Can you see it?

A friend asked me to mend her favorite pair of jeans. How could I say no. It's a matter of life and death when your favorite jeans are on the fritz. 

There was an L shaped tear that started to fray. At first I thought I would slap one of those iron on patches on the inside and sew around the tear leaving the frayed bits, but then I started tinkering with the darning stitch on my machine. Holy smokes, I am in love with this stitch. I cannot believe I have not used it before. It fixed the hole and you can barely even notice.  

Just like Where's Waldo, can you find the mended hole? 

I have big plans for this stitch in the future, very big plans.

Baby Maggie

My cousin is having a little girl in May and her baby shower was this past weekend. I had finished my gifts a while back but didn't want to share for fear of ruining the surprise. I love making things for babies. They are so sweet and adorable. 

I made her a set of Liberty bibs from the free Purl Bee pattern. The butterfly fabric is a vintage sheet I picked up at the thrift store. The skull is an Alexander Henry print and the tiny deer are a Jay McCarroll print. Did you know Jay critiqued my fashion design final? We went to the same design school in Philadelphia. The backs of the bibs are a cotton terry I picked up at Joann's. I had every intention of cutting into my vintage towels for the bib backs but when it came right down to it I couldn't do it. I know, I am a sissy. 

I also made her a set of Maya buckets for little baby things. We have a bunch of these around my house and they are the perfect size for blocks or finger puppets or other little kid do dads. 

I really need to be sewing these days is a bag my friend requested for his glassblowing tools. The pattern has been altered, the muslin cut and halfway sewn. Now I just need to get on the ball and put in the frame so he can approve or change the style of the bag. All I really feel like doing is playing with my fabric or sleeping. I need to get my sewing mojo back. 

Just Like New

This shirt was a freebie from "Back in the Day" in Omaha. I bought some other vintage duds and when I mentioned the tear in the back the owner just threw this one in for free. I knew I could do something to mend it and make it wearable again. Above is the tear before my alterations. It was slightly off center but close enough. I laid the shirt flat and traced the V from the front neck onto the back. Then I rolled the edges 1/8 inch and top stitched. Easy peasy. The little rosettes and tie were just knotted to the tear when I bought the shirt so I tacked them back on to stop the V from flapping open when I wore it.

I love how it turned out. Not to shabby for a free shirt.

Please excuse the pose. I don't know what I was thinking.

Payday

I am not the biggest fan of my husbands job. He travels 50% of the time, and is gone for weeks and months a stretch. Many a night, particularly after I have been up with a feverish babe, alone, again, I have thought about stamping my wifely foot and demanding he quit and sell insurance 9-5 until the end of time. But, he loves his job, the pay is good, its not forever and absence really does make the heart grow fonder. You learn to appreciate each other more when you have such a limited time together.

Then, there are days like today where I sing the praises of his job and jump for joy. He always asks what I want on his travels and my answer is always the same....fabric. This little stash came from a good friend and co-worker who just returned from Africa. Come to mamma.

Take a look at these beauties. The colors are to die for, deep and vibrant. The prints are beautiful. I just want to snuggle with them and never cut them.
This blue one is begging to become a little shirt or dress for Lenora. I could cut the neckline in that dark circle and keep the rest of the design intact.
Can you see her little feet hiding. I love the purple, orange and green together.
Its hard to tell but those sunbursts are gold and sparkly. It looks almost like an asian print to me.

I cannot wait to figure out all sorts of new projects to put these fabrics to use. Maybe his job isn't so bad after all.

My Carpal Has Been Tunneled

I had carpal tunnel surgery a few weeks ago which forced me to take a little sewing/crafting break. At 30, I’d like to think I am a little on the young side for these sort of procedures but better to get it fixed now than wait until I had a dead hand. The carpal tunnel was dear gift from Lenora brought on by pregnancy and at the end was so bad I could barely hold a wad of toilet paper. Imagine that, hugely pregnant, constantly on the toilet and barely able to use my hand. Not a pretty sight. It was supposed to resolve itself after birth but she just turned a year old and my right hand never went back to normal. We want more kids and I would like to be able to wipe my own bum so a little snip snip, by a surgeon with the most beautiful hair I have ever seen, and I am on the mend.

What struck me is that he used what we call a ladder stitch in the sewing world to close up the incision. It looked a little ugly and I thought to myself “I bet his mamma didn’t teach him how to sew”. Once removed you can hardly tell where he cut. I thought of how many of my sewing or mending projects started off like that, cut up and ugly. But with a few stitches of some well placed thread they turn out rather nice. That being said I scored some really neat vintage clothes this past week “junking” in Omaha here with the grandmas. They need a little cutting and mending but I am sure with some well placed stitches they will turn out rather nice.

How can you resist this face? The hand was worth it any day.

The Holy Grail: Day 7

I saved the best find for my final day of a week of thrifting reveals. Last weekend I had an hour before my brother showed up for dinner, and since he is always late I figured I had close to 2 hours. I was bored so off to the Goodwill Lenora and I went. Its really dangerous around these parts since they just opened one a few miles from my house. In the beginning the pickings were slim but not anymore. On this trip my eyes caught the below beauties. This is one of my favorite Pyrex colors and patterns. Behold...a pristine set of pink gooseberry casserole dishes. No lids but I picked up a stray small Pyrex lid a few weeks ago just in case, so now I only have 2 more to find.

Day 7: Pink Gooseberry Pyrex Casserole Dishes

Price: 10$ (a little steep in my opinion for Goodwill, but there was no way these babies were getting away)

Ladylike Linens: Day 6

Vintage linens hold a soft spot in my heart, for they are beautiful, old, glorified textiles. I love their patterns, colors and quirkiness not found in your everyday Bed Bath and Beyond.

Until now I have not been too lucky in the towel department at my local thrift store. Then the other day it was as if the heavens parted and I hit the mother load. Pink and green fluffy towels galore, plus a sheet and some pillowcases. I am in love.

I always look for these with the idea that I will turn them into these sweet vintage towel cosmetic bags I found on flickr. Great Christmas gift ideas. Maybe for this years 100% handmade Christmas, that is if I ever get around to it.

Or I could turn them into really neat retro baby bibs like the Liberty Bibs on The Purl Bee.
But then I am overcome by their beauty and the thought of cutting them sends shivers down my spine. So for now I will stack them neatly in my closet. I really want the set of pink towels to be Lenora's. There are the perfect little lady like size for her tiny toes.

Ahhhh, lovely sheets. What shall I make with you?