embroidery

a few things I've been working on this week:

good mail

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Kelly asking me if I'd like to do a little swap. She makes beautiful jewelry out vintage baubles and beads and brooches and other fun stuff. Now, I don't really wear any jewelry except my wedding rings and my watch, so if I'm actually going to accessorize, the pieces must be fabulous.

I checked out Kelly's shop, and everything was, indeed, the epitome of fabulosity. So I sent Miss Kelly a sweet little hankie dress and a matching bib for her daughter, and she let me choose what I wanted from her etsy shop, Sweet Addie.

My package came yesterday, and I can't even tell you how much I love everything about it! Everything came packed up so sweetly, and smartly nestled upon shredded book pages:

She even sent me an extra bonus necklace (not pictured), just because she's so sweet.
And, oh, how I love my new adornments!


Swaps are good stuff.

xoxo

show and tell

I have lots of pretty little things around the house, and I thought I'd share a few with you. Please bear with me if this becomes a regular "feature" because I feel pulled in that direction as of late. I wish I could offer you a cup of tea and a scone, and lead you from treasure to treasure, but I hope the pictures will suffice:

These are some tiny little soda-fired ceramics I bought this past summer at the Bucktown Art Fair. The tallest one is maybe three inches high. I usually feel like I'm cheating on Melissa when I buy pottery from other artists, but she doesn't do soda firing, so that minimized the guilt (a little bit).

I got the porcelain branch vase for Christmas this year. It was one of the items on my wish list from Doe. The little stoneware vases were the result of a made-to-order trade I did with Melissa, and I filled them with really pretty moss (on the left) and an awesome venus fly trap. Oh, how I love a carnivorous plant! The coaster is one of a set of four I bought at an art gallery in Minneapolis. Melissa found it on one of my little side tables and shrieked that it was a "TILE OF BETRAYAL!" Ah, that Melissa...

This is my little family of gunmetal mushrooms. They, too, were on my Christmas wish list. I can't believe I never showed them to you. I love them tons.

Well, I'm "auf" now. And speaking of which, don't miss Project Runway tonight (I'm guessing Rami will go to Bryant Park with Christian and Jillian). Your thoughts on the matter?

xoxo

** edited to add: I can't believe the artist of the little soda fired houses found this post, but it was somehow passed along to her. I'm so grateful because I couldn't find her name (it's Julie) or her business card, and I didn't know how to find her. You can find her work (and now I can, too!) at design-realized.com.

the HQ

Today, I thought I'd give you a little tour of my sewing studio (the HQ), or what we affectionately refer to around here as the "guest room" (its original designation).

I use the italics when referring to it as a guest room, because more often than not, there would be no room for an actual guest here. You see, I prettied it all up to take some photos, but this is absolutely the most organized it's ever been.

The last time my mom came to visit, I had even taken over the guest bathroom. I keep all of my oversized fabric supplies (chenille, terrycloth, batting) in the linen closet in the attached bathroom, and had filled the entire shower with miscellaneous supplies. I thought it was an ingenious solution to a storage crisis. My mom just wanted to take a shower.

Seeing as my mom's coming again this weekend, I thought I'd better get to work and tidy up the joint:


I got the yellow arm chair at a resale shop - 40 bucks for a pair of them. Their sunshiny yellow makes me happy.

Please take a moment to notice the window covering. While I sew many things in this room and could easily whip up a little window curtain, I have chosen instead to hang a towel over a curtain rod, and secure it with safety pins. The irony does not escape me.


You've already met Penelope and Frances, Right? And up there above the bed are the pretty fabrics I hooped up last Easter.

This is an awesome vintage cabinet I bought at a thrift store for 20 dollars. I jammed it into the back of the minivan, brought it home, and painted it pink. It's moved through a few different rooms in the house, and finally settled here. I'm currently using it to store vintage tablecloths, sheets, and quilt tops.


The sewing table. I got the old metal topped table years ago at a garage sale. We brought the table up to our cottage in Minnesota, and I brought it back home at Christmas to use for sewing. It's a bit high, but good for now. On top of the table is my pink cutting mat. If I want to cut big pieces of fabric, I have to set my sewing machine on the floor.

I got the pink chairs at the Kane County Flea Market two years ago. They were in mint condition.

See those bins that my fabric is in? I bought those from the Land of Nod a few years ago for the kid's playroom, to hold blocks and stuff. Then they moved into Olivia's room, and now they are mine - all mine!! I swiped the dollhouse from Olivia, too, because she already has like 3 more in her room, and enough is enough already! I store larger sized fabric scraps in the dollhouse.

The little perched bird is from Anthropologie, and I love her. I also love the little planter chicky. I keep most of my sewing books right there on the shelf for easy access, and I use the jar full of vintage spools of thread as a bookend. It's nice and heavy.

I was greatly inspired by Pixiegenne when I decoupaged the suitcases on the floor.



Over here you will see the dresser I use for more storage. I love drawers, and store things like bias tape and vintage buttons and blank onesies in them:

On top of the dresser is a painting I picked up at a resale shop in Minnesota, a sweet little nursery lamp from an antique store, a floral metal box that I love, and of course, my pink ipod (I so enjoy listening to podcasts of This American Life while sewing).

Finally, we come to the back of the door. I've shown you this before, but I can't, in good conscience, give you an incomplete tour, so here it is again, in all it's scrappy glory:


And that, my friends, concludes the tour.

xoxo

I'd like to thank the academy

I think I must be the only one in the world that didn't watch the Oscars last night. I don't even know what I was doing. I think I went to bed at nine, after reading some Spiderwick Chronicles to the kids (we're almost at the end of the fifth book and I'm not happy about it because the kids are finally interested in listening to the same books and they like it so much).

I'm kinda upset I missed Jon Stewart - I hear he did a good job of hosting, and I do love me some Jon Stewart. I went to see him live a few years ago. I don't like to see musical artists perform live, but give me a funny man, and I'm there. Actually, I just got tickets to see Margaret Cho in April, so I guess funny women will work for me too. But I really hate crowds, and parking, and eight dollar tap beer, and I don't even drink beer anyway (I'm a red wine kind of girl).

But I digress...

The whole point of this post was just to tell you that I didn't watch the Oscars, or do much of anything this weekend, for that matter. We cleaned the basement; made some brownies; googled "how to trap a leprechaun"; created some mossy terrarriums; had dinner with the family; narrowly missed urgent care after Jackie dropped a heavy glass bowl on Olivia's toe, and called it a weekend.

As uneventful as my weekend was, I still managed to take some pics of the "non events" (read: the creation of fairy habitats) and I will share them with you now:




xoxo

cabin fever

So it's February in Chicago and of course I could write about how I can't wait for Spring tulips and garage sales and regular temperature fluctuations (as opposed to the seriously scary vacillating temperatures we've had this winter - and to anyone who still doesn't believe in global warning, I say ha!). But, no, the cabin fever I speak of today has to do with the online journal my friend Elorie is writing.

El and I have seen each other through lots of moves, but I have to say that her most current living situation takes the cake. Almost on a whim, she and her husband sold their home (along with most of the furnishings it contained), packed up their two daughters, and moved into a rental home down the street from their daughter's school. While she waits to build her dream home in the Pacific Northwest, or in Boulder, Colorado (where she plans to oversee the family's future organic goat cheese farm), she writes her diary of a downsized life in the suburbs of St. Louis. Go read all about her "life with wood paneling" here.

xoxo

girls gone wild

I thought I'd share some vintage embroidery patterns with you today:



Both of these are from the same large, uncut sheet. The sheet is unmarked, and I have no envelope for it, so I don't know who manufactured it or the pattern number.

Go ahead and click on the photos to enlarge and print them. I don't mind how you use the images, or if you embroider onto items you plan on selling, but please don't reprint and sell the pattern itself (that just wouldn't be right).

It's so fun to see how so many different people can take one pattern and make it look so different depending on color, placement, and function (for example, a pillowcase vs. a burpcloth). If you've been embroidering, please share your photos over at the feeling stitchy flickr pool! I can't wait to see what you've been up to!

xoxo

to the left, to the left

I think it's important to sit back on occasion and think to oneself, "What would Beyonce have to say about this?" At least, that's what I kept thinking as I hung pictures this weekend.

I promised Miss G over at doe-c-doe that I would show her my paint by number gallery if she showed me hers. And boy did she deliver. So I guess I'm up:




I have lots and lots to say about this collection, but right now I have to run out to pick up Olivia from school, so I'll have to give you a play-by-play at a later date. But, please look around and tell me your favorite!

xoxo

Modern Handcraft

I found this needlework catalog at an antiques show this weekend. Oh, if only it included the actual patterns I would be a happy, happy gal.

This seems right up my alley:

And this totally cracks me up:

It says:
WHAT AN ADORABLE COCKER. He's blond and such an innocent little guy that he just gets into all kinds of trouble but nothing discourages him for long. He's up and at something else right away. Can't you just see him skidding across the floor on a cake of soap or peering out with an "I-didn't-mean-to" look from the bag of groceries" These are new designs from Aunt Ellen's Studio and all the artists got quite a kick from this set of tea towels.....


Here's the order form from the back of the catalog (shipping starts at just 7 cents):


And then there's this little nugget of wisdom, which would seem to hold just as true today as 58 years ago (it seems like it could be straight out of an Amy Sedaris book):

"Have you often thought that you could make money with your needle skill? Sell, you can. Just to acquaint you with the possibilities, I want to tell you of some of the ways that you can put your needle to work making extra money.

First, select items that can be made quickly and that make nice gifts. Make them up and package them neatly for display in cellophane.

Show them to your friends and their guests at your next neighborhood party [now THAT'S a PARTY!!]. Be sure you have price tags on each item. Normally, a price of about twice the cost put into the item is right.

If you want to make extra club funds, set up a special booth and display your needle art to its best advantage. Put up the larger items that can be seen and appreciated from a distance as well as close up.

Organize sewing parties where you can show your finished items. Have little favors such as thimbles, etc. to give as prizes. As you become better acquainted with the possibilities, you can expand your selling effort to include the work submitted by others working for you or independently.

The best way to sell is to make your price right, package the items attractively, and give excellent workmanship"

xoxo

Pleased to Meet You (And I Hope That You Guess My Name)...

My little mannequins came last week, and I'm so excited about them. Olivia huffs and puffs when I make her model skirts or aprons, so I got a size 5-6 model for those types of girly little things, and a size 1-2 babe for bibs and onesies and such.

I think they're both girls. So introductions are in order (is it weird that I'm naming them???)

The gal to right is named baby Frances. She doesn't know this yet, but I may occasionally make Frances pose as a boy, at which times I will call her Frankie.

The taller gal is miss Penelope. Penelope was almost a Vivian, but I didn't want to steal anyone's thunder if they choose to name a real live child Vivian (but it is a damn good name, isn't it?.

The girls are adjusting to life at the HQ just swimmingly.

I've already put them to work modeling a couple of little vintage sweaters for the shop.



Good girls.


xoxo

happy Valentine's day!

Heather posted this pattern a few days ago, and I got the burning desire to stitch it up for Valentine's day:

Now, I'm a huge multi-tasker. I embroider while I'm doing all sorts of other things, so I was curious about just how long it actually takes me to complete an embroidery project. This little guy, for example, took:
- The length of the Transformer's Move, starring Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox (running time 144 minutes) - I watched it with my son when he was home sick with bilateral ear infections this week. Thank you, Comcast On Demand.
- The amount of time I waited in the car-rider's line to pick up Olivia from school (10 minutes)
- The length of time I waited in the lobby at the gymnastics "academy" at a high topped table - 45 minutes
- The duration of Project Runway (goodbye SweetP, I'm sorry, but you really had to go).

So what's that, like four hours? Good thing I'm not trying to sell this tea towel - it would cost 50 bucks!


Now go eat some chocolate. Or a cupcake:

Yum.

xoxo

with needle and thread

x0x0

February 12th, 2008

are you having another baby, mommy?
No, Jack.
You're tummy is fat. It looks like you're having another baby.
Thanks, Jack.

Ahhhh... five year olds! I mean, I'm not the size two I once was - but Jeez!

I was actually the most fit ever in my life after I had kids, when they were ages 3 and 1. Just the energy it took to entertain two babies, and the cardio resistance exercise involved in diapering and clothing a strong baby boy kept me fit. Plus I did pilates twice a week and supplemented it with kickboxing.

I guess it's time to hit the gym again.

I had actually planned to be at the health club yesterday, for this fun new class called Latin Fusion, but instead, I had to make my way downtown (on a six degree day which was actually way colder at Northwestern because it's right on Lake Michigan) for a mammogram.

Northwestern finally opened up the new Prentice Women's Hospital, and it's gorgeous. The Lyyn Sage Breast Center is on the fourth floor of the building, and it was just me and lots of middle aged women. Lots and lots of middle aged women. They see a lot of boobs there.

I'm really young to be having a mammogram, and it was actually my third. But I have serious family history with this stuff, and you have to be proactive. We're basically on cancer watch - it's bound to happen eventually.

So that's my public service announcement today:
Schedule your mammogram. Be proactive. Check out this site (it's the fundraising walk my mom started four years ago).

And......

oh, and hit the gym.


xoxo

feeling blue... and green

A few images from my week:










I did a little sewing, a lot of thrifting (and some estate sale-ing), tons of embroidering, had a sick day (but no barfing), and finally did some gocco-ing.

The days here in Chicago have been very gray, and I'm not usually one to complain about it (grey days are my favorite!) but they do not make for good photos. So I was actually thrilled when the sun peeked out about an hour ago and I was able to take most of the pictures you see above.

I planned to have a shop update this weekend, but I haven't been able to take pictures of any of the vintage stuff yet, and ended up having a lot of custom orders to work on, which depleted my sewing time. I'm going to try to at least get the vintage stuff into the shop this weekend, and maybe work on the handmade goods for next week. I am SO not complaining about being busy!! I remember the days when the ideas would not come, and the frustration I felt because I really wanted to create... but had no inspiration. Now it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day. And I'm quite happy about that.

Tonight, Jack and I are going out to dinner with some friends, tomorrow is a big field trip to my old stomping grounds for some serious thrifting with my sister-in-law; and then Sunday I'm working on the shop.

I hope you have a nice weekend, too, sweetiepies!

xoxo

Some Quilting and Some Embroidering

I made these bibs last week, and am thrilled with how they turned out:




I especially love the font I've been using to embroider names, and thought you might like to use it, too.

Just print the image onto plain paper, (I've reversed it so you can transfer it easily), and trace the letters you'd like to use with a heat transfer pencil. Cut out the letters, and arrange them face down on your project Use a hot, dry iron to transfer the name onto your project.

Let me know what you come up with!
xoxo

addict

I was about to break into cold sweats from my lack of flea marketing and garage sale-ing. I needed to get my fix. So I broke down last weekend and drove about 45 minutes to an antique mall. And while I was there, I got a hot tip about another place to score. So this past week, I went there, too:

And I got my fix. But it's only a matter of time before the urge strikes again. Oh, garage sale season, when will you arrive?