Stop staring and start sewing!

Farmer's Market, a pot of coffee, and too many unfinished projects

Well my Farmer's Market fabric finally arrived yesterday to much whooping and hollering (I think this is why the UPS guy likes to sneak the boxes up to my doorstep, ring the bell and run for the truck).  I have all but 4 prints (which are on back order) but I'm very happy because I got all the ones I really wanted (the cherries!).  So this morning I made myself a pot of coffee and sat down to put them all in the store.

Here's some of it.  I'm trying to find shelf space now.

A huge thanks to those of you who have shared the pictures of the skirts you have made using the Edith Twirl Skirt pattern! I'm amazed at all the creativity out there and I really love seeing everyone's ideas. I've set up a Flickr group for sharing and inspiring.  Since I've sold quite a few (by my standards,not Amy Butler's!) I thought it would be fun to have a drawing for all of you who have purchased the pattern (and maybe this will help those who bought it but haven't used it yet!).  The winner is going to get a Edith Twirl Skirt kit made from Farmer's Market fabrics (I get to pick them!).  I'll even include matching embroidery floss if you want to embroider the ruffle.  I'll draw the winner on Monday (Labor Day) so I have something to do while I'm stuffing myself with goodies off the grill.

I've been busy sewing but I don't feel like I have much to show for it.  I swear when I die my headstone will say "She had good intentions".   I'm almost done with this darling pleated skirt I'm making for  Olivia (I made her fold and press the pleats since I hate doing pleats).  We saw this cute watering can fabric at IKEA and it was marked down to 3 yards (54" across) for 9.00.  I have the zipper in (invisible!) and the lining cut out, I just need to put it all together (the yellow polka dots are the intended bias hem).  Cute so far!

I also have this unfinished Anna Wrap Dress I'm making using a quilt panel from the Isn't Christmas Jolly? line. The panel is pretty big so I'm making a size 5/6 in order to fit the whole picture in. You can used a smaller size but you'd have to trim some of it off (which I've seen done and it's still cute). I added fabric on the sides to make the whole pattern piece and I'm going to add ruffles (I'm thinking gold) to spruce it up.  These quilt panels are nice because I used one panel for this dress and for this outfit I made awhile back. 

 

I did finish a couple more scrappy squares though so I do feel a small sense of accomplishment. Aren't they cute? Someday I might actually have a quilt!

Hopefully I'll have some finished things to show next time!!

So much going on

It's been a crazy week and I'm so grateful to all of you who have bought my Edith Skirt pattern!  I have received some really nice notes and it's such a relief to know it's easy to understand.  I'm thinking of starting a Flickr group just to see what everyone does with it.  My friend Marie did a whole post on it over at her blog and her little girl's skirt turned out beautifully!  Marie was one of my pattern testers and she did a great job helping me fine tune my instructions.

I finally got a chance to try a pattern that I've had for months.  Beki did a post on the Simplicity 4589 pattern and I knew it was time to just do it (so I washed my fabric and let it sit on my table for a month and a half).  I tried it first with this great Ava Rose fabric (feminine without being too froofy).  I like it but it's a little more billowy than I like, partly due to the stiffness of the fabric I'm sure.  I'll definitely be wearing this shirt a lot since we have at least 2 more months of heat here in Arizona (but it's a dry heat, blah, blah, blah).

So I tried it again using a drapier fabric and I'm so happy that I finally had a chance to redeem this fabric (I've never worn this top made from it and I had just enough fabric left) because I really like the colors.  I took the pattern in at the sides (I had already added 1.5 inches to the length at the waist) and took the yoke it a little too for better bra strap coverage.  I've been wearing it all day and it's perfect for summertime.  The picture looks a little frumpy (and what's with the chub on my upper arms?) but it's actually a lean looking top and I love the squared neckline.  Oh, and it's super fast sewing.  I made two in just a few hours.

Thank you all so much for the well wishes on our little guy's arm.  He has a nifty green cast (only because "grime" wasn't a color option) and today we got the news that his bone is healing just fine so no surgery needed (whew!).  We've all been bending over backwards to make sure he's plenty comfortable.  Too comfortable.  He zonked out slumped over a stool while watching his morning shows yesterday (you know, the Wall Street Journal Report, stuff like that) and it was really cute.  Zzzzzzzzzzz.

We are making progress on my next pattern and hope to crank some paper patterns out before long. Here's a sneak peak on the next one. It takes a lot less fabric than the Edith skirt and I'll try to throw in some extra goodies with this one too. Fun!

And be sure to check out Tanya Whelan's next line. Oh my gosh!  It's so beautiful and I will have every bolt in my store when it's released (and I may even consider selling some of it!).  It's called Happy Girl and I'm a happy girl just looking at it.  :)

Drumroll please.....

Alrighty then!  The winner of the cute strawberry dishtowels and the Georgie fabric is Rebecca who left this comment at 2:41 on Aug 7th  "Just found your blog, and love the skirt. Plus I really need to stop staring and start sewing, maybe tomorrow :)".  Rebecca, you are out of excuses because these gorgeous fabrics are on their way.  Yip yip!

I've been taking a bit of sewing break this last week and it's actually been kind of nice.  I took a day to paint some shelves and they turned out pretty cute.  I realized partway through that I should've used some primer first but oh well.  I actually took a swatch of Tanya Whelan's fabric (the ruby dots) to the store with me to get matching paint. 

That dress is the Vida pattern from Farbenmix. I finally set up my account with them and they are the nicest folks.  Isn't it cute? I found those big pink dots at Pottery Barn Kids (it's from a sheet set) and couldn't wait to make something with them. I exercised restraint and only bought a pillowcase (14.00) but that's still plenty of fabric for little clothes.

Oh, here are my shelves before I started.

Here's another pillow case that I bought at Pottery Barn.  Isn't this great?  I adore these owls.  I think it will look great with these other fabrics.

Or maybe combined with these?

Anyway, we've had some excitement around here at Casa Fabritopia. Our little guy seems to have broken his arm and since there were no witnesses we think the cat did it. He will go see the specialist tomorrow and we're hoping and praying that he doesn't need surgery. In the meantime we are trying to keep him comfortable and entertained. Bubbles always help.  And Elmo pants help too.  Always.

I know a lot of people are wondering about the Farmer's Market order. Well I called the people at Michael Miller and my order "slipped through the cracks" (ugh) and should be here next week. And I'm expecting a large order (32 bolts) from Free Spirit around the same time (More Pop Garden, Bijoux, and Garden Party!). Fun!

Cleaning up my act

Well, I've spent a few days cleaning my sewing room/shop and I was disappointed to find carpet under all that mess. I really wanted hardwood. Anyway, we moved my computer/printer, etc. out of the bedroom and into the sewing room so I don't have to run back and forth all day long. I want to share the view from my computer (minus me sitting here blocking the view). Sorry about the fuzziness but this picture was taken with the webcam in my mac.

Isn't that fun? I swept my floor with a broom. That works really great on my carpet because it catches all those long loose threads and things instead of having it get tangled up in my vacuum cleaner. I just throw the pile into the trash and then vacuum the floor to finish it. There's something about a clean floor that just lifts my spirits.

So not only do I have a clean room, but Joey and I finally finished our first pattern! When I made this skirt for Heather's article in Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion (best magazine ever) I had no idea so many people would want the pattern for it and all I had was a piece of paper with all my dimensions jotted down and I really couldn't give that to folks, could I? We're releasing it in PDF format so you can just download it and print it at home. We are planning real paper patterns soon but this was a great way to get started. Anyway, it's 10.00 on my site and no shipping (really! I just email it too you!). You are free to make it for re-sale (unless your last name is Target or Walmart) too.

Here's our cover sheet. Nothing too fancy since we're just getting the hang of this. That beautiful top photo was taken by Isaac Bailey. Isn't it dreamy?

I also found a fun box of goodies while cleaning my sewing room. I bought a bunch of these kitchen towels a couple of years ago intending to make aprons or other crafty cute things with them but alas, here they sit. So I thought another give-away would be fun but then I thought if I just give away towels (cute towels!) people might complain (especially after looking at all those fabrics) so I'm giving away a set of towels and 1.5 yards of this fabulous Georgie fuchsia fabric from Jennifer Paganelli's Bell Bottom collection.

Oh the things your could do with that! Just leave a comment! Fun!