well-crafted

Thrift and Resourcefulness

Will’s and Lauren’s main Christmas gifts this year were bean bag chairs, which I made. They were really fun to make and have been a huge hit around here.

They have also become, for me, an excellent reminder of my theme for change in 2012, which is generally to simplify, reduce waste and clutter, and to make or use what I already have for the things we need.

For these bean bags, I used Dana Willard’s awesome Rolie Polie pattern. The interior bags were made with some IKEA curtain panels I bought on clearance a long time ago (which I have used a lot for bags and pillow cover backs but still have lots left over). For the bag covers I used some very old faded cotton velvet drapes which which I overdyed turquoise blue and emerald green. The only things I spent money on were the zippers and the beans to fill the bags, which I found on sale locally. It felt so great to give them gifts that were thrifty and fun.

No packaging! No batteries! No assembly! Great for fighting!

 

Making plans

The Kids Clothes Week Challenge starts today! I’m trying to keep my goals manageable: two pairs of pants and a skirt for Lauren. If time allows, I may squeeze in a lightweight jacket or hooded cape. I intended to trace and cut over the weekend, but spent yesterday working on my Tea Leaves (almost finished!) and making two of these for gifts. So, today will be tracing and cutting. Oh, and agonizing over fabric choices…

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Mother’s Day was awesome, by the way. The kids put these on my door:

Hilarious and sweet.

Easter Things

We did our eggs using natural dyes this year. I used this as my inspiration and loose guide. (Really missing that blog). The results thrilled me to no end! And it has got me super excited about this workshop I am taking next weekend.

Moving along…

Lauren got a soft bunny to snuggle. The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Quick and fun to make!

And finally, the Easter dress.

Pattern is view 8 from this book. I modified it by making short sleeves, shortening the ruffle along the button placket and using a grosgrain ribbon for the belt instead of making one from the main fabric.

Brunch and an egg hunt at our friends’ house made for a lovely day–even though I spent a lot of it in bed with a chest cold. Poor me.

Whatnot: Feb 5th, 2011

Believe it. It is February 5th already and I am only now sharing holiday handmades with you! In fact, I am not really planning to share a whole lot of that because I have moved so beyond the holidays but posting here has not reflected that, so you will at least get photos of The Doll.

Throughout January, whenever I’ve thought about my blog, I have seen the word in my mind looking like this: BLAHG. Although I’ve continued to be busy with lots of fun projects—specifically baby sweaters for gifts, auction projects and a new dress for myself), I think the writing part of blogging has become less appealing to me, so before taking an extended leave of absence from this space I am going to try the “more images/fewer words” approach to posting—and hope that doing so will get me out of my rut.

Here is the doll I made for Lauren for Christmas. The tradition was dangerously close to peetering out in only its second year until Lauren told me two weeks before Christmas that I’d better “get busy” working on her doll. Okay then! I made it easy on myself by using the same pattern from last year: Wee Wonderfuls’ Kit, Chloe and Louise. I sort of love the idea of making her the same doll every year with different colored skin, hair, eyes and clothes. Would be cool to see after, say, ten years or so.

I also made socks for Kirk and both kids.

I was the recipient of some very lovely handmade gifts this year, which—if we are lucky—I will share sometime before summer.

We are headed to spend 10 days in Mexico soon and I am very excited about that. I am expecting to live in this skirt (which arrived today) whilst hoping to finish the above mentioned dress before departing. I am also planning to buy some stoneware and textiles while there. Yippee.

What was it I said about fewer words?

What we’ve been up to

It’s been a fun, cozy, lazy, silly, sweet and relaxing holiday week. Hope you’ve all enjoyed yours!

Math lesson

And I can run away from you, I can!

On Sunday we made Gingerbread Boys. I loved this tradition so much when I was a kid. My mom would put a hole in the top of the head before baking and then we would thread a bit of ribbon through and hang the finished ones on the tree. I have done away with that part of the tradition but the rest lives on, especially since I use the same recipe my mom used way back then. We invited friends over to bake and decorate with us, so I doubled this recipe.

Puddinghead Gingerbread Boys

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 3.5 oz package butterscotch pudding mix
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add pudding mix. Add egg and mix well. Then add all dry ingredients. Roll out 1/8–1/4 inch thick, cut shapes and bake at 350° for 8–10 minutes. Decorate when cool.

Enjoy!

Kicking it off!

Getting a tree always marks the official start of our Christmas season, and this year we did it in style by chopping our own! Before now, this seemd a little daunting because we thought the kids might not be able to tolerate being out in the cold and rain, (and we may not have been able to tolerate the whining and crying). But the weather lately has been delightfully dry and bright—and yesterday was especially so. We decided it would be a shame to waste such a gorgeous day at a tree-lot.

We went to Oxbow Rim Tree Farm, about a half hour’s drive from our house. They have a cafe there with treats and cider and cocoa, as well as a gift shop with the largest variety of ornaments I’ve ever seen in one place. At first I was a little bummed about there being so much commerce involved, but the kids loved it so I ended up loving it too. The fresh air felt amazing and the smell of the trees was wonderful. Lauren had a hilarious routine going where she’d say she found the perfect tree and when we all came running, she’d point to a stump. Brilliant. I though she was going to wet her pants from laughter.

After we loaded the tree on to the top of our car we went inside and the kids each chose an ornament. I probably took about 150 photos of ornaments. It was hard to stop.

Christmas, we are ready for you!

Festive attire

I’ve got dresses on the brain. We’re going out for a fancy Christmas dinner with a group of friends next weekend, so of course I am thinking about my outfit. Some late-night browsing resulted in these finds—none of which I will actually be able to wear (buy). But aren’t they all pretty? I wish I had time to sew something special for myself. Hmm, velvet, silk…

I will probably go with a classic black sheath and black suede pumps which I already own and buy some bright red tights and sparkly earrings. That’ll do it.

Where
Top: Creatures of Comfort, Creatures of Comfort
Middle: J Crew, Anthropologie
Bottom: Domahoka, Kate Spade

Independence Day

Hope everyone enjoyed the day! Ours was relaxed and cool-ish.

Happy Easter

Handmade gift report: Jessica’s new clothes (and some oven mitts)

All credit for this project goes to my mom, who made these precious clothes for Lauren’s Götz doll, Jessica. Her new wardrobe builders include a dress, a pair of pajamas, and a top and shorts set. Yeah, Grandma!

[A note about the pajamas/buttonholes. These were made with flannel from my stash after my mom’s arrival here. I finished the buttonholes on the front and promptly began crying (on Christmas Eve, no less) because I am so frustrated with the buttonhole maker on my machine. My mom soothed me, as all good mothers do, by reminding me that buttonholes don’t have to be perfect on doll’s clothes. But really it’s the principle—and she had to agree. I have a somewhat expensive machine and I shouldn’t have to hold my breath every time I make a buttonhole. I’d say for every ten buttonholes I make, I get four good ones. That’s just not right. I am thinking of trading it in for something different. Any suggestions? My machine is a Pfaff 2038 that Kirk bought me for my birthday two years ago and I like everything else about it but this is just driving me crazy. If anyone has the same machine and a similar—or different—experience, I'd like to hear about it.]

And finally, I made a set of festive oven mitts for my mom, using the pattern from Denyse Schmidt’s book. They turned out pretty cute. However I didn’t finish binding the bottom edges so they went home with mom sans binding and she will finish that part. How’s that for a kick in the pants? All I can say is, thank goodness for mothers who understand.