A Little Summer Sewing

I've finished another skirt using Butterick 4722.  My daughter picked out this cute fabric at Joann's several weeks ago.  It's cute, but it's directional!  I didn't realize this until I was about to cut out the pattern pieces. Luckily, I noticed the direction and made adjustments to the pattern pieces.  It wasn't difficult, but I had re-think how to lay out the pieces.  

This is the second  skirt I've made using this pattern.  Several weeks ago I made one using a blue Hawaiian-like batik.  It's a dead easy pattern!  It's perfect for a simple summer skirt for your little Princess!

Maybe I should say, "Diva!"  I've got a few more summer sewing projects in the works for this little Diva, including a halter top!  For now, though, I'm off to work on my mini charms project.  I'm hoping to finish it up this afternoon!  

Have a great weekend!

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Experimenting: Homemade Bubble Jet Set Recipe

Newsflash:  I'm not a scientist!  I flunked chemistry and never even considered taking physics at school.  However, I'm cheap.  I mean, I don't like to spend a lot of money if I can avoid it.  Considering Bubble Jet Set costs anywhere from $15 to $22 a bottle, I decided to try to make my own.   I do not want the disaster that occurred after I washed my Bunny Quilt to happen again!

I searched the internet for a homemade Bubble Jet Set recipe.  Here is the most simple version I could find:

2 tablespoons of Alum (the stuff used when canning pickles)

2 1/2 teaspoons washing soda (not baking soda) (I found this in the grocery store)

1/2 teaspoon liquid fabric softner

1 cup of hot water

Mix the first 3 ingredients and then add the hot water.  Stir.  It will be foamy.

When the foam eases, soak your fabric for 15 minutes.  Wring out and dry completely.  I poured the leftover mix into a baby food jar to save for future use.

When my fabric was dry (I cheated and put it in the dryer), I ironed freezer paper to it and ran it through my printer.  I used the same bunny image I used for my quilt.

Image pre-wash

Image post-wash

Yay!  It worked!  Before I use a printed image on a quilt or table topper again, however, I think I will do more testing, ahem, experimenting.  It faded a bit, but nothing like before!  For the most part:  SUCCESS!

One more thing:  School's out!  That means sewing summer clothes for my littlest daughter!  Yep, every summer, I try to make a few dresses and skirts for her.  Here is Charlotte's first skirt for Summer 2012:

Butterick 4722 View E

  

I used a Hawaiian looking blue batik.  

I know, last year I said I would NOT sew ruffles again, but I couldn't resist.  I thought this skirt was just too cute!

Tootles!

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Summer Pretties

So I'm still on vacation; or should I say, stay-cation.  No primitive campsites, no pristine river water, no bugs and unfortunately, no room service.  I'm actually enjoying my time at home with my littlest daughter.  We've been hanging out at our neighborhood pool and playing on our trampoline.  Okay, she's been playing on the trampoline.  We even braved the heat and visited the zoo!  It was so hot and we walked our feet off, but we got to see a few of her favorite animals, including all sorts of different monkeys and even a few lions!

Her favorite animal is the cheetah, but for some unknown reason, they weren't out, so the next best animal was the leopard.  If you look hard, you can see him lying down under that tree.  She drew her interpretation of the leopard after we got home.  Did you know that leopards have brown spots within their black spots and cheetahs just have black spots?  Now you know!

In this, my last week of my stay-cation, I've made a few summer pretties for my youngest.  I made a simple halter using McCall's Easy Stitch and Save #5562.  Note to self:  Remember you hate doing ruffles.  Pick another view next time.  

  

I made View B, the ruffled top.  It turned out pretty cute, but the ruffle was a pain.  I figured making the ruffle would be less of a pain than sewing the bias tape on the bottom for View C.  I may have chosen unwisely.  Anyway, it's done and Charlotte loves it!

I've also made this halter type dress during my time off.  She actually wore this dress on the zoo trip, which was perfect since it was so hot.  I made two of these dresses.  One for Charlotte and the other for her friend, Halle.  They were little twins at the zoo!  

I hear the pool calling!  Tootles friends!

Angels, Punks, Strawberries, and Friends.

First, thanks for all the birthday well wishes!  Second, I can't believe I didn't have any takers for answering my age question!  I am not sure what to think about that...should I feel really old?  Is it taboo for women of a certain age (like me now) to talk about their age?  Years ago I remember hearing some Oprah guest talk about how she felt her 40's were her "best years."  Somehow she felt wiser, confident, and knew who and what she wanted out of her life.  Really?  I can say, now that I am, according to my daughter, officially over 40, I really don't feel any wiser or more "secure in skin."  Granted, I have only been part of the mature scene for four days.  Maybe I should give it a few more days..maybe two weeks?  In the meantime, have a look at this awesome gift I got today:

I got to meet, in person, blogger friend, Dee Dee today!  Dee Dee does all sorts of crafts and she made this angel for me out of metal and glass!  It's wonderful and I'm so happy that I got to meet her in person!  We've both participated in the mug mat swap and are regulars in the Blissful ATC Swap.  Here is a picture of us at lunch today:

Me                                               Dee Dee

Speaking of the Blissful ATC Swap, I received this card from my swap partner, Marlene.  April's theme is "Steam Punk."  Marlene's card is fabulous.  I love it.  Thanks Marlene!

Here is the Steam Punk card I sent to Marlene:

This was my first time doing anything Steam Punk.  The image is from the The Graphics Fairy.  I transferred the image to a piece of card stock using the gel medium/clear mailing label method.  I then adhered this piece to the background piece which I had painted using a stencil a la sequin rubbish.  Never did that before.  I really like how it turned out.  I hope Marlene likes it!  

I've also been working on testing a pattern for Stephanie from Toastie Studio.  Stephanie has designed a pattern for a shopping tote that folds (or scrunches) up and then is stuffed inside a strawberry.  Her design is really cool and I just love how my strawberry turned out.

Pretty smart, huh?  Better run...Chat with you soon!

A Little Tweaking...and a Birthday Giveaway!

Why is it that the weekends seem to go by so quickly?  Maybe this accounts for my lack of productivity?  Or maybe I've just enjoyed myself a lazy birthday weekend??  Yep, my husband and I have thrown our diets out the window in celebration of both our birthdays.  Friday night:  Hawaiian pizza plus two different dessert pizzas!  Saturday night:  supper out at Longhorn...including fried cheesecake for dessert!  Back on plan tomorrow (boo hiss).

I did get a bit of sewing done this weekend.  I'm still tweaking the wallet I made last weekend.  I've made two additional prototypes, but I'm not happy with either.  The main problem is making the pockets secure enough to hold onto cards snuggly.  I've experimented with interfacing and size.  For this last wallet, I've placed fairly stiff interfacing on the wrong side of the outer fabric as well as on the fabrics for the pockets.  I thought placing the interfacing on the wrong sides of the pockets as well as making the wallet smaller, overall, would do the trick.  It didn't.  When shaken, the cards will fall out.  I might try one or two more changes, but if they don't work, I'll scrap this shaped wallet altogether.  I do like the fabrics, however.  I used a snap this time and the button on the outside is purely decorative.  I may have placed the snap a little low.

I also came up with a new template for a little zip pouch.  I made the template out of card stock and then cut outside fabric and lining fabric using this as a guide.  I made a little "belt" in the center using a vintage buckle I found months ago during one of my Flea Market Fridays.  Like the snap, I may have put this little gem a bit low, but it's still cute. I will be tweaking this "pattern," too...but for now it works.

 I am not divulging my age (officially tomorrow's the day).   If you want to do some homework (by finding  a post where I've "confessed" my age), I'll send you a piece of birthday cake!  Well, not real cake, of course, but leave me a comment with the age I will be tomorrow and I'll send you something sweet!

Oh, the lilacs came out of my yard this morning.  Aren't they gorgeous?  The smell divine.  LOVE THEM!!

Have a great week!

Studio Project

Happy Friday!  First, the good news:  My brand new / old $10.00 Goodwill desk is now OUT of the back of my 'what is she trying to prove by driving such a big' SUV!  Now, the bad news:  my husband covered it with a large moving blanket and has placed all his camping stuff on it.  He claims this is temporary.  He said he just needs a spot for his stuff since he has taken our his canoe and jon boat to storage.  The boats were stacked in the garage and housed the camping gear.  Anyway, Doug said the gear will be gone and I will get my desk, which is in remarkably good shape.  It needs a bit of sanding on one of the edges and there is a small-ish chunk of wood missing from one of the drawer faces.  I haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I will probably just sand it down a bit and put one or two coats of protectant on it.  I'm pretty sure the desk is completely made from real wood.  I am not sure I'd be able to paint it if it is all hardwood.  I'm having a hard enough time tearing pages from $1.00 books, you think I can paint oak? 

This desk is big.  I'm going to have to do some rearranging...and I'll probably have to remove some furniture from my studio to make room.  Here are some pictures of my studio as it is right now:

View looking in from door.

Desk and sewing cabinet (& hideous chair)
If you look closely, you can see my Hepburn Coat pattern out.

Storage cabinet & bins.
For sewing notions and stuff.

2 Person (or one large party) chair & tall storage cabinet (for fabric)

I've used all vintage furniture and decor in my room, with the exception of the red couch and ottoman, which is what is probably going to have to go.  At least the ottoman.  I really love it, but I think the desk is going to be much more practical, even though the ottoman does open up for storage.  The desk, which I also love, and the sewing machine cabinet / cutting table by the desk, will also be going.  The sewing machine cabinet actually opens up in like a L shape, but it is too hard to manuever, especially on the carpet, to be more practical than my big NEW DESK. 

I've meddled with my header again.  What do you think of this one?  I really love the middle picture and want to use it in whatever header I eventually stick with.  I just think it's great, but do you think it matches up with the rest of the pictures?  Let me know what you think.  It mean a lot to me.  Thanks.

Gotta run (not literally of course), it's movie night!

Toodles for now!

Angela

Flea Market Finds & Page 3

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Thanks to all for your sweet comments regarding "My First Dress!"  I had a great time making October's dress and am already thinking about what to do for November's and December's dresses.  I'm totally bummed that the Dress Challenge 2010 will end with December's dress and  Margaret, unfortunately, has decided not host a Dress Challenge 2011.  I've been thinking about hosting it if unless one of the other participants already plans to.  Anyway, I wanted to show you some of the stuff I scored during my Flea Market Friday.  I also managed to hit a few thrift / vintage shops over the weekend. 

The first picture is of a silk (I think) circle.  I'm not sure what it is...I mean I can't call it a table cloth because it isn't very large.  I don't think I can call it a dresser scarf because it is a circle...so ??  Whatever it is called, it is beautiful.  The bird, tree, and flowers are embroidered.  I was told this silk circle came from the estate of a well known lady in the town I was visiting.  I also bought another item from this estate, however I plan on giving this to my daughter for her birthday, so I won't show a photo of it until after her big day!  These items, along with several others, were on sale in order to support the town's art society. 

The second picture is of a few vintage sewing patterns as well as a Vogue pattern catalogue from 1974!  Sew cool!  The last picture is of a collection of Foreign Travel magazine.  The collection begins in November 1934 and, save one, it is complete through December 1935!  I found collection, along with a ton of books, at a local thrift shop.  I feel I hit pay dirt here!  I found an entire room of books!  I actually felt guilty walking away from this store after only paying $2.00 for the magazine collection!  These magazines are full of terrific photos and graphics.  I originally went shopping to find cheap books to cut up for different paper crafts.  Honestly, I find the thought of cutting up books something I will have a hard time doing...even cheap books.  Is that weird?  Well, I will not cut up these magazines, however I did find a few books that will be sacrificed for the sake of art!

This then brings me to the third page of my Discovering Myself Journal.  I've finished this page and I "jazzed" up pages 1 and 2 with some stickers and gold thread.  I cut up my first book last night.  Well, I cut a page up; the page depicting Western Europe.  I glued Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden onto Page 3.  The ticket says, "What I Miss Most About Childhood..."

 My answer here:  No Fears.  I also miss people, places, and feelings.  You know the feeling at Christmas, the feeling like time moves so slowly, the feeling like you can fly, disappear, leap tall buildings.  I didn't have room for all these, so I stuck with, "No Fears." 

Here are my "jazzed" up Pages 1 and 2:

Well, that's all for now.  I hope to work on Page 4 ASAP.  I will post it when it is complete!  I hope you all have a super Wednesday and rest of the week!

Oh, be sure to click on Wendy's 12 Days of Christmas ATC Swap button on my sidebar and join in on the fun. 

Toodles for now!