2012 October

From the monthly archives: October 2012

Oh by the way, Happy Halloween!

Posted October 31, 2012

I don’t have much to show for myself this Halloween because the “rainbow-cloud” costume that Clementine demanded this year (and that I worked for hours on one night, you can find pics here on my Instagram feed, scroll down) was a complete bust as she could not move her arms around and screams bloody murder whenever I put it on her. I re-tooled it a little bit and it’s better…but I still give it a 50% chance of happening tonight when we go around to the nearest five houses to trick-or-treat. Last night she told me she wanted to be Spiderman. Which is totally fine because that would make three years in a row that the $20 polyester Spiderman costume from Meijer gets…

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Best of Quilt Market: Kokka faves

Posted October 31, 2012

Loved the Nani Iro flannels. Picturing a long-sleeved winter dress out of the tan/beige one with big cabled tights. Doesn’t that sound dreamy? ps. Frances of Miss Matatabi has these in stock. I’ve been drooling over the stuff she’s been making with them on Instagram for months now. Gah!

This new designer (who I did not get the name of) had some neat prints, this one was a fave:

And I called this one “the cheerio print,” it also came in red/white and green/white prints with smaller cheerios that were really cute.

Also from Kokka this fall, my friend Ellen Luckett Baker‘s line, Stamped, in a very colorful display. Check out this great skirt with a triangle border:

Lovely…

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Best of Quilt Market: Melody Miller

Posted October 30, 2012

Let’s talk about Melody Miller, who had a showstopper of a booth.

I love Melody. She is first and foremost one of the sweetest individuals on the planet. On top of that she is a brilliant designer. You probably already know that I sew with her fabrics frequently. I love the funky retro vintage-inspired vibe they have (the Ruby Star Washi dress was the most recent example of this). I’m even more thrilled with her newest line, Ruby Star Sparkle, which features prints that literally…wait for it…GLITTER. I know.

There was a lovely collection of vintage toys strewn around the booth, many of them Fisher Price (LOVE!).

Also featured in the booth was Melody’s new book which I really really like,

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Best of Quilt Market: Carolyn Friedlander

Posted October 30, 2012

I’m working on a few posts to show you some of the fun things that were at Quilt Market in Houston this past weekend. First off though, I really want to show you my favorite NEW designer/line of fabric, Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures for Robert Kaufman, which really blew me out of the water.

(annie of the village haberdashery and charlotte, her intrepid consultant, two of my favorite Brits)

What’s interesting to me about this line is that the designs are SO subtle yet so detailed…I usually fall for big bold prints but this line really captured me with the beautiful lines and textures. This was the floor:

As an ex-science teacher, my favorite prints…

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That Ty Pennington. What will he do next?!

Posted October 30, 2012

I wish I could explain what was so hilarious about stumbling across this little set of canvases of Ty Pennington promoting his new line for Westmister at Quilt Market in Houston this past weekend. Perhaps it was just that I had been walking around for so long on Saturday and had talked to so many people and it was nearly 5 o’clock, but when I came across these, I just could not. stop. giggling. Is it the hat? His expression? I don’t know.

Oh Ty. You are SUCH a DREAMBOAT. Hubba hubba.

More Quilt Market highlights later, I promise.

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Flickr Friday: Washi Tunics

Posted October 26, 2012

Just popping in from Texas today to show off a few lovelies from the photo pools! The Washi Dress Photo Pool is overflowing with awesome renditions of the Washi Dress sewing pattern. Here’s a selection from a few of you who have opted to make the tunic version of the dress. By shortening the skirt, it becomes a versatile top that’s flattering to a great range of figures.

1. Washi Tunic, Madrona Road, 2. detail, 3. Washi Tunic, 4. another washi!

I was most impressed by how well these tunics fit all these ladies. Each clearly took the time and attention to tailor their Washis to fit their own proportions…

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Tutorial + Pattern: Long Sleeve for Washi Dress

Posted October 23, 2012

I’m so excited to show you how to add a longer sleeve to the Washi Dress as shown in the Ruby Star Washi Dress post! I’ve made a pattern piece that you may download for free (yay!!). For your convenience, the instructions for sewing the sleeve are printed on the pattern piece in addition to this tutorial. Please note that the various sizes of this pattern are UNTESTED, so you use at your own risk. Feel free to email me if you have feedback. Thanks!

This pattern piece is provided with the understanding that it will be used in conjunction with the Washi Dress Sewing Pattern. All files and images are protected by copyright law. You may not distribute or…

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Ruby Star Washi Dress

Posted October 18, 2012

I thought it was about time to take the Washi Dress into fall with this lovely print by Melody Miller. Perfect for layering under a sweater. And guess what?

SLEEVES!

Works great with tights and boots.

Sometimes it makes me a little sad that my kids won’t grow up with records or tapes. I remember listening to a kid-sized (maybe fisher price?) record player when I was a kid. My dad had a really nice turntable and scads of vinyl that slowly got replaced with CDs in the 80s. CD’s are disappearing. Elliot thinks it’s a novelty when we get a book on CD from the library and he gets to put it in the tray and press “play.” I think…

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You win some, you lose some

Posted October 17, 2012

Um, so maybe you didn’t even notice, but I totally flaked on the final KCWC sew-off challenge, which was supposed to be a catalog-inspired garment. Elliot got sick and was home from school Friday afternoon (poor baby, he looked so pathetic on the nurse’s cot when I picked him up with his rosy fever cheeks), and then we were out of town this past weekend. You know how it goes: I thought maybe Friday afternoon I’d be able to squeeze some sewing in, and then maybe Saturday morning before we left…and it just didn’t happen. I was also double-dog wiped out from trying to keep up with the sew-off all week long. Thursday night I emailed Kristin and hinted that I wouldn’t…

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Pomegranate Pierrot with shirring

Posted October 12, 2012

As you can see, she’s outgrown the pink boots.

KCWC sew-off challenge #4: Shirred Pierrot

I made this tunic with fabric harvested from the ill-conceived “Prairie Girl Top” of Spring Top Week 2010 that I think I actually never wore. That was a particularly bad year for spring top execution, as I had a considerable amount of baby weight to lose yet, so nothing really fit, and for some I reason bit off waaay more than I could chew that year design-wise when planning out my tops (does anyone remember the Clown Top?). Not a great idea considering I had an 11-month old baby.

I remember that I fussed and fussed with that top, and even after fussing…

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