The Sun is Shining Again

And with that, dear friends, I think that we are finished here.

For a lot of tiny little reasons and out of a hope for a new year with more time and experiences spent away from in front of a laptop screen. (Now and again, I may pop back in with an especially inspiring find or an art journal page that is sort of a blog post on its own. We'll see!)

Adios, best wishes and blessings to you all!  

(This little hope needs all the help it can get! Already I'm dreaming about what project to cook up next... :) )

On Traveling Light (And Warm)

We made it! We have survived the airport terminals, flown in a plane, been witness to a sweet wedding (love you, Clara and Levi!) and returned safe and sound. Wanting to travel with as little fuss as possible, Laura and I each tried to pack only a carry-on and purse.

It worked.

I was amazed.

In fact, I think there were even a few things in my suitcase that I didn't even pull out!

So this is the grand voice of one-time experience making note of 

How To Pack for 3 Very Cold Days in 1 Very Small Carry-on

{This is what I had planned to wear.} 

At the last minute, after another glance at the weather forecast dipping below the teens, I put a few more layers into the mix (aka - all the warm tops I own), as well as a warm green wool hoodie that Mama and Daddy gave me. Additions and changes are *ed below.

DAY ONE

(Flying from Atlanta, Georgia to Omaha, Nebraska)

- CuddleDud thermals

- Yellow henley

- Trouser jeans

- Socks

- Boots

- Wool coat

* Green hoodie

- Orange scarf

DAY TWO

(Wedding preparation and rehearsal)

- Wine tneck

* Wine waffle tee

* Trouser jeans

- CuddleDud thermals

- Socks

- Boots

* Red 3/4 sleeve tneck

- Cord skirt

- Tights

- Boots

* Orange scarf

DAY THREE

(The wedding!)

- CuddleDud thermal top

- Blue tneck

- Black lacy skirt

- Bow belt

- Black tights

* Black leggings

- Blue flats

DAY FOUR

(Flying from Omaha, Nebraska to Atlanta, Georgia)

* CuddleDud thermals

* White warm eyelet tee

* Green hoodie

- Trouser jeans

- Orange scarf

- Wool coat

- Socks 

- Boots

* Beret

Everything was warm and comfortable, fitting snuggly into the bag which fit easily into the overhead compartment. The 3-1-1 ziplocs went into the little purple backpack with other essentials and room to spare. I was so thankful for that green hoodie! And for the extra tops...the thermometer dipped below zero more than once! 

We were blessed with good flights and great friends! In fact, I'm looking forward to doing this again...anyone want to get married in say...Maui?

This Week...

Actually Laura and I will be taking our very first plane trip to go to a dear friend's wedding!

Say a prayer?

Wilson's Sweater (And a Bowtie)

{Inspired by Bentley's sweater...}

Wilson's new sweater is made from the sleeve of a felted sweater from the thrift store. The shoulder folds around his neck like a shawl collar. A section cut from the other sleeve makes the strap around his underbelly (edges covered with an overlock stitch). 

He liked it the minute the sweater came out of the scrap basket! 

Which is good...because the bowtie I was making him...didn't really show with all his fluff.

So the girls can have it.

They don't look all too thrilled about it, do they?

These canine fashions may be a bit silly, but after working on them, I am feeling much more confident that I can sew and make things fit. Maybe next, something for human proportions?

Judy Wears a Cape

To tickle Mama's fancy, I made a little cape for her Judy-dog. (Inspired by the ones from bugduds on Etsy) It took me a while to figure out the right curves for a pattern...consisting mostly of quite a few versions of newspaper and tissue paper shapes pinned around a very patient little dog's neck. Read "patient" as half asleep. Judy dogs need their beauty rest. After the fitting, she perked up and tried her very best to help, pulling out scraps and running away with the ruler. Finally, once the ruler was returned, a pattern was born, the fabrics picked and even the collar attached without too much of a to-do. I was worried about the collar...those were new for me and I could not find a tutorial or instructions online.

     So a....what do they call a draft in sewing? A proof? A 'muslin'? One of those was called for. There was some faded vintage nursery rhyme fabric in the stash downstairs that would suit just right. Whew! The seam allowances that I left were far too large! How nice to have a Bebe dog just a little bit bigger! 

Over a green knit sweater and tied with a blue grosgrain ribbon (with fashionably inconvenient length), Bebe models the Nursery Rhyme Cape.

With much smaller seam allowances, Judy wears her semi-reversible cape with a button and loop fastening over a red cable turtleneck sweater for warmth. 

And just in time. The next day....

...brought the biggest snow we've seen in a long time! 

Bit #5 - Lots of Purple Going On

My free kit (from a local group) for Project Linus was a really simple one this year.

Just purple on one side. Green on the other.

Stitched up like a big pillowcase and tied with green floss.

Bit #4 - Baby Blossom Hats

I can post this now since both hats have been recieved at their respective destinations.

This is the free pattern: Clochette. (Bless you, Knitting Pattern Central!)

(Bebe wasn't a lot of help on this photoshoot. She prefers to stay cuddled in her blankets....)

There was a video on Etsy's Storque that suggested sewing sheets of pretty paper over recycled mailing envelopes. It worked pretty well and everything got to where it was supposed to, so I guess that the post office didn't complain too much! The illustrations are from a salvaged nursery rhyme book. I love these old colors and lines...don't you?

These little blossoms remind me of Campanula flowers and were a real delight to make. (This was my first time knitting small, separate forms - like these leaves. Very fun!) The petals were a little...floppier than the picture had led me to expect. Maybe because I haven't mastered the art of weaving in ends yet. Hmm... Must knit more - to practice!

Kisses to the babies to whom they now belong!

Bit #3 - Bathroom Window Makeover

oooo....the ratty old blinds in our bathroom have been broken for a long time. Since this picture was taken, one of the lift cords shredded, rendering the whole thing lopsided if you wanted to let any light in at all. We looked around for a replacement, but the hardware store always seemed out of the right size or style, so we lived with it. 

Then I spotted this tutorial and figured "what do we have to lose"? It looked easy enough to turn our grimy, tattered blinds into a beautiful Roman Shade....

Sure, it calls for an existing lift cord, but threading a bit of yarn (yes yarn...) through the header was not TOO hard. Pulling up diagrams for the repair work made me feel like a little grease monkey! In a very, very...small, blind-repair sort of way.... sorta. We had some muslin in the stash and a new bottle of fabric glue in the drawer. A fancy new shade was done zipzipzip! (Note: fabric glue is aaaawwwwwessome.)

My triumph was short-lived. The lift cord snapped. Again. We are blaming it on some faulty rollers in the heading. 

Still, with the help of a spare piece of muslin, the desired Roman Shade was transformed into a dainty sort of ribbed valance. SO MUCH BETTER! (Excuse the cluttered toilet top - I was deciding between the wider tie or two narrow lace ones... Also - that tiny picture on the ribbon is one of my travel journals! Easy, huh?)