Spring....

My favorite season is Spring - fresh new beginnings full of jubilant color. These pictures are of my Japanese Plum tree, which I took yesterday morning. My tree looked so beautiful in the morning sun, I just had to take some pics. However, every time I framed a shot, a brown blur would walk behind the lens and stop! "Hanna, get away" I'd say. Her response?......

A smile. I would then reposition myself to take the picture again and sure enough she would come mozing along into the shot and lick a blade of grass. Casually, she would glance up at me and flash another big smile.
I think she just wanted her picture taken =)

Jamie

Sew easy...peasy. Cheesy?

Hello. You like-y? Well, if you do, then you should make one. Seriously! It's soooo easy. Yes, there is a zipper, but don't let that scare you. I say "bah - zippers shmippers." The directions for drafting the skirt are found in my most favorite pattern book Sew What! Skirts. I love this book! I really don't think I will buy another skirt pattern, because this book empowers me to design my own. The above skirt took me about 2 hours to make. If I didn't add the pleated bottom, it would have only taken me an hour tops! The directions for sewing on a zipper are so well written that I have yet to botch one (i kinda wish i didn't write that, because we all know what will happen next). The top is from Anthro and I wear it with practically every skirt I model on this blog. I'm due for another Anthro shopping trip =)

This summer it's all about skirts for me. Bunk the shorts. They don't flatter me and I do believe Oprah agrees with me. Didn't she do some show on what not to wear and mention something about how unflattering shorts are? Anyways, I'm loving my A-line skirt pattern with my Echino fabric. I already have plans for another skirt with this fabric.

~ How I made the skirt ~

First, I drafted the pattern by following the instructions on how to draft an A line skirt pattern (Sew What! Skirts). I used about 2.5 yards of fabric and one 7" zipper. For the pleats, I cut four 7" strips of fabric (7" x width of fabric) and sewed them together making one very wide 7" strip of fabric. I then hemmed the bottom edge of the strip, but I left 3" unhemmed on each side of the fabric (for making adjustments). On the wrong side of the strip and along the upper edge, I made a mark every 1.25". I folded the fabric wrong side to wrong side every other mark. The folds should have 2 marks touching and a middle mark on the fold. With a basting stitch and inside the seam allowance, I sewed the folds down. Ironed the pleats. Pinned the pleated fabric to the skirt. Made adjustments to the pleats, so that I could sew the pleated strip together. I then hemmed the unhemmed portion of the pleats. Pinned the rest of the pleats to the skirt. Sewed the pleats to the skirt and Voila! A spring skirt.
Oh please, don't rain this weekend =)

Cheers,
Jamie

Phat Fabric Bulk Discount Program

Phat Fabric now has a bulk discount program. Basically, the program offers 15% off any Phat Fabric order of 15 yards or more of a single cut of fabric. Even if I don't have 15 yards of a particular fabric in stock, or if I don't carry a particular fabric you may be looking for, simply email me and I will let you know if I can get the fabric for you. You can click here to read all about it.

Happy Creating!

Jamie

P.S. Thanks for the Birthday wishes =)

Happy Burtday

My little guy is 3 today! To him, 3 looks like this...

But when I ask him to count it out on his fingers, it turns into this...

I love that little shoog boog! If you ask him what does he want for his birthday? He'll tell you he wants a "burtday dinoSAURRRRR cake." Boys.... they're so easy!

Jamie

Evangelista

This is Evangelista and I made her for my mom. My mom's birthday was last month and she told me that what she would really like is a peg doll. So 1 month later, here is her peg doll.

My mom's favorite Bible verse is Philippians 3:12-14, which happens to be a favorite of mine as well. The stand that Evangelista rests on is covered in paper strips with the words of this bible verse written on the strips. I like the metaphoric meaning of Evangelista standing on the word. The Bible is made out of paper clay and has the verse written in it as well. The dove represents the Holy Spirit as the Teacher watching over her.

Recently, my mom came back from a trip to Nicaragua where she volunteered her time at an orphanage. Since she has visited the same orphanage 3 times, this trip was especially intimate for her because she has developed a beautiful relationship with the girls there. When she goes, she tries to spend the majority of her time with the older girls, teaching them crafts, taking them to the beach, encouraging them, and sharing her love for God. Her travels have also taken her as far as Africa, where she helped plant gardens and worked with the people there. I once heard someone say "Share the word of God as often as possible, but use words when necessary."
So, when my mom said she wanted a peg doll, I knew exactly how I wanted her to look.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Jamie

Reality dancing

I like reality TV. I do. And so do my kids. They especially like Dancing with the Stars. So the other night, they decided to imitate Dancing with the Stars by dancing with each other when a couple on TV was dancing. This was better than any reality show.

They reminded me of when I was younger and my brother and I would watch Dance Fever with Deney Terrio. We would pretend to be contestants on the show. I was the boy and he was the girl. I was bigger and stronger than him, which should explain the gender role reversal. I don't know who should be more embarrassed by that... me or him? Anyways, being the older sister and a gymnast at the time, I was able to lift him in the air for certain dance lifts like the helicopter and so on. Sometimes I would drop him by accident.... sometimes not by accident. It toughened him up =) And now, I see my kids doing the same thing minus the dropping, and minus the gender role reversal.

After dancing a few rounds, my kids decided to do individual dancing and judge each others dance. When my 3 year old completed his very abstract dance, he stood before my daughter and asked her "how'd I did?" She replied with something like this "Well, I liked how you did your turns and rolls, but I didn't understand this (striking an odd pose)?" She continued to critique him rather harshly for several minutes and then ended with this question "How do you think you did?" My 3 year old said " I tink I did GWEAT!"

Too cute!

Jamie

Bee and a giveaway

This is Bee and she can give some serious looks. She is very sweet and nice, but confident enough to tell a guy to back off. Just because she's a blonde in a red sun dress, doesn't mean she likes cat calls (wert whirl).

Maybe she kinda likes them just a little bit =)

I love red shiny purses! I wish I could make a purse for myself out of paper clay and paint it bright red. As for the dress, I used the same dress pattern from the kit, but I cut the neck line to be more square shaped. The raw edges are finished with a rolled hem stitch. If you don't have an overlock machine, you can finish the raw edges by hand stitching a blanket stitch or satin stitch with embroidery thread. The bottom of the dress is finished with white bias tape.

Bee will be available for purchase in the Pretty Ditty shop this afternoon.
edit: she is up in the shop!

*** The Giveaway ***

Last Friday, I mentioned something about a giveaway with a twist. The giveaway is at The Crafty Crow and it's for 2 Pretty Ditty Peg Doll kits. Yippee! I believe the giveaway will close next Saturday, so feel free to click on over there and enter to win.

Cheers,

Jamie

Free bird project and Randomness

Nothing like a free bird project to welcome spring (click here for the free paper bird downloads). Today feels like spring with the birds singing, sun shining, and my shy, pasty, white feet in flip flops. My kids and I are going to make paper birds this weekend from the Nani Bird website. I did a test run of the project by making the above bird. It passed the test =) I really enjoy projects with my kids that are both challenging and rewarding. When a project is too easy, they don't appreciate the end result as much as when they use their problem solving skills to achieve the much anticipated end result. I also like to make sure the project is at a skill level they can accomplish. If it is too difficult, we all end up frustrated and defeated in the end. The paper birds will be just fine for us.


*** Phat Fabric news***

The Panda Print in leaf is back in stock. I have had a few emails asking me when I would restock this fabric. Also, I have the Panda Print in lemon in stock.

***Random***

~ There will be a Pretty Ditty giveaway with a twist next week. By twist, I mean the giveaway will not be on this blog. Oh the suspense!
~ I will soon anounce a new bulk discount program at Phat Fabric.
~ I am very inspired by this post about cultivating curiosity.
~ I want to make and wear these pins.
~ I think I may have invented a new workout.... treadmill dancing. It's a good thing I don't know how to upload video on You Tube, because I would totally upload video of me treadmill dancing, link it, and regret it.
~ Yoga pants are meant for yoga and not running or treadmill dancing. Trust me. I know ;)
~ The time change really hurt me!
~ Lastly, my friend Kate has opened an etsy shop called Feltology. She makes the most awesomeness coffee and tea sleeves out of upcycled wool. The bird on a branch is one of my favorites!

Cheers,

Jamie

The Pettiskirt

Before I write about my pettiskirt adventure, I wanted to share with you how I edited this photo. Below is the before shot ...

First, I used PW's colorize action. Second, I cropped it. Third, I added the pixie dust via this pixie dust photoshop tutorial (very easy to follow). Lastly, I darkened the edges with PW's quick edge burn action. I love learning something new with photoshop!

Now for the pettiskirt. It's STILL not finished, but it's close enough to share =) Plus, I wont be able to finish the skirt this week and I wanted to write a post about it while it's still fresh on my mind. The truth is.... it's not that difficult to make. Now that I've made one, I totally feel fine about making another one. In fact, I've even entertained the thought of a making a black one in my size, but quickly dismissed it as an 80's relapse moment.

Here is the front of the skirt....

The bottom of the skirt is purposely hidden, because that's the part that is unfinished. I intend to sew a rolled hem on the top layer and finish the white tulle ruffle on the bottom layer.

To make the pettiskirt, I used the Martha Stewart Show Pettiskirt tutorial by Kandi Lightner. Below are some pointers if you are going to make a pettiskirt using this tutorial:

1. Watch the video before you begin sewing. Be sure to make notes on your tutorial paper such as what direction to fold the waist band, where the button hole placement is, where to attach front and back ruffles. The previously mentioned points are not very clear in the written directions.

2. Finish the raw edges. Unlike tulle, this material does fray very quickly.

3. The measurements for the pettiskirt tutorial (in my opinion) are for a toddler and not a 6 year old who wears a size 8. Unless I overlooked it, the tutorial never mentions what size it's for. I assumed the pettiskirts displayed on the mannequins in the tutorial looked to be the same size as my daughter. Bad assumption. This is what made the task very challenging. The pettiskirt only has 2 tiers per layer of chiffon.  After the second tier, I realized the skirt was too short, so I added another tier. Every time I added a tier, I had to double the amount of fabric. I was sewing 4 EVER! Sheering and sewing, sheering and sewing......etc. I suggest measuring the length you desire, then replace the tutorial lengths measurements with yours. The width measurements are fine, it's the length measurements that are in question. This would have saved me a lot of time, money, and repentance for the curse words I kept saying..... in my mind.


In the end, I am very happy I made it for her. Before I made it, I thought it would be a neat pixie play outfit for B-girl. Now, as soon as it's finished, B-girl is required to eat, sleep, and go to church in it. 


Jamie

New fabric and doll making supplies!

This week was a full week, namely the birthday day and that dang monster of a pettiskirt. Why I think I can do these things last minute is beyond me. I never did officially finish the skirt, but I did finish it enough to make it presentable for the little shoog boog. I intend to finish it next week and write a post about it. Lets just say I won't be making any chiffon aprons anytime soon. Never say never. Right?

There's some new stuff in the shops....

Zen Tattoo in tea

Zen Tattoo in black (wha ta ta taaaaa)

Peg doll supplies

The Party Pack

The Zen Tattoo fabric is by Alexander Henry fabrics. A.H. fabrics never disappoint=) Amazing!
The pin, peg, clothespin doll supplies (many words, one meaning) are now available in both the Pretty Ditty shop and Phat Fabric. I am very excited about this new product, because the Forster brand is the only brand I like to work with. Some of heads created by the other brands don't quite fit right. They look like Dark Helmet from the movie Spaceballs. Big helmet heads. The Forster brand has a nice fit that tapers off towards the base. Listed in the shops are heads, pins, stands, and the party pack. The party pack is a great way to save money, because it's 15% off what it would be if you bought the packages individually.

I hope you all have a rejuvenating weekend. My big weekend plan is to attend the swap meet. Hopefully, I'll find some vintage clothes, fabric, and trinkets. I've been told to wear yucky clothes and carry a lot of $1's and $5's. My friend even told me to wear a fanny pack :0 I'm not a fan of haggling. I gotta get all psyched up and put my game face on. It's hard to hide what the heart wants =)

Jamie

Peg Doll Peeps for the shop

Today is a very exciting day for me, because I will list my first batch of Peg Dolls in the shop this afternoon. I really enjoyed making these sweeties and I got a little carried away with accessorizing. Recently, I've discovered Paper Clay and how easy it is to sculpt little purses, masks, birds, bees, books, and body parts. Some of the hands on the peg dolls are made of paper clay. Below are the dolls....



Curious Gwyneth (she's Abigail's 2nd cousin)

Matilda and her mask
I molded the mask to fit her face.

Tabitha and Her Birds (my favorite, but don't tell the others). The bird on her head is not permanently fixed, it's just resting there =) The cage is about 2" tall.

The fourth peg doll who will be joining the gals is Jessica.

I hope you like them =)
Now, I must tend to the beast.

Jamie

Slaying the Beast

Currently, I'm in a fierce battle with Satin charmeuse and Chiffon- fabrics I am not used to working with. Not only am I not familiar with these fabrics, but this "little" turned BIG project requires yards upon yards of sewing. I have gone through 6.5 yards of 2" to 6" strips of chiffon. I'm praying my little sewing machine motor doesn't burn out. Then again, I would like a new sewing machine =)

"Why" you ask? It's for a very special girl who is turning 6 years old this Wednesday. So, if I slay the beast by Wednesday, I'll show you pics of the pettiskirt.

Cheers,
Jamie

Side note: Tomorrow, I will show you the peg dolls that will be available for purchase in the shop this week.