Locks of Love

I’m so proud of my little girl!  E is almost five, and for the last two years she has been growing her hair out.  Yesterday, we went to the haircut place and had it cut off to send to Locks of Love. 

Here is a before pic where you can see how long it was:

And her new ‘do:

And here’s a shot of the braid we’re sending in:

A New Beginning

It’s that day in our neighborhood.  The day parents are supposed to look forward to with joyous anticipation.  I feel a little bittersweet about it this year.  This will be our first year that A will be in our local public school.  For kindergarten and first grade, we were part of a parent partnered public school program that provided classes part-time on campus, and parents taught part-time at home.  While E will be doing K in that program this year, for second grade we felt that our local school would be the best choice for A.  Although I am confident in the decision we made, it was hard for me to watch her go this morning.

Here she is, looking excited about heading off for school.

And off she goes:

Yeah, I’m already making changes.

I’m that kind of person.  I like to rearrange the furniture in my house.  I sometimes sew one thing and then tear it apart to turn it into something else.  And likewise, with my blog, I’m making a few changes.  All the pictures made for a lot of scrolling, so, to save your fingers a bit, I put the tutorials I’ve posted each into their own page.  You can reach them by clicking on the appropriate tab at the top of the blog.  Also, months and years down the road (should I continue blogging that long) they’ll still be easy to find.

Thanks to all those who’ve clicked and commented so far.  I hope my little projects inspire you to try something new of your own.

Quilted Fabric Wallet Tutorial

In an attempt to make the pages a little more user-friendly, I have moved my tutorials to separate pages accessible by the tabs at the top of the blog.  Hopefully, this will enable each page to load more quickly.  Thanks, and happy stitching!

A pictoral introduction to my craftiness, the apparel edition.

I go back and forth about what I like to sew best, depending on my mood.  I love sewing clothing, so I’ll make a few pieces.  Then I’ll move on to a applique project.  After that, I’ll go to my quilting roots and make a bag or a wallet.  Rarely, I’ll sew for my home, pillows or a slipcover.  Part of what makes sewing fun (for me) is being able to express myself in different kinds of projects, all of which are both USEFUL and BEAUTIFUL.

Here are some of my past clothing projects:

blue bird pinnie

Self-drafted wavy tiered jumper in Heather Ross doggie prints

Farbenmix Weeke set in Baby Nay Jade prints

Self-drafted party skirt set with Heather Ross Dream Bike prints

A pair of capris and a skirt made to match Gymboree’s Cherry Pie line

Horse applique jeans and shirt

Snowman overalls

The infamous Elmo overalls.  I have a love/hate relationship with these.

Ballet overalls

Easter bunny overalls

These Lemonade stand overalls are one of my first (and favorite) eBay sales.

And a jeans-jumper-top set in my favorite plaids, another one I was sad to part with.

Ribbon Jeans Tutorial

In an attempt to make the pages a little more user-friendly, I have moved my tutorials to separate pages accessible by the tabs at the top of the blog.  Hopefully, this will enable each page to load more quickly.  Thanks, and happy stitching!

A pictoral introduction to my craftiness, the bag edition.

This “japanese” bag is for a trade.  I have plenty more of these fabrics, so I’ll probably put one like it on Etsy.  This morning’s project is the matching wallet.

I love the “Fall” colors I used in this bag and wallet.  Sadly, I only bought a little of each, so this one is a limited edition of one.

Here is a messenger bag I made with owl applique.

I think this bag and wallet set has the “shabby chic” look.  I have a similar one that I carry sometimes.

This Kitty backpack was a fun experiment, I drafted the pattern myself.  Future editions will be a bit bigger (this one is toddler sized) and may have different animal themes.

This bag I call “black and white and red all over”.  This is the one I am currently carrying, even though it’s far more sophisticated than my usual choices.  I have gotten tons of compliments on it!

This wallet is made with a pattern I drafted myself.  It has two lagre pockets for cash or reciepts (depending on if you’re at the begining or end of your shopping trip), and eight credit card pockets.

And finally, this diaper bag was a special custom order.  It has a “very hungry caterpillar theme.  It is a large messenger style bag with a zip-top under the flap, front and inside pockets and very intricate applique work.  I LOVE how it came out!

A bag of scraps turned into a scrappy bag.

I posted earlier about how I was able to buy a bag of scraps of Amy Butler fabrics for $5. Here is what my find turned into.

My Fabulous Bargain!

I was just *browsing* in a fabric store while out of town this week when I happened upon a little bin of scraps with a sign that said “all you can fit in the bag for $5.00” next to a box of sandwich sized ziplocks. Being the bargain hunting seamstress that I am, I started to caress the scraps in the box thinking about what I could sew out of them when my hand fell upon the most marveluos discovery…Amy Butler Nigella twills! All my restraint flew out the window, and soon I was turning the scrap bin up-side-down searching out the pieces. All in all, I found four different (coordinating) prints in scraps big enough to sew with. Then, I fondled and folded them gently to make the most of the room in my sandwich bag, and stretched the plastic (just a little) to make the zipper shut. Then, off I set with my little bag of treasure to the register to pay. We just got home, and guess what I’ll be sewing tonight? Yup, a little strippy purse with my new AB prints.