July 2009

Some Pillow Talk

July 30, 2009

As I was going through closets and drawers, organizing, of course, I came across a large pile of sheets that had not been used in a long time. I packed them into the bag to donate, and then realized that the fabric was perfect for a few sewing projects.

The sheets were actually favorites of mine, but apparently my hubby was not into large flowers adorning our bed, so I must have tucked them away for a later time.

So, what to do with king size sheets? Pajamas of course!!!!!

I love pajamas, and I am pretty sure that I have many a blog post to prove that. First, I just love to hang out around the house in fun lounge pants, and also, who could possibly have too many pairs of pajamas????

Once I was done with the PJ’s, I was staring at the mound of pillow cases on my sewing table, and I knew that they would make some cool little tote bags for my night time knitting, or a fun overnight when I stay at my parent’s house.

The cool thing about using a pillow case to make a tote is that if you use the open side of the case, you already have a great hem for the bags, and all that you need to do is attach the handles to the top. Seriously, this was about a 20 minute project, and it yielded a fun little bag that I am sure will have many uses.

Repurposing is a ton of fun. Finding new ways to use old items seems like the perfect way to live simply and creatively. I have a ton more sheets, and I see a lot more pajamas in my future, as well as my kiddos.

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Saving Grace

July 29, 2009

I am always amazed by how one small event can so greatly impact another. Last night, my husband went to bed at 8 since he had to get up at 2 am to catch his flight this morning. On nights like these, I try and stay awake to make sure that he gets up and gets some help. At about 11 o’clock, I decided to help keep myself awake by sewing up a tote bag I had been thinking about for a few days.

At around midnight I sat down to embroider the two roses, and I was pretty engulfed 70 minutes later when I looked up to some of the most intense lightning that I have seen in a while. Now, Colorado has been experiencing very odd and strong weather lately, and we have had two floods in the past two weeks. This is really not normal for this area, and in fact, in the seven years that I have been here, we have been in a constant drought. I am not kidding when I say that I sat for about 90 seconds, watched as the wind picked up and whipped everything around, and then as the sky opened up and the torrential rain poured through. For anyone who has lived in a place like Arizona, you know what I mean when I say Monsoon. We had a very damaging storm last week, but that was about an hour of torrential rain, and it crept up on us, rather then hitting so quickly. I ran to the basement to check the sump pump, and literally, by the time I ran back upstairs to get my husband, grab some buckets and towels, and get back down stairs, the basement was flooding.

Needless to say, it was a long night. The funny thing was that if I had not been sitting in the dining room, embroidering that bag, waiting for my husband’s alarm to go off, I would never have known that they storm was hitting us the way that it did.

The tote bag is now one of my favorites, for many reasons. First, I love the tiny rose fabric, and it has been sitting in my stash for some time now. I used a mixture of cream linen with the rose, and the linen is so sturdy and clean that I am heading back to the fabric store today to pick up some more.

The pocket was an afterthought, and so it was stitched by hand (which turned out to add a personal touch on the piece).

The two roses are from Sublime Stitching, and they added the perfect touch. I think that one of the true of joys of sewing for me right now is that I am getting to a place where I am getting creative, and thinking on my own rather then always looking for a pattern. It is like cooking without a recipe, just letting your instincts be the guide. As I am getting older, I seem to be following my intuition more, and I am not so afraid of “screwing” up or getting it wrong.

The tote itself is super easy to make, and I am sure that there are thousands of patterns out there to use as a guide. I think that I have fallen in love with adding some fun touches to my bags, and I can see using embroidery and applique becoming pretty common in my sewing.

The bag will be always be a reminder that even in those chaotic times that make you want to cry, there is always something pretty to be made to lift your spirits.

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Messy Messy Messy

July 28, 2009

I had a different blog post planned for today, but then Kayla (whose wonderful blog can be found here) left a great quote in yesterday’s comments section. The quote read “Plans are neat, and motherhood is messy” ~Mothering Magazine. Considering the day that I had just had, that quote seemed more then perfect.

The funny thing about me is that at one point in my life, I was considered to be very neat and organized. Two children, and the past year of my life have certainly seen the end to that.

Dye pots, toys, art books and paints, clothes, dishware, etc. have seemed to pile up in obscure places, and cabinets and closets have become favorite hiding places for everything that I just can’t “deal with” at the moment.

Last week, my husband and I decided that it was time to go through every corner of our home and rid out, organize and simplify. I began yesterday with the kitchen.

My mother, who is a true domestic goddess (I am pretty sure we could eat off her garage floor), came over to help me out (I think that she is rather disappointed in my messy issues). So, just how bad was the kitchen? Well, after 7.5 hours of cleaning, we were still not completely done. Now, I don’t have a very large kitchen space, or very many cabinets, so that should tell you something about my skill for creating a mess.

We took everything out of every cabinet, drawer and shelf and cleaned every inch of space that we could. It was a liberating feeling, especially to realize just how little I actually use on a daily basis, and how much could be given away or gifted.

I had to laugh through the process though, because when I was in college, my friends use to say that I crafted so much that they were afraid that they would come home one day and find that I had stenciled the driveway (If I could figure out a way to do it, trust me I would). The fact is that I would rather sew, cook, knit, garden, play with my little ones, and take a bath then I would clean. Having said that it is nice to have

clean cabinets (yes, those are paper towels in between each of our pasta bowls to keep them from scratching)

a pretty counter top

an organized pantry

and perfectly stacked plates.

OK, one room down, many many more to go

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Weekend Sewing

July 27, 2009

As always seems to be the case, as soon as I decide to dedicate time to working on projects, something always happens to deter me. Oh well, such is the life of a mama.

While we were in California last week, my oldest got very sick with some kind of infection in his tonsils. He spiked a fever that consistently stayed over 103, and his throat got to the point where he could not swallow. We ended up having to use antibiotics on him for the very first time in 6 years (I actually feel pretty good about how long we managed we have to go before giving them to him).

So, of course, this weekend the little one got it. Thankfully his was not as bad, and he did not require antibiotics (which was great, since he got sick right around 5 pm on Friday, just as the doctor’s office was closing).

I didn’t get everything that I wanted to accomplished this weekend, but I did get a few projects wrapped up, and one big project started.

First, I finished up another summer skirt for myself. This was the original skirt that I used to construct the modified pattern of Amy Butler’s Barcelona skirt with, and it still has a bit too much of an a-line, but I love the fabric too much to not wear it.

I also made both of my sons bags to hang their soccer gear in. I think that this had to be the easiest and quickest thing I have made in a while, and the smiles that I received when I was finished was worth it’s weight in gold.

I also started on a blanket that is going to auction in a few weeks to raise money for a new Waldorf charter school here in town. I am amazed by the work that the founding families are doing to get this school up and running, and this blanket is my contribution and wish for them to succeed. It is a three panel blanket, with the center panel having both machine and hand appliqued/embroidered pieces in it. I am so excited to see how this turns out. I spent the weekend placing the pieces for the machine applique, and doing a few test runs on the stitching that I wanted to use.

The blanket is due to be finished by Friday, and I have a lot of work still left to do. I can’t wait to show you all the finished piece.

While I wish it had been more of a productive few days, I feel good about the start to the week. I hope that all of you enjoyed some quiet, and productive creativity.

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Friday Inspiration

July 24, 2009

Since getting back from our trip this week, I have been looking around for new creative inspiration to feed my love of knitting and sewing. My house is now cleaned, the laundry has been done, and I am ready to enjoy a weekend of crafting.