Happy New Year!

From our family to yours we wish you all the best for 2013! I hope your holiday season has been as much fun as ours has been. We look forward to sharing new projects and memories with you in the year to come!

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!

 

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!

 

 



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.

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! :)

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.