2013 January

From the monthly archives: January 2013

Today’s stream of consciousness

Posted January 30, 2013

Overslept this morning, completely forgot to set my alarm. Missed Elliot’s bus and had to drive him to school, making him eat a banana in the car. He made it a few minutes after the bell rang, and then I had to bring Clementine to preschool. I was ten minutes late for yoga. Does the way your morning starts out influence your whole day? I hope not, but suspect so.

Why am I the only person who falls over and giggles in yoga class? Everyone is so serious. Also: It is never not funny how yoga makes people fart.

I mention yoga only because I am v. proud of self for finally signing up for a class that will (hopefully) get me back into…

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Baby Boy Quilt + Pants

Posted January 29, 2013

I’ve had no less than nine friends and family members give birth to boys in the past year. NINE. Can’t think of a single baby girl though…why is that?? What is up with the baby boys?? I would be lying if I said I was able to make handmade gifts for all of them, but I did manage to finish and gift this little boy quilt last week:

This ladder quilt was inspired by this quilt on the Cloud 9 blog, which in turn was inspired by this post by Lu Summers. There’s a tutorial for Michelle’s version on the Cloud 9…

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Heart Pants!

Posted January 24, 2013

With Valentine’s Day coming up, it seemed appropriate to post these fun little pants with heart kneepads.

So easy, all it takes is four little hearts cut out of fabric. I already have another pair planned out (grey pants, pink hearts).

Just cut out four hearts, sew them together two at a time with a small-ish (1/4″-3/8″) seam allowance, leaving a turning hole.

Notch or grade the seam allowances and press them flat.

Then pin and sew them to the pant leg in the desired location. As you can see I like to use a worn pair of pants to help me locate the spot where the knees are. Then sew up the pants and you’re finished!

(What happened to my

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Whale Dress from Flashback Tee pattern

Posted January 22, 2013

The Flashback Tee is proving to be one of (if not THE) most versatile pattern I’ve got in my arsenal…it’s so easy to mix up and change around (with minimal fussiness) that I decided it was about time I made it into a dress. And actually, this was a couple months ago, so it ended up being one of Clementine’s Christmas dresses (I’m a bit behind on my blogging if you really must know). Now I realize that a knit whale dress is perhaps a bit casual for big occasions but I’ve never really been one to pull out the tulle and satin for Christmas or Easter, so it didn’t really matter. Do you dress your kids up big-time? See, I probably would…

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Visit your Local Quilt Shop

Posted January 19, 2013

This week Thursday, January 24, is Visit Your Local Quilt Shop day, so I’m participating in this weekend’s blog tour to raise awareness for the event and get more people shopping locally for their fabrics. I feel a bit hypocritical writing this post though, truth be told, because in all honesty I would love to shop more frequently at *my* local shop in Ann Arbor, but sadly they cater to a very different type of sewist than I — one who is more traditional and enjoys a wall full of batiks, for instance — that I have a hard time finding the fabrics I want there (and yes, if you’re wondering, I have offered my feedback, no surprise to…

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Adding Trim to the Geranium Dress

Posted January 17, 2013

I’ve made quite a few versions of the Geranium Dress for Clementine that feature trim along the armholes and bottom of the bodice (here, here, and here), and I wanted to show you how! It’s super easy and it really looks great. My favorite trims for necklines are ricrac and pompons, and lace or piping would be really sweet as well.

Note: This tutorial assumes you already have the Geranium Dress pattern, which you can buy here (or download the free Little Geranium pattern if you want to try it out in the 0-3 month size)!

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Happy Kitchen

Posted January 16, 2013

I just finished a set of valances for my kitchen out of Melody Miller’s “Happy Dishes” print from her latest line for Kokka. As we are currently renting, I have very little control over the fact that my kitchen, with its dark countertops and horrid cement-hued-blah wall, is a bit drab. The cheery colorful dishes in this print are just what the doctor ordered.

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Free! Little Geranium Dress Pattern

Posted January 15, 2013

I’m happy to present a new free pattern download today! Yay!!! *kermit arms*

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And the Winners Are…

Posted January 10, 2013

Thanks to everyone’s enthusiasm in entering to win the Twelve Days of Christmas pattern giveaways!

Here’s the list of lucky winners who were selected using the random number generator:

Day 1: Big Butt Baby Pants #16 Lindsey, who said, ”I think my sweet baby boy needs some big butt pants…although he has the tiniest little bum I’ve ever seen! =)”

Day 2: Peekaboo Bonnet #115 Jenny, who said, “Thanks!”
Day 3: Bonsai Bag #4 Kayla Thanks for the post-Christmas Christmas giving! Such a fun bag. Loving it!”

Day 4: Charlie Tunic with Dress Add-on #214 Jenifer, who said, “I love the dress version!”

Day 5: Showwoff Bag #125 Mitzi, who said, “Love this bag!”

Day 6: Flashback Skinny Tee

…

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A look back at my year in sewing

Posted January 9, 2013

I’ve been seeing lots of project roundups from last year pop up on other people’s blogs over the past week, and I realized how much I enjoy them. I love seeing a bunch of things from the entire year presented in one place! So satisfying. It just appeals to my visual side. So I started to look through all of my projects from this past year to see if I could sum up my 2012 projects in photos. It turns out that’s a pretty big job, yikes. At the same time, I definitely started to see some general trends. For instance, I sewed a TON of stuff for me this year, especially dresses and tops (YAY!!):

1. scarfonme, 2. Sparkler Top,…

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