A Few Minutes of Sewing

I had the joy of sewing a few things over the weekend.  It felt good to hear the sewing machine whirling once again.  I like using my walking foot and a tiny zig-zag stitch when working with fleece. I used the fleece I had on hand and used Vanessa from Crafty Gemini's tutorial on You Tube and her free downloadable pattern from her blog to make a fleece hat.   I first made her beanie pattern but it did not cover my daughter's ears.  Her pattern for a hat with ear flaps worked like a charm. I hope to post pictures of my daughter wearing her hat later.  I also tried several headband patterns.  This one pictured below was cute but the 1/4 inch casing for the elastic was challenging. Will post link later.

My Ballerinas

The girls are starting to have to work hard in ballet.  They still like it but Audrey is wanting to quit.  This makes me sad as it is the only time I get to see her dressed up as a little girl.  Otherwise, it is superhero or Star Wars shirts.

Halloween Photos

Audrey, Sean, Jamie

  

Listening to the Silence of the Woods

Actually sounds like crunch, crunch, crunch. I love the sound of dried leaves beneath my feet. Happy Fall!

Great Finds

One day in June, my library had a book sale.  I had just dropped off my girls at their ballet class and on a whim, I thought to hang out at the library before picking them back up.  It was so relaxing and peaceful.  On the way out I noticed they were having a book sale in another room.  I went in to have a look.

Right on the first table with the SciFi books was Anatomy of a Doll by Susanna Oroyan.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I grabbed it.  It looked brand new! I'm not sure how much I paid for it, but I think it was less than a dollar.   I am into making dolls so this was a great find.  At the time, I thought this was a rare book to find so I was thanking the universe for this treasure and took it as a sign for me to continue making dolls. Now I see on Amazon you can get a used copy for less than $2.00.  I still am thankful. 

I mentioned I'm trying to organize my craft space.   I found this little cart at Savers for $5.00.  I also felt thankful for this find. The wheels are in great condition. The baskets can be adjusted to hang at different levels.  It measures 25.5 inches tall and 16 inches wide.  I'm imagining it right by sewing my machine so I  can clear my sewing desk area.

I hope you find some great recycled treasures in your neck of the woods! 

More Doodles - Practicing for LifeBook 2015

Life has been full of ups and downs this summer flowing into fall.  The only constant is my doodling in anticipation for LifeBook 2015.   Another constant is my trying to tackle my creative workspace, which I share with lots of my girls toys.  Dollar Tree store has inspired me with all their little baskets in this endeavor.  The paper for the drawing is also from the Dollar Tree.

In the meantime, here is where I'm at with trying to connect with my inner artist.  I will be posting them in the order I drew them to the best of my memory.  Six women and one man.  Six portrait poses and one first attempt at full body.

Drew her while listening to The Woman in White

She was influenced by listening to Children of Dune.

Are we really free? 

A Tote for my Sister-in-law

Last year I made an offer to my two sisters and sister-in-law that if they picked out the fabric, which I would purchase, I would make them a bag of their choice.  My sister-in-law was the only one to jump on this offer.  She picked out the butterfly fabric from the Cocoon line to match a coin purse she already had and loved.  I had several patterns for her to choose from and she picked the Super tote from Noodlehead because it had a zipper closure. There are so many wonderful Super totes on Noodlehead's flikr and I love looking at the variety of fabric choices people decide on. The bag has one big pocket on the outside.  Because my sister-in-law chose a solid fabric, I was trying to think of ways to dress it up on the side without the pocket.  My first thought was to applique some butterflies on it.  I was  crunched for time, so I decided to put another pocket on other side of the bag. The Super Tote has two big pockets.  This may be a terrible decision, I have no idea.  I figured a gal cannot have too many pockets.

She said this olive green from the Cross roads is her favorite color.  It is denim material.

Pocket #1

The pockets look the same on the outside, the lining is different.

I'm not sure if the I did good picking out fabric for the lining?   I do love the vibrant orange/red from the Cocoon line. And I also love my Bernina that never ceases to amaze me in its ability to plow through the thick double seams.  Yeah!!!