'Sewing for my sanity'

A friend of mine had the phrase 'sewing for my sanity' for her sewing blog, and I kept thinking of it all weekend long.  Between sick children, potty training, night feeding, doctor's visits, and just general spring haywire-ness, I have definitely been turning to my sewing machine for my sanity.  And I am pleased to report that several lovely items have resulted from this therapy...

Toile Love
I have finally cut and sewn with my Anna Maria Horner Good Folks Toile.  It is a bit tricky to work with at first because it is like AIR, or as Anna Maria Horner put it, like BUTTER, but boy, the results are wonderful.  I turned first to a favorite pattern from Oliver + S -- the Swingset Tunic.  I have already made Coco two of these, and now she has a Toile version.  Every time I make this I feel like I perfect my sewing techniques a little more.  But that is true of all the Oliver + S patterns, they are so educational!

With some of the leftovers, I made myself a quick scarf. I've seen several nice scarfs out of this fabric, and I am pleased with mine, except I may redo the edging - some thrifted home decor tassels -- I sewed it flat, but I might try and sew the edging on in a circle, making the scarf just a tube.  Seems like it might be lighter...

Little things
I have a knitting project ready for finishing that I can't share yet... but I am so far very happy with the results!  Knit most often while watching episodes of Northern Exposure.  Love that show :)

And I just finished another Kingpod bonnet, in the Baby size, for a friend's baby we'll be meeting in Phoenix later this week.  I used some nice Japanese sunflower fabric from our local sew/vac Odegaard's.  It is so sunny and lovely, and I thought this little chica needed something sunny since she is only visiting Phoenix and is actually from Anchorage Alaska!  

Finally, I made another kitchen mitt for a young lady who was the recipient of my Kid Chef Kit donated for LUNAFEST earlier this year.  She declared that she needed a mitt for each hand.  Nothing like getting good feedback, and since I had some leftover fabric, I got right on that and even added her initial to this one!

We are ONE!

Miss Coco turned 1 this week, and we had a small tea party for her with some of our new friends.  It was a lot of fun!   There were as usual a few handmade items to celebrate the day, some made by me and some made by my very talented mother in law. 

I whipped up a birthday banner out of some scraps of cotton to use for all of our family celebrations.  Coco's name was made with leftover scraps from the skirt she wore, a Lazy Days skirt in some of my favorite Heather Bailey Freshcut fabric (purchased while pregnant, made the skirt while home with an infant, and now at a year I think it will fit her for at least another year...). And made her a crown that should fit her even as an adult (it fits me, for when I need to feel like a queen I guess). 

She also wore her new '1' t-shirt appliqued by Grandma.  And she received her very own handmade Raggedy Ann doll, made by Grandma, and she came complete with a dress to match Coco's Easter dress.  Grandma also sent me the dress pattern for Annie so I can make more matching dresses, I am excited about that!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful girl, who has brought much delight to us through the ups and downs of this exciting year~

Easter Again

Well, we had a good Easter in our new town out here in the West.  Lucky Coco has had TWO Easters before turning 1!  This year she was much more involved in the activities.  Despite some mood issues, some wind and a slight chill in the air, the day was very nice. 



Coco wore her Easter/Birthday dress today.   Again, the dress is the Oliver  + S Bubble pattern, size 12-18 months, so it will fit through the summer hopefully. The bonnet is Amy Karol's design, in matching Anna Maria Horner Garden Party green.  She rocked the dress, and in the cold air both kids wore there new 'sweatjacks' -- hooded sweatshirts from the Target clearance rack with initials and decorations (a flower, a rocket ship) appliqued for interest. 

While playing in the afternoon, I had time to work on another special item for Coco's birthday -- a birthday banner.  I've seen the ones Amanda Blake Soule has made for her children in her book The Creative Family and have always thought these were great decorations.  And reusable!  I finished the fabric painting today.  Now to finish the part that says 'happy birthday'.  I am going to put the part that says 'coral' up in her room after her party.

Lately I have a ton of little special crafty things going, just the way I like it!