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.

Sunshine On My Shoulder

We have been having glorious weather these days. It is beginning to feel like Summer, stirring up visions of trips to the beach, music in the park and Strawberry Jam! I don't know how long it will last but, I fully intend to enjoy it. Fortunately our basement has dried out and the only lingering reminder is a slight paranoia around doing the laundry (our old fashioned plumbing was the cause of the trouble).

I have finished a few of my many projects.


Here is the Teachers Tote that was meant to be a gift for Teacher Appreciation Week, now an end of the year appreciation gift. Fortunately teacher Joyce knows nothing of this little blog so it will seem as though that is how I intended it all along. I love the vintage tea towel yardage I used, quite cheery.

I will be posting later this week about my pattern testing for Wondermommy, a great experience.

In all the upheaval of this past week I forgot to mention our newest chick chick. She is an Ameraucana (they lay green eggs, Sam I am!). I have named her Suki. Here are the dears recovering from flood rescue.




The large red one is Fran, though I have taken to calling her Francine. She is obviously older than the other two and so seems more the apron wearing, rolling pin carrying, mother hen type. Yes, let's hope she is indeed a she. The quintessential yellow chick is Tweet Tweet, she's a little like Baby Spice - blond, cute and a little ditzy. I am still learning about Suki. They are all doing well.

Well, I'm off to plant the rest of the vegetable starts we picked up yesterday, the garden and the coop are coming along nicely.

I thought I would leave you with a great link with all sorts of free patterns and tutorials for bags. Go on, check it out and make your own tote bag! It's a great beginning project and if you aren't a beginner, you know you can still use another tote bag. Why, they come in handy for all sorts of things...
Grocery Shopping
Trips to the Library
Beach Gear
Hauling a load of chick chick meal
School Bags
Carrying sundries in your bicycle basket
Toy Bag for the kiddies
They make great gifts
and on and on and on
Find it all here

Lola Nova 101

Well, I've hit my 101st post. I was going to strike up an impromptu parade with marching band, confetti and maybe some of those little cars the Shriners drive but, something else came up.

I have to thank all of the lovely folks that I have met through this webby rambling spot. You have encouraged, inspired and motivated me more than you could know. So, thanks, thanks a lot.

I was going to write a long winded sappy post to go along with this momentous occasion but, as I said, something else came up.

I have been so very busy crafting away these days and most of my current projects are due to this here blog-a-ma-boo. Unfortunately, I can't show any of these projects, I can however, give a sneak peek.


This is very exciting! I have been chosen for the honor of pattern tester by Melissa at Wondermommy. She is about to launch an incredible E Book Pattern and needed some stitchers to work up some samples. I am so pleased to be part of this. Thank you Melissa! Let me tell you, she has a winner, this pattern is awesome!

Here are some other previews of things in the works.
There's this...


and this...


I would show you more and tell you more but...
something has come up...the water.
The water's 1 foot high and risin'
My basement flooded...and if i can keep moving I might be able to keep from weeping, it has been a rough week.
The chick chicks got soaked. Don't worry they are fine.
The rest of my basement (where my sewing area is) with all our stuff (which is now on our back deck) is wet, wet, wet.

I'll have to get back to you later.
Many thanks for all the love.

Bloom

This week the Lilacs are in full bloom around here. They don't last too long but boy are they lovely!

This week is also Teacher Appreciation Week and I am just now getting to the making of an appreciation gift for my girl's teacher.


Our gal spends two hours twice a week in a preschool run through our Parks and Rec. It has been fantastic! Teacher Joyce is brilliant, I just can't say enough good things about her. She has shown such a great compassion and willingness to work one on one with our girl while keeping us informed and included.

So, to teacher Joyce and all the wonderful teachers out there, much appreciation and thanks for helping our little ones grow and bloom.

Back On The Make

Happy May Day!

I have finally returned to my creative space after what has felt like a long absence. Life just gets busy and days rush by. I don't have any creative revelations for you, just a humble set of napkins. Sometimes it is good to keep it simple.
I used some pre-cut squares I found in my scrap box and hemmed them, then a rubber stamp with fabric paint for the little sparrows on unbleached muslin. I think they are kinda sweet, and who can't use a few more napkins?

I hope you all are able to celebrate Spring today!

UFO Sighting

One of the by-products of cleaning up my work space is the finding of unfinished objects tucked away in every nook and cranny. Sometimes it's like finding buried treasure, other times it's either a little sad or downright hilarious (in that 'what was I thinking?' kind of way).

I was reminded that back in the day, I did a fair amount of quilting. I never mastered the art of the actual hand quilting of my finished pieces but, I did love the process of piecing all those little patchwork lovelies together. I haven't had the amount of room comfortable for quilting in quite some time. I could though, find enough space for some baby or lap quilts. Hmmm, sweet little quilts, oh yes!

I found this twin size quilt top that I made for my niece when she was a baby, she's 9 now! O.K. add that to the 'To Do' list.

In any case, my work space is workable again. I haven't finished the tedious organization projects, nor have I prettified the place but, I am liking the new flow and I snuck in a few extra square feet by shoving some tools and paint cans out of the way.

Now, where is that list?

Dream Big

So, I was down in my creative space this morning to do some good work but, after cursing for the umpteenth time as I tripped on a pile, something crashed to the floor, or not finding what I needed, I gave up and took a look around. Sheesh! This place is a mess. I haven't really cleaned up or organized since the whole holiday frenzy and it kinda looks like a craft bomb went off in there. I am a person who does not tolerate clutter and mess well in my home. In fact, I am a bit of a neat and clean freak (Don't get me wrong, I do like to make a mess and get muddy and such outside) As you can imagine, I have had to do some letting go since my child arrived. It remains a struggle that I continually deal with, especially since I have the feeling that I am cleaning constantly but, there seems to be a perpetual hurricane in my house tearing up the joint. Anyway...

I went upstairs, made myself a cuppa tea and daydreamed of beautiful sewing studios with lots of light and well organized work stations. Like the ones pictured above. To give you an idea of what I am working with: Our house is a little 800 square foot cottage, a constant work in progress. We have an unfinished half basement which holds the washer/dryer, camping gear, bicycles, my husbands tools, bookshelves, sports equipment, firewood, the canning shelf, bits of furniture and heaps of boxes filled with...well I couldn't honestly tell you. My sewing room/nook/corner/cave/area is in one 5x9 corner of the basement partitioned off with hanging sheets. I share it with some quiet but industrious spiders and a clover that grows through the crack in the tiny light-less window. (and no, I will not be showing you a picture of it until it's cleaned up) I will not even tell you what all is in this sewing area, let's just say it all fits together like a wonky Chinese puzzle. There isn't any heat down there and the lighting is pretty dismal, I work under a florescent shop light. I know, it sounds like I am complaining but I'm not (O.k. maybe just a little), the truth is I feel incredibly fortunate to have this little space and overwhelmingly blessed to have our sweet little house. Owning a home was not something I would have believed could ever happen in my life so, I count my lucky stars. I will feel much better once I get in and organize the place.

Still, it is fun to dream. I dream of sewing studios, my husband dreams of a woodworking shop and my girl dreams of pink ponies. What do you dream of?

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.

Lovebirds #2

Oh yes, more of the sweet tweets.

These come with a template you can download and instructions, hurray!

O.K. I actually debated whether or not to post this project. I just didn't have the time to do it justice but, I wanted to get it up before I went on vacation. Yup, I'm going on vacation (more about that later). So, I just whipped it up in a flurry. Since I have been promising free patterns for the people, I figured I'd better - as my grandma Alta used to say on canning day, "put up or shut up!"

Here is the finished piece of Love Bird loveliness.


What you will need is some felt scraps, small scissors and thread.
The background felt piece I used is 11"x8 1/2". You could easily use a piece of fabric instead. In fact, my original intention was to applique the birds directly onto one of my girl's jean jackets, until she tried on said jackets and discovered them much too small.

Next you will need to download The Love Birds Template here which looks like this.
Now, print out the template. Cut the shapes from the paper and pin them to the felt or trace them onto your felt. Cut the shapes out of the felt following the cutting guide given for each shape with small scissors. Once I have all my pieces cut, I like to lay them out how I want the finished piece to look.


Next I sew the wings onto each bird body. I simply used a straight stitch on my machine and stitched close to the edge, slowly.

For the next step I used a glue stick to set the pieces how I wanted them. You could also use a spray adhesive for fabric. I then stitched again, close to the edge of each piece with a straight stitch on the machine. I finished with a french knot embroidery stitch for the bird eyes, and voila!

This would be darling worked with hand embroidery. Make it into a pillow, sew it on a jacket or applique the birds and hearts onto a tea towel.
I made mine into a little Valentine Treat Bag for my girl since I wont be with her on Valentines day. I will fill it with special treats and fun stuff for grandma to give to her on the 14th.

If anyone wants directions for the bag, I would be happy to share that as well. Just leave me a comment or send me an email and I will get it to you.
Happy Crafting!

Fabric Fantastic

While I was in Kansas I stopped in at what has to be one of my favorite fabric stores, Charlotte's Sew Natural. I allowed myself only two pieces of fabric, man was that a hard choice!
The first is a Hoffman "California", for the love of owls and will make a dress for my girl.
The other is a wild retro print by Urban Chiks for Moda. I may save this one for myself, a skirt perhaps. I don't particularly like sewing for myself for some reason but, this fabric is yummy.

Charlotte's Sew Natural is an amazing store, and Charlotte herself is an amazing woman. She remembers me everytime I come in even though I only visit every other year or so. This time she even remembered the pattern and fabric that I picked up last time. They have great kits for those of the quilting passion and a well thought out selection of fabrics. I haven't shopped the online store yet, no doubt it's just a matter of time. If you are in the market for fabric and great service you should check them out.

New Year Journals

So, these felt journals are my new favorite project. A variation on my letter case. I have another journal/scrapbook project for kids that I hope to show you soon. I am also working on providing some templates and patterns for earlier projects on this blog. We have obtained a new scanner and as soon as time allows, I hope to get some freebies up for those inclined. So much to do...

Putting It On

Here is the apron I made for my mother in-law. It's very Christmasy and I had a great time making it. It is from the Flirty Skirty pattern by Jan Lutz. I love this pattern. She also makes a "Little Flirty Skirty" Apron pattern as well which I made up a while ago, you can see it here.Pocket Detailand it's reversable...

I love aprons. I have a lovely little collection of vintage aprons from my grandmother, maybe I will show them off here some time. For an apron fix you should pop over to Tie One On "for all things aprony".

Snow Bunny

Devotion and Doubt

I was talking with a fellow designer yesterday about motivation, how one keeps motivated in times of self doubt and discouragement. We both agreed that it was beneficial to hear stories of other artisans who have struggled with similar issues. To hear how they have overcome these, as well as other obstacles. While most of us do not like to show off our less than stellar achievements, I think it does some service to share the awkward side of our processes, the good, the bad, and the ugly. To know that we are human among other humans (warts and all), to be supported during times of success, as well as failure - is indeed encouraging. While doubt creeps in from time to time, the devotion wins out and we keep on keepin' on.

And now this...



This is the design I have been working on. It is amazing how fabric can affect a piece, both for the positive and the negative, so...keep in mind this is not a finished product. If I were intending this to be a wearable dress, well, better fabric indeed. The hem and the armholes are left raw at this point, so there is a little pulling at the under-arms. As far as fit goes, it's nearly spot on. I had feared that when worn the fall of the center panel might have some trouble, I was right. To correct this I put a crinoline/petticoat under the dress and that solved the problem. Ummm, crinoline? So, it's not going to be an everyday dress. Ladies Tea anyone?

I am pleased that the actual design came fairly close to my original vision (it doesn't always work out that way); however there is still quite a bit of work or re-working that needs to be accomplished before I let it go. I think I need to leave it alone for a while, stop obsessing and come back later with fresh eyes. In the meantime, there is a jacket pattern that is calling my name.

sewing

Lost In Translation

Here is the work in progress, some pieces cut from fabric. Still on the no-buy tip, I'm out of muslin or gingham, so I am again using scraps and random fabric to make the mock-up. I have actually started piecing some of this together and found one solution to yesterday's dillema. Only time and more stitching will tell whether it was a true success. I am cautiously optimistic at the moment.

Her Majesty

One "Super Duper Beautiful Princess Dress Please!", as ordered by the princess herself.
(Simplicity 4949 View B with modifications)

Wow, I need a new camera...

The Great Pants Caper

Great? Well, in the grand scheme of things, not so much. And caper? More an experiment leaning towards debacle. So, let's revise it to read - The Lesser Pants Debacle. It was fun, it was hard, I learned a lot.

This is part of my on-going adventure in reducing the overflow of scraps taking over my sewing area, as well an effort to sew as many items as I can without having to buy anything - Recycle, Reduce, Re-Use. I started with one of my basic pants patterns and cut it up a bit, nothing radical or revolutionary, nothing that hasn't been done before or done better for that matter. The back pockets I took from one of the baby dresses worn by my girl, nice little time saver that. The rest was scrap scavenged from the heap. Out of that came these pants. I made so many mistakes in my rush to finish and I was doubtful at each step that these would turn into something wearable in the end. Even with all my careful measuring and seaming, one pants leg turned out almost 3/8 inch shorter than the other, why oh why.

And then there was the matter of a little extra something that they screamed out for. So enters my fear of applique. I kid you not, I am afraid of applique. Is there a clinical term for that? To clarify, I am not fearful of all applique, I am awed by the work I see of many talented folks out there. It is rather my own that makes me cringe. It all goes back to 7th grade sewing class. Our teacher, Ms. Blumquist, had us undertake an applique project, and for reasons still a mystery to me, I was compelled to make a pillow that looked like a hamburger, yes, a giant hamburger pillow I did make. I was required to applique meat, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, cheese and pickles oh my. While I did receive an A for my project (Oh dear Ms. Blumquist, with your saint-like patience, where are you now I wonder?), the lasting memory of pure ugly has haunted me ever since, leaving me with an aversion to even attempting applique again.

Time to face those fears...baby steps. In keeping with my "no buying anything" rule, I found myself sans fusi-whatsit, stabilizer and sundry notions that go along with the applique game. I made do with interfacing and Stitch Witchery and the little butterfly landed on the pants leg. I will spare you the close-up. And though it be quite flawed, it holds a certain charm and one baby step towards conquering the fear. There's still a long way to go before it is eradicated completely.

In conclusion, the pants are cute (I could not capture a decent photo of them, they show better in person) and when worn do not show the length discrepancy. They even passed the preschool test this morning with compliments from other mothers. One mom even told me that I had inspired her to start sewing, something she had never tried before. Now that made me feel a little warm and fuzzy on a cool Fall morning.

Little Bits

Lola Bag and Helper's Apron