Restructured Summer Dress

I have been working hard this summer on making my own summer dresses, and while i have 1 still drawn out but yet to go further, and 2 others sitting unfinished on my dining room/sewing table, i have finished one. Yeah!

Maybe it's because i made up my own simple pattern, but i whipped it up in no time. The best part is that i used J's old button-down shirts so the dress is nice and soft and breatheable cotton for these hot days of summer.

From this:I used 3 different shirts - the green one takes up the skirt portion, and there is a yellow back of a shirt that acts as the back of the bodice. I just thought it would be fun to do like this, but it did create a bit of a challenge to match things up.

To this:

I also used elastics inside to keep the dress up - at the bodice and at the waist. I added this belt from another dress for detail, an Now all i have to do is convince J that it's MY dress, not HIS shirts (he confessed to being a bit weirded out seeing me in his old clothes...).

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!

Peonies and Art

I love this time of year because my favourite flowers are out and sharing their beauty with everyone. While the tulips, daffodils, and lilacs have come and gone, here in Toronto, peonies are out in full force. I love their smell, their colour, and most of all their gentle but full body. They have such sturdy stalks but their petals are so delicate. I love that balance!

When i buy my first house, which may be sooner than i ever dreamed, i will surely plant a huge peony garden!
I also recently stepped out of my art comfort zone of sewing crafts and knitting to make some visual artwork. Last year, i bought a bunch of old children's school textbooks that had the cutest pictures in it. I've been wondering what to do with this cute pictures and then it came to me - i can make small art pieces, out of recycled and reused goods in our own home. J just finished his first big woodworking project and had left over scraps. Of course, i have all sorts of do dads and crafty things, so i created some anti-shadow box pieces ('anti' because they are in small scraps of 2 x 4 and not in shadow boxes). I have 2 finished and i'm aiming for two more. Here's a preview and when i'm done, i'm going to put them all up together!

Santa Came and Went

Now that it's after Christmas, i can share with you what's been keeping me busy for the past few months. The hardest part, the part that took the longest, was the planning and organizing of what gifts to make. Once i knew what to make for whom, the flow of creativity was much easier. And this year, there was a good balance between knitting, sewing, transfer work, and other mediums of crafting. J also got into the creative side of gift-giving too and made gifts for people - he made record bowls and made transfer hankies for his dad. The bowls are quite easy to make - just heat up the oven and melt them a bit to shape. (Here's a guide.) Of course, we did work right up until the last minute, but it was all worth it.

We decided to use fabric to wrap our gifts, instead of buying new wrapping paper. This way, we save on the environment, save some money, but also give great pieces of fabric as an extra gift. I also got some wonderful gifts but i will post about them later. Christmas is, after all, about giving, right? Of course, the other great part of the holidays is to be with family and eat. A lot. I ate constantly for about 4 days in a row. A lot of yummy nut loafs and some great chocolate mint soy milk to drink. I'm glad to be home, even though there's no snow!

I have created a Flickr set of my holiday presents - to see more, feel free to check out the pictures. But, for the most part, my gift-making included:* a book bag for my sister, who's an environmental chemist, so this book was perfect
* a cat tunnel for her cat, who loves to bury herself under the covers
* a yo-yo belt (for my sis too - we always out do ourselves for each other)
* a linen table runner with block prints and cross-stitch detail for my mom
* car dice for her too because she WON a car
* a knit scarf for my dad:* placemats
* pot holders and oven mitts
* an apron* a baby jumper for a nephew who's dad Loves Star Wars
* tea pot cozies
* soaps
* dog toys and vegan dog biscuits

ps. the photo on the top was made with this cool kalaidescope thingie i bought J