I made a new Pinterest board called Mexican Decor. Go have a browse if you're interested.
In my studio, the sewing room will be Catholic Kitsch themed--yay! I can't wait. I've been saving stuff for years. People have given me some great Mexican-themed stuff, too.
I liked this t-shirt dress tutorial from Amanda over at I Sew, Do You?. In fact, I like her sample (orange and black) so much that I may re-create it exactly for Halloween. I think hers was in honor of her university's school colors, but it would be perfect for fall.
Amanda's tutorial is great---just follow the directions. I made everything in a little over an hour.
I was able to make the dress and bow for less than $1.00 total. Yay! Our local thrift store had a quarter sale on t shirts, so I grabbed one in pink and one in grey.
To give it a more modern look, I cut the dress longer on the sides and shorter in the front and back. I plan on her wearing this over leggings.
Amanda gives advice on using tissue backing to help you sew with knits. I didn't do that since my machine was handling the fabric OK. However, I know knits can be tricky on some machines, so give the tissue trick a try if you're machine is finicky.
For her bow, I used a simple stretch elastic band, then made a rosette of the leftover ruffled fabric. I sewed on a big pink enamel flower that was at the bottom of a garage sale bag of broken costume jewelry. Do you guys go crazy over a big bag of broken jewelry? I do--and I end up using the stuff for years.
So there---a quick, cheap, upcycled dress. Good for your wallet and the environment.
Yes, I'm still pregnant. This is starting to remind me of being pregnant with Violet. After all the trouble trying to keep her in, now it's looking like it may take a while to get her out. Nonetheless, I'm very glad to be considered full term and not have to worry about having a preemie.
We finally had our hay baled. Due to the drought, we haven't had it harvested in over a year.
I like seeing those round bales sitting in the meadow. They're so cheerful.
My mother gave two dresses she knitted and crocheted for me when I was a little girl. Violet will be able to wear them soon. I remember wearing the green dress with cowboy boots.
Ug. My poor herb pots are so dead and neglected. I look forward to being able to have pots of thriving herbs again some day. Maybe I can manage some by autumn. We'll see how things go with the new baby.
Auntie Grandma Marcia found Violet a car with appropriate people.
She loves that there are 2 car seats. Violet seems to be working a lot of things out through playing with the little girl and the new baby. Violet Doll spends a lot of time telling Baby Doll 'the way things are around here'.
If you have kids, you know how careful you have to be around them. They pick up everything you say and do. It's sometimes a little disturbing to have a little person mimicking your every action. It makes you pretty aware of your good and less-than-good habits. Apparently, I say "O-Kay" a lot.
Someone watches Daddy like a hawk. Note the yogurt shaving cream beard at breakfast this morning. Goodness.
I've been trying to finish redecorating Violet's room before the baby arrives. I decided to paint her a family portrait including the new addition.
"A Walk in the Spring Rain"
Violet loves to walk in the rain under her frog umbrella and splash through puddles.
Yes, I painted myself not-pregnant. Adam (at great danger to himself) pointed out that I am much bigger right now. I wanted to have this in Violet's room for a while, and I will only be pregnant a little while longer, so----I painted me post-pregnant.
We're all kind of cartoony and not very realistic. I wanted a loose, colorful, folk-arty-type painting.
Oh! I'm excited to get the baby carriage back out again. We restored the pram Adam's parents used for him and his brother when they were babies. I didn't get enough of it last time around.
I think I showed y'all this, but I wanted to show you the completed case. A client had me make custom train cases for all her daughters. I already made and sent a Peter Pan case, and here are the Toy Story and Ratatouille cases.
front
side
other side
inside (ignore cluttered kitchen)
Ratatouille case
back
inside
This one had the original tray and keys! I'm always scared to lock luggage, though--I'm scared I'll lose the keys while traveling then be stuck without my underwear. Or whatever.
I wanted to make Violet a new bag for school. She's getting old enough for a backpack.
You can make it in under an hour for about $2.00.
Cheap, near-instant gratification---yay!!!!
I saw a similar idea online about a year ago, but I can't find it. It was made with homemade, hand-cut out pieces of fabric in ovals, I think. If you know where that tutorial is, I'll be happy to link to it.
I thought it would be easier with ready-made petals.
You'll need:
Start gluing the petals along the bottom edge. I let mine hang over the edge a bit. Now keep gluing them on in rows----that's it!
It doesn't matter much, but if you want to be extra fancy....the petals sort of have a back and a front (petals bows in or out), and a top and a bottom (round end and pointy end). If you want them to lie down a little more smoothly, glue them all on in the same direction.
See? You're done. Easy! And not that 'It's easy if you have a masters in craft/design/Marthaness but not for normal people easy'. Really, really easy.
I think it turned out cute! I think I'll use a similar technique for some costumes this Halloween. I'm thinking matching sister flower fairy-ish sorts of dresses.
The adjustable straps are nice, and unlike the school-sized packs, it's nice and light. I don't think her little body is ready for a mega-backpack yet.
This is just right for her lunch, a few toys, and maybe a book. Carry it yourself, my sweet little pack mule....Mama is schlepping a baby around.
I'm glad she likes it.
If Violet doesn't care, I might make this one the 'Little Sister Bag'. I'd like to make Violet one out of dark purple petals.....Violet petals, obviously! Although I'll probably just have to find purple rose petals and pretend they're violets.
Violet is enjoying the Amelie Soundtrack during lunch.
Hello, Mister Ant! I wish you weren't in my kitchen, but you're very cute.
He was doing this odd thing where he stood on his hind legs, then squeegeed his antennas with his front 2 legs. I guess his antennas got wet. It was really cute.
Did I mention I've been sewing a lot? A LOT?
I made matching Mother/Daughter patchwork hippy dresses. I'm trying to make things I can wear now and post-baby. If I can find a yellow onesie, I'll make one for Baby #2, also.
I have tons of scraps I like that weren't large enough to sew a whole project with.
These needlepoint roses were on an old seventies prom dress.
It took a while to sew this sucker, since I sewed every single little piece on each row.
The fabric range from new to scraps from the 1940s. Detailed patchwork stuff keeps Violet busy, especially when we have to wait somewhere. She likes to play 'Find the Whatever"....I say, find the blue bird or find the bear holding a bowl or find the lady under an orange tree.
I still have a ton of these scraps left. Does anyone want them?
"Rubbing Noses"
I wanted to get some photos of me and Violet with her little sister 'on the inside' before I give birth. As is the case with a lot of 7 1/2 month pregnant women, I'm not too happy with my size right now. Not the pregnant bit---but the 'can't wear my wedding ring' bit. My face and body are swollen and I'm uncomfortable most of the time and I'm not exactly thrilled with the thought of photos. However, I'm pretty sure the girls will like having photos of this time in their life when they are older. I probably will, too. So photos it is.
I wanted some photos that were simple and classic. Mama and daughter in front of some greenery in (hopefully) not-too-trendy clothes. I used the paintings below for inspiration.
"Cache Cache" by Morisot
"Mother and Daughter" by Adam Buck
"Good Night" by Arthur John Elsley
"Summer Love" by Eduard Niczky
"Portrait of Mrs. Sarah Otway, in White costume with her Daughter Jane before a Window" by Joshua Reynolds
Due to my lack of energy, I also wanted as simple of a shoot as possible. Just getting us dressed made me tired---wow, I am lazy these days! I plunked an old chair in front of some greenery and set my camera to an automatic portrait mode. I alternated between that and an automatic setting with a large (4.0) aperture. In case you cared.
"Belly Kiss"- (I like this one best, I think. Maybe because my puffy head is out of it and Violet looks so sweet kissing her sister.)
This is such a "Violet expression".
(If you click on this image, you can enlarge it in another window.)
I took about 150 photos to get even a few that weren't a mess. Getting a 3 year old to wear white and stand still and look at the camera on a beautiful spring day is harder than you might guess. Trying to waddle back and forth between the photo area and my camera on a self timer was a challenge, too. I'm so slow these days.
Close your eyes, mother-people in my life. Closed? Good.
I was thinking about giving our mothers and grandmothers a portrait this year. Which 3 photos do you guys like best?
That would be "work in progress", not a misspelling of whip as in "Whip It Good". Any Devo fans out there? That has got to be one of the weirdest videos ever.
I have a few train case commissions finishing up. A client had me make cases for all of her little girls. She's giving them to her daughters for their birthdays this year. The hard part is done, now I'm just applying coat after coat after coat of sealer. They are really flat right now, but they'll be much glossier after I'm done.
I think I'll take a break from commissions after these are done. I want some maternity leave! From here 'till post-baby time, I'm only going to work on my projects. I'm feeling nesty and want to sink my remaining energy into incubating this little girl and doing family things.
Oh, boy-the first roses are blooming! We picked the biggest, deepest red one to put on our table while we eat.
I forget the exact variety, but it's a tea rose, and has that signature spicy scent.
Here's a recent thrift store find----a lined and embroidered Asian jacket for $2.00.
I had to fix one of the frog closures, but it took me less than 5 minutes. I really like intricate embroidery like this, especially with metallic thread.
I have so much scrap fabric it's not even funny. I decided to mix some scraps and old nautical scarves into a summery little sailing dress for Violet.
I'd started cutting this already before photographing it, but I've always like graphic scarves. This one shows the Bodensee Lake area in Europe.
I cut a bunch of rectangles, then sewed them into 3 rows. Each row had more squares than the previous one.
I took a tank top and cut it off just above waist height. I chose a tank with adjustable straps so she could wear it a little longer as she got taller. I added a few cherry red buttons and red and white striped trim to the bottom.
It's very 'swingy'. I couldn't get a non-blurry swing picture, but you get the idea. Little girls seem to like twirly dresses.
