more quilt pictures, as requested

Please excuse the wrinkles. This quilt is already well loved!

where I join the Princess and the Pea parade

I've spent the better part of the summer waffling between projects to make for two little sisters' birthday gifts. My complete inability to decide now means that one girl's gift is overdue by 3 months and the other's by a few weeks. (In my defense, I did have a baby in there somewhere, but still. Three months, people!)

Then I came across this great book by the talented Lauren Child and these two sets. What modern, fabric and fairy tale loving girl wouldn't be inspired? Plus, we're already huge fans of Ms. Child's work around here. And I've been obsessing over this fabric (so perfect for Audrey)since it came out, so the story's been on my mind. I couldn't resist this project.

A few hours of stash raiding and totally, shamelessly copying someone else's clever idea produced this:

I made the mattresses pretty thin, with just one layer of lofty batting. I know how I feel when space-consuming toys come into my home, so I didn't want to make the set too large. There are twelve mattresses made from various calico prints. The bottom mattress has a little gathered pocket to hold the pea. 'Cause I know if it were my kids', that pea would disappear in about 7 minutes flat.

For the pea, I crocheted a small ball out of wool felt, then lightly felted it by hand. I can't find the pattern I used, but this tutorial would work just great, too, I'm sure. You might need to use a size smaller hook for a bit tighter gauge to get results like mine. For the felty look, I rolled it in my hands under VERY hot water for several minutes then plunged into cold water. Squeeze it out and let it dry. Done.

I also threw in two simple, sweet nightgowns to fit the dolls that I made for the girls last year, so they can be used as Princesses. (Hopefully these make up for the fact that I sent a joint gift this year...)

Superhero Cape

Like I said, amidst the diaper-changing, nursing, schooling and nose-wiping going on around here, I have managed to squeeze in some much needed craft therapy. This session came in the form of a birthday gift for a special boy.

My kids spend the better part of every day dressing up and "playing pretend". A few weeks back, in the middle of an intense make-believe session, Gage realized that he couldn't be a proper superhero without the outfit to go with. And so, the cape request. It needs some embellishment, but considering that it was whipped out mere hours before his birthday party, I'm feeling pretty good.

I kind of made it up as I went along, but this cape is very similar to the one here. I guess the main differences between my cape and the one in the tute are these:

1) I used a whole yard of fabric for mine (she gets two smaller capes out of one yard),

2) I bound the edges with double fold bias tape instead of serging them (too lazy to change out the thread in my serger), and

3) I attached a full, wool felt collar to this one that would stand up in the back. I think that gives it a little more dramatic flair, don't you? Plus it attaches in front with Velcro, thereby eliminating the need for Mama to tie it on every time he decides he wants to be a Super.

Oh, and I used my favorite freezer paper applique trick for the "G". It's a pretty simple technique. First, I got my wool felt piece ready by attaching iron-on fusible webbing to one side, leaving the backing paper attached. Set that aside. Next, I printed the "G" on my printer in the size and font I wanted, then traced it onto plastic-coated freezer paper, plastic coating down. (These steps could probably be consolidated, if I just printed directly onto the non-plastic side of my freezer paper. Thoughts?)

Okay, so next, I ironed the freezer paper, again with the plastic side down, onto the unfused side of my wool felt, then cut the "G" out of the paper, felt and fusible webbing all at the same time. Peeled the fusible webbing backing off the bottom and the freezer paper off the top and Bam! A perfect "G" patch ready to be ironed on and stitched down. I just used a simple straight stitch around the edges, but, of course, you could use any stitch you like. Or, if you used No-Sew, you could believe the Heat'n'Bond folks when they say you don't have to stitch it down. That's never worked well for me, though. Especially for kids' stuff that will probably need frequent washing.

Gage wasn't the only birthday kid on my list. More birthday posts to come once I'm sure they've been received.

And, for more fun with freezer paper, click here...

Or, enjoy some random birthday weekend pics:

This is the second year that Gage has requested a chocolate cake with green icing. Can do, buddy.

And we just couldn't go home without more overpriced, cheaply made, plastic toys courtesy of Daddy, could we?

Done.

photo by Amy

I'm still here! And I've actually been accomplishing some crafting lately. Like this quilt. It's finally finished, completely hand tied and hand bound. Which I know probably sounds pretty simple to some of you, but was quite an accomplishment for me, what with the recent changes around here. Once I figured out how to work this thing to my handsewing advantage, it was all good.

You can see that her bed is red, with a pink Jenny Lind changing-table-turned-night-table-slash-storage-shelf. Plus there's a Somerset Gold dresser in the room. I'm about about eclectic, use-what-you-have decorating, hence the quilt's pink, red and yellow color scheme. It all pulls together quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

what I got

Sorry, Larissa. You can comfort yourself with the knowledge that I apparently went a good bit crazier than you did with this sale. And I, too, am waiting on my backorders. Erm...and that second order. (That one was totally your fault, though.)

Here's one frustrating thing about impulse fabric shopping, for me. Just how much fabric do you buy? A yard? Two? Some of these beauties I have specific plans for, so those were easy, but the others were a yardage crap shoot. I just wanted as many of those yummy prints as I could possibly get. I ended up going with around a yard each thinking that that would be plenty for simple outfits for Audrey (most are 54" wide), bags, or throw pillows, for which my sofas are crying out. No self control, I tell you.

Another frustrating thing about impulse fabric shopping? That it generally happens when I'm not actually getting any sewing done. But, hey, my fabric shelves sure look pretty these days...

the elusive (and reversible!) Easter dress

Elusive because it's July and I'm just now getting around to showing it to you. Reversible because, well, you'll see.

Check out the inspiration dress by Neige.

And now for the finished product:


This dress was a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants project whipped out the week before Easter. I ran out of gas after some frustrating issues and, even though I felt like it really needed something extra in the front - like the pockets in the inspiration photos - I just couldn't summon the will to go on.

So she wore it backwards, like so:

Which I actually liked. But since I knew it was designed to be worn differently (by me, but still), I felt a little funny about it all day. So let's just call it the Reversible Easter Dress and I'll feel better. Like it was for purpose, as my kids would say.

Now, about the fabric. The Liberty floral was a dream to work with. (Isn't that what you're supposed to say about Liberty fabric? Anyway, that's what I'm telling myself in an effort to rationalize the hefty price per yard.) But seriously, it is beautiful, soft fabric and a very nice weight for this kind of garment. I used this for the ruffle and tie. I think, should there be a next time, I'll use something lighter. More like a voile or something, 'cause this cotton was a little stiff. It does, however, make for excellent twirling...

big fabric sale...

images courtesy of www.hancocks-paducah.com

I have a sneaking suspicion that there are those among you who share my weakness for a bargain, especially when it comes to fabric. (I know there's at least one of you out there.) Whether or not we've actually got projects lined up for the use of said fabric. Ahem.

So, I have to tell you all about this great sale that Hancock's of Paducah is having. Their sales are always worth checking out, anytime, but they seem to be particularly rich right now, full of Amy Butler (mostly), but also some Denyse Schmidt and Joel Dewberry. Even their 54"wide home dec lines, like Nigella and Ginseng, are going for $4.98 per yard. Down from around $16 per yard. Hard to resist, even if they are just going to pad my stash for a while.

Oh, some tips: If you just look through the sale lists under $5.98, $4.98, and $3.98 per yard, you may miss something. I actually searched for "Amy Butler Nigella" and "Joel Dewberry Ginseng" using the site's keyword search and saw a lot of $4.98 per yard (or $2.49 per half yard) prints than were not listed in the sales. (Make sense?) It's just too bad I figured this out after placing my own order...

Also, don't worry if you notice that a lot of the choice prints are on backorder. If you go ahead and order them, you'll receive your cut from the next shipment they receive, still at the sale price. I've done this in the past and they haven't failed me yet.