flower girl dress

This is the Flower Girl Dress from Weekend Sewing.

I am very happy I went with Eloise from Liberty of London. I am no longer afraid of cutting into gorgeous fabric now.

The dress has errata which I noticed too late so a dress I was thinking would work a bit down the road will work this spring/summer. There are always lots of summer gatherings and events to attend so that's fine by me.

And, my girl just looks so pretty and well a little more toddler like these days. Don't you think?
She is close to walking and is a very fun, determined and sweet little one.

lilac tree

oh, hello!
i am heading out now to sit beside this tree and hand sew
a hem on a pretty liberty of london dress you shall hopefully see soon.
bye bye!

baby kimono

I completed my first project from Weekend Sewing last week.
It is the baby kimono and is a gift for a soon to be new baby. The baby shower is this upcoming weekend.
The gender of the baby is a surprise and I thought this light gingham was a nice soft choice.
I've made a few kimonos before and the patterns are very similar and pretty easy to make.

I am planning to also gift her a pair of my organic cotton hand knit baby booties and some other items as well.

red top

The red top.

I wasn't going to bother to try it on her for a while since the blue one was a bit big but by some miracle of gauge or one weeks growth this one fits her.


Have a nice weekend.

xx

button it up

Recently, I won a copy of Button it Up on Shim + Sons.
I decided to make the napkin rings which was a project designed by Melissa. The luncheon napkins were stitched a year or so ago.



This was so easy and Matty enjoyed working on it with me. These are the buttons he chose to string which I may try to incorporate in another project. I love his color choices.

And, some other button'y things I've made recently.

my birthday

*Me on my 1st Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I celebrated with a quiet day at home, some gardening, a dinner out with family and of course a cake- lemon with cream cheese frosting made by my Mom. Yum!

My celebration started Friday night after a very tough parenting day due to the boy being sick. Ugh!

I got dressed up in this skirt. I love to use any opportunity to get fancy. In fact, I often get somewhat fancy even when I am just staying home all day with the kids. That is just my way.

We had hoped to go to a Italian restaurant but, once we arrived there we discovered they were on vacation so we headed to a Turkish restaurant instead. Normally, I eat early with the kids as Mick gets home too late for us to eat together so I was starving! It was around 9 PM at this time. We had a mezze of all kinds of hot and cold appetizers and baklava for dessert. There was a belly dancer when we first got there sword dancing on the floor but, it was the tail end of her performance. I actually used to belly dance myself (haha!).

Saturday we went to see the Cherry Blossoms at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. The day was incredible. So sunny and warm it was like summer. Sweet photo of Daddy and Ms. S. I kept thinking I would see an ice cream truck to get a popsicle but, it didn't happen. Oh well! My husband used to drive a Mr. Softee truck in his early 20's before I met him. I like to envision him still doing this (part time though- someone has to pay the bills) because come on that is super cute, no?

I got a lot of great presents many of which go in the dirt:

Azaleas, Rose Bushes, Hydrangea, Mountain Laurel,Tomato Plants, Impatiens, Dianthus.

I also got a cute travel jewelry wallet from Carrie Girl that I love. My husband went into my Etsy favorites (smart) and this beautiful necklace from White Apple. A pair of FSNY shoes because I wouldn't throw out the ones I had with holes on the bottom that I had already resoled after a trip to Scotland 3 years ago. (the tops are too ruined to bother repairing now.) And, from the kids a pair of sunglasses and an IOU for a bicycle basket- presents that my Matty Gray decided on. He also wanted to get me a kitty but, we will wait on another pet for a while. And, Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross which looks amazing. So many great patterns in there. Also, some money to spend which is always exciting. Now to decide what to get...

Mick did a lot of work in the front garden and it's so exciting to see it coming back to life. We put some grass down where there was a big area of mulch. We still have a ways to go with the planters but we have some herbs, chives, lettuces, chard, rhubarb and cauliflower plants going right now. And all the berries got their leaves and the fruit trees are blossoming. I hope to edge out the back flower garden next weekend because the one side was never edged properly.

I picked daffodils and lilacs from our lilac tree and my Mom brought flowers for the table too. I had fun decorating the table and gave myself a fancy dessert plate in which to eat my cake from. I dressed Scarlet in one of my baby dresses for fun.

I also finished up knitting the red top last night.

Are you still with me? I know I don't usually write this much.
Oh well! I felt like blabbing on and on.
Hope you had good weekend too.

knitting tops

How does one take a perfect photo of a 14 month old?

I think it has to be a magic moment that either happens or doesn't.
In my case, I took about 60 and then gave up.
This sweet little one is in constant motion. Here was the one second that she didn't move.

Pattern: Soulful Hues Girl's Cap Sleeved Spring Top (Modified Sleeves)
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Premiere 50% Pima Cotton 50% Tencel
Needles: 5, 7, 9. I went down one needle size throughout pattern

I know it looks like it fits here but, honestly it doesn't. The yoke is huge. I tried it on the boy and found out it really is meant for a 3-5 year old
I already started knitting another one of these tops. This time in a bright shade of red like geraniums or tulips. I guess it will be a few years though till she wears them for real.

peach & magnolia blossoms

view from the front window. my peach sensation dwarf peach trees in bloom




view from the back window. my neighbor's magnolia tree. i like to pretend it's mine

april flowers

Who says we need to wait for May?

I decided to make some pretty flowers of fabric following this tutorial.

bunny, bonnet, dress

I made this bunny for Scarlet's Easter basket over the weekend.
The pattern is from the Purl Bee.
I loved making it. Her newest word is doll.
There is also a pattern for top, pants and a sweater for this bunny which I will make at a later date.





A new Spring/Easter bonnet from Mailorder pattern.





A wrap dress. Pattern from Tiny Happy. This won't be worn until next year.

You will notice I used the same London Lawn by Moda in all of these projects. I enjoyed choosing this fabric (bought here) and then seeing what I could develop with it.

flowers, kids, cake

ranunculus- one of my favorite



kids
s loves her new push wagon. so fun! want to paint this hallway but am having trouble picking a color.




almond cake
the one blogged about here. so good. make it.

a peek into scarlet's room

linen top

Happy April!

Today- a new top for me of soft lightweight brown linen.
I felt like making something for myself yesterday.

The pattern is (Built By Wendy's) Simplicity 3835.
I decided to sew a little loop with embroidery floss center front so I can change out ribbons to tie in a bow if I please or just string through as I did with this little piece of velvet.



As I was taking these photos in the backyard a little bunny decided to join me and this one was not camera shy in the least.