red sweater

I am in love with this sweater. The pattern is called Breakwater by Cecily Glowik MacDonald.

I can not express to you just how pleased I am with how this one knit up and fits. I will be wearing this one a lot once it is not too hot for sweaters. I may even be able to get some use out of it this summer on a cool morning or evening.

I used a yarn I picked up last October at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival and is from the Sanguine Gryphon. This was shortly before they reorganized into two companies- The Verdant Gryphon and Cephalopod Yarns in case you want to look them up and see the lovely yarns and colors. This one is a fingering weight called Skinny Bugga in a color called Tomato Frog and is 80 % superwash merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon and is really love to work with. Though it's mostly knit in stockinette stitch the woven stitch collar and cuffs add a nice little detail.

betsy in blue sundress

When I saw the tiny triangle dress on the Purl Bee I knew I wanted to convert it so that it would fit my daughter who wears a 4T. I used the same Liberty of London fabric which is called Betsy. I have always loved this print and even made her a dress in Betsy last year. I used two different colors for the ties for a bit of whimsy but other then that it is very similar to the original.

Here is how I changed it so it would fit my daughter:

When cutting out the dress. I measured her chest (21 1/2 ") and the length I wanted to make the dress (23"). I added 4 inches to the chest measurement to allow for gathering and seam allowance. I measured the length by holding up the tape measure to her body but one could also measure a dress that you like the length of from the underarm to where you would like it to fall. I made the casing a 1/2" wider. When sewing up the sides I left 9" rather then 5" for the armholes. I hope this makes sense if you want to try it.

This dress is perfect for any special occasion. I made mine a bit on the long side so we can get a few years out of it.

snowball quilt blocks

I found these blocks about a week ago that I had made to turn into a quilt for my son. I started this about a year and a half ago.

The block is called the snowball and it's a really easy one to make. I think I might start back up on it. Here is a really nice one that inspires me to finish it.

liberty of london memory game

I made a wool felt and Liberty of London fabric memory game. Instructions via the Purl Bee. I know I will love playing this with the kids over the summer. When Ms. S and I played this morning she said things like I have this skirt and this one here is my dress...

I know a few women that wouldn't mind playing this with me either.
You know who you are.

A little red suitcase keeps them all together so we can take it with us if we want.

golden

Last time I went to pick up some fabric notions I found this gold star trim and bought just enough to make a little crown. How could I not? I love the puffy gold stars and all I needed to add was a little bit of 1/4 elastic at each end.

bluebirds and seed pods

A hand quilted play mat for a new baby boy made with Holly Ward Bimba's Woodland collection. The fabric is from Spoonflower and though I try to resist purchasing new fabric too often I thought it would be really nice for this project and interesting for a new baby to play on. The batting is thick so it provides a nice cushion.

I used the instructions for the Purl Bee's Cheerful Quilted Playmat which I made once before shown here for my daughter. The hand quilting was more work as this pattern is more busy and I used embroidery floss for the quilting though quilting with the silk thread in the prior project was nicer.

The colors in these fabrics remind me of the soft palettes in Julianna's work which I love.

origami butterflies

I wanted to make something sweet for her last day of school today so I whipped up a batch of butterfly barrettes. These use small pieces of fabric cut into rectangles and I used two different fabrics for each one for contrast. You then sew the two rectangles right sides together leaving a space to turn them right side out and top stitch. Then follow directions on how to turn them into butterflies using origami instructions. The hardest part is getting everything to be perfectly lined up (mine are not) as they were a bit fiddly with the two layers of cotton. Ironing is necessary too. Then sew a barrette to the back.


Speaking of origami have you seen the documentary Between the Folds. It is amazing and will make you think of origami completely differently. I am pretty inexperienced with origami but it really is an inspiring art form.

polka dots and ric rac

A new dress sewn from a vintage pattern I bought several years ago at Mackey Blue in Hoboken back in the days when I worked there and M was still a baby.

I was looking through my patterns a few weeks ago and realized this was a size 4 and so I thought I'd give it a go. I chose View 2 which is made from one fabric and uses ric-rac trim rather then two fabrics as you can see here in the illustration options. The original pattern pieces were missing but, thankfully there were tissue paper copies and most of them were intact. I omitted the puff sleeves and had to remake the yoke in front since this piece appeared wrong. I had to put a seam in that piece as I had very little fabric left. I stopped reading the directions about halfway through. I think it turned out rather sweet. I have to say I am impressed with how well it fits considering I am working without the model at night while she is sleeping

The year the pattern came out is 1946 and her Grammie would have been five then.

strawberry season

June....you snuck up on me.
It's a busy time of the year with school ending this week for one and next week for the other one and all the events that come along with it and in my little corner of the world this also means strawberry season. Every day for a good three weeks I am out in my front yard picking strawberries and as fast as we can we try to make things with them and of course there is a lot of hulling and freezing going on. Often the kids want the frozen ones even though I am always saying...but there are like 100 I have just picked and more in the yard. Ms. S has a habit of picking them and then running off to hide and devour them secretly and she does this because I always say we should wash them first.

So, there has been jam (some with basil added) and there has been strawberry shortcake and a few other things. I am happy to have rhubarb growing in the garden to combine those two. Strawberries are so versatile and I can think of a lot of ways to use them which is good since I have a few hundred plants. Oh, I just remembered chocolate covered strawberries.