Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My new "reader"

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Over at no big Dill, Katy is hosting a sew-along about projects inspired by children's books.  I thought it was a very cute idea but was busy with my own list of summer sewing projects.



But.....


After reading a Corduroy book for the hundredth time, I decided I would participate.

I made Isa a pair of overalls that are similar, but not the exact same as the one Corduroy the bear wears in the book.  She loves them.  And had me read the books again.



I love reading to my kids.  I have always loved books and wanted to pass that on to my children.  But Isa was not interested.  From the time her little arms could reach out, she would try to close the book whenever I tried to sit and read with her.

Then we were at a library story time for Eli and she started to listen too.  After that, she has been a book fiend.  She is always toddling up with a book for one of us to read to her.  She would prefer a parent, but she also settles for Abi to read to her.  And she does not settle for a book to be read once.  It usually has to be read twice in each setting.  And there may be two or three settings in a day.

And Corduroy is a favorite.  So in honor of my youngest's new found love of books, I sewed.


 

And as I was preparing this post, I remembered that when Abi was reading Alice in Wonderland, I was goofing around and made this Alice inspired dress and used some embroidery from my machine.  I figure that counts to as "inspired from children's literature."

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Is your book good?

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The other day I was at my optometrist getting my eyes checked because my current PX sucked beans.   I knew I needed new glasses.  I was right, of course and my eye dr. asked if I was reading or working at the computer more than normal to account for the large change in my eyesight.  The answer is yes. Yes, I sit and work on my computer for hours a day and am a bit of an obsessive girl about reading as well. 

Eye strain is a small price to pay for having completed my novel. 

I was smiling thinking of the bazillion hours I have worked on this random story line that has been haunting me for 6 months.  That was until he asked the next question.  “Is your book good?” 

I stopped and looked right at him.  “I have no idea?” I said.  It seemed like something I should know about my own book, but I don’t. 

I read some of the stuff I have written and cringe, but some of my other stories make me smile.  So how do you know if what you wrote is any good?  It is not whether or not an agent or editor thinks so.   Many of the top bestsellers last year was self published works.   More and more self published authors are showing up the old school publishing houses every day. 

So I am going with if you like paranormal mutant romances my book rocks.  If not…well I did get a pair of awesome naughty librarian glasses.
McH

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Memorial Day

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Happy Memorial Day.



I hope it is filled with friends, family, and food.  And, I hope you take a bit of time to remember the Service Members who have died in service to your country.

How should we remember?  I am not sure.  So often we just eat.  Which is a great way to celebrate the fallen; by being with the living. 
And why do we celebrate those who participated in war?  I am not naive enough anymore to boil it down to we are the good guys and they are the bad guys so we celebrate the good guys who fought and sacrificed their life for us.
And, let us not forget that not everyone who has fallen, wanted to be there ... we were not always gifted with an all-volunteer force.  Some sacrificed because they had to.  Did they sacrifice or were they sacrificed?

Today we took our kids to the Siegfried Line.  It was Nazi Germany's counter to the French Maginot Line.  We were careful to say "enemy forces" and not bad guys when talking about the invaders ... after all, that was the Americans... my grandparent's generation.  I have no problem calling Nazi's bad guys but, when in Germany as a guest, I don't want to be so simple or rude when referring to their grandparents that way.

I think it was a good start to a conversation about honoring those that served.  Abi asked some very thoughtful questions.  Ones to which I have few good answers.  But answers I did give can be summed up in this:

War is always terrible.  Even when there is a clear good and bad side.  But, too often we fight wars for reasons and in ways that are bad all around.  We want to honor those who have sacrificed for us.  But we also do not want to glorify war.

Please in your time you take to honor the fallen,  honor their memory, their sacrifice, and take care to not glorify the situation that made it necessary.  In your time, resolve to do something that would make future sacrifices less necessary.  Give to an organization that promotes prosperity, not poverty; peace, not violence; love not war.

Thank you.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Alligator Bag

Pin It I make things that make me laugh. So, I wanted to learn how to do some felting, I thought what would be best, a silly hat? A toy for the grand kids? No I needed something more elegant than that! What could be more beautiful than an alligator bag!
no endangered species lost their life for fashion...a sheep lost a little wool but that grows back...
M

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

its raining, its pouring...

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lightweight rain coat by Major_ Moma
lightweight rain coat, a photo by Major_ Moma on Flickr.
Now that PRP is over, I went back to my list of projects that need to be done. First on the list was to make a lightweight rain coat for Abi. I had bought the water resistant fabric back in VA (le Fabriques) but had not yet made the coat because it really is a spring/summer fabric.


I used an Ottobre pattern from the summer 2007 magazine and as always with ottobre, there are some nice details.  My welt pockets turned out a bit puckery, but all in all it is pretty cute. You cant see very well in these pictures (but feel free to check out my Flicker page), but I top stitched in the same blue as the zipper.



Another fun fact is that I used this same fabric as a trim for a rain coat I made for me a little over a year ago. And I used the scraps of my lining fabric to line her hood and pockets. So, now we will coordinate in the rain.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Friendship.

Pin It I have a friend that we have been friends for over 30 years. She turned 65 this last week and I drove 200 miles to go to her party. Happy birthday my dear buddy. We have had fun and walked together during some difficult times. You are loved. Even more you are VALUED. M

Sunday, May 20, 2012

unexpected gift

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My co-worker knits.  She has a french knitting book that also has sewing patterns for coordinating clothes.  The patterns are for women and children. So what did she do? She gave the patterns to me!  I was so excited.  She and I are not terribly close, but she figured since I sewed, that I could put those patterns to good use.  I am excited to try out a couple of those French patterns. 

I am sure that I will post something when I do.

Friday, May 18, 2012

developing a "signature look"

Pin It It is the last week of PRP and we are all to submit our "signature look".  I love sewing children's clothes and when I first started, it was anything "easy".  Then, I started sewing any pattern that sort of caught my eye.  They were definitely a hodge podge of styles and I had no "signature look" to my projects.

But as I look back into my sewing, I can see that I am starting to have a signature style.  I don't think it is fully developed but here are some things I think are frequently part of my kid-clothes repertoire:
    cowl neck, leather sleeves, embroidery, banded hem, and circle skirt
  • impractical and precious baby dresses
  • very practical play-clothes basics for kids
  • lots of hoodies
  • use of embroidery to add character
  • clean, or at least cleaner lines
  • modest, age appropriate designs with a fun/funky edge
I actually really like to incorporate a modern fashion twist on a classic, age appropriate outfit.  I want my kids to be able to move, jump, and play without worry.  I don't want to worry about the outfit being ruined or that they look like a teenager who was shrunk.  (I am personally aghast at some of the children's styles these days.  I simply do not want my children to look like a pop star.)

I designed a three piece outfit for this week.  Because of issues with my serger, only two were finished, but they are pretty cute.

running around the yard
Remember the Green Week?  I had a second men's henley for $1 that I cut to pieces and made this very cool cowl neck T-shirt.  Abi and I brainstormed together and we decided on a mermaid theme for the outfit as a whole.  The shirt thus has the loose ripply effect of the cowl neckline, a mermaid embroidery (http://www.urbanthreads.com/), and scalely leather on the sleeves.  The leather cap sleeves were something new and experimental for us.  We were at a flee market and a person had a bunch of scrap leather pieces that were purportedly all organically died.  So I bought a couple funky pieces Abi picked out.  One of them has just the right colors in iridescent shades for this outfit. This would be the "edgy" part of the outfit.  It also is going to be great to protect her shoulders from the sun.  I test washed a scrap, and it turned out great so it still should be wash-n-wear.
Abi wanted a circle skirt from the very moment she saw Isa's the first week of PRP.  So I made her one with a more grown up version of bloomers.  And, we added a "wave" feature to the back.




 a peak at her crazy striped bloomers
The outfit turned out great.  Unfortunately my pictures did not.  So, the pictures here just don't do it justice.  Oh well, I am a sewist, not photographer.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Orangutan arms and other odds and ends

Pin It My plan was to work on my final PRP outfit this weekend.  However, my serger is out of commission right now, so I needed to move on to plan B.  Unfortunately, like my 4 year old Eli, I cannot move on that easily.  I get tracked into one mindset and have a difficult time being flexible.  Thus, all my creative juices were dammed up over the weekend. 

What to do???  I started to look around my sewing room and saw some unfinished projects that could use some finishing.  One by one, I completed several things that were waiting for a day like today.

My mom (M) had made an adorable dress for my first daughter, but had some problems with the zipper (I don't remember what or why).  She sent it to me to finish up, but by the time that happened, it was too small.  So it never got done.  It just traveled across the US and oceans unfinished.  But now, my youngest is the right size for that little dress!  I added the zipper, I had a red one to spare, and now Isa has an adorable dress hand made by her Grandma.  The skirt is pieced together and has red embroidery work and little red buttons sew on the joining corners.




Then I found a plastic bag with the pieces of a 3/4s done shirt I started when Eli was an infant.  I went to work on that one too.  But when I tried it on, the sleeves were CRAZY long.  Like orangutan long.  I had to seam rip off my beautifully sewn cuffs and cut 4 inches off the sleeve.  Then I reattached the cuffs and I have a pretty cute casual blouse.  I used mother of pearl buttons that I had received when my Great Aunt passed away.  When I tire of the blouse, I am retrieving those buttons!


I am terrible at posing, I really shouldl have had my arms situated so that I did not just look like one green and white blob.



Finally, last fall my family and I attended a medieval jousting tournament in Germany.  The boy had an especially good time.  About 75% of the crowd was dressed in period costume.  The family then requested that I sew us costumes too so that we can attend these things together all dressed up.  This is not normally my style, but I conceded.  So last night I finished 3 of  our five early middle ages clothing.  When they are all done, I will do a big post with lots of pictures.
The guy pushing the stroller in period garb had me giggling for days.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Now that's a hat!

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I made a hat.  Not just any old hat, but a fascinator type hat with butterfly wing fabric and bright colors. Ever since the royal wedding last summer I wanted to make a hat like that. The pattern is from the book  Hat Shop  by Susanne Woods. A good friends daughter is getting married, and her wedding shower was today.  Since the theme was a Alice in Wonderland tea party,  the mother of the bride(MOB) suggested everyone wear a hat.  Of course hardly any did.  But I did. and my friend Nancy did.  And the MOB did..  M

Thursday, May 10, 2012

What do you fear?

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So what are you afraid of? I had this giant moth perch on my back door screen the other day.  I screamed,  then I wondered why?  Why was I afraid of a moth? And why this particular one?  Was it because it was big and scarey looking? But unless you are a wool sweater, moths are pretty harmless.  It certainly can't bite me. And it couldn't even fly and get in my hair...  Yes I screamed at a dead moth.  
What are you afraid of?  And do we all need to examine that fear in our lives?  M

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

At the Movies with PRP

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I almost did not sew-along with PRP this week. 

The theme is “at the movies” and since I don’t watch a lot of movies I didn’t have a lot of inspiration.  And the movies I do watch just did not inspire me, as far as making kids clothes go.  So sad.  Who knew being pop-culture adverse would affect my sewing?  And, I just did not feel like making anything constumey.  Don’t get me wrong, one of the most fun things about knowing how to sew is the costume making opportunities.  I have made an elephant, mermaid, mouse … loving the whole process.
But I wanted to use PRP to get summer play clothes done.  So instead of working for PRP, I made PRP work for me!  I saw this super cute mushroom fabric and fell in love.  I then started of thinking of how I could tie it into a movie. 
I tossed some ideas in my head but then just started sewing what I wanted to. I used a free pattern off of www.fabric.com, the pillowcase bubble romper from Create Kids Couture and just had fun with my super cute fabrics.  If you are a beginer sewist, this is a perfect pattern for you.  If you are experienced but want something you can whip up in no time, it is also perfect.

I knew my chubby little baby would look adorable in it.  I modified it a bit by using binding on the legs and not making the belt.  A belt on a one year-old is really a silly idea. 
And then I thought of the “movie”…
My eldest daughter is a big fan of the Tinkerbell fairy movies.  (and the books, and the dolls, and the stickers and the…)  And in the fairy land, there are a lot of these red and white mushrooms. 







In the end, I slapped on a Tinkerbell using my embroidery machine and pretended that the whole outfit was inspired by the movie.  But isn’t that why I bought a Brother embroidery machine?  So I could put random Disney characters on my children’s clothes?  Yep. It is.
I also made a hat.  And I used the “fairyest” hat I had a pattern for.
Not terribly inspired.  But terribly cute.

P.S.   It is purely coincidence (or at least subliminal) that I made a jumper right after the last week’s winner of PRP made a jumper.  What can I say, great minds think alike.  ;)

Coffee, Kids and Panic..yep

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So Major Mama called me this afternoon and we talked as sisters do.  It’s nice that we are friends and she can lecture me about not blogging and I can tease her about her overachieving self.  She actually interrupted my typing away on a blog I was planning to use.  I think it works as we spent an hour talking about kids and family and life.  So here goes my first blog without direction…

My husband James always said that his best day in parenting was when our son mowed the lawn for the first time.  I remember James standing on the stoop watching as our oldest emptied the lawn clippings, the grin almost split his face.  I rolled my eyes at his reaction at the time. 

I don’t mock him now because I had my own day recently.  I woke up and was debating hauling my rear upstairs to the coffee maker, knowing that if I creaked up the stairs my youngest would feel free to wake up instead of sleeping in.  As I opened the bedroom door the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit my nose.  I jerked and looked back to see James still snuggled down.  I decided to explore more and snuck upstairs to see my oldest son flipping pancakes on the griddle, the gurgle of the coffee maker bubbling behind him.  My timing was perfect he had not waited for the pot to get done and had made his own mug and was sipping it in between flipping. 

When do they grow up, while I am asleep? I remember rocking him while we used to watch Blue’s Clues or stack blocks and take great fun knocking them down. Now he was making coffee and pancakes for the family on a random Saturday morning. 

I am not saying he is grown-up. He has more to learn and live.  It scares me to blink or he will be asking me for the keys to the car.

I got out the plates, syrup and poured my own cup as we waited for the rest of the family to get up. That morning we talked about his plans for the weekend and how his week at school had gone.  Thank goodness his day consisted of Halo and the trampoline and not girls or driving.  So to panicky parents worldwide, I hear ya’ll, Blue’s Clues was good but this time it isn’t bad either.

Mc H.

Trying not to covet

Pin It I have already posted today.  But during my lunch break I saw something I just had to share. 

http://true-pure-lovely.blogspot.com/p/my-sewing-space.html

This gal has a gorgeous sewing space.  I am happy with my space.  Mainly because there is lots of it.  But I just had to give a shout out to an amazing space.

Monday, May 7, 2012

3 Things

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Well, I have 3 short things to say.

First, I love the sharing of ideas and creativity in the sew-alongs I have recently participated in.  I obviously have just started blogging (one month now) and one reason I was interested in doing so was to participate in events like PRP and KCWC (http://www.elsiemarley.com/kcwc-spring-2012-wrap-up.html).  One of the great ideas I saw (I am sooo sorry, I forget where.) is for some 70’s style running shorts using bias strips.  I kept on thinking about those little shorts so I decided to give it a go and modified one of my Sewing for Toddler’s patterns.  Here is what I came up with:

Second, I recently read one blogger say that she rarely uses ric-rac because it basically screams “home-made” and not in a good way.  What she said resonated with me and I believe it to be really a true statement; how many times do you see ric-rac on the runway or RTW?  Then just a couple of days later a very cute trim I bought just lacked the ‘wow’ factor when I paired it with my project.  So what did I do?  I broke out the ric-rac.  And it worked.  I guess there is a time and place for even ric-rac.

Third, the winner of the PRP sew-along this last week sewed (beautifully) an entire dress of bias strips.  REALLY?  Why?  She created a striking dress and must have spent hours working on it.  But again, why?  When I make clothes for my kids I want them to be able to ride bikes, swing on the monkey bars, and dig in the sand.  If I had put that much detail into their clothes, I would be insanely trying to protect that piece of art.  Instead of art, I make children’s clothes.  Clothes meant to be played in.  Just my two cents… and since this is my blog, I figure I can give it.


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