made to order

A few weeks back Jessie contacted me through this little blog of mine and asked if I would help her put together a little birthday gift for her daughter.  I admired her wanting to give something handmade to her daughter, but at the same time I asked myself, "She wants me to help her?"  I feel like such a novice at this whole sewing thing and the thought of making something "for hire" was a tad intimidating.


Well here is what I came up with.  I thought it would be fun for Jessie's daughter to be in on the creation of her little gift so I only finished it half-way.  I made her a smock apron.


Smock hanging 21 


I also made some pockets that she can sew on herself wherever she pleases (she will be 8 years old).


Smock with pockets1


To aid in the hand sewing I also put together a little sewing kit for her stocked with fun trims and buttons to further decorate her apron.  This little egg crate idea came from a back issue of Country Living magazine. 


Sewing kit1_1   


A needle book and small scissors are tucked in the lid, and down below I included some fun pins pushed into a strawberry pincushion, thread, a measuring tape, and some other buttons and trims (some are not pictured).  Isn't that a cute way to put it all together?  Can you tell what the recipiants favorite colors are?


I also crocheted up some veggies and a market bag.  Pretend food is so much fun to play with (real food is too for that matter).


Market bag and veggies1    


I purchased the patterns here some time ago.


So, off they shipped yesterday.  As much as I enjoyed creating all of it...I still felt a bit nervous as I shipped it out yesterday.  Hope she likes it!




Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 11:10 PM

What an absolutely wonderful weekend.  I hope that you enjoyed yours as much.  On Saturday I took a 2 hour nap! An amazing feat because the rest of my family was awake.  I went to my bedroom to read and before I knew it...I was asleep and NO ONE came in to wake me up.  It was fabulous. Most of the day Sunday I was downstairs doing laundry.  I didn't really mind it...I watched this 4 hour part one of Jane Eyre.  Embarassing enough, I wasn't familar with the story.  I really do need to upgrade my Netflix membership so that I can get 2 movies at once.  Waiting a few days for the second half of that show is going to be excrutiating! (remember I said that I was going to cancel my membership...so much for that!)


We have finally arrived at the last week of school.  I am so glad.  Three days to go.  Three busy days.  I sewed up a few gardening aprons for the girl's teachers.  We (the parents) are putting together little gardening baskets for them complete with seeds, shovels, gloves, hand lotion, and these aprons.


Aprons hanging1


I didn't have a pattern, but a just a general idea of how I wanted them to look.  How hard can sewing a rectangle be?  I made a sample apron just to make sure that I worked out all the kinks first.  Sewing for other people is always fussy like that.  Then, I cranked out the others assembly line style.  Cut them all out, and made all the little bias trims, then put them each together.  They are made from canvas and cotton prints.  I lined the pockets with muslin just so they would be a similar thickness as the canvas.



Apron for teachers1




 



I have more sewing to show for...come back tomorrow! I give up on the spacing issue #$%@&**!!





"Alone Time"- Together

The rhythm of afternoon time has been changing around here, feeling different because Hannah is slowly giving up her naps.  Selfishly, I have really dreaded this...I've seen it coming.  My first thought was, "Great, there goes my nice little quiet time that I could bank on each afternoon."  But we are figuring out how we can each have some "alone time" together.


This was our afternoon table.


Afternoon table1


Me with magazine, her with her puzzles, Barbie lounging by the pool, and some chocolate zucchini cake.  We had a conversation that went like this:


Me: So, um Barbie is just hangin' by the pool huh?


Her: Yep, sometimes she swims.


Me: Does Barbie have kids?


Her: Nope, you never bought me that one Skipper doll...we don't have any little Barbies.


Me:  Does Barbie have a job?


Her: Mmmm, uh-uh (shaking her head no)


Me:  Wow! So how does Barbie afford food and stuff?


Her: Duh, Mom she has a husband.  He works.


Me: So let me get this straight.  Barbie has no children and no job.  Her husband goes to work to earn the money and Barbie stays home and just lays by the pool all day?


Her:  Well, yes mom- like you do.


Me:  Pfffffft! Spitting out the coffee I was drinking and choking on a piece of walnut in my cake.  Where does she get this stuff?


Obviously she doesn't really have a good grasp on reality.  I feel so appreciated when I realize how she thinks I spend my time.


I don't exactly see it her way, but it gave me a good giggle.


Sun hat1


I made this sun hat the other day in anticipation of being down on the waterfront Saturday.  The pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter's book.  It was fairly simple.  I did end up taking at least an inch off the height of the crown.  Without doing that, I wouldn't have been able to see.  I just made it from some plain off-white linen, the lining was also cream (sateen).  Now that I have the pattern down I see more exciting color combinations in the future.  If you make it, just make sure that you keep trying the hat on while it is in process. The circumference fit me just right but only because I fudged the seam allowances a bit.    It really kept my face and neck protected and I was glad to have it.  Actually, I think Hannah might look a bit better in it don't you?


Hannah sunhat1


I also made the backpack from the same book.  I wanted to have free hands to use my camera.  Also, my current bag didn't match my dress (this is important when venturing into the big city.  Matching bags help you look more urban.  I definitely needed help looking more urban) 


Backpack1


Again, I made it at 1am in the morning...so embroidery, buttons and all other decorative touches escaped me.  I just needed to finish it.  I made it with some lightweight denim.  Hannah has taken a liking to it and I may pass it onto her and make a jazzier one for myself.  This was a pretty straight forward pattern...until I got to the straps.  I think it took me almost an hour and three attempts to get it right (at least I basted- see I am learning. After ripping a few "real" seams out, I caught on.) .  The pockets in front were designed to hold my keys and phone in one pocket and my water bottle in the other. 


So, that is all for now.  Typepad has changed the buttons around here and this post has taken WAAAY to long.  Anyone other Typepad users notice the snail's pace?