Project: Welcome Spring!

Last week was Spring Break. I had planned on posting just a couple of times but ended up just taking the whole week off from the blog. The weather was gorgeous and I had a ton of work to do. However, I did finish up a few projects and got started on a few more. The teal shirt is done (woo hoo!), Zadie's got a cute dotted swiss robot dress in progress (must finish taxes before getting back to that one), and I found some buttonhole elastic and got started on those sailor pants.

The pollen in the air (and my eyes and throat) has really gotten me all excited about our garden. We used to have an amazing garden. Then we had an amazing kid (who somehow enabled us to kill our garden through sheer neglect -- of the garden not the child). We have big plans for this year. I know there are some people who manage to have children, perfect houses, massive gardens, and beautiful flowers and stuff. Not so with us. And our local farmer's market was one heck of an enabler with all that delicious produce. But now that Zadie is older, she will be put to work like it's the early 1800s. The Easter Bunny brought her a wheelbarrow to haul weeds to the composter, a watering can, and some gardening tools.

The photos show the first blooms on our forsythia, new buds on the lilac (fingers crossed there will be no freeze before it's time), and the current state of our garden. Mr. Lemon covered the whole thing with black plastic last Fall thinking it would kill all the weeds but there is something growing under it. Oh well. Soon we he will till it and we'll start seeds in mini greenhouses: tomatoes, spinach and other greens, lettuce, cucumbers, lots of different kinds of squash...

Project: No project

I have spent what seems like a million years making a shirt that does not want to be made. I sewed in some amazing sleeves and then I finished the belt (that's too short, I swear I'm not joking) but the hem is being a beast. I really don't think a pattern envelope should suggest a certain type of fabric if it requires one that needs so damn much easing.

Project: Rompers

This is the romper pattern that I'm going to use for that amazing alligator/crocodile fabric that I was going on and on about before. How strange is this? I bought the size 4 at a thrift store up in Pittsburgh and my MIL had the size 2. The cheaper one is from 1970 and the more expensive one is from 1972. It's like they just "updated" the hairstyles and changed out the applique. I love it. Check out the beret on that kid.

Project: My invisible zipper

Here is a sneak peak at my shirt. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have cropped out the part of the zipper that's not quite straight. This fabric is super slippery and I did not do a perfect job. But I think the best way to learn how to do something is to learn the hard way.

When my Dad taught me how to drive did he let me learn in the family sedan? No. He made me drive the monster Dodge Ram full-sized pickup truck through the tiny streets of our neighborhood. Were pedestrians leaping off the sidewalk and into the safety of their shrubbery? Yes. But I honestly think I'm a better driver because of it. And I'm not making that part about the sidewalks up. I really did drive up on the sidewalk. Listen, that's a big vehicle and that was a tight corner.

Anyway, if you're going to sew in a zipper after never having done it before, why start on muslin or thick cotton? That's too easy. Around here, we go for the gold (or in this case faux satin shantung).

I read a million tutorials online and watched 400,000 videos on YouTube but the most helpful piece was this one on Sew, Mama, Sew.

Project: cool buttons

I saw these cool buttons for sale on a website that was not Etsy. I don't remember where it was but I am thinking that it might be pretty easy to make them (these are commercially made -- if they were handmade, I'd just buy them). Maybe a different shape because you'd have to use a covered button maker and I've only seen round ones. What do you think?

Apologies to the owner of this photo. I did not plan to write about these so I just pulled the image to my desktop in order to not forget about them (figuring that I would actually forget about them but I can't stop thinking about them) so now I'm in quite a predicament.

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?