Sew With the Flow : Part One

Not too long ago, my sewjo (sewing mojo) went disappearing. She's a fickle little darling and prone to all sorts of misadventure. I was feeling ever so woeful, not to mention a little impatient to get on with it. There I was, going 'round and 'round with my yarn and crochet hook, getting dizzy and worrying The Engineer to no end, when finally she returned, albeit with a certain timidity and a wandering eye.

She seemed a trifle jealous of my hooky ways, I had to remind her that she had been missing and what on earth would she have me do? I then wondered if somehow the three of us could not just get along, but perhaps even come together in joyful collaboration.

Whilst I am still uncertain how we shall come out in the end, a lot of ideas are percolating. Sometimes that is a problem, too many ideas and very little time to sew. I have a couple of projects in various stages of completion for the shop, a few pages of sketches, and a big old mess in the "studio".

It came to me too, that I was missing something. I was missing sewing for children, specifically my child...

...alright, here I go, veering completely off course for a minute. Bear with me.
In a recent conversation with my child, we talked about my blog. She has told me that it is fine if I write about her from time to time BUT, I am no longer allowed to call her "Miss Ringlet," absolutely NOT! She has informed me that from now on I must refer to her as, "Pony Girl!" Done and done. Now that we have that out of the way, I can continue with my crafty ways.

So, to ease myself back into the colorful world of kid couture, I started with a pattern that I have been wanting to make for ages.

The Avalon Jacket by Fledge/Studio Tantrum was a great way to get the flow rolling. Just as I was in need of some inspiration motivation, there was a knock upon the door and...oh wait, the mystery knocker doesn't get introduced until Part Two of this crafty story.

It felt really good to be sewing for Pony Girl again, and it's just in the nick of time - as all her long pants are now at capris length and inching ever higher. I started to feel that flow, where all is quietly humming along and coming together in a way that seems organic and satisfying. This is definitely "sewing with the flow." And it is good.



Oh good gravy, would you look at the time? I have been prattling on here for more than a minute and I have bread to knead and a Peruvian stew to get on the stove. And you, I know are very busy indeed. So, I will take up again on Friday with Part Two, in which I ramble on about inspiration, encouragement and a mini book review! It will be awfully exciting.

Though there wont be any Valentines Day tutorials, there will be lots of LOVE!

Blue Monday

It is still Monday is it not? I'm a little late today, much coming and going and stuff and junk, but I will get to that another day.

Over the weekend I decided to try a little sewing for myself. I don't like sewing clothing for myself, I'm funny that way. I had an old peasant style tunic that I had worn to thread bare and it was time to sadly let it go. I decided to cut it up carefully and attempt to recreate the pattern using the pieces as a template. I made up a muslin as a test. Shockingly, oh yes I was indeed surprised, it turned out rather well. Not perfect or stunning by any stretch of the imagination, but I did not sigh in defeat and wonder why I bothered at all. This is rare let me tell you. Being pleased as punch, I tried it on to adjust the sleeve length and The Bearded One said, "Looks like something you would wear in the lunatic asylum." Nice right? Though I did know what he meant, the color of unbleached muslin, the shapelessness of the tunic, and the overly long sleeves did have a straight jacket quality going on. Maybe even a little convent wear in style so...I added some vintage lace...

More pleasing but still...

I decided to try some iDye in brilliant blue. The package said it was meant for the washing machine, sounds good, less mess...let's give it a go. I highly recommend this dye, we shall see how it holds up in the long run but, easy to use and the color is lovely!

It turned out the prettiest blue color, just dreamy. Now, had I just remembered to use all cotton thread so that it would have turned blue too. Still for something I only intended as a test pattern, not so bad. Oh wait! Fraying at the neck line! What the devil?

Well, I was toying with the idea of adding some embroidery around the neck. Will that fraying be fixed with some decorative floss? Will I actually wear this out in public? What will become of this accidental shirt?

Stay tuned to find out.

Oh My Darlin'

Oh my darlin'

Oh My Darlin' Clementine Skirt from Lola Nova.

As the last of the light begins to seep from the sky, a barefoot girl in braids runs pell-mell through the woods. She 'whoops' and 'hollers'; she leaps after dragon flies, and sings a song her mama taught her (she changes the words). She hops and twirls in her skirt of many colors. She spies a spider and and exclaims, "Oh, he's so beautiful, he's my best friend!" Just then, her mama shouts from the garden yonder, "Clementine, come here a minute and try this on for me, I want to take some pictures!" Suddenly, the brown eyed girl bursts out from the leaves - scattering the chickens with a squawk and a huff. "No thank you," she says sweetly, then turns on her heels singing back into the trees.


Original design and pattern from Lola Nova. Girls size 6. This makes item #3 completed for the 'Etsy Experiment'.
...and oh, on that topic, I have a wee bit of gossip for you! I'm afraid it's going to have to wait 'till next time though, I'm a woman pressed for time.

One Begets Another

A little while ago I had a custom order for some baby clothes. The woman who ordered them showed them around to her co-workers. One of her co-workers then commissioned me to make up a similar set.


I have been wanting to try free motion machine embroidery for a while now but, I don't have the proper presser foot for my machine. Well, I decided to wing it and make an attempt with what I had. I drew a picture free hand with a fabric marker then made my practice run. I was a bit unsteady at first, filled with trepidation but, I kept on. The result turned out much better than I expected and that first practice piece ended up as a pocket on the new outfit! Yay, a new skill. Now I am ready to machine embroider anything and everything. Watch out, no clothing item is safe!

If you click on the photo, you can better see the pocket.
Now, I would love to own one of those fancy embroidery machines that they have now but, they are so expensive. It will be years before I invest in one. In the meantime, I can play around with this method and see what other things I can create.

There has been a flurry of activity at the cottage lately and so much I need to catch up on here on the blog. I need to update my lovely readers on the state of our garden, the progress of the chick chicks and their abode, the latest Lola Nova creations and much more. Stay tuned.

Wondermommy's New Scantly Clad Pattern!

Today Melissa from Wondermommy has launched her new E Book 'Scantly Clad' in her web shop shop.wondermommy.net!
As I mentioned before, Melissa chose me, along with a couple of other very talented folks, to be a pattern tester for this before she put it up for sale. What a great honor and joy.


I had a great time sewing up the Skantly Clad Pattern. Everything came together beautifully with the thorough instructions. Easy enough for a beginner, with endless possibility and variations for the advanced seamstress. The clothes fit well and look great! I will most definitely use this pattern again and again. Melissa has created a real winner!


I have to say that being a part of this process was a great experience for me. To help a fellow creative mom realize her vision while creating awesome clothes was a blast.

Congratulations Melissa! and thank you for having me be a part of fun.

So, go get your Scantly Clad Pattern at http://shop.wondermommy.net or at Wondermommy's Etsy Shop

Go on, make your own!

The Party's Over

So, she partied like a Rock Star, blew kisses to her adoring fans, got totally wasted on frosting and came home and trashed her room. Awesome!

Happy 4 my sweet pea (officially tomorrow). You Rock!

Still in the Pink & Something to Crow About

Yes, it's dress #2 in the world series of PINK. Here you can see the closeup of the wool felt flower charm I made to go with the dress.
...and the dress in it's entirety

No, it isn't all pink all the time but, it is pink enough to make the qualifying round.
I used a pattern for this one. Onion 20026 with of course, some alterations. I loved putting this together, a great pattern! I will have to get some other Onion patterns and try them out as well. I used a Michael Miller print for the bulk of the dress and a Kaffe Fassett cotton for the cuffs and hem.

Now, in other news...


The Lovely Miss K and I finally had our Tuesday Craft Date. Last week's was cancelled due to illness. The craft du jour was freezer paper stencils.


This is a very satisfying and simple craft. There is a great how to here. Miss K painted poppies on a T-shirt and I chose some crows for a piece of cotton calico. We used Jacquard fabric paint and paint brushes to apply it. Miss K took hers home to dry so, I don't know what the finished result looked like. I am hoping she will sport her new shirt soon so I can check it out. Here are my crows (I have a little thing for crows), they will be used in an upcoming project.



I love that a group of crows is called A Murder of Crows!

A Preponderance of Pink

It's Fuchsia, actually.

It's done, The Pink Dress! I was going off a dress my girl fell for in a store. A proper party dress indeed. Not my usual fare. In fact, I find it well...altogether too precious. Still, this is about her, it's not about me (it isn't right?).

Some detail

And just to prove that I am completely off my nut, there is a pink dress #2 in the works. Perhaps a little different.

One more pic to show it's true colors

Let Me Introduce You

This is Elsie.
She is a present for my girl for her 4th Birthday. I find it's hard to wait to give this dolly to her but, wait I will. Though I have made my share of softies, I haven't made up many dollies. Elsie is sweet. I think she could have done with a bit more stuffing, I had to use poly quilt batting which was what I had on hand so, she is a tad lumpy in spots. Still, I am a bit fond of her. I hope my girl is as well.

Now it's back to the pink mess in my sewing nook. The dress is taking shape slowly, how it will turn out I can not say. The mad scientist in me will be experimenting with zipper placement today and ruffles. Egads ruffles and zippers, best to have a seam ripper at the ready.

Edited to give credit: oops, I forgot to mention that Elsie was inspired by these dolls, I saw these and created my own version. Hers are lovely.

Pink Stinks...Or Not

When I was a little girl my favorite color was pink, but only by default - because purple was already taken. My older brother's favorite color was purple and he was not particularly good at sharing. He refused to allow his little sister to share the same favorite color as himself so, pink it was. I grew to be wild for pink. When I was eight, my father built our crazy house in the woods and I got to pick out my carpet and wall paper. Yup, you guessed it, pink and pink - with a crystal chandelier to boot, hanging from the raw timber ceiling - if you can imagine. Over the years however; my passion for pink subsided, then died away, and then turned into outright loathing. I think it may have had something to do with teenage angst and a rebellion against the pink pastel sweaters my mother was always forcing upon me. In any case, my aversion to pink continued well into my early adult years.
Over time, my feelings about pink simply became ambivalent. I am not especially drawn to it. I own one shirt that may be considered to be in the pink family but, beyond that I don't give it much thought. That is, until recently...

Right now I have pink on the brain. My next project is my daughter's Birthday Dress. She has only a few specific requests:
1. It must be PINK
2. It must be twirly
3. It must have an under skirt that is also PINK
4. It must have ribbon and fluffle (ruffle) that are PINK
Well, the girl knows what she likes.
So, I have been on a mad hunt to stockpile my remarkably pink less stash with all things girly and PINK. Now, I just have to figure out how it will all come together in one super-duper 4 year old worthy masterpiece. Ummm...sure.
Wish me luck.