Christmas Creativity

My sister asked me to make an apron for her in April or May.  She sent me a picture of what she wanted…. black with tiny polka-dots and a few faint ruffles on the bottom edge.  Black didn’t seem practical for baking…. flour, butter and sugar will show up like a fly in the milk.  But black and pink are so cute together! I’ve been wanting an apron myself for quite some time, so the idea appealed to me.  My sister-in-law, Jennie, came for a visit in March and brought me beautiful Beatrix Potter Benjamin Bunny fabric…. perfect for an apron for a Miss Potter super-fan!

June rolled around and we were off to a cabin for vacation.  Before we left I gathered fabric, ric-rac, ribbon, thread and I found a pattern that looked fairly straight forward.  The creative juices were flowing…. but sewing time didn’t present itself at the cabin.  Bummer. 

December rolled around and my sister was coming for Christmas!  I had great expectations, but I didn’t actually get the apron sewn before gift giving commenced.  It was more of a last day of December gift.  She loved it and so did I.  I just had to share how cute it turned out.  Now hopefully I’ll get mine done before next Christmas baking season!

TaHoe cRafTiNg

Those who know me well, know that I love crafts and crafting and being crafty…. and craftsy.  Trying new projects brings joy to my soul.  So, my current new-to-me idea is soldered charms/ornaments.  A friend of mine shared a link to her friend’s etsy.com site where she sells these darling handmade trinkets.  See more at:  www.MyMelodieDesigns.com.

Not knowing how to create these little gems, I did what all craft-direction-needing minds do… I went to YouTube.  Yes, I found many instructional videos and made my shopping list.  Today, I’m off to JoAnn’s to get the booty… with coupons, of course.  For the first time ever, I’m glad I saved my glittery scrapbooking paper scraps from my Christmas albums.  Sweet!  I knew I’d eventually find a reason to use them!  It has presented itself, much to my liking.

This week I’m getting together with my highschool bosom friend, Connie.  We are known for trying new and uncharted waters when it comes to crafting.  In March we covered the antique chair with vintage quilts and green piping.  I can’t remember if I blogged about that, so here is the finished product:

I also can’t remember if I ever showed a pictures of our Macramé beach bags???  I made mine about 1/2 a day ahead of Connie and figured out that I should have made the flowers all smaller.  So her bag has tidy, neat flowers in little rows and doesn’t look as spread out as mine does.  Here’s mine:

In a few weeks I’ll post our finished product pictures!  Please stay tuned!

Zaza’s Dolly

I finally finished sewing Zaza’s dolly two days ago.  I plan to let Zaza name her, but if she asks for suggestions, I might say Amelia or Eliana or Christina.  I already used the iron-on face included in the pattern, and besides, it had blue eyes.  So I found an embroidered pattern on-line.  That took one whole day.  They even embroidered the pink cheeks, but I didn’t think that would look too good. I used real make-up.

The body is made from vintage muslin that was in the quilting scraps from my grandmother.  I tea-dyed it so as not to have pasty-white skin, like mine.  I think Grandma would be happy that I made Zaza’s dolly from her stash.  For the hair, I didn’t want to use regular twisted yarn because it can unravel and become a mess.  So I searched and searched and found this beautiful black non-twisted yarn made of bamboo.  Yes, it surprised me too.  It is super soft and combs out perfectly. 

I picked up the four purples on a sale day, so the entire outfit including bloomers was $5.  Yes, $5.  You don’t need much fabric for an 18″ doll.  I didn’t follow the pattern for the apron because I wanted the fabric on the bodice to show.  So I made up an apron, complete with a pocket for her tissue… or little treasure.  I’m starting outfit #2 now out of teeny red and blue floral fabric and I plan to make it short-sleeved (for summer) with the white eyelet pinafore following the pattern.  I’ll show you later.

Yes, she needs shoes.  There is no pattern for shoes…. except for slippers to match her jammies.  That won’t do for her Sunday dress.  I had a handmade doll when I was young and she had black felt shoes with a strap and a tiny white button.  I’m going to make those…. pray for me… I’m going off 35-year-old memories!

Ila’s Fancy!

A little red birdie just alerted me to a new children’s line of clothing that is now available called Ila’s Fancy.  Ila is my friend’s mama and it is simply darling clothing.  When I know Zaza’s sizes I hope to get an Ila’s Fancy outfit for her to prance and play in.  Ila’s Fancy is on facebook and you can see the clothing line at etsy here: www.ilasfancy.etsy.com.

Back in the day, when my first little girl (who is now 16) wore ribbons and lace, I used to receive a catalogue in the mail with Ila-type clothing in it. I would pour over the pages imagining my little angel in the florals and the plaids and the ribbons and the lace and the bloomers and the pinafores.  I can’t remember the name of the company, but they were over the top with matchy-matchy clothing for the whole family.  (Majorly over the top, in my opinion.)  Needless to say, thanks to Zaza, I can revisit ribbons and lace.

So check out Ila’s Fancy and become a fan!

Jennie Lynne makes her appearance!

This is Jennie Lynne.  She is a Doll for Zaza…. meaning: she’s for sale on the Bags for Zaza site, but she’s not a bag.  Something new.  Something different.  The perfect Christmas gift for the little lady in your life.  Initially I made her for our Zaza, but then I decided to make Zaza’s with darker skin, brown eyes and black hair.  So this fair Scandinavian beauty is up for auction to help bring Zaza home.  There are many more pictures that you can zoom in on at www.BagsForZaza.blogspot.com.

Please share the news and help bring Zaza home!

Bag for Baby-san

Our youth pastor’s wife if having a baby boy any minute now and back in November she requested an oriental diaper bag.  Well, give me an idea and I’ll run with it!  One whole day up at Scrapping in the Pines turned out to be Sewing in the Pines for me.  The pattern had some glitches, but it turned out really cool and she loved it.  Just had to share for those who love sewing, Oriental fabrics, babies, etc.

You can barely see it, but I used the front side of a coat for the red pocket and left the little frogs, or knotted ties, sticking up from the front of the pocket.  They’re purely fashionable, not functional.

I have quite a bit of shiny fabric left over so I’ll be bring the Oriental touch to Bags for Zaza here in the next few months.