30% Off at Mood Fabrics

If you are a fan of Project Runway and are anything like me, you will have daydreamed about going to Mood Fabrics in New York to peruse their stacks and stacks of designer fabrics.  They have their entire stock online and for the next three days, you can get 30% off, courtesy the folks at BurdaStyle.  Just enter BURDASTYLE30 at checkout.

Enjoy!!

Tutorial: Fabric Flower with French Knots

I thought I'd post a little tutorial for the flower I put on Ingrid's onesie.  It's such a simple way to make a plain t-shirt or onesie interesting.  

Materials:

}a plain onesie or shirt

}an iron

}ironing board

}embroidery thread

}embroidery needle

}light-weight fusible interfacing (you will need two pieces, a 1" square and a slightly larger 1 1/2" square)

}small scrap of fabric cut in a wide ice cream cone shape (see photo-- my scrap was about 4"x4 1/2" at the widest parts)

Instructions:

1. Mark a spot on the front of the shirt where you want the flower to go with a crease or a straight pin (so you can see the mark when the shirt is inside out, too) .
2. Turn the shirt inside out.
3. Center the small square (1"x1") of interfacing over the marking you made.  
4. Follow the instructions on your interfacing packaging to adhere it to the inside of the shirt.
5. Turn the shirt right side out again.
6. Pinch the center of your ice cream cone shaped scrap (you should be pinching the wrong side of the fabric).  This will cause the fabric to bunch and fold.  Lightly press the folds to help keep the shape of the flower while you sew it on to the shirt.
7. Thread your embroidery needle with three to five strands of embroidery thread.
8. Position the flower over the mark you made on the front of the shirt.
9. Keeping the folds of the flower intact with one hand, sew three French knots through the layers of interfacing, shirt, and flower to securely fasten the flower to the shirt and to hold some of the folds of the flower down. 
10. If you're not sure how to make a French knot, here is a good tutorial.  
11. After the flower is attached, turn the shirt inside out again.  Iron the larger piece (1 1/2"x1 1/2") of interfacing over the back of your French knots and the smaller piece of interfacing, sealing everything in.  You will end up with a sandwich of sorts-- flower, shirt, interfacing, thread/knots, interfacing.   See photo below.

   12.  Enjoy!

For Ingrid

My former college roommate and band mate, Eva, is getting ready to have her first baby. I am so excited for her and her husband Kirk-- by far, some of the coolest people I know. They run their own letterpress company making darling calendars and cards and artwork. Eva has such an amazing eye for design-- folksy yet simple. She has more talent and gumption in her little finger than I do in my entire self and I really admire her.

I wanted to make something special to welcome their little Ingrid to the world. I put together a diaper and wipes carrier with a vintage yellow gingham lining and a big, old, black button.

I've been looking for an excuse to make these Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's "Handmade Beginnings" since my bestie made them for her baby. Reversible pants seem like the perfect thing for fall.

front

back

back detail

a peak inside

I also threw in a little embellished onesie to go with the pants.

Good luck, Eva and congrats!

If you want to check out Eva and Kirk's work you can visit their shop here.

If you want to check out Eva's blog, you can see it here.

A Sneak Peak

I've been working on a few things for a dear friend of mine, but you'll have to wait until after her baby shower this Saturday to see what they look like!

Have I Mentioned I'm a Sucker for School Supplies?

I l-u-v school supplies.

I knew I'd made the right choice in a husband when his mother gave us our own boxes of colored pens one year for Christmas. When I spy a gigantic pack of Sharpie markers in a store, all color coordinated and such, my heart beats a little faster. I buy Lucy a new pair of scissors every year for school, not because she wore her last pair out, but simply because I'm a sucker for school supplies. Organizing my "office", which is in my kitchen (where else should a professional homemaker's office be, I ask you?), is one of my favorite things to do. I love to line up my pens and straighten my cardstock and sort my bills-- A LOT. I do know this behavior is probably something they could make a TLC show about, but I digress.

Last week, Lucy's teacher sent home a note about the kids needing a pencil bag that could snap in to a binder. I dutifully searched the three Targets in my vicinity and came up empty. Apparently, once school starts, the stores around here reduce their pencil pouch stock dramatically. SO, I decided to make my own pencil pouch! It ended up being so easy and the perfect project for this Denyse Schmidt decor weight fabric I've had for a while.