give credit), and the blogger had posted a picture of herself. It's funny that I read blogs and get a mental picture of the author, and then a lot of times I am surprised in one way or another at how off my mental picture can be.

So I resolved to post a picture of myself. Of course when I decide to do this is a day when my husband won't be home, and my four year old has deemed the camera too "complicated and I don't want to touch it" and my two year old is not looking like a good option.

So, here I am - in all my self photograph glory:

This is me, the author of this blog! And yes, it took some creative cropping to remove the background I blog in - our office/playroom that has a constant supply of toys scattered about. :)

Sewing Girl is here!

2008-09-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute?!?!?!

I love her! Best $3 I have ever spent :) Abby is thrilled because I put her on her side, and is doubly thrilled that she is *purple*. That kid cracks me up!

Now that you need one too, I got her here.

Recent Work, and my favorite thing to make!

2008-09-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

I just finished up another custom order, with some very fun things included in it!!

This customer requested one of my very favorite things to make, a bamboo velour baby lap tee:

I just adore making these. As many of you know, bamboo velour is the softest and silkiest fuzzy fabric ever. It's so nice and snuggly. And making these tiny little tops out of it just gives me baby lust!

Some other things for the same customer included this VW mock layer tee:

And an Ooga Booga mock layer tee:

I love to do these mock layer tees with the last bits of my popular and super cute fabrics. It allows me to use the final scraps of these great knits, and I just think they are adorable!

I am excited for my stocking tomorrow evening, I can't wait to see what my next custom customers design!

Do I need another hobby?

2008-09-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here we are again, it's September. And in our high desert climate, there is a good hint of fall in the air, especially on those chilly mornings. And again this year, that hint of fall is making me think, "I need to learn to knit!"

I have daydreams of knitting up beautiful things out of my yarn stash (what's that you say, why do you have a yarn stash when you don't know how to do a thing with it? Yeah, well, everyone has their issues, let it be!). I have beautiful colorways that really inspire me....my most recent addition was "Snow Angel" by Nurturing Threads. It's gorgeous, a mix of blue and purple. My oldest girly would look fanstastic in it!

And I wander around knitting blogs, including Jessica's, and I get this little burn of desire to pick up my non existent knitting needles and crank out beautiful things.

I have tried to knit before, I have! So far, I have not been good at it! I think taking a class would help me immensely, I am very visual, and I need someone that is patient! I have been waiting for my local yarn store to offer a beginning class again, should be very soon.

Of course, the question is still nagging me - do I need another hobby? I mean, really? Especially a hobby that validates my need to collect fibers of different sorts? Something for me to ponder on this chilly Saturday morning.

Stripes!

2008-09-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

So, I admit, I have never been a huge fan of stripes, or sewing them. There are often a pain in the butt to line up, especially if they are not perfectly perpendicular to the grain!

But for some reason, right now, I LOVE stripes. I adore stripes. It's just crazy! My last post, there were the stripe/solid combinations for the girlies. And then I got in this euro bird knit that had a matching stripe. I just adore this:

I am also trying to be a better sewing mommy for this fall/winter. We moved here last year, and it was definitely colder than the mild climate we came from, and I did not have the girlies prepared well. My mother, thank goodness, ordered me a bumch of velour fleece for leggings and pants for the girls this year so they are warmer. When it's 8 degrees in the morning, jeans are a little cold!! I was so excited when I went to the box of velour fleece and found the *perfect* shade to match that shirt:

It was quite the sewing nerd moment, but I was *thrilled* and my husband was not nearly as excited as me when I showed him. Hopefully someone out there can understand how this was all meant to be, and the excitement of it all!

I usually don't like pictures of the clothing just laid out when it is for my kids, but Abby protested trying these on the day I made them, since it was over 100 degrees. She is obviously not made to be a runway model.

Over Labor Day Weekend, my husband went hunting with his father, and the girls and I hung around the house and got a lot of stuff done! One of the best things I did that weekend was delved into the world of felting wool interlock and dying (dye-ing?) it beautiful colors! Oh my, what fun! Now if only wool interlock were not so expensive.

I loved wool interlock pants for my daughters when they were younger and cloth diapered because they are just normal pants that happen to double as a cloth diaper cover! But of course I was too afraid of wool until now, when we are done with diapers for the most part!

I got over that regret pretty quickly, and put my energy into turning the wool interlock into sets for my shop:

They are all dyed with acid dyes from Dharma in the washing machine with very hot water, and set with vinegar. They are all felted to a super yummy medium weight. I was shocked, though, I bought three yards of wool interlock from a coop and this is all I got out of it! LOL! I do have some large scraps, but still! It's a super yummy wool/lycra blend. I can't even pick a favorite out of these outfits, they are all so different. Although to make it more fun for me, I paired them with some of my all time favorite knits. Those hedgehogs from Japan (courtesy of Shanna a couple years ago!) are so soft and just lovely. I am hoarding the ones on pink for Draya this winter!

Speaking of sewing nerd moments, someone on Sewing Mamas linked to these fab car decals on Etsy, made by Holly. Now, that is a really cute sewing nerd, but when I saw the Sewing Girl, I had to have her, in purple, for my car. I can't wait for it to arrive! Funny thing, my husband just kindly laughed when I showed him. I am not sure he understood that I was serious, I was getting one! :) Good thing he doesn't drive my car all to0 often!

What? This is the most neglected blog you have ever seen?

2008-09-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

I know, I know! This IS the most neglected blog in the world, poor thing. Many of you probably ask - why does she have a blog?

But I have excuses, and good ones at that!

I got a little overwhelmed with orders in April/May/June. Well, that's an understatement. I extended myself too far, didn't take any new orders at all after the first or second week in May, and did not finish up the current orders until the end of June, and that was sewing my fingers to the bone. I was doing it for a reason, though, I knew we would need extra money when we moved into our new home!

That's right, we are now homeowners! Or will be after what seems like a million more payments, but don't sweat the small stuff, right?

It was very poetic, we signed papers for our home on July 14, our seventh wedding anniversary, and then got the keys on the 18th. I have a few things to say about home buying, and none of them positive. It is the most frustrating, unclear, horrible process I have ever been through and the thing that irked me the most was that all these people who are supposed to be "helping" you along the way act as though nothing is a big deal. And I understand that to them, because they see it every day, it isn't a big deal, happens all the time, blah blah blah. However, for us, first time homebuyers who have very little clue what to expect, it's a HUGE deal. That was so frustrating for us.

But all is well, we got the house, we have moved in and settled, and we are very happy. Buying a home here also gives us a sense of permanancy we have never felt anywhere else. The first place we lived after being married we LOVED, and probably would have happily died there, but it wasn't logistical. My hubby was driving an hour one way to work, and I was driving half an hour the opposite direction. It was not a good long term situation. The next place we lived, we learned a lot there, so all of you know the types of experiences that you"learn" from. Enough said. But now we live where we always have wanted to live, and we are both so happy and ready to just stay here forever. It's a good calming feeling.

So, see, good excuse!!

We took a short family vacation over to the Oregon coast after we were all settled in, to sort of destress and unwind before my husband had to return to work. We flew kites (Draya's kite lasted all of 30 seconds before it blew into trees, not to be retrieved), ate clam chowder, went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and all around had a great time.

The girls loved the sand on the beach!

And kites while we still had two:

Then, on the way home from the coast, we took Highway 242, which is a historic highway that is only open part of the year, and it's so pretty and such a fun drive. The best part of the drive is the Dee Wright Observatory.

It's on a huge lava flow, and the house is made out of obsidian. It has peeking holes you look out that point towards each mountain in the Cascades. It's such a fun place. My husband and I enjoyed the history and everything there, but the girls? Eh, they were ALL about the chipmunks!

Isn't he cute? Brave little suckers, too....they came right up to the girls and were begging for more crackers! They had no shame!

It was a fun little trip!

And we also lost our minds enough to get the girls a new puppy - he was a housewarming present!

He is obviously horribly abused

"MOM, he was COLD!!!"

His breeders had called him Whip, and so we adopted the name of Cool Whip :) I love pembroke welsh corgis so much, so I am very happy with our new addition.

So, as you can tell, I basically took the whole summer off of sewing, and it was lovely. I even had intentions of just closing down my business, never to return. I think all that sewing in April/May/June majorly burned me out. But about the beginning of August, I started feeling that itch to create. After sewing up some cute stuff for the girls, I decided that I would in fact stock my cart again, but on a much smaller scale. Another reason I got overwhelmed this spring is that I not only stocked custom slots in my store, but I also accepted customs via email. It was just.too.much. So now I am having be a meany butt and tell everyone to stalk my store if they want a custom. It's very hard for me to say no, but it's also so much healthier for me to say no. I think I have struck a good compromise.

My favorite outfits for the girls so far for fall:

These were made from this great interlock my sister picked up at Hancock's last year. It's striped on one side, solid on the other, and that stuff is THICK. It will be so nice and snuggly when it's cold here this winter. And aren't they just too cute?

That is my quick and dirty update with a peppering of excuses as to why this blog has been soooo boring. I am also planning on making this blog not just about sewing, but about all fun things we do!

Starting to think of Summer

2008-04-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Abby has been in desperate need of short sleeved shirts and other warm weather wear. But she has been eating like a hog, so I have been trying to wait out that inevitable growth spurt that always conveniently happens after clothing is set for the season.

I recently got this tinkerbell on green knit in, and her eyes just lit up when she saw it (being a typical four year old, obsessed with all things princess and fairy). So, I turned it into a cross front top for her (and sister is of course in the picture):

Those girls can be so goofy together: After finishing that up, I remembered how easy and nice looking those cross tops were! So I made her a new dress out of her favorite pink fairy and kitty fabric to wear to Daddy's Banquet. Again, sis is in the pic, in a mama made tank and headband, the rest is hand me downs!

And also some tanks and boxers sets for KandF Shops stocking. I love these for summer. Abby wears them with a skirt or shorts in the summer, and then just wears the tank and boxers straight to bed for a comfy nighttime outfit. I love these prints!

Pattern Testing

2008-04-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

I was pretty excited to have an opportunity through Sewing Mamas to test out a pattern for a fellow mama.

That*Darn*Kat created a pattern for a very cute round neck top and called for testers. With fast fingers, I was able to snag a spot. Yay!

I made it up today, following her instructions and using the pattern pieces emailed in PDF Form. It is sooo cute on my baby girl: (Okay, I may be partial, but it is really cute!)

Her instructions were clear and very easy to follow. I would highly recommend this pattern for any seamstress, and beginning seamstresses can really benefit from some of the little techniques learned through making this top!

I believe she is planning to list it in her etsy shop as soon as possible, so check it out!

And an outfit for Abby

2008-03-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have had this outfit in my head for months, literally, but have never had the time to get around to it. I finally decided it was now or never, since the outfit is so Abby, and really fits her personality right now. :)

So I pulled out my hoarded Heather Ross Dreambikes on Pink, took a deep breath, and began cutting. I love this print, because the banana seat bike was MY dreambike when I was a little older than Abby is now. I wonder if they still make those bikes? If so, Abby needs one!!

The dreambikes became a shirt with simple lines to show of the print, a simple peasant blouse. I then made her a pair of chocolate brown capris, because I am really in love with all combinations of pink/brown and blue/brown lately.

Here's what came out of my labor of love:

And it was all worth it for this giddy little girl:

Seriously, how cute is she?? She also has a matching dreambikes headband, but we couldn't risk messing up the braids done by her most awesome preschool teacher!

The perfectly matching embroidery came from Embroidery Online and stitched out very nicely on my Janome. I was quite pleased :)

So now my poor abused child has one new outfit for spring, and I have also been bitten by the shirring bug. It usually hits this time of year. I have visions of gorgeous shirred sundresses dancing in my head!

More for boys, and some for summer

2008-03-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

I know that I have said this before, but I love sewing for boys. I think because I have two girls (who I do adore), it just feels new and exciting to me. I love sewing little dresses and frilly things as well, but it's so refreshing to sew the nice clean lines I associate more with boys clothing.

For a very spoiled (hee hee) dino loving boy, his mama and I came up with this set:

Yes, that is PRR Dino that I finally cut into, only to find out the day afterward it is considered hard to find (HTF). Doh! Oh well, fabrics are meant to be loved and not stored on a shelf, and I know the kiddo will adore this. I had a lot of fun with embroideries on this one as you can see :) A dino on one pocket, and T-Rex tracks on the opposite leg. I really am on an olive green and brown kick lately, so I was so glad the mama agree to the olive.

What else have I been doing? Well, I was very honored to be contacted my a sweet mama to help her give a gift to a dear friend. The friend is due any time now with a new little boy, and already has an older boy. The mama who contacted me said that the intended recipient had always helped her out and been so good to her, and it just melted my heart. We chose monkeys, because really, what little boy doesn't like monkeys? And I think it's so cute when big brothers/sisters match the new babe. It's just a perfect photo op, becuase you know in a few years they won't go for it at all!

What else have I been up to? Honestly, not too awful much! Just sewing through orders, which is bringing me a lot of joy. I had to sneak in some sewing for my own kids, because the weather is changing and they are getting too warm in their clothes now. You know the old say, the cobbler's children have no shoes? :) I did make up some "perfect" skirt and skorts for Abby, and she adores these. They will be a staple this year:

If anyone is interested in a sew along for this easy partially self drafted skort, leave a comment and I will be happy to oblige :)

More than a Hobby

2008-02-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

People ask why I sew, and then sum it up to a hobby. Which it is - a pervasive, consuming hobby! But I realized as I worked on my latest project that sewing is so much more for me.

This week at KandF Shops we are doing an Easter theme (gosh, Easter is early this year! Yikes!!). I have the perfect Easter Fabric, it's sweet and pink and has flowers and gardening tools and the sweetest little bunnies peeking out of flower pots. I pulled this fabric from my stash, knowing it would be perfect in theme, and felt a sense of desperation. I looked at what I had left (about a yard) and realized that dress I was envisioning would use the rest of this sweet fabric up, and I would no longer have it sitting in my stash.

I know you are thinking, "So what? Big Deal! There's always cute fabric, and your stash is rather, um, large anyway." The thing is, this fabric means so much to me. Seeing it and touching it takes me back to my little girls being babies. Why? Because my sister made Abby the sweetest spring outfit using it -- a onesie from the fabric, and then the cutest sherpa leggings and a sherpa jacket with little bear ears on the hood. She then gave me the remnants from that project, and I made Draya a little bitty baby outfit from it as well. And then she wore the sherpa outfit as a hand me down.

So as I fondle this fabric, which in reality is probably nothing special, just a nice cotton knit, I am taken back to when Abby received that cutest little bear outfit. And then to Draya snuggling in her romper type outfit from the same fabric. You know how they say a smell can bring back a memory? Fabric does that for me.

However, it was too perfect not to use. And while I mourn the loss, I hope some little girl and her mommy will find joy in the last of this fabric:

And those are my somewhat sappy mommy reflections for the day :)

Celtic Fun and Planning ahead again!

2008-02-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

The theme this week and KandF was Celtic Inspirations. I sorted through my collection of embroideries and found some that fit the bill, I was so happy! I found a celtic shamrock I had collected somewhere along the way, and I realized this will also be the perfect shirt for St. Patrick's Day, which we celebrate being Irish.

I have also got to start on my girls' summer wardrobes, or they have no prayer of getting done before summer. In the spirit of that, I made some embroidered capris in the size I think Abby will be wearing now. Thankfully, they do fit pretty well, so now with a few alterations I will have one pattern ready to go to sew for her! I think I will also be using this embroidery for her, I love the simplicity of it. I think that is why I like celtic designs so much, they are simple but beautiful!

I am also VERY excited for this weekend! We have finally saved up enough money that we are going to go and get some real grown-up furniture! We have been married for almost 7 years, and in that time we have been blessed with used furniture hand me downs. Our living room doesn't come close to matching, which didn't really both us that much. We have been paying things off and saving like crazy to purchase a home in the next year or so (if the real estate market would stop tanking!), and we decided it was time to reward our good behavior with something fun that we wanted. So we are going shopping tomorrow, and hoping we find what we want in our budget! It will be nice to have a comfortable place to sit and cuddle with the kiddos, and will be great not to have that expense after we buy our house! I'm starting to feel like a real grownup!

Happy Valentines!

2008-02-14T19:16:00.001-08:00

Ah, the day of love...and the day of the sugar rush around here!

The girlies had great parties at their school, and came home exhausted, full of candy and sugar, and toting bags of valentines from their classmates each. They wore their Valentine Shirts I made them a few weeks ago, and just melted my heart walking around school in their semi-matchy matchy outfits. I do love having two little girls to coordinate.

Daddy got each of them a candy valentine, and they gobbled those up as soon as they were opened. Tonight you can tell they are coming off the sugar high, and will be crashing hard for bed!

I was a bad mama for valentines for their classmates. I had wonderful aspirations of crafting homemade valentines with them, but in the end the Dollar Store valentines with Dora and the Backyardigans won out for convenience!

I hope you all had a wonderful and loving Valentine's Day!

To be soooo tired

2008-02-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

I love how kids can sleep anywhere and everywhere when they are exhausted. Andraya is at that age where when she is tired, she can just crash. Even if it's in a random spot or her dinner plate. I came out the other day to find her in our living room like this:

And I love seeing the sewing love surrounding her - leggings and shirt made by me, a skirt that I got from another Sewing Mama (and there is a tut in her awesome blog), a blanket made by my mom and a wristlet purse made by me.

I know I will miss these sweet moments when she gets older.

Monsters for Girls!

2008-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

Again for the stocking Friday at KandF Shops, I just finished up my monsters for girls dress! Abby is in love with this, and will get this one if it doesn't sell, or I promised I would make her one of her own. It is her favorite type of dress - soft, comfy and spinny. And she adores pointed hoods!

Of course she also pointed out that this monster is perfect for Valentine's with a heart on her tummy, so if this sells I am going to be in a rush to get hers done in time for V-Day. I guess the novelty of the conversation heart shirt I made her has worn off already!

I Heart Farbenmix!

2008-02-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

I have really gotten into European patterns the last couple of years - things like Ottobre, Onion, and Farbenmix.

I got especially hooked on Farbenmix when I picked up their Olivia dress pattern from Sewzannes Fabrics at least a year ago. The funky under dress made from knit with a long knotted hood is a staple in my preschooler's wardrobe.

My only complaint is that Farbenmix doesn't instantly translate all of their patterns to English, so being the impatient person I am, I ordered some of the ones I was dying for direct from them. I will say their customer service is excellent, and shipping was surprisingly fast. And I had a good giggle from some of the strange translations that came across from their email translator.

One of the patterns I picked up was the Farbenmix Xenia, a little cross front sundress. Since I am starting to plan the girls' summer wardrobes, I pulled this out the other day so I could give it a test run.

I am in LOVE. Their sizing is so consistent, and it's so nice to be able to trace, cut and sew, and have something wearable!

Here is Abby modeling her trial run Xenia made from $1 clearance fabric:

I did the version that ties in the back like a halter. Being rather lazy about it, and not really seeing sense in a halter dress, I omitted the zipper and just put elastic in the back part. I also wanted it to slip on easy, as it is a pretty fitted pattern, so I traced a size larger than she normally wears. She is usually a pretty good fit in a 104 (European sizing, about a 5), so I traced the 110/116 so it would be less fitted and easy to get in and out of without a back zipper.

I am sooo happy with it! Next time, though, I'll shirr the back instead of inserting elastic. I think it will give it a better fit across the back, and more of the look I want!

Gotta love a dress that cost all of $3 to make!

And would you look at my little girl's long hair?? Sniffle, sniffle. She has grown up far too fast.

Monsters are Coming!

2008-02-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

I have been sewing up a storm in preparation for my first stocking with KandF Shops on Friday, February 8! I am so excited by the theme for that week...which is Monsters!

One of my all time favorite boyish print is the cotton interlock ooga booga monsters. I love love love it. So much that I have plowed through about 10 yards of it. Sadly, I have only a little left, and part of that went into this set for boys:

I really hope the person who snags this will enjoy it as much as I do! I found this cute little monster guy for one pocket:

And digitized Ooga Booga for the other:

Also, I used a little of this stacked monster knit to make, what else? Boxers :)

I hope to get a monster dress done for the girl monster lovers out there like my daughter, but time is limited as always!

How Exciting!

2008-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Since I have entered the WAHM world via Hyena Cart, I have found a world of WAHMs that I respect for their artistry, business sense, and just overall spirit for life. It is such a creative atomosphere, and I adore it. Sewing is my outlet, and sewing for sale supports that outlet, while giving me the ability to spend these precious early years with my little girls.

I was so honored on Saturday morning to be contacted by a group of artisians that I hold in the highest regard. The ladies at KandF Shops approached me to become a member of their wonderful congo (a collection of artisians selling their individual wares together for outsiders :)). Since I have started shopping WAHM, I have drooled on Fridays before the scheduled stocking time over these ladies' creations, and at times I have been lucky enough to snag a custom made item for myself or my children.

I will now be stocking with them at KandF, starting in early February. This group of women has welcomed me with open arms, and I feel so lucky and blessed to become part of this wonderful thing they have created. There are some wonderful plans in the works, so be sure to check us out!

Getting Ready for the Day of Love

2008-01-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Now that the big holidays are over, on to the ones with less stress!

I love getting ready for Valentine's Day, it's just so much fun! I am really excited this year that my four year old will be having a Valentine's Celebration in her classroom. I am still searching for the perfect little thing to make for her classmates for her to pass with the little Valentines she is already scoping out everytime we go to the store. She is just at such a fun age.

For once I planned the girl's holiday shirts far ahead of time (beats staying up half the night to finish them in time).

For my big girl, I made an embroidered raglan:

For the little girl, a matching reversed raglan:

And just for fun, I made a boy or gender neutral shirt for my shop at Hyena Cart. I have been saving this Mom Tattoo Embroidery for just this occasion:

I would love to see what you are making for your little valentines!

The Quick Number Shirt

2007-12-30T08:54:00.001-08:00

One thing I love doing as a sewing mama is making my kids number shirts for their birthday. As in, when they turn "1" they get a shirt with a number 1 on it. Maybe corny, but as they get old enough to learn their age, they think it is really neat.

One of my best customers contacted me this weekend needing a quick shirt for her son who is turning 10, the party is very soon. I was surprised when she mentioned a shirt with a 10 on the front, I knew I liked her :)

Here is the quick shirt I made up last night in order to get it out in time for the party:

I think it will do well for an older boy, especially since he chose the Mickey Knit himself!

Down on the Farm with Draya

2007-12-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

My youngest daughter, who is now a whopping 19 months (how did that happen, by the way??) loves animals, especially cows. She seeks cows out so she can point and shout "Cow! Cow!" It's on the list of the cutest things she does :)

I saw this farm scene knit on Ebay, and instantly thought of her as I hit buy it now!

I turned the farm knit into a swingy spinny dress for her to wear. And added some blue cotton lycra flared leggings with a cow embroidered on them:

And my happy little model showing it off the next day. She kept pointing at the shirt and pants saying "Cow! Cow!" It made this sewing mama very happy.

Organizing the Stash

2007-12-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

As any fabric collector or sewing mama knows, the one thing that can get out of control, and out of control quickly, is the stash. I love my stash, I have been collecting for awhile now, but it was out of control. I read about ruler folding on the Happy Zombie: http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/?p=124 and decided it might be a good idea. Besides, everyone at Sewing Mamas (http://www.sewingmamas.com/) was doing it and showing off their beautiful and organized stashes! So I had to join in!

This was the most recent "Before" picture of my stash closet:

And the impressive "After" pics:

Quilter's Wovens, Bottom Weights, Solid Knits, Velours

Boys Printed Knits, Two Shelves of Girls Printed Knits, Fleeces

The best part is, now I can stack fabric on top of the shelves, too...making it easier to store!

And for all of you fabric addicts, here are closeups of some of the fabrics (I love looking at other people's stashes, so I figure maybe someone else likes it too? :))

Stripes, Camos, Christmas Knits, and a couple prints that wouldn't fit on the shelves :)

Boys Printed Knits

Girls Printed Knits, Shelf 1

Girls Printed Knits, Shelf 2

Thermals, Fleeces

Wovens and Bottomweights

Solid Knits and Velours/Terrys

I am just in love with how organized it is now, and I can actually find everything! Maybe this will motivate you to get folding your stash. And Thanks to the Happy Zombie!!

Little Bitty Boxer Briefs

2007-12-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, but little bitty boxer briefs are my favorite things to sew. They don't take extremely long, and are so cute and satisfying to make.

This is one of my favorite recent creations, which went to a good home of a little boy who was getting a new Daschund for Christmas. He also got a matching raglan as a present from me :)

Welcome!

2007-12-29T11:02:00.001-08:00

I am new to the blogging world, so bear with me as I figure this out.

I hope to use this space to share my sewing creations and other passions!