Updates!

Hello everyone! 

We had a good weekend over here.  And I got a few things done.

First, as I mentioned I joined the Mouthy Stitches swap on Flickr.  We had to make a zippy pouch for our secret partner based on their mosaic posted in the group.  My partner definitely favoured applique and pinks and blues.  

This is my pouch for her.

The front is a picture just for tea time.

 The back is just for fun.

I'm even proud of the zipper!

I have never done applique in my life, and so this is a first for me.  I think it turned out pretty good.  

I only showed sneak peeks on Flickr for everyone to see, so if anyone is here from the Mouthy Stitches swap - lucky you!  You just saw my whole surprise!  

But... is it for you?

I appliqued cotton on a linen type fabric and I embroidered the steam and picture frame.

I love my special touch - the tea bag is appliqued on tea dyed fabric.  

Sometimes, I make me happy.

Ahem.

Sunday is always a nice day.  How can it be bad when you have church, family and friends all in one day?

I was also at West Edmonton Mall on Saturday selling my wares.  I had my dresses and skirts up for display along with a few things my sister had made.  All in all, I think for a first showing, I did acceptably well.  Nothing to be disappointed in this time!

My table from the front.

And the side, showing the rack my husband made me.

Then to top it all off, I received two swaps today!  One all the way from Portugal and the other from the States.  I love good mail days.

See! 

Told you I had a good weekend!

How to Make a Mannequin

This post completely not sewing related, but is important for me because I am not rich. 

I have gone to a few markets now and would love to have a toddler sized dress form or mannequin to show off a dress or two since they always look better on something than on the hanger.

I looked at a few online and, well, I don't have the money to shell out a hundred or two for a dress form or mannequin.  That being the case, I took matters into my own hands and made my own.  

Well, it's not really a mannequin, more a dress holder stand thing.  But it works the same to display the dresses.  I have five now for the trade show on Saturday at West Edmonton Mall.

Wanna make one?  Here's how.

You need dowels and a flat heavy-ish bottom.  I got mine from the dollar store.  

Cut the dowels to the height you need and the width.  For a size 4T dress my dowel is 26" and the crossing dowel is 12".

Paint them if you want.  

I did because I think it looks more finished than the bare wood.  I suppose you could stain them for an even better look, but the bases I got are not real wood and so I don't think they would stain well.

Make holes in the bases the same size as the dowel.  Mine were 5/16th dowels.

Make a notch in the dowel that will fit in the base.  The notch is for the dowel that will go across the top.  

I tried it with the drill bit, but, yeah, it kinda didn't work so well and I had to touch up the paint.

Add a dab of glue.  I used hot glue, but I think wood glue would work better.

Lay the second dowel across the glue and let it dry.  Then wrap the joint up with twine or a coloured embroidery thread or something just to hold it in place, and you are done!

It's not a full bodied dress form or mannequin, but it works to hold the dress up for display!

Going Hexagonal!

First off, how does a self-healing mat crack?

I mean seriously.  Do your thing mat!  

Heal!

Not working.

Oh well, I guess I have other space on the mat left.  Do these things have warranty?

I suppose you are getting sick and tired of my talk of hexies hexies hexies.  So I will only regale you one last time with my prized and time consuming hexies.

On Saturday I made hexie 'flowers'.  I wanted to have a solid colour in the centre of every flower so that there is never a solid touching a solid.  

So far, the tip of my middle finger is stabbed and sore and I like what is happening with my hexies.

Here are some of my favourites: 

The fabric from every one of those came from swaps.  Handy!

I am also making some teeny hexies for an upcoming swap.  I don't have all the colours I need yet, but when I do, I will be piecing these little suckers together. 

I am sure it will go quicker than large ones, but a little more fiddly because they are after all rather small.

I should actually be ignoring my hexies and focussing on getting ready for the trade show I am going to this weekend.  I will be at West Edmonton Mall as an exhibitor are the Postpartum Depression Awareness Mommy Event.  

After my market failures, I sure hope this one is a success!  Not only for me, but also for the PPDA.

From the PPDA website:

Postpartum Depression and other postpartum mood disorders affect approximately 15% of Moms within the first year of giving birth. It is believed that this statistic is in fact much higher as so many Moms do not come forward. The majority of these Moms do not get help for a variety of reasons: either they go undiagnosed, are unable to find help or never come forward because of the stigma attached to PPD.
Through Awareness and Information we can change this stigma and make it easier to find help. Canadian Moms are raising our next generation and their mental health is of top priority!

Off to get more ready now!

What a Week

It's finally Saturday!

Yay!

This has been of week of the sickies.  It started on Monday with Little D and me both feeling a little under the weather.  I had such headaches (and still do) and D was getting snotty and coughy.  We spent most of our days in the rocker in front of the computer watching Franklin on Youtube.  All D wanted to do was cuddle and all I wanted to do was close my eyes and will my headache away.

Turns out I have a bit of a sinus infection, as does the rest of the family.  Mr. D, my hubby, is also stuffed up and coughy. 

By yesterday morning I thought we were getting better, but nope.  D ended up with a fever yesterday and I still had headaches.  Mr. D had a rough night too, sore throat, cough, and stuffiness.

We are certainly keeping the tissue business running here.

Because of the sickies, I did not get much done at all this week.  I made bread and some suppers, cleaned the bathroom - took me two days because I did not have the energy to do it all in one shot - and did laundry.  Only the basic necessities.

I had very little energy left for sewing or even thinking about sewing.

But I did get a very little bit done!

It took me all week just to make this dress.  :)

I also met Eva-Marie, a fellow hexie maker, via her blog and Flickr and we set up a small swap for hexie squares.  I am excited to have some new squares coming for hexie making!  These are the squares I had up for swap. 

Anyone else interested in swapping some 3 inch squares for hexies?

I would love to get some more squares!

I am also busy with getting my ideas together for my swaps!  I have gotten both partners now and so it is to the drawing board and putting my ideas in to fabric!  

It's always fun making things for other people who have different tastes than myself.  Makes me think outside of my box. 

These fabrics are for my partner in the For the Love of Solids swap.  I can't reveal too much, but I think she will love it!

I am sure there will be more sneak peaks along the way for both swaps.  

Update

Hi.

We've been battling the sickies over here.

Since Monday.

Hope to be back to normal soon.

Swapping Out

It's swap time again! 

Well, I think swaps are kind of an ongoing thing, but for me it's swap time again!

And again, it's two more swaps that I haven't done before.  The first one is For The Love of Solids (FTLOS).  I watched from the side last time as all these gorgeous creations made only from solids popped up.  Usually I work with prints, so this will be a little different.  I am looking forward to finding out who my partner is and then stalking and scheming up the perfect swap.

Here is my mosaic for the swap.

I choose dark but bright solids along with a dark dark gray.  I love colours that are bright and deep rather than simply bright.  

I also asked for my partner to make me a sewing machine cover as I saw so many nice ones on Flickr and my machine stands naked on it's table.  Would be nice to cover it up and keep it looking like decor rather than industry.

The second swap is a new one called Mouthy Stitches.

 

This swap is for a zippy pouch - zippy, not snap or clasp or button or velcro - and a FQ of scraps.  It's called Mouthy Stitches because the swap mamas want us to participate in discussions and commenting.  It is a rule that we must comment!  I like that rule.  I have done some swaps and my partner hardly ever commented on anything and then you are left wondering what to go with.  Comments are good.

Here is my mosaic for the Mouthy swap.  Some are the same as my FTLOS mosaic, but that's cuz they are really really nice!  And if you love something, pick it.

I am looking forward to the scraps for this one as I am hoping for fussy cut scraps so I can make hexies from them.  

I am collecting 1inch hexies to make a play mat type dealie for my girl.  I want every hexie to have something meaningful on it, whether it is a solid colour she can name, a very specific pattern like dots ro stripes, or a picture of something.  I have so far, a dog, mushrooms, cupcakes, red riding hood, and some other pretty good ones. 

As you can see, I need a LOT more to get anything of a good size.  This may be a very long term project.  

Unless I hit the scrap jackpot!  

Haha.. ha... ha...

Yeah, not likely.

First of the Year

I'm a little late... as usual, but 

Happy New Year!

Here's a little of what I've done in 2011.  Just a small smattering of projects - dresses, shirts, pillows, bags, bibs, appliqued onesies - some of the crafty things I managed in the past year.

This year also began with sewing.  This is the first thing I have cut and sewed in 2012.  

(I did finish another project on Monday, but it was cut and started in 2011, so we're not counting 

that one.)

A custom order dress for a little Miss A. 

Fabric looks familiar you say?

Why yes, it is the leftover fabric from the diaper bag I made for my sister.  

Being home decor weight, I wasn't sure about making a dress from it, but since it is such soft fabric and not at all stiff, I thought it would just work like corduroy or twill.  

Sure enough, it worked perfectly!  I did minimize some bulk by making the facing out of very thin fabric, otherwise I was a little scared some seams would get too thick, especially for turning.

I think buttons finish off the dress and give it a certain attitude.  In this case, I could have gone with something white or wooden to keep it casual and countryish.  

Yes, that's a word.

But I decided to go with vintage.  Little vintage pearl buttons.  I love it!

A perfect finish.

And a perfect beginning to the new year, the year of our Lord, 2012.