Everybody Have You Heard?

"Moc...yeah...king...yeah...bird....yeah, Mocking bird....yeah...Everybody have you heard" (in my best James Taylor voice) 

 Okay, what are you laughing at?  Oh, so you've heard me do that voice, and it sounds nothing like James Taylor?  Okay, okay, you are right, but I just couldn't help myself.

My son and grandson found this little baby mocking bird the yesterday.  It had fallen out of the nest and maybe was a little dazed and disoriented, or maybe just very friendly.  He was nothing like his rude relatives that keep trying to prevent the bluebirds from building their nest in the bluebird houses.  He actually seemed to enjoy the attention lavished on him by my sweet little Pooh Bear.

My daughter-in-law and grand-daughter got a close up too.  The little bird didn't even flinch.

Pooh had to examine it very closely.

And finally, he just had to get one really sweet snuggle.

Isn't spring time full of lovely surprises?

A Beautiful Day and Place for a Wedding Shower

I spent most of last week helping my daughter get ready for a wedding shower.   What fun it is to plan to celebrate the beginning of a family.  I shared a little yesterday about making the burlap buntings.  Here is one of them hung up in the tree.

Here is a shot of the over-all area.  I didn't get a picture of the complete decor, because I had to leave with the kids before my son-in-law had a chance to hang the swing and another bunting, and before the sun started to set and the tree lights showed up.  Before the lovely cake arrived or the last finishing touches of flowers were placed, but you can get a general idea about where this all was going.

 

I made this from an old window frame I rescued several years ago with plans to collage family pictures and memorabilia.  I never got around to it, but I made some burlap roses and a heart bunting and we used it to showcase some of the bride and groom's family photos.  Now that the shower is over, I plan to get busy on that collage idea.

I found this cute card catcher idea on Pinterest, of course.  What can't you find on there?  The little pillow inspiration came from a pretty linen pillow I saw on a blog a while back.  I'm not sure exactly where, but it stuck in my head, and so I tried to recreate it using burlap.  I think it worked out nicely.

I made a  fabric garland to border the front of the cake table, and a wreath with burlap and fabric roses to serve as a backdrop.  I wish I had been able to get a picture of it once the food was set up.  I'm hoping someone else did who might be willing to let me post their pictures.


We hung clear and frosted glass balls all in the tree limbs, along with several paper lanterns.

Pretty doo-dads here and there.  Special little touches.

I really wish you could see the lights, and the bunting a little clearer.

Sweet flower arrangements done by the bride's mom.

The lanterns waiting to be hung look like we are hosting a giant easter egg hunt.

People started coming with the food and more flowers, and my son-in-law got ready to hang the swing, and I had to speed away with the littlest ones before they got wind that a party was going to go on without them.  

The Trouble with Burlap Buntings

My daughter asked me to help her with decorations for a wedding shower.  She had some great ideas for decorating and so the fun began.  She wanted burlap buntings and she wanted purples worked into them as well.  We perused Pinterest for days messaging ideas back and forth.  We bought some burlap, and just before cutting into it I realized, this stuff is going to ravel big time!

I did a quick search for how to reduce raveling when cutting burlap and found great stuff on cutting straight lines, but nothing about cutting on the diagonal.  My quick search lasted much longer than I wanted it to, and I finally gave up on someone else doing the trial and error for me.

I decided to try painting the burlap with Modge Podge.   After trying to put it on straight out of the bottle, I realized it would go on much better if I  thinned it down a bit.  I coated the whole piece and waited for it to dry.  

Once it was dry, I drew off my pattern and began cutting away.  I ended up making three different buntings, one with birds and purple fabric mums, one with Mr. and Mrs, and one with purple fabric roses.  They turned out great, and the Modge Podge really did the trick.

Sewing With and For Children

 



This week I've been blessed to have time to sew with and for some of my grandchildren.  I have started a dress for one of the little ones with an old vintage 1/2 size pattern.  I wasn't sure of the sizing, but it fit the nine month old pretty well.  I finished it today and made some matching shoes.  I'm not sure if the shoes will fit, but I hope they do.  They are so cute.  I made them from a tutorial I found here.  I think I bookmarked it 6 grandkids ago. I wish I had tried them earlier they were so much fun to make!

My mom and I started teaching the older children to embroidery a while back.  They don't get to work on it often, but when we do they really seem to enjoy it and are catching on surprisingly well.  Three of them got a chance to work on their projects this week.

My oldest granddaughter, Angel Eyes, spent the entire day Thursday sewing.  She wanted to make a gift for two of her friends.  She had big plans of making two dolls in a day, and I wasn't really sure she would stick to it, but she did.  We started at around nine in the morning.  She wanted to make them similar to the ones I had made for a mission trip a couple of years back.  I told her I wasn't sure I could find my pattern, but that didn't faze her at all.  "That's okay, Mimi," she said confidently, "we can always make up a pattern."  I was not so sure.

I should preface this with the fact that last week she decided she wanted to make her little sister a dress. Being the creative type she ask her mom if she could use an old sheet, drew off a pattern (I think directly onto the material), cut it out and began stitching it by hand.  She brought it to show me on the way to her piano lesson.  She had the shoulder seams stitched when she arrived and asked if she could get out her machine and sew up the side seams.  She did so right away.  Now granted this dress didn't have any facings or lining, but it was a very good dress for an eight year old with no pattern and very little experience, and it looked like it would fit her sister.  I didn't get a picture of it.  I must remind myself to do that next time I'm over there.  

Having accomplished this, she really didn't see not having a pattern for the dolls to be a real obstacle.

"Okay, "  I said, "we will try."  I drew off a very simple pattern and she set out to draw a face on the dolls.  

I explained how she needed to put the right sides together and she jumped right in and added, "and I need to leave a space so I can turn them right side out and stuff them."  She remembered this from making a simple stuffed owl for her cousin for his birthday last year.

She worked hard all day, only taking two breaks, one for a little snack and one for lunch.  She finished the dolls about 4 o'clock.  She then asked if she could look through my scraps and get some material to work on accessories.  This was after she already made dresses.  She did most everything herself.  I did finish one of the skirts for her as she was running out of time, and I drew off the pattern, and crocheted the hair for one of the dolls, but other than that she did all of the work herself.  I was so proud of her and quite a bit impressed at her determination, creativity and perseverance.

 Her friends were really pleased and named the dolls Elizabeth and Sally.  Don't you love the big button earrings on Elizabeth?

Gathering Apron and a Little Catching Up

I know I've been missing in action for a while now.  It has been a busy time here.  The whole month of February was full of sickness.  February is behind us now, and spring is on it's way so here's to better things to come!

We've have had several birthdays around here, Pooh Bear is three now, Sweet Cheeks is five, and my daughter and myself are a year older as well, but I won't give out the digits on those two.

My daughter has been wanting a gathering apron for quite a while now, ever since she saw the one here.  Quinn, from Reformation Acres, did a lovely job of showing and telling just how to make one, but I generally work from a pattern so I wasn't very confident about trying it out.  To be honest, I don't really trust myself much when it comes to measuring.  However, I knew it would tickle my daughter to have one made from that very tutorial so not long after she told me about it I bought this piece of Mary Jane's Farmgirl fabric.  I just knew I had to work it in some way. It took me a while to find just the right fabric to use with it, and to get my courage up to try it without a paper pattern.  I finally decided this birthday was just the occasion to get my gumption up and do it.

I chose to use this square for a pocket.  I'm sorry for the wrinkles and poor picture, but you get the idea.

Nice roomy pocket

It really wasn't hard to follow the tutorial, like I said it was written clearly, and the pictures documented the steps nicely.  The only real problem I had was my button holer wasn't cooperating.  It made a nice little mess that took me forever to pick out, and when I finished I decided I would work them by hand rather than go through that again.  Other than that it came together pretty smoothly.

The apron is so neat because it can be worn as a regular apron when the skirt is down, or you can use the ribbon at the waist and run it through a series of button holes at the bottom of the skirt to scoop the whole skirt up into a gigantic pocket to gather produce.

Okay, so where are those seeds?  It's time to plant something so we can fill this baby up!

If you think you would like to make one for yourself you should check out Quinn's tutorial.  If I can do it I'm sure you can!

Needlework with Children

Spidey and Belle spent the night last week, and Spidey wanted to work on a piece of embroidery that he had started on a previous visit.  He's making a surprise for his mom.

Belle saw what he was doing and asked, "Mimi, would you teach me to sew?"  I  quickly drew off a heart on a  little scrap piece of fabric just to give her a feel for it.  

She quickly went to work.

I had no idea how quickly she would catch on.  I showed her a running stitch once, and she was off and running with it.

Here's Spidey showing his work.  I think he's pretending to be camera shy.  

Belle never hesitated until she had the whole heart finished.  I think  it's backwards in this picture.  You can see the knots.  I think this is pretty good work for a 5 year old!

I also think I'd better find her a bigger project next time.  

Cameo or Silhouette Machine Cover

I've been working on my sewing/guest room.  This is my new sewing machine cover.  In keeping with the silhouettes on the bed I decided to try and make to tie in with the whole little shadowy theme.  It reminds me of a cameo.   

I also covered my bulletin board and added more silhouettes to it.

This little cubby was a thrift store find.  It works great for holding a gamut of sewing paraphernalia.

I plan to come back and show you a little of how I did the silhouette in another post.