Baby's First Star Wars Jacket

For a friend's son's 1st birthday, i thought that the cute jacket featured in Bend the Rules Sewing would be a perfect gift. Instead of using jersey (which makes the pattern even easier), i used some of our Star Wars bed sheet supply. Using this fabric instead of the jersey, i did have to finish the edges so i made the pattern just a smidge bigger than it called for. Otherwise, i followed the pattern exactly and think it's pretty cute. The only downfall - too bad the Ewoks don't turn up better.

As Amy says, it really is a simple pattern that takes no time at all. It should be featured in one of those 'Last Minute Gift' books, cuz it barely took me 2 hours to make. Now i just have to wait until little Elliot samples it!
As the wrapping, and an added bonus, I made an accompanying drawstring pouch to keep it in as well - so i could also use up some of the 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi' pieces.

Nathan's Puppet Theatre

Here is my finished gift that i mentioned in a previous post. Now that it is in the safe hand's of baby Nathan's parents, i can share my work with you. It was a fun and straight-forward project to make, just like Amy said it would be. I took her advice and listened to some jolly music and whipped this up in no time.
I used some great vintage bed sheets as the fabric, which i think fits perfectly for both puppet shows as well as children's love of colour and images. Unfornately, i didn't get a photo of Nathan with it, but he did crawl over and couldn't take his eyes off it. I think that's good feedback for me!

I hope the next time i visit them, they'll have a puppet show for us!

A Book, Movie, and Song Review

Book
Last weekend, a friend of mine wanted to go to a big bookstore to buy something, and while i don't typcially buy books at the major places, i knew i would find Amy Karol's Bend The Rules Sewing book. Sure enough, there it was and it's even better to look over it in person. I bought it, and the latest Readymade, and I am already excited about making several of the project and of course, a Flickr group has already been formed to share our works with each other. I have an upcoming children's birthday party to attend, and i will be tackling one of the project this weekend, as a gift. I promise to show it to you once it's been delivered so the surprise's not out.
As a lover of purses and bags, i can't wait to make this purse. I love the handles on it and i already know what fabric i'll be using. If you want to read more reviews of it, check this or this out.

Movie
Now that we've joined Zip.ca (similar to Net Flicks), we are catching up on all the movies and TV shows we've ever wanted to see. Like the series Wonder Woman for example, or SherryBaby (which is today's choice). One of the movies we finally saw, after missing it in the theatre, is Children of Men. I'm so glad we saw it. What a powerful message and it was filmed amazingly. It captured us from the beginning, and minus a need for a bit more character development and context, this set-in-the-future story made sense and was easy to follow. Unlike some others that try to hard to be abstact.

It made me both so angry at countries' immigration policies, discrimination, and it showed how we treat the earth directly impacts us to, in this case re: infertility. So the movie is about immigration, fear of terrorism, infertility, the environment, and being active in your community to right a wrong. That's my interpretation anyway. It left me angry and sad at times, and got me moved. One wonderful aspect of watching the DVD is the special feature documentary with leaders (like Naomi Klein and Saskia Sassen) committed to globalization issues. Great idea - i think everyone should watch that too. There is violence in this movie, and sometimes it is quite graphic, but it was shot realistically and with integrity. There is one scene, that i won't describe here because it'll give away too much, that is shot beautifully and with such hope. If you see it soon, just look for a scene where everyone stands still for a few moments. Brilliant.

Song
Feist's new album, The Reminder, is one of my favourite one's for the summer - and longer. I am totally devoted to it. There are mellow songs, fun dancy songs, and some quite reflective ones, but all put together, the album follows my own moods and fits in well perfectly. I especially love "1234" because it's quirky and i can't help but bop my head to the beat. The video to it is totally fun too - and i was 'this close' to appear in it as a unitard-clad dancer. If you haven't seen it, it's a great video that is simple in nature but you can tell the group was having so much fun dancing it. Now that my favourite summer show is back on, So You Think You Can Dance, dance is back in my life full force, after a bit of a hiatus from work overload.

Back to the song, i especially love the line "those teenage hopes who have tears in their eyes, too scared to own up to one little lie" because it takes me right back to high school and speaks to most of the relationships i had then. Not just to own up to a lie, but also to challenge them and to speak up for myself. My own teenage hopes ended up being with tears because of the games we all played, by choice or not. Thank goodness i've learned how to speak up and to take care of myself.

Watch the video here at You Tube. Dont' be afraid to bop around!