I wanted a new dress/shirt for the new year and since I didn't get anything from Anthropology for Christmas I was inspired to just make my own. At Target yesterday I saw this shirt dress ( pj's!) & grabbed it, vowing to figure it out as I went.
I looked in my stash & found I had a remnant of this amazing Japanese fabric. I cut a rectangle of fabric & cut it in half. Placed it on either side of the opening & turned under edges. I shaped the top angle, nearest the collar using iron, it's not very precise because I knew the collar would cover it. Top stitched around each piece. I wanted to soften the edges so I added this antique trim & top stitched it.
This is about as sassy as I get at 3 in the afternoon.
oscar is obsessed, absolutely obsessed with balloons. Morning, noon & night he talks about them 'pop ballooooon ?' I admit that we encouraged it for a while because it is his first real sentence but now, come ON ALREADY. what can I do???
the pile in my studio of the finished & the unfinished gifts. my SIL's knitting tote, filled with 2 skeins of wool ( pink of course) & a simple tutorial from here. this was the last last last minute gift, I saw here & immediately ordered the supplies. I wrapped an embroidery hoop with extra batting trimmings ( from the next project) and wrapped more felt around it so it would be fatter. It worked well, without having to go to JoAnne's again. (sorry about the orientation ) This year for some reason I made my first quilt, for Felix, I'll have another post about the whole process later, with better photo's. A knitted penguin for Oscar, another one is on the needles for Felix. I saw the pattern here & had the perfect yarn. An easy pattern I would recomend to any amateur knitter ( like myself.) Quick little vest for Oscar in this cute polar fleece. Felix is getting some pj pants made from the same material. Couldn't help it. And a few totes for my other SIL's & in-laws, inspired by at the end of this row.
I didn't mean to make so much or to make myself crazy ( or my husband). And all in all I'm feeling very satisfied. Maybe it's because I won't be with my family for christmas, or maybe I'm trying to prove something but I hope all of this shows that I enjoy making functional art. And like everyone, we have no money to spend this year, so it was a good challenge. Most of the material & yarn was from my stash, yeahhhh! Most of the inspiration was from my com-padres here at home or online, and all was doable. Maybe after all of this Christmasing I'll get back into CCsking again with my extra time. or maybe not.
hope you & yours have a great holiday, I think it's time to make cookies!
(Sorry it's been so long, I won't dwell on it, all of us are crazy busy rite, just how it is.)
When I was little my mom ( in top photo) made us feel that winter was the most magical season of all. With St. Nick arriving early in December and St. Lucia Day beginning on the night of December twelfth. As a family we would bake the sacred saffron cream rolls on the eve of the twelfth, recipe here. We would make wreaths of juniper boughs and make ready all of our white dresses for our early morning journey. Even though it was hard to sleep that night our mother would wake us by candlelight at 5am to begin our tradition. We would put our white embroidered dresses on top of our pjs, put a wreath on our sleepy heads and grab a large basket of rolls or orange slices. We would make our way, by candlelight, to many neighbors homes, good friends who knew we were coming too. We would wake them by their bedside, in a halo of candlelight giving them a few rolls and oranges. And than we would quietly walk out and onto the next home. The five children and one weary mother would tromp back home rite around daybreak, where my father would make hot chocolate, scrambled eggs and we would all choke down a few more rolls. We would nap on couches until it was ready to go to school. It brought magic to us, bring back the light to our neighbors and good friends, that Christmas was coming. This year we switched things round a bit. My mom came over during nap time and woke my boys by candlelight to help us make St. Lucia rolls. Sleepy boys at the table making aliens and bears and the traditional shapes out of the dough. We spent time together in front of the Christmas tree, eating our prizes. Thinking about my siblings(1,2,3,4) and my mom and what a perfect way to begin the Christmas magic.
This fall the boys & I have found ourselves, many times, on top of this hill. It is near our house, an easy stop on our way to or from anywhere. What I love about being there with my boys, and many others in tow, is the freedom they have to run, throw and explore this great park. This year is so different now that Oscar can run & keep up with Felix. I'm more relaxed because I'm not either pregnant or toting around a baby. I just pack a few apples & we either throw them or eat them, most likely both. Felix & Oscar are really really acting like brothers now. sigh........ ( Notice that felix has his hill sweater on for the occasion. ) more holiday crafts coming up soon, if I can get it together.
Felix has finally decided that big boy underwear are worth the effort. Now it's like I get my kid back, no frustration, no pressure, no more diapers, it was a long long long long road for us. I started to really resent those who are fortunate enough to have a child who 'decides' to go in toilet. Maybe I'll get lucky with Oscar. on to a lighter subject ....... craft night, Tonight I'm making onion & garlic bags for my siblings, here's the prototype.
On the menu: Pear Cheesecake Bars Chocolate biscotti, from this recipe.
I have missed some of our meetings because of work but normally we meet monthly except for December when its almost weekly. These are a few of the fine talented ladies who will hopefully be joining me this evening, Meg, Beth & Mary Jo. The others are equally talented & we keep encouraging them to start a blog, but than you'll see who I copy from. I feel very fortuante to have such talented friends.
I wanted a new dress/shirt for the new year and since I didn't get anything from Anthropology for Christmas I was inspired to just make my own.
I looked in my stash & found I had a remnant of this amazing Japanese fabric. I cut a rectangle of fabric & cut it in half. Placed it on either side of the opening & turned under edges. I shaped the top angle, nearest the collar using iron, it's not very precise because I knew the collar would cover it. Top stitched around each piece. I wanted to soften the edges so I added this antique trim & top stitched it.
