Bella's Wall

A lovely lady whom we attend worship with finds vintage handkerchiefs with hand embroidery work on them and adds lace to them. I love that she builds on someone else's art. And gives them another life. She is also nice enough to give them to people when she is done. They are so pretty that I told her I was going to frame the one she gave me. So the next week she brought me even  more (queue excitement!)
I grabbed this shadow box frame at ikea when we went last year for this project and finally found the time to get this project done.
It required figuring out how to fit them all in and show off the lace. And then stitching them each onto the backing -of course now I am wishing I had stitched more, but I figured I would show you anyway since more then likely it will take me another year to get it taken apart again...

I love looking at it. Wouldn't this be fun to do with family pieces?

I added it to Bella's room for now. 

I just realized her room already looks different from this again... oh well it's a semi updated picture!!! 

Embroidering

Uber, the kids and I went on a vacation to Charlotte, Charleston & Savannah a few months back. I wanted to take something with me because it was going to be a ton of time in the car. I decided to just take linen and embroidery supplies and figure it out on the way-no pressure since it was supposed to be a vacation.

I ended up giving Uber the choice of a few verses. He chose Psalms 150:6 and I used this pinterest pin to draw out my pattern -I had to freehand it since I didn't have a printer- I think I got it pretty close. It was nice to be able to mindlessly stitch away and not have to come up with anything!

There is just something about embroidering that is so fun. 

The bird was off of this pin. Flowers from here.

The Butterfly is from here. 

I do wish the bird had turned out closer to the original but when I actually looked into the bird later I think I found that it was done over painted fabric... or something like that... Oh well... 

Finally blogging this make me want to get our supplies and start another project. 

Hope you enjoyed

Skirt Week - Color Block Skirt

We are so happy to be a part of Skirt Week! It gives me an excuse to sew for myself and the  inspiration I gain from seeing what others are sewing is always fun. Thanks so much to Crafterhours for hosting and offering up such fantastic prizes. If you haven't entered yet, go whip up a skirt and do it!

If you were looking in on the Pintrest boards started by Crafterhours, you may have seen my inspiration skirt.  You can see that the skirt isn't anything many of us haven't done already. It is the same process I used last year for my simple maxi skirt only this time I made the silhouette more of an a-line instead of fully gathered. So, this is not so much a tutorial, it's more of a, have you thought of doing this?

I started with my four colors and decided how wide I wanted each stripe. I added an inch for the seam allowances, with a bit extra on my hem and waist pieces.  I cut two strips from each color. When I sewed the strips together, I decided I wanted to make the seam lines a bit more. So after sewing them together, I finished each seam with a flat felled finish. It's the one you see on jeans. I figured with everyone loving embroidery the way we do, why not be a bit more decorative with my seams!

You can see here, I didn't try to blend the stitching, just coordinate it. I want to try this again and maybe go a bit crazier.

When I had my strips sewn, I layered my new pieces of fabric right sides together. I laid my pattern piece on top. You can see my very simple pattern in this picture, I measured my waist where I wanted the skirt to sit and added 6 inches for ease, and my hips plus 10 inches of ease. Then I divided that in half and decided on my length. If this does not make sense please do a search for drafting your own a-line skirt, there are so many awesome tutorials out there.

Next time I try this I want to cut it out on the bias. That could be really fun!

I marked on one side where I wanted my pattern to hit on the seam lines, then transferred those markings to the other side, pinning at each so my stripes would be even.

I sewed up the side seams and decided to do a clean finish on them. The waist is a wide elastic, I finished the waistline edge of the skirt and zig-zagged it to the elastic. If you've been following along and making this skirt, now is the time to try your skirt on and mark where you want your hem. I made my hem with a simple double fold 3/8 inches wide. It makes all the seaming cohesive within the skirt.

The fun part about this is, if I ever dress in the dark, I'm not sure anyone will notice if it's wrong side out! 

We've been having a little rain in these parts, it makes picture taking a bit more challenging. 

And maybe a bit more fun.

Jess told me to jump.

 This is what she got. 

She wasn't impressed.

  Not sure who I was channeling here but I figured you could use a chuckle. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! We can't wait to see everyone's skirts in the Flickr pools. If you've been inspired here, let us know, we'd love to hear from you.

&

The One Where I Thought "Uh Oh" and Did It Anyway

Aka, Butterick 5639, why did you have to be difficult?

Have you seen this dress? I pinned it 33 weeks ago. It's been sitting in my "clothes to make" board. The link goes to her Flickr site but there are only three pictures of her version, none of which is her wearing it. I did a search and she seemed to be the only one who'd made and shown it. I never thought to look on Pattern Review......

Gorgeous, isn't it?

I purchased the pattern about four months ago. When I got it home and really looked at it, I thought... Uh Oh. 

The pattern front as they show it is kinda meh, but obviously from the picture above can be very cute with the right fabric. I wanted to make the same view, down there, on the left. For some reason, I thought the back view would be similar to the front. 

Then I turned it over. Moo, straps. I so did not want straps. I know, I live in the land of heat and sunshine, but strappy dresses will never be work appropriate for me. You may think that's silly and that's ok. 

So, I said all of that to say, it took me until two weeks ago to try and make this pattern how I wanted it to be. It's made with a linen look fabric from Joann's. I used the same basic pieces from the front bodice for the back. 

I think it turned out pretty well. It did take a bit  a lot a whole lot of tweaking and it is not perfect by any means.

After I finished this today, in preparation for blogging it, I did another search for this dress. That's when I found the link to the reviews on Pattern Review. The beautiful dress I showed you for my inspiration? She says the back was so bad that it was not salvageable. As in train wreck and wadder pile, her words not mine. It was only then that I read the fabric suggestions. Linen or even a linen look like mine was not recommended. Hmmm, I am even happier with my choice to alter the back and how it turned out after reading that. 

 I made my guy take me to the beach this evening for a sunset photo shoot. I guess the next few pictures are as much about me having fun as they are about the dress. It is utilitarian yet feminine. The princess line fit and flare are flattering to my, ahem, shape. The pockets are amazingly usable. Seriously. 

All in all I think it is a pretty and comfortable dress to wear. Appropriate for both beach and office.

Evenings like this make me wonder why I don't go jump in the water more often. 

Oh and no, I do not mind being the crazy person jumping in the water while people walk by wondering why is the crazy woman jumping around in the water in a dress....