handmade birthday for the two year old

 Painted wooden lizard by Aud...

Painted ceramic bobble-head robot by Gage...

and a squeezable, wool felt and fleece monster friend by me.

put together a beginner embroidery kit

I have had so much fun over the past week putting together this beginner embroidery kit for a very special little girl celebrating her 8th birthday. It was a bit of a risk - what if she's not interested? - but I decided to take the chance. I mean, she's in the direct line of craft greatness, so she's got to be interested, right? If not now, then someday. And when she feels that pull, she'll be prepared. 

It all started with this book by artist Helen Dardik, which was the first I came across when looking for a simple, easy and engaging instructional book for the beginner embroiderer. Quite serendipitous, I thought, considering this little girl's mother is already a big Dardik fan.

[I now interrupt this post to slap myself in the forehead really hard. 

I just headed on over to mmmcrafts for a link to where I know I've seen her mention Helen Dardik more than once, when I find this. That's right. She has the book. ARRGGG. I guess now you don't have to share your copy with the girls, Larissa. And in case you've already created and posted about an embroidery kit for them and I've just forgotten that as well, please don't remind me. 

grumble grumble grumble...]

Okay, so, the first step in creating a beginner embroidery kit is to find a good book with clear instructions, detailed pictures, and inspiring projects. Preferable one that the giftee does not currently own or have ready access to by walking down the hall. This Dardik book is a good one. (Jenny Hart can also be relied upon for modern embroidery patterns that range from sweet to subversive. Her book Sublime Stitching is great, too.) Check out a couple of these cute projects from Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty: 

Next, I included the basics: a 4" embroidery hoop, embroidery scissors, a few fat quarters (a couple of fun prints and a basic white) and a selection of embroidery thread in bright, girly colors. 

Now for the fun part. A simple sheath for her scissors (made from fabric purchased here during a recent trip to Austin that I hope to post about soon.): 

A needle case stocked with nice, new sharps and a few of my favorite vintage buttons: 

And a pin cushion: 

I knew I wanted to include a felt pin cushion, and that it should be something youthful and whimsical. I was inspired by the owl fabric and remembered AMH's owl ornament, so I started there with her pattern, but ended up resizing the body, then scrapping her wings and eyes and redesigning my own, and adding the breast piece. If you want to recreate this pincushion, I'd direct you to her pattern, then suggest that you tweak to your tastes like I did and stuff it a good bit fuller than you would for an ornament. 

I placed all of these goodies in a perfectly sized, apple green suitcase (similar to these) from Kate's Paperie in NYC. I had tucked it away since my trip there last year, knowing that it would find its ideal purpose eventually. 

And, finally, Gage wanted in on the sewing and gifting action, so he sat down and knocked this out for his little friend: 

I tried to convince him to stitch "Hereto I plight thee my troth" but that was a no-go. In the end, he went with a simple monogram. Probably the better choice. 

simple baby gift

A simple, sweet, topstitched blanket for the new babe of an office mate of my husband's. Only impressive to the non-sewer who can't quite figure out how such things are made. Thankfully, the parents of this recipient qualify.

What is impressive (to me at least) is that I actually bought this fabric locally, in a land of copious batiks and country granny prints. And not much else, until now. We have a new fabric shop in town! The polka dot fabric is a high quality, super soft flannel and the other is, well, you can see for yourself, a fun, eggy print that appealed to the birdlover in me. (The flannel color's not really true in this photo - it's a really pretty pear green. Love it!) And I noticed some Amy Butler (fabric and patterns), Heather Bailey, Anna Maria Horner (oilcloth, at that) and Portabello Pixie patterns among the racks on my last visit. Fun!

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.

I told you so.

See? I already have a project in the works using a bit of my new fabric. (Sorry, Larissa.) And this one I have to actually finish because it's for my upcoming vacation. (Girl trip two weeks from today! Woohoo!) Nothing like a deadline to get my lazy rear end in gear...

Erm...I bought more fabric.

..and all it took was an innocent email check and a sale notice from these folks.

Larissa, you know what my fabric stash looks like. More coming in to feed the hoard than going out as finished projects. But it's not like I was out there looking for it this time.

Also, in my defense, some of this fabric was only $2.98 a yard. Stuff by Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner... I mean, really, could you have let that pass you by? And I will use it. I will.