Finn's Goose is sending some gooses to some bruces!

3 Christmas Gooses - check! The goose stuffie is a really cute project from The Long Thread blog, found here. I made a couple last year too, but forgot to take photos. These photos were taken at 10am in the dark, yes folks, a 6 or 7 hour drive north from our house and you can kiss the arctic circle if you're so inclined. It has been a dark November and December, many of us are looking forward to winter solstice and longer days. There are more photos of gooses and contents of those drawstring bags on my flickr site, but if you are K, you aren't aloud to peek! I've already shown too much but had such fun putting these presents together that I couldn't wait to share. Finn will be excited to see his goose after school today. A few notes on goose-construction, it is really worth it to take the time to hand stitch the beaks first, then machine stitch. I learned this the hard way as my beak was very crooked the first time around (and Finn's goose has the most crooked beak but I'm hoping he won't notice!). I also skipped trying to stuff the skinny feet, it was beyond my patience! I'm impressed with Ellen at the long thread for stuffing those feet!

The 12 Days of Christmas Market

Last chance to stock up for Christmas. We were busy setting up this morning and wow! There are some really lovely things at the Firehall for the next 12 days. I have EVERYTHING there for big and little people. Stop by and take a look - fresh baked goods too (not by me but by many others). So yummy! I was very tempted to stuff my pockets with chocolate and eat it for lunch!

13th Annual Littlest!

13th Annual Littlest!, originally uploaded by Georgi Pearson.

70's Dress redo

So, not only do I sew a pile of lovely things to sell and share with everyone, I also have this terrible need to make something new for me to wear when I do a show! This time around I made a retro 70's McCall's #2008 brown linen dress that was fine but, well, it was brown and, in case you haven't noticed, my fabrics are usually quite bright and quirky. And my good friend T said "you can't wear BROWWWN to the Cranberry!!!". Rightly so. I made dress number 2, a 70's McCall's #2004 with a really fun streets and cars and trucks fabric that was meant to be quilty pants. It is very comfy and nicely fitted, the belt detail across the back is really nice, I cheated and skipped the back zipper - not the smartest, but time was tight and I didn't have one "in stock"!! I think I'll be making another one of these soon! A note to sewists out there, retro patterns may look groovy but man, they really made their lives difficult if you follow the construction instructions. There are faster, smoother techniques in garment making in our modern patterns, so, if you are making a vintage pattern, read it through and if you think you can skip a step or do a step in a different order to make your life easier than do it!

3 vintage wool blankets

I've had these blankets for a few years, hoping to remake them one day into embellished blankets and pillow covers. Finally, that day arrived and they were ready for the Cranberry Fair. All the pillows have new homes and one blanket remains (the pink one). The pillow covers turned out sooo nicely. They are so warm and heavy, really nice to cozy up with. I'll have to keep my eyes open for more wool blankets! The Fair was great fun by the way! Lots of people and lots of beautiful handmade arts and crafts. The Yukon is full of very talented, hard working folks. I'm also thankful that my good friend R was my helper! A month ago I foolishly told her I would be ok and do it alone, luckily she was available to join me when I called her last week! Thanks R! I had a great time and look forward to next year!

The Bits

These are my favourite parts of sewing - the bits and pieces. I've always wanted to show people my garbage piles from the sewing process, how weird is that? Luckily a good friend with a GREAT camera came by the other day and took some photos - click on this one to see the others!

44 Belts

Belts for Cranberry Fair by the case load! Like most things lately, I can make them in my sleep! While I have been busy sewing for Cranberry, LIttlest and 12 Days, I did manage to fall off the wagon and make a skirt (or 2) that are not part of the plan. Sometimes when an idea comes along, you just have to make it! It's a horizontal stripe skirt of 6 or 7 fabrics with a simple elastic waistband. I may make them for Littlest but they are kind of silly for this minus 25 and 30 weather we're having! Unless you're heading for a beach holiday soon! Hmmm... maybe I should make a couple more - and lose the turtleneck sweater!

Sewing

The Cafe Apron goes like this:
Cut all pieces, sew loop, press, iron hems, sides and bottom, iron top edge of fabric panel, sew fabric panel to apron, right sides together, sides and top, turn, press, sew along bottom edge of panel, don't forget to insert hang up loop, sew all around apron, sew tie across and tie ends, add label. Press. Repeat.

The Market Bag goes like this:
Cut all peices, hem and sew pocket top, sew up straps, press, sew sides of bag, serge sides, sew corners of bag, serge corners, press upper hem, sew upper hem, sew straps on (least favourite part, only takes 4 minutes but need to do it 4 times per bag = tedious!!). Add label. Press. Repeat 34 times. 68 straps. 136 strap attachments.

The Cafe Apron 2011

More Cafe Aprons. Bring the Bistro home to your kitchen! This one is chocolate brown organic cotton with an Anna Maria Horner print that is really fun to look at - and the colours! Wow. There's a slate blue-grey that she has somehow gotten away with in there that is just amazing. Click on the photo to see the rest of the aprons on Flickr - sorry, winter light has made the photos not so great.

New Tote Style

This bag caught my eye on the cover of this book a while ago. It's a big bag and has a nice shape to it, more than just a tote bag. This is a japanese cotton/linen mid weight fabric that is really pretty in real life! I bought it in Portland last winter with this bag in mind. I've made 10 of them in various prints for the Cranberry Fair, November 27th. This will be my first Cranberry Fair, a juried arts and crafts show here in Whitehorse and I'm pretty excited to be a part of it. I'm hoping to have lots of lovely things. My biggest concern right now is how to display bags on a table... not the easiest thing to do...!