Poladroid NOT Polaroid

How cool is this!?! I used to spend hundreds of dollars on a new digital camera every other year. Now I'm roaming the net looking for the best way to make my photos look like vintage Polaroids!?! I LOVE it. I created this effect with Poladroid, get yours here. It's the neatest thing! It takes a while to finish, but it makes it look like you are waiting for the Polaroid to develop. I love the effect, uber cool, people. Am I the only geek around here that likes this stuff?

Flower Headband

I'm thinking about making a tutorial of this headband for the contest over at Instructables. My how time flies, the deadline is Sunday! Anyway, this was super easy. I got a few ideas off the internet from all the blogs I cruise, but ultimately I made my own pattern and used what I had on hand for supplies.

BONUS: check out that Photoshopping! I discovered Actions today - ME LIKEY!!

Nola needs a bustle!

I love this dress! Kyle and I just finished watching Deadwood, the HBO series on DVD. This drama is set in the late 19th century in Deadwood, South Dakota, a growing frontier camp. There is a little girl in the series, her character name is Sofia Metz. In the second season the camp forms a school for the children and Sofia wears the most fabulous dress for her first day! I could not find a picture of the dress anywhere on the internet. It's black & white striped, knee length with long sleeves, and a BUSTLE! So now I am in love with the idea of a bustle dress for Nola. As soon as she starts walking, a cute little bustle to pad her fall, so SWEET!

Anyway, I googled "girls 19th century dress + bustle" and this was one of the images that was found. Ruffles, bows and ribbons seem all the rage right now if you look at Anthropologie and Ruche, well just about anywhere you look really. . . There are so many projects swimming in my head, I can't sit still! Plus, I fall into the abyss of the WWW and its all over. I found this "Refashion Roundup" on one of my favorite blogs and bookmarked so many projects its ridiculous. I especially like the ruffled shirts, this one in particular found here, and a very cute and practical ruffled tote. So many projects, so little time.

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

I love this dress. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me win it. The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Nola's Baby Sling

Nola is a snuggle bug. . . AKA she likes to be held constantly! So I decided MAYBE I could get out and about if I had one of those baby slings. I hopped on Google and searched for "baby sling pattern + PDF" and came up with several tutorials.

The result is a combination of several different websites of instructions I read but I am not totally satisfied. The opening puckers a bit and I expected it to be more snug, and if I follow the safety precautions correctly I think that this sling sits a little low on my torso. The fabric was going to be a shirt someday and I LOVE its vintage feel, so I guess I will eventually be going back to the drawing board to correct this sling so I can use it more. There has already been several inches removed from the French seem at the bottom of the pouch portion AND I added pleating at the shoulder to get away from the uncomfortable bunching. I will add this to my list of things to do, lol the longest list EVER!

Diaper Bag for Nola

I finished this bag for Nola in the nick of time! I stayed up late on May 22nd to complete the finishing touch - the changing pad. I was scheduled to have a C-Section on Monday morning, the 24th, so I thought I had all day Sunday to pack and get ready! Well, I woke up at 6am on the 23rd with contractions, oh goodness. Little miss Nola decided to come a day early! Good thing I got the bag done ;).

This pattern is from Amy Butler's book Little Stitches for Little Ones. This particular project is the Modern Diaper Bag. I've made several things from this book and have plans to make several MORE things, so it has been a good buy. However, I do caution to follow instructions very carefully because I find myself backtracking to small details at least once in each project. Overall, this bag ROCKS for functionality and all the reviews about it being "huge" are correct but right on the money for a diaper bag.

The interior of the Modern Diaper bag has 6 ample sized pockets, great organization!

This was my addition: a key ring clip attached by a ribbon at one end of the interior.

Of course I embroidered my name into the inside, why wouldn't I!?!

If I had to do this bag all over again, I would have gotten some stronger interfacing. The interfacing I used was for medium weight, but I would appreciate a little more stiffness. Other than that, the bag works great and I have gotten a lot of comments on the fabric choice and of course the SIZE. You could fit the kitchen sink in this thing. . . oh and beware, if you want to make this Modern Diaper Bag you WILL feel like you are spending more time ironing interfacing than you are actually sewing.

Babyshower Gift for Lil' Ms. Seylor

Today is Lil' Baby Seylor's Shower and I couldn't make it! I'm so excited to welcome another little Seylor niece into our family. I did manage to mail a little something to keep her warm and entertain her in the first few months.

The receiving blanket was copied for size from a blanket I had for the Brodster. Have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely LOVE my new embroidery machine!?! Yeah, my husband kicks ass :).

This is a krinkly baby toy I found here by way of a blog I follow, Smile and Wave. What a cool way to recycle something so simple as a wrapper for baby wipes! Lord knows I will have a LOT of these wrappers over the next 3 years!!

Then of course I had to make this baby booties, a pattern from the book Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. I will admit that the instructions were somewhat confusing because I am too used to the complicated patterns from McCalls, Vogue and Simplicity. Once I figured it out, it was a breeze. So if you ever do an Amy Butler pattern, read through the directions once and take your time! Next I'm making the Modern Diaper Bag from Amy's book, gotta go get started. . .

Cora's Doll

I made this doll for my darling lil' God Daughter Cora for her birthday present in 2008. I learned a lot: how to make moccasins, first wing dress I ever made, and how to weft hair! It has been so long, I must apologize I cannot credit my sources, but I googled most of it. I plan on making a doll like this for the County Fair one of these days, they actually have a category just for Native American Dolls! Anyway, hope this inspires one of you. . . besides Kyle, lol.

Dahlia Polka-Dot Hat

Well Buffy didn't feel like being America's Next Top Model today, so Brody was the best looking choice in town! My poor baby boy, as if his hair isn't bad enough I gotta dress him in girl's hats and take pictures to post on the internet. Isn't he a sweetie pie though? I guess I am a little biased.

Here is the finished product though, I'm pretty proud of my construction and as usual the new sewing machine REALLY helps! (Love you Kyle) This hat is meant to be worn a little side ways and low on the forehead which distinguishes it as a Cloche. I added a bit of elastic in the back to ensure fit, this was not part of the pattern. (Thank you Curiously Crafty) There is also an added sash of fabric across the front which covers the seam where the brim meets the hat, I slip stitched this in place. I did not follow the directions to the tee, and my hat turned out a smidge larger which I planned so that I could add that elastic. Anywho, everyone go make a hat and post your pics for me to see!

Modern Cloche (it's a hat)

Another project down, 257 to go! I thought maybe I would share some of my design theory that went in to this one, since that's what all the bloggers are doing these days (see my list of blogs to the right).

Becky, Buffy and I went to Bumbershoots 2008 and one of the vendors from Portland had really cute recycled hats with flowers on the side. Buffy tried one on and looked WAY cute in it, so I have been thinking since then that I would make a hat for her. WOOPS, that gives away the surprise doesn't it. . . Oh well, you just have to wait to see the end product! Anyway, I waited until last minute as usual and looked at several different patterns before eventually picking the first pattern I found last year. I have been sketching what I wanted for 2 years now-projects float around in my head for a LONG time before fruition!

Brody got a hold on this picture!!

I googled fabric flowers and found several patterns I like from Martha, this Fabric Dahlia is the one I used. Anthropologie hats are very inspirational, of course most everything is inspiring from their website since I can only window shop! I also like these old school hats like one found in this cloche tutorial. Humble Bumble B has lots of cute hats and she even has a tutuorial on Threadbanger if you google it. I liked her tutorial, but didn't think Buffy would wear something quite so 'vintage' haha. Anyways, it took me all day today but I got the hat done! I keep talking about making things to sell on Etsy. Honestly, I have got to speed things up quite a bit to make any money, 8 hours for one hat is pretty unreasonable! Check out some of the hats on Etsy, I searched out "hat patterns + sewing" to weed out the knit patterns. For you knitters, have at it and keep me in mind ;)!!!

I hate to say what my next project will be; really I fly by the seat of my pants and we all know it. Here is some juice to get you going though, this paintaing is called Ojibwe Floral Buds and its by my favorite native painter Daniel Ramirez. Who is your favorite painter?

Valentine Photo Frame and Pillowcase

This was a busy weekend! I love Valentine's Day, an excuse for my husband to buy me a really good box of chocolates. He bought me Godiva a couple years back and we both liked it so much he can't resist but to keep buying them every year! I'm going to get so sick of chocolate by the end of the week ;). So my last minute gift to him was this quick photo frame for the card I made him on Shutterfly. I cheated a little on the construction with a hot glue gun when I put the muslin pocket inside for the card, but hey it turned out alright! The fabric is actually a pair of pants I bought at Value Village, I added some texture with pleating and perpendicular straight stitches. Turns out my Brother SE-350 has a pretty good selection of stitches, too!

Then I did this simple pillowcase for Trevan's Valentine present. I missed Christmas, kind of skipped it by choice because of money and stress. I've really come to dread Christmas and hope to teach my children that its not all about the presents. . . Anyway, I printed a picture of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to iron on, then let the Brother do the rest! Hope Trevan is excited, he's crazy for TMNT, no REALLY.

I told myself I would blog something today, so even if I don't get to my list of crafts to finish at least I got one thing done! Kyle has been doing well on his eating habits (me, not so much!) and mentioned that his Muscle and Fitness magazine had some kind of article on Oats and how good they are for you. I like oatmeal alright, but its a difficult sell to a Toddler. So I thought about my Finnish days: breakfast was usually Makkara (Finnish sausage more like pate) on Rye, Weetabix, or yoghurt with granola. I have recently rediscovered that I LOVE yogurt and granola! So, I Googled 'homemade granola' and found all kinds of recipes. The one I chose has cinnamon, honey, brown sugar, salt then I add a nut (Walnuts in this case) and raisins. Now if only I could purchase yogurt here like they have in Finland, its much less sweet and I really liked it better that way.

Still in the works on that Maternity top from a recycled shirt of Kyle's. I bought

Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified by Cal Patch yesterday (Potter Craft, 2009). Apparently Cal was a designer for Urban-outfitters, so I'm excited to delve into this one. She warns in the first few pages that if you don't follow from beginning to end, you may have to jump back to beginning projects to complete a project later in the book. That bummed me out, because the first pattern is for a skirt. Let's face it, I'm a huge whale right now and no one wants to see ME in a skirt. Oh, the joys of pregnancy!! Perhaps I'll focus on baby girl clothes, lol.

Heartseams CD Holder

I'm starting this year off on a good foot, two projects in the first month!! The pattern for this CD holder came from One-Yard Wonders, by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins, 2009. This particular one will be finding a home with my cousin Willi better known as my Wilsmy! He loves, loves, LOVES Lady Gaga and I must admit I've grown somewhat smitten with her since her Oprah Interview. While listening to Speechless repeatedly, this one line stood out to me "you popped my heartseams." Obviously anything with the word SEAMS is going to stand out to me, since I'm such a sewing fiend. Well, I couldn't use the embroidery option this round because the small hoop I ordered didn't work out and I'm in the process of exchanging through Ebay-you know how that goes.

Anyways, for a first go 'round on this projects it turned out alright. Hopefully Willsmy fills it with lots of Gaga CDs! Now what's next on my craft agenda? I really want to make a maternity shirt out of one of Kyle's old t-shirts. The Selfish Seamstress had an inspirational post on January 22nd and turned me on to Magashoni. Would you look at some of those tops!?! I love that ruffles, bows, flowers, etc. are in style. I'm thinking some kind of square neckline with a ruffle treatment, slightly elasticized puffy sleeves, an empire seam to make room for the baby, and a cute embroidery at the bottom-perhaps something like the sparrows from this pattern. I don't know, so many ideas so little time!

PS- hopefully we find out the sex of the baby TOMORROW!! Cross your fingers that baby doesn't have cord looped back and forth between the legs again :/. If its a girl-I'm going all out French, nothing but Mon Chaton, Eiffel Tower, and Sucre Creme!

Booties for Kadynce

I finally took some time to make my own "light tent" for taking pictures. A little Photoshop goes a LONG way, but the light box definitely adds a professional touch. To top it all off, I finished another project! Just this morning I put the finishing stitches on a pair of baby booties for Kadynce, my niece-in-law who will be 1 in March. I hope they fit her, they turned out smaller than I thought.

I found a free baby bootie pattern a couple months ago. It's actually a pattern from the archive of Molly Chicken. Great jumping point, and I added heel pulls and of course my own embroidery (gotta put that new machine to work!).

Must I say that adding my signature to everything really makes a project look complete for me! Every day that I sew, I am praising Kyle for the machine: "It's the best present EVER!"