85 Pairs!?

I survived sewing 85 pairs of quilty pants this month. That's 170 legs, 340 layers of fabric! They will all be in Angellina's Toy Boutique today. What have I learned? Well, I think 85 might be too many to sew at one time. I've been dieing to switch gears and make myself something as a treat (which I hope to show shortly). I also have a bunch more fall corduroy skirts to sew for The Collective Good... and some wool bags for them too. I'm really excited to have all this sewing work, it really is fun. I'll never get rich but my daily routine is very rewarding. I've even managed to fit in some exercise here and there which probably adds to my satisfaction on the job. I've also managed to successfully get myself into the Cranberry Fair, a local arts and crafts fair in November. So I'll be busy making for that sale too. 'Tis the season to sew sew sew!

A Wool Bag 2 Ways

WHAT? No post since July??
I'm really looking forward to making a few more of these lovely wool bags in the near future. They are (or will be!) made with some wool plaids I've collected from Pendleton Woolen Mill in Portland, Oregon - just off the Springwater Corridor bicycle trail! They have a long strap and a handle strap that also gathers the bag shut. A wool bag has been on my to do list for a while - and soon it will be crossed off! Hooray!

Summer Quilty Pants

Another fresh batch of quilty pants has been delivered to our local toy shop. I've had the fabric for 2 months and it was torture not having the time to make them up sooner. I was about a month behind in getting these to the shop but it's been a busy spring! I'm telling myself they wouldn't have sold as they are a warm pant and we've actually had a warm summer! This is probably not true though, as many folks buy them now for the Fall. I'm wondering when I'll get tired of making 5-sets-of-8 pants (80 legs!) but so far so good! Wait 'til you see the Fall/Winter batch - it's a biggie!

Flower Dress for Baby of the Bride and Groom

Our family celebrated a wedding this past weekend and I was really excited to make, not only 2 cute flower dresses for my 2 cute nieces, but vests for my cute nephew, the best man and the groom aannnd... THE WEDDING DRESS! Yup! In fact I think I shrieked and hugged my sister-in-law to bits when she handed me a 60s vintage pattern that she had in mind to use! While we ended up diverging a bit from the original pattern, we stuck with a 60s minidress and she really pulled off that sweet, hipster, vintage look! It was a beautiful day to get married, everyone had a wonderful time - and looked good too!

Spotlight!

I have been the subject of an interview over on The Collective Good page. Go and take a look - Jen does such nice work over there, and at the real life shop too! 

A New Shop!

I'm so excited for my good friend Jen Williams as she enters the world of Whitehorse retail for the second time in the form of a lovely *little* shop called The Collective Good. Located in the Horwoods Mall at 1st and Main, this shop promises to bring unique and modern apparel, accessories and housewares to, in Jen's words, the good people of Whitehorse. I am also excited to play a small roll in stocking her shelves with a sampling of my women's clothing and accessories, as well as a few new tote styles with vintage fabric and Juniper wood buttons! The Collective Good will open this Thursday, June 6th and will be open Thursday to Saturday. I think you will thoroughly enjoy visiting this lovely space, I sure do!

Simple Striped Scarves are back!

I've made another batch of simple striped scarves. A soft and styish rayon knit in 2 colours and 2 orientations. An easy way to spruce up your look. Ha! That's me trying to be a fashion writer! They'll be at the trunk show too!

Room Shoes 2013

This year's batch of room shoes (sorry about the photo, the light has been terrible around here!). In fact, I saw the blue sky yesterday briefly around 3:30pm and I was blown away - felt like ages since I'd seen such a clear, beautiful, bright blue colour. Making room shoes is such a revelation. When I hold a finished shoe in my hand I'm just amazed that I made it! This is a very rewarding item to make, a bit finicky and the sizes are "approximate" as I'm not what you'd call a precision sewer like some quilters I know. It's best to just try on a pair and go from there! Looking forward to Sunday - hope you can stop in. We'll also have lots of good things to eat while you browse our wares.

Office Picnic Car Picnic...

For the Trunk Show, I've made some picnic sets - placemat, utensils and chopsticks all in a neat package. The backing fabric is the blue dot canvas that is shown as well as a pale blue chevron canvas. I've always thought they would be good for the office, so you will always have the basics for those meals you eat at your desk. My good friends L&DH keep their sets in their car so they are always ready to sample good food at the market or at potluck picnics on the go. The design is from one of my favourite sewing books that would make a great gift for a new sewer. It's Lotta Jansdotter's and it's been around for a while but it is VERY good! Among other things, Lotta designs fabric that I really like and used last summer in some simple shifts.

The Trunk Show Skirts

Here they are (although most of them still need hand sewn clasps at the back) ready for the Trunk Show next weekend. I couldn't resist one bicycle print this year but most of them are a houses and cities theme with some Kaffe Fassett flowers for good measure. I have a few skirts from last year available too - including a Richard Scary busytown streets skirt. We have some new talent at this year's show - I sure hope you can stop by if you are in Whitehorse on the 5th of May, just in time for Mother's Day - hint hint!