As I regroup, I came upon this quiz (via PlayIsTheThing) and figured it was worth a go. I wonder if I was unduly influenced by the fact that I adore the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility far beyond good measure? In my defense, as a former teacher of Literature, I'm kinda required to love Jane Austen, even if I do prefer Jane Eyre (still the funniest book I've ever read).
Thanks to ALL of you who entered--what great wishes! I was so inspired by the number of you who are planning to scale back and bring the Refashion Love into the rest of your lives. We're working at our house to do the same thing: buy less, reuse more, and enjoy what we already have.
Like these buttons!! Congrats to the three big winners: one grab bag each from this awesome stash. They are:
frankie
Shell
Alissa
If you'll each send your snail mail address to design (at) prettyjaneclothing (dot) com I'll get those fabulous buttons off to you tomorrow!
Thanks again everyone, Happy New Year, and may all your wishes come true in 2009!
A number of other bloggers have composed lists of Things to Do Before One Turns 35. As my 35th will come in September of the dawning year, now's as good a time as any to make MY list and then endeavor to complete it in the next nine months. Lofty ambitions, to be sure.
Again, these aren't resolutions--we all know how I feel about those. These are GOALS for my 35th year of life. Hold me to 'em, folks!
My list:
Fun! Got this from Riffe Raff, who linked to Ahn-Minh. What a year I've had!
Stupendous holiday, we had. Hoping the same for you. All illnesses seem to have passed, and I have learned a valuable lesson: if I take a break from blogging, it is exceptionally hard to return. So here I am, in the nick of time, ready to saddle up this horse for another year.
Easy scalloped edges using your special stitches and some stabilizer!
I adore a scalloped edge, especially a hem. I love the shape and the symmetry of those curves, the way they make a garment feel truly finished. Usually, I accomplish this with a lining or a facing, and create the scallops from the fabric of the garment. I noticed a photo in a library book recently, though, that demonstrated doing a picot-type edge with the specialty stitches on my machine to create a free-standing scallop at the hem, instead. I suspect this would work and look best on lingerie (maybe like the tap pants and slips Amy made recently??), but I've done them here as an embellishment to a store-bought tee.
All the images are on a thrifted tee shirt, and the finished product at the bottom is a store-bought snapsuit. Let me know if these ideas work for you, too!
I selected the scallop stitch from the specialty stitches offered on my machine. I have a Viking, but I know that I've had plenty of students with Brother, Bernina, or Janome who have the same or similar stitches as an option on their machines, too.
Line up the needle so it just grabs the fabric at the "valley" of the scallop, but not so little that the stitches aren't well-anchored. The idea here is that the stitches will be in fabric at the low point of the scallop and on stabilizer only at the arch of the scallop, so that when the stabilizer is removed, the scallop will have an open space between the fabric and the threads.
When I tore away the stabilizer after this first attempt, I saw that the stitches came away with it! I figured wash-away stabilizer would work better. I found pretty quickly that wash-away isn't substantial enough to stitch through on its own, so I used tear-away beneath the shirt and wash-away above, in the end.
Using them this way, I was able to get the stitches to hold neatly. When finished, I tore away the stabilizer beneath the fabric, but only on the inside of the stitches. The rest I cut away using embroidery scissors, verrry close to the stitches themselves.
The remainder of the stabilizer can be spritzed away with a spray bottle, or washed away when the garment is laundered, leaving the scallops free!
An example of using this technique on a snapsuit, at the neckline. I like the contrast thread, here, too, to really bring focus to the embellishment.
As always, suggestions for improvement are welcome!I saw the greatest stroller bag on Rae's blog back in September, and commented on how I didn't know I NEEDED one of those, but as soon as I saw hers I NEEDED it. And not just in the lustful, breaking-the-tenth commandment kind of way, like, I really saw that I could get a ton of use out of it.
Then a few weeks ago, I saw this link over on Wardrobe Refashion and checked out the details on Julie's blog. Great pattern, seems pretty easy, and just the shape I was going for (with some minor alterations).
So here we have Baby O's new stroller bag,
from some Japanese canvas I've been hoarding for over a year.
I'm constantly surprised to see how motivated I am to accomplish things simply by maintaining a blog. Did anyone else ever think that would be the case?
I thought, as many people do, that blogs tended to be self-involved rants of angry people with bad grammar. I've learned that this is not the case, and I'm so, so thankful to the following writers and crafters who taught me that a blog can be an amazing place to exchange ideas, make friends, and learn more about who we want to be and where we want to go.
Holy cow! It's my 100th post! Totally snuck up on me...
My husband assures me that it is Blogland Etiquette to blog 100 facts about yourself in celebration of one's 100th post. It seems overwhelming, and I'm sure dozens of writers I admire would do a far superior job. I'm sure they could write MY list better than I will. I feel intimidated...
OK, it's only cold when you first get in, right? So here we go:
1. I was born in Germany on a US military base, and spoke perfect German until I was 4. But only to Germans--to my mother, who also (and still) speaks fluent German, I refused and am told often gave a look that seemed to say, "I don't know who you're foolin' lady, but we're AMERICANS."
2. Speaking of "foolin'," my favorite band from 8th to 11th grade was totally Def Leppard. I had a huge crush on Joe Elliott. Beyond pathological, actually.
3. I attended Catholic school in junior high. My favorite nun was called Sister Marion Joseph. Awesome.
4. As long as we're on the topic of schooling, I have a Master's degree in Archaeology. For real. And it's left me changed.
I'm horribly backlogged with work. Am I the only one who seems to trip and fall into the ultimate time suck website when that happens??
The lunch menu fail.
The journalism fail.
The literacy fail.
The political fail. Oy.
The failed bank fail.
The child-safe free gift fail: set of steak knives!
The UPS fail.
The signage fail. Because you'd never, NEVER sit down and consume three full-size candy bars on one sitting, not in a million years. But you'll do this as dessert after lunch with no second thoughts:
Wow.
No, not that mess. (Sigh.)
When Baby Oliver made his surprise appearance, I left a few loose ends, not least of which was my September classes at Beehive. I've finished those up, and made arrangements to teach the October classes in November. I might have been crazy to do it, truly, only four weeks after baby was born. I'm a little more tired than I anticipated, and believe it or not, it's every bit as hard to be away from baby #3 as it is to be away from baby #1.
But the projects turned out great, and more than half the students are coming back to take the Intermediate, so I'm thrilled that we were able to schedule things the way we were.
Check out these pillows! Piped! With zippers!
From ladies who were scared of their machines a few weeks ago! But who now pipe and stitch and stuff with furious speed and accuracy!
I can't wait to see the blouses they'll make next month...
For whatever reason, every Wardrobe Refashionista seems to do a sweater refashion of some kind. The most common is the crew-neck-to-cardigan refashion, although I aspire to something like what Sommerset posted about recently.
I bought this oversized red wool sweater to turn into a maternity sweater, back when I thought I'd still be pregnant right now.
It's good quality, and looked great, so considering I was going to cut it apart and adjust it anyway, I went ahead with my plan--just lopped off more than originally anticipated! I needed a new red cardigan, anyway.
Took out some under the arms and at the side seams, and sliced down the center front.
Applying tear-away stabilizer along those edges made it easier to install button holes and to stitch the fronts without distorting the shape too much.
Stabilizer is a fantastic invention--if you're not sewing with it now, go get some and play to see what's possible. It's perfect for doing appliques on tees, to prevent the fabric from shifting. You can also use it along with the scallop stitch setting on your sewing machine, if your machine has one, to do a scalloped edge or a picot edge along the hem of a garment. (Tutorial on that coming soon!)
I stitched red floral embroidered ribbon along the edges I'd cut, to allow me to add buttons and buttonholes through the ribbon on either front panel. This embroidered rib bon is from the stash and has been waiting for a home forever, but since I only had half a yard, it's been tough to find just the right project. Here at least it'll get seen!
I used the rolled hem setting on my serger to give a neat finish to the fronts--I hadn't used the machine that way previsouly and was really pleased with how easy it was to get a clean, professional finish with a little bit of a decorative aspect to it. I stitched the ribbon right on top of the serged edges, rather than wrapping them as I originally intended. This made for less bulk and allowed me to show the whole ribbon without losing any of the design to the backside of the front edge.
Fits well, super warm, and already been to the cleaners. It does need some adjustments at the underarm, but since I currently spend most of my time getting spit up upon, I'm not doing any runway shows, so I'm putting off completing that step. New sweater for me before the cold gets here--am just thrilled with that accomplishment!
For all those who have remarked how impressed they are at my workload/level of motivation so soon after baby's birth, I should point out that I'm feeling a little in need of a control fix right now, along the lines of what Liesl mentions in this post. It was nice to read her post and realize I'm not the only one who frequently works out my control-freak urges on the closets and shelves and cabinets. (You should see me rearrange the whole kitchen after my relatives empty the dishwasher--whoa.) I felt a kindred sense, and a deep need to polish other people's silver...
At the moment, though, I've been letting things go. New baby--yes, that's true, but when one finds oneself shoving blankets in the laundry room and juuuust getting that hand back before slamming the door shut so nothing escapes out of it from the piles and piles of other things that have had the same sanitorium-like treatment the blanket is receiving, one has allowed too many tasks slide for too long. Feel free to come over and marvel at how disheveled my closets are, and then nod knowingly as you slowly come to the realization that I will be less and less able to work as the winter goes on unless I address this issue immediately. The linen closets?? A disaster. Under the bathroom sink. Dude. That's all I'm saying.
As a good friend of mine once taught me, "You have to nest before you can lay an egg." I have some BIG eggs percolating (do eggs percolate? incubate?), and I am seeing now that it will require BIG nesting to get them all out of the harbor (if you'll pardon the butchered and mixed metaphors). It's exciting and scary and exhilirating and enervating, all at the same time, and puts me in a panicked need to CONTROL things.
If you need me, I'll be with the folding board, or using my paint chips to color code the sweater shelf.
How do you respond to stress? And will it help ME??
I know it's beginning to get repetitive, but I still am amazed each day that I'm no longer pregnant. I had gotten it so ingrained in my head that I'd be waiting for the baby right now that I can't seem to accept that he's HERE.
Having said that, and expressed my immense gratitude that he's healthy and beautiful and such a sweet baby, I think often of my TWO friends who right now find themselves on bed rest.
Karen is having twins, and was on bed rest her first pregnancy, and so was sort of expecting it. Because of her history, she's been in the hospital since she was 24 weeks along, and is expected to stay there for the duration. My Sweet Husband and I are constantly overwhelmed with the thought of what that must be like for her, and what it must be like for her husband taking care of their older daughter alone and being at work all day knowing where his wife is and what she's trying to accomplish: keep those babies cooking!
When we delivered Baby O, our friend Jaime and her husband were extremely supportive, and Jaime and her mother even brought us cookies and a gift in the hospital, and were our first friends to see the new baby. Jaime is pregnant and due six weeks behind my original due date--in fact, I'm the one who encouraged her to take the test, since she was sure she wasn't pregnant! Now she's on modified bedrest at 32 weeks, and really working hard to keep her little girl in longer so she can be healthy and have her best start.
Thinking of them today, I thought I'd post some photos from other blogs I love, both to brighten their rooms and to give them some links to follow as they surf their way and try to burn some daylight and cross another day off the calendar!
Over at SouleMama, a celebration of the last days of the harvest:
Sarah Jane says you can drink all the hot cocoa you want, with homemade marshmallows!
Anna-Maria is apologizing for being impractical, but these shoes rock my world. Imagine if you could be spending the day at Anthropologie instead of in bed, ladies!
This dress is wayyy more work than I've ever done for a dress, but doesn't the spinning look like fun, on a pretty fall day?
And speaking of spinning, this re-post on NieNie's blog captures the joy of dancing with your family and being silly--which both of you will be doing again SO SO soon!
And before you know it, you'll be like Julia, the Internet Queen of Bedrest, celebrating the new baby(ies) and thinking that all this time flat on your back is a distant memory...
Have a great day, ladies! Honest, it'll all be over soon, and so worth it for new yummy flesh to smell and cheeks to kiss and teeny tiny hands to hold. Will spin in the grass with ALL our babies soon enough!
Oh, and if you're looking to kill some REAL time? Check out my new obsession, Polyvore.com. Way, way, way cool. But what a time suck!
Miss M had thrifted crib bumpers that I recovered in some pink fabric I'd had lying around since our TEEN was little. (I think I bought it for E when she was six or seven to cover her duvet and make some curtains for her room. She finally had to tell me she was "too old for pink." So it got recycled--y'know, five years later.) The bumpers never quite fit the way I wanted them to, so when new baby was still gestating, I found a set of (again, thrifted) navy blue bumpers and a matching crib skirt. I think they were $3.50 on half-price sale at Value Village.
I knew from what other mommies had said to me that shopping for boy babies was "hard," but I had NO IDEA what "hard" really meant--there ain't crap out there for boys that doesn't suck at least a little or else cost a fortune, and the only crib set I found that I didn't loathe and want to set on fire cost over $600. Six HUNDRED dollars. (I do love the stuff at Javis Davis, though, and regret that I am not a lottery winner...) That's a ton of cash, people. So I knew from the outset that we'd be making our own.
I would've been thrilled with stripes or checks or dots, but flat navy was what I found, and so that's our starting point. I've been overwhelmingly inspired by Hilary's design for Oscar's duvet, and knew that down the road I'd want to do some kind of applique comforter for New Baby. I've decided to do some of that work early, and put it on the outermost-facing side of the bumpers. I love the On The Road feeling it gives, and it lends itself to a Theme that's been popping up at our house for some time now.
When my Sweet Husband and I took our honeymoon, we collected vintage postcards from each of the locations we visited: Hawaii, London, Paris, Spain. Then my mother-in-law gave us hundreds--truly!--of postcards her parents had received in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s to choose from. We selected images from Israel, Egypt, Mexico, all over the States (my favorite is from Donner Pass). We'll frame each and arrange them in a frieze at the ceiling of baby's room--we've somehow fallen into a Travel Theme*. So Hilary's idea fits in perfectly, with the Route 66/Wide Open Road feel it imparts. I also like that it's giving me a jump-start on the duvet for later, since I can just cut out the applique work and make that the basis for the new comforter when O moves up to the toddler bed.
This is just the beginning. It's gonna take a while, so hang in there for the final product...
*I have a long-standing and vocal dislike for Decorating Themes. I have been very open about this. When we put together the nursery for M, we framed a series of photos we had taken while she was gestating and we were living in DC, visiting every public, private, and botanical garden within reasonable driving range. The pink fabrics she inherited from her sister had flowers on them, and so somehow it became a "floral theme," although that was never my intention. In this case, we're calling it "travel," when really it's a masculine-flashback-to-the-50s theme. Still, I guess it's a theme and I just need to make my peace with that...
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