Drago[knit]fly

A couple weeks back (I'm a little behind), we celebrated Alice’s 1st birthday with a “Alice in One-Derland” party. (I obviously had no alternative but to use this theme this year, right?) I never thought I’d be the type of mother who goes overboard and treats their kid’s first birthday party like a wedding, but let’s face it, I’m exactly that mother. I did promise J I wouldn’t go too wild and I think I was successful in keeping that promise. I mean, she only had one outfit change! Well, two if you count when I stripped her down to a onesie after cake. I scaled back. Really, I did. Outfit #1. Obviously Alice had to dress up like Alice! Outfit #2 - The Handmade Outfit I made her crown, t-shirt and tutu. This one I’ll actually create an individual post for, I think. Outfit #3 - The Post-Cake Outfit More important than any decorations or fancy fondant cakes (made from scratch, thankyouverymuch) or a Mexican feast (what? Alice didn’t eat pork carnitas and tacos in Wonderland?) was ...

The baby has yet to make her appearance (5/6 days till my due date!), so I've been occupying my time finishing up some projects. When I first saw this mobile , I knew I needed to make it for my baby's nursery. I sewed the birds for this project awhile back, but was a little intimidated starting the actual mobile part. The last time I made a mobile was in 9th grade science and I vaguely recall using elaborate formulas, scales, and maybe even a bunsen burner or two (okay, maybe not the bunsen burner). My group built a gum mobile and I remember, despite our elaborate calculations, still having to chew off bits of the gum to make our mobile balance properly. Several years later and without fancy formulas or a scale (or the ability to chew off bits of the birds' tails), but with a glut of cobwebs in the portion of my brain dedicated to science, I was nervous. I turned first to my geeky husband for guidance, who I thought would jump at the chance to tackle a physics puzzle wit...

When I finished my first weekender bag , I claimed it would be the last. When my sister requested one a few months later, I couldn’t help but give in, but swore this one would definitely be my last. Even then, I knew I would eventually make one for my mom. While the three of us have slightly different taste, there is definitely a common current within all of our style aesthetics. I credit my dad for this, the most opinionated and eager fashion critic in the family. (Seriously!) Anyway, I think his unique guy perspective taught all three of us to take a second look at various garments and bags and realize that some of our initial castoffs are actually fashion jewels in disguise. This phenomenon worked both ways. A sour facial expression of his could also soil what we originally found to be the “must-have” essential of the shopping trip. Now that I’m pushing 30, I don’t often bring my dad in tow when I go shopping, but I still find myself relying on his perspective, which invariably infl...

I'm still in the midst of my pregnancy-induced nesting binge, so I'll continue on in my parade of baby-related FOs. Here's the latest, my first completed (notice I didn't say started) quilt... Pattern: What a Bunch of Squares from Denise Schmidt Quilts Fabric: 1/4 yard each of 4 Amy Butler Prints from her Midwest Modern Collection, 1.5 yards light yellow Kona Cotton, 2.5 yards Amy Butler Quilting Solids in bright pink for backing. Let it be known that I'm the most indecisive person on the planet. It takes me forever to make a decision and when I finally do, I still question it. Choosing the yellow was my most difficult decision in the quilt store. I wanted something subtle, which was not easy to find with a mix of warm and cool prints. While constructing the quilt top, I wavered back and forth whether I made the right decision to concentrate all the printed fabric into the squares. It looked to me like little color explosions in the midst of a wide expanse...

I've wanted to make these painted silhouettes since Anna Maria Horner was on Martha last year. Finally, I found a perfect place for them - the nursery! That, plus my having the perfect amount of leftover fabric from the baby's quilt and this project was kismet. I used the wren stencil provided in the tutorial and scoured the internets for some other animal shapes that could hold their own without much detailing. I fell in love with the fawn immediately, but waffled back and forth between the fish and an owl. I let J make the final choice and he selected the fish. which works because I want to make these stuffed fish , inspired by Ms. Julie Frick . I think the fish still needs a little something something - maybe a button eye will do the trick? Materials 3 12" x 12" x 1.5" canvases less than 1/4 yard each print Amy Butler fabric, Midwest Modern collection Fabric Modge Podge (I'm sure any variety will work, I just thought I would get more use out of the Fabric ...

I picked up this dress pattern and a couple yards of Amy Bulter fabric last summer with grandiose plans (I'm quite adept at making the plans, it's the execution where I struggle) of making a dress for a wedding over Labor Day weekend. When the dress didn't materialize for the wedding, I shifted goals and decided it would be my "cruise dress" for mid-September. Fast forward to this Spring. Pattern and fabric continue to collect dust. I'm torn between making the dress and only getting to wear for a few months (weeks?) before baby belly balloons and not making the dress and not getting to wear it until next year. I decide to press on and I finish dress before I'm even showing and now, at 24 weeks pregnant, it still fits perfectly. Many guess it's a maternity dress, of which I'm not sure if I should take offense. I decide to take as compliment. The stats: Pattern: Built by Wendy Dress , Style 3835 Fabric: Amy Butler , Lotus Collection, 2+ Yards Time ...

Even before we got pregnant, we decided we would wait for the baby was born to find out the gender. We wanted that "it's a boy/girl" moment in the delivery room and thought it was worth waiting the extra 6 months. That is, until we got pregnant and I realized I would be significantly limited in my knitting and sewing for the little one. I'm not a boy=blue / girl=pink type, but I would certainly make different selections for the nursery and wardrobes. So, I've been counting down to June 19th for the past oh, two or three months. Our "big" ultrasound. It's a girl! The wheels immediately started turning and my brain spilled over with ideas for must-knit baby sweaters and booties and of course, the bedding set. After spending at least 4 or 5 hours pouring over fabric online (seriously), I finally just went to my local quilt shop (LQS? Does that work?) to see some fabrics in person. I decided every baby deserves Amy Butler and stocked up on some prints f...

Before I start, I'm going to apologize for the lengthy post - I'm still getting back into the swing of regular posting. Thanks for all the nice comments on the house. It's hard work, but every day the house is more comfortable and more home., so it's worth it. And it will be cool to look back in a few years and make fun of all the sellers' 70s furniture all over again. Even more disturbing, I would have loved half that decor in my college apartment! Moving on...The past couple months, there have been several grasshopper sightings round these parts. EXHIBIT A - Sunshine Yarns in Grasshopper on its way to becoming Embossed Leaves Socks. EXHIBIT B - Grasshopper Cupcakes. Parikha ' s refreshing warm weather confection (sorry, I can't figure out how to link to the exact post, but the one from 5/31). I kept some for our house and J brought the rest into work - apparently his coworkers were fighting over them! They are just that good. I'll be sure to make th...