the wait is over

I am taking a posting break today - a moment of silence, if you will - in honor of the best night in the history of television.

Lost is finally here.

The End.

birds of a feather...well, you know what they do.

Yeah! My bird garland is complete! I'm not sure what made me want to do this in the first place - my love of birds and frill, I suppose - but it turned out quite lovely. I used hand-me-down scraps from my mom, some from my humble fabric bin, and clearance swatches from WalMart.
Day 1: Drawing a pattern, pinning, and cutting. This helped me through the James Bond movie John Jay made me watch.
Day 2: Sewing and stuffing. I experimented with the different stitches on my machine to sew up their tails. 4 birds down, 8 to go.
Day 3: More sewing and stuffing. I was in such a hurry to finish, I sewed one guy shut before he got stuffed. Hence the head count of 11 instead of a nice even dozen...curses!
Day 4: String them up!
They spin, twirl and are totally useless...and I love them!



They were originally intended for Judah's room, but turned out a bit girlie. They can perch in my room for a while until they migrate somewhere else.

Tip #43

Okay, okay. So there's not 42 other tips on this blog. But it just sounds better than "Tip #1." So we'll start at 43.

I would rather give birth again than dice an onion. Well, that's a tiny exaggeration, but you get my point. I love to cook with them, but they hurt my eyes something fierce. Since John Jay has a full time job, and I'm pretty sure that Anne's too busy to come over and chop for me, I had to come up with a solution.

Goggles.

You can laugh, but it works. And the next time you are chopping and weeping, you'll think of me.

I love lists so much I might marry them

At any given moment, it's safe to say that I have at least 6, probably 10, lists in circulation. To do, to make, to read, groceries, top 10 anything, John Jay's to do, to buy, recipes to try, a list of all my lists... it's ridiculous. But I can't stop. I don't want to stop. I love lists!!! Seeing as this is a blog of all things homemade, it's only appropriate to share my "to make" list. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but here it goes...

-more bibs (Judah drools A LOT)
-spray fabric paint on shirts in some form or fashion
-stuffed bird "garland" for Ju-Ju's room
-bloomers (my latest obsession)
-more toys - especially a stuffed tree
-sew ruffles on something (my other obsession)
-mix and match clothing parts to make new pieces
-a skirt from an actual pattern
-a scarf
-hem the sleeves on my robe
-laptop case for John Jay
-new bracelet, since Judah broke mine
-giant hair bow for Anne
-sling pack like Sayid's
-make some of Judah's onesies "cooler"
-learn Photoshop - okay, so this one doesn't really go in the "to make" category, but it's a goal and I have a better chance of doing it if I tell you people about it.

I'd better get cracking. I'll have another list going in my head when I wake up tomorrow morning.

Old Blue Eye

One of the first sewing projects I wanted to tackle was a stuffed animal for Judah. Although, I'm not sure that's what you could call this guy. After sketching my idea, I used gray fleece to cut out the body and ears. The eye is made with blue and white flannel. He originally had cutesy little squinted eyes, but they weren't very visible once he was all sewn and stuffed. John Jay helped me brainstorm and come up with our cyclops conclusion. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to make more for our friends. My favorite little detail is the tattoo on his bum...making him Judah's forever.

John Jay: This Post's For You

My Lovely Husband Recently Chastised Me (On Multiple Occasions) For My Rejection Of Capital Letters. I Found All Lower Case To Be Quick, Easy, And Aesthetically Simple. He Informed Me, However, That It Was Hard To Read And Looked Lazy. Now That I Have Seen The Uppercase Light, I Will Try, From Henceforth, To Use Them Appropriately.

another bib

this one didn't make it in time for the last bib post. i made it from one of john jay's old lacoste shirts. you can't see it in the photo, but the pocket is in the center of the bib. he likes to wear it when he plays tennis.




*the bib's okay...but let's be honest. I'm really showing off Judah!

bibtastic

my first "real" sewing project has been nothing but bibs, bibs, and more bibs. using one of judah's bibs as a pattern, i made several from red and white fabric leftover from an ikea purchase. i used a simple zig-zag stitch so that the edges would fray once washed. two are for my best friend's daughter, siriana. judah gets to keep the one i messed up on. my friend anne emailed me the idea for the "sunday bib" that judah is wearing in the last picture.
what i learned:
-don't let the thread run out. (see my nasty color change mid-project!)
-the little plastic pin-heads will melt when ironed.
-i sew like i drive: barefoot and with only my big toe on the pedal.

first time behind the needle

i took sewing 101 - an abridged version - taught by the one and only, my mom (more on her later). i watched the instructional dvd that came with my machine. there was nothing left to do except sit down, lower that presser foot and put the pedal to the floor! john jay donated a few old shirts for me to practice on. so i cut out some hearts to sew on there and cinched, bunched, and stitched it into something a bit girlier. a close up look would reveal some unpleasant seams and nasty "stop-n-go" style stitching, but all in all, not to shabby for my first try, eh?

*that's me, all proud in my first reincarnated design.

see my bananas?

now that i'm a full time mommy, my days of diving into a project for hours and hours are over. my clock looks a little different.
"i finished that in one nap!" you get the idea.
our little bundle (6 months old today! happy 1/2 birthday!) has made our lives completely more layered in the best way possible. i adore my men more than life. but still, i miss creating. before judah, i was an art major at la tech university. (i painted the bananas last year for homework). but since i am on the very, very extended plan for school, i haven't been able to get in front of the canvas lately. santa, knowing all of this, dropped a sewing machine down the chimney for me this christmas. so we'll see what transpires...stay tuned!