Baby dress with flower

So, 10pm last night I was sewing on the flower. Which was much more complicated than I expected, due to flower floppiness. But I had left nice long tails, so all is well. But I was glad I didn't try to squeeze it in between school pickup, rocket building night, and cell phone contact mess.

See the dress on ravelry, and the flower on ravelry.

And for what's really going on. Note the pile of boys' hoodies/jackets, backpack of boy who is off for conferences, and random papers from their backpacks (I cannot tell if these are important or not). I managed to take 4 pictures before the cats came to check out the goings on.

Watcha doin'?

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Baby dress

The dress is done. The flower is done. So close to completely done, but not quite there.

Yes, all I need to do is sew the flower to the dress.

Due to some iphone contact issues, 2 days off of school for my 10-year-old (conference time), and a whole bunch of cub scout stuff to do (newsletter, awards, 2 articles for local paper), as well as actual paid work—well, maybe I can find 10 minutes to get this sewn together.

The dress is Sweet and Swingy Dress by Ellen Gormley, Crochet Today May/June 2009. I made the size 6 months.

The flower is Flower Accent by Mimi Alelis (I made a solid center rather than use a button).

Bookwise, I am still reading the same three books—Ivyland (which I give a solid "meh", I am hoping it pulls together in the final 90 pages); The History of the World in Six Glasses (disappointing for me the history major); and His Family by Ernest Poole (good, this is my "emergency" book on my phone, otherwise I would be done!).

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Washi and milk carton bookmarks

So, my 10-year-old loves to read. And he loves bookmarks. Demands them, in fact. And he loses them. And a piece of paper doesn't count for him! It must be a "real bookmark."

Fortunately, he is pretty mellow when it comes to losing bookmarks. And he totally gets why I don't want to buy them—because he doesn't either!

So...voila! Washi and milk carton bookmarks.

These are super simple! Rinse a milk carton, and cut out the flat sides with craft scissors. Then, with a cutting mat and Xacto knife, cut down to a nice bookmark size—mine vary, as you can see, by how much space I had on the milk carton.

My setup

I used one of my quilting rulers as a straight edge. I actually did this on the floor, so I could put all of my weight on the ruler—that milk carton plastic can be squirmy.

Trim down to a rectangle

Cut down

Once I had my rectangles, I simply wrapped washi tape around the piece. Once, or twice, depending on the size of the bookmark and the pattern of the tape. Fold it over the ends, or go all the way around. It will peel off with use if you trim it flush to the end.

My favorite tape—this one's for me.

That's all there is to it!

 Easy as pie! Easier, actually.

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A finish!

Woot! I finished up my baby gift for the new nephew. The pattern was wonderful, the yarn wonderful. (Though what is up with Knit Picks' Comfy Worsted Honeydew pull skeins? Pure yarn barf, 13 times--the 1 Jalapeno skein worked perfectly). Ends sewn in, washed, dried, and photographed.

Pattern: Sólas Coamh by Jodi Euchner, Interweave Crochet Spring 2009
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Honeydew and Jalapeno
On Ravelry: my project, which has links to the pattern and the yarn

Now I just need to pack it up and ship it off!

This makes me feel like I really got something done!

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An old WIP

Rather than start a new project or pick up one of my large WIPs, I will be finishing up this little one first.

 

The pattern is Sweet and Swingy Dress from the  May/June 2009 Crochet Today. So I probably started this right around May 2009. I had planned to donate it to Stitches from the Heart, which used to have a fabulous store local to me (I think I bought this yarn on their super-sale rack too). They closed to store and moved their main operation, and this project got shoved aside.

First comes the fun part of trying to figure out what size I was making!

The book is Ivyland by Miles Klee. I love a good dystopia, and this one is on the 2013 Tournament of Books short list. I have already read 5 on the full list of 19. I really just started this one though, so I don't really have an opinion just yet.

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What's for dinner?!

Yes, I get asked that question every single day. In the morning, at school pickups, and then again (especially if they are hoping the answer will change).

The January 2013 Whimseybox came with 3 6" by 5" balsa pieces, 2 rolls of washi tape, a clamshell plastic box, and some bright rubber bands.

For this project, I painted one side of the entire board with chalkboard paint I had leftover from another project. I used 3 coats, separated by about 10 minutes drying time in the sun, and then let it dry for over 24 hours.

I then simply added a washi border. I stuck it to the wall using that white plasticy tack-n-stick. There may be a better choice, but I had this so we'll see.

This board is small for a menu board, but then so is my wall. That light switch is centered on the wall. There is not much wall space in my kitchen, and this light switch gets more action than any other in the house—the perfect place for a message board!

The other 2 balsa boards from the box? I have a little project in progress, but can't find the beads I want. Looking for another solution there....

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Fabric shopping

No, the afghan still is not quite done—hopefully next week I can share a finished project!

But a new cousin means a new project! Since I am still working on one baby aghan, I have decided to go with a quilt for the next project.

And since I had some time today, I decided today was the perfect day to head to Sew Modern.

The plan is to make a disappearing 9-patch. The fabrics I left with:
Boys Toys Sky (Robert Kaufman)--backing (far right) and focus fabric (far left)
Pearl Bracelets (Lizzie House) in dark gray
Noteworthy (Sweetwater for Moda) in a brownish gray
Simply Color (V and Co for Moda) in gray and green--these are ombres, so I get more options!
Chevron (Riley Blake) in green and blue--big dots, another ombre!
Clown Stripe (Michael Miller) in green and light blue
Kona Glacier (the dark turquoise)--possibly the binding, but I may add borders

So, these need to get washed an pressed and I need to chose my block size for the quilt. Plenty of time to get that afghan finished....

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