Juicy Bits

203: more christmas do-dads

Just a few more little christmas gifts that I hadn't got around to posting.

I added these little embroidered sprouts (vines?) to a yummy fur-lined sweatshirt from Old Navy for my Aunt.  (I know, not my best picture taking this time around.)

Here's some things I learned: Don't over-iron tiny bits of fabric adhered with fusible web.  The glue can sort of start to melt away and they won't stick too well.  Also, use a round-tipped needle when embroidering on knit.  You'd think that one would have been obvious to me since I know to do that for machine sewing, but it took me a bit to figure it out.

I also made these coat hook plaques for my sister's apartment.  They're inexpensive wood plaques from Michaels that I painted and mod podged fabric onto.  When I use mod podge on fabric I find it best to paint a layer on the the back of the fabric before cutting it and let it dry.  This makes the fabric stiff and allows you to cut without frayed edges and it seems to prevent so many bubbles.

JT

200: holidays

Phew!  Nice little "blog breather" there.  Wish I had something more monumental to share on this, my 200th post, but alas, just a bit of catch-up.

In my usual delayed fashion I haven't really talked about the holidays.  Of course they were busy, busy, busy over here.  I made a bunch of gifts, but I'll have to share most of them at a later date.

But to start with, this is an awesome project I did for my sister.  She just moved into her very very own city apartment and of course I had to help with the decor.

This is a large canvas that I painted and then mod podged on some fabric.  The inspiration is actually from a bedding set, but it was totally different colors, in a different scale, and had no print fabric.  So it's not a copy at all.

But I did make it to coordinate with this bedding set I got her.  I'm not going to put a link because I'm sure by the time anyone cares, it will be long gone, but it was from Macy's.  

It was fun to do.  I normally sew stuff so painting was a departure.  Actually if I could have found a background fabric that coordinated well, I probably would have sew this too, and then stretched it on canvas, but time was limited.  Painting is always a bit more difficult than I think it will be, but I'm quite pleased with how it came out.

Our holidays were mostly spent at home.  I enjoyed my newly converted wood burning fireplace and spent lots of time just hanging out with the kids.  I've even completed an entire quilt since the new year! (More on that later).

Here are a few of the basic holiday holiday portraits.  Aurora chose her own dress this year which she was just dying for, so I went with it.

Hope you had great holidays and that your new year is shaping up to be a good one.

JT

199: bean bag checkers tutorial

This was a Christmas gift I made last year for my then 3-year-old son.  Bean bag checkers!  So simple, and yet I knew he would love them. 

I didn't take a ton of pictures as I went along so this is a more basic tutorial intended for those who already sew/quilt.  If you're a total newbie, it's really not an advanced project at all, but you may need to look up instructions for things like binding etc.

Materials:

 The fabric I used was from the Hooty Hoot collection, designed by Shari Butler of Doohickey Designs for Riley Blake.  As far as I know it's no longer available.  But you can use any fabric (doesn't all have to be from the same collection) that has small creatures or motifs on it.  Check out some of Shari's other collections for cute animals.

1/4 yd each of two contrasting board fabrics (also used for the back of the pieces)

16x 16 piece of backing fabric (or 1 fat quarter)

1/4 yd of binding fabric

1/4 yd of pocket fabric

Enough of the fabric for pieces to cut out 12 of each motif (you need two different motifs that are about 1 1/2"-1 3/4" square)

12 1/2" piece of Velcro

Grain for the "bean" bag pieces

 

The basic rundown of the project is as follows:

            1. Make a mini patchwork quilt board.

            2. Add pocket on back and then bind the whole thing.

            3. Sew little beanbag pieces.

 

Use 1/4" seams unless otherwise noted.

 

The Board:

Cutting:

2 strips , 2 3/8" x WOF, of each of the board fabrics

Construction:

Sew the 4 strips, right sides together, alternating colors, along their long edges.  Press seams in one direction.  Crosscut this strip set in half perpendicular to the seams.  Sew the 2 smaller sets together so that you have 8 alternating stripes.  Press the seam in the direction of the others.

Crosscut this strip set into 8 rows 2 3/8" tall.  Sew these rows together along their long edge, flipping every other row to create the checkerboard pattern.  Press seams to one side.  You will have a board top 8 squares x 8 squares that is about 15 1/2" x 15 1/2"

Sandwich the backing, batting and front and quilt through the layers.  I simply used a straight line on the diagonal through the darker blocks.  Baste around the edges, 1/8" from the edges on the front.  Trim the batting and backing close to the edge of the front.

 

The Pocket:

Cutting:

2 rectangles 5 1/2" x 15 1/2" (you might want to measure your board top and cut these pieces a little wider if needed) (for the pocket pieces I used 2 different fabrics, but you can use just 1)

2 rectangles 2 3/4" x 14 1/2" (for pocket flap)

Construction:

Sew the pocket pieces with right sides together along the top and bottom long edges.  Leave the sides open.  Turn right side out through a side opening and press.

Sew the flap pieces with right sides together along each side and the long bottom edge, leaving the top long edges open.  Clip corners, turn right side out and press.

Center the Velcro strips on the top outside edge of the pocket piece and the bottom inside edge of the flap piece.  Sew them in place about 1/4" from each edge.

Place the pocket piece on the back of the board so it's top edge (with the Velcro) is about 1 1/4" from one of the board's raw edges.  The pocket's raw side edge should align with the board on 2 sides.  Pin in place and baste 1/8" from the raw edge.  Flip the board and align so the pocket it at the top.  Stitch-in-the-ditch along the bottom of the 3rd row of squares (this should catch the bottom of the pocket all the way across.  If it doesn't work out right, you should move your pocket to make sure this seam will sew it on.

Place the pocket flap so the raw edge is centered on the top raw edge of the board.  Baste 1/8" from that edge.

Next, bind the edges of the board using your preferred method of binding. 

 

The Pieces:

Cutting:

Fussy-cut 12 squares 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" of each of the motif fabrics

12 squares 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" of each of the board fabrics

Construction:

With right sides together, sew the pieces fronts and backs together (one color of the board fabrics should got with all the same motif … like my white/blue owls have a blue backing and the green brown ones have a brown back).  Sew around all sides, leaving a 1" opening in the center of one side for turning.  Trim the corners.  Turn them right side out through the hole.

Make yourself a small paper funnel and use that to stuff the squares with some kind of grain.  I think I used barley because I had it and beans seemed too big.  You could also use rice or really any kind of grain.  I guess in theory this could become a snack for mice depending on where you store it, so keep that in mind…

Sliptstich the openings closed.

You can now store the pieces in the pocket and you're ready to play at any time!

 

I originally thought of including a ribbon or a button elastic closure so it could be stored rolled up.  But in the end I like to simply fold it in half because it's flatter.

Enjoy!  And please do share picture in my flickr pool if you make one...

JT 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

197: Errol and Hermione

It's time for this year's Halloween creations... a continuation of our Harry Potter mania.

I didn't really have to make much for Aurora's Hermione Granger costume, because I had already made most of it for her birthday party.

But, Theo decided to be Errol (The Weasley family's owl. He couldn't be Hedwig because she's a girl.)  That was more of a challenge.

In reality he first wanted to be a Chihuahua, but really?  How exactly does one make that?  I mean I can do pointy ears, but he'd just look like a cat.  So with some mild suggestion he went with owl.  Yay!  So much cute potential.

So, no, I did not use a pattern.  I referenced a hood on a commercial pattern, but that's about it.  I started with this Beenie Babies owl called "Hoot" I have and used it as a model.

The body is made of fleece.  It's lined and stuffed with polyfill and batting.  The tail does stick out a bit and has more stuffing.  Then I added the "feathers".  They are flannels, fleeces, and wools and because I didn't want some to fray more than others I fray checked all the edges.  Yes, I'm psycho like that.

They are sewn on everywhere but around the face (where they are glued).  I also added little pleats in the tops of each one to add volume.

The body is velcroed (is that a word?) at the shoulders, as are the removable wings.  There were even little pockets to keep his hands warm (which was a good idea considering that, indeed, that is snow on the ground).

He was a big hit everywhere we went.  He had two Halloween parades and he was able to go trick-or-treating this year (he was sick last year).

 

Aurora was an adorable Herminone.  I had attempted to make the cloak accurate to the movie, but really did you know they change from movie-to-movie?  So I went with my best interpretation.  The patch was bought.  The tie was made (I even made the striped fabric by sewing on ribbons) because the color of the commercial ones was all wrong.  The sweater was from a thrift store with ribbons sewn at the collar.

I made the wand also, which I will go into on the posts about her party, whenever they are.  Sadly, it was a casualty of the night as it got dropped and ruined.

The funnest (don't care that that's not a word) accessory was the book.  It was an old book, and we didn't bother to change the title or anything.  But what we did do was make it scream when you opened it.  I bought one of those recordable greeting cards and we all yelled really loud and told you to "shut the book, would ya!".  The idea was like it was one of the magical books from the restricted section of the library.  She loved it and enjoyed showing it to all her classmates.  Plus, who is Hermione without a book?

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

JT

 

 

179: troop 96

First off, thanx for all your praise of Kingdom. I'm so excited to see what many of you will sew with it, so promise you'll share, OK?  And I promise there will be more posts to come with my projects etc., when I get the fabric.

So, I feel like I have a ton to post about and just no time to get to it.  I will be a tease and tell you I have big, giant, HUGE news coming this month!

One project I haven't shared yet is this banner I made for Aurora's Daisy Scout Troop.  They marched in the a local St. Patrick's day parade with it, but sadly I was in Hawaii and missed it. However, they are supposed to use this for many years to come, so I'm sure I'll get to see it in action.

I hear it was cold, but they had a good time. And the troop just loved the banner.  The girls each added a little decoration to a leaf with their name on it.  Is it bad that I didn't actually want them to contribute? I knew they needed to do something to make it their own, but I wanted to keep it with the fabric leaves.  But I was a good mom and let go of the control (a little anyway). :)

JT

176: this and that

I'm back with a couple more little projects.

This first project was a hannukah gift for my brother-in-law's family.  It's a challah cover.  Basically it's a mini quilt the size of a large napkin.  I didn't put batting in the middle because I wanted it to have more drape so I just used a a layer of muslin instead. And as you can see I didn't bind it...I did the sew-around-the-edges-and-flip-right-side-out method.

The characters read "shabbat" if I did it correctly. I don't read hebrew.  It's made of linen and scraps of print fabrics (all from my scrap bin!). 

I quilted it with double straight lines inside the linen. The characters are raw-edge applique.

This one, I didn't make.  My sister did.  Isn't it the cutest? She gave it to my Aurora for christmas. It's a bag, and I think the pattern was in Crochet Today.

Did I tell you I finally started a craft night?  I mean, really.  Finally.  So now once a month I get to get together with some lovely ladies and chat and craft.  Fun! and hopefully productive too...

JT

 

 

172: christmas cuties

Well, I had good intentions to get back onto the blogging bandwagon.  Then life happened. 

OK, maybe not life so much as my obsessive tendencies.  See, I started to crochet a bit over the holiday.  At first I was working on my blanket.  But that's going nowhere fast.  So I decided I need a more achievable goal.  And I started this amazing shrug from Rowan's Summer Crochet book.  My plan is to wear it when I go to Hawaii.  Once I started, I could not stop...

Until sickness hit.  Not that I ever really enjoy reading about people's illnesses, but Oy!  I've been totally out of commission for over a week now.  Bronchitis with a side of not being able to sleep at all.  So, an entire week of my life is gone with nothing to show for it but a very lived-in bed.  I'm going a little bonkers (little might be the understatement of the year).  And until the last day or so I wasn't even well enough to crochet or check my email for that matter.  It occurs to me that I'm making light of this, but for my future self's reference, it was really quite devastating. I was totally reliant on others and couldn't really even be a mom for the week.

So, here's hoping things turn around quickly.  I'm almost done with the shrug and I'll share pix soon.

But for now here are some shots of a few gifts I made for Xmas.  These darling mermaids are from the amazing Wee Wonderfuls book by Hillary Lang.  I wish I had more time to make gifts from it...

 

I embellished these kitchen towels and made a potholder for my sister.  The fabric is Veggie Patch by Blank Textiles.  The graphic look is right up my alley.

I also made an adorable checkers set for Theo, but I'm going to try to post a tutorial of it for you all.

And finally a little look at my own two cuties at Christmas.  We did a whole matching family thing this year with purple and grey as the colors.

JT 

171: not to be remiss...

...but I freaking love Christmas!  I literally haven't touched my computer in three days.  Only happens this time of year.

I do need to post the winner of the Little Girls, Big Style giveaway though.

The winner is Sara B, and she has been contacted.

I did get my own copy and now I just need to get motivated to start sewing.

But for now, back to my blissful Christmas cocoon.  I do have some goodies I made to share with you, so I promise some pictures next time!

JT

168: boo to you

Yes, I know Halloween is over.  I shall not apologize for being approximately one holiday behind, especially since I still haven't blogged Aurora's September birthday pictures.

Anyway, these are just a few little halloween loose ends.  First the yummy cookies I made for Theo's class.  I tried to reduce my work by only using two icing colors, but, yes, they still took more time than 3-year-olds could possibly care about.  My problem is I freaking love sugar cookies.  Yum!  So I'll make for any ol' reason ...

Next, this is a halloween wall quilt my mom made for me.  Gorgeous, right? It's from a kit from Keepsake Quilting a few years ago.  I think it's a brilliant use of batiks.  I kinda don't want to put it away now.

And finally, a peek at my little costume.  I've got no pix of me in it, so you'll have to deal.  I made the top with my new serger.  :) If you're wondering, the words are Aurora's "word wall words", so that makes me... yes, a spelling bee.  It's pretty lame that I feel the need to explain that, but no one really got it, which is mostly a reflection of the limited creativity I put into it. But it was quick, cute, and totally appropriate for an elementary school party.

I have intentions to be back before Thanksgiving, but just in case...

I am thankful for all my awesome readers!

JT

167: a good witch and a fast driver

Happy Halloween!

 

I hope you're all having a fun day.  I love Halloween.  I don't often get to dress up anymore but I miss it.  Maybe next year I'll have a party?  I did actually dress up for Aurora's school party this year, but nothing too elaborate.  I didn't take pictures.  Maybe I'll snap a few soon.

But, of course, I get to channel my costuming energies into the kids.  I'll be so sad when (if?) they don't want homemade anymore.  Did you know that Aurora's monster costume is kinda famous?  Aside from the inquiries I get, my sister saw someone that doesn't know her printed the picture out as part of their decoration at Burning Man.  It's so bizarre to think something spreads around like that.

This year Aurora wanted to be Glinda.  It's much more poofy pinkness than I would have chosen, but I have to admit she looked beautiful.  

 

She helped with the design.  She wanted nothing to do with the tall crown from the movie.  And she really like the bow on a lace-up corset.  And it must be short-sleeved for the party, but have a jacket for trick-or-treating.

 

I used 2 patterns to refer to.  The top is from Simplicity 3680.  The little jacket is based on the dress pattern McCalls 5954.  The corset I just made my own muslin for and the skirt is made up.

Even though nearly everyone called her a princess, she is very appreciative and I love sewing for her.

This year, for the first time she did a little trick-or-treating with some other kids in the neighborhood.  The image of her running along holding up her skirt with a huge smile on her face is one I'll treasure forever.  I wish I had video.

Theo requested race car driver (big surprise).  He's not too big on the whole costume thing.

 
He really doesn't want to try them on before the big day.  As a result his is a bit snug.  A little short in the torso.  

I based his on these firesuit costumes.  I used McCalls 5952 as a reference, but changed it a little.

 

Sadly, he was sick today.  In no shape to go out trick-or-treating.  I was hoping I could get him into it for 1 or 2 houses, just to say he went out, but no go. 

 

Oh well, at least he was happy in the pictures.  Plenty of goofing around.

I hope you all had a great night.  There's more chocolate calling my name right now.

JT

P.S. Can I ask you guys for a favor?  Can some of you click on a picture or two and tell me if the pop-up picture is more vibrant than the one in the post?  I'm having some trouble with Typepad where my photos get desaturated when I resize them to anything but the full size in the post. It's bumming me out, but I want to see if it's only on my computer.  Anyone else have this problem?

152: 9 years

Yesterday was my anniversary.  9 years.

Would I do it all over again?  Absolutely.

I don't think our photos look too dated yet... but, boy, do we look young.

Next year is the big 1-0.  We're planning a second honeymoon to Hawaii.  Woot!

JT

145: i *heart* cookies

Yum, yum, yum!  

The day before Valentine's Day we had a Cookies and Milk party for some friends and family.  As I mentioned before, really it was for no other reason than I love to bake and I love to style parties.  So, fun!

Ever since I saw this post, I've been wanting to have one of my own.  One of my favorite details was the retro paper straws from Kikkerland.  I baked probably more than 700 cookies so there was plenty for everyone to take some home with them. 

The kids decorated their own heart sugar cookies.  

 

And I made a matching hostess apron to wear.  It was loosely based on the Flirty Skirty pattern.

 
 I cannot tell you how many I ate that day and the week following.  But, I could totally eat more.  Like a lot more.

The favorite of all the guests was Martha's Carrot Cake Sandwiches from the Cookies book.

But the infamous NY Times Chocolate Chip ones were also very popular (and really a meal in and of themselves).

JT

 

137: a christmas bloom

Just dropping in to say a quick hello.  

Thanks so much for all your kind words about my magazine ad.  I'm anxious to see what you guys make with Timber once it's in stores.  Speaking of which, it should be shipping soon and I promised to post a list of those of you shop owners carrying the whole line so people know where to go.  So once you get your stock in, let me know and I'll link away.

And so this post isn't picture-less, I thought I'd share this little christmas flower that I made to adorn Aurora's Holiday attire.

It comes from the book Kanzashi in Bloom.

I think these flowers are gorgeous and so easy to make.  The book gives basic techniques and then a bunch of sample projects.  To be honest, I doubt I'd really do any of the actual projects, and the basic techniques are really very simple, but the book is still worth it as an easy reference and a good guide to which kinds of glue to use and stuff like that.

The holly leaves are made from wool felt.

JT

135: oops I did it again...

Don't you hate it when you forget to photograph things?  Especially stuff you've made?

Well, maybe that mostly applies to those of us who blog.  Making gifts now serves a dual purpose for me...a thoughtful present for a loved one, and something to show y'all.  

But then I forget to document them.  oops.

Anyway, as I mentioned I didn't make that much this Christmas.  As much as I love to, it was totally a good call and helped maintain my sanity.  

 

But I did make this bag for my sister.  It's the Abigail Bag from Serendipity Studio.  I really love how this turned out.  The pattern was great and easy to follow.  Since it was a last minute idea, I was hesitant to do a bag with zippered pockets and all, but they were easy.  

The one thing I'm thinking for next time around is bag feet.  You know what I'm talking about?  Those little metal bumps on the bottom of some bags?  I've seen them in my local fabric store.  I think they'd work well on this bag since it has a nice solid shape and stands up.  Since I did it with regular quilting fabric (mostly my Timber collection) they would probably help it last longer.

I also made a super-cute apron for my other sister, but, you guessed it, no pictures.

JT

133: merry christmas

Since the season is in full swing, I'm going to disappear for a bit.  Hiding out with the family and just enjoying some relaxing time.

But I wanted to wish you all well and leave you with some holiday pix from my family.

 My mom and I took Aurora to NYC for the first time this year.  It was a totally magical day.  We had a carriage ride, saw the tree in Rockefeller Center, had "tea" at the Carlye (with the best hot cocoa ever), and shopped at American Girl and FAO Schwarz.  

 I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was to see it all through a 5-year-old's eyes.  She was so appreciative and excited.

We took the kids to see santa.  The actual pictures we bought were so green the kids looked like aliens!

 Aurora did a little dance dressed as a present.

 

And finally, my tree.  I mentioned before it would be a woodland theme.  

 It's just a small tree...about 4 feet.  I didn't get a chance to make all the ornaments I planned, but I think I'll do the same theme in a year or two and finish it then.  I wanted to make everything handmade, but the straw "star" and heart ornaments are from IKEA and I thought they fit nicely.  

 To carry the colors through I added some green and aqua beads to the basic red strands and painted some of the "berries" on the star.  Next time around I'll make a custom tree skirt.

We gathered all our little woodland friends around underneath it.  Very cute.

  

So everyone have a great new year and I'll talk to you soon...

JT

132: A little Flikr and cheater ornaments

Well, thank you all so much for the owl love.  Those little cuties seemed to have hit a cord.  I wish I could email you all back personally, especially since I seem to have some new readers....but alas with some of the changes Typepad made a while back, that would take me forever.  Curses!  :(

Anyway, I have a NEWSFLASH!  OK, maybe not a such a huge deal to everyone, but I have now officially set up a Juicy Bits Flikr page.  I know, I know, I'm the last one to get on this particular bandwagon.  The reality is I'm a little bit afraid the only pictures on there will be mine.  But, by now enough people have sent me lovely photos of what they have made from my tutorials, that I figure I should be safe.  

So please, please, please come join me at the Juicy Bits Flikr page and show off your handiwork.  We all want to see.  And when the new year comes and Timber hits the store, I'll start a group for that too.

Today's project is kinda a no-brainer, but sometimes the easiest solutions aren't so obvious. 

 

These "almost homemade" ornaments are so easy and fast to make, and give your tree a nice homey feel.

The mushrooms are simply little patches I bought at Fabrichound and stitched a square of felt on the back with the ribbon in between.  Um, can you say "five minutes"?  And there are so many cute patches out there, so can you imagine possibilities?

 

And these are exactly what you think: covered buttons.  Since I'm going for a woodland themed tree I just used little scraps of fabric with critters on them.  

1. Cover the button.

2. Use pliers to remove the back loop or just bend it flat.

3. Cut a circle of felt to match the back.

4. Add a loop of wire and hot glue it under the felt.

 

Presto.  A mini ornament...

You still have what? A whole week til Xmas? Get busy!

JT

131: give a hoot for the holidays

I haven’t made that much this Christmas.  I might make a few last minute gifts, but I feel I have to get most of the shopping out of the way first... especially the online stuff that needs to be shipped.

And no outfits for the kids like last year.  I’m giving myself a break.  Aren’t I nice?

But I did do a little felt hand sewing.  I made the little gnome from the last post and a few other things for my tree.  I’m doing a woodland theme this year.  Hopefully it will be all set up soon for you to see.

 

Anyway, these are the little owl ornaments I made.  And it’s a simple tutorial, just for you!

Download Owl ornament and all you do is cut it out from felt and sew however you’d like.

I love ‘em.

 

And if you make it bigger it would make a cute softie.  I was sewing one on the bus with my daughter’s field trip and a couple of the little girls were begging me for one of their own.  So they could make a cute gift or stocking stuffer.  (Of course, I’d stay away from buttons with real little ones for safety’s sake.)

Enjoy!

JT

*****NOTE: I forgot to mention on the pattern about ric rac.  That's what I used to make the "feathers" on the belly....

130: my new guy (and other randomness)

I have a new plan for Christmas.  A plan of cuteness.  I'm challenging myself to make/buy a super-cute "being" each year.  Last year I got these.

And this year I have a new fella.

 

Please, someone come up with a good name for him.  I'm terrible at that kind of thing.

He's handmade from a pattern by Aimee Ray in her etsy shop (I don't see it right now, but I'm sure it will be back).  I had plans to make a bunch of mini ones (he's 8" tall) as ornaments, but it's clear that's not going to happen this year.

 

In other randomness, there were requests for pictures of me dressed up with the bag from last post.  I wish I could say we got some good shots, but we snapped a few on the way out the door in only 2 minutes, and this is the best.  

 

Finally I made an over-the-top cake I wanted to share. (seen both partially frosted and complete)

  

Now it wasn't the richest cake in existance, but I'm calling it "over-the-top" because of all the steps involved.  Not my usual cake-from-a-box with frosting-from-a-can.  Now I usually only do that, because that's what I LIKE and I love to bake so I was up to this challenge.  

It was based on some specific requests from my 4-year-old niece.  

Here's the breakdown with the recipe links:

2-layer yellow cake - Duncan Hines from a box

Chocolate mousse filling - SO good you could eat it by itself

Martha's chocolate ganache covering the whole thing - I think this may have helped with the stability since the filling was mousse. (This isn't the exact recipe, there was no corn syrup)

Whipped buttercream frosting - I loved this and I don't really like whipped cream type frostings.  I prefer the sweeter buttercreams.  This was like 1/2 way in between.

Overall, it can be summed up in one word:  YUM!

JT

125: sweet as strawberries and the king of super-heroes

I really do love halloween.  It makes me sad that I don't get the opportunity to dress up very often anymore.  I may need to throw a party again sometime soon.

But that's OK, I can live vicariously through my kids.  :)

So I did get the chance to sew again this year.  Next year Quilt Market is on Halloween, so I don't know how that's going to go.

Aurora requested Strawberry Shortcake.  But not your regular old Strawberry Shortcake.  She has a new look, you know.  A new movie came out on DVD recently.

I thought this was a great idea, very sweet and pretty simple too.  I took a t-shirt and sewed the skirt onto the bottom.  This lovely strawberry fabric came in handy.  Then came the accessories: a hat, a bag, tights, and even a jacket.  Sadly the strawberry buttons for the jacket didn't make it in time.

I have to say, the weather at Halloween here in the Northeast drives me crazy.  Some years it's freezing.  Like you need to wear a million layers and even a coat over your costume.  That's often a pain.  But then you have a party or something to go to indoors and you'll sweat to death.  I put the turtleneck under Aurora's this time and had the jacket, but even though it was raining it was like 65-70 degrees out so no need for the jacket.  Frustrating.  

I think this might be generally cute enough that she can just wear it as regular clothes.  If you love the little strawberry patches, you can get them at Fabrichound.

And yes, that is pink hair.  we sprayed it, which is a big mess, but perhaps less annoying than a wig.  She only colored it 2 of the 4 times she dressed up.

Now, Theo didn't get to decide.  I went with a generic super hero.  We were calling him "Super Theo!"  But, yes, it is an Elvis jumpsuit.  I just added the "T" on the belt and the back of the cape and lengthened the cape a little.  I had originally planned for a mask, but it never happened.  And I know the hairdo isn't exactly The King, but more of a cute greaser.  

I wish it was possible to get a clear action shot, as he was very excited he was "gonna fly".  The running/flying shots all look something like this:

But I did enjoy this jumping one.  Definitely an action hero.

What a cutie!

Hope you all had a great holiday.  We had a grand total of ONE trick-or-treater because of the rain.  Yikes that's a lot of left-over candy!

JT

90: easter goodies

This was my easter creation for Aurora.  I guess you can ignore all my comments about not sewing clothes for the kids much.

I really love this dress, particularly because I could use lots of my favorites from my stash.

She had quite a few compliments on it, and it's funny because she's come to expect that.  She told me that people had better make a fuss about how pretty her dress is.

   

I created my own pattern for this dress.  The inspiration is this dress from Chasing Fireflies.  As you can see it's not really the same style, just shares the ruffled back.  By the way...I love the kids clothes at Chasing Fireflies, but they're SO expensive. 

I'm wondering if this is something others would like to buy a pattern for.  It's not the easiest dress ever.  The actual sewing level isn't that high, but it's time consuming making all those ruffles.  I already have some modifications in mind, but I wondered if it was too intimidating for anyone to want to buy.

You're my market research, so speak up if you're interested...

I didn't make an outfit for Theo, but of course, he looked darling.

Here's the whole happy family:

So, I'm wondering....didn't it used to be warm for Easter?  I have all these pictures of me outside in short sleeves and I know my dad would have made me suffer through the cold like I did to my kids, but I really don't remember that.  I should probably just make my kids do a photo shoot like 2 weeks after Easter on a nice day.

Oh, and I ordered these awesome bunny cookies from cakebox cookies and they really rocked.  I mean so delicious, and I'm really picky.  I wanted to test them out as a potential source for party favors and I will definitely order again.

JT