sun hats for the boy and girl

Two sun hats from Little Things to Sew. They are reversible but I like these sides better.
Ms. S has a Liberty of London floral with a reverse to pale peach and Little M is wearing a thin stripe in shades of blue yellow brown and white with a reverse to yellow.
I like the structure that sewing circles around the brim gives the hat she is wearing and I may go back and do that to M's.

I keep doing lots of small projects to give me the satisfaction that I am completing something as I work on several bigger projects.

happy to see you

Happy To See You Doll. Handmade in France.
We still need to name her.
Isn't she beautiful?

bead stitch lace

I'm really enjoying this piece I am working on both in color and pattern.
It's called Bead Stitch Lace. I am knitting Mirry Dancers by Gudrun Johnston

I have another knit piece (a shawl) which I am working in sock and lace yarn.

Signs of Spring are starting to show.
We have a fresh coat of white paint on our picket fence in the backyard and will start to plant soon. I see the rhubarb wants to make an appearance.

tutu

Last week I set aside a night to make a tutu.
I had four layers of tulle - pale pink, white, lavender, and light blue which is how I layered them when I sewed them together.
I used the directions from this lovely book. In the book it calls for five layers and 108" wide tulle. Mine was about 60" wide.
I had a wide satin ribbon which I left long for a big bow. This was worn the very next day to ballet class and she chose to wear it on the blue side. It is reversible. The blue side looks periwinkle and the pink side lilac because of the layers. It's really beautiful and so much fun. She loves it!

This would be a wonderful gift to make because tutus especially for little ones are pretty much the bees knees.

sweet peasy in plum

This little cardigan is the latest finished piece and I really love this design. It gets me thinking about making the adult version someday
The pattern is Sweet Peasy and the design is written perfectly. It's unique in design and has a pretty perfect result.
The yarn is Madelinetosh Pashmina in Duchess and I sort of didn't want it to end...you know that sort of bittersweet that comes at the end of knitting something you loved knitting so much. It doesn't always happen but, when it does it's extra special.

I shortened the sleeves and the length a little bit. I think this will be a great transitional piece and nice to layer over a top or dress.
The lace section is so pretty and those glass buttons are the ones I picked up a few weeks ago when I had first cast on during that train ride to New York City. They look exactly the way I wanted them too with the color.

stacking the odds, + one

Two quilts I am pretty excited about. No, I haven't finished the cathedral windows or any of those others I started (not that I've even shown you those ones) but, I think I see these two getting completed by the end of Spring and since it hasn't really started yet I would say that's doable.

One I got started cutting and piecing. I am not using a pattern here and I'm just basing it on a photo but it seems to be working pretty okay. Quilting with all it's precision and all these corners is hard for me but at the same time fun and the colors are just amazing. I'm using City Weekend.




And, the other one up at top is waiting to be cut. All the shapes are traced so that's truly a start and there is a pile of fabric. It's going to be Stacking the Odds by Denyse Schmidt


You see I also have clothing on the brain but, even more so that a new season is almost upon us and knitting...well there is always knitting to be done. I can't not knit.

I need more hours in the day.

Edited to add: I have ripped out most of the City Weekend quilt and pieced most of it back in a whole new way. Thanks to Himoko for letting me know a much easier and efficient way to piece it. I just wish I knew this in the first place. Oh well!

the lonely doll dress

Playing Edith and The Bears is ever so fun especially wearing your Mama's lipstick and writing on the mirror.

This morning S and I played The Lonely Doll based on the wonderful story by Dare Wright. She wore a new dress I made for 'being Edith.'
Do you know this book?

Edith is the lonely doll who wishes ever so much for friends to play with and keep her company. And one day her wish comes true- two bears arrive. They are Mr. Bear and Little Bear. They go on all kinds of adventures together and have a lot of fun. They go to the park and to the beach. Little Bear and Edith sometimes go too far away alone even crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. One day while Mr. Bear is out Edith and Little Bear decide to play dress up. Edith puts on a hat and lipstick and Little Bear scrawls on the mirror, Mr. Bear is just a silly old thing. Mr. Bear catches them and is not at all amused. But, in the end Little Bear and Edith apologize to Mr. Bear, clean up and all is well again.









Whenever we read this at bedtime S and I put on our straw hats.

I loved making this dress which is an Oliver + S pattern called the Jump Rope Dress. It's an adorable style and a bit old fashioned looking I think. I made it in size 3 and it looks like it has some growing room.

-There was a little sewing problem at the end with the buttonholes which made me awfully sad for about an hour. I wiped away my frown and figured out a solution.
When I made the buttonholes it was a bit late in the night and silly me thought it was a good time to do them (not) after all I've done them quite well dozens of times. What I didn't realize was that the needle was a bit loose and that I placed the placket under it too close to the edge so they came out untidy. To try to ammend the situation I decided to do this:
I made a band aid piece ( cut a small square) to sew over and disguise the bad buttonhole on top and am leaving the top button open. The middle one is the only one that is in use (still too close to the edge but hopefully holds up) and the third one is sewn shut. Instead of worrying endlessly about the dress not being perfect I've decided to just let it go and make the best of it. These imperfections sometimes happen. You learn from your mistakes just like Edith and Little Bear though I don't think it was all that bad what Edith and Little Bear did. I can think of a lot worse. So now I am taking lessons from a doll and a little bear.