Project: I finally spent my Christmas money

So now that it's March, I finally got around to spending my Christmas money -- and in one fell swoop at that. I went nuts on Spoonflower and bought these rad Heather Ross gnome and mushroom prints that I have been drooling over for ages but could never find. Best of all, I got this fantastic alligator (crocodile) repeat from Anda of boosterseat.

I don't know what I'm going to do with the gnomes but I got a yard of each and a yard of the mushrooms. The mushroom color matches both gnomes so it will be a nice border or trim or cuff or collar and I should have some left over no matter what.

I'm going to make a super cute romper with the alligators. I'm using a vintage pattern that I borrowed from my mother in law who made a few for my husband's sisters when they were Zadie's age. I don't know why but Zadie is crazy for alligators and crocodiles. Do you know how to tell the difference? The crocs have a severe underbite while the gators have an overbite. Chomp! (I once saw a gator fly out of a small pond and eat a sunbathing turtle. I am not lying. I have a witness and I will never forget that sound).

Check out Anda's gallery at the bottom of her spoonflower page. Zadie is nuts for school buses (and thanks to my local BOE closing the historic school we can see from our house [and the number one reason why we moved to our otherwise third-choice neighborhood], she'll be lucky enough to ride one every day grrrrr....).

4 yards of fabric plus shipping was about $79 but I can do whatever I want with my Christmas money and a new living room rug is so boring.

Project: Awesome loot

Today I spent the afternoon at thrift stores with my good friend Sandi. We haven't hung out in months since she lives far away now (and there has been more snow this winter than any other in the last 35 years). It was gorgeous outside and we had tons of hand-sanitizing fun (I can't stand the way my hands feel after rifling through the discarded goods of strangers).

I picked up a ton of vintage books for Zadie, some weird clothes to tear up for fabric (including a red velvet bolero jacket from the children's store Limited Too that was huge on me -- I'm not lying), and a small plush carton of orange juice. The best find, by far, was this Ready to Wear Designer Collar (ready to wear where? the Salem witch trials? a Thanksgiving Day parade?).

I bought this cute little alligator pattern from andwabisabi on Etsy after having seen it on Feeling Stitchy. I want to make a little pocket for a romper I'm going to sew and this alligator is going to make it work.

Anyway, why go to Michael's and buy weird and expensive cross-stitch fabric when you can buy this hilarious collar for $2 and cut it up?

Project: Soundtrack

I'm not sure why but I have not been into music for a few years now. It used to be something that I felt really defined me. I was all about what I was into. So I don't know why I stopped listening. In fact, when I traded in my Toyota Echo over a year ago, I didn't even bother to put my fully stocked CD case into the newer (used) Corolla.

Yesterday one of my friends posted on Facebook that Alex Chilton died. He was 59. Big Star was pretty much the soundtrack of almost every summer of my college years (it was the early 1990s and they had just gotten back together). I have not been able to stop listening to this album, recorded live.

I actually started listening to my CDs this past weekend. We needed to move a shelf to make room for Zadie's new little table and chairs and it was full of CDs so I started copying everything I wanted to my computer so that I could get rid of all that plastic. I have fallen in love all over again. I think periodically I will post about what I'm listening to. And I promise I will never have anything that plays as soon as you load the page. I absolutely hate that.

Project: Polka dots and ruffles

I bought the pattern to make this super cute ruffly dress from Etsy during the great series of blizzards earlier this year. The directions were super easy to follow and this was quick to put together. If my sewing machine had a longer stitch length, it would have been even easier (add that to the list of requirements for my future upgrade). Instead, it takes me years to make a ruffle perfectly ruffly.

I used fabrics from the Nicey Jane line by Heather Bailey. I think the polka dots are just perfect for a little girl.

The pattern called for an extra row of ruffles on the bottom but I think I had enough going on that one more would have been one too many. I still have the ruffle and I'm thinking about turning it into a flower or something.

As you can see, the dress is hanging off of Zadie but it was also really hard to get on (and off). There's definitely something wrong with the fit. The pattern didn't call for a closure but I'm going to have to cut it open in the back and add a button and elastic so this will be easier to manage during toddler-wrangling-getting-dressed time. I'll probably just tack up the straps with a longer stitch so that it will fit better but allow for some growth.

Does anyone have any suggestions for alterations that might be better than these?

Project: Spring Top Week

I decided to give myself another challenge (like I need any more on my plate right now). I'm signing up for Spring Top Week over on the Made by Rae blog. I'm going to design and sew a top all by myself all for me.

Project: No project weekend

It was one of those weekends where I got nothing done and just ended up making a big mess out of my studio space.

Friday after work, I finished up a project for my mom. It's been hanging over my head and over the arm of the office couch for weeks now. I had the supplies to finish it, I had the time to finish it, but I did not need to finish it because it is a Christmas tree skirt. I really enjoyed making it and I love doing nice things for my mom but who needs a Christmas tree skirt in January or February or March, even? Christmas in July, sure... But now it is finished and it looks gorgeous and she loves it and will probably use it for the next 20 years (or else).

I was excited to have that finished up so that I could start on something new (Plan B). I bought a pattern to make some cute sailor pants for Zadie a while back and thought I would get to work on those. Unfortunately, I was not able to find buttonhole elastic on my last trip to the fabric store and I don't need 5 yards of it so I need to wait until the next trip to a different fabric store before we'll have yellow elephant pants in our lives. I had forgotten about the stupid elastic so I feel like I wasted time getting everything set up and cut out only to have it sit there.

Plan C was to actually make something for myself and follow through on that pattern challenge I signed up for last month. I got out my teal silky fabric and cut out all the pieces (a huge pain as I did not have enough fabric to do it easily; I really had to make it work and had about 2" left in a weird shape -- it was like Tetris or something. From now on I'm buying more than the pattern envelope says). Then I had a lot of problems getting my brand new chalk marking pencil to actually make my dart lines and once I finally got to sewing, everything started bunching up because I probably need to use a thinner needle and I don't have any and there are no fabric stores open on Sundays within a reasonable distance. I was able to sew the front facing in because the sewing machine seemed to be okay with attaching the cotton to the silky stuff without bunching up. But anyway I can't get started on the rest until I get some smaller needles.

Plan D was to get started on that Burda dress. I got all the pieces put together and easily made the adjustments from the Danielle to the Maya shape. After I put Zadie to bed I was going to sew a "muslin" of the bodice out of some ugly blue flannel so that I'll be able to make adjustments to the pattern before cutting into my good stuff. I feel like the neckline might be a little low for me and I have no idea how European cuts are going to work on my body. I was too tired to do this so I watched Ruby and went to bed but couldn't fall asleep.

Fabulous. I feel like I got nothing accomplished and am still tired. The week ahead is a busy one at work so there's no way I'll be able to squeeze much into my evenings. Does this ever happen to you?

See flickr for notes on the photo if you want the mess explained.

Project: Etched mirror silhouette tutorial

I wrote up a tutorial to make these gorgeous etched mirror silhouettes for the Mother's Day issue of Modern Handmade Child. It's a simple project once you get the supplies together. It took me longer to get a good profile shot of Zadie than it did to make this project!

Follow this link and click on the special Mother's Day Issue to the right. Page 26 - 28. Sorry Mimi and Grandma Char for the spoiled surprise on your Mother's Day gifts.

And I will be posting a longer tutorial on the non-toxic version using flocking powder sometime soon.