cake & pie

New Year

I am spending the first days of 2008 battling yet another unfortunate cold. While I recuperate, I thought I'd share one of my last projects of 2007. Using the Amy Butler Stash & Dash bags pattern, I made four of these coin purses as gifts this Christmas:

I'd say they are larger than an average coin purse—I think I'd use it as a small make-up bag or jewelry travel case. The pattern was nice to work with. As a beginning sewer I always find I learn a lot about construction working from a pattern.

I hope you are all having a fabulous start to 2008. I am going to go make some tea and I'll be back in a bit!

Tomorrow...you're only a day away

Tomorrow I turn 28, and I am pretty excited about it. It is time for a new year, new age, fresh start. I like the sound of 28...I feel like perhaps it will be more manageable than 27...we'll see!

Today I have a few sewing projects underway, and some serious cookie baking. Holiday prep is in full swing here, and I love it...the wrapping, the baking, the special preparations...it makes everything feel so at home.

With all this going on I think I'll be taking a break from the blog for awhile...I might pop back up again here and there, but in case I don't, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday if you are celebrating!

I'm in

It is a pouring, windy, awful night out...but that's ok, because inside the first episode of Project Runway season 4 is on tonight at 9pm central. I can't wait to see the first auf wiedersehen!

After the episode...early favorites? Anyone?

New to me

I thought I'd share a few blogs I've been reading recently and enjoying...

Dear Ada—I first found Dear Ada through a link on design*sponge. It is a constant source of some really wonderful art...and often times artist's I'd not heard about before.

It's Nice That—I can't quite remember how I found this one, but it contains a plethora of posts on all things creative—graphic design, illustration, photography, etc.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks—I found this fantastic blog through It's Nice That. It's hilarious. I'm a huge fan.

Ann Wood—I am pretty sure her blog has been around for quite some time, but I just began reading it. She makes so many gorgeous things. I love her wedding cake toppers.

Satsuma Press—Everything Lynn creates on her letterpress is just beautiful...especially her flowering rush cards. Her 2008 calendar is up for sale in her Etsy shop today. It looks gorgeous. (I have letterpress envy.)

Image from Satsuma Press.

Have a lovely Thursday everyone!

I think it's the time of year...

It is getting colder out and I just want fabrics all around me, like this one:

It's called She is the Cosmos from Reprodepot. I'm loving the subtle metallic accent, and how the lighter check is made up of stripes. In my perfect world I'd have living room drapes in this fabric. (Sigh.)

Love

This navy and gold metallic print from Reprodepot:

Sian Keegan is so cool!

I have been keeping up with Sian Keegan's work for awhile now. When I saw this owl she made on her blog and then later in her Etsy shop (for $12!) I couldn't resist...had to have it! Today a little box arrived in the mail from Sian, and inside was this perfect little owl wrapped in pink tissue paper:

I completely love it. It is all hand sewn. Her color choices are subtle and elegant, and her aesthetic is really something different and refreshing.

Curiously, there was a second little package, wrapped in cream colored tissue paper, also in the box...something I had not ordered, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it to find these:

A crocheted piece of cake and a felt and patchwork piece of pie! I have mascots! They were accompanied by a beautiful hand printed card, and even the little tags Sian made to put on the package were gorgeous. Thank you so much Sian! You have definitely made life a little sweeter around the cake + pie studio.

Check out Sian (pronounced Shawn) Keegan's work on her website right here, (she is also a talented pattern designer.) Make sure you visit her etsy shop and her blog too. Enjoy! 

Window dress-up

I have been meaning to make a valance for the window in our kitchen since we moved here almost a year ago. I put up one of those super cheap white curtain rods from Target (that I'd bought a year ago.)  The window is inset between our 1958 cabinets (which I if we weren't renting, I would have torn down myself by now,) so you don't see the rod at all. I hung a few fabrics from my little collection over the rod before I decided this one was perfect:

After I measured and cut the fabric, I sewed a hem on three sides, and then a two inch pocket for the pole to feed through at the top. It might have taken a half hour to do, and now my window, sitting sadly between my unfortunate cabinets, feels a little brighter and more pleasant in the morning before I've had my first cup of coffee. Good morning window. Have a good day everyone!

diy denim skirt

I was in the mood for a quick sewing project today, so I decided to try out Threadbanger's how to turn jeans into a skirt tutorial. The instructions were super easy and to the point, and in about 2 hours I had myself a new skirt that didn't cost a thing. I decided to use a pair of jeans I have had for nearly 15 years...they were my absolute favorite pair of jeans all through junior high and high school and I never could part with them, even though I've since grown hips and they don't fit quite like they used to. Now my favorite pair of jeans looks like this:

A perfect summer skirt. Its not very easy to take a picture of your own backside, so here is the back:

If you look at the tutorial, I didn't quite do the back of my skirt the same way. They have you sew the back seam in a straight line, but I love the look of the edges of the torn apart seams and wanted them to show. Putting it together that way you end up with a little "v" down at the bottom where the material won't come together, so I used some of the excess denim I had cut off the legs to make a little pleated back:

It was really easy to do. I just folded the pleats and pressed and pinned them in place. Then I stitched each one down, (to prevent having to press them again in the future!) Then I fit my pleated piece in the "v" and stitched around the edge, cut off the excess, and the skirt was done! I am so pleased with the results...now something I never wore is useful again. Thanks Threadbanger!

This is why

I love reading crafty blogs every morning—because some mornings I'll read a post on a blog like Whip Up about a shirt altering tutorial and a diy dressform tutorial (from Etsy Labs) that are so very useful I want to try them this minute! You can find the video tutorials over on ThreadBanger. I may make the dressform this weekend. I've wanted to get a dressform for awhile, despite the fact that I've never sewn clothes, I thought I might if I had one, and now I can have one for the price of an oversized t-shirt and some duct tape. Thank you Whip Up, Etsy Labs, & ThreadBanger!