Pretty Things

Unless I sew for myself, I don't have many opportunities to sew 'pretty' things. Finn's sewing is fairly boring ... raglans, pants, simple boy stuff.

I did recently make a jumper for a friend's daughter, and now that I know it's arrived, here's a peek at what I created (drafted myself for the most part).

Another opportunity for me to create pretty things is a swap on a message board I am on. I've made two of these aprons, and will tackle some kid-themed items tomorrow.

They were simple, and fairly quick to put together. I really love the Amy Butler coordinates and was happy to find a project that suited the leftovers I had after nearly finishing a shirt for myself (no photo of that until I find the perfect button for it)

A challenge

Stephanie has thrown up a challenge ... which I'll gladly take up ... :) And, since I made my last shirt before the challenge, I'll even make a new one for January (working on it now!).

And, I've made another round of spotted box samples. Sixty freebies shipped this morning.

Cup cozies & business card holders.

Whoo Hoo! A new shirt for me!

I did a quick test of this yesterday, and today fixed the fit. This went together very quickly ... I think I'll make it a bit looser next time, but it's comfy & might be my new wardrobe 'staple' going into spring.

Dark Brown Fabric ... is hard to find

I love fabric. It's hard to sew without it ... but I do have a decent little stash now, and don't constantly need to buy for each project. I did have to run out yesterday to get some coordinating solids to go with prints I had, in order to sew for Orchid Place's stocking this Tuesday. I had a great toile from Michael Miller, this one in fact, and wanted to make a carrier from it. But, there is no dark brown fabric dark enough to go with it. So I bought a buttery soft cord instead, and made it with a different fabric from the same toile collection.

I also bought this fabulous Cream & Black print, I think it'll be a skirt for me, although the lady who cut it at the store suggested I just stretch it over a canvas and hang it on the wall. It's that lovely. Too bad you can't touch it thru your monitor.

Aside from that, all the other fabrics I got are for fairly specific projects to sew within the next few weeks (or months), either to list at babyGO, or to sew for Finn.

Finn's going to have a great little wardrobe if I can squeak out enough time to sew around homework, housework, and our busy schedule. My Ottobre patterns are finally getting the love they deserve, and Finn is the wearer of some new raglan testers as I made modifications to the pattern, and overalls, which were made almost completely as the pattern was written. A pair of mittens is also completed, and a fleece jacket awaits zipper & hem. I'll be making more raglan tees now that I've got the pattern to a point that it's a good fit for Finn.

Knit fabrics & I will be getting along much better now that I have a serger.

Christmas Was Wonderful

We spent lots of time with family over the 24th, 25th & 26th, and have spent the days since then playing with our gifts. Dave working on his model train, Finn playing with everything he can reach, and I've been using my new serger & camera.

I tested out the serger by making quite a few wipes, as we can never have too many ... and having finished that, I made these cute overalls for Finn.

Trying Again

I'm going to try. To write more often. To be more accountable to whoever's out there reading in blog land. So, here goes. Yesterday was our 2nd day with no water this week. The first was a screw up on the part of the city, yesterday was planned, but we got no notice. Put a big delay on our day, as I couldn't shower or bathe Finn until late afternoon. I did get almost all my holiday sewing done. All that is left is the waist band for one skirt, and Finn's sock monkey & mini-quilt. And, if I get enough time, I just might make some cozy velour pants with sock monkey details for Finn, since I bought him a cute brown sweater with red & cream stripes that reminds me of the sock monkey fabrics. I'm going to be taking a break from Orchid Place for the first few months of 2008, so that I can focus on my two final courses at Sheridan College. Once they are finished I will have completed all the course work to be a legitimate interior decorator, and will be working towards making Colour On The Walls a viable business. I'll still be stocking textile toys along with the other creative minds at In Their Hands, and bags and carriers will always be available at babyGO. Last week, I got the fabric gallery together for babyGO, at least for the woven fabrics. I'm happy it's complete, and that I don't have as much fabric as I thought I did! If you're family .... check out Finn's blog ... I'm updating that more often as well!

Happy Halloween

I've finished all the samples, and they should be arriving at their first destination shortly. What a relief it was to complete them. I also managed to sew and stock new items at both babyGO and Orchid Place last week, and this week committed to join In Their Hands, check it out! I got a bad haircut, got it fixed, and then got that one improved, so I've had 3 hair cuts in the past 11 days! I think it's all good now, and will hopefully stay that way. I also settled on a name for my own interior company ... I'm very happy to have that firmed up, and can now move ahead with promotion plans and such, and set up to open in February 2008. :) Have a great day!

I'm really going to update this more often. Really.

Ok, I think I need to be more intentional about this blog. So, I'm starting over. I'm going to try really hard to post more often, weekly at least. I'm going to write about whatever I want. Some of this may duplicate Finn's blog (access to family only!), but hey ... if you read both, you're family ad used to me chatting lots :) I'm going to hopefully update progress on my sewing, both for Orchid Place, babyGO and personal sewing for myself, Finn and gifts. I'll post photos of Dave's train set as it becomes more than 6" of styrofoam on a plywood platform. You'll get to see photos of Penny, Parker & Jesse too. Sewing Update I have 4 of 55 change purses completed for The Spotted Box. I have 10 more cut out and ready to sew. I have fabric for all of them - just need to get back to cutting. There are too many other projects to list right now, so I will only ramble on about projects that are at least cut out! And perhaps updating the blog will encourage me to start and finish projects! Life Update Finn is 7.5 mths old! Crazy. He has 3 teeth, 2 of them on the top, they're sharp - really sharp. Dave can confirm this for you, as Finn enjoys chewing on shoulders. Currently, Dave has taking the little guy out for the afternoon, so that I can have a bit of a break - I have used this break very wisely ... made chili, washed diapers, rescued my desk blotter from my crazy paper eating dog, and as soon as I'm done typing this update, I'm going to have a shower without listening for Finn ... you who don't have sole responsibility for another person 24/7 some weeks will not fully be able to appreciate how wonderful that really is! And, a wonderful has happened! It's finally fall! Cool and a bit of a brisk breeze ... perfect sweater weather :)

me, Christmas 2003 An old photo I found :) It's meant to be in the profile, but I was just playing around with Hello & Picasa.

Oh Joy Oh Bliss ... 2 point perspective!

Well, it's 2:30 or so now, and I've spent the past 5 1/2 hours on a lovely interior perspective of a cottage. It's worth a big part of my mark in this class, and I really think you should look at it, only I haven't quite figured out how to show pictures. I will, the next 'free' minute I get, which I believe might be in 2014 :) Well, I saved this as a draft, and have figured out how to add photos. So, here is my beautiful drawing (it's not perfect, but hopefully it's good enough). Enjoy! Send nice comments only. Be happy, it's Friday! "Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday" (Unknown)

Jumping on the Blog Wagon ...

Ok, so I'm sitting here, taking a quick 'coffee' (rather, decaf bevy) break, and catching up on the lives of my family, reading blogs & websites, and thinking, I need one! Really, I know you're all wondering how I fill my days. I could detail all the things I've done today, but you'd be bored (I am, that's why I'm typing this). So, I'll figure out how this all works, and get more interesting things, and pictures, links & such set up later. Happy Thursday! "This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays." Douglas Adams (British comic writer, 1952-2001)