I have been itching to get my hands on this pattern, the latest from Studio Tantrum. It’s the Feliz party dress and it just looks like such a fun pattern. When my friend Dawn started raving about it, I knew it would be a hit with me, too, since the two of us are pretty in sync when it comes to sewing.
I was not disappointed.
I had this dress cut and sewn in about an hour. My biggest challenge was finding two coordinating fabrics with enough yardage. The under dress requires a little more than a yard; I usually only buy about a yard of anything I sew for L because she’s so petite. I actually have a striped coordinate for the floral fabric but only a scant yard of it — and no hoping and rearranging of pattern pieces was going to make it magically long enough. Good thing I had so much of this polka dot (which I loooove); it’s a perfect match and really makes the orange pop.
The only thing I’m less-than-happy about is the elastic panel in the back of the underdress. The little miss was still asleep so I just winged it on the elastic. It’s turned out a little too roomy. It’s OK; I’ll adjust it next time. And it gives her a little growing room so she can wear it next summer as a longer top.
Actually that’s one of the things I think is cool about the pattern — it definitely grows with your child. It can be worn as a dress one year, a top the next and the designer says the straps can be removed and it worn as a skirt to get another year’s use out of it.
I’m going to cut and sew another one after dinner to send to my niece as a birthday gift, and I have a few more in mind for my sweetie with more fall transitional fabrics. Or maybe some of the summer ones I still haven’t gotten around to sewing.
(BTW, if you’re looking for the pattern, Fabric Hound, Bunte Fabrics, Banberry Place and Sewzanne’s all have it or have it on the way.)
My poor Pullip. Decapitated by a three year old. See more at Wordless Wednesday.
I walked into Wal-mart with two perfectly fine knees and walked out with a bandage and a limp.
It’s really one of those things that happens only to me. As we were walking into the store, I asked my sweetie if she needed to go to the bathroom. There’s one near the store entrance and I knew she needed to go, but of course she declined. No, she didn’t announce that she needed to go until I was in the middle of checking out bikes. Another customer directed me to a closer bathroom so I scooped up the little missy and hurried thataway.
Wow! A family bathroom! Perfect!
Three feet from the door, I slid in some water (which I did not see). One foot went this way, the other went that way, and down I went. How I managed to hold on to 30 pounds of 3 year old without loosening my grip is beyond me. I ended up scraping and bruising my knee in addition to the top of my foot. The knee is still a little sore and puffy looking, and I’m sure I’ll have a nice bruise for a few days.
My poor bunny was completely out of sorts about the whole thing, but handled going to the bathroom solo like a champ. I was helped into a chair next to the door while the store manager swooped in to make sure I was OK and could fill out an accident report. She offered to get me a wheelchair so I could get around but I thought that was overkill.
I am, however, tempted to use the injury for sympathy chores around the house for the next few days. Or maybe an ice cream run.
Note from the author: If you arrived at my blog via an Internet search for “double ds,” you are going to be seriously disappointed. This is not that kind of post, or that kind of blog. I’m sure the next item in the results list is more to your liking. Best of luck to you!
Having children is a lot like putting your deepest, darkest secrets on the front page of the newspaper. Or 60 Minutes. Because, sooner or later, your kids will out you with whatever it is you’d rather no one know. If you’re lucky, it’s pretty innocuous or done in front of someone who’s kind enough to pretend not to hear. If not …
I have a little confession to make. I have quite the potty mouth. It’s one of the things Honey least likes about me and he’s really encouraged me to change my ways since the addition of child No. 3, aka The Sponge. In the past year or so, I’ve really worked at cleaning up my language. Part of it is due to that cute little Bitsy thing of mine, but also because someone made a comment that really stuck with me about cussing showing a lack of vocabulary (I’m paraphrasing — it was much more eloquent originally).
I’ve done fairly well but I’m not perfect. Most recently I blurted out The Mother of All Curse Words upon learning something shocking. My daughter promptly asked for clarification (I cut her off before she could say it and told her how wrong it was of Mommy to use that word).
Unfortunately for me, she opted to use Mommy’s two favorite words while she was playing last night. Yes, the dread Double Ds: dammit and dumbass.
She couldn’t just say them each once and let us wonder if we misunderstood. No, she had to make a song with them, a little girlie chant that made it clear she heard these words regularly. For about FIVE MINUTES.
Joshua and I tried to hide our faces since we were laughing so hard. Honey, on the other hand, gave me The Look, the one that says, “You are SO busted.”
Because I was.
I know y’all must get tired of me falling in love with the things I sew, but I’ve done it again. I was lucky enough to be a tester for a pattern and used some Farmer’s Market and Park Slope fabrics to make this darling peasant-style dress with apron.
Love!
And I’m a bit bummed, too, because I only have enough for one — and it’s in my Etsy shop. I messed up when cutting out the dress so instead of having one for the bitsy and one to sell, I only have this one. Is it wrong that I hope no one buys it so I can sneak it into her closet?
The dress is part of another Trendy Textiles launch, so be sure to show my buddies some love and see all the great things they’ve made. The theme is “Mommy Took Me to the Farmer’s Market” and features lots of great things for girls and moms.
Not only does Lila Tueller make patterns, she also has a line of fabric coming out. And now she’s doing a giveaway on her blog with lucky winners getting a bag (made with some of her cool fabric!) or patterns. Check it out!
We’ve forgotten so much of what the boys said when they were young, those little goofy pronunciations that come along with learning the language. As much as I thought I’d remember those things forever, I can’t. Honey and I have had countless conversations, trying to recall who said what: amblylamps (ambulance), movie theetee-er (theater), watermelvin (watermelon — that one was my eldest).
I’ve been planning to do a scrapbook layout of the little missy to preserve her unique take on some common words. It wasn’t until today, though, that I had the perfect photograph for the page.
There’s so much about this picture that tickles me, from the quirky expression to the hands tucked in her pockets. I think it makes exactly the right statement.
The two papers are from the Take Flight digital scrapbooking kit that was available in May. I used some of the fabric for the page title (Heather Bailey’s Fresh Cut line) and sampled the colors in the fabric for the text colors and backgrounds behind the misspoken words (with their translations).
It’s Friday night; Honey’s not yet home and I still have control of the remote. I flicked on the guide to see what was on and had a sudden flash to the past. Ladyhawke is on! I haven’t seen that movie in forever. I click on it and there are a very young Matthew Broderick (with a questionable haircut) and hot Rutger Hauer.
Only, they’re speaking in Spanish.
I don’t speak Spanish.
And it’s not closed captioned.
Damn.
One of the requests I’ve had regarding the Crafty Christmas Countdown is for gifts that can be made in bulk. Boy, can I relate to that one! With so many people on my list, I find it important to have one or two gifts I can make lots of, especially if it’s something that works for either gender.
Probably my all-time, No. 1 gift I make in bulk is food. Cookies, breads and the like are always a hit. And if you have freezer space, you can start making them up to six months ahead of time (assuming you can stand to heat up your kitchen during the summer).
My friend Katie has a great tutorial for creating patchwork fabric bookmarks. They’re probably not enough to give as a solo gift (better for stockings and maybe as gift toppers for a little something extra) but worth making a stack to have ready for giving.
I think scarves are always handy (depending on where you live, of course) which makes them great for gifts to crank out in multiples. I don’t crochet but I’m still tempted to try one of these Crocheted Ribbon Scarves from The Caffeinated Crafter. This Patchwork Scarf tutorial from the Sew, Mama, Sew blog is designed for kids but I bet it’s fairly easy to modify for grown ups. Or make this Scrap Scarf from JavaJem.
One of the gifts I’ll be making this year will be reusable grocery bags. I’ve made the switch myself and bought about 15 bags (and another dozen for my folks) but really wish I had made them now that I’ve seen all the great tutorials out there. These would be great for using up old (or thrifted) bed linens or some clearance fabric that was too good of a deal to pass up. Plus, they’re such a handy gift that can be used over and over again. Check out these great bag-making tutorials:
In between sewing some orders, I’ve been working on some fall clothes for the little miss (and my Etsy), as well as a little something for me.
It’s another pattern from my “someday” collection — those ones I bought to sew something for myself more than a year ago and never got around to it. These pants are Simplicity 4023, one of the company’s It’s So Easy line of patterns (it does appear to be out of print, however). No joke, either. I think they were done in an hour or so. Of course, they’re not quite done; I still need to hem them.
I used a linen blend from Joann’s in one of my favorite colors, a dark teal. They are so incredibly comfortable! I want to make a complete buffet of wide-leg pants now, in every color under the rainbow. OK, maybe not every color. Black and navy for sure, though. I’m not sure how flattering they are. Even my oldest, who took this picture, said my legs looked “chunky” if I stood a certain way, even though he knows they are not. (Good save, kiddo!) I think I’ll have to wear them with a slim tee or tank to balance the volume on the bottom.
