A Quilt

I am so happy to be back in the Studio right now - or more accurately on the living room floor...

Ollie's Kindergarten class has been studying fabric in Science - with the unit culminating in a class quilt.  Each child (and teacher) brought in an old T-Shirt from home and decorated a white quilt square.  I get to put them together into a quilt that will travel home with each kid for a night or two and be journaled about.  I love the meaning behind the fabric passing through my hands and under my iron right now.

The quilt is bigger than I have done before and has me motivated to do more after this.  Especially since my scrap pile is about three feet high.  The T-Shirts weren't as difficult to stitch as I thought they would be, thanks to Johanna at Cloth and Bobbin who reminded me that they each needed to be interfaced!  Exactly why I prefer to buy my fabric at a local shop...

So the quilt has been pieced and embroidered.  Next up, I need to make the back and then sandwich the quilt.  The quilting I have planned is a little non-traditional, I think.  Each of the white squares the kids used actually came from a kit made for tying the squares together instead of stitching them.  This means that all four corners of each square have holes cut into them.  My plan is to applique little squares over each intersection, quilting the quilt and covering the holes at the same time.  Let's hope the quilt will all fit through my machine!

A Productive Day

It's funny what constitutes a productive day around here.  Something crossed off my to-do list.  A small corner of the house cleaned up and organized.  A sewing project finished.  I've actually had a couple productive days around here lately.

And while getting car in to be serviced this morning (oil change, sunroof and wiper blade recall) let me check something off my to-do list, I was even more excited to finish my first sewing project for Christmas.  Yes, 10 days before Christmas and I am just starting those sewing projects.  But that's how it works around here.  And they are all relatively small projects.  And none of them are necessary - except for the giant sheep cushion which I will start tonight.

Back for Ollie's birthday, I started a pair of sheep pajamas.  They weren't finished in time.  The bottoms were ready so I paired them with an appliqued T and he was happy.  He has been waiting, though, for the complete set.  I finally made the top.  Now I just need to sneak the bottoms out of his closet (they have jumped into his regular pants rotation) and wrap them up for Christmas Eve.  Check Handmade Gift #1 off my list.

** I actually made the top and bottom from two different Oliver + S Patterns.  The bottoms are from the older Bedtime Story Pajamas pattern and the top is from the newer Sleepover Pajamas pattern.  Love them both - and still learn something new everytime I sew with one.  Understitching?  Who new?!

Summer Is Not Over Yet

Over the last couple days, I have found myself getting sucked back into my studio.  This is a good thing - especially since there were many moments over the summer where I believed I was ready to put eieio to bed.  I think, though, that that had more to do with the sweltering heat in my studio and close to zero time for work than a lack of desire.  For the first time this summer, I've had a babysitter come in for a couple hours just so that I could get some work done.  And I have gotten some work done.  Now all I want to do is more...

But there is still a little bit of summer vacation left.  And I don't want to waste that. Ella starts next Tuesday and Ollie starts the week after that and then there will be plenty of time.  I have a little mother/daughter time this morning and as much as I would love to take her fabric shopping, I know that that really isn't the best way to spend our time.  Some day it will be, but not today.

So, there is a brand new batch of Lunchbox Napkins in the shop.  And hopefully another Reversible Roundabout and some Trick or Treat bags coming soon.  And after September 12th things should get a lot more regular around here.

Today I have a lunch date and some hair accessory purchasing to do with my 2nd grader.  2nd grader.  That just blows my mind.  And a Kindergartener, which blows it even farther.  I'll wait until they are both settled in and I am sitting alone in my house to think about everything that comes next...

The Walk the Line Pants

Mid-construction, The Dad looked at these and said "Either no one is going to want to play with him when he wears those or the girls are going to be all over him." 

They walk that line.

Funky or Foolish?

They are made from an Alexander Henry Home Dec Weight fabric that feels like canvas.  Sturdy and rugged.  Depending on how I look at them, I think 'Cool' or 'Ronald McDonald'.

The bonus is that he loves them.

They have four pockets, which he was so excited about.  Next time, he wants six.  I turned the fabric 90 degrees for contrasting stripes.  I love creating little details like this.

Made from the Oliver + S Sandbox Pants pattern (with an elastic waist instead of the drawstring), I share with you O's new Walk the Line pants.  What do you think?

Oliver + S Reversible Bucket Hat

 I've taken a small break  from eieio sewing to do a little sewing of our own around here.  First up, the Reversible Bucket Hat from Liesl Gibson's Little Things to Sew.

My kids live in these hats in the summer time.  They started wearing these as infants - best baby sunhat ever - and moved into these last summer.  I am so excited to make my own with fun prints.

For this first one, O picked out his own fabrics.  He calls it his 'Night and Day' Hat - the white side for daytime and the black side for nighttime.  A boy of his own mind, he is...

It was actually pretty fun to make.  I'm always amazed at Liesl's little techniques for simple, quality construction.  The top of the black side of the hat is actually hand sewn on to finish it.  Can you tell?  I can't either!  I'm so proud...

Really, I cringe sometimes when I read that I need to hand-finish something -  but the more I do it, the easier it gets.  And this time?  Sunday night?  I thought "Woohoo!  Handsewing means I can actually watch TV at the same time!"  Yeah, my life is that exciting.

E's is up next - purple glittery flower fairies on one side and a new Amy Butler Soul Blossoms print on the other.  I want to make three for each of them.  Seriously, they live in them - and one inevitably gets lost at some point over the summer.  Summer is coming, right? 

Coming Up For Air

The Germantown Friends School Craft Show was fabulous.

So fabulous that I didn't have much left at the end.  

So fabulous that it has taken me a week to recover - The Dad came and helped out for a little bit at lunchtime and laughed at me afterwards - "I think you are a closet extrovert!"  I am SO not.  I love meeting people at the shows, though.  I could talk about fabric and the things I make, who people are and where they come from, forever.  But I will admit, it is exhausting.

But it is also always a reminder of what a small world it is, too.  It's neat to meet people who own one my dresses already.  There are enough of them around that it happens at every local show, now.  Some have bought directly from me, some have bought in a local shop, and some have received as gifts.  I love it.

This show had even a bigger 'small world' oddity - It turned out that the woman doing publicity for the show is an old friend and neighbor of Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S (who I love and have done a couple workshops with) and that her daughters are in Liesl's book (which have finished my first project from - pictures tomorrow!) - so we marvelled about that through e-mail beforehand.  But then she brought her husband over to meet me at the preview party and we started talking.  Turns out we grew up in the same area of Minneapolis and went to the same elementary school!  A rare find here in Philadelphia...

So I really do love these weekends.  Even if they take me a week to recover from!

Hello, Old Friend

A couple months ago, after much wanting to add new designs, I stopped making new Reversible Roundabout Dresses.  You see, I had run into an interesting dilemma.  They kept selling.  So I kept making more.  Which meant that I didn't really do anything else.  Don't get me wrong.  I love making these dresses.  And of course, I love shopping for the fabric that they are made out of (definitely my favorite part of all this), but I really wanted to do something different for a little while.

So I stopped.

I had a good inventory stocked up and figured I had some time to deplete that before I would need to make more.

Instead, I made Treasure Totes.  And Lunchbox Napkins.  And started making Twirly Skirts.

And now, with the GFS Craft Show looming, I took stock and realized that I actually needed to make a few more Reversible Roundabouts.

So, I've been ironing and cutting.  Yesterday I did the first set of sewing.  And honestly?  It felt like coming home.  I know these curves.  My hands know them.  My machine knows them.  I've missed them.

So it was nice to visit them again.  Just a couple for now, but I hear them calling me.  Just in time to get ready for summer.

Twirl On

Sometimes, the best laid plans...  Is that how it begins?  And then life happens.  And so does the flu.  And snow days...

I've been cranking away at the Twirly Skirts for the GFS Craft Show.  My goal had been 15, but work time has been short changed over the last couple weeks and I am actually pretty happy with nine right now.  Well, eight and a half at this moment.  Nine by the time my head hits the pillow tonight.

It is here that I struggle with the idea of production.  And how much time I can dedicate.  And how I want to spend the little bit of the time that I have.

So, every once in a while, I do a little re-evaluating.  And I keep coming to the same conclusion: I do really enjoy this.  And while I would love to be sewing O another pair of pants right now instead of one more Twirly Skirt, I am still having fun.  And am really looking forward to the Craft Show (that is just coming up way too fast).  And I am tweaking and improving both my designs and my skills.  Which makes me feel productive, even if a bit slower than I had planned.

But if there is one thing I have learned as a parent, it is that as much as you plan, things rarely go how you expect.  And you can plan for contingencies out the wazoo, but it's not really worth the time and energy.  So I'm learning to plan a bit, hope for the best, appreciate what I have, celebrate when things go well, and just...  well...  Twirl On.

Design Week at Casa C

So last week the kids went back at school and my New Year officially began.  We were away for the week between Christmas and New Years so there was a little re-acclimation going on over the weekend.  My goal for that first week was to create a sample of the skirt I will be making for the Germantown Friends Craft Show in March.  For over a year, I have been wanting to add a design for older girls to my collection of standards.  Yet I have just kept making the Reversible Roundabouts because people love them.  And they keep selling.

This year I told myself I was going to take a break from the Reversible Roundabouts and come up with some new designs.  Last week turned into Design Week in the studio.  I posted Monday on Facebook (eieio is on Facebook now!) that I was heading into the studio to start a batch of Storybook Skirts.  Based on a design I did a long time ago - a simple skirt with an attached apron.  As I started constructing it, I changed my mind.  And changed my mind again.  What came out of the studio on Thursday is the new Twirly Skirt.  Which I am very happy with.

I think one of the things I struggle with in a design is keeping it simple in a way that allows the design to show off the fabric. And the child wearing it. Because really, to me, that's what it's all about.  I used to love the boutique look, but lots of ruffles and layers don't excite me as much anymore.  And really (again) eieio is about keeping kids looking like kids.  Clothes they can play in and clothes that they love.  And clothes that are easy to put on, take off, and wash.  Right?

O's New Favorite Pants

 

I love that O loves for me to sew for him.  The glee, the pride, the desire.

I took Liesl's sewing-with-knits class last weekend and came away with a pair of the Nature Walk Pants for him and an almost finished nightgown for E.  I used Michael Miller's new-ish Interlock Knit and while it was challenging, it wasn't bad!

O had the pants out of my bag before I even got into the car and had them on in less time than it took to fill the tank at the gas station.

They are his new favorites.  They are oh so soft and comfy.  He wore them for three days before I wrangled them away for the wash and asks for them every morning (unfortunately they haven't actually made it into the machine yet!)

Two more pairs are in the works.  One in a solid black and the other in a brown stripe.  They come together in less than an hour and I figure the more I practice sewing with this fabric, the better I'll get, right?

The Halloween Costumes - The Snow Queen

Growing up, my mom made all our our Halloween costumes.  Every year, I think about what I can make but more often than not have ended up buying.  I think it's always a struggle finding the balance between cost and time...  and cost.

Last year, O wanted to be a puppy dog.  I figured I could easily build a costume off of a hoodie and sweatpants.  That I could find pretty cheap.  So we walked into Old Navy and right into their Halloween display.  Hmmm...  $20 for a super cute (and warm) monkey costume?  Or that much for the sweats plus whatever the rest of the materials would cost plus my time.  Honestly?  I bought the monkey costume but over a year later still kind of wished I had made what he wanted.

This year, E wanted to be a Snow Queen.  Complete with cape.  I told her we could put it together from most of what we had.  Plus some not-too-expensive extras and a handmade cape.  She really got into it.  The Snow Queen had to have long brown hair, though.  And tap shoes.

I was able to talk her out of the tap shoes and we went with standard Target silver glitter flats (like the ruby red slippers).  I also found an 'alluring' long brown wig that once worn looked a little more Lil' Abner than fancy fairy tale character, but...

And I made her a cape.  Which was much more expensive than I had planned but which I loved making and which we will have for a long time.

And while she looked nothing like the original costume she spied in a catalog, she loved it.  And I will always remember this one.

An Unscheduled Weekend

For the first time in what felt like a long time, we had a very unscheduled weekend last weekend.  And I was reminded of how important this is.  Especially with school in full swing and afternoon free play for the kids shrinking with the commute home from school, home work, and an earlier bedtime, it was wonderful to just let them be.

We found that it is easier for us to be creative in this free time, too.  I was able to steal away to the studio for a couple hours to finish this commissioned bunting.  A local school has an (amazing) annual used kids' clothing sale every year right around Halloween.  (It is here this weekend, October 30th and 31st) This year a friend asked me to make them a bunting that they could use as signage year after year.

I've made bunting before and really love the process of finding the prints to put together.  I hadn't appliqued letters on before, but had done enough applique on other things to know what I was doing.  The request was for a wool or felt binding, ( I used wool) which I wouldn't have thought of but I love the way that came out.  It adds a more classic feel to what is a mix of more contemporary fabrics.  And I must admit, laying the triangles out, rearranging the order, picking and choosing fabrics...  made me start itching to make a quilt.  Hmm...  we'll have to see what happens with that.

And, while I was up in the studio, The Dad and the kids were hard at work out in the yard.  As I said earlier, the yard is definitely growing as our family does.  And while I am constantly amazed at my children's creativity, I am also usually quite impressed with my husband's, too!

This weekend, they added two new elements to the yard:

A 'Bar' made out of some PVC pipe (filled with a wooden dowel for extra support) and lashed between two trees.

And a cargo net.

I love the repurposing of things, too.  This cargo net was originally purchased in pieces at Ax-Man and made into a retractable fence to keep the kids in the back yard and out of the driveway when we lived in Minneapolis.  It was three years age this week that we moved so it was beautifully ironic to me that The Dad decided to pull it out now.

I know...  A bit cheesy.  But they are growing so fast.  It's nice to have reminders of life when they were so little.

Introducing the Itty Bitty Tote Bag (That Needs A New Name)

So I wanted a couple new things for The Highlands this weekend.  My hope had been to have a design for a larger girl's dress (size 4-8) but it just wasn't ready in time.  So instead, I bring you the Itty Bitty Tote Bag.  Reversible like the Roundabouts.  Some match dresses, some don't.

O saw them in my studio and immediately said "I want one!"  He calls it a "Church Bag", as in bring it to church stuffed with little things to keep him occupied.  I made a couple in non-girly prints, too.  I know first hand that the desire to carry around a little bag stuffed with treasures (that some may call a purse) is certainly not gender specific.

One ended up green with orange handles.  I looked at it.  And looked at it again  It screamed Halloween at me.  So off to the fabric store I went for some Alexander Henry Halloween fabric.  While The Dad had the kids up in NY for the weekend, I whipped up some little Trick or Treat Totes.  Hooray for new ideas!

The only issue I have is with the name.  While Itty Bitty Tote Bag is what popped into my head while I finished the first batch, it has evidently popped into lots of other people's heads, too.  So I need another name.  I thought of The Reversible Out-and-about (sounds cooler when said with a Canadian accent) but it doesn't quite roll of the tongue.  Or the Kiddo Tote.  I'm kind of leaning toward that one.  Any ideas?  What do you think?

Kids' Sewing with Liesl's City Weekend

I have to admit that I went to the Vermont Sewing weekend with grand (and knowingly unrealistic) visions of a bit of free fabric involved.  A girl can dream, right?

We did receive, in our little welcome bags, charm pack of Liesl's new fabric line City Weekend.

The kids were fascinated by all these little squares and in a moment of desperation on Monday I sat them down on my studio floor and spread the squares out between them.  Then I let them choose, taking turns, one square at a time until they were all divied up.

O wanted to make a tail.  Attached to a belt that he can wear.  Which he's been fascinated with since seeing If You Give A Mouse a Cookie last Spring.

O lined his up in the order he wanted them and I stitched them together and then stitched them to some webbing for the belt.  One snap later and he was all set.  And beaming.  Oh, if things could always be that easy.

E wanted to make a barbie quilt.  She, who has been asking to sew with my machine for about a year, was determined to piece the squares herself.  After a little guidance in the beginning, she was quick to push my hand away when I tried to help guide the fabric.  "Mom!  I'm six years old.  I know how to do it myself."  And really?  By the end?  She did.

I backed it with some minkee and she was good to go.

Of course, the next time I went to use my machine it was kind of dead...  The result of the 6 year old foot on the pedal?  Or just too long since the last servicing...  Keep your fingers crossed.

O's New Sketchbook Shirt

In planning for the Vermont Sewing Weekend, I really struggled with projects to work on.  I had a couple of new skills I wanted to try out and practice but I couldn't decide on a big project.  I thought, with Heather and Liesl both there, that it would be fun to do an Oliver + S pattern in a Heather Ross print.

I had the Jumprope Dress pattern and had been wanting to make that for E, but I knew I was going to make her a zippered pouch for school while I was away and felt like I should bring something home for O, too.

I'd been eyeing the Sketchbook Shirt pattern since it first came out.  It looked similar to Heather's Kai Shirt pattern from Weekend Sewing that I made O in Spring 2009 and he loved.  Her pattern only went up to a 3T so I needed Liesl's pattern to make O one that would fit him now.

Luckily Liesl had one in her studio and brought it with her for me to purchase in VT.  Combined with some Mendocino fabric I'd had in my cupboard since back here, I was all set.

I love the way it turned out.  I did the inside button placket and the underside of the color in a complementary fabric and love the contrast.  The Oliver + S patterns are so incredibly well-written and detailed that even when I get stuck I can figure it out if I read a little more closely - rereading the last step and previewing the next step usually helps.

Thankfully, he loves it.  And actually wore it two days in a row, which says a lot.  There was a moment, though, where he looked down at it and back up at me and said "Oh mama, you forgot the pocket!"  I see more in the future.  With chest pockets.

Sewing Weekend at Blueberry Hill

I spent three days this past weekend in the mountains of Vermont.  Where it was chilly enough that I actually donned a fleece and slept snuggled under my covers.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the area, surrounded by lush green mountains and blue skies, the bulk of my time was actually spent inside a barn, converted into a sweat shop sewing center.

Wine and Cheese at the Tipi

I joined 14 other women to spend the weekend working with and learning from three fabulous instructors: Heather Ross, Liesl Gibson, and Kelly Wilkinson.  I was surrounded by creativity.  And I have not laughed so much in a long time.

Heather Ross and Ava

But really?  What I think hit home the most?  Being surrounded by so many like-minded people.  It reminded me of the high school summers I spent at music camp, when after the first couple days I was struck by how amazing it felt to be surrounded by strangers who I had so much in common with.  This weekend, people would stop to borrow scissors and ask "Can I borrow your fabric scissors?"  Really?  Other people have fabric scissors and paper scissors!  Really?  Other people hoard fabric!  And are afraid to put in a zipper?!?!  It was great.  Better than great.

My main project - The Sketchbook Shirt by Oliver + S (Liesl) in Mendocino fabric by Heather Ross

I came home motivated, too.  I watched garments being constructed from scratch around me throughout the weekend.  We sewed uninterrupted for hours.  I came home wanting to go fabric shopping and needing to end this summer long studio hiatus I have been on. 

Really?  It was summer camp.  And I can't wait to do it again.

Fifteen Minute Increments

The Dad, who works from home, finished up yesterday and came down to play with the kids.  I asked for 15 minutes to run up and sew a little bit.  "I could never get a project done the way you work." he told me.  "What?  I usually work in 15 minute increments."  "Exactly."

When I began really sewing (I think I just hit eieio's 2 year anniversary!), E was in nursery school and O was home with me.  It was rare to have more than 15 minutes at a time in my studio so I learned how to make it work.  Now, O is in nursery school and E is in Kindergarten and I have one full 'Studio Day' per week where they are in school until mid-afternoon and I have no other obligations.

Besides that, I still tend to work in these little spurts.  I use my evenings for fabric selection, ironing, and cutting - the parts of the process that seem to take the most amount of time. If the pieces are all prepped, I'll do some sewing, too.  I've learned, though, that I should turn off my machine at 9.  Otherwise, I get a little glassy-eyed and am more prone to make a mistake.

Last weekend, The Dad took the kids up to his parents' for overnight.  They were gone for more than 24 hours!  And I got to just sit in my studio and sew.  When they returned home Sunday at 5, I realized I hadn't even unlocked the front door and left the house since the night before!  Not necessarily very healthy, but oh so productive...