From the monthly archives: January 2009
Due to the extremely cold temperatures around here (have I mentioned how COLD it is here in Michigan yet? Oh yes, now I see that I have…), sewing hasn’t been as high on my priority list as knitting, which is a relatively new hobby for me. I’ve made the occasional washcloth or scarf, but nothing this serious until Elli started making a Tomten for Elliot and I got The Bug. It just looked so simple and cute, which is of course the huge draw of Elizabeth Zimmerman. A big part of it for me was the idea that it knits up in one piece and then you just sew the underarm seams.
Pattern: Tomten by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: 4 skeins Jo-Ann…
Watching the last of January creep up on us I knew I had to sneak in just one more Christmas gift before I lost my chance. At least my Christmas tree is down. Of course, my outside lights are still going on automatically every night because it’s SO COLD I can’t even bring myself to go out and unplug them.
This is the tree skirt I made for seester Elli. It’s a shameless spinoff of one she had her eye on at Mahar Drygoods. She was covering up the bottom of her tree with towels or somesuch and I knew that had to stop.
Materials: red felt, colored ric-rac, gingham bias tape (I know you can purchase this ready-made some places, but…
For Christmas this year I received a serger (cue cheering) from my mom- and dad-in-law, who were happy to give it although they were a little confused about what it actually was.
So here’s one of my first projects, a knit shirt for Elliot:
The fabric is knit jersey (so: different on the front than the back, unlike interlock knit which looks the same on both sides). The orange pieces were scraps leftover from Kricket’s Christmas top.
It looked a little boring, so I stenciled some veggies onto it to make it cuter and distract from the inevitable food stains toddler wear seems to attract:
:: Shirt in action ::
Here’s the lovely piece of equipment that made this all…
One of the final installments of my Christmas 2008 series…
: : A 9×13 cozy for mom : :
: : scorchproof fabric inside : :
Mom will be the talk of the potluck.
Warning: There’s alot of randomness in this post but I’m just going to go with it because it’s late…
That person in the picture above is my baby seester Kricket. Isn’t she beautiful? She is wearing the shirt I made for her for Christmas. When Krick was little her favorite color used to be orange. Don’t you hate it when people remember one thing about you from a really long time ago and keep giving you things like that even though you’ve stopped liking it? She liked it anyway, even if her favorite color is currently green. I think?
After making this top I wanted to keep it for myself but I didn’t. Just thought I’d throw that in too.
In this horrid bathroom-mirror shot…
I would like to mention how comforting it was to hear from all you “rippers” out there after my last post. In fact, no one who commented placed themselves in the “organized-perfectionistic sewing” category. Everyone who weighed in was of the sew-a-little/rip-a-little disorganized sort. Not sure what that says about you guys…perhaps the “do-it-right-the-first-timers” can’t even stand to read my blog? Heh.
This is the “I’ll have one of everything bag” from Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner. I just got this book for Christmas and this was my favorite project in there so I spent the weekend working on it.
: : back side: :
It’s appealing because you get to use up scraps. My scraps were mainly Amy Butler, but…
Happy New Year everyone!
As promised, here’s another one of my handmade Christmas gifts, this one for dad who needed something to carry his binoculars and birding book in whilst birding.
I used the back sides of an old pair of cargo shorts that Mr Rae had spilled bleach on. I was especially pleased with this recycle because it meant I didn’t have to make the outside pockets.
I thought Alexander Henry goldfinch fabric (which is, oddly, available at JoAnn as well as many other nicer places) would be appropriate for the inside.
The front and back are stenciled with fabric paint. I used the freezer-paper technique oft referenced on this blog. MSH are dad’s initials, by the way.
The orange trim around the…
For you to sew!
Coming Soon!
about Rae
looking for…?
I’m over here too…
I offer licenses for handmade sellers who would like to sell items made with my patterns on a small scale. To see all of the available licenses, visit the 
