Play Eats: Beautiful Felt Eggs

Katie of Hippos and Dinosaurs brings Play Eats to the next level today with a Felt Egg tutorial. You can "decorate" them for Easter or just make them white for your kitchen. She has even uploaded a pattern that you can print out. Katie is super talented and her blog is full of great projects that you can make for your kids.

I know that a lot of readers don't have sewing machines (or don't want to lug them out of the closet) and this is a project that can all be done by hand. In our kitchen we just have a couple of plastic eggs from last Easter and although they are cheap and easy (I even included them in the repurposing post), they are really hard for Z to open and close. I'm thinking when I make these, I might leave a seam open but finished so that we can hide things inside. What do you think?

Click over to Hippos and Dinosaurs for the full tutorial and pattern. Don't miss this play loaf of bread or the rest of her felt food tutorials.

Thanks so much to Katie for stitching up this awesome post. Of course, all photos are courtesy of Hippos and Dinosaurs.

Book Review: Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty

Helen Dardik has added some of her super cute designs to very simple projects for beginners in Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty. The book begins with a primer of basic embroidery stitches and a list of tools. The patterns are simple line drawings in the back of the book for you to reduce or enlarge as needed.

I don't think I'll ever make any of these and I'm not sure why I even bought the book. I must have read a misleading review. It's really targeted to crafty girls or teens; it's a little too old for my toddler and a little young for my tastes. But the illustrations, as you should expect, are delightful. I will definitely be stitching up some of these little designs. I especially love the cloud and the sweet little flower.

In summary, if you have a kid who's just getting into sewing, this would make an excellent gift or just something fun to pick up for the two of you to share. It's really well priced. I'll be holding on to mine for a few years.

The hoop

So I've finished the hoop and sent it off to its new owner. I took this photo before I did some more stitching to the dots. I kept it simple but wanted to add a little bit of whimsy to it.

I'll post a final shot after it's arrived to its new home.

Woah.

Look what I got in the mail today.

I couldn't be happier. When I saw this in the swap pool I really wanted it. I was hoping it would be mine. It's so simple and so perfect and so clean and so tidy and I could go on and on about how much I love it.

It was made by Meg of Fashioned by Meg. She is very talented.

I have been working on my swap but I won't show any more pictures. It needs to be a surprise!

Interview with Nicole Vos van Avezathe

I am thrilled to present today's interview with Nicole of Follow the White Bunny. We first "met" when she posted about my little yeti dress on Feeling Stitchy. Now she has a yeti of her very own that was featured in Fat Quarterly magazine. Nicole is a very talented designer and does amazing embroidery. I love her whimsical imagery. Her designs are delicate and quiet but very powerful.

My favorite pieces of yours are those stitched on non-traditional fabrics like Joel Dewberry’s Woodgrain, the faux bois in bright colors, from the Aviary line (see the White Rabbit image below). Why do you sometimes choose these unusual backgrounds?

Generally I think that if you use the right fabric, whether it’s patterned or not, it compliments and adds to your embroidery work. When choosing patterned fabrics I only use subtly patterned fabrics so the print will not ‘overpower’ the embroidery work. And Joel Dewberry’s wood grain fabrics fit that description perfectly, especially the light yellow and green versions. I’m still clinging to a small stash of these! Lately I have also been using a lot of linen to embroider on, both ‘solid’ linen and patterned.

You recently collaborated with fabric designer Lizzy House, one of the first Project: Project interviewees, developing embroidery patterns for her Castle Peeps collection. What was that like? We use a LOT of Lizzy House around here.

I was so surprised when Lizzy contacted me! I had no idea she even knew who I was and what I was doing. I had already been admiring the sneak peeks of the Castle Peeps earlier this year so I didn’t have to think long when she asked me if I wanted to team up with her and work on some Castle Peeps Embroidery Patterns. Lizzy is very talented and her Castle Peeps designs were very suitable to translate into Embroidery Patterns. I found the whole thing very inspiring, especially to work with the simple shapes of which these Peeps are made up and the vibrant colours.

Why do you base some of your patterns on fairy tales and children’s stories like the Princess and the Pea and the white rabbit from Alice in wonderland?

I find inspiration in many things, including tales and books! I must confess that part of the reason I chose the Princess and the Pea was because with all those 20 mattresses it fit my idea for an embroidery sampler so perfectly. I had no idea that this was such a popular tale though. I’m pretty sure it’s not all that popular over here.

I also like to make up my own stories around the patterns that I’m making or at least make my patterns look like they are part of a story. Like my Bear and Fish pattern, they are an interesting couple aren’t they? First I had just drawn the Bear but I found him a bit uninteresting on his own so I added the fish. The bear looks like he is gently stroking the fish but then…don’t all bears love fish… to eat I mean? The idea for the pose of the Bear with the Fish came from an old early 20th century French postcard. On the postcard people, not bears, were holding the fish though.

I was surprised to read that you are relatively new to the crafty world? Your style seems so refined.

It’s true I am quite new to the whole crafty scene. I studied Medieval History and after that I had a rather unexciting job at a Health Insurance company for a couple of years. Four years ago we moved to Norway (but I’m back in the Netherlands now) and there, having some time on my hands, I started to sew. Soon after that I started embroidering too. I’ve always enjoyed drawing so within a year after I held my first embroidery hoop I had drawn, made and sold my first embroidery pattern. I’m not sure if I would call my style ‘refined’ but I guess it’s recognizable and rather consistent in style and theme. Personally , I see a lot of difference (and improvement) in the stuff I did before and the things I’m doing now.

Your blog is a mix of both craftiness and home life. Is it hard to juggle a family and a business?

No it isn’t hard. It’s too small to cause any stress! I’m just making my patterns and sometimes I spend a couple of hours a day on drawing, embroidering or pattern making and on other days I buy groceries and do the laundry. If possible I try to plan ahead and take plenty of time for special projects or commissions and if things get a little busy I guess the housework suffers the most from it.

Thanks so much to Nicole for the insightful answers! I love learning more about my favorite artists and designers. You can buy her patterns here and read more about Follow the White Bunny on her blog. If you need the Castle Peeps embroidery patterns, Lizzy House has them here. All photos are courtesy of Nicole.

After I can sew no more...

In the evenings when I'm shot, I like to watch TV. I hate to just sit there though so I bought this awesome cross-stitch pattern from Heidi Kinney's Etsy shop. It's a fabulous rendition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I'm using some linen that I got locally (after spending hours searching the web). I'm not sure if it's the 32-count in the sample or not but it is working just fine.

I switched up the colors a bit to match Zadie's room: orange, apple green and aqua instead of red, kelly green and royal blue. It's lovely to count. I guess I like doing math and stuff. When I'm working on a small project, I keep all the gear in one of those bags that curtains come in. It keeps everything contained and neat. See the safety pins? Yeah, I don't like to use an embroidery hoop (plus mine is broken). Maybe that will change after a visit to Michael's.

I would love to make an apron for a dress out of this. That was the plan. But I've spent 3 - 4 hours on this already and I have 3 hats, a shirt, a belt, and one belt buckle stitched. So this was originally a kids clothing week item but we'll see. I estimated this would take me 22 days to stitch.

I blurred the pattern in the photo because even though the resolution of the image is small, I didn't want someone to be able to use it from the blog.

Pretty Pinafore by Carolina Fair Designs (with Giveaway!)

When I saw on the Carolina Fair Designs blog that she needed testers for a pattern, I jumped on the chance. Although I review patterns all the time, I had never been the first to try something. Plus, I liked working with the Wraparound Dress so much that I thought it would be a win-win. The Pretty Pinafore is another one-piece pattern that is super easy to make. The only bit of construction is to sew the shoulder seams together.

I used this amazing alligator (or is it crocodile?) fabric designed by Anda of boosterseat. She is in the process of moving right now so you can buy her fabric directly from Spoonflower or just wait. It will be worth it. She is an amazing person and so talented you won't believe it.

The little gator there on the pocket is a cross-stitch design from Andwabisabi. She has a ton of great patterns and they are very well priced. I wrote about stitching this before. I made quite a mess of it but my 2-year old doesn't mind and you can still tell it's a gator so that's all that really matters, right? I made the pocket from a bizarre collar that I bought at a thrift store. The packaging was hilarious. It has a crocheted lace edge to it that has now pulled out of my bias tape edging. I'll have to fix that but I'm not sure how.

The overall dress is so simple. After you stitch the shoulder seams together, you just apply your bias tape to the whole thing in one continuous loop. I do recommend that you stitch one edge of the tape down (right sides together) then fold it over and stitch it closed. I tried a quick and dirty one step method and the dress pulled out of the tape in several areas. I have been re-stitching them and it has taken far longer to fix my mistakes than it would have been just to sew it right the first time. But that seems to be how I do things...

As you can see it's a great fit. I like that it has a pinafore look but it's a dress. You can make a tunic or shirt version with this just like you can with the Wraparound Dress. Both hems are noted. A nice touch.

And check out this amazing little stop-animation video that Caroline made to demonstrate sewing the dress. It is really awesome. And only 1 minute long.

SORRY. COMMENTS ARE CLOSED. WINNERS ALREADY CHOSEN.

Don't forget that Caroline is giving away two patterns. To enter, go to her website, pick out which of the two patterns you would like and leave a comment on this post. For a second entry, go to yesterday's post and leave a comment there as well. Make sure you leave your email address or a way to find you! Winners will be chosen August 16.

Project: Vote for the Yeti Dreaming of Soup!

I am a finalist in the Lil Blue Boo & Dharma Trading Design Challenge! How exciting. Go vote for me here. There are 15 other entries and they are pretty good so I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Remember I did a reverse applique using an image on the bottom piece of fabric. That's not easy! Plus I embroidered that soup freehand to make it all dreamy. No stencils, no tracing, no nothing.

Go give the yeti and shout out.

Project: a feature!

The amazing folks over at Feeling Stitchy featured my Yeti Dreams of Soup dress on their blog. It's a great site full of all the latest stuff in the world of embroidery: new patterns, some projects, free tutorials, and a lot of talent.

It's an honor to be there. Thanks so much!

Project: Design Challenge finished! Yeti dreams of soup.

If you were a yeti, what would dream about? Soup!

I'm so happy with the way this dress for the Design Challenge turned out. And Zadie loves it to. When I finished it I held it over my legs so it would be at her eye level and she screamed, "Yeti dress!!!!" and gave it (and me) a huge hug. Success.

For my embellishments, I did a reverse applique using one of my yeti t-shirts. I'm happy with the way it turned out and it was totally worth the challenge. If you like doing this technique, try it with a design element. Just trace your image onto thin paper (or photocopy it) to use as a template for placing the fabric underneath your garment. Use a lot of pins to get it right. I stitched around the edges before I cut then went around it again after. Basically I felt that the machine stitching wasn't standing out next to the embroidery so I wanted it to pop a bit more. It wasn't necessary to the construction because I used Wonder Under around the edges of the yeti.

I did the embroidery starting with the bowl of soup. I mapped out where I wanted everything with pins and then just did it freehand. I wanted it to look dreamy so I didn't want to draw on the dress and "trace" with the needle and thread. Finally, I surrounded it with the thought bubble.

Doing this project really reminded me of my love for embroidery. I'll be doing more of this type of work to Zadie's future outfits. If anyone wants a tutorial on my reverse applique, leave a comment. If there is enough demand, I'll write one up.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Quilt Top Finished!

I finally pieced together the entire top to my Mod Sampler quilt from the Oh Fransson! Quilt-along. I didn't have any problems adding the sashing between the rows or along the sides. One of the reasons I may have been having problems with the freezer paper was that my pressure was set very low because I usually do a lot of applique. Instead of good control, I was slipping all over the place. You need straight lines for quilting so I moved it up a notch and got much better results.

The fabrics I was choosing from. I got rid of the teal waves and added a light solid in aqua.

After I finished the front, I measured out the larger cuts of fabric I had left over. I have a nice wide panel of the teal linen I used for the sashing, over a yard of the bird fabric (I can't find a link but it's in the "Sweet" collection from Moda), and that awesome embroidered bird that we bought during a trip to Mexico. I plan to map out the back using graph paper so it will have the right proportions. For the binding, I think I'm going to use the fabric with the little red stars. What do you think?

I'm going to take out the finished edges of the bird panel and piece it in to the teal. I'm not really sure how to do that to get the right dimensions so I'll have to do some research.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Project: Stitchery

Last weekend Mr. Lemon and I went to a cool little thrift store in another town and I found this fabulous little stitchery. I can't believe someone let it go -- and it was only $3!

It appears to be mounted to the backing but I don't want to tear it out of the frame just yet. Should I use it for the fabric or paint the frame and hang it on the wall? It's really lovely.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

And we're out.

So the time has finally come. The yeti is extinct. He will be remembered fondly by his hand-stitched toothy grin, his pointy claws, and his silky pelt.

Oh yeti, you will be missed.

Pictured above is the last of the yetis. Ever. He flew via First Class Mail/Parcel Post to his new home with Jess T's dad. Another traveled far away and will be a baby shower gift so that's a secret. If you find some of this fur, let me know and we'll attempt a reincarnation.

I have already begun working on designs for a new elusive species. Look for them in late Spring/early Summer.

R.I.P. mysterious beast.

Lemon Cadet Sighting...

Check out the Trendy Tots blog. They featured Dolores, one of my very favorite designs as part of their Fresh Finds. I don't have many hot pink onesies left and I haven't been able to find anymore wholesale so she may be discontinued soon. Such sadness.

Trendy Tots is a really amazing blog. They highlight all kinds of cute, indie products. What an honor!

News from the homefront: Mr. Lemon has been hard at work fulfilling my insane nesting desires. He replaced the kitchen countertops with the coolest laminate (if that's what it's even called...). Today he finished fixing all the cracks in my new studio (his old office) and we might even see some paint on the walls by the weekend. When that's all finished, the nursery challenge will begin.

I have pictures of the kitchen to share and a special vegan cheese ball recipe. I expect to have some time next week!

Neglected but not forgotten...

It's been a crazy time around here for Lemon Cadet. Since Crafty Bastards, there's been a lot of catching up, taking new photos of the goods, and filling custom orders.

I have 5 bean dolls to add to the shop and a few new shirts. The sizes are mostly for toddlers but include some super thick awesome quality sweatshirts (even a couple of hoodies, size 4). Please forgive me. I love you.

Handmade Arcade is also coming very soon. And as promised, we'll have something new. I'm thinking yeti. I'm thinking plush.

New at My My

How cute! See the original photo on Taryn's flickr page.

It's time for Crafty Bastards

I know you've been wondering why it's so quiet around here. I've been super busy making stuff for Crafty Bastards. It's this weekend! Sunday, Sept. 30 from 10 - 5 at the Marie Reed Learning Center on 18th and Wyoming in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.


They sent us all interview questions for their site. My interview is up right now on the blog.

What's new for Lemon Cadet: a whole bunch of bean softies in lots of different fabrics, of course those fabulous yeti tees I wrote about here, and finally, some long-sleeved t-shirts and onesies perfect for Fall and Winter.

Find directions and all the info you'll need to stalk me on their website. I'll be in spot 28 right next to Ms. Tina Seamonster.

I hope to see those of you within a reasonable driving/walking distance sometime on Sunday. It's not just all shopping. They've got some great entertainment planned, some cool crafting workshops, and food.

Journal Modiste Designer of the Week

Lemon Cadet is the designer of the week at Journal Modiste, an online guide to children's couture and handmade clothing. It's a great site that gets loads of hits so it's wonderful have been chosen.

There are a lot of unique shops featured and it's a very informative site with lots of links and interviews.

Read my interview here.

Oh no! Pat Pat!

Every time I get a custom order to do one of my little guys on a different size, I'll print out the picture of the original item and cut it out to use as a pattern. Such was the case with Pat Pat (above).

So I used old Pat Pat to make a new Pat Pat and left the pattern on the living room floor and went to bed (because it was late and I was tired).

When I got up the next morning, that was all that was left of Pat Pat. The cats had found a new toy. Where is Pat Pat's arm? Is Pat Pat in pain from the bites? We may never know.

R.I.P. Pat Pat pattern.

Market Report

This weekend Lemon Cadet hit the road for a trip to the Brooklyn Indie Market. There were some amazing sellers there, including fofolle who made the super cute microminis and Melissa Bell with these dresses that looked phenomenal on every single person who tried one on (both in photo). I also got to hang out next to My Funky Twisted Soul and Bohemian Soul, a mother-daughter crafting extravaganza. Kat Kaplan gave me some great advice as she's got some actual business experience and I got to meet some ladies of the New York City Craft Mafia, among a handful of other creative sellers. It was a really fun day. The crowd was pleasant and really receptive to all the good goods.


August seems to be a slow month for Brooklyn but the market got a lot of foot traffic because of its location. Despite the slow sales, I truly had a wonderful day. I learned a lot, as I do with every new show. At one point, a guy came up and pulled a Hank onesie (Hank is one of my bun bun designs, a green fleece bunny face with long ears) off the rack and began shaking it up and down like he was hopping, I guess. He was shouting, "I'm a hipster baby! I'm a hipster baby!" I thought that was pretty funny.

Check out the pictures on the Brooklyn Indie Market's flickr page. Kathy of fofolle took some great shots of the booth. That link will take you to the first shot of my booth.