On "Vacation"

Just a quick note to let you know that this Sunday I will be traveling to South Korea to bring home our newest son!  Because this is our first adoption, I have no idea what the transition will be like and am therefore "on vacation" until further notice!  I will post again when I'm ready to take orders again. 

Enjoy a pic of our son in the mean time :)

Old English Sheepdog Set

Baby rattle/sweater sets are becoming my new favorite order!  I get the fun of both knitting and crochet and there's a lot of creativity that goes into trying to make a set that matches really well.  I was contacted a few months ago to see if I could come up with a set that involved Old English Sheepdogs (OES).  Of course I was thrilled to do it and figured it would be simple to find just what I needed.  I was WRONG!  It took me quite a while to find a place where I could order an OES applique for the sweater.  I really wanted to do a felt applique like I have used on most of the sweaters I've made, but no one (I mean NO one) is making them!  Luckily I came across MischyfPaws on Etsy.  While MischyfPaws didn't have any appliques available for purchase, she sold lots and lots of doggy products, and was willing to work with me to produce an embroidered OES patch just the right size for my needs.  

I think the sweater turned out so cute with the client-requested colors of purple/lavender an in the tiny size of 0-3 months.   I opted for only 4 buttons on this one as trying to squeeze 7 in seemed like just too crowded.

Making the rattle match was a bit challenging, but I decided to go with this fun fur yarn held double with a worsted weight in order to make the stuffie shaggy like a real Sheepdog. 

Overall this set was a good challenge for me - it forced me to try new materials and I ended up with a product I am proud of!

Gifting

We have been encouraged to bring gifts to our son's foster family when we pick him up, and I knew I wanted to give them some things that I had made as a way of personally connecting with them.  I love presenting gifts in fabric bags, they are re-usable and much more sturdy than the paper gift bags that are all the rage these days.

For the foster family's children I thought little drawstring bags filled with American candy might be a fun gift.  There are 3 biological boys in the foster family, so I picked some fun boyish fabrics to fill with candy

For the foster mother and the adoption specialist from the agency in Korea I made these reversible gift bags with pretty feminine fabrics.  These are based on the Morse Bag pattern, with some minor adjustments to the height and width to make them a better gift bag size.

Since making these I've been compelled to wrap every gift I give in fabric!  Its a fun, unique, and sustainable way to present a gift.

Shirt to Dress Makeover

Today I turned this women's 2X shirt (found at a garage sale for $1!)

Into this girl's dress

Definitely had to sport the crossed straps.  Much easier to keep on my squirmy 5 yr old's thin shoulders.  Although you can't see it, they need a bit of tightening up.  That's what I get for trying to measure the straps on her instead of using a measuring tape!

Oh she's so sweet :)

Ok, now I officially am a slacker mom to my son.  I gotta figure out some boy crafts to do!

Back to School Sewing

On my recent girls' weekend away I purchased my very first sewing patterns.  All this time I've been creating from my mind or hand-drawing patterns, but when I ran across these Portabellopixie patterns at a quilt shop in Vincennes, IN I simply could not resist!  I also was lucky enough to find some gorgeous fabric in their clearance room for $6/yard.

The patterns are well written and challenged me to learn two new techniques - rolled hemming on my serger, and shirring on my regular machine!  I found this tutorial (via Crafty Christina, thanks Chris!) on shirring extremely helpful and honestly the only thing that would work on my machine.  One thing I really loved about these pattern sets is that they are very much mix-and-match. I chose the peasant top and triple ruffle pants to showcase the pretty fabric.

My daughter was in love with the outfit from the moment I put it on her.  Its soft, comfy, and cool, but its the first clothing I've made for her that I'm worried about keeping clean.  White may not have been the best pants choice.  Oh well, she won't fit in it for super long anyway - the girl is growing as fast as the weeds in my garden this summer!

It actually fits even better after washing - all of the shirring tightened up in the dryer, so I guess even if it does get dirty, a good scrub and some Oxyclean and she'll be set to go.   Anna starts Kindergarten in about a week *sniff!* and she's gonna look as sweet as she is in this little number :)

*do you see the little patch on her knee in the above pic?  That's my own printable tag made with this.  Love this stuff!  It may be pricey, but you can print a ton of tags on one sheet and they really do hold up well.  Just sharing in case anyone is interested!