Stop staring and start sewing!

New stuff and blathering and vacation......yada yada

It's been a strong desire of mine to show my daughters how they can make money at home should they decide to follow my example and be stay at home moms.  I hope they are able to make that choice because it's been such a joy to hang out with my kids all these years even though we've made many sacrifices in order to make that happen.  Very few vacations, very limited "toys" and wardrobes, and fewer dinners out as our family grew (and then grew out of the children's menu!).  A few weeks back Peety and I decided to make the leap and start a little etsy business we'd just been chatting about before and thus was born Hipster Haberdasher.  Just fun little accessories made with great fabrics. Just a little something to fill in the gaps (canyons!) this recession has brought to our budget.

The padded camera strap cover has been my favorite as far as sewing enjoyment goes.  I made one last year for myself and I've loved it but I'm always looking for a place to set my lens cap cover.  So that problems is solved plus I added pockets for extra memory card storage (a photographer friend gave me that idea and I think it's genius).  So anyway, here is mine and I adore it.

 

Super close up.  I can get away with these colors near my face so I'm happy with it.  I used some of the last of my precious Flea Market Fancy so this option will not be in the store since I am hoarding every last centimeter I have left.  See our cool logo?  I made that and it was really fun since my teenage business partner thinks it's cool too.  Our first batch of covers are marked way down since I've made a few improvements so you may want to snap one up.  I'll have kits soon (with a pattern!) because these are just too much fun to make alone.




Another thing we're making are bow ties.  My kids are totally into Dr. Who now so we thought "why not?".  Joey used to wear bow ties when we were newlyweds because apparently one of his college professors had told him that he didn't like bow ties because only shucksters wore them.  So apparently that was Joey's was of sticking it to The Man.  Isn't this a great set for a wedding (this one was fun to put together with the bride and now it's on it's way to her).

And, as usual, one idea led to another so I've created a really nice pattern for bow ties so everyone can join in on the fun.  I'll probably have kits, with hardware, of these too.




Anyway, the point of this post isn't to sell my stuff necessarily (but that's fine too!).  What I really want to do is encourage you.  I completely understand how hard things are right now.  Sometimes I'm tempted to panic when I stop and consider how things are for us right now and honestly, many of our friends are doing so much worse and it's just painful dammit.  But maybe there are things you can do to make a little bit of a difference in your situation?  We are creative people right?!  I have a friend who is a great cook and she made meals, which she packed up and then froze for other families, and made a big difference in her own families finances.  Do you have an idea?  Run with it!

As for myself, I am running to Portland since I'm tired and desperate for a chance to get away (actually driving up with my parents).  I want to see some green, feel some rain, smell the ocean, and eat some Voodoo doughnuts that are just dripping with butter.  I'll drink beer too (but not with the doughnuts), and laugh with my friends and family.

Summertime and the living is....well not too difficult

We've had a mystery squash plant growing in the garden and I finally figured out what it is.  Look, a pumpkin!  We had pumpkins last year so I'm glad to see they decided to replant themselves and stay awhile.  I'm really glad it's not the other squash we had in this spot once.  I think it was butternut (the golden ones with the long curved neck that people carve into birdhouses).  We never knew what to do with those (not really into the whole birdhouse carving thing right now).

Our hollyhocks are pooping out for the season (on the right side there) but the nice thing is all the dried out pods are loaded with seeds so I think we're going to make our own seed packs to give as gifts this year.  I love coming out here with my coffee in the morning.  It's already in the 100's during the days so morning's are the only time it's pleasant outside.  It's also the best time to see the hummingbirds going about their business (I found out this morning they love the lavender plant).

I tried to get more roses (I only bought 1 new one this year) but found out I was too late.  They can't handle the shock of being re-planted when it's this hot so I'll have to wait until fall and winter.  I have room for about 9 more rose bushes on my back wall so I'm going to love shopping for them when it's time.  This is my own personal garden space so nobody is allowed to plant zucchini here again (although that was nice last year).

 

The geckos don't mind the hot walls so they're out like crazy.  We've always told the kids "If you catch it, you can keep it!" (we say that with the jackrabbits they see out at my parents place too).  So far we've been lucky.  Or else have slow kids.  Whatever, I just don't want geckos or jackrabbits in my house.

We've been busy here trying to be not too busy.  So far so good.  We've decided to homeschool the boys this year so I'm trying to prepare myself by simplifying things around here.  Fortunately I have a lot of help.  I'll be leaving soon with Peety, my 17 year old, to spend a couple of weeks in Portland cooling off with family and friends.  We're driving up with my parents so I'm trying to plan embroidery and binding projects for the drive time (in between the times I'm saying "I have to pee" and "Are we there yet?" to my dad).

I hope you're enjoying life!  As much as I am perpetually compelled to sew I've actually decided to re-visit my love for reading and am on book 4 of the Harry Potter series (no end of series spoilers please!).  I may actually have the whole series done in time for the last movie.  Have a wonderful weekend!

And now a word from our sponsors....

I'm busy working on another pattern right now (it's for guys and I love it!) but wanted to take some time to showcase my newest advertiser.   Because she's great and I appreciate her support.

Jenny over at Sew Fabulous Quilt Shop runs a super store and has a huge (and growing) selection of beautiful fabrics that you'll just love.  I was so happy to find a bunch of prints that are not longer in production over there, and at amazing prices.  She's got some Andalucia and Flights of Fancy prints that I haven't seen in a long time and they are all marked way down (some at wholesale prices!)

This month she's running a drawing on her blog for a $50.00 gift certificate.  You just have to vote on your favorite upcoming collection (once you vote, you can go here to her Coming Soon page and see them close up).

I'm so thrilled to see she's getting Monica's Happy Mochi Yum Yum in soon (oh the things my mind creates when I look at this!).  Just stare at this picture for awhile and soon you'll be seeing quilts, little dresses, and nursery sets in front of you (like those blurry posters in the 80's that took me about 5 years to figure out).

Be sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter too so you can be first in line to hear about her specials and new arrivals.

And this darling collection is in right now!

I hope you're having a good week!  I'm getting some fun little sewing done and Sofia's quilt is ready for the quilting part, I just have to clean my table off to make room (that's the hard part).  Keep on sewing (it'll do your heart good)!

Sunny dress for sunny days

My friend Tara is such a talented photographer and I was thrilled when she mentioned to me that she wanted to start sewing with her sweet daughter Taylor.  Taylor is 9 and that's a great age to begin sewing.  I sent her my patterns and they decided to start with my Sunny Scallop Dress.  I'm so glad they did because they made a beautiful dress.  Look!

 

Taylor looks so lovely and ladylike and this is the perfect dress for our upcoming Arizona summer (seriously folks, unless you've experienced it, you have no idea how scorching it is!).  I love these pictures.

I really try to make my patterns in a way that looks pretty but is easy for beginners.  Looking at these sweet pictures makes me feel like I've achieved that.  Thanks Tara and Taylor!

On another note (but kind of the same...) I've created a pdf file that explains how to lengthen your Sunny Scallop Dress pattern if you'd like it longer.  The pattern goes up to size 10 and is pretty long but I know some girls are lankier so this will help if you have the pattern and wanted to adjust it.  Just click here to download it and then you can print it out and it will fit nicely with your pattern if you fold it in half.  Let me know if you have any questions!

I hope you're having a great summer so far!!  Keep on sewing!!

Moving into summer

Well we don't have a summer schedule yet.  Unless sleep in, eat, read, lay around, repeat, counts as a schedule.  The tv's been broken for a few months but nobody seems to be missing it and I usually see the kids with a book in their hands most days so I guess I'm happy with the current schedule then.  I'm trying to finish up the second Harry Potter book but I don't think I'll get them all done before the last movie comes out next month. 

I'm finally digging in and finishing Sofia's quilt up.  The finished blocks have been decorating my wall for months but it was time to take them down and get this done since it's really holding up the re-decorating of her whole room.

It's very busy looking to me but Sofia is liking it so I'm happy with that.  I got everything together and realized I was short on the Sweetwater fabric I'm using for sashing.  At that point my plans sort of flew out the window and I started fudging it.  But that's the beauty of these kinds of quilts I guess, you just make it work.

This is my biggest quilt so far (twin sized) and it just kept getting bigger and heavier with each strip of fabric (they do that!) so I'm going to need to set up my tables a little differently in the future.

Here is the finished top with a narrower inner border than I had planned but at least there was enough to go all the way around.  I added the orange strips to get the right length and make it a little more interesting.  I'm not sure I succeeded in the interesting part (at least not in a great way) but I'm not too disappointed with it.

Here's a close up just after I finished it.  I now have it all basted (using the adhesive spray and some basting pins) and sandwiched together.  I'm trying a sheet from IKEA for the backing and my fingers are crossed that it turns out to be a good decision.  I can tell already that it's heavier than regular cotton fabric which is not really great in Arizona (the lighter the better) but I'll know soon enough.

I'm looking forward to the quilting and binding part.  I think I'll put in the long version of Pride and Prejudice (the computers are working at least!) and stitch my little heart out.

Time to ring the winner bell!!

Sorry for being gone so long!  When I mentioned in my last post that I thought I was coming down with something I wasn't kidding.  Pile that on top of it being the last week of school (I'm not sure why they bother since they just played all week at my son's school) and I've just needed a few naps to catch up.  I'm feeling a little better now and didn't want to keep putting off drawing all the winners from my Spring Quilt Market 2011 and Sew Mam Sew give aways so here goes.....

The Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter book by Carolyn Woods (and stuff) goes to Audrey.

The Cloth Paper Scissors magazine (and other goodies) goes to Kari.

The Studio Magazine (with Ty Pennington on the cover!) and other stuff goes to Christie

And the mother of all prize packages (or something like that) goes to Greta (who had her "fingers, toes, knees, and elbows crossed" and it seems to have paid off so keep that in mind for next time).

Congratulations to all the winners!!! 

Here's a peek at my latest home project.  I'll do a before/after post on it soon (after a few more naps!).  I hope you're having a wonderful week!