I'm BAAAAAACK!

OK, so I am literally a fair weather friend to my blog. My blogging picks up every spring and dies every fall. Why? The dark, gray weather challenges my (already limited) photography skills so much that is very hard for me to take pictures that are remotely decent and I like blogs that have lots of photos. The second reason for my blogging vacation is due to the fact that fall and the holidays are really busy for me and I don't have time to blog when I madly trying to keep up with orders! Oh well.

Anyway, let's not dwell on the past...onwards and upwards, right? I am teaching a workshop this Sunday at The West Seattle Fabric Company in which we will be creating bunny skirts for little girls.

Skirts are a terrific beginning project because they are quick and easy to whip up. I went with the bunny so that people can learn how to applique and because it is timely due to Easter. Oh, and 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. In this class we will discuss different ways to customize a skirt through trims, using different fabrics, appliques, pockets, etc. When I was done making the skirt this morning, I remembered that I had a plain white T-shirt lying around that could be used to make the skirt into an outift. After considering various applique options, I caught a glimpse of that green dotty rick rack lying on my work counter and decided that would be a quick and easy way to coordinate a shirt with the skirt. Adding pink buttons to the top of the trim was easy and seemed like a sweet little touch. This is an easy way to use trims to accent a basic T-shirt and it could have been handsewn onto the shirt if a machine was not available. So, now we have an Easter outfit that will work well beyond the holiday.

Hmmm, maybe tomorrow I will get organized and figure out how to upload a PDF of that rabbit applique...

A Lovely Etsy Find!

I'm not trying to rush summer--I mean, seriously, summer has not even really started in Seattle yet--but I did find the most amazing Etsy seller the other day via an Etsy Finds email. Maria of Intres makes the most delightfully creative treasures in her shop. I have ordered one of her felt trees in autumn colors with a family of owls to use as a centerpiece on my dining room table this fall. Now I need to remain patient while it arrives from Spain.

Just had to share...

A Pumpkin for Your Pumpkin

We are very excited to give a peek of one of the new dresses that will be in my shop within a week for fall! Can you see the excitement on Caroline's face? This dress is made out of teal-colored jersey so it is supersoft and it has trim and a pumpkin applique is in a cotton print by Erin McMorris. I have at least 3 more similar dresses coming in organic orange, purple, and chocolate-colored jersey and they will be in slightly different styles. The comfy style of these dresses is perfect for playing and heading back to school on crisp fall days. What do you think?

West Seattle Garden Tour

My mom and I did the West Seattle Garden Tour today and there were a lot of lovely finds and inspiring gardens. We even spotted a hummingbird nest with 2 little babies in it--it was the size of an espresso cup. Amazing. Mari Malcolm's garden in particular was absolutely incredible. She and her husband have created the most amazing treasure trove of gardening delights mixed with fascinating objects. This little still life below captures the spirit of their garden.



Of course, my pictures don't do the garden any justice, but I did my best. Anyway, Mari creates these terrific succulent arrangements using found objects as her pots and I was completely fascinated by them. She is thinking of eventually offering workshops to create containers and I can't wait to take one of her classes.

This one below was really incredible because it had something that I have never seen in a pot before. Look closely...see it?

See it? No? Try this close up.

Yep, those are dentures. I tell you, this garden was full of surprises.

Sneak Peek of Fall...

Wanna sneak peek of some of my new work for fall. Pssst...there is some stuff for boys!!! Although the weather has been toasty here in Seattle (well, maybe not today), I have had fleece on the brain. Combining my interest in using my blanket fleece for more projects and creating some fun products for boys led me down the path of critters and monsters. One of my favorite things is catching a glimpse of a kiddo rockin' a Halloween costume in April (or any other month for that matter), so I wanted to combo costumes with things that kids could wear every day, so here we go...

A fleece bear vest with little ears! I've got these made up in chocolate brown with prints that can be for boys and girls (fabric is on the ears and the fabric-covered buttons).Last fall, I made Caroline an octopus poncho for Halloween. She loved it so much and we got so many compliments that she started wearing it all of the time. It was so easy to get on and off and it grew with her so well that I wanted to make more. These have been made up with supersoft fleece, organic T-shirt jersey liner and the eyes are lightly stuffed with eco-friendly bamboo fibers. As you can see below, they come in lots of colors.

Oh, and little Caroline is actually sporting a lime green frog vest that is perfect for boys and girls.

And here is Henry in a one-eyed monster vest! A girlie monster is on the way too.

Including some fun stuff for boys and girls has been one of my goals, so I hope that you like it all! It will be listed in my Etsy shop (with more colors and styles!) within the next couple of weeks. Please let me know what you think!

I am T-Rex Girl, Hear Me RRROOOAAARRR!

I came up with my first dino dress last summer and have been meaning to make a T-Rex dress ever since, but things just keep coming along to distract me. Anyway, I finally just got the kick in the pants that I needed when a custom order came in last week through my Etsy shop for a pink T-Rex dress. Aha!

So, the early stage of sketching has been documented (below). I'm often asked if I use clip art for my appliques, and the answer is, "Nope." My handbag is loaded with pieces of paper on which I have sketched out designs and everything is always done in freehand by moi. After scoping out books, signage, the zoo, and wherever, I have an idea of how I want something to look. With the T-Rex, a fierce stance was needed that I could soften up by going with a super-girlie print. I use tracing paper so that I can keep parts of an image that I like and edit by sketching in new areas on the parts that don't work.

This T-Rex image was a little tricky for me because the tail was hard to get right, considering it had to be positioned on an A-line dress. Should the tail be up? Down made it look too droopy. As you can can see from the finished applique below, I went with a happy medium!

Here she is in all of her hot pink glory. Photographing the dress was a whole other challenge that I will save for another post. Getting my little model to tolerate a thousand different angles, backgrounds, etc. is not easy, but she kept at it for me. Just don't ask me to reveal how many gummy bears I owed her when we were done!

Lazy Afternoons

I think that every parent of small children knows what I'm talking about when I refer to the "dead zone" of the day. Finding something to do in the zone between afternoon nap and dinnertime can be a bit of a challenge for us. With two birthdays in seven days, a dance recital, school getting out, and a husband who is out of town for the week, this "dead zone" has been a real challenge for me and the girls this week. So, let me introduce you to my new best friend...the bubbler. Target, Bartells, toys stores all carry these little gems. They're essentially buble guns, but I'm trying to refrain from using the word "gun." It seems that Caroline may get a mild allergic reaction to bubble mix, so I have to stay away from the mouth bubble blowers because her lips get all inflamed, so these little fan blowers work like a charm for us and keep the girls completely occupied and happy. Anyway, this is how we spent our afternoons this week and it has worked out pretty well for us. Plus, I've been having a great time with my camera and the bubble hour, and this picture has made me really happy. I've mentioned that I got a new camera (a Nikon D3000) and it has been a real treat to play around with it. Although I bought the "Nikon D3000 for Dummies" and have studied it (kind of) closely, I still have no idea what I am doing!

I also have to put out a little shoutout to little Miss C who celebrated her 2nd birthday today. We enjoyed a good time at the park this morning and then a little lunch at Luna Park Cafe, complete with milkshakes--yum!
Okay, now it's time to get down to business. About a week ago I mentioned that there was a new dress coming up and here it is. As a nod to Wimbleton and summers spent on the tennis court, here is a girl's tennis dress in bright pink. I normally don't do much hand-stitching but it seemed like a hand-embroidered string area on the racket was exactly what was needed on this project. Let's hope this one is a winner!