it's that time again!

The beginning of the month is nearly here and that means Kathleen from Grosgrain is hosting another Frock by Friday sew along!! The dress that I will have hopefully completed by Friday (Sunday is more likely) is called the Alexander and is comprised of this A-line skirt and this Alexander top at Burda. I like this top, but I can't say I really love it so I decided to go out on my own and downloaded this JJ blouse which is actually free at Burda. Will have to alter the back a bit because the top originally has princess seams and can't accomodate a center. Most importantly, both patterns have button holes which I really need to learn how to do. And the dress has a zipper, another important technique to learn.

The skirt fabric is the blue cotton polka dot, which I use on just about every other project I sew and the top will be made from a shirt my husband has never really worn. It's a lightweight tan jersey. They look nice together.

If you'd like to make your own, just click on the button below to visit Grosgrain:

Making progress.

We had a pretty fun and busy weekend so it was nice to relax today and get some work done. All of the quilt strips for the boy quilt are together - I just need to so the in- between pieces and border together. I was really kind of surprised and initially disappointed by how in your face ORANGE the solid fabric looks against the patterned but the more I look it at, the more I am starting to like it. The in-between strips are also orange but the border will be brown so hopefully that calms down the brightness a bit. The orange was the only color I could find at Joann that was an exact match to the colors of the quilt. The brown is very close but not close enough that they would look very good side by side. I hope to get the entire front piece finished by next weekend.

On a side note, my girl friend and our three kids spent 8 grueling hours thrift shopping on Saturday - it was well worth it if only for the Van Gogh print I scored for $5 bucks. What do you think of the frame and how do you think it could be better? Gold is a little too aristocratic for my taste.

Family Treasure

Your siblings are the real family treasure right? Parents just don't have big families like they used to. I know I certainly couldn't manage 8-plus kids and have no idea how mothers of generations past maintained their sanity. Different times, different roles. This photo is of my husband's grandmother and her five sisters and two brothers (there were nine siblings total) at a family picnic a few summers back. I love that even though many of them live in different states, they still make it a point to all get together on a regular basis. So often you hear about so and so being upset with so and so and years long grudges held between family members and other silly, petty things that people let keep them apart - it's just nice to know that it is possible to get over it and get along.   

Supplies: My Mind's Eye, Graphic 45, Sassafrass Lass, October Afternoon, Jenny Bowlin, Hambly, Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Dear Lizzy for AC, Girl's Paperie, Fiskars

Just Wanted to Say Hi

One of my very closest friends turned 27 today, and hopefully he received this card in the mail today. These aren't colors I would typically choose, but all together, they remind me of his style. Happy birthday Kenyon! So glad we're still friends after more than 10 years.

Then and Now

Today was the first day of preschool for my husband's twins. Looking back at pictures from this time last summer is really unbelieveable - one year makes such a difference. They both were distracted by the approaching bus in these photos, which they surprisingly jumped onto with a hesitation. The teacher said they did just fine and from all the things they had to say on the car ride home, I think they'll do just fine.

Recipe: Pan-Fried Zucchini

(source)

One of my very favorite summer vegetables, the zucchini squash is packed full of healthy goodness such as potassium, folate and vitamin A and grows in abundance. Its too bad that most of our zucchini suffered from blossom end rot this season - the grocery squash are almost as good.

Ingredients:

3-4 medium zucchini (green, yellow or both), sliced

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 stick butter

1 tsp minced garlic

Cavender's, (the tastiest, most versatile all-in-one spice ever, hands down)

Parmesan

bread crumbs

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add zucchini, onion and garlic. Sprinkle generously with Cavender's and mix to coat the veggies in butter. Cover pan. Continue stirring every couple minutes until the texture is just on the edge of crisp but not yet mushy. Its a delicate balance. Turn heat off. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bread crumbs - put the lid back on and let it melt for a minute of two. Serve and enjoy.

Woodland Nymph Anda Dress

This Anda dress was made following Grosgrain's Frock by Friday. Bless her heart for taking the time to help the sewing challenged but determined like me put together a pretty dress and read a pattern.

The dress is quite simple and modest, and because I am still inept at altering a pattern, I decided to use a really gorgeous fabric to give some extra interest to the shape. Am so in love with the stormy, moody colors and layered wings on this cotton voile from Alexander Henry. It reminds me of the wing pattern on the Wood Nymph butterfly - hence the title.

I always make a test model to avoid making a mistake on my favorite fabrics. The second time around, I added the bias tape to the arms after the shoulders were together. Also added the band with elastic to the outside of the dress to break up the block of fabric a bit - that way I have the option of adding a belt or not.

Because of a traumatizing experience in my early days of sewing and because the material is a bit sheer, I decided to use a french seam on the dress seams. I was in college and had made a pretty tweed skirt with a big ruffle in the front. Really didn't know much about sewing but got it together and I loved how it looked so decided show it off at school. Well thankfully I had worn a long coat that day cause when I sat down in my cafeteria chair the whole rear end of the skirt ripped out. And those weren't my days of full coverage underpants either. Amazingly it many years later I finally found out a loose zig zag seam doesn't really hold a garment together.

Am so glad to have a tall, leggy, photogenic friend to model for me. Getting just a few pictures taken is really quite a challenge when you have 5 young children running around trying to get out the door and in on the action. Thanks Meghan for taking some time out of your busy day and for being so lovely.

You can find the pattern for the Anda Dress on BurdaStyle.

Thrift Score: Green Swing Jacket

Green is not a color you'd find in my closet, but this swing jacket I picked up at Goodwill has me wishing for fall to get here and fast. Love the cropped proportions and the green will look so pretty with brown accessories. One women's fashion casualty is another ones treasure!

Also, visit One Pretty Thing and Craft Gossip to see lots of pretty DIY projects including my Lollipop Dot ruffle purse tutorial.

DIY: Lollipop Dot Ruffle Purse (Day 2)

Today is the second day and second set of steps for putting together this little ruffled purse. You can see the supply list and prep instructions on this post.

1. Take your gathered fabric and pin the bottom most layer to the jean material. Make sure it stretches all the way across the jean panel or else it won't be sewn into the seam. Sew the ruffle in place (backstitching at the ends) and continue layering the ruffles, spacing them about a 1/2 inch apart.

 

2. On the very top ruffle, you will need to sew the gathered seam over, or you can do what I just decided to - sew some ribbon over the top of the seam.

3. Place the other jean square on top of the ruffled section so the right sides are facing. Make sure the edges of the ruffle are tucked into the seam, but you'll want to pin the bottom ruffle up so it is not in the seam and hangs free.

4. Now is the time to change your needle to the heavy duty needle if you have not already done so. Sew the three edges of the purse together, leaving the top section open. Turn right side out.

5. Sew the two pieces of lining together, right sides together. Tuck inside the purse. Sew the lining to the purse using the honeycomb stitch or a serger. Fold inward and sew down again.

6. Mark out the area on the side where you would like to attach the eyelets. Cut a hole and attach using the anvil that came with the eyelets. If you hammer on the cement, I found it worked much, much better.

 

7. The next step is to sew together the edges of the strap. The seam should be on the inside. Knot one end and thread it though the grommet. Push the handle through the other grommet and knot. Both knots should be on the outside of the purse. I added an extra bit of fabric to the handle on my second version and you could do this too if you wanted.

8. The final step is to sew together the bow. Unfortunately all the photos for this step turned out too blurry to be helpful. If you're the type that learns best from visuals (aren't we all to some extent?) there is a great tut here at Instructables and another one here at Craft Gossip for making fabric bows.

Take your 2.5 x 7 strip, sew in half the long way, turn right side out and sew together at the back. With the 2.25 x 3.5 strip, sew together, turn right side out and pin around the bow section. Hand sew to the purse.

9. Optional: Fill with candy treats and Voila! You have a little purse sweet enough to rival the sugary goodness of your special little lady.

Wish I had some more pretty photos to share, but my models have already went to bed! I'll try to get some taken in the next couple days and will post them here.

EDIT: We took some more pics yesterday of the girls drooling over the rock candy stand at the Iowa State Fair. It ended up being a very sticky mess.

Thanks for stopping by! If you make a version of your own, I'd love to see it! Post a link in the comments section.

DIY: Lollipop Dot Ruffle Purse (Day 1)

This little purse was inspired by a dress up caplet the girls wear and is a great way to use up some scraps! I picture a little girl in pigtails, running through a candy shop filling up her bag with jelly beans and lollipops.

Since this purse takes a little bit of time and I wanted to spend some serious QT with my little miss this weekend, I am splitting this tut into two sections. Today, Day 1, we will be doing all the prep work for the purse - cutting out the fabric and hemming the edges. Tomorrow we will sew the bag together.

Gather your scrap pile and and let us begin. You will need:

Supplies:
cutoff section from denim jeans
4 - 4x10 strips of coordinating fabric
1/8th yard of another fabric
2 x-large eyelets
pinking shears
scissors and/or rotary cutter
cutting mat
thread
sewing machine
needle for denim

1. Cut the 4x10 strips in half so you have eight total 2x10 strips.  These will be the ruffles.

2. Out of the denim, cut two 7x7 squares. This will be the base of the purse. Also cut two 2x6 strips for the strap.   

3. From the 1/8 yard of fabric, cut two 7x7 squares for the lining. Also cut one 2.25x7 strip and one 2.25x3.5 strip for the bow.                

4. Iron all the pieces so they are nice and smooth.

5. Now snip the long edges of the ruffle strips with pinking shears to deter fraying. Fold over one edge and hem with a honeycomb stitch. (See C in the diagram below, second level) Use a basting stitch on the other side and pull to ruffle. The finished length should be 7 inches.

That is all the prep work. We will finish sew the purse together tomorrow.

Sneak peek

Just wanted to give you a little sneak peek of the fabric I am using for my next quilt. It will definitely be a few weeks before it's completed. One day at a time.

Today was another full day and I didn't get the chance to put together the DIY project I've been planning. The "test" model is made, but I still need to photograph all the steps of the final version. It will be ready for my Sunday post for sure, so please check back then!

Through the looking glass

This picture of my mom and me at age one is the only photo I have of us together as a toddler. What happened to the others I will never know. And since it's so special it's been sitting aside until just the right idea came to mind for it.

It just so happened that this past weekend I was cleaning off my very messy desk when this broken mirror handle surfaced from under the piles. The glass broke a year or two ago and I intended to use it as a frame, but you know how good intentions go sometimes. It got lost in the "file away for future to do projects" heap. The photo and the mirror seemed like a perfect fit - looking back at my mom when she was my age, looking at myself and finding the similarities and differences in us at that age, this age.

This frame is just from a cheapo Goody mirror but I bet this would be especially pretty with an old white, antique looking glass. The background is cut from corrugated cardboard which keeps it from being too girly.

Love, love, love this picture, this piece.

Supplies:

Prima, Maya Road, Basic Grey, Jenny Bowlin, The Girl's Paperie, Cosmo Cricket, ribbon

Refashion: Mom Top to Little Lemon Bubble Dress

I love garage sales cause you can pick up things for even less than at a thrift store. Like this top for only 50 cents. Only since you can't really try anything on, sometimes you end up with something cute that doesn't quite fit. Rather than redonate this top and since I'm such a sucker for crochet detailing, I decided to instead turn it into another sweet little bubble dress.

Snipped off the arms, trimmed a few inches off the sides, reattached the arms and added a lower hem band.

(Oops forgot to take the "before" pic)

I definitely have enough yellow tops anyway. Like six. A gal can never have too many pretty dresses. :)

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

(source)

 

Cucumber is one ingredient that I don't find very versatile. Sliced and served with dip or diced and mixed in a pasta salad is the furthest my imagination has taken it. So here's a recipe that gives those cool cucs the spotlight.

Ingredients:

3 large cucumbers, sliced and quartered

1 large tomato, diced

1/4 cup mayo

2 Tbsp sun-dried tomato italian dressing

1 tsp vinegar

salt and peppa

Mix ingredients in a sealable container and let marinate for a couple hours in the fridge. Serve cold.

Flavored italian dressing take every cold salad type dish to another level. My personal favorite is Tuscan House.

Try it and enjoy!

4 cards, 8 products

We have a bunch of little girl's birthdays coming up in the next couple months and since I've been wanting to try the Eight is Enough challenge, making girly birthday cards seemed like a simple way to do a test run. I did use eight supplies but also cheated just a little. Papers from the Fly A Kite collection, apron lace border punch, Shabby Green Door butterfly stamp, AC Ginger Alpha set, Ranger crackle paint, glitter, pink puff paint (in background) and black StazOn ink. But then I ended up using a couple extra colors of ink and also probably should have counted each of the six papers as individual items. It's okay it was just a test run.  Here's the cards up close:

and my fav:

Since digging though my products and choosing *just* the right ones takes as much time as gluing everything down on the page, this is a great way to focus on what's actually being created. Getting more done in less time, that's all right with me.

Check back tomorrow for a tasty recipe using an ingredient I find hard to use in anything other than pasta salad. xo