Backyard Wildlife

Today we spent a nice quiet day at home, performing some spring cleaning and enjoying time together.  Every time we looked out the window we saw animals -- squirrels gathering leaves, birds flying overhead, and then two bucks travelling together.

Occasionally they would stop and lock horns for a minute or so, then separate and meander some more. 

 

 

 Such a beautiful sight to see without even leaving the house.

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New Toy!

Surprise!  It was for me too -- this little beauty was a birthday gift for yours truly this week.  Having never used a serger before, it was quite daunting to pick one out in the store.  I chose this one because it came from a store that will give me free lessons on it for as long as it takes to figure it out.  I figured extra stitches and features weren't really worth it if the machine sat in the corner gathering dust because I didn't know how to use it.

I have now serged a sample of just about every type of material I had on hand.  My sewing room is filled with serged bits of t-shirts, jeans, quilting cotton, fleece, flannel, linen.... well, you get the idea.

I also lucked into a 50% off one day sale at one of the local fabric stores on New Year's Day.  I bought three patterns for pajamas and clothes for Little Man as well as monkey-print cotton flannel for the first pair of pjs.  I also got three meters of ecru waffle-weave fabric for making napkins.  After serging the first napkin I am glad I have lessons waiting for me.  Although I was able to figure out on my own how to thread the machine (no small feat), how to do all the stitches, and how to adjust each tension, there is so much more to serging than what is in the manual.  The right stitch for the specific application, the type of thread that gives the best result for the project -- and things I don't even know about yet.  My napkin issue was that I did rolled edges that looked great when first complete, but looked ragged after the wash as little tufts of fabric came through the serged edge.  Apparently this is fixable with a different thread and a stitch that is more suitable to the fabric.

Expect to see more sewing projects in the near future!  I promise it will be more than just serged scraps next time.

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Denim Market Bag

I made this "market bag" as a gift this Christmas for my Dad.  I used a pattern from The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style.  The outside is made from blue denim.  The bag has lots of special touches just for Dad.  Like this tag that I salvaged from one of my pairs of jeans:

 

And this outer pocket (with red Levi's tab) from the same pair of jeans:

 

And a washable vinyl inside in a yummy ice cream print:

 

The bag also has a solid bottom due to a piece of bookboard cut to fit and covered with matching vinyl.

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Happy New Year!

2010.  It sounds like something from a science fiction novel rather than the here and now.  The discussions about 2000 (Y2K!) are still so recent.  And yet, it has really been quite the decade with so many events -- both good and bad -- that will weave their way into history.

My life has changed quite a lot over the last decade, but so much of the change has occurred within the last year.  Our family has experienced many challenges in discovering and dealing with Little Man's allergies.  For quite some time this consumed our entire lives -- doctor and hospital visits, finding and preparing special food, just getting by day-to-day.  We still spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but Little Man "helps" so it has become something we do together.  The allergies do not define us now.  They are always there, and we need to always be vigilant to avoid contact with his allergens, but we have the chance now to focus on other things through our day.

As far as resolutions go for this new year, I've decided not to set any.  Over the last few months I've found a path that I think I would like to follow.  So rather than start something new with the new year, I would like to continue to wander the path to see where this journey will go.  This isn't going to be a year of goals and achievements and checklists.  By meandering along I can take time to see little details, freeze moments in time, and truly revel in each experience.  And I plan to enjoy every bit of it.  Care to join me?

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Merry Christmas

Wishing you and your family a Christmas filled with wonder, magic, and moments of peaceful reflection.

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In the Kitchen: Christmas Dinner Preparation

Join me in the Eagle Loft Kitchen as we cook up a holiday feast free of the top ten allergens.

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Sew Liberated Book GIVEAWAY!!!!

Meg McElwee's latest book, Sew Liberated: 20 stylish projects for the modern sewist, has just been released this month.  It's a hot topic in the blogosphere -- if you sew, this is probably on your Christmas list.  I would sure like to have a copy myself!

Grosgrain has generously offered a giveaway for the book.  Head on over and leave a comment for your chance to win:

Sew Liberated Book GIVEAWAY!!!!

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Coffee Press Cozy

Yesterday was very productive.  I finished not one, but two projects -- start to finish.  I made another wristlet purse, and also made a coffee press cozy for a Bodum coffee press.  I got the pattern from The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style (yes, again!  I've made a lot of things from that book this season).  One thing I didn't like about this pattern was that it needed a photocopier that could enlarge the image 167%.  My photocopier doesn't do that, so armed with calculator I worked out the dimensions myself from the smaller image.  It worked out just fine for the Bodum I am gifting this season, but it would not work for my own Bodum.  I have a much older one and the handle is slightly smaller -- just enough that the cozy doesn't really fit.  I'm going to make another one for me after the Christmas crafting rush is over, and I will decrease the size of the tab by 1/4 inch on each side so it fits nicely beneath the handle.

It is rather hard to see in the pictures, but those are coffee beans printed on the fabric.

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Monkey Toy Bag

Another last minute project addition!  I am removing most of the packaging materials from store-bought gifts for our toddler before wrapping them for Christmas in order to make everything instantly accessible on Christmas morning.  It's no fun struggling with the thousands of twist-ties that are now used to optimally position toys within their packaging, or the tape that seals boxes like they have precious treasure inside.  It also makes things at least a tiny bit less commercial when you don't have all the packaging to deal with -- you just have the toy, ready to go.  So last night I was unpackaging a toy called "String and Beep", which is a set of wooden truck and car beads that come with a string to thread them onto.  And I realized that we would now have twelve vehicle beads with no home.  What to do?  Put everything else on hold of course so I could whip up a bag in which to store them.

I more-or-less followed the instructions in The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style for the zippered pouch.  I say "more-or-less" because it is so similar to the wristlet purse design (and I am now a pro at those after having done several) so I didn't really need to follow the directions.  Also, I increased the size so the bag would hold all of the beads.  As a finishing touch, I made a puffy little zipper pull doo-dad to make it easier for Little Man to work the zipper.  I sewed two sun shapes from the bag fabric together, stuffed them, and attached it to the zipper pull with a ribbon.  It's functional and makes the bag look extra cute.

I like the bag so much that I'm not even wrapping it.  It can be its own gift-wrap and save paper.

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Always More Projects

Yes, that is a stack of Christmas cards ready to mail.  Yes, I said I wasn't sending Christmas cards this year.

New projects always find me at Christmas.  I set goals well in advance:  what to make, what to cook, what to decorate, etc.  Then I start in on those tasks gradually in November, congratulating myself for getting such an early start.  Then I add projects.  Many projects.  Necessary projects.

This year the crafting bug bit me and I have lots of sewing projects on my list to give as gifts.  Some are fully complete (yay!), but lots are still on hold.  Because this year I needed to learn to make paper snowflakes.  And why have I never made a Christmas bunting before?  So that was another necessary project.  But I had decided not to do cards this year, so that gave me extra time for all these other things I am determined to make.  Right? 

Well, we were on track until I took the most perfect photos of Little Man yesterday.  Photos of him decorating his first Christmas tree.  They were taken in a darkened room, and his face is lit just from the glow of the tree lights.  He looks angelic as he contemplates the magic of the tree.  Obviously it would be wrong to withhold these treasured photos from family and close friends.

Could I attach those photos into a premade card template, print them and be done?  Of course not.  None of the store's templates conveyed the right sense of wonder to go with the photos.  And I didn't like the wording on those templates.  And, well... I needed another project.  So I dusted off my scrapbooking files and got to work creating a custom template last night.  Amazingly, I sent the order online to be printed just before midnight last night and received word that the order was ready today before 9am.  So I was able to spend this evening addressing envelopes, and completed this project in only two days. 

Tomorrow I can return to my regularly scheduled crafting, cooking, decorating and wrapping... unless a new project catches my eye.

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