all buttoned up.

A Sunny Spot (Japanese Sewing Books, My Old Friends)

Shortly after the Baby Girl Announcement, Erin sent me a stack of Japanese girl/kid sewing books her girls had outrgrown. She is an excellent gifter. One of my favourites in the stack is A Sunny Spot (ISBN978-4-529-04894-1). The clothes are femine and unfussy. They are also pretty easy to sew but look otherwise, which is really the best. Sometimes clothes with clean lines are illogically complicated to sew.

I made "Camisole With Wide Strap" for my leggy 4 1/2 year old niece (pattern pictured directly above). She was not in the mood to be photographed. It is more of a dress than a tunic on her, but that will change pretty quickly. I love the pockets. I added a fabric tag in the back so she could easily figure out front from back, and then did a quick Anna Joyce style applique on the front (again, she was NOT IN THE MOOD). From tracing to finishing it was only a couple of hours of work. The lightweight cotton (ticking stripe) came from Bolt originally, but I've had it on my shelves for a while. It is the sort of fabric I'd like a room full of. 

And speaking of shelves-- they are overflowing with scraps. Is anyone into scrap bags/envelopes? I was thinking of listing a bunch on Big Cartel, along with some yardage of things that I don't think I'll use. I am horrible at parting with things like this, but something needs to be done. I may have to enlist reinforcements to talk me through it.

Winterizing

I did nearly no baking this year (a little for the neighbors, a little for guests) but I did stop and make these for a Mariko's Not Necessarily Cookie Specific Cookie Party. They are Lamington Cupcakes and come from The Craft of Baking, a book that usually gets a work out at my house this time of year.

That is glaze, not ganache and the cake part is more cake donut than cake. The crumb is very fine and bright white and as a not lover of cakes, I really love these. The recipe makes 12 largish ones and when I do it again, I may borrow smaller cupcake trays and try to make more small ones instead. They are rolled in toasted coconut and the few leftover were fine on the counter for a day or two.

We headed to my parent's house in B.C. to see the hundreds of cousins (not quite) and play in the snow that we woke up to the first morning after we arrived. We drove home just before Christmas to spend it here with our friends and various hi-jinks. The boys received more things that they needed than wanted (maybe) but it turned out just right in the end. The last couple of months I felt like I had acquired so many things (!!) for them but when they were all wrapped and under the tree I realized that I just have a lot of children and not really a lot of things for each.

I've finished a total of nine of Alicia's ornaments this year-- I sew them in bed at night getting the baby down. I have two more half finished that I packed away for next year. If you find yourself wanting to get into handwork and needing guidance and a beautiful finished project, I can't recommend her kits highly enough. I followed the directions and got exactly what was promised. They are sold out now, but I'm hopeful she'll release them again the the fall, so stick them on that list in the back of your head.

This was, by my counts, a banner year for making. I didn't think I would get very much done but I made a fairly ambitious list anyway, and then plowed right through it during nap times and a couple of weekend afternoons. I am always surprised at how much I can get through if I just put my head down and do it.

Printz

Last month I started ordering prints of my photos to do a side-by-side comparison of some of the most popular online ordering sites. You all were so helpful with your recommendations and with card sending season upon us, I wanted to make sure I was making the best choice for us. I ordered from MPIX, Snapfish and my old favourite, AdoramaPix. Here was my criteria: I wanted the best possible looking print and the one that most closely resembled what came out of my camera. That means: no cropping, no colour correction/filters, and something like a matte finish. I wasn't worried about photo books or other products: just prints. I ordered the same prints on the same night from all three suppliers. It was actually four orders, because I requested both the budget and the e-surface prints from MPIX.

Here's the deal: MPIX and Snapfish both come out with near constant promotions making their prints the cheapest. I will tell you that I was pretty shocked that between these two, I preferred Snapfish for print quality. I will probably use them again if I'm ordering in large quantities for Christmas cards or whatever. In the end, AdoramaPix still has my heart. I could opt for no cropping, their uploader is much improved from the last time I used them, and their print price (without promotion) is slightly cheaper than full price prints elsewhere. I also chose their Lustre paper, which I'm pretty happy with. More importantly, when placed side by side, the colours and tones from Adorama were the most true to what I had taken. This is especially true when it came to Augie and Manny's skin tones. Mpix had them looking a little grey and snapfish upped the contrast in a significant way.

Here's the thing: I'm a average-to-fair picture taker, but if I'm going to go to the trouble of having the photos printed and hopefully put into books, I want them looking the way I took them (however flawed). It might be different if I only took photos of people's faces or groups of people in a commemorative way-- then I don't think it would be so important. But so many of my pictures are of the mundane and everyday variety, and I'd like to think that what makes them worth taking, is what also makes them worth printing. Or that's what I tell my hard drive, anyway.

So. Now to start getting these bad boys in albums that are neither non-corosive or toxic or made from animal parts (is that a thing?), and that will not require a home equity loan with which to purchase. Mo' photos, mo' problems, is what I always say.

I do, I really do.

*(For film photos I would still drive out to Blue Moon in St. John's, and I know lots of my people use Citizens in town for both film and digital.)

Toes In, A Craftsy Review

I stitched a series of straight lines the other day (curtains) and it took me way too long, and I ended up mis-measuring twice. This girl is rusty. Forget sewing clothes, for me or for anyone else. I need to wade back in.

Shelly filmed a class for Craftsy a month or two ago and now it's live! She asked me to take a look at Kids Romper Revamp and review it (Craftsy comped the class) and I was a little dubious about the whole thing. Not because I don't love Shelly (I DO, and you know I love her patterns), but you know, I can follow a pattern... I don't have time for a class, yada yada. Well, I'm also kind of a dumbass. It turns out that a Craftsy class is exactly what I need. Once I signed up, I have unlimited access to the filmed segments which I can watch on my own time and only the ones that are helpful to me. Even though I already own the Zephyr pattern, the class comes with the e-pattern for both the jumper and a sundress variation.

For a limited time, Craftsy is offering the class through this link at half price-- so you get the class, downloadable patterns and all the help and advice you might need for a really affordable price.  It's such a great concept for those of us who would love to have someone gently looking over our shoulder while we sew. Not in a creepy way. Shelly is an experienced teacher and a gifted communicator. It took me all of a minute to sign up for the site and once I went through Shelly's page, I started cruising the rest of the site looking other classes I could sign up for. Hello, Super Cute Librarian Blouse. I've heard lots of skuttlebutt (yes, WORD.) around the internets about other great folks filming for Craftsy, so what might now seem like a limited number of classes, is about to get a whole lot busier.  

So. My sewing machines almost have a home of their own and I've been going through my neglected piles looking for the right fabric to get going. There are tiny (and not so) jumpers to be made. Have you signed up for a Craftsy class? What did you think? I'm most grateful for the unlimited time I get to use the class. As rusty as I am with my machine, operating on deadlines to get things finished is a little more than I can handle at the moment.

Under Advisement

I have been taking your photo storage/printing tips to heart and am going to try several different processing methods. I recently made a Blurb book of Instagram photos for grandparents (as per Molly's suggestion) and I loved how low fuss and quick the whole process was. These are not technically superior photographs, but they are often the most candid and downright hilarious photos that I take. The nice thing about doing it through the IG to Blurb format is that you don't need to download the Blurb book software to get it all done. I'm going to make a longer, hard cover version for our family.

(soft cover blurb book)

One thing that is also helping me feel less overwhelmed in the photo department is the liberal use of the delete button. I don't need doubles, triples or a dozen of essentially the same photo. Realizing that *no* photo is the same, I'm still trying to be a bit brutal with my editing process. I'm trying to take to heart what Beth said in her comment about too much documentation/scrapbooking being burdensome to her offspring one day. I've also been using flickr more and more (yahoo has totally dropped the ball on flickr, but I still love it for connecting with people and as a backup tool), making more of my photos private and using it for a personal 365 project. If I'm going to pay for it, I want to really get the most out of it.

So yes. Summer. It has been a lengthy transition into tolerable (weather and behavior). We had a visit from the bugs, the grandparents, and we are expecting some more great company in the next few weeks. We are far from having an *easy* summer, but that's what I'm working towards.

I can't help but wonder if it would automatically get easier if I decided to drink a lot more.

I Let Go of Re-Caulking the Tub

I did not let go of moving rooms around, or painting, or thinking about buying a matching luggage set and new robe (because I'm having a baby in 1963?). I realize my priorities need tweaking.

This baby is coming a bit early.

Thankfully, my people know me and when I say "uh, let's paint the bathroom tonight" they go ahead and either get out of the way or help. (Then they thank the heaven's that they are not married to me). A friend was over tonight and followed me from room to room while I gripped a stud finder and a hammer and started banging nails into the walls. She didn't even blink. And thanks to those same people the fridge is all sparkly, the laundry is up-to-the-minute, and we have plans A through F if we have need of them.

You understand though, yes? You know what it's like when motivation replaces panic and the will to sew curtains overrides the worry that things are very quickly slipping out of our hands. It's silliness, most of it, but it helps.

And in the end it's going to be fine, just maybe not the way we planned. But really?? Have I learned nothing in all these years? It is our way: the plan seems to make itself up as we go along.

(*wall decal is from the super-awesome Shanna Murray. It went up as soon as Christmas came down. She's got NEON in the shop right now. Smarty pants.)

Another Reason to Get Busy

Shelly Figueroa just relaunched her pattern company, Figgy's. Holy Mother of Little People Sewing. The new patterns are pretty girl-centric, but as the mother of two awesome boys, I know she won't leave the boys out in the cold (not to mention, she co-wrote a whole darn book on sewing for boys). But that's beside the point-- do you see that dress?

I love these patterns. They are a little Ottobre meet Japanese Craft Book. They are sweet without being too sweet. They are simple but they don't skimp on the details. Shelly recently began working with Daniela and they are making magic together. I saw the samples at her house today and I'm getting my hands on all three patterns (there are 5 total garments and variations of each) of these as soon as possible. I have nieces. They need leggings and easy-over-your-head blouses. They need that freaking dress.

Figgy's is running a pre-order free shipping promo at the moment (until the 24th). They are printing up next week and will ship the first week of December, so you can eek out some pre-holiday sewing if that's your game. See here for close-ups and variations and more patterns from previous seasons.

This is most definitely my game, folks.

Hello Yellow

We are having the most colourful autumn I can ever remember having. The people in the know say it has to do with the late warm temps and the leaves holding onto their sugar longer. Maybe this is what it's like to have fall on the east coast? It is amazing-- even in the fog and rain. I hope we can take a drive this weekend and really get a good look. The boys hate to take drives.

• I wrote a piece for this month's NW Kids Magazine. If you're local and you're seeing a Dr. in the next few weeks, I'm guessing you'll run into one in the waiting room. (Two of Autumn's kids are on the cover)! Otherwise, you can read it here. We went to the dentist yesterday and someone was reading it when we walked in and I wanted to sink into the floor (there are pictures). That was before the three year-old's meltdown over the prize machine. 
• Stephanie came over late this summer for an afternoon of cucumbers and brine. The results are in the most recent 3191 Quarterly. I love the Quarterly-- and my hand's cameo aside, this is a really beautiful issue. Thank you Stephanie and Maria!
• I just opened up the sweetest package from Eireann's shop. I have loved her calendar this last year and this time I ordered cards: these and these.

Thanks to my sister, Paul and I are going to a show tomorrow night! I'm very happy. They are the authors of the quilt, after all. And it's a sit down show, which suits old-lady-sunday-drive me just fine.

Happy Machine

We are happy about this baby girl. I didn't quite get there last post, did I? Yes. Very happy. Shock and happiness don't have to be mutually exclusive, right? Thank you for your good thoughts and kind words. I have already serged up the edges of some of that double knit. I washed it and put it away in the drawer next to some of my nieces hand-me-downs and a unopened package of tiny onesies. I love tiny onesies.

The rest of my piles don't look so neat, and I had a good little chat with myself about the amount of fabric sitting here and vowed to keep any new textile purchases confined to batting, thread and solid white and off-white cotton. I have finished up two more small throws for friends and I am trying to work my way through the unfinished pile. It's now or never, people! On top of that, I have a new sewing machine that I purchased used at the end of the summer. I had been casually looking for a while, and then specifically looking for several months. I had all but given up and then the craigslist stars aligned and I was able to bring home a barely used Bernina 440 for a stunner of a deal. I feel pretty lucky.

Luck precipitated action and I pulled out two cotton linen prints to make it a cover and practice free motion quilting with the stitch regulator. I used a print from the Tammis Keefe tribute line and a Japanese folk print I've had for ages. I bound it to be double sided and used two leather buttons and two lengths of fold over elastic to finish it up. I used elastic so that it will fit around the table that is usually attached to the arm. It's very similiar in style to Rashida's cover in her book I *Heart* Zakka.

It is a great machine and before it's novelty wears off (maybe it never will?) I'm getting through that to-do pile with lightening speed. It feels so good to be sewing again. And who am I kidding about not sewing very many little girl things? That just seemed a silly the minute I wrote it down.

Sewing For Boys (Hallelujah)

Do you want this book?

You want this book.

Let me tell you why:

1. Sewing For Boys: 24 Projects to Create a Handmade Wardrobe by Shelly Figueroa and Karen LePage is one of the few options for folks who would like to sew for boys (or girls that don't want to wear dresses or skirts all the time). They could have played it safe then, opting for a couple of shirts, pants and gifties. Thankfully, they didn't, and instead created projects that included the basics (t-shirts, play pants, and pullovers) and the really-very-special (beautiful coats, a suit coat and pants, and gifts that you're going to want to give).

2. The details! Shelly and Karen are sticklers for the details, friends. But they have not wasted our time on finicky, useless details! Nope. This is the kind of sewing that is built to last. I like how Anna Maria put it: "The patterns are so straight forward, doting just enough on the details that make it worth home sewing to begin with". Yes and yes. These clothes are interesting without being overwhelming. The patterns are sized up to 6/7. (For those of you looking for bigger sizes check out Figgy's individual patterns, some of them are sized up to 14.)

3. You get to sew with knits even if you've never sewn with knits or don't own a serger. My boys live in knits. I will be making this romper. EVEN IF I HAVE TO MAKE IT IN PINK.

4. The book itself. Wiley is beginning to put out books that are pretty to look at and lovely to hold. Specifically? All the projects are pictured in photos right at the beginning of the book in full colour spreads, with referenced page numbers. They have duplicated the one thing that I consistently love about Japanese Craft books and the way they are formatted.

So. I'm cutting into some cotton double knit that Mariko brought back from me for the Pauly pullover or the raglan T. Sam should fit the largest size comfortably. I was saving it for myself, but who am I kidding? These days I'm going to need a lot more than a yard to swaddle my girth. I had wanted a finished project to show you today, but the fading tomatoes on the counter stood in the way. I am assuaging my guilt with the knowledge that I'll be sewing quite a few things from this book-- like robes for Christmas in lieu of pajamas this year. They LOVE to be cozy and if I can find a good slipper pattern for August he is going to lose his mind with happiness (the child often wears a hoodie to bed, he's always so cold).

To win a copy, leave a comment (US addresses only) and we'll pull a name next week. Do you want to increase your chances and see more beautiful pictures and projects? Visit the other stops on the blog tour.

Do you have boys to sew for? Do you get stuck wondering if all their rough and tumble playing makes sewing their clothes worthwhile? Honestly, I get stuck there sometimes. This book is going to help you get unstuck.