Sling sewing for Claire :)

It seems like years since I have posted any sewing here on the blog! Being at my sewing machine again has been  heavenly! My first project came out of necessity. My sister Rae has been sporting this super cool sling from Mamma's Milk and I really wanted one too, the only problem was that I wanted a cute one. After some searching I found that they sell their pattern! YAY!!!!

I whipped one up within half an hour of finding the pattern -so much better than waiting on shipping and having to pay full price! I used my Hunky Dory fabric that I have been saving for one side, and for the other I used more of that pea green sheet that I got from my Granny. I LOVE IT! And Claire LOVES IT! It's reversible, it fits perfectly (they have an automated fitting chart that you can go by), and I felt good knowing that it was their tried and true pattern.

Before Rae and I went to the camp on Monday morning I made her a pretty sling too. And then that night, after using mine all day long with a happy baby, I made two more for baby gifts! They are so easy and the babies love being in them so much that it just seemed like the perfect baby gift. Another thing that really makes me happy is that I can put it on easily by myself (that wasn't the case with my old baby carrier) and it folds up tiny to fit in my purse or diaper bag.

I guess you know what happened next....there were these two little girls that needed slings for their baby dolls. The pattern came with a little tutorial for doll slings too. Maddie fell asleep in hers last night. Why didn't I get a picture of that?

Well at least I got a picture of this! Ben used my sling to keep Claire happy while he was cooking breakfast the other morning. How sweet is that? Now he wants one in a manly brown or black fabric.

I've got more sewing to do this week and I can't wait to show you! I just need a little more time to get it just right. It is so good to be back at it. I love my job. Now I'm going to head outside to snap pictures of all of our new baby goats to show you. Oh my goodness they are so sweet! See you soon :) xo, Sam 

PS. Claire was three weeks old on Monday and yesterday was her due date. We sang Alice and Wonderland's Unbirthday song to her all day. She liked it. ;) 

finn's blanket

For Finn's Therapy Dog training, they suggest that we have a blanket for the dog to sit on while he's on a visit. If you're visiting kids, they suggest a kid-appropriate theme (Buzz Lightyear is on the trainer's dog's blanket). I considered getting some bright fleece at the fabric store, and was looking at some when I came up with this idea:

it's a fleece blanket that we used to cover Finn's wire crate with, but since he doesn't use that anymore, the blanket was free for other uses. Like having Finn's name appliqued to it. I'd say it turned out pretty well, considering that the feed dogs don't really do much with fleece -- it was really a different sort of applique for me.

Oh, have I not mentioned Therapy Dog training? Why, yes! For the past few weeks, Finn and I have been spending an hour each Saturday morning at his day care place, where they also do obedience training, including really specialized stuff like agility training and therapy dog work. Now therapy dog work shouldn't be confused with service dog work, where the dog is at a person's side, rendering assistance all day, every day. Therapy dogs go (with their person) to visit people who could use a little puppy love, such as hospitals, retirement communities and nursing homes, psychiatric care facilities, prisons and some schools. There are two different therapy dog organizations that we're training to be certified with, Delta Society and Connecting Canines. There are also therapy cats, therapy chickens, and once our instructor worked with a therapy miniature pony.

confessional #3

I really need to blog more often than just Sunday confessionals.


I believe I crafted every day (I've taken to bringing some knitting to work, to tinker with at lunch, or better yet, get someone else to drive the vanpool so I can knit), and don't have any finished projects to show for it, I feel like I'm getting a lot done. I'm about one-third done with a Pleated Beauty Bag for Habetrot:




I started a new knitting project for felting (I'm improvising the design -- I'm going for an organic-but-not-too-lumpy look.... wish me luck!):




And speaking of improvising, I am getting down to business with my Project Improv blocks. Today I went through my stash to see what I had that would work for the assigned color combinations (pink & orange, green & blue, and red & aqua (I'd never given that last combo any thought at all, and I think I even cocked my head at the Project Improv directions when I saw it, but now I see it everywhere, and I love it)):




And we received our swapping partner assignments for the Bend the Rules Sewing #4, so I'll be searching for fabrics for that too, soon.


And...drum roll please.... I bought no new craft stuff this week! Is it reasonable to feel so accomplished for doing.... nothing?

Edited to add: lest I end up posting only weekly confessionals, I am going to place a text box on the sidebar for my confessionals from here on out.

finished projects

Lisa and Colin's wedding quilt, aka the red & white quilt (yes, finally). For the record, Ellen and I agree that while it's acceptable to give regular wedding gifts for up to one year after the wedding, wedding quilts get five years, so I am actually three years ahead of the game on this one. Lisa's a quilter too, so I'm hoping she'll understand....

The details: log cabin block pattern, various red, white and pink-themed fabrics, including two vintage monogrammed napkins and a vintage rose-themed handkerchief (lower left corner, one block up, one block over). Quilted with a "medium gauge" stippling pattern in white thread -- the first one I've quilted entirely on my new Bernina.

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And a diaper bag for Emily. Or is it for Buford?

Pattern: Amy Butler's Birdie Sling; fabric: Heather Ross' Mendocino, various colorways

After I took that top photo, I added these buttons, but it had gotten too dark out for a tree reshoot.

(check out the snow meltage in two days!)

sewing as prozac

When Matt came to visit, I had to put away my sewing table. I made an agreement with myself that I would leave my beloved Bernina packed away until after I'd taken the GRE, so as to not be distracted by it when I should be studying. Apparently I should I packed away the knitting needles too, but that's another story. When Give-Away Day arrived, I found that I wanted to make the coasters I was giving away presentable, and that clearly, a fabric gift bag was necessary. So out came the "sew 'chine" and the fabric and the thread. It was just a basic square gift bag, and not even for someone I know, but about halfway through, as I adjusted the fabric for the seam allowance, I had sensation of intense happiness followed by a micro-epiphany: sewing makes me happy. I described the moment to Eric, and he asked if I was thinking that sewing was meditative, and I said, "No, this was more like what I expect Prozac is like."

P.S.: Michelle, I sent the coasters to you yesterday... let me know if you don't get them by sometime next week. Enjoy!

WIP: cricket costume, 4

Costume completion! After sizing the smock on Zoe last night, I sewed hook and loop dots on the sides, stitched joints into and attached the legs, and sewed the wings on the back. Before coming down to Irvine, I stuffed the abdomen with a bit of polyfill at Eric's suggestion (spot on, Eric, thank you!). Here's the documentary picture of the completed project, the back of it, draped over the futon.....

Much as we adults might, Zoe does not love the costume. She seemed to enjoy the parts of it before they were all assembled. She grabbed the sparkly pipecleaners Emily got for antennae and took to holding them onto her head as "tenna", and she clasped the wings to herself and hopped around the living room for a bit. She even took the stuffed fabric tubes, held them next to her own legs, and then mama's legs and identified them as such, but when it was all together, she wanted not much to do with it. She seems semi-interested in it when it's on mama, who tried valiantly to convince Zoe to don the outfit at a playgroup halloween party today, but Zoe was more interested in going sans costume. She accepted the "tenna" though, which Emily wound into her pigtails. After the third or fourth try at getting Zoe to wear the costume, she was sufficiently distracted long enough to get used to it, and played on the wooden climbing structure long enough for a few photos. If I may say so myself, it's even cuter on her than I had even hoped.

edited to add a few more photos:

WIP: cricket costume, 3

Crickets have wings, and on a real live cricket, they're covered by plate-like forewing, but in the interest of giving Zoe a pair of pretty, shiny wings (and also lack of time to be entymologically accurate), I skipped the forewings and went straight to the pretty ones. Using the instructions I found here, I fused together four layers of the plastic, folded this sheet over once more and creased it. I used an image of "typical insect wing venation" from the internet to freehand the template onto a piece of tissue paper. I copied the wing template onto a second piece of tissue, since I knew that the template itself would be consumed in the process.

I pinned the tissue paper to the plastic and using the holoshimmer thread and a narrow zig-zag stitch, I traced the outline and venation pattern. I pulled the excess tissue paper away and trimmed the plastic, revealing what I think is an awesome looking wing. Repeat with second template and you've got a pair!

edited to add: completed wings

WIP: cricket costume, 2

I finished piecing the segmented abdomen -- totally winging it the entire way. That was fun, and not something I was used to.

I then sewed the front and the back, along with some white lining pieces, together and turned right side out. I'll have to hand stitch the neck hole closed, but first I am going to rip the seam that goes around the segmented part so I can add a little sparkle, via Sulky "holoshimmer" thread.

I also experimented with fusing together layers of "basket wrap" (transparent, irridecent plastic "wrapping paper"). Four layers fused ok (with a dry iron on medium heat, between two sheets of white paper), but doubling that over for a thicker, eight-layer sheet didn't stick too well. But that's where the sewing machine and more sparkly thread come into play. I am so excited about these wings that I can hardly stand still. I know Zoe will be too young to understand, but I hope her mom likes the costume -- I'm quite proud of it, so far.

WIP: cricket costume, 1

While on the beach, Emily and I discussed Zoe's halloween costume. Being nicknamed Cricket, and knowing that in a few years, she likely wouldn't go for this idea on her own, we decided to dress her up as a cricket. Now, as any sewist knows, there might be a Jimminy Cricket (TM) costume pattern out there, but that's not exactly what we're going with this. So, starting with a pair of light green pajamas (with feet, naturally), I traced the shape and developed a little pattern to make a little smock.

The front will be light green and will hang to about her waist, and the back will be darker green and will feature a multi-colored segmented abdomen (tail). That's about as far as I've gotten.

Will keep you posted!

swapping

I just finished my first swap. I was assigned to an Australian woman, who sent her color preferences to the swap coordinator (as did I, for the person assigned to me), and I made six placemats and eight napkins (six plus two since I had extra fabric), both based on patterns from Amy Carol's book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing. It was at once a challenge and a blessing to be selecting fabrics for someone I didn't know (sure, she says she likes pastels, but maybe she doesn't really like pink? oh well, she can regift it if she doesn't...). With quilting, choosing the fabrics is one of my favorite parts -- but it certainly is one of the more nerve-wracking parts, since you can always rip the seams out of a block and start again, but you can't change what a fabric looks like, short of dying it, and that's just not in my game plan.

The napkins were easy (hemmed rectangles), and the placemats were a bit more challenging, as they required me to make binding tape, and obviously had more steps (though it was the same steps six times, so they were still relatively easy).

I have received word from the recipient that she got the package, and that she likes the placemats very much (yay!), so I can now show them to you!


Pattern: Placemats and Mixy-Matchy Napkins from Amy Carol's Bend the Rules Sewing, for the BTRSswap#2.
Fabric: Posh by Chez Moi, for Moda.

I also stepped in and made a Pleated Beauty Bag from the same book, for a woman who had participated in the previous swap, made a bag for the person she was assigned to, but unfortunately didn't receive one from the person assigned to her. The swap coordinator asked for volunteers and I raised my hand. This project was a fair bit more challenging than the placemats and napkins, but I am very happy with how it turned out. It goes in the mail tomorrow, I hope the recipient likes it too.


Pattern: Pleated Beauty Handbag, from Amy Carol's Bend the Rules Sewing.
Fabric: Zazu (TG-18) in lime colorway, by Tina Givens for Westminster Fibers.
I hand embroidered the birds in three colors: a dark tan, olive green and chocolate brown.

Now don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed these two projects, and I hope to do a swap again, but I have to be careful. While I was working on these late one night, I was looking around my sewing table for some notion or other and came across Seamus' cicada pouch that I had started, and nearly finished, before the swap came into my life. It was rediculously close to finished, and what's worse is that I had put off sending Isabella's quilt until I could send the cicada pouch with it. So yes, Isabella's quilt is still here, and not wrapped around Isabella like it should be. In fact, it's now spent more time slung over the back of a chair than it spent in the making. I was startled at how I had so easily put off the projects I'm working on for people I know and love, to work on projects for people I don't know, and will probably never meet. That's just not right. So while I enjoyed the swap (there is something about making something for a total stranger that is fulfilling), and I liked these projects, I won't do another swap unless I am without other projects in the queue, however unlikely that may be.

WIP Wednesday

I think WIPs were meant to be posted on Wednesdays -- something about needing to show accomplishment for the week that's half over.

Here's a pair of sympathy cards I made this morning....

And my next project (it's amazing how a totally new, unplanned on project will jump into the front of the project queue.... and I have no control over it), is a cicada pouch (from Omiyage by Kumiko Sudo) for Seamus. I came up with it after I talked to Toni the other day and found out that her son is totally enamoured of insects these days. I have had this book for years, but never had quite the right occasion ot use it. I am so glad I do now.

Today I'll be multi-modal for my commute: bike to campus, bus to work, bike most of the way home (assuming the weather doesn't make me bail and catch the bus), where Eric will pick me up in the car (If you saw the hill between my house and the bike trail, you'd be calling home for a ride too [except Matte, who gets some sort of twisted joy out of this particular hill]).

WIP Tuesday

First, a finished object!

I made a pencil roll for a friend’s daughter’s birthday. I used the pattern from Joelle Hoverson’s Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, abbreviated to fit the 12-color pencil set I bought for it. The word on the street is that the recipient loved it, which makes me very happy.








Now on to the WIP du jour:
I am also about half-way through piecing the top of a baby quilt for the latest arrival of my friends Toni & Shawn, Isabella Renee. The patch fabric is from a charm pack of Moda’s Flutterby line, and the sashing and border fabrics are Kona Solids. The binding will also be Flutterby. I’ve seen photos of this sort of pattern, but I don’t know if it has a name, and I am constructing this quilt without any written instructions.






Toni’s first baby, Seamus, was the recipient of my very first “real” quilt, a rail fence patterned quilt from Alex Anderson's book, Start Quilting (below). Not wanting to rely on the traditional gender-associated color pallette of blues for a boy, I went with bold primary colors in three color groups: red, green and yellow (I know, green is not a primary color, but I trust that you see what I was after here). In each of the groups, I selected a fabric that incorporated sunflowers, since those are Toni's favorite flowers, unfazed by the fact that this boy's quilt was going to have flowers on it. Now Toni has a girl, I am making her a quilt that features insects! Unintentional irony -- I love it.



Rail Fence for Baby Seamus, circa 2005

WIP Monday

This is eleven log cabin blocks -- only five more to go! Then the sashing, and the border....

These are the felted coasters -- they were so easy and fun, my friends and family will be lucky if they don't all get felted coasters for the holidays...

And this is a book cozy that I made for Karen....

tiny success!

When I finally got the tiny pants to have a right leg and a left leg (who knew knickers were so complicated?), I was so thrilled, I do what everyone does to celebrate: I put the tiny pants on the dog....

stitch 'n' botch

d'oh! instead of a right leg and a left leg, my tiny pants featured a front leg and a back leg....