Vintage Sunsuit In the Shop

I realized that I put photos up on Instagram of this little guy, but didn't do a blog post on it.  I really loved making this because of all the hand work on it. Ever since I was small I loved doing needle work by hand. I love embroidery, but haven't had a lot of time recently to do it, so this was fun to make because it included a little bit of it and some applique.  The sun suit is in the shop now, ready for spring summer! The main navy blue fabric is cotton linen blend, with the lighter blue being linen. The red and white fabric is a reproduction fabric, to give it that vintage vibe.  I used natural shell buttons for the closures and straps. I think it is Unisex, but like I have mentioned before, some of the feedback that I get for boys clothes worries me that most moms of boys wouldn't buy this for their son. I would, but that is me.   The vintage pattern of this shows a little boy wearing it in the same color combination, so I wonder if way back when, they didn't have all the hang ups with dressing their boys in fun creative looks that seems to be prevalent today.  When considering the boy clothing I'm making, I'm really trying to think about wear and tear, and I think linen is a good tough choice, because it sure can take a beating and still look beautiful. Currently I'm working on a romper that is gingham linen and I love how it looks both washed or pressed. This one is almost complete and will be up soon.

Super duper sunny out today as I type this! Had my lunch out on the patio and listened to all the birdies chirping away, and the sun actually got a bit too hot on my legs! Wednesday the rain returns I hear, and I couldn't be more happy about this, since they are predicting two strong storms. Hope it pulls us out of the severe drought category.
Well, back to the studio to finish up some sewing.

The New Year Begins

 These glasses are a symbol of a shinny new year! When I woke on New Years day, the sun was shinning through all the party glassed from the night before.  I think it is a good omen!

 This is California in the winter. Never horrible weather, really, just foggy in the morning and cold, but not freezing.

 I'm trying to stay true to my quasi resolution of doing more embroidery. I started this project pictured below. I bought it for Christmas for Caitlin, and I had hope to sneak some time to finnish it, and give it to her completed, but it didn't happen. Instead, I told her it would be my first project of the year. If you are interested in the design, it comes from here.    I have given myself a mini vacation from the shop, but I hope to start on some more items next week.    Blogger is really bugging me lately, and I know I have complained on here before, but if anyone has any tricks on how to up load photos in the order you want them, please let me know! Ever since they changed it, everything is messed up!   I can't type below this photo, because I'm sure I must have punched something I shouldn't have, and now this is where I have to say good bye for now.   Stay tuned for some pretty little dresses and other items for the shop.

Fun Embroidery Project

 As if I don't have enough to do already, I decided I  needed an embroidery project to work on. I saw this over at Sublime Stitching, and I'm going to attempt to duplicate it. You have to click over to see how cute these animals were stitched up by an artist in Australia. I tried to enlarge them to see if she used cotton floss or something else, as they did not seem to know over at Sublime Stitching, and I'm pretty sure she used wool.

So I went on line and started looking for shops in my area, and wow, I found THE coolest needlework shop EVER!! It is located in a semi industrial area in  Alameda Ca. It has 3000 sq. feet of goodies! Top quality threads and anything you could possibly ever want in a needlework shop. The name of the shop is cute too, it's called " Needle In a Haystack."

It is wall to wall threads of all kinds. From silk, to cotton, to wool. Needless to say, I blew a lot of my birthday money here.

I won't even tell you how much these all came to, but all I can say is I better actually do this project or I will feel super guilty, since this was a small kings ransom! I looked at the pictures on SS and just randomly chose some colors to work with. I chose a few with different textures, to make it more interesting.

On another note, I am very close to finishing Caitlin's dress. I don't know why, but this dress is kicking my butt big time. All I need to do now is put the sleeves in, the zipper, and finish the hems and I am done! I have so many things going on in my head  for the Etsy shop that I'm itching to start cutting up more things.

I'm off now to tackle that dress!!!!!

Baby Boy Puppy Sun Suit

 Just finished sewing this little gem up today, and it is in the shop. I really love the way the little shorts part of this sun suit turned out. The drape of the linen is wonderful and just the right weight.

 Can you picture, if you had twins( girl and boy) how cute this and the bunny one would look on them?!

I wish they still made this look for little boys, and everything wasn't just trucks and sports emblems.

 Well, I just clicked on something here and I seem to not be able to write any text below this next picture. This new blogger format is testing my patience!   Anyway, I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend. We did absolutely nothing, and it was great!   The summer season sure feels like it has arrived and with it brings a whole new routine, which is very welcome and I'm excited for.  Cooking with summer ingredients, long sunny days etc. I think after all these years of not liking the summer months, and complaining rather loudly about it, as my family will attest to, I have now learned to embrace it, and love it for what it brings. So, I'm ready summer.......lets have some fun!

Sneak peek

Here is a little peek and what I have been working on. You will just have to wait and see how I incorporate this into two final pieces.

I have been doing some spring cleaning around the house these past couple of days, and I'm trying to just focus on one section at a time. Isn't it odd how you can walk by something several times and not really notice that something needs to be deep cleaned? It seems like when the first spring light starts resting its rays on certain areas in the home, you can start to see what you have been neglecting most of the winter months. I really went to town on our main bathroom and sorted some shelves. I now need to go through all the expired items, or things just taking up space. I did a little bit in the kitchen, but I'm heading in there tomorrow to do more intense deep cleaning. Lots to be done my friends!

In between the cleanings, I sit and rest with this little bit of embroidery for my two projects. Hopefully they will be completed pronto, and be in the shop.

What are your spring cleaning tips??

I have missed embroidery

I started this piece two years ago, for something to work on when I was recovering from my hip surgery. I really don't know why I didn't finish it, but I found it the other day while looking through my supply cabinet. I have been missing embroidery, and really wanted to get back into another project, but when I saw this, I told myself that I should finish abandoned projects first. This little sampler is really charming, and would be adorable for a child's room. Perhaps it will be tucked away for a future grandchild, or a gift. It is a very easy pattern to work on, and the prefect way to get my creative juices flowing again.

I took a tiny break from the dress I was working on for my shop, and I'm having a hard time getting back to it. Perhaps it is because it is velveteen, and I'm already looking at spring things. It doesn't help that it has been sunny and very warm here in Northern Cal.

What do you think? Should I finish it and put it in anyway, or move on and save it for next fall/winter? I'm in one of those stuck moods lately and avoiding working on things for the shop in general.

We are due for a big storm tomorrow, and perhaps being stuck in the house will bring me back to the work room. Although stormy weather brings out the baker in me as well......I really need to focus!!!

Cute item added to shop

I decided to put a cute little toy into the shop. We will see how this one does before I commit to making more. She was a bit time consuming, but quite fun to make. Years ago I made a couple of these and gave them as gifts to my nieces. They still have them and use them as decor now, but my sister said that they really enjoyed them when they were little.
I made this one in my signature red and white, but I will make the next one in another color. I'm using all the beautiful scraps that I have. Perfect little pieces, big enough for little mouse clothing.
She comes with this little bag, to keep her safe when she is not in use. I will embroider the name of the child in the circle, or do a letter.
She is 7 1/2 inches tall. Her dress is embroidered around the edges in blanket stitch. the skirt straps have French ribbon, and both pieces can come off.
I think she is pretty sweet, and would be a nice little gift.

New project

See the little birdie in the picture? I'm going to do a little thread painting of him. I have other ideas that will go into the project. I hope to show you soon how it comes out.

Finding all the colors to match up to his feathers was so much fun. It is a kingfisher, isn't he the cutest?!

5 more days!

This is a little embroidery project that I will be doing while recovering from my hip surgery. All the bunnies are white with accents of brown, and the letters are outlined in white. I think I will put it on natural linen. Maybe it will be all finished for Easter.
My mother in law was so sweet, and sent me these three books in the mail yesterday. I was wondering what reading material to bring to the hospital. Now I have three lovely books to choose from, and who knows, I may get through all three by the time I recover. Thanks Joan :)

I had a slight freak out last week about doing this surgery, but it has past now, and I feel much better going into it. Valentine's dinner confirmed it for me, since I could barely sit through the whole dinner without severe pain. It is kind of embarrassing also, when you try and get out of the chair and you are all hunched over, because you are afraid that it won't go back into the socket! Pretty much every time I sit longer than 40 min. or so, it seems to dislocate slightly. Every time I walk into a restaurant, I really have to decide if I will be able to tough it out. Well, hopefully those days will be over. For that part I'm really excited, the actual hospital experience, not so much. Fear of the unknown is weighing heavily I'm afraid. All I can say is that I'm really looking forward to February 23rd, when the whole thing is over, and I can start my recovery.
Wish me luck, and I may or may not be blogging, we shall see. Something tells me though, that I won't be able to stay away for too long.

Remember this?

Last year I was working on this, and hoping it would be done for Christmas time, but I didn't make it. This year, I'm on the home stretch! Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to do a wall hanging of it, and put it in the guest bathroom, or do a pillow. If I do a wall hanging, I want to find a frame that I can enhance with woodland type of twigs perhaps. I have a lot of holiday pillows already, so I'm not sure I want to make yet another. It depends I guess if I can get all the supplies for the frame.
I worked on this last month. They are little felt pockets for an Advent calendar. I got the tutorial from "Allsorts" blog. The rest of the project is to find some sort of ribbon or fabric to string them up on, then in between each one, you tie another ribbon so they stay separate. I need to go out and find some nice ribbon and string it up on December 1st.
Aside from these two embroidery projects, I'm currently sewing a top for myself. We will see how that turns out. After going to a bunch of stores and getting very annoyed with the lack of creativity and the price of things, I have decided to try once again, to sew something for myself. Sometimes this turns out well, and sometimes the item ends up folded and put away in shame, because, unlike the store, you have committed to making this thing, and you simply can't just go put it back on the rack. It is always a bit dicey to sew for yourself I think. I'm really trying to get past this though. My reference for how patterns look when they are done, is "Pattern Review." You can go on there and see how it turned out for others with similar body types and what it looks like in certain fabrics. I love this site, and it has helped me to choose wisely.

As the weather starts to turn here, I'm getting the urge to do more sewing, so hopefully there will be more to share.

Quincy update: We are starting to think that he may never like being outside of his cage. We have been working with him for several days, and he still is not happy with being out. When we had our beloved Frankie, he loved being out from day one, and this little guy has more fun in his own cage. Now I have to decide if I will get him a companion, or just enjoy him in his cage and let him be.
Anyone out there have a stubborn parakeet, that didn't want to come out?

A little something I stitched up

I got these adorable fruit patterns from Doe C Doe blog. If you like cute freebies, go and check out her blog, it is a fun one. At first I thought this little pattern was an orange; my husband looked at it and thought it might be an apple. Since I love red, I decided that yes indeed it is an apple.
I assumed that this was a plum. Anyone out there think that it might be a different fruit?
Your gonna laugh at what I thought this one was, I even had the floss picked out and everything. I really was convinced that it was an eggplant. Again, my husband said," Are you sure it isn't a pear?" Duh!! The rest of them are fruit, why would this be an eggplant??
They were a lot of fun to stitch up, and a nice little vacation from the sampler that I'm working on. I really need to get back to said sampler though, or it may get tucked away in the closet if I stay away too long.
Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

New projects

On Sunday, Caitlin and I went to Joann Fabrics, because they were having a sale on Simplicity patterns for 99 cents! We just could not pass it up. The top pattern (McCall's) we have had since last spring. Caitlin really wants me to make this first, and various other styles in the other patterns. We always get excited at the beginning of a new season, with big plans to make a lot of dresses etc. We shall see how far I get this season with all of her requests.
This is my new embroidery project. It is from an old Marie Claire Idee's. I have never made a sampler before, so this should be fun. I love the colors and the little flowers in between the letters.
But first, I must head over to Kinkos to have them copy the image in reverse, then comes all the tracing!! That is the worst part of the project for me. This process usually takes an afternoon of cramped hands and crossed eyes. On my last project, the one with the children in the mistletoe, I got pretty far, but I didn't quite finish enough for me to keep at it. I'll probably tuck it away until the fall.
Gotta run now and do many chores.......including going to my favorite fabric store in Oakland :)

Things I have been up to

These were the three pillow cases that I embroidered for my two nieces and my nephew. I can show them now,since they came over for a small holiday gathering, and they decided to open their gifts from us. We also celebrated Pierre's birthday.
Tea towel I made to go along with the apron that I made my sister.
Detail of apron
Caitlin modeling it
Pierre's birthday was December 20th, and we decided to get him this giant chocolate cake to celebrate.
Anticipation....
Make a wish!


Well folks, it is nearing the day. Hope everyone has all their chores done and gifts wrapped! I'm almost done,with last minute things and final menu preparations for Christmas dinner.
I put the pictures of Pierre up for his mom and dad who read the blog from France. I hope they enjoy the photos,there will be more to share after Christmas so come back again Michele and Jaquie.
My next post will be after Christmas....So, here is wishing everyone out there in blog land a very Merry Christmas!

Sorting and getting ready

I bought this book some time ago,and I have been meaning to do a few projects with the charming images in it. It is not the type of embroidery I normally do, so it will be a nice switch from some of the more time consuming work that I have done. I can't really say what projects I will be working on with the book, because most of them may be some Christmas gifts. Before I even get started on anything, I really need to......
sort out all of the floss first! I'm sure this is a familiar sight to most needle workers. This is what I will be doing the minute I get off the computer!

On a side note, I keep forgetting to update all of you who might remember little Oliver, my sisters puppy. He ended up being adopted by the vet team who diagnosed him with all his health issues. He is, I'm happy to say alive and doing quite well,despite all of his problems.

Finishing one, starting another

Here is the finished product! It was a lot of fun embroidering this and making into this shaped pillow. I used white linen,and put in an invisible zipper on the side. I then had to decide if I wanted to sew in the trim,and just have the little black fuzzy balls showing, or hand sew it to the front, which is what I ended up doing. I thought it would create a sort of frame for it. I think it turned out pretty good, and in time for Halloween, although it will be out on display throughout the year.
I started this project about two or three years ago! I found it in the closet,and I think I'm going to attempt to complete it or get real close.
Here is what it is suppose to look like. I'm also deciding on a few doable Christmas projects for gifts. I think I won't set the bar too high,and maybe that way I will actually get something accomplished.