Married Couple Western Shirt

can be worn by either husband or wife!

He wears it tucked in, I wear it tied up...

the topstitching makes us both happy!

and its such an awesome color!

(edited to add this picture of the detail of the back... I actually TRIED to make the top-stitching a little wonky, I wanted it to look hand done)

lace ruffle tunic

so here's the good pic of the shirt... i LOVE it! super comfy and super cute!

you can see the lace better in this pic...
I made a binding for the collar, and I left the ruffle unfinished, and put it on top instead of enclosing the edges... I also left the sleeves and hem unfinished so they'd float more (tissue jersey is really light weight!)

Spring Top, more animals, more roses

I whipped this sucker out in 2 hours tonight. LOVE IT. I used the pattern from the new issue of STITCH magazine (though I tweaked it a bit)... the turquoise is a rayon/spandex tissue jersey remnant from Joanns, and the eyelet is an AMAZING silk cotton from Mood. (I treated myself to a stop there today, since I drove past it TWICE to have lunch with the kiddos and C's dad)...

I have a whole day left to photograph it for real and enter it in the contest!

of course, it needed a rose to really make it awesome... luckily for me, I have plenty of fabric roses!

fabric and felt! (and a kitty, hiding in there, see him?)

now do you see him? this is the felt version of Kieran, the darkest kitty ever. I'd photograph him more, but he's very very dark, and always very sleepy, so all you'd see is a dark blob... (the brown bits lower left are going to be Guinness (our dog, not the beer), hopefully tomorrow night...)

and here's Babe, the Gallant Pig. We just finished reading it (D and I both LOVED it, he wants to start it again RIGHT NOW), so he needed his own Babe...

I've been doing 1 toy per night, and then having me time for the rest of the night... tonight was the pig and top, last night was the roses and kieran... and tomorrow afternoon, my husbie comes home!

he's been gone for most of the month, so we're pretty excited to see him... i just have to figure out how to keep sane in the am... we can't leave for the airport till at least 1:45, and D is DYING to see his papa....

"cute" skirts...

Last weekend, I went dancing, which I'm trying to get back into after 7ish years off...

I had 2 kids since I was a hardcore dancer, so I definitely don't fit into all my old vintage or repro skirts and dresses... I currently have TWO skirts that are "cute." (not stained from kids, fit well, etc). I can't just switch back and forth between these two, I need more!

right now, though, I'm between sizes, and losing more, so I don't want to go buy... plus there's that whole wardrobe refashion pledge... plus I want to MODIFY everything I see that I like, so why not just make it the way I want it from the beginning...

so I've been looking at Anthropologie and ModCloth, and I really like this skirt, especially the shirred back...I love the shape of this one, and I like the pleats here... this one looks like it would be fun to dance in, and this one is super cool, but I think too hard for now... and I like this one too...

so far, I've found these tutes...

I like this one, it seems pretty easy...

and I like the godets here, and this is an obvious jumping off point...

(I'm being entirely selfish and just posting so I can easily find all of these bits and pieces later, but maybe other people want skirts too?)

vintage sheets...

My gram handed down these GORGEOUS vintage sheets a while back... they're 50/50 cotton poly, so they're no good for quilts, but they're gonna be good for throws... and maybe dresses for the bean?

I dunno if my gram washed them before giving them, so I did so, and got to dry them on the line (I LOVE hanging sheets and quilts on the line... and love my dryer for all the cloth diapers...)

I really really really want to make this, but I think I should use what I've got... I might just sew these two together, with canvas or something in the middle to make it slightly stronger... it seams silly to purchase new fabric that's printed to look like old fabric when I HAVE old fabric already...

aren't these daisies sweet?!?!?! the roses are even better, but D and the dogs were playing under them, so I couldn't fit to take a pic...

toys for D

as I put D to bed last night, he informed me that I needed to "stay up and make me a felt Harper and some mice for my felt kitty"
uh... ok.

so here are the mice I made, (on a 1"x1" grid, so you can see how tiny they are)

and the puppy I made...

and I used this tute from the Purl Bee, but I haven't made the barrette part yet...

cute felt toy patterns!!!!!

OMG, if you like felt toys, you HAVE to go to this site and look around!

I was looking for a mouse pattern, because of course the kitty I made for D now needs it's own mouse toy...

so I did a google search and found this...

she (I assume the blogger is female, most of us are...) even posted a pattern... LOVE IT. I printed it our at 1/2 size, we'll see if mine are anywhere NEAR as pretty as hers...

SO, after finding this, I decided to snoop around...she made a zebra, a penguin, even a COCKROACH! and she offers the patterns and tutes for all of them!

Obviously I must keep this site a secret from my little boy, or he'll want every single one of these!

a good night's work...

I'm soooo excited about getting to use fancy fabrics... I usually just buy remnants for myself, or regular old quilting cotton, but for this wedding quilt, I bought some Folksy Flannel, and some Little Folks Voile, and some Far Far Away double gauze... and then, because I liked the corderoy I used on my quilt, I got some for this one... the center of each block is a dark blue (not quite navy) thin waled corderoy... (Yale colors, since it's going to fellow Eli's for their wedding (thank goodness they don't read this!)). I'm also using various scraps that coordinate, just because.

The groom informed me that he likes green best, and she likes blue best, so I'm doing MOSTLY those colors, with pops of other colors...

I really really like it so far... I'm trying to find a balance between wonky and not wonky, so a few wonky scraps are in the mix, but the new ones are cut stright... I think the occasional wonky piece makes it more interesting...

just playing with the layout... I've never seen a string quilt with this sort of layout.....
maybe I should just make a big "Y" (KIDDING).
I think I might need a string quilt of my own...
(oh, I'm following the tute from here, and I'm using phone book pages cut to 8" square)

I also decided that for mother's day, I want roses... so I started making them tonight... I'm making a mixed baker's dozen for myself, 7 crimson, 7 butter yellow... we'll see if I go back for more lining fabric after I finish this... (I self-limited my color choices to the cheapest of the lining fabrics, but there are some really pretty pinks that I might go back for!). I used this tute, and I LOVE the result! I haven't actually sewn this one together yet, just gathered and wrapped, but so far I'm really happy with the result. This is totally next on my list!

Zip wallet

I used the tute from noodlehead. Too small, but good practice...

My favorite kitty cat, in felt

String block, take 1.

I cut up the rest of the phone book today, which means I have enough
8" squares to make a dozen king sized quilt tops worth of string blocks.
But I've never made a string block! So I tested it out tonight, using
random scraps...
I really really like it. Some scraps were straight, even bits, some
were wonky... I tried to just grab blindly from the bag...
I think I'm done for the night though. My daughter is a mess, not sure
why, but there is extreme misery and suffering here right now. I'm
writing this while we pace the hallway. Not at all how I planned to
spend the night.

more fabric...

I got a phonebook from my dad's house a few weeks ago, and finally started tearing it apart... First I ripped out a big chunk, but it didn't come out neatly, so instead I took out lots of little chunks, 5-15 pages at a time... then I cut them into squares... I'm going to use these squares to make a string quilt! I'm so excited. I LOVE STRING QUILTS!!!!! (don't you?)

a very dear friend is getting married soon, and he's one of the snuggliest people I know. What could be better than a snuggly, soft, extra big throw blanket/quilt? I was originally inspired by Anna Marie Horner's flannels and voiles, but after trekking the kids to 5 (FIVE!) fabric stores yesterday, I gave up and ordered some online. I came home with double gauze, flannel, linen, corduroy, and regular quilting cotton... (I also ordered some dobby dots)

I'm going for mostly greens and blues, but we'll see what happens...

my husband's business partner is also getting married soon, so I'm going to make them a quilt too... I'm thinking stripes... of some sort.... not quite sure yet...

supposedly the yellow of the nano iri double gauze in the middle (the large polka dots) is the bride's favorite color... (if the fabric weren't so expensive, I'd LIVE in double gauze)... she also likes pink, green and brown....

I think I'll do lots of solids for them, since I couldn't find much for them...

not bad though, for shopping with 2 babies? I can't WAIT to start cutting!

summer clothes (to be) for the Bean

My daughter has begun to be very aware of her clothes, she is determined to choose her own outfits... (she'll be 18 months at the end of the month.) She's obsessed with PINK! such a girl! I've been so careful to ensure that all the colors of the rainbow recieved equal representation in her wardrobe, but now she is ALL about pink. and layers. (legwarmers, pants, shirt, dress, sweater, hat, necklace, socks, sneakers, no matter how hot it is!)
We went fabric shopping yesterday for quilt fabric, but I caved and finally bought some pink double gauze for her... I'm thinking ruffled long tops, to be worn over leggings (to protect her knees, she's such a climber/runner that she scrapes her knees A LOT)

the red moda on the right is just a regular cotton, but it was really cheap, and she actually pulled the bolt off the clearance rack, and there was only a yard left, so....

this one is actually for D... if you look closely, there are traffic cones in the circles, and race cars, tow trucks, and ambulances with sirens blaring... PERFECT for a little boy equally obsessed with construction, cars, emergency vehicles, and disasters!

here are the cutest for the bean, the frog print in pink from Heather Ross' Far Far Away (double gauze), some really cute apple dots (japanese, also double gauze, with the occasional leaf and adorable worm sprinkled in there), and a pinkish linen (also japanese) with duckies, flowers, and umbrellas. (the bean LOVES ducks)
so I need to pick some patterns and get to it, right?

And I said baby (baaaaaby) it's 3 am I must be lonely...

You know you're deliriously tired when you can't get old Matchbox 20
lyrics out of your head...

I started out this evening thinking it was gonna be an easy/early night... I made myself a little zip pouch/wallet-y thing as a temporary card holder to keep stuff safe from the Bean while I wait for the metal buckles and frames to arrive in the mail...

I used some denim from an unflattering pair of C's jeans, and some random scrap fabric for the inside...

Then I had C try on the shirt I made last night, for my dad, just so I could see what I needed to change for him.

well, a) I put the sleeves in backwards, so the slip/snap is on top of the wrist... oops! luckily C ALWAYS rolls up his sleeves, so if I give it to him, I don't have to fix it! b) it fit him REALLY well, (I took in the sides a bit, and shortened it so he can wear it un-tucked, but my man has broad shoulders, so I was thrilled that it fit across them!), and he asked for it, rather than give it to my dad...

so I showed C the fabric I had gotten to do HIS muslin... it's bright bright turquoise n white plaid. I LOVE it, and wasn't sure if he'd like it... I planned on making it for him (just to test the pattern) and then stealing it back...

but he really loved it... and he's leaving Tuesday very early for 10 days of filming in AZ, TEXAS, and FL.... so CLEARLY he needs more western shirts... with hand-stitching details.

but it's 3am (330, now) and I don't know which color/design he likes better, so I'll stop now and finish tomorrow... I also need to buy some of those teeny buttons for the collars...

(option a is light brown cotton floss with a little loop in the bottom of the V)

(option b is dark brown crochet cotton all the way around...)

here's the whole shirt, with mismatching embellishments, but lovely anyway, IMHO.

goodnight.

My first western shirt!

I finished the shirt for my dad! I need to work on snap placement/
installation, but it's totally wearable, and it IS just a muslin,
after all! I'm pretty pleased with it. I think I might need my own,
with pretty embroidery... I'm psyched, especially about the pretty
snaps. I used the Dritz #16P Pliers with white, size 16 Pearl Snap
Fasteners(all bought when the notions wall at Joanns was 50%off). I
also got a rolled-seam foot (#64 for my bernina), a per the directions
in my shirtmaking kit. I ordered the flat-felled-seam foot too (my
dealer was out of stock when I went in last week), so when I make the
real one, I'll have that to make my seams pretty.

D and I made cookies today... we used the recipe from "Best Recipes" by America's Test Kitchen (my favorite cook book EVER!), but instead of mixing in the chips, D smooshed them on top... He loves cracking eggs, so he did all the egg cracking, though I did the seperating, and he also did all the pouring after I did the measuring... he also whisked. he loves whisking. We used 1/2 n 1/2 semisweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (cause I like butterscotch, but not chocolate). they turned out SOOOOOO yummy!

The "thick and chewey chocolate chip cookie" recipe (versus the thin and crispy version) calls for 1 whole egg and 1 yolk per batch (we made a double batch today), so I had 2 egg whites left over... usually the whites go to the puppies as a treat, but since these eggs are now from our own chickens, I'm loathe to waste them... so we made meringue cookies!
I made a 1/2 recipe, from "Baking Illustrated" (also by America's Test Kitchen), and they came out SOOOOO super yummy!
I love using everything up, and getting yummy variety to boot! we've been eating these with some of the less ripe strawberries, like teeny tiny personal pavlovas.