a tisket, a tasket….a new spring basket!!

remember last week i shared a glimpse of some fabric from dear stella?

today i’m sharing what became of that fabric. dear stella asked us to come up with an idea for spring/easter using this line and here’s the little basket that was born!

there are lots of tutorials out in the web world for round baskets, but very few for a rectangular one, so that’s what we made. and instead of stitching the fabric strips together, they are overlapped, giving it a bit more dimension. with little handles on each end i’ve found all sorts of uses for this little gem, from organizing my sewing accessories to holding bath essentials…it’s the perfect size for cd’s and my sister pointed out that it would be great holding diapers on a changing table! centerpiece? check! easter basket? check! it’s sturdy thanks to peltex interfacing, yet pretty simple to put together. the tutorial will walk you through each step.

it’s not quite ready for prime time….dear stella will be putting the tutorial on their site in the next few weeks…just in time for spring!!

kim

ps-thanks amy for doing yet another great job photographing both the finished basket and the instructional steps!!

On my nightstand: On Immunity by Eula Biss

If you don’t have young kids or grandkids you probably haven’t become too embroiled in the current debate over immunization (lucky you!), but if you do have little ones around or even if you don’t I highly recommend On Immunity: An Innoculation by Eula Biss.

Eula Biss is a writer of nonfiction and I was impressed by the scope of her research, but also by the way she weaves her family’s decisions into a wider discussion of the history and ethical implications of immunization.  She also incorporates some literary criticism throughout, which I thought was a neat approach.  She uses Dracula and vampires in general as a lens for looking at our fears about our bodies and others’ bodies.  “Our vampires, whatever else they are, remain a reminder that our bodies are penetrable.  A reminder that we feed off of each other, that we need each other to live.  Our vampires reflect both our terrible appetites and our agonized restraint.  When our vampires struggle with their need for blood, they give us a way of thinking about what we ask of each other in order to live.”  (Biss, On Immunity, 82)  Biss points out that although we like to think of our own bodies and our children’s bodies as private, we, like all natural systems, are totally interconnected and dependent on one another.  In that way Biss could be talking about any number of issues – environmental responsibility, parenting philosophies, religious beliefs… – for me On Immunity was a reminder to love my neighbor as myself.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of immunization, I think this one is worth a read.

What are you reading these days?  Have you read On Immunity?  Thoughts?  I am still on track with my one book a month plan (down from my pre-kid one book a week plan, but an improvement on my a handful of books a year plan of the past couple of years).  Do you make reading resolutions?  What should I read next?

-Elizabeth

beautifully warm

several weeks ago i joined in with many other makers through caroline hulse of sew caroline and signed up for a handmade scarf exchange.  i was just finishing up a warm wool cowl at the time and figured i’d be ahead of the game….i had mine almost completed!!  names were randomly jostled and i received an email with the name of the person i was to make a scarf for…..and she lived in southern California!!!  the cowl now rests in my “done” basket and i hustled and made an infinity scarf using cotton shirting and lace.  i dropped in the mail by the deadline and waited.  i was weirdly excited about what i might receive and from whom.

then it came.  i have to admit, i opened it like a 4 year old at Christmas.  and i wasn’t disappointed!

a beautiful crocheted cowl handmade by heather. i love the color, the texture, and those covered buttons!!!

these pictures (taken quite quickly and in poor light) don’t do this cowl justice. it’s beautiful!!

thank you heather.

on the sewing front i’m sharing a pic of some really cute dear stella fabric. it’s from their “dress me for the playground” collection. while i can’t share details quite yet (but very soon), we’ve designed another small project for dear stella using these fabrics. it should be complete and on their website in early march….ready for some spring/easter sewing….and this project would be perfect for easter…hint, hint.

stay warm!!
kim

Birthday doings

It’s my birthday! And this is a big one- the beginning of my third decade.

I didn’t make any big plans for the day because we have already had two birthday parties in the past week (Paul’s last Friday and my aunt’s on Saturday), so a quiet day sounded just about right.
I needed to renew my tags, so the kiddos and I started at the BMV, where there was no line (!!) and the clerk wished me a happy birthday.  We went to River Road Coffeehouse for breakfast from there and the kids, bless their little socks, were angels, so I got to drink my latte while it was still hot (bliss!).

We came home for Samuel’s nap and Jack and I commenced a day of baking. (Spoiler alert: Jack’s attention span lasted long enough to get us through the beginning of banana nut bread before he left to play with his “tuh-wucks.”)

While the banana bread was baking, I mixed up a batch of lemon – lavender shortbread for a doTERRA class I am helping with tomorrow, then started on some belated Valentines English toffee for Paul. (I didn’t make it to the store for Valentines chocolate for him… oops.)

While all of those were baking/ cooking/ cooling I had dough rising for a couple of peasant loaves that I will serve with herbed olive oil tomorrow at the class.

Now the last loaf is in the oven, Paul just walked in from work with a lovely bouquet of birthday flowers, Jack is napping while Samuel nurses and I am thinking that thirty is looking pretty good so far.

How are you spending this snowy February day?

back in the studio at last

so let’s get back to some sewing….after all, this IS a sewing blog!!  i finally returned to my studio after a much longer holiday hiatus than i had planned.  for weeks i would pass by the door and toss something inside…fabric, yarn, needles, patterns…they all ended up in a heap just inside the door.  so first things first, i had to wade through before i could get back to business.  i found flannel…lots of flannel.  there were plans to make it into gifts but i never got to it it hasn’t happened yet…the flannel has been patient, but it’s whispering behind my back that maybe i’ve been cheating with some voile.

and i found this.

it’s hammered satin, which sounds a bit violent.  i usually run screaming for the hills when i see satin…memories of making 5 bridesmaids gowns in 4 weeks with 2 toddlers underfoot…yikes!  but i made my sister a summer jazz tunic for Christmas using this fabric, the color made me think of her.  i even had it done in time to use it in an early December photo shoot (yes, i gave my sister an already worn tunic! but it was only on the model for 10 minutes, i swear!)  but alas, i had the size wrong so i’m in the process of a do-over….same fabric, right size.

so here’s the picture from the photo shoot….something i couldn’t share before the holidays just in case my sister suspected something.

here’s another summer jazz in knit…with LONG SLEEVES!!  love it!!  my office is chilly and i have to wear long sleeves (and sometimes multiple sweaters), so this one has seen some wear this season.

and yet another in a sheer fabric that was sort of nasty challenging to work with, but i love the color and print.  this one with the 3/4 length sleeve.  and pockets….i need pockets so i put them in just about everything i make.

the sleeve pattern for the summer jazz dress is free!  just click on “our pattern” for the pdf.  elbow, 3/4 and long sleeve versions to add to the flutter sleeve.  so many options!

there’s more to be found in that little studio of mine…and some brand new things to share…next time.

kim

LOVE15

love is in the air this week!!  and we’re feeling the love around here too….sorry, no diamonds or chocolates….but we think we have something that you’ll love just the same.  a DISCOUNT!!  scoot on over to our website, click on “our patterns” and using the coupon code LOVE15 enjoy 15% off our amazing patterns today through monday 2/16.  we couldn’t think of a better way to say “we love you”!!

make a summer jazz dress with sleeves for your romantic valentine’s day dinner, a red hot market day tunic for your cozy day together or a comfy weekend rambler skirt for your weekend getaway.  and with the money you save….buy yourself some chocolate.  you can thank us later:)

kim

bring on the new year!

it’s been a while.

while elizabeth was enjoying the holidays, i’ve had a few other things going on.  not that the holiday wasn’t wonderful….it was!  Christmas day was pure joy…the rushing from one house to another, great food and family.  the days following weren’t exactly what i was expecting.  my father experienced some health problems just a few days after Christmas.  he’s fine now…back home and bored to tears with winter, but for a couple of weeks we needed to pull together as a family and take care of business.  during those weeks (the coldest of the season in these parts), my mother also gave us a scare (let’s just say, the local emergency squad is now on our Christmas card list!) and my sister was hit by the mack truck known as the flu.  loving our parents is easy.  i’m blessed to say that i also LIKE mine!!  i enjoy hanging out with them, i like their friends, i enjoy being together with them.  i discovered something during this past month or so, and that is, no matter what, i will never be as good a daughter to them as they have been parents to me.  blessings abound!!

so….what else have i been up to since finishing up those last minute gifts?  no sewing:(  there were weeks when i didn’t even step foot into my studio!!  i would go to the door and toss things inside, but that was it!  that doesn’t mean my hands weren’t busy though.

i knit….at the hospital, and late in the evenings at home, knitting let me wind down and gave me a chance to process everything that was going on.  socks are my go-to knitting.  i wear only hand knit socks.  they’re perfectly portable, beautiful and practical.  and there’s a whole lot more yarn just waiting for it’s turn on the needles!!  i cranked out a scarf, a cowl, fingerless mitts and socks, with a sweater in the works.

and i drank coffee….lots of coffee.

coffee while reading on my nook (best gift ever dear husband!), coffee while knitting, coffee while on the computer!  and see that amazing mug?  another perfect gift, this time from kyle and amy.  it’s a handwarmer mug…you slip your fingers into that wonderful little “sleeve” and you’re toasty warm inside and out.

and there’s been beauty to behold, although i’m told that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!  i’m a winter lover, so the snow is a happy sight for me (in moderation of course!!).

a lovely bit of frosting on my property.  and a sunset that brings a peaceful end to the day.

i’ll be back in the studio soon…i’m heading there now!! wonder what suprises await me!! i’ll  let you know what i find.

kim