Playtime

Recently, while the kids played on the playground at dusk,
I played with my camera.

Walk along the Hudson

It's about time I moved things out

My interests certainly span the decades.
Here are some of the things I listed on Etsy today.
(Button over on the right.)

Gold Medal Flour Tea Towel $10
(along with other linens)

Second-edition Printing of Snoopy and the Red Baron $5

Book of 125 Iron-on Embroidery Transfers $6

Pre-1972 Replogle 10" Globe $15

"Grandma's" Metal Roller Skates $10

"Abandoned" Weaving Samples $8

Anthropomorphic Foods Cookbook $4
(plus more cooking booklets)

K Chin 1970's Framed Owl Litho $10
(also have an embroidered owl tea towel)

Pearl and Beaded Collar (one of 3) $20

Black Kid Gloves with Silk Lining $10

Habana Cigar Box with Seal Label $8
(one of two cigar boxes)

Go check my Etsy store out.
If you see anything you like,
mention my blog and I'll give you 20%.

Happy shopping!

Project updates and adding to my stash

Don't fret, cleaning is getting done while I am completing projects.

I've made chore charts and enlisted the boys' help.
We worked for about an hour this morning.
This place should be ship-shape by September, lol.

I added cross-hatching to each of my gnome bags
and they will be up on Etsy soon.

Each comes with an extra little gnome-y treasure.

These are about half of the double-tie scarves
I am working on at the moment. They garnered the most
attention of anything in my craft show booth last Christmas
so I want to bring even more for this year.

I spent a good portion of last night formatting photos of items
to list on Etsy and eBay plus other treasures to share with you.

And here are some of the treasures I received in the mail.
I traded two recent burda World of Fashion magazines for fabric and trim from Lisa D. and Suzville. I hope they get as much enjoyment out of the magazines as I will the fabric. Thanks ladies.

From Lisa, a roll of lace, two billowy hankies,
the coolest B&W cording and a lot of quiting fabric.
The two identical prints in blue and brown are soooo soft.
And the already cut-out squares on the right --
I'm going to teach the boys how to hand-sew little quilts!

Suzi shared with me some of the bounty from her Mother's Day
garage sale outing where she filled up her Explorer -- twice.

(See, honey, I don't bring that much home.)

See the laughing cat and dog on the left?
I actually sold a piece of that very same fabric a few years ago --
before I started almost exclusively using vintage fabrics.
Serendipity, I tell you.

So I'm not cleaning

Don't ever take me at my word when I say
I'm going to hunker down and clean the house.

I always manage to find other things to do.

If I feel productive in other ways,

I don't feel guilty about procrastinating with the cleaning.

I just finished up this cute little apron made from
a thrifted sheet, pillowcase, ric-rac and eyelet trim.

It is my contribution to the Collage of Hope fundraising auction.

Please go check out the other things available.
All monies raised are going to a very deserving family.

You may recognize the fabrics as the same ones
I used on this custom dress I made last week.

Sheets have got to be the most economical fabric buys.
And offer such diverse options, esp. with vintage sheets.

I've gotta hunch..

Anyone recognize these dollies from your childhood?
They are Honey Hill Bunch dolls made by Mattel in 1975.

I found all but the baby one in the bottom of a misc. box
at a garage sale last weekend.

Looking them up online, I found their commercial jingle:

"I've gotta hunch...it's the Honey Hill Bunch!
Whose little hands really stick together,
you can stick them on your hat...
stick them on your sweater"

They have little velcro hands and multi-cultural personas.
Very "We Are the World," to reference the next decade.

To the best of my abilities, I have identified the bigger ones
as (from left) Sweet Lee, Slugger, Solo, Curly Q, Hayseed, Spunky,
I.Q. and Lil' Kid. I don't know the baby's name.


After a tumble in the washing machine and some hair brushing,
they came out good as new, almost. I know they are all
missing clothing and extra accessories.

Doesn't matter. The kids, esp. my extra afterschool girl,
seem to enjoy them a whole lot.
I'm thinking about making a little apron,
like this, to hold them all.

Getting caught up

I know summer officially started last week, but the transition for us starts today with school ending. (The kids go in for an hour tomorrow but that doesn't really count).

On top of having the kids at home pretty much 24/7 until September, my dh is going out of town for a few days.

It's a good thing all my deadlines have been met and passed. Yearbook has been distributed, custom dresses have been mailed, summer lake party invites have been sent, Collage fundraiser is up and running, bills have been paid....

Instead of starting new sewing projects or listing more things on Etsy/eBay/Collage, I'm going to concentrate on getting the house cleaned up. It will be a big surprise for dh when he gets home and it will get the boys on track with their new chore chart.

And of course, we're starting in immediately on fun stuff. First will it be a bike ride, swim, nature hike, canoe ride, trip to the park?

Before I go, I just have to share these photos of my baby with his new "baby." Can you say "aaaawwwww?"

Couldn't do that again if I tried

Sometimes photography mistakes result in the best pictures.

I'm not sure if my niece moved or
I zoomed but I think this is pretty cool.

This was the shot I was trying to take.

The roaming gnomes

When I bought this skirt nearly a year ago,
I was going to turn it into a toddler dress
but it got packed away, forgotten, in my fabric stash.

Then I found these gnome embroideries...

...and ornate trims, and I knew I would use them all together.
I just didn't know exactly how.

Today, I made three little gnome totes.

"There's no Place like Gnome"

"Gnome Sweet Gnome"

"To Gnome me is to Love me"

I'm so happy the embroidery survived being removed
from the frames and a spin in the washing machine.
It would've been a shame if I hadn't saved them and reused them.
Everything old is new again!

Now, should I do some embroidery along the edges of the white?
I'm thinking cross-hatches or blanket stitch.

Sunshiny yellow sundress

I can't wait for school to get out so my older boys
can entertain my toddler while I sew.
I can't take out my sewing machine during the day
without him offering to help, shifting levers
or pulling the thread out.

I finally got this custom pillowcase dress done
for a friend's daughter. They really are easy to make,
even when using sheets instead
of actual pillowcases.

I even discovered a new trick during the making of this one.
I always wrestle with sewing thin bias tape to the armholes.
Not any more. Instead of pinning them together,
I used Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive
to hold it down then went to the sewing machine.

I made use of the contrasting hem on this sheet.
After I cut it out, I realized the vertical stripes weren't
perpendicular to the hem fabric. Doesn't matter as the only
place it is noticeable is where the pocket is attached.

The lace under the green ric-rac was part of the sheet
but I added the eyelet trim on the bottom myself.

Like with reusing any vintage fabric, there is a risk of damage.
Too bad I didn't notice the rubbed spot right above the pocket
until after I finished the whole garment.
(Calling it a garment brings me back to "Project Runway," lol.)

I hid the spot with a yo-yo flower using some of my
newly-acquired vintage "Cover your own" buttons.