Happy Birthday Trish!

I'm not sure that this post is going to spread the word very well since Trish is one of my very few followers, but here goes!

Trish is celebrating a birthday today and she's giving out presents! Check her blog for a great giveaway!

http://twopeasinapoddesigns.com/2010/03/24/happy-birthday-to/

Happy Birthday Princess!

I can't believe my little girl is two years old today! Before we knew we were having a girl, I thought I wanted two boys - but I'm so glad I have a little princess to do girlie things with. It's amazing how much her little personality has already developed. She's a girlie-girl to the nth degree. Everything sparkly, ruffley or pretty is her kind of thing. She loves babies and fairies and cuddly things and getting dressed up. I'd say I have no idea where it came from (because I'm really not a girlie-girl) but, as my mom points out, she is an awful lot like her Aunt Kristen.

Here she is at one day old - my "tiny" 9 pounder:

and here she is yesterday at her birthday party:

I made (of course) the outfit she's wearing. The top is the Modkidboutique Kyoko pattern in Tinkerbell fabric and the white capris are a Simplicity pattern but I shortened them and added a cuff (that you can't see). I didn't notice that the obi had drifted south before we took the picture (I think I'm adding a little strip of velcro to the top and the front center of the obi so that doesn't happen.)

Pretty "Fowas"

I've been playing with these organza flowers. I used this tutorial here. They're lots of fun, partly because they're so quick, but mostly because there's fire involved. Who doesn't love a legitimate excuse to play with fire?

I made a couple of larger ones (the turquoise and the big hot pink) for my friend's little girl's first birthday and a pair of little ones for Princess's pigtails. The grey one I sewed to a pin for me to wear, but Princess has stolen that one for herself, too (I'm going to steal it back, though). I even made one for my mom during Mokey's family party (after almost everyone had gone home) but the fabric I used wasn't quite the same as the others and it didn't curl as well. My next experiment is going to be trying some cheap lining. If it works a even a little, I may get some green and use it for leaves with the organza flowers.

Happy Birthday Mokey!

Today my little man turns 5 years old. How on earth did that happen? It seems like just a day or two ago that we were bringing home the roly poly bundle of cuteness from the hospital and now he's a big boy almost ready for kindergarten. I'm amazed every day at the cool little personality that's developing in front of my eyes. I mean, how many kids do you know who want a picture of their kitties on their birthday cake (or sprinting thistles, for that matter - that's what he requested last year). He's a sweet, creative little soul and I can't wait to see what he'll think up today.

Here he is 5 years ago today, 20 1/2 inches 10 lbs 3/4 oz.

And here he is now, my how he's changed.

Lila Tueller Eden Quilt Giveaway

I almost want to keep this to myself because the quilt is just so gorgeous (the fabric itself is gorgeous but the quilt has ruffles! RUFFLES!) but here it is (see how generous I am?). Lila Tueller is giving away a quilt made of her beautiful Eden line fabric (yellow, lavender, pink and green with these totally adorable little birds, I love it - I've got some stashed away to make a table runner or two whenever I get the chance) on her blog. Go check it out!

http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-contest-begins-today.html

Pillowcase? Naw, skirt!

I'm thinking ahead to spring a little bit, but honestly, I'm sick of looking at snow (and we haven't gotten dumped on like some parts of the country, but the snow is sticking around a lot longer than usual. Besides, I'm so not a fan of snow, I'm always sick of it by around, oh, December 26th anyway).

I found this fabric in my mom's stash (a good portion of which had been my grandmother's stash at some point and Grandma passed away when I was about 16, so that fabric is at least 14 years old, but I'd guess a lot of it is way older than that). It was intended to be for pillowcases (as in, it was manufactured for that; the border is only on one side along the selvedge and it's narrower than normal fabric - exactly the right width for a pillowcase). I immediately thought "oooh, that would be a pretty skirt" so I grabbed it, knowing I had a tutorial stashed away for a skirt made from one yard of fabric with just two seams and an elastic waistband (and it was designed to use the selvedge as the hem). As I looked at it, I decided it needed a more tailored line and a trimmer waistband so I ended up using McCall's 3341 instead (which I already had) and then I added a lining because the fabric is a tad thin, especially since it's such a light color. Anyway, a simple skirt morphed into something a lot more complicated (especially since I thought I'd be all fancy and do the blind hem on my machine; yeah, ripped that out and did it by hand instead), but I love the result . Now I just need some warmer weather so I can actually wear it.

Happy Heart Day

I was afraid I wasn't going to get this dress done in time for V-Day; I had so much trouble figuring out the shirring around the neckline and sleeves. It's still not exactly right - I had to do the cheater method to get it done in time. I do know the issue now - the elastic thread doesn't want to stay in the bobbin tensioner on my machine - now I just need to figure out how to fix it.

It's actually my "muslin" for Princess' easter dress, made with cheap Wal-mart fabric (is ours the only one that still has fabric?). I used the Lily Top pattern from Pink Fig. She's got cute stuff and she's so nice, she answered my questions more than once.