coat fun, and who's making our day

Making this coat for the 4 year old was the bane of my existence for about a month, around Christmas. I found an old pattern from 1950 and discovered while making it that some of the sewing vocabulary (of which my knowledge is sketchy, anyway) has changed in the last 60 years, as well as the kinds of interfacing that people use. Consequently I had to hand-sew the lining in, which took FOREVER, and it still doesn't drape right. But thanks to the red polka-dots and soft blue fabric, my daughter will actually wear it. Phew.

Melissa and I also want to thank Joslyn for giving sugar city journal a fun little notice, a "you make my day" award. So nice, Joslyn! Melissa and I love your blog - you have such thoughtful observations about all kinds of things (and a hilarious story about an encounter between the 4 year old in your life and Jessica Simpson at a store). Joslyn asked us to keep the love flowing... so we are passing the
awards along to 5 blogs that make OUR day: stephmodo, erika's lovely little picture of english life here, wise and kind jessica , artistic bethany , and the brilliant fanja. I should say, though, that all of the blogs we read make our day! It is so amazing to get these tiny little peeks into the lives of all you amazing women. We love this!! (By the way, now you award winners get to pick your 5 "you make my day" blogs...)

valentine cheer

At our church we had a special program to honor the teenage girls and their accomplishments. As a gift, we made them these necklaces mounted on a card with each girl's silhouette. The charm is from www.bluemud.com. Each charm cost about $2.00, making the whole project quite affordable. And the girls loved them. Wouldn't it be nice to make one for that special someone for Valentine's day?

a little french blue

Blue was the color worn by the working class in old France. This evoloved in American mythology with "blue collar" versus "white collar." In my opinion, setting politics asside, the opposite is true today: nothing says luxe like a French blue shirt.

So here's H.'s little piece of class: a checked blue shirt with missmatched buttons and a heavy linen frock. I found the fabric in two amazing stores in Manhattan. I could spend all my savings in these little stores. Pompom socks from Nordstrom add a bit of cheer.

Virginia luxe

Everything in my friend Audrey's house is beautiful and serene. We recently spent the weekend at what we call "Audrey's spa and resort." Her home is so beautiful and inviting. And she makes the healthiest, yummiest food. My kids think she's their aunt and her kids their cousins. Audrey and Scott are such talented creators. With the help of a relative they completely renovated their 1960s home. I love the paneling that Scott installed in the dining room. (I wish I had enough wall space somewhere in my little house to install paneling.) They also framed beautiful papers from www.paper-source.com in the entryway. I love the deep reds and navies. Their whole house is beautiful. If only I had taken more photos of my favorite Viginia spa de luxe.

frames

My cousin Allyson is someone I've always admired immensely. Lots of summers growing up my parents would load us into our big brown VW van and we'd drive from Virginia all the way to Utah to see our family out west. Even though Allyson was older than me (which is a big difference when you are a very short, dorky 13 who is a little too into Anne of Green Gables and the other is a beautiful tall nordic-blonde 16) she'd without fail look out for me and include me in her activities, taking me horse-back riding or showing me the amazing doll houses that she built from scratch. By the time I was a junior in college she was married and had her first boy. They lived not too far from my apartment, and I loved walking down there and hanging out with them and playing with the baby. She still continues to be a role-model for me even though I rarely see her, these days. She has five small children and her husband is almost done with his English PhD, and I imagine that their home now is a haven of all things good and wholesome and interesting, just like it was when they had just the one sweet baby. The top two pictures are ones Allyson sent me of art her children did, in frames made by her husband Bryan. Stunning! And the bottom picture is a frame, also built by Bryan, given to Steve and I for our wedding. It's one of my favorite things.

sweet little girlie hair clips

My friend Liz makes the sweetest felt hair clips. Wouldn't these be great Valentine's presents for your girls? My littlest one is the proud owner of a bluebird clip. Check out her site here.

shirt-dress for two

A simple dress made for baby also fits the big sister as a shirt. Two for one is always a pleasure. The shirt-dress attaches at the back with four bright colored buttons. Amy Butler fabric can make any simple pattern cheerful and modern.

present for a friend

Here is a present I made for a good friend of ours who recently got married. It's a little picnic set (because what kind of newlyweds don't like to picnic?), made from a pattern in Angry Chicken's Bend the Rules Sewing book. I filled it with some pretty napkins, cutlery, and plates from a little shop in San Francisco called Doe. I hope they have many nice afternoons with this.

great idea from cookie magazine...

How clever is this? I have a little one who also collects plastic animals, which are stored in various cups, purses, and bigger toys around the house. How nice would it be to make a place where she wanted to them to all be corralled together...

Lucky Day!

I won a drawing! Check out the lovely dolls on Beata's fabulous blog. Aren't they sweet? It is amazing to me to think of the ways that we women connect with each other through this gentle blog world. Beata is starting an etsy shop soon, so you too can own one of her lovely creations!

My little jumping bean is wearing a twirly skirt I made from a bit of purple taffeta found in a throw-away pile in my parent's basement. Look familiar, Katie? A leftover bit from my sister's prom dress, c. 1983. Whenever my daughter puts this skirt on all I can think of is Depeche Mode and Katie's hot OMD concert t-shirt, which I thought was SO COOL (even though I was solidly in a Tiffany "I Think We're Alone Now" phase). Her prom date must have found her very beguiling in her purple taffeta dress because he is now my brother-in-law.

shirt dress

I love the shirt dresses that little girls wore in the 60s and 70s. Here's a little one I made yesterday from a scrap of mens suiting wool that I've had for some time. The buttons are genuine shell from the 40s; each carries its own shape and character. I love these buttons and almost didn't want to use them because they are so pretty. Does anyone know where to find beautiful buttons made from natural materials? I could use a new stash to use for some multi-buttoned-victorian-like shirt dresses I've been designing.

chez Marcia

My friend Marcia is the most amazing creative woman! She can make anything out of anything. She can install her own chandelier, build a table, tile a table, sew an amazingly intricate slip cover, and on and on. I love to visit her charming little house and see what new creations she has concocted. At one time, her daughter was desperate for a pink room. A bright pink room. Marcia conceded, but to add a bit of sophistication and tone down the pink, she added a huge black mirror and black and white brocade bedspread to the room. Those touches transformed the once overly sweet room into a sophisticated yet girly abode. I also love Marcia's living room. (In fact her whole house is amazingly beautiful; I'll have to add more photos later.) The wall color in the living room is Benjamin Moore's "grey cashmere." Sometimes it looks a cool serene blue; at others a milky ocean green. The silk curtains, mirrored lamp and shag carpet add a certain je ne sais quoi that only Marcia could create.

doll clothes swap

I'm plotting and scheming about the doll clothes swap. Maybe I'll make a mini velvet coat, or a twirly skirt or a mini bathing suit. Oh the possibilities! Thanks for organizing this event Lynne!

Doll clothes swap!

Yipee, Melissa and I are excited to host our first swap event! Would anyone like to swap doll clothes?

It will work like this: if you are interested, email us and we will put you in a small group (no larger than 4) and send you the addresses of your swap partners. Then, the idea is that you make four of the same little outfit, and mail one each to the folks in your group - the other people doing the same - and when you receive your packages you end up with a little unique doll clothes wardrobe. I was thinking that it would be really sweet, even if you didn't have a child who would enjoy playing dress-up with you and your doll clothes, to do something like mounting them in a shadow-box and making a lovely hanging decoration... or whatever. Who doesn't want cute handmade doll clothes? And, if we get enough people to participate, we'll have everyone make just one extra of their outfit, and we can see if we can make little bundles of doll clothes with a doll to donate to a shelter for battered women and children I know of near me.

Other details: for simplicity's sake, let's all make the clothes in a size medium - which loosely translates into a little outfit that would fit a doll (or stuffed mouse) between 16 - 18". If you would like to use a pattern, one that has some adorable options is Simplicity 4707 (Melissa made some very cute clothes from this in an earlier post - see the "doll clothes" label to the right) - or you could just wing it. Enjoy and be creative! Oh, and we were thinking that our loose theme will be "A DAY IN PARIS" - if you need some inspiration. Or, you could do something else, if the urge strikes (ie, "a day at the Met" or even "a day at the roller-rink").

Have fun! We can't wait to see what you all make. Sign up in the next 2 weeks (by Jan. 23) and mail off by Feb. 20th.

so sorry, non-google commenters!

I just found out that some kind folks had been trying to make comments but our settings were allowing only blogger people. So sorry about that! The problem is now fixed, so anyone can be heard. Thanks, Courtney, for taking the time to tell us.

ladydove dress

A few months ago I saw an orange dress in Anthropologie. I loved that orange dress. I tried it on; it fit perfectly. But I couldn't bring myself to spend $100 on a dress made in China. Why is Anthropologie so expensive and of such poor quality? Quelle douleur! So I forwent this purchase and forgot about it. Then I discovered this beautiful orange dress on Etsy, and bought it for myself for Christmas. It is handmade by a crafter from Oregon. Isn't it a beauty. You can check out her shop on Etsy www.etsy.com.

Mary Cassatt inspiration

I love Mary Cassatt. When I was growing up my mom had several prints of her paintings around our house, and we'd go into the city to see her paintings at the National Gallery often. They feel like old friends to me. Recently I was looking through a book I have and came across this gorgeous silvertint, on the top. Brilliant, isn't it? And very modern, I think. I love everything about it: the perspective, the composition, the way she let a little color creep in to the picture, and most of all that connection between the squirmy child and the mother. Inspired by Miss Cassatt I've been trying to make my own mother-child drawing to paint (that's me on the bottom, in my pj's). I've been working on my little sketch off and on, and decided to post about it today to hopefully motivate me to work a little harder... maybe one day it will make it's way onto a canvas.

family portraits

Isn't this the perfect portrait? It's our nice blog friend stephanie's beautiful family. I love the backdrop of that red corrugated metal door, and of course those kids just couldn't be any cuter. Stephanie, I might photo-shop my family's faces into your picture for our christmas card next year!

Happy 2008!

I hope you all have had a fabulous Christmas break. It's been so relaxing around here that I'm a bit reticent to return to my busy life. It's kind of fun being lazy sometimes. At times, I muse at the idea of becoming a couch potato. But then an idea comes, and my desire to create banishes all attempts at being lazy.

Here's one such little project; a little girl shirt made from a patchwork of yellows and golds. I found the main leafy pattern at an old fabric store in Idaho, years ago. It's from the 60's I think. I found the buttons at a local antique store. I love the top wooden button with its two enlarged holes. The second button is a lovely flower shape, and the third is in a transparent yellow. I love buttons! It seems like so many clothes we buy today (even expensive ones from Anthropologie,) have the cheapest quality buttons. Old buttons had such exquisite detail and quality. Long live the old! And long live the new as we step into this coming year! May it be a productive and (not too lazy) year!