B. Black & Sons (aka heaven)

Last Wednesday, the kidlets and I went on an adventure to the garment district in downtown LA. I wanted to find Silk Buttonhole Twist (but I wasn't sure I wanted to buy it, so I wanted to see it first). I found this place online, and so we went. 

view from the cash register. those are all shirting weights

it was AWESOME

silk. lots of silk. it looked like a coarse linen, but SO soft.

looking down at the suiting weight fabric from the top floor

cashmere. lots of colors.

thread. OH the thread.

The mission was successful (bought 2 spools of silk twist), and when I win the lottery (or start playing the lottery), I will spend a LARGE chunk of change on fabric here. Until then, I'll go back when I need buttons or buttonhole twist, or needles, or......

My latest project...

...is taming our new feral kitten. (and explaining the nature of wild animals to a 4yo.)

Miraculously, he survived a 15-mile freeway journey while hiding in the engine of C's 4-Runner.

I'm not sure what color he'll be when we finish getting the grime off him (he's soooo dirty from living under the Metro in Carson)

 His name is Radiator, and we think he's about 6 weeks old.
(so now we have 2 children, 2 LARGE dogs, 3 chickens and 4 cats. who knew LA was so animal friendly!)

Tiny hotpads

Sorry for the bad iphone photos, but I was rushing to get pictures before they get covered in mud!

they're for a kitchen which specializes in mud-pies, after all...

straight line quilting

I grabbed some scraps that matched the colors she chose for the kitchen...

random straight lines

quilted and bound them (sloppily) in less than 30 minutes. They're about 5x5.5"

and the backs 

and they're already filthy. SO happy she's using them!

Play kitchen...

Under construction... (built by C from a thrifted nightstand, wall bracket, and some scrap wood. Color design by The Bean, spray-painted by me)

reversible (but still simple)

I had this awesome hawaiian print in my stash, so I pulled it out, with some coordinating Kona


I decided to try the simple dress again, without the shirring, but with knotted straps.


pretty cute, right? I mean, the straps are too long, but that's better than too short.

she's feeling around for pockets

unfortunately, I didn't have enough leftover fabric to match prints, and red pockets would cover the pretty flowers, so I left the pockets off.

very unhappy to discover the lack....

CLEARLY, this was the wrong decision.

TAKE IT OFF ME!

Luckily, I had planned ahead, and was able to reverse the dress.

ahhhhhh,,,,

doesn't she look beachy-chic?

much more relaxed.

to break up the plain solid red, I appliqued the pockets with flowers cut from the hawaiian print scraps.

pretty pockets

I used Steam-a-Seam 2 to hold them in place, and then free-motion-stitched all over the whole thing, to make sure it all stays down during the repeated washings I'm SURE it'll have to endure.

the Perfect Beach Hat

This morning was D's moving up. He's no longer the biggest Yellow Bird at Beach School. Now he's the biggest Red Bird (and the Bean is the littlest incoming Yellow Bird)
D asked me to make hats for his teachers, (guess where the color scheme came from).

we used a cute squirrel print for the hat sides, since there are ground squirrels all over the campus (and we couldn't find dolfins, bunnies, or birds in the appropriate colors)

I wore my tester hat.

D was Robin Hood. obvi.

each child also got a little felt bird, yellow on one side, red on the other, with the date embroidered on, to commemorate their time at Beach School.

Wanna test my pattern?

so you've all seen this dress, right?

I mean, I've made 7 versions in 3 weeks, so hopefully you've seen it.

I have the pattern pieces all done, as PDFs, ready to go....
sizes 18m-5T (for reference, I'd make the Bean a 2T. She's 36" tall and 26 lbs. BUT she has no store bought clothes, so I dunno what she'd be in store sizes. I used standard growth charts for my sizing.)

and I have photographs of the whole process, with instructions (for now) on each of the photos, (or written out as a Word Doc)

But I need some pattern testers...
both to check my drafting, and to tell me where I'm over- or under-explaining...

It's definitely advanced beginner, but it's NOT hard. Maybe a little fiddly. (you can totally do it tired at night, but not while your children are awake and interupting)

I really like it because, with the shirred empire waist, and the cased-elastic neckline, it's basically impossible to make the wrong size.

(the top dress is a size 4T, the 4th dress is an 18m, the last dress is a 3T, all the rest are 2Ts.)
Oh, and if you'd rather, it's also a top. I put cutting lines for making a top (i.e., pictures 4 and 6), if you want...
send me an email or comment, (i'll close comments when I have enough testers), and I'll get back to you RIGHT away.
THANKS in advance!

Polka Dot BoPeep

So last night, I HAD to put all other projects aside, and play with this AMAZINGLY cute fabric.

polka dots win all the cuteness points, right?

close-up of big rose clip

I made rose clips from the scraps. 1 big, from both fabrics, 1 small, from the mostly-coral-fabric

here's the back

wanna see it EVEN CUTER:

she likes it.
why?
because it has pockets.

pockets with butterscotch chips.
yes, I bribe my model.

she insisted on having BOTH roses in her hair,
(even though 1 was meant to stay on the dress.)

I didn't put elastic in the sides of the neckline, because I was SO in love with the sweetheart curve it made.
this one is a perfect 3T, which is too big for this little munchkin, but it's in my grandma's favorite colors, so we're keeping it.
LOVE. (ps, I may have made matching ruffled bloomers from the leftover mostly-white-fabric, but I'm not posting pics up my daughter's skirt.)

this one has pockets.

well, the last dress was NOT a hit. the Bean loved it, and was all excited to wear it, put it on quite happily, posed for pics (as seen a little while ago), and then realized that it had no pockets.
instant tantrum. but the print is so busy and pretty that my scraps-large-enough-to-become-pockets clash.

pockets!

up close, you can see the shirred neckline.

So here's the new dress. I'm loving this VERY simple dress pattern I drafted last night.

pockets are meant to be filled.
by anything handy.
like rocks.

In my head, it's already available in multiple sizes, and I'm struggling with naming it. the only name that works right now is the Very Simple Dress.

lots and lots of rocks. even if they are heavy
and rip the pocket.

That's not a horrible name, though, right?

because pockets are for filling.

Very Simple Dress. start to finish (cutting and all), well under an hour.

dress success

I think it's going to be my new go-to gift for all little girls.