Tutu Tote

Another little girl's birthday party today, hurray!  I am really enjoying making little gifts for the girl friends of my two sons.  It is finally an opportunity to sew some frilly stuff.  Today's party theme was princesses so I created a little bag for the now-3-year-old birthday girl that is reminiscent of fairies and ballerinas. 

I made this bag using the instructions for my ribbon-handled tote which you can find here.  Since the outer fabric I was working with was fairly light weight, I added a layer of thin batting before embroidering the recipient's name on the front.  For the tutu portion I cut tulle 12" deep by the width of the fabric.  I pieced together three widths and then folded the long strip in half lengthwise, making a very long 6" strip.  I stitched a gathering stitch just inside the folded edge, drew up the stitches and pinned the tutu around the bag, overlapping the two ends.  I stitched it in place on top of the gathering stitches on the outer portion of the bag before inserting the lining as per my tutorial.  Striped ribbon handles finished it off.

I love the pink and chocolate brown color scheme (as you can tell from two other projects I've recently completed here and here) and I've just about depleted my stash of these fabrics so I guess it's off to the fabric store next week to restock.  I'm sure I will have many other girly-girl birthday parties in my future.

Brooch Bouqets

This week I am spending every morning doing craft projects with over 100 kids at my church's Vacation Bible School.  I love the creativity that I always see with these young crafters.  I'll post some pictures after the week is over of the cute projects we've created.  Until then, here are a couple of my oldest son sporting his chef hat.

I follow a wedding blog that always provides beautiful pictures and lots of creative ideas.  This week's post featured a beautiful wedding shot by Brianna LaRocco in Charlottesville, Virginia.  The bride made her own, as well as her attendant's, bouquets out of floral brooches which she collected at various shops.  I think these are fabulously beautiful.  What a creative way to add some unique style to your wedding day.

photos by Brianno LaRocco

A Special Place

One of my favorite blogs and associated Facebook page posed this question today:  Where is your favorite place to sit, dream and breathe?  This got me thinking and feeling a little bit home-away-from-homesick for a very special place. During my childhood I spent part of every summer on a tiny (1 acre) island in the middle of a freshwater lake at an equally tiny town called Meddybemps, Maine.  My family has been vacationing on this lake since long before I was around and purchased this fishing camp in 1961, the summer before I was born.  I made my first trip 2 months prior to my birth.  My brother's family is there now, escaping the tremendous heatwave we've been experiencing here in Washington, DC.  I sure wish I could join them.

The summers of my youth were spent painting rocks, weaving potholders, knitting, stenciling, and any art or craft that did not require electricity (the island has none).  As an adult I vacation there as often as I can.  I still paint rocks and knit but now also dye fabrics and hand bead (I beaded all of the lace for my wedding dress on that little island).  The natural beauty coupled with complete deprivation of modern distractions like the internet and phones make it the perfect place to let my creativity breathe and bloom.

Hand dyed fabrics drying on the clothesline out back

Summer of 2001, beading the lace for my wedding gown

Island life is full of inspiration and variety.  Imagine a place where you can snap these two pictures from the same spot on the same day:

or enjoy sunsets like this:

a place where the sky and the water are blue and clear

except when they're not

days like this are excellent for sitting by the fire with some of that knitting I mentioned

where thought and care must be given to each and every craft supply brought along since everything must be transported by boat (and the nearest stores are a long way off)

where we still make ice cream the old fashioned way

and the line between exercise and recreation is blurred

where I can spend time laughing and visiting with my family and friends

I love this picture taken in 2005 with all of my siblings

but mostly where I can spend quiet time, sitting, dreaming and breathing while my busy hands do all the work that is required for the moment.

Summertime and Picnics

Even though I haven't been getting much done in my sewing room, there has still been some creativity going on around our house in the last week.  This all started when the preschool that my kids attend sent out a request for kid-sized picnic tables to be donated for their playground.  Someone donated a Little Tykes-style table and, since we use the playground a lot, even during the summer, I discovered how handy it was to have a snacking place there.  I got to thinking it would be fun to build a couple of tables but I was temporarily stalled by the dilemma of making it weather resistant without resorting to toxic pressure-treated wood.  A friend suggested I use "that plastic wood" and I had a lightbulb moment.  We've been storing several pieces of "plastic wood" for a couple of years after completing some repairs to our deck, and they were the perfect size for this project.

I found these plans at Build Eazy and, with some modifications, my husband got to work.  I helped but can only claim consultation and fetch and tote roles.  We used 2x4 material for the frame (bigger than called for in the plans) because that is what we had.  My husband chose to bolt the frame together instead of using the called-for screws, but did use screws to attach the top and seat portions.  The good news/bad news part of this project is that the tables weigh about 75 pounds when completed (that plastic wood is heavy!).  This makes it a little hard to move around which might be very beneficial on a playground filled with kids determined to get a head start climbing the resident trees.

My kids love having their own table on our deck (we made two), and I even convinced them to hold still for a picture this afternoon.

Here are a couple more pictures that I have to share.  This past weekend my youngest was looking at a picture taken of his older brother and my husband.  My oldest was exactly the age of my youngest when this picture was taken (on the left).  My little guy tried to copy the pose and I had to snap a shot of his efforts (on the right). 

Enjoy your week and stay cool!

My Mother's Vase

Dear Readers:

I am really enjoying spending the summer with my two, active little boys.  Really, I am.  But I am also struggling, STRUGGLING (!) to get my blog updated as often as I like.  Please bear with me; fall is just around the corner.

Today I leave you with a lovely picture of some summertime flowers in my mother's vase.  I remember this vase from my childhood, usually filled with lilacs from the bush in our yard or lily of the valley from our boxwood border.   My mom gave me this vase when she was downsizing from her house to a small apartment.  She tells me that it was a gift to her mother from some visiting relatives, already an antique when it was given back in the 1930's.  I love it because it is perfect for so many different types of flowers.  I cut these long-stemmed alstromeria lilies short and love how they look.  These are some of my favorite flowers for several reasons:  you can pick them up inexpensively from almost any grocery store so there is never any excuse for not having fresh flowers in your home; they come in so many different colors you can suit your mood; they make great filler for use with other flowers; they last forever.  This batch looked fresh for about three weeks.  $4 for three weeks of flowers -- how can you beat that?