Updates

It's the 22 week of the year, and I have 33 crochet blocks done! Yay!
Obvi, I'm gonna try to stay ahead of things, and maybe it'll only take
two years instead of 3 to make my dream blanket.
I'm working on a pair of overalls for the bean/any possible future
babies/grandchildren. I'm using the tute from Purl, but not doing the
provisional cast on, because I want to be able to adjust the hem. The
Bean is so skinny, I think as long as I can lengthen it, it'll fit for
a while. I chose the bright red linen, so it'll be reasonably gender
neutral. For $50 worth of yarn, plus oodles and oodles of my time, I
want to get as much wear from these as possible.

gosh, it's been a while!

I've been on my laptop lately instead of on my sewing machine...

I'm working on a top-secret birthday present for my sweetie...

here's a little sneak peek:

I finally got it stitched out tonight (49 minutes of machine embroidery! probably the longest design I've ever done)

while I waited for that to happen (cause, of course, I did a tester first, which means I was waiting by my machine for 1.5 hours), I altered a bunch of the Bean's onesies into t-shirts... she's so tiny, even the 6-9mo tops still fit width wise, they're just not long enough to snap under her cloth diaper.... so I cut off all the snaps, and zip-zap-zopped them through the serger (with pink thread!), so now she has about 15 *new* shirts...

gotta love quick and easy fixes, especially when they're cute and free!

I also FINALLY stopped procrastinating on this one project... I made this dress about a year ago (purposely too big, cause babies outgrow things too quickly for me to want to sew newborn-ish stuff), and it's about ready to fit her, maybe...

but I'd never sewn on the closure at the top (*hand sewing* iew ick!)...

so, today, the Bean and I looked at buttons, and chose this little one with an apple on it, and then I opened up the other side seam, stuck in a piece of elastic, and resewed it. It took all of 3 minutes of work, MAYBE, so I'm not sure why I waited so long... but it's done now, and it looks cute, and maybe tomorrow I'll actually try it on her...

I also did as much as I could (on my serger, so no topstitching) of this week's Frock By Friday shirtdress... of course, I wasn't paying super close attention, so I cut a big chunk of the front off... Might have to go buy more fabric if I can't figure out a pretty way to fix it... maybe ruffles... oooooohhh...

Oh, and I'm at 29 finished (of 64?) string blocks, and 30-something crochet squares, so I'm on track/ahead of schedule so far on my long-ish term projects. Yay me!

my little poppy

here're some slightly better/cuter pictures of the frock I made the Bean a few weeks ago (gosh, time sure flies!)

the orange totally matched the poppies we have in the front yard.
I LOVE how frothy the ruffled sleeve is....

this one was longer than the first, clearly she'll need to grow into it

he's orange too...

I also put a pocket on this one...

May Block

here's my block for May for the 1st Wednesday Block Swap...

wonky drunkards path...
someday I'll make my own, because i REALLY love this pattern.

a shirt for my daddy

who loves western shirts...

he chose the fabric, I did the sewing...

the kids posed with him

because they are cute

and then D wanted to take pictures, so I had to be in the pics too...

ballet dress for a little girl

we have a birthday party today, for a 3yo girl... like most, she likes pink and ballet, so when I saw this ballet shoe fabric at my Bernina dealer, I snapped up a yard, and made this last night...

I don't have a pattern, but I used the peasant top tutorial from indietutes as a jumping off point...
I added the three little bias-tape roses because the top was too plain...
this might be too long, but it can be a nightgown now, and a dress later; the neckline is elastic, so it should fit for a while...
hopefully she likes it!

The 2minute tank top

Just cut and serge sides/top. No binding/hem/etc, but so fast and
functional! I want to make another one of the Presserfoot anthro
dresses, but didn't want to sacrifice a workin tank to, so here's what
i've got!

Mending Monday

a coat pocket for C...

(which, btw, has a LOVELY hand-sewn zipper, done by me when we were just barely dating at Yale... I tried to use the holes already IN the jacket to put in a new zipper, as the old one was broken. I'm super proud of how well it's lasted!)

and a patch on a pair of much loved jeans (also for C). I find that patching is never invisible, so I no longer really try. either they're going to be PATCHED and sturdy, or they're going to be ripped. so I used a pair of my jeans to mend C's jeans (mine were unpatchably ripped, so I cut off the legs to make myself shorts, and am using the discarded legs for various other projects... like this.)

It is Monday, isn't it?

halfway there...

I wanted to write a tute tonight on how to make the little pinafore/jumper/dress I made for the Bean a few days ago... so I got out the camera, and started working, taking pics along the way...

see? here're my cut pieces... (to fit a tall/skinny 18month old)

I even took pictures of some of the steps... here are my pleating marks...
but then, I got too excited about trying out a new idea, and once I started sewing, I forgot to take pictures of the rest... until I finished it...

TADA!

(I swear the straps are even, they're just not flat!)

Clearly I have a new favorite item to sew, so I'll make another one when I have a chance in the next few days, and I promise, next time I'll take better pictures....
(also, LOOOOOOOOVE this Far Far Away double gauze... it's the pink frog print... LOVE IT!!!!)

My Modify Tradition blocks, all together (clearly I need to make 2 more)

My Modify Tradition blocks, all together (clearly I need to make 2 more)
Originally uploaded by Ramona Burke

just playing on flickr... not sure what I should make to fill the gaps... maybe a log cabin, or maybe a regular old 9patch? or both... maybe drunkards path?

1/2 a yard+ scraps=cuteness

I bought 1/2 a yard of this amazingly cute/soft double gauze at Momen a few weeks ago... it's pinker than this in real life, but is apples with leaves and caterpillars... LOVE it!

I knew I wanted to do something for the Bean, as she's really really loving pink and dresses/skirts, but it's not overly girly, so it makes me happy.

I have a bunch of new fabric for kids clothes, adult shirts, and a skirt for me.... I wanted to make sure everything was pre-shrunk (is that a word? or do I need to rephrase the sentence?), so I threw a bunch of new fabric into the dryer... and the navy dyed it grey...

this stuff is REALLY expensive, like, the most expensive fabric I've ever purchased ($20/yd!) (my wedding dress was dupioni silk, but I got it for $6/yd in downtown LA, so this is SIGNIFICANTLY more), but it's soooo cute!

I decided (possibly sour grapes?) that I actually preferred it this way, and that I could make it totally work and be both girly AND sophisticated, retro AND vintage.

so I made a little pinafore/jumper/whatever-this-cuteness-is-called:

I'll take better pictures tomorrow, hopefully ON the Bean, but I couldn't resist blogging it tonight...

I sewed the buttons on, but they can totally be moved, if needed, to make this fit the teeny bean

I found only 2 of these amazingly cool matching pink vintage buttons in a tin my gram gave me, and the dark pink fabric is a scrap, probably a scrap from a remnant, but I am pretty sure it's from Joanns...

quilt blocks...

Modify Tradition's Martha Washington Star

MT Love in the Mist (I struggled with this one, mostly because I didn't have enough of the red bits, and had to fake the block with small pieces

and a Map of the States block for Bee Lovely

Progress report

It's only the 18th week of the year, but I have 21 blocks done!

aren't they soooooo pretty?

I love playing with them and stacking them...

I've got about 10 more that just need the white bit added...

VOTE for me!

click here to visit Made-By-Rae, and vote, on the right sidebar, for my ruffle lace tunic. (scroll down a little)

PLEASE?!?!?!

OMG VOTE FOR ME TOMORROW!

vote for me tomorrow (Tuesday) by visiting Rae's site and voting on the right sidebar for the ruffle lace tunic, by ME!

here's what the shirt looks like:

Home made husband!

He's wearing another of the western shirts I made (note the
topstitching!) and some socks I made him! AND we're having a date night!