Monday 5 November 2012

Merlin and the Princess

A belated Happy Halloween!

I'm not the type to dress up or do a lot of decorations around the house for this particular holiday but I love the costumes. They were the treats at the end of this falls KCWC. That said, it was still a solid week of costume making in the run up to Halloween. Partly, I like to wait until the 11th hour to confirm the kids costume choices. I'm not sure what I'd do if I spent all those hours putting together costumes only to hear that they wanted something else.

Anyhow here are my little Halloween treasures on their way out the door for some trick or treating. It was cold and rainy so they didn't last long out there but we sure had fun getting them dressed up.



 





Turning his sister into a frog

Hope you all had a safe and happy night!

 

Wednesday 17 October 2012

New Shop Items

I have been working to expand my etsy shop inventory all summer. I seem to max out around 10 items and then listings expire or sell and the number starts going the other way. It is amazing to me that some shops have 400 items, when I can't even approach my goal of 25.

Here are a few items I've been working on:




 
 
After putting the first few of these together I thought what a great opportunity to post a tutorial, then I looked online and there are only dozens of tutorials for very similar designs, but I may still do it, if only to break the ice before I take on something a little closer to my heart like baby sleepsacks. Personally I love these little tissue holders as a scrap busting project, and they make perfect stocking stuffers!
 
I'm linked up at these parties this week, check them out!
 
 


Sunday 14 October 2012

Fall's Fresh Start

Ok - I know I made a big to do about getting back into blogging and posting things regularly....but wow, it was a fun summer. When push came to shove it was just way more fun to be out on the bikes with the kids, or hanging out at the pool that sitting at my desk. Sewing wasn't so bad, I did manage to wrap up a couple projects.

These are the throw and bench cushions I made for a friend:

 


I saw my oldest child start school this fall:














And since she told me it was only fun when I walked to pick her up, I spend a lot less time with the "to-do" list than I was anticipating.

So I made a big plan to participate in KCWC this fall, I got a big order in the spring for 240 of these little numbers:




















Needless to say I was completely derailed. Funny thing is that I've had the same thing happen again, an order came through for the cutlery pockets in my shop Monday morning. I love the orders, but find the coincidence hilarious.











Now I'm trying to get back into the kids sewing. Do you ever find yourself so bogged down with ideas that you can't seem to finish anything? I can't even describe how many blog posts I've started, or written in my head, but then I move on to the next thing.

KCWC Wrap Up

Did you participate in KCWC over at Elsie Marley?



This was my second time and I'm happy to say I actually finished a few peices. (I think in the spring challenge it was 2 weeks later that I finally had a finished piece!) I'll admit that my original list going into the challenge was more than I expected to get accomplished, at the same time I loved working to the list. One of the challenges I have with sewing for my kids and blogging is the "self-directedness". I'm great on a deadline: focussed, efficient, strategic, creative, decisive. Without that pressure I seem to lose all ability to make decisions and plan the work, aargh! But I love KCWC because it gives me a deadline for my work.

So here we are, my first attempt at pants for the boy. I use this tutorial by dana at made. The tutorial and pattern were great but I made a couple of errors. I should have done a simple pair of basic pants first just to get a feel for the pattern and fit on my little guy. Instead I went for all the bells and whistles first time out...the pockets, the lining... what can I say, I love "features". :) As you will see the pockets are a little off, and they are a little bulky, but I'm sure when January hits the little guy will be cozy in these pants and with a sweater, who will notice the uneven pockets, right?




For my daughter I made a simple nightgown. I based the pattern on this tutorial from indietutes, just made it A-line and longer. I had used the tutorial to make a blouse in the summer that I was pretty happy with so it was no surprise that this turned out great. My daughter put it on as soon as it was done and requested a pajama day the next day just so she could keep wearing it. Is there any better reward for making your kids clothes?


The last pieces on my list were the Halloween Costumes for both kids. I love making costumes so they were kind of the reward for completing the items they needed and while the costumes aren't completed I've made some progress with patterns modified and cut, fabric and embellishments prepped, 25 of 50 applique pieces cut. I can't wait to get pics of the kids in their costumes this year. Last year's costumes were the first sewing I'd done since high school so they were a little rough and I hope this year they look a little more finished.

Thursday 19 July 2012

Project Management

I am currently finding it amazing that there was a time in my life when I felt in control of a series of projects all at the same time, when currently I can't seem to get my head above water. What is it about motherhood that seems to keep me treading water in the deep end all day?

I've tried all kinds of systems this year to try and keep my projects rolling, my house clean, my kids entertained and stimulated and I feel like nothing has been successful, yet. So here is my next attempt, I found this blog planner on pinterest:


Please check out the explanations at infarrantlycreative.net. This is a great discussion of how I've felt the past few months and I am so excited to give her planner a try. If you know of any other planners out there I'd love to hear from you so I can compare them over the next few weeks.

Here's hoping things start rolling smoother, I'm tired of swimming! :)

Thursday 14 June 2012

Back online

I find myself writing this post with a whole new respect for the women who blog 5 times a week, while caring for children, completing projects and just getting things done. One order for wedding favors managed to completely derailed me for weeks. Now, 5 days after getting 240 of these little darlings in the mail:


I am finally getting back to my own projects, including this blog. Sorry for the long absence.

With the weather change I've been finding that my little guy is too hot in most of his blankets and my summer weight blankets were all infant sized so I thought I would tackle a new blanket that will actually survive the fast approaching transition from crib to bed (ok - that thought still makes me shudder.) I've made the blanket with a moda fabric called Ten little things, perfect to complement the transportation theme in little man's room and backed the blanket with a red cuddle fabric. I like the weight of the blanket overall and the little guy just can't wait to sleep with all the trucks.



I've also been working on a few new items for my shop. I finished this new wedding favor design:


a new ring bearer pillow:


I hope over the next few weeks I'll be able to complete some totally new projects for my wedding line, but the list of at home projects just keeps growing and I have a birthday party to plan for my oldest. She turns 4 at the end of the month.

Thursday 17 May 2012

Reno week

A quiet blogging week has made for a very productive sewing week. I think I'm in part motivated by my husbands efforts as he renovates our main floor powder room. Nothing like someone else being busy to get you to keep going just a little bit longer. But now I also have lots of lovely photos to share.


I love the distracted model! Elmo was on and I think she would have stood there with that cushion for hours if I would just leave it on. I found this tutorial a while back over at Living with Punks and I was so happy to finally have fabric and time to make one. I made mine 19" instead of 17" since I was only making one to start and there are 2 tiny bottoms to fit.


It's a great tutorial and if you have little people like mine (always on the move) they seem to love having a seat that travels.

Next on my list of projects was finishing a playmat I had started in March for a new arrival. I'm pretty pleased with how it's turned out.



This was a really new project for me. I've only been sewing for the past 8 months and usually from patterns, or at least with instructions. This one was my first "unguided" project. I can't wait to make another one and hopefully improve my process.

I also finished a pair of sailor pants for my daughter. I'm not pleased with the fit so I haven't taken photos yet. I'm hopeful that inspiration will strike and I will be able to fix them....stay tuned.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Spring

It is finally warm enough to start thinking about planting. Okay, truthfully, I've been thinking about it since the snow melted. You see we have this really amazing garden in our backyard. The past couple of years we've produced enough that we barely need to buy any vegetables through the summer months. I'm pretty proud of being able to keep my fridge full of fresh veggies and even put some away for the winter.


Here is what my garden looks like now, you can see my one sad little strawberry plant. There were more but the local bunny population seems to like strawberry greens as an early spring snack. So we are left with one strawberry, some thyme, chives, mint and parsley that made it through the winter. Not much, but it's a start.


This year we started from seeds indoors. This was new for us, since we usually just go buy the plants and put them straight into the garden. However, with my daughter approaching 4, I thought it was a good year to watch the seeds grow. We were pretty fortunate since many of our plants sprouted within a couple of days and she was able to watch them grow. Of course now she's lost interest in the little plants but I know we'll get her back when it's time to start playing in the dirt.

But my absolute favourite part of my garden has to be the lilac trees, they always mean summer is just around the corner and the beautiful scent and colour makes even a gray day brighter.


Happy May!

Tuesday 1 May 2012

a project complete

My little guy is now able to sleep in his much cooler, summer weight sleepsack. If it ever gets warm again that is!


Okay, I know there are no crazy color choices here, but what I am most proud of it the use of a thrifted jersey sheet. It was my first time working with a knit, and I don't have a serger, so I was a little intimidated. To my delight, it worked beautifully!

I can't wait to start my next project with the rest of the fabric!

Of couse that isn't all I've been up to, I also finished another bridal piece for my Shop, be sure to check it out!

Sunday 29 April 2012

all things wedding

What started out as a week devoted to sewing children's projects did not wrap up that way. Somehow I was under the illusion that I would have time to both work on my projects and prep for the wedding show I was part of this weekend, I could not have been more wrong.

On to the sucesses of the week, the wedding show was great! The event staff were wonderful and the energy of the people and venue made the day fly by! Here are a few of the items I featured at the event:


Rustic Ring Pillow


Rustic Favor Bags


My thanks to Vintage China Hire for including us in their display! For more inspirational photo's of rustic wedding setting be sure to check out their website.


Off now to finished my KCWC projects!

Monday 23 April 2012

Starting something new

Welcome to my blog! After following so many of the amazing sewing blogs out there and being inspired by all the creativity out there I hope I can inspire you as I have been.

I signed up to participate in the Kids Clothing Week Challenge over at elsie marley and I'm so excited to get started. The past week as I've made my plan and it's been so hard to not jump into it. Instead I've been trying to finish other projects I have on the go so I can focus on the projects I've picked for the challenge.

So here is my short list: one sleepsack for the darling boy, and for the sweet girl a ruffled tunic and sailor pants to go with a top made earlier this month.

Here is my starting point:



For today's hour of sewing I cut the blue and white fabrics for the sleep sack and started working on the pattern for the purple tunic. Tomorrow, I sew!