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.

Project: Interview with Kim of True Up

Kim took this photo while buying fabric at the Fall Quilt Market

I'm so excited to have fellow writer Kim of the amazing True Up blog here for the Project: Project interview series, "Not the Same Five Questions." Kim is a fine enabler, crafter, and mom with a fabric stash to envy.

doesn't this look delicious?

You know a lot about fabrics and design. What is your background?

Thanks! I am self-taught in all the fabric stuff. My background is in linguistics and publishing -- right now I'm a contract speech pathologist. But I have always had something creative going on -- it was photography and then web design for a long time. I got into sewing about 10 years ago.

quilt project

You manage to strike a good balance between enabling and educating fabric addicts readers. Is that one of the goals of the blog?

Definitely! I'm glad you noticed. When I started out I not only wanted to spread the word about great new fabrics I came across, I also wanted to educate myself about the design process and about different types of fabrics.

great ebay fabric haul

One of my favorite posts was “The Great eBay Fabric Haul.” I even read all the comments. What projects came out of that stash?

Ahhh ... that was a great eBay win! That doesn't happen much any more -- too many collectors are clued in now. It was mostly scraps -- some of them found a way in to quilts, some I traded in swaps, but most of them are still hanging out in the stash!

vintage button find

Like many of your readers, you’re a mom. Does the blog allow you to work at home or do you have a day job?

It does allow me to stay home part-time. As I mentioned above I'm also a speech-language pathologist. I do that a few days a week while my mom and husband take turns caring for my 2 1/2 year old son.

beautiful decluttered stash

You mentioned something about surface design on your blog. Any secrets you care to spill?

I have secrets, but none I can spill! I have found that one of the biggest hurdles in creative life is option paralysis -- but I am thankful I have those options. I'll let you know when I figure it all out!

Thanks again to Kim for the honest and interesting answers. True Up is really important. If you haven't seen it yet, take a look especially at her Digital Fabric Printing Experiment. It's incredibly helpful. And I think I need a storage system like that for my fabric. It's so much better than my ugly plastic 3-drawer system.

Project: Trades are awesome.

The best part about Etsy, for me, is the community. I like that when I have a question about something, the person who actually made that thing with their own two hands is going to answer me back.

Since I've been in this pattern/sewing kick, I've been looking really closely at some of the toddler dresses. I emailed the owner of DevonRose demanding that she make patterns of her designs because they are awesome. She wrote me back saying that she doesn't use patterns -- she just cuts straight from the fabric. What?!? Is that possible? Not for me. There's no way I could do something like that. She is like a magician.

Anyway, she had bought one of my yetis a while back so we got to "chatting" and she suggested we trade. Awesome. This green dress is amazing. The craftsmanship is really impeccable. That's something that's really important to me. I couldn't find a stitch out of place (and you won't in my stuff either). These little fabric covered buttons just rock (I'm so going to buy one of those fabric covered button maker thingys next time I leave the house). Check out how the underskirt just perfectly accents the hem. I love it. I also love her blog. Good stuff.

Project: Thrifting

I rarely get the time to go to thrift stores anymore plus I just really don't like the stores we have here. The ones back home where I grew up are way better.

Anyway, check out these awesome shirts I got to turn into dresses for Zadie. That patterned one is so funky. I actually might make a skirt for myself! I just love old man prints.

Project: Corduroy

With the feeling of Spring in the air, I've decided to get all the corduroy out of my system to make way for bulbs popping through the snow, buds on the forsythia, and huge doses of antihistamines and decongestants. Go March!

I made this adorable dress using a the Parisian pattern from ManiMina on Etsy. The collar piece absolutely gave me fits. I could not get the pattern to make sense at all so I ended up fudging it. After a couple of tries, I got it to work and actually made two of these. The armholes were too tight on this one for my niece so I adjusted the pattern 1/2" on each pattern piece so that it would work better for her.

The floral fabric is a very fine wale corduroy that I got at JoAnn's. It's soft and gorgeous and has washed up really well. The collar is linen because I thought that would really add to the Fall feel to the dress. Zadie has gotten a lot of wear out of this and both girls call it their "pretty dress" and beg to wear them when they're fresh out of the wash. I just love the vintage button I used for the closure paired with a satin ribbon.

Project: Someone else's project

I just had to take a minute to write about what just came in the mail -- this awesome Retro Ruffler from Raegun. I consider Marissa an online friend. We have emailed and sent convos and left comments on each other's flickrs and blogs and whatnot but we've never met and we probably never will. But I still feel like she's in my circle, you know. Etsy is like that.

So when I saw this little goodie -- and then I saw that one of my friends had gotten one too, I decided just to buy it. (Even though it was the middle of Winter and it would not get worn for months). I love it. There's a lot of detail. It's a cute vintagey design that got me right away. I like the color in this picture but I went with a blue floral one with dark blue ric rack because I think Zadie will look super cute in it. I wish she would let me put it on her but she has been in a mood for over a week and I haven't been able to get a thing on her except fleece. Sometimes I think she is not my child.

EDIT: I finally wrangled said toddler into this thing and wow. It is so cute. Even cuter than the kids in the listing photos (ahem). It's also a great fit. I ordered a 3 because my kid is really tall (considering her elfin parents) and I was worried about the rise. Awesome. It's a perfect fit now and I'm sure we'll get two summers out of it. It's not tight around the thighs, is roomy around the cloth diaper, and had super long straps that can be tied differently to adjust fit. Yay!

Project: Loot.

Although there is a quilt shop and a weird upholstery fabric store in town, we don't have a true sewing shop with different types of fabrics and notions and patterns and all that deliciousness we love and hoard. So when I go to the sewing store, I stock up because it's a 45-minute drive. Last weekend I went to visit my parents so that my mom could watch the kid and I could have as much uninterrupted time with my list as I needed. Success. I bought these fabrics for projects for me. The teal faux silky stuff is for this top (see note) that I wrote about before. I should be able to wear it to work if it ever warms up. The cotton dots print is for this dress. I'm going to make the Maya version because I want something cool and lovely for Summer. I had to buy zippers too. I have never sewn a zipper before. Ever. Someone has always done it for me.

This dotted swiss is for this dress (see note) for Zadie. I thought I would make it very much like the pattern and add trim in two different colors. I love dotted swiss. I would use it for every project if it made sense. I just love the vintage feel to it.

Finally, this is the haul for the second Oliver + S pattern that I'm going to attempt, the Playdate dress. I didn't mean to buy fabric so like the example on the package but after seeing the nursery rhyme toile, I had to go for it. And chartreuse with deep blue and red is so underrated. I think it will add a perfect punch.

I love shopping for supplies. So much of making good projects is in finding the right materials, making a good list and checking it more than twice, and living with the patterns and fabric until it feels right.