Posts Tagged ‘Penelope’

Selfless Sewing + Giveaway

June 13th, 2013
5 Comments

I made a few things for Penelope last week! In fact, while I was partying it up in LA, I found a lot of textiles just for her. She’s going to get a new wardrobe here by the end of the summer.

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I picked up this burnout fabric (sort of similar, similar) at the Michael Levine Loft. You can buy fabric for $2.50 per pound. It’s amazing! I found a lot of sheer chiffons and jerseys that I just couldn’t say no to. This, being one of them. If you look at it closely, it’s got a little paisley pattern to it. It’s really quite sweet.

This is certainly not the kind of fabric I would use to make a shirt for me. Much too see-through. I was thinking of a summer hoodie, then I remembered Penelope doesn’t have a swim coverup. Heck, she’s never had one.

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I’m not entirely sure how the idea came to me, but I thought about the circle dress I made a while back and thought if I added a hood, it’d be a great summer coverup. I made the opening smaller than my own waist and just winged the hood part. I grabbed one of mine and one of Penelope’s hoodies and quickly drew up a pattern. I didn’t even test it beforehand. Look at how perfectly those edges overlap! Huzzah!

Penelope’s impatience for mom (she stopped calling me mommy last week! WHAT??) is really showing here. She’s rearing to go outside and join her friends for some water games.

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I opted not to put any arm holes in it. Laziness or simplicity? I’ll let you guess. It certainly doesn’t seem to bother her at all. Penelope got a few approving nods at the pool and with Chris on a fast-food run.

Felix is the cutest photo-bomber. He’s even trying to show off by standing up!

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I don’t know if you’ve gathered from how much I’ve talked and instagrammed about Fabric weekend that I had way too much fun. I bought about 40 pounds of leather and fabric. I couldn’t help myself! Especially when it came to the leather. The pink and blue leathers were the first things I pulled out of my bag to show to Chris when I got home. Being just as excited as me about my spoils he asked, “What are you going to do with it?”

“Something awesome!!” I’m thinking leather handbag, leather skirt, leather trimming, leather books. . . .

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Here are just a few pieces that I picked up while on vacation. I had to buy a new shelving unit just to accommodate the new arrivals. Look at my rainbow! Since I was in LA’s fabric district, I wanted to get prints and textiles that I can’t find at home. I’ve got all the basics covered since Jo-Ann is about 5 minutes from my house. Plus I only had so much room in my bags, so I had to be pretty picky. The highlights of my fabric shopping were:

Angel Fabric: Gold foil polka dot knit. COME ON! I’m working on a couple of ideas for Penelope. Help me decide below? (vote for your favorite and I’ll post the finished product next week).

@melissapher: What should I do with this gold foil dot jersey? Classic dress (yes) or hoodie dress (no)? #sewing #fashion #diy

FIDM Scholarship store: Oh my word, we had such a great tour of the school and their different departments. My favorite was the collaboration between the textile, fashion and decor departments. And that geometric print? It’s silk.

Photo by Bethany

Mood: Was expensive compared to the previous day’s average at $2/yard. Wandering through 11+ aisles of floor to 20′ ceiling of rolls of fabric made my head spin, everything was AMAZING! I don’t know how project runway peeps do that place in 30 minutes for $50.

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After Mood we enjoyed the most delicious bacon-wrapped hotdog.

Michael Levine: The above three fabrics were from the loft. You sift through giant boxes of fabric. I also got some swim fabric at the regular store. Yes. I’m going to make a swimsuit. I’m crazy.

Fabric Planet: This hidden gem had loads of rayon challis (pronounced shallee, according to peeps at Mood). It’s hard to find anywhere, but Fabric Planet had quite a few modern prints to choose from. I’m totally digging the tie-dye print above.

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Photo by Bethany – who I totally need to hang out with again

 

My trip wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Miriam (and Andrea). It was a much-needed girl’s vacation!

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Justine, Jen, Stef, Jessica, Mie, Melissa, Miriam, Caila, Me, Leanne, Andrea, Cherie, Marissa, Merrick, Sabra, Abby, Beverly, Marigold - Photo by Justine

 

Now would you like to get the chance to win some great sewing supplies?

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Grand prize winner:

  • Brother 1034D serger! (This is the one I have and I love it! Donated by GoToPatterns.com)

Four lucky winners will receive $150 in prizes:

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Contest Rules:

Giveaway open internationally to contestants 18 years or older. Contestants must enter their email address to be added to the LowPriceFabric.com and GoToPatterns.com email newsletters to win*. All prizes are awarded in the form of gift certificates. Winners responsible for paying shipping. Gift certificate value of serger is $210. Contest open from June 11, 2013 through June 20, 2013 EST. Winners will be notified within 24 hours of winning. Winners have 48 hours to claim their reward. New winners will be chosen if prizes are unclaimed. Winners will be emailed their rewards within 7 days of claiming their prize.

ONE ENTRY per person. This contest is being held on multiple blogs. Please enter only once. You will be counted only once.

*We’ve had a few questions about this text. By entering your information in the form above you are subscribing to the LowPriceFabric.com and GoToPatterns.com newsletters.

All Kids Are Artists

June 5th, 2013
7 Comments

Penelope’s really come into a creative grove since she got her new studio. What’s even more awesome/remarkable is how all of the neighbor kids congregate in the tiny hallway to create artwork with her.

We’ve got quite a few budding artists on our street, including a 6 year old girl whom I’m convinced could be a fantastic calligrapher.

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So I’m going to start a series. A virtual gallery stroll, if you will.

These kids are really inspiring to me, especially how they just freely create without any rules.

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Penelope drew this bee for her aunt B. Get it? Adorable. She’s always creating little pictures and sculptures.

On the first Wednesday of each month, I’m going to be posting her creative endeavors and maybe a couple from the neighbor kids as well. I would love to see you participate! Use the banner above and post your kid’s creative endeavors on your blog on the first Wednesday of each month. We’ll link up for a virtual gallery stroll. For this month, feel free to link up in the comments to any artwork your child has done. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to submit your child’s work to me before the first Wednesday (July 3) and I’ll publish it here. I hope you’ll participate with me! See below for submission requirements.

Artwork must be 100% done by your child 18 years and younger. Photo must be taken in natural light and image must be at least 550px wide.

Zero Budget Project: Penelope’s Studio

May 24th, 2013
9 Comments

For Penelope’s birthday, Chris and I wanted to give her something that would make her squeal. She is obsessed with her art supplies and crafting. Most days it’s all over the kitchen table, pantry, floor, counter tops and couch. She just spreads her artistic love all through the house.

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It’s great, but I want to channel it somewhere that I can close the doors and ignore it. I also wanted the space (and flooring) to be utterly indestructible to her glues and glitters. She thinks my studio is so cool, I wanted to give her one of her own.

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The downstairs toy room was out (too much soft carpet down there). My studio was definitely out!

We have this utility closet that we don’t really use that efficiently upstairs just next to my studio. It has washer and dryer hookups, but we have a laundry room downstairs instead. We had a few random boxes and things (above) that could be easily organized elsewhere, so I made this space Penelope’s.

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It’s the perfect size for her and the tile floors allow for easy clean up. As far as the cost and logistics of making this space hers, here was the breakdown:

  • tables: $50, Ikea
  • chairs: already on hand
  • shelving and brackets: $16, Ikea
  • containers: already on hand (Pink: $5, Michael’s | black: $3.99, Ikea)
  • frame for her sign: $5, Ikea
  • flat art storage: already on hand
  • filing cabinet: already on hand
  • magnets: gift from LivyLove

Total:$80

Of course, while I was at Ikea, I wandered through their art supplies and picked up about $40 worth of supplies for her as well. Who knew Ikea had such awesome art supplies for kids?

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The top shelf is still a dedicated space for the drill, light bulbs batteries and misc cleaning supplies. I’m thinking the above space needs an overhaul as well.

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With the open containers, Penelope can move them and clean up easily. And she’s pretty good about keeping things clean. So far.

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I finally found a use for those tins I bought on impulse by way back. This one holds chalk, the other holds her glitter pens.

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My mother-in-law sent Penelope a bunch of sweet supplies for her birthday like floral fabric tape, pebble crayons, twig pencils and loads of paper. What a nice grandma. Now she can use these in her own way and not worry about me nagging to clean up.

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The metal cabinet is perfect for displaying her favorite pieces before storing or framing them.

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It’s really a great space for her. She can do whatever she wants in that space and I can close the doors at the end of the day and ignore it all!

Did you have a creative space just for you growing up? Will you or have you done this for your own kids?

No-Hem Bubble Skirt Tutorial

May 22nd, 2013
5 Comments

I hate hemming. It’s certainly easier now that I have a rolled hem foot and a serger to speed things along, but I still despise it. I want them to be perfect, but often don’t want to spend the time to make them so.

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This idea for a bubble skirt came to me as I was wondering what to do with the remaining yardage from my scoop neck tee. I quickly put it together in about an hour, minus some unpicking because I pinned the skirt on wrong.

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Penelope reacted as she normally does with complete and utter elation. But when I asked for a photo or two, she gave me the stink eye. Gummy worms did the trick for this session.

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I would suspect this would be the perfect kind of tutorial for a sheer or semi-sheer lightweight material. The knit drapes and flounces nicely here.

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Outfit details:

  • top: Walmart
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: Target

Read more for the full how to!

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Forts by Penelope

May 6th, 2013
5 Comments

No recipe today. I didn’t make any interesting food over the weekend.

Penelope is obsessed with dogs. She asks every neighbor with a canine if she can babysit their dog. This weekend she built a little house for one.

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We have this deal that she’ll get a dog when she’s 12 years old. And every day she looks at me, stretches tall and says, “I’m bigger now. Can I have a doggy?”

We have these floor mats. She insisted on building a fort out of those mats for her new dog. You wouldn’t believe how hard she cried when Felix pushed it apart.

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We got these mats in California for free from a neighbor. I recovered only three of them and lost interest/energy. I didn’t even recover them so the covers could be washed. So I’m scheming on recovering them. I think I’m more patient and better at sewing now. I just need to find the right print/fabric that will go with our house.

Which reminds me . . . I’m heading to LA at the end of the month! I’m going with my friend Mim and a bunch of other sewing bloggers to hit up the fabric district. I can’t wait! I hope to find some great yardage for these mats there.

Do you have half-finished projects lying around your house that have aged so poorly you have to just start over again? This is just one of many around my house.

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