Blog Archives

Summer Sewing

7/21/2012

What small amount of sewing I have squeezed in in the last few weeks has been thoroughly summer-y. With triple digit temperatures and all three of us spending so much time outside (some of us for work, some for play...), 5 and I have had need of more tank tops! There is a whole parade to be modeled and photographed, but that little dude is rather uncooperative while sleeping, so I'll just show you the one for now...

I'm so happy this one worked out. It's made from an old shirt of mine that is so ridiculously small I can't really believe I used to wear it. I loved this shirt and it makes me feel kind of magical to be able to change it into something my son can now love.

Here's a nice detail shot where you can see I took my time and did a little zigzag stitching so the ribbing would lay flat. I don't think I did it on the other ones I made for him, but I was feeling pretty proud of this one.
I also just perfected my own tank top pattern- all the things I like in a tank top, together, at once! Sometimes it takes me a really long time, but sewing for myself is soooo satisfying. It may just be enough to get me through another hot hot sweaty exhausting week. Hooray!

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A Mini Tour

7/15/2012

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While I would say that we are mostly moved in (as in, we are not living out of boxes), there is still a lot of "home-making" to be done. However, there are areas that I'm pleased as punch with and I thought I'd share them with you this week.

Living Room

This is definitely the most design-y area of the house. We have our fancy, ginormous Greg Green painting, the Lake Superior papercut, the rocking chair that Fred reupholstered himself (heck, yes!), the Eames chair that my In-Laws got for us, and our weird Roman/Baroque plaster/marble end table. I know, it IS a lot of fanciness in one look. I figured you could handle it though. The wall that faces this features all of our gold frames, it's a pretty classy/fancy living room if I do say so myself.

Bedroom

The other place we've done a lot of work is the bedroom. For obvious reasons. I didn't like any of our framed pieces for over the bed so I broke out my super special scraps pile and made a reversible bunting. I'm sure you know what I mean about the super special scraps too- that 7" x 12" piece you've saved for years waiting for just the right project...
I think it turned out fab- the other side is warmer jewel tones, perfect for a cold, dreary Fall or Winter maybe.

Facing the bed, what I get to fall asleep looking at, is my favorite embroidery. The piece in the middle was done by my Oma (grandma) and the two flanking it were given to me by a U.P. friend who said "I found these and I don't like them, but I thought you might..." YEAH!
To the right you can see the drapes I made for the living room of our old house- they fit perfectly in our bedroom windows.
Lastly, to the left is a framed page of a Charley Harper calendar. It was the October 2010 page, the page that I thought would be for 5's birth month. I was wrong- I should've known the little stinkpants would wait until November.

This last picture is perhaps the simplest, but also perhaps the vignette I'm most proud of. Fred's parents gave us this dandelion papercut years ago and I have really struggled in finding things to pair it with (oh my, two dangling participles in a row, I hope no English teachers are reading this!). I finally gave up trying to find something that relates even remotely and am finally happy with the result. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this before- my taste in all things tends to run in a Dada-ist direction...

Sorry, no pics of 5 today, I have some real winners coming up soon though! Have a great week!

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It's Been Awhile

7/7/2012

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Whew! I feel like it's been forever since I was here last. And it kind of has been...
But.
After moving, realizing that internet does not magically appear in one's computer, and getting that all figured out, it turns out that my new, full-time job kicks. my. butt.
Yeah, not exactly a gentle transition back into the working world as on top of the work it's been SO HOT! Like heat stroke hot. Like cancelled two days of work because of the heat hot.
Which is not to say that I'm complaining- I'm so grateful that I was able to find a job so quickly that allows me to support my husband going back to school and keep my family fed and clothed with a lovely roof over our heads.
Mainly what I'm saying is that my assumption that I would easily be able to keep up with my desire to create and then share stuff with you was CRAZY UNREALISTIC. Hmmm.
Even when I was working three jobs (many years ago) I never found myself so drained of energy by the end of the day that the only things I could manage to do was put my feet up.
Ok. Enough of that.

It is also so great to be back in Madison! My parents get to see their favorite (and only) grandbaby all the time and it is wonderful. On the Fourth of July, 5 got to share his flag-dancing skills (which are mad btw) with his Oma and Opa and they've never been more proud. So fun.
We get to walk up to the farmer's market on Saturday mornings, we can find local everything, and our apartment is so kid-friendly.

We've finally started to fall into a rhythm and that is making life easier for all of us. With and extra-long holiday/heat wave weekend I have had a bit of time to create and feel human again. Yay on all accounts. Hopefully, I will get to share some of our new environment and well as some of the products of labors over the next few weeks. I've realized that every day and even 3 times a week is out of range for me, but I think I can manage one extra-good post per week.

See you soon!