I found out about Craftzine’s Amy Butler Sew Inspiring Contest at the beginning of February and immediately hatched a plan to sew a purse. A quick look at my fabric shelves told me that this was the time to use that favorite vintage skirt that I’ve been slowly cutting up (hey, it was made for the skinniest woman ever!) and my precious yard 1/2 yard of Amy Butler’s Chrysanthemum, picked up a year ago at a quilt store in Bellevue.

So I opened up the pattern, pulled out the fabric, cut my pieces, and started sewing. Things were going along swimmingly when good ol’ recruitment weekend hit and everything was put back in the craft room. This normally wouldn’t be a cause for concern, but given the poster situation I wondered a few times if I would actually be able to finish the project + take photos before the February 29 deadline. See, one of the downsides of winter — besides snow + slush + cold — is that the only time that I am home during daylight hours is on the weekend. So, if I want to take photos in natural light I have to finish the project in time to take pics before it gets dark on Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the exciting part: after getting my poster turned in on Saturday morning and spending some time cleaning the apartment, I told husband that I’d be able to finish the bag by evening. And I did!

Translation = I accurately judged how long it would take me to finish a project!

This might not sound very momentous to you, but I am constantly tripping over the disconnect between how long I think it will take me to do something and how long it actually takes. So this is big. Very big. And I know that the main reason why it worked this way is that I actually used a pattern*, instead of deciding to make it all up myself.

*I modified it a little teensy bit, but that really doesn’t count.

So right now I am really, really excited about Amy Butler patterns with all their cuteness and time-saving abilities. There are a lot of great entries in the contest so I’m pretty doubtful that I’ll win, but hey — I came out with a cute new bag and a new sense of time management.

Thank you, Amy Butler.

P.S. I included some sewing descriptions, etc. with the photos in flickr, but you have to click on the image to be able to see them (if you’re interested).

And Molly.
And Marta.
And Manda.
And Madeleine.

These little ladies are the last in a line of Handmaid dolls that I began a year ago as a packaging/promotion project for a university class.

My patterns have changed a little since the first two, but they still have  handstitched details, embroidered faces, and crooked little smiles. Oh, and the dresses are still reversible, too (Milly’s dress reverses to Molly’s, Manda’s reverses to Marta’s, etc.).

I made an effort not to include any buttons or embellishments that can fall off and get swallowed, so these dollies should be appropriate for smaller babes. (Although, as always, it would be a good idea to make sure that baby isn’t chewing off dolly’s arm.)

Each of them is spoken for except for Milly. I thought about keeping her for my future babies, but I think that when the time comes I will be perfectly happy to support another seamstress and buy a new handmade doll. So, Milly is currently for sale for $40 + shipping…leave a comment below if you want to give her a new home.

I don’t plan to make these again, which will (undoubtedly) make me a little sad when I put them in the mail. I love you, dollies, but you took a lot of time to make and caused your fair share of stress and frustration.

You’ll just have to find new friends and sisters elsewhere.

Here she is, in all her fully-finished glory…

The thread spools are there for size comparison. When standing, dolly is about 10 inches tall - just the right size for a little one to carry around or momma to tuck in her purse.

Her dress is reversible and closes with velco in the back. I tried to make her young child friendly, so there are no buttons or small parts to fall off or choke on. And both doll and dress are machine washable.

The face is embroidered with a little lopsided smile.

The shoes and hair are handstitched to the body, which doesn’t show up well on this doll (the others are a little more obvious).

I am very happy that the new dolls can sit up by themselves, which was one of my goals. It also made this ”photoshoot” a lot easier than the last one, when I actually sewed paperclip wires to the dolls’ arms and legs to make them poseable. This dolly poses all by herself!

(I took a pic of my photo setup, in case you’re interested…I like seeing that sort of thing. Tan cloth might seem nice and neutral but actually created a lot of color problems, so I don’t recommend it. But other than that, this is a very easy setup - based on this website’s instructions - that works for a lot of stuff.)

Sooo, this little dolly has already been shipped out but I have pieces for 5 more: 1 more with dark hair, 2 with medium brown, and 2 blond. The other dresses are green/yellow and yellow/orange, and the fabrics are really cute. I’m still planning to take a little sewing break, but if you’re interested in one of the dollies ($40 + shipping) send me an email or leave a comment. Otherwise, I’ll finish them in early fall and take them to a local arts + crafts fair.

Regarding my last post, I’ve gotten some sympathetic/resonant comments that I really appreciate. To clear things up, I don’t plan to stop blogging because I really enjoy it. But, I’ll probably post a little less frequently - not that I’ve posted very often for the last few weeks! - and it won’t be quite the same subject matter as before. I’ve already started some drawings and have my next post about that all planned…

See you at the farmer’s market tomorrow, if you decide to drop by. :)

The “work” refers both to my office and the heaped up pile of sewing projects in my craft room. “Progress” means that I am chipping away at both of them, although it’s been kinda slow going.

As part of my weekend cleaning/organizing extraveganza [last post] I also decided to redo my craft room, which had turned into nothing more than storage space for all my fabric and art supplies. Not anymore! I moved the desk away from the logical place next to the window, stuck it next to a wall, added a few lamps, and jumbled all of my shelves and drawers until they fit.  I just couldn’t bring myself to sit down at the desk before, but I’ve been sewing there the last couple of nights and it’s been lovely (I can’t watch tv anymore, but that probably only increases my productivity). And now there’s not a messy heap of thread and fabric all over the dining room table when someone stops by unexpectedly.

The room still isn’t pretty enough to take a full picture, but I’m really liking the idea of a whole room devoted to sewing and crafting. And drawing, when I get around to it.

The dolls are still in pieces (I can’t decide whether or not I find the small array of arms and legs macabre), but I think I’ll get to the assembly stage on Thursday night so I can post some cute pics. Am going to see Die Hard 4 tonight instead of sewing…a girl’s got to have her priorities straight.

My stress level (and email inbox) runneth over at work, so I’m practising a little lunchtime diversion by thinking about the other projects I want to work on this weekend. [Edit: Okay, maybe this isn't the best stress-reduction tactic.]

I’m hoping to take tomorrow off to do some sewing, and if that happens I’ll be working on something like this.

Remember these? My little packaging-and-layout-project-turned-crafty from last Christmas? I had a request to make one more, and because it’s more fun + productive to make a batch I’m going to see if I can finish 4 or 5 in the next couple of weeks.

They won’t look exactly the same as Claire and Nelly, since I want to make the new ones a little bigger and work out some of the problems in the original design. But they will have the same vintage fabric dresses and embroidered faces. So stay tuned for some fabric cuteness.

Our home internet seems to be working (fingers crossed) at the moment, so even if I’m home I’ll be able to post the cd winner tomorrow. Also, not that you’ve been holding your breath, but I don’t think the Sing & Shout girls will make it to the Farmer’s Market this weekend or the next. Sorry ’bout that…we’re all a little swamped at the moment.

Lately, any sort of holiday has seemed like a good opportunity to get more sewing done. Between Saturday and Memorial Day, I managed to finish 10 bibs + some new printed cards + something completely different (that I’ll show you when it’s done).

I usually don’t get very excited about my own crafts, but I think that this batch of bibs turned out really well. Much better than the first ones.

I was able to conquer a few material + frustration issues, so these went together faster and look crisper. I also used some pieces of my favorite vintage fabrics, like the flower print in the center of this pink bib. It’s from an old apron that I found in a pile of scraps at an estate sale.

Sir Speedy, my sewing machine, was unusually cooperative and all this was accomplished with a bare minimum of ripping out and re-doing. [My sewing has thus far involved an awful lot of ripping out, so this was a pleasant change.]

This red bib (for a boy or a girl, I thought) is backed with the red/yellow/black plaid in the center, which I’ve realized that I need to start conserving. I found a good yard or two of the stuff at the Salvation Army, and it’s going fast.

Here they are lined up in a row so you can see some of the backing fabric. They’ll be for sale at the Farmer’s Market next Saturday, June 2.

In other news, the Gibbs family is thisclose to having internet at home, which means that I might post more often. Or not. It’s kind of nice to have blogging time limited to lunch so that it doesn’t take over. But, I think you’ll hear a lot more from husband when we can log on in our own living room.

Oh, I should also mention that I’m finally re-activating the ol’ Flickr page. I have almost come to the end of my free space on WordPress, so I’m going to start uploading most of my photos onto Flickr and linking to them here. I’m also hoping that this will pressure me to improve my photography. :) Flickr is a really, really great site, I’ve just been lazy. So please, pop on over and say hello.

I have high hopes for my sewing productivity this weekend. Josh is working Friday and Saturday evenings, so it’s just me, my sewing machine, and some tv-on-dvd. (Oh, and the dog…sorry, Bean.)

I’ve already managed to take this pile of fabric

and reduce it to this

and this.

(Those are bibs-in-progress, in case you can’t tell. 10 of ‘em.)

In other random +  unrelated news, Josh and I have discovered that the Audian in Pullman shows $2 movies on Thursday nights. This is perfect because he works Fridays and Thursday is the new Friday. We saw Disturbia (= very scary remake of Rear Window) and Next (= pretty good Philip Dick) last night. It was $4 per person well spent, as we had an extremely good time.

I hope you have a good weekend! 

When I heard last week that a recent issue of Martha featured a tote made from a pillowcase, I got a really specific image in my mind of what it looked like. And then I actually saw the pattern - on Martha and as made by Three Pink Trees) - and found out that, while adorable, Martha’s idea wasn’t the same as mine. (Sometimes it’s really nice to know that you’ve got some originality left in you!)

Ever since then, I’ve been wanting to try my idea out to see how it looks. I picked up this pillowcase during my last-and-greatest thrifting adventure and started chopping away on Tuesday night without a pattern.

Because the pillowcase was soft and thin, I added a lining made from an old cotton/poly sheet.  I also included a pocket since (as I’ve said) I can’t stand a bag without a place to put my keys.

My pattern also ties at the top, which is a look I’ve never tried before. I think it works well on a light weight summer bag.

I tried to take a photo of the way the purse looks when worn, but this was the closest I could get. I’m really happy with it and will (hopefully) have a few for sale at the farmer’s market on June 2. I’m already searching for the perfect pillowcase to use for mine. :)

I wish I had more fun photos to show you, but the truth is that the oilcloth tote bags are progressing rather slowly. I cleverly made the size of the bags a little too large for my cutting mat and it took a while to measure and cut everything. One dull rotary cutter +  some frustration + partial viewing of The Fountain later, the pieces are finally ready to sew.

The cuteness factor is shaping up to be high. Very high, in a pink-40s-retro kind of way. The pink oilcoth underneath is the original print left over from my wedding reception, and I bought some pink gingham at La Bella Vita to use for accent and pockets.

I bought some of the white flower print and the blue gingham as well, in case you’re not that into pink (I go through phases myself). The pieces look really cute mixed together and scattered around my dining room table.

I squeezed in a little sewing before I left this morning, and it was just long enough to come up with a new technique. One small frustration with oilcloth is that it’s a little skittery to sew on. I bought some tear-away stabilizer for the tricky parts, but I was having trouble getting two pieces of fabric to lie still on top of each other and not skew.

Enter: masking tape.

Yup, I found that I can tape one piece to the other, sew my seam with no problems, and whip the tape off afterward with no sticky residue. It’s hard to get all the tape off if you sew over it, but if you just sew along the side it works like a charm.

I felt very please about this method and hope to use it to great effect tonight.

I heart oilcloth.

I gave away my first bib ‘n’ bird set at a baby shower last night.

When he arrives in six weeks or so, little Beck Cummings will be the proud owner of green-birdy and a nice bib to drool all over. (Not that he’ll appreciate either for a while, of course.)

The shower also featured this crafty + useful gift, made from soft flannel.

Tonight’s project is to continue working on some oilcloth tote bags. I’m finally dipping into the sizeable stash left over from my wedding, and the goal is to finish 4-5 before next Saturday’s market.  I’ve never sewed with the stuff before and am excited to see what it’s like - any tips??