So much for trying to post regularly... We have a new(ish) addition to our house. Her name is Sam and she was a rescue from German Shepherd Rescue Orange County. She is super tall and long and skinny, but was extra skinny when we got her. Her blood tests were abnormal but the vet thought it was just parasites that weren't showing up on her fecal exam. Is this too much information? Anyway, after a deworming program and two months of overfeeding her, she has gained a whopping eight pounds. They did a full blood panel today, so I'll know tomorrow if she is in the clear for any major problems.
The girls love their Far, Far Away double-gauze dresses too much to part with them. So I did the frugal mom thing and just added a band of contrasting fabric to each of the bottoms. I actually took the time to rip out the old hem seam before adding the bands, which makes me really pleased with myself. As is evidenced in the photo, I only ironed the parts I was sewing. Apparently it would have killed me to iron the rest of the dresses before photographing them. If I didn't cut some corners and do some lazy mom tricks I would never get anything posted to this blog. And I know how upsetting that would be to the two people who check in with me now and again.
I couldn't resist ordering some of the custom Heather Ross Keds from Zazzle. For one thing, my oldest daughter never wears sneakers. And she needs to. At least sometimes. So I figured if the prospect of purple unicorn shoes wouldn't get her to start wearing them, nothing would. I let the girls customize them. Let's just say that the choices they made wouldn't necessarily have been my choices, but that's okay. I'm letting go a little. It's hard to walk the line of wanting to instill good taste (meaning, of course, what I consider to be my own good taste) in the kids and letting them develop their own creative little minds. They know that nothing bearing the name or likeness of a TV or movie character will be worn in our house or on our backpacks and they can live with that. But I let them cut their hair the way they want and I even let them walk around in their cheap sparkly Target mary janes that were purchased solely for the purpose of wearing with Halloween costumes.
I just cut into some of my Anna Maria Horner voile to make a dress for my daughter. Using one of my Japanese pattern books. Which don't include seam allowances. Guess what I forgot to do?
On Friday morning I snuck off to the Purl Soho warehouse in Tustin rather than helping at my daughter's school Jog-a-thon. I seriously spent two hours touching everything and having a minor freak-out. I kept changing my mind about what to buy--like I would never be back there again, even though it is fifteen minutes from my house. I narrowed it down to two fabrics each for my daughters and two for me. The girls got some great Kokka double-gauze that I think I will probably use for shirts. I also bought the girls some great mermaid fabric that the Purl website describes as Soft Upholstery. I would describe it as heavier weight double-gauze. It's amazing. I think I'll try to make skirts out of it. I have been trying to stay away from pastels more lately, but this fabric was so great I couldn't resist. Finally, for me, I bought some Nani Iro. The first I have ever purchased. If I can successfully make a summer sleeveless top for me I will be back for more. I also got some of the Globalweave linen/cotton but I forgot to photograph it. That stuff is not cheap, but it is wide, about 55". I got the hourglass pattern in light brown and orange. I'm going to try to just make a simple elastic-waistband skirt. Hopefully I'll post what I make. Because I'm so good at posting regularly.
Last week I saw a great tutorial by Ashley at http://www.filminthefridge.com (If I were at all web savvy I would have just written Film in the Fridge in some magical way that would allow you to click on the link) for a quilt she calls Blocks & Stripes. At some point in the tutorial she laid out the fabric on white and I loved the way it looked. I want to make a quilt that way using some of my painfully and sometimes pointlessly acquired out of print Heather Ross/Munki prints. While waiting for more solid fabrics to arrive in my mail box, I made this little 20" x 30" quilt using some of my scraps. The proportions aren't exactly the same as they will be on the larger one, but it gives me some idea. My oldest daughter keeps calling the quilt hers, but I'm putting it on etsy instead. Those girls of mine would take everything I make if I let them. I would find it flattering if they didn't also hoard every little plastic crap toy they get in various "treasure boxes" and gumball machines.
Okay, I'm just going to start throwing things up here. This is the most recent quilt I made. I kind of had the intention of giving it to a mere acquaintance who had a baby boy, but then I thought I'd throw it up on etsy and see what happens. I did manage to sell a mini quilt on etsy and I donated one to CraftHope, which sold in about a minute. So now I am apparently too big for my britches--thinking I can sell bigger, more expensive quilts!
