two straight lines

I was trying really hard to not show you this until I got the buttons on, but I need to teach myself how to do a buttonhole (pathetic, I know) and with school out, it may be a few more days. The weatherman is forecasting much rain which equals bad photos, so here ya go.  This is my final project for the nursery before the lazy days of summer involving the sewing of teeny-tiny doll clothes and other frivolous things.

I'm hoping to slow down this summer, try not to think so much about what needs to be done, and concentrate on enjoyment.  Just saying that out loud is big for me.  We spent the weekend before last with my family, and I sat there with my Grandmother holding a sleeping Lucie and Elliot being cared for by Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, even Neighbors. Boats were paddled, first fishes caught, there was even some fried chicken involved.  I thought to myself...this is what summer is like for some people,  sitting by a lake-- chatting, resting for a moment, enjoying good company.  This is what my summers were like as a kid.

Sometimes I wonder, with progress, with success, what have we really gained?  My family is spread all over, so few chances to spend times like these together.  My Grandmother reads my blog on her MacBook (really!) and knows me better from it than from real life.  But, if I could just walk down the street and pick some of my Grandfather's flowers...that just may be a little slice of heaven.  When I was a kid my Grandparents lived a block away from my Great-Grandparents.  In the morning my Great-Grandfather would raise the blind-- that signalled all was well.  That's how it should be, someone should be checking that we raise our blinds each day.

So, here's the smock.  For those of you who regularly sew clothes-- no biggie-- but I am simply in love with it.  My poor daughter just may be getting married in one just like it in say, 25 years, so happy am I to be making clothes for her.  In truth, this was made as a wall decoration, with an expiration date.  It is a 3T, so that gives me about three years plus or minus to find something else for this spot above her dresser.  It is Kona Solid Muslin faced with Yuwa Dots and of course a Liberty Print pocket.  I found some little red square buttons with rounded corners to finish it off, when time allows.

Other Smocky Goodness--

Ella Pedersen's gorgeous smocks in her new etsy shop.  And did you know she has a blog now?

Martha's minimalist smock.

Alicia's Smocket.

I've been tinkering around with fabric stiffener for the last month or so (seems I'm not the only one) and had come up with a solution that I thought would work for Lucie's mobile-- little fabric butterflies cut from a Liberty print.  I was really happy with the butterflies and yesterday I sewed them on to stripey string to attach to the top of the mobile that I had made ages ago.  They were all perky, and I was pretty happy with it overall, just a few steps left to go.

As I put Lucie to bed last night, I turned on the humidifier because she was congested.  I thought at the time that it may take away the stiffness of the butterfles, but figured I should test it now so I didn't put even more work into it only to have it ruined later.  So, this is what I awoke to-- floppy butterflies.  I think I am going to cut my losses at this point...I am ready to move on, and I won't be a professional mobile maker any time soon.  I do have some plans for the other half of the butterflies that I made in another part of the room, and I think they will work just fine.  As for these, every girl needs a few strands of butterflies in her life, don't you think?  Elliot has already requested that one strand of them be attached to a wand for him.

I need a little advice from you folks about this little piece of folk art I bought for my Mom 13 years ago.  Back when this type of angel first started popping up in home decorating magazines like Country Living, my Mom asked me to look for one for her, since I lived in Chicago and had more access to things like that.  I found this one in a gallery in Evanston and bought it for her for Christmas.  I paid a couple of hundred dollars for her-- a lot for me at the time-- probably a weeks take-home pay!  It is by a folk artist- CH (don't know his or her name)- and is titled "Hope."

My question is, now that she is mine, I was thinking of updating her with some embroidery or something on the dress.  I am a little tentative about doing this because I consider her to be a more authentic piece of folk art than the countless craft sale angels that followed.  What do you think?  I know that ultimately all that matters is what I want her to look like, but I don't want to do some sort of damage to her.  Is it OK to alter art-- even if it is just folk art?

So, this went from one of those projects that starts off great-- "wow, these are so cute and easy, maybe I should start making them and selling them" and quickly moved into-- "man, it sure does take a lot of annoying tiny steps to make a mobile, doesn't it?" and finally into the-- "boy, that looks like crap" category.  You know what I'm talking about.  I like to call it the "Aren't I Clever" Syndrome.  The quickest way to ruin a project is to get too smug.

While I loved my little Mary-Janes (which were more than a little inspired by Lorena Siminovich), their two-dimensionality did not work for me in the form of a mobile.  Luckily Ikea came the rescue with these small shadowbox frames.  I scanned vintage children's book text for the background.  I mostly like them, but the purist in me wishes I would have chosen text that related to the Mary-Janes (yes, it is difficult being inside this head of mine:)  This text is Nest Eggs from A Child's Garden of Verse by Robert Louis Stevenson.

I haven't given up on the mobile thing entirely, I just think I will try to make the dangly part 3D.  I love these paper butterflies, but would like to make them out of fabric.  Any suggestions on adding enough body to fabric to be able to make multi-layered butterflies like that?  Liquid starch?  Interfacing?

On a completely unrelated note-- have you seen these adorable video games (via Tumbling Blocks)?  Turns out I don't hate video games after all, just ugly ones.

Since I'm on an itty-bitty break, I thought I'd re-post a few of my Easter projects from last year.  Enjoy.

 

I posted pre-Easter about Bunny Parts, but never updated with the completed Bunny Bean Bags that I made for Elliot's basket.  They were inspired by this bunny fabric that I got from Kitty-Craft, although the fabric did not end up making an appearance in the final bunnies.  I had technical difficulties and ended up topstitching the cream wool felt bunny tops to felt bottoms in colors coordinating with their ears and eyes.  As Elliot is fond of saying now..."there... much better..."

 

What's that green blob in the background you say?  That is our "cabbage"-  a.k.a.- a plastic ice bucket from JoAnn's mod podged with green tissue paper.  I originally was looking for an enamel bucket that I was going to embellish, but no luck finding it around here.  This will do for now, and we may make a paper mache cabbage sometime soon.

Elliot seems quite pleased with his little bunnies, we even had a 3AM game of Bunny Toss last Saturday night when he decided he was "all done" with sleeping.  I got several bewildered stares when I told people I was making Elliot bunny beanbags for his Easter basket.  I guess a loud blinky toy would have been more useful.  Seems for this toddler, the simpler the toy, the better.

 

As soon as I finish the last few bits of the nursery-- and of course I have this baby-- I am starting a new project (just what I need, right?).  I have been reading a few books relating to Waldorf education and decided to get Elliot a playstand as sort of a "big brother" gift, figuring he'll need plenty to occupy him in the coming weeks, and hoping to encourage creative play.  After some research, and deliberating about whether we should start from scratch and design one ourselves or purchase one,  I decided to buy an unpainted model from Little Colorado- actually choosing the two playstand combo (scroll down for the unfinished models) as well as buying four jumbo clips.  My plan was to use the two playstands as is, and then have my father-in-law help me build a canopy that I liked better than their arch design.  I also plan on painting it a sort of buttermilk white.

It arrived yesterday and to my surprise included the arch canopy that I had decided not to purchase.  I informed the company and they are letting me keep it for free, which I am sort of thrilled with, because it makes it a much more usable height for my very tall 3 year old, and is certainly a nice option to have.  I built it during preschool today, and we already had a great time playing in our "cave"- covered with a big blanket, even eating our lunch in there.

My plan over the next few months is to trick it out with the help of my little man, and wondered if you all have any suggestions for me.  I think I will make a variety of covers, little curtains for the sides so it could be a puppet theater, maybe some sort of mat or floorcloth for the bottom, etc. I figure this will be a good way to combine a creative outlet for me with time and attention for Elliot, since clearly there will be less of each soon.  Of course, I picture things like a kitchen and potting shed, and he is imagining fire stations and caves, but surely there is time for all of it.

The quality and construction of this stand is really great, so I recommend Little Colorado highly.  I shopped around and many of the Waldorf toystores carried this one, and found the prices direct from Little Colorado as good as any, so I figured I had a better chance of getting it quickly from them.  I also love to see small businesses make a larger profit for themselves.  I think this will be a great toy because it can serve so many purposes.  It would also make a fabulous mini-toyroom if you have limited space.  This could go right in a family room with a few toy bins under each side and some playsilks thrown over the top.

If you or a family member are handy, there are a number of great sources out there for playstand plans.  I'd love to see a more modern design.  This one is really simple and functional, with smooth finishes and safe hardware, which are the most important factors, but it seems there is a ton of room for innovation.  Check back for progress on ours.

 

I just found a really beautiful and new-to-me blog: http://olivelse.typepad.fr/-- Enjoy!

An odd little crop popping up here at our house.  I finally made a tackboard for over my sewing table out of some heathered brown wool from Haberman's.  A bit of a splurge, but I've never made one from wool, and this board is quite large (3' x 4') so nothing I had at home would work.  It is finished off with a strip of Robin's Egg Blue cotton at the bottom.  The tacks are made from simple t-pins and some yummy variegated yarn, hand-tied with some linen thread.  I love the way they look like little sprouts.

What, you're not sitting around hand-tying tacks?

A fun little Work-In-Progress: Mary Jane Mobile

Real and felt.  No time for icing when baking with three year olds, but that's OK, because someone likes to dust "snow" on everything these days.  Happy Valentine's Day.

Paper Garland- cardstock or laminated Paper (mine is laminated paper) with construction paper hearts.

Potato Stamped Hearts on Paper- getting ready to make Elliot's valentines