I've been making....

Kat and Margs, stop reading now.  Or at least until your packages arrive.

Loads of "ice cream." Meaning frozen berries, frozen banana and a tiny bit of cream or milk, blended until smooth.  If you happen to be 3 and 1, this is just as good as real ice cream.  If you happen to be (nearly) 31, it's pretty good too.

 

Some birthday handmades for a nephew about to turn 1.  I love the wool pinstripe on these teeny tiny pants.  This was my first attempt making these (based on the design from Lotta Jansdotter's "Simple Sewing For Baby" but with cuffs turned out rather than in.)  And hey! I followed another pattern!  It gets a little less scary each time.

Some super soft charcoal-grey merino scarves for my sisters, who are in more wintery climes. I love the stretch of this material -- it tucks into itself so nicely, making it extra cozy.

A pillow made from a vintage tea towel.

 And leftover from Christmas, an example of the embroidered bookmarks I made for family (this one is my husband's.)  I had Solomon draw a portrait of each person on fabric and then I embroidered, added interfacing, and stiched them up (this idea is straight out of Amanda Soule's "The Creative Family.")  Some of turned out a bit large, but that's ok, my family reads really big books.

I'm really enjoying spending time out in my studio making just for us -- low-pressure and fun.

xx Jen

My Creative Space

Has looked a little like this....

But far more like this....

  It's school holidays, and even though neither of my little ones is in "school" per-se,  S does an afternoon Montessori program a few days a week, and all of our other potential activities (like music, library or gymnastics) are on hold during the break.  So we've had a lot of home time; I've intentionally let go of any print-making expectations, lest I get frustrated when they go unmet.  So we've colored, we've painted, we've play-doughed, we've baked, we've gardened, we've made little homes for the worms we've found, we've built train-tracks, and we've gone to the park.   I've really enjoyed creative playing without any focus on "making" or "getting done."

If you have the time, please check out Kirsty's blog Kootoyoo for many wonderful creative spaces.  Happy to be joining in....

PS, still ticking along with Blogtoberfest!  So far so good....though I may sit down tonight and do a little planning to keep the momentum going.  Have already found so many amazing blogs through the sign-up list; if you have time, take a gander.  Find it here.

Book Bliss

I recently celebrated one of those big birthdays ending in "0."  It was a quiet affair -- I'm not at a point in my life where I'm likely to throw a raging party, nursing babies and all.  So, instead my husband took the day off of work -- we went out for coffee and Chelsea buns.  We went for a walk on the beach.  He made me a lovely dinner after the babes were asleep.....

And then a few weeks later I received a very exciting package from one of my sisters. (Belated gifts are the best!  Why not extend the celebration for as long as possible?)  Inside were two wonderful, perfect books:

Whoo-hoo!  Who needs raging parties?  Books are the bomb.  Since I'm just getting off the ground with Seedling Clothing, The Handmade Marketplace, by Kari Chapin, and beautifully illustrated by Emily Martin and Jen Skelley, is already answering so many of my burning questions.  How to take better photos...the importance of setting goals....building a crafting community.... And that's only the first few chapters.  I am so grateful for this book.  I couldn't have come at a better time.

And then Lotta Jansdotter's gorgeous Simple Sewing for Baby.   Chock full of inspiring projects, clearly explained and beautifully photographed.  Plus, it includes patterns!  I may actually attempt to follow one.  Ms. Jansdotter's designs, textiles, and photos fill me with a sense of well-being.  Truly, could you ask for anything more from a book?

I think we may be a bit past some of these with baby A (the Snuggler, for instance); fortunately, we're still planning to add a few more ankle biters to the family.  Give it a few years -- I might even be pattern-savvy by then.

At any rate, I feel wonderfully prepared to embark on this next decade with these fantastic books on my bedside table.  Thank you lovely sister!

Tank Dress

Oh!  How I love this little girl.   As she grows and becomes more upright, it's been fun to dress her in a few, well, dresses.   Because she inherits most of her older brother's clothing, and I'm happy to have her in primarily gender-neutral blues, greens, grays, reds and browns, I realize that I may sometimes need to make a special effort to embrace her feminine side as well.  Thus was born this dress -- the first I've made for baby A.  It's the product of another storage-box upcycle -- a tank I love, but which is seldom worn.    I simply trimmed a band at the waist to make it shorter, added three pleats to the neck, and hemmed along the inner arm holes to make them child-size.  Finally, I added ribbons to bring the waist in a bit.  I'm liking the results, and I'm happy to think that this dress will fit for quite a while -- through the toddler years, becoming a tunic as my girl gets bigger.

Amazingly, our autumn days still warm up enough for this dress to be worn on it's own; but it would also be easy to pair this with leggings and a cardigan in the coming months.  Yes, it's been good to celebrate a bit of femininity!  I can see more of these to come.

P.S.... My Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway will be continuing for two more days.  To all those that have left comments and have become followers, likers, or fans -- thank you so much!  It's wonderful to connect with so many new people.   I'll be hosting a giveaway of a different sort to celebrate 100 fans on Facebook, and over 60 followers on the blog; it will begin immediately after my Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway ends.  Details to come.

Merino YOU! (Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway)

I'm very excited to be participating in my first Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway!  I will be gifting this gorgeous charcoal-gray fine-knit merino scarf to one lucky reader.  I have yet to do the edging, as my entry was a bit last-minute, but I definitely will do so before sending.  (Ed. note - - I have just done the edging and it looks fantastic!  I am so pleased to be giving this beautiful scarf away.....)  The scarf is wonderfully soft and the perfect length for both warmth and style.  The dimensions are approximately 10 in x 80 in (25cm x 200 cm.)

So, here are the parameters:

- I will certainly ship internationally, everyone welcome!
- To enter, all you need do is become a fan on Facebook or become a follower of the Seedling blog and leave a comment here afterward.  If you're already a fan / follower, that's great!   You may leave a comment here as well. 
- I will draw the winner randomly after the giveaway has ended.  I will post the result here on the blog, and on Facebook.  For good measure, you may also want to leave your email address.
- The giveaway will continue until the 20th of May North American time (the 21st New Zealand time) -- simply leave your comment before then.
- Your scarf will be on it's way to you by May 24th!

Good luck!

Merino Me (Part Two)

Remember all that merino I stumbled upon?  I've been waiting and planning, trying to decide how best to use it.  I began with a very simple project first -- edging a small off-cut for a scarf.  It's actually perfect -- warm and soft, stretchy enough to tuck into itself easily.  I've loved wearing this as the weather has cooled. 

Next -- and this felt like a big jump -- I really wanted to make a tunic/dress.  This was certainly a lot more complicated, but I warmed up with this top, and did the same basic style.  Again, no pattern, but I'm feeling happy with the results.  Ideally, I would have loved more length -- maybe just past the knee?  But this was the size of the material I had, so, alas....  Ah well, you only live once.  May as well show a little leg from time to time.

I don't have many opportunities to wear a dress like this with my current lifestyle (which demands that whatever I wear be both easy to clean and easy to play in....) but it just so happens that my husband and I have an oh-so-rare date night planned for this Saturday.  I may actually feel like a grown-up!

As for the rest of the merino?  Well, I'm saving most of it for now.  But, I'm planning on participating in the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway starting, oh....tomorrow!  I'll be giving away a gorgeous charcoal-gray merino scarf, made from the same material as this dress.  Stay tuned!

Waste Not....

Even with our stringent de-cluttering policies, we are guilty (er, I am guilty) of letting a few plastic storage boxes of clothing I can't quite part with waste away in our garage.   I did a little digging this week and resurrected a once-loved top and a once-perfect, oft-repaired pair of favorite jeans.  The long sleeves of the top became these super-simple baby leggings  (forgive the grainy rainy-day exposure....)

And the jeans transformed like this....

I'll be honest, making these was a bit harrowing -- I wouldn't recommend denim or this type of stretchy cotton/lycra material to a newbie seamstress like me.  It's a miracle that both the machine and I survived!  I certainly honed my G-rated expletive range during this project.  The center photo is of S assisting with a gentle, soothing touch to appease the sewing machine.  It must have worked, since she allowed me to finish both projects with only the small casualty of a broken needle. Worth the sacrifice to breathe new life into these old favorites.....

Just quickly, a few photos from the shed/studio revamp:

The walls are up!  I think I'll be able to get in and do some painting in the next week.  Can't wait.

Hey, I could do that....

Ever have this thought?  I do -- increasingly often.  Usually, it's the result of extreme optimism paired with lack of experience.  But sometimes, just sometimes, it's true.   Today I sewed my very first item of clothing for myself.  It helps that I have no perfectionist tendencies when it comes to sewing, but I'm feeling happy with the results.

I remember a quote from Amy Karol's "Bend the Rules With Sewing" that goes (and I'm totally paraphrasing here) "You have to be good enough to know when you can bend the rules."  I must say, this quote doesn't apply to me at all.  It's more like, "If you don't know any of the rules, you just make up your own (and make a lot of mistakes along the way.)"   I am a beginner's beginner when it comes to sewing -- I'm not one of those crafty ladies that learned to sew perched atop my great-grandmother's knee.   In fact, it took me about a year after buying my machine to even learn how to thread it properly.  I'm not sure I should admit that publicly, but there you have it.....

I've been lurking for a while -- admiring others' handiwork, reading crafty blogs and books, and buying handmade clothing when possible.  I've been warming up with smaller projects -- quilts, bibs, pot holders; our resident doll, "baby" has a stunning wardrobe selection.   Finally, this blog inspired me to take the plunge.  The blog is a photo journal of a woman in Canada who has pledged to wear only what she makes herself (including shoes, underwear and the like) for a year.  Believe me, I didn't think "Hey, I could do that...."  But I did think that maybe I could begin to make some of my clothes....

I began with a soft cotton jersey fabric that's been lingering in my stash; I found it incredibly forgiving, with just the right amount of stretch. I just cut the shape I envisioned (no patterns yet for this no rules-er), sewed along the inner seams, and added a gather in the middle.  I didn't finish any of the edges, which was fine by my standards.

SO satisfying.  The skirt?  Another no-rules experiment (without sewing involved this time....)  I began with a secondhand top, the stripey-ness of which I love, but with an unflattering neckline....

A little work with a rotary cutter (much smoother than scissors) right under the armpits, and a sporty little number perfect for autumn layering was revealed.

Next: learn how to take self-portraits without angles that make the viewer dizzy.  I'm sure it's doable.

Inward Bound

In Nelson, we are having a truly spectacular autumn.   I love how this season refocuses our energy inward.  We spend more time indoors, and I notice myself yearning to rearrange, refurbish, re-purpose, and just generally improve our living areas. 

I've been taking a brief respite from Seedling pursuits to focus on some home and family projects - - trying to tackle a few of the items on my never-ending projects-I'd-like-to-do list.....First up, pillow friends.  I first saw this project in Amy Karol's "Bend the Rules With Sewing" -- so simple, so cute!  I used up some fabric scraps, some leftover textile paints, and voila: new friends (and yes, the car is pink -- no gender stereotypes here!)

Next, the creation of some fine art.  Our walls have been sadly bare for some time now -- we didn't move here with much, and I have a difficult time choosing and buying artworks worthy of display.    A few years ago, I found a pile of canvasses for a dollar each at a yard sale.  Seeing great potential, but without a vision, they've remained in storage for nearly three years.  I pulled them out recently to give them an undercoat of white.....

Then S worked his magic....

The end result -- artwork we are proud to display and love to look at....

Next up, I'm getting ready to tackle that pile of merino.  It's so gorgeous that I think I'm hesitating, waiting until my sewing skills vastly improve.  But, eh, that may be awhile -- and it's getting chilly!  So, simple merino projects to come....

This Week: Projects

This was one of those weeks where sick kids, nap-less babies, and things liked dental appointments (in other words: life) prevailed.  When I finally got one child to bed, the other one inevitably woke.  Thus, work was eeked out in tiny increments -- 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there.  Fortunately, the bibs I began last week are an easy crafting fix.  Bibs, bibs, and more bibs.  How many does one baby need?  Probably not nearly as many as I've made.  However, they'll make great gifts, and I'm sure a few will end up with a new nephew soon enough.

All those bibs have left a lot of leftover fabric scraps.....with winter fast approaching I felt inspired to make my first patchwork quilt-cover for S's new "big kid" bed.   This is my first attempt at anything like this and I was gratified to find that it was a relatively simple, quick project.  Two evenings, max.

For the top, I used large alternating strips of cotton and corduroy, and on the back, a light-weight cotton canvas.  It snaps at the bottom and inside is a large fleece-y folded blanket.  Super warm and cozy.  Winter, do your worst.

This weekend we got around to a few bigger projects; S had his first try at painting a wall, and subsequently asked to do a bit of painting on his own.....

Meanwhile, I've been trying to figure out a creative way to re-use the paint-chip cards we seem to acquire by the handful whenever we undertake a painting project.  This worked well; first, some work with the scissors done by bigger hands:

Followed by some pasting, placing, and multi-media artwork done by little hands:

Beautiful!  As soon as that last coat dries, this will be hung in our newly-painted bathroom.