Art, Craft and Needlework, February 2015

[Elizabeth]

Here we are!

Anna&Elsa.jpg

Movie Poster.jpg

[Elizabeth]

And here is something recent! For the CareNet pregnancy center baby shower:

baby dress.jpg

[Harriet]

Elizabeth, the first thing to say is that you and dd are so pretty and even prettier in a photo together.

Thanks so much for showing how the sewing and painting came together in that costume. I would have wondered if you stenciled. I believe you needed a steady hand. I believe I would call this a gored skirt, but in squinting, I wonder if you'd say it was more than the green was done as inserts? At any rate, dd is very lucky to have a Mom who would put such effort into a costume for a special occasion.

Nancy,

The learning curve has begun.

I'm going to have to remember that one.

FFriend, I think dh was right about the fleece. That frees you up for other enjoyment.

I have been staring at purse patterns enough to realize that what I want will require a lot of time, so that project idea is probably on the back burner for now. I do feel I understand the "how" of it now.

[FelineFriend]

Harriet , You're so right, about freeing time up, by purchasing those soft, luxurious throws. They're warmer, softer, and cozier than fleece, too. At $8.99 apiece, we couldn't pass it up. I got one, too. It's off-white with some plum berries on the branches, which fade into a pastel grey. So beautiful, so soft, and cozy. I need to keep Kitty Cat away from it though. I keep it inside my linen cupboard, when not in use.

Elizabeth , Are you Scandinavian? You look like a natural blonde, to me, too. My Ddil is a natural blonde and redheads are in my Dmom's side of the family. Also, DGD-2 has reddish short curly hair. It's too sweet and cute. Thanks for sharing the happy photos of you two. Also, I crocheted DGD-2, a dress recently, like the one in the photo, only for a larger size and I made her 2, when she was a baby, like the photo dress. Aren't they fun to make?

I only wished, when DD was a baby, I knew how to crochet dresses, but she got a lot of cute sewn ones. It was such fun. Made clothes for Dson, too. Once, I made them wide-wale cord aviator jacket pant suits. I put a whistle zipper pull on Dson's jacket, he blew the whistle, in Show & Tell, in Kindergarten, and he made a huge hit by doing that. (I cannot recall what DD's zipper pull was.) That was about 38 years ago. Once, I made Dson and DD matching pant suits, with those pearly-type snaps. One pant suit was one color and the other was a different color, but they both were those patch pattern prints, like they were quilts sewn together, but it was stamped material. They were adorable.

What I was blessed by, is how Dmil lived in Chino, CA. She'd go to exercise classes, 3 days a week, and in the same strip mall, she's peep into the fabric at the store next door. She'd purchase fabrics on sale, she'd ship them to me, in WA State, I'd open the packages, and measured the fabrics she mailed to me. A lot of the fabrics were double-knit polyester or gabardine. I wrote down the fabric measurements on 3" x 5" inch cards, hauled my kids to the fabric store with me, while they were preschool, and kept them in the cart, as I browsed the pattern books. It was a "game" to match the pattern requirement with the amount of fabric I had. I'd get the pattern, the notions, go home, pre-wash, cut, sew, and after the outfits were done, I put them on DD and Dson, to photograph them, to send down to Dmil and Dfil, to "see". Dmil was often told, by her Dfriends, "Oh, that fabric will never be good for a girl! It's much too old for her!" and they'd try to discourage her. Dmil kept telling them, "Just wait and see! You'll never believe what my Ddil can DO! I'll show you photos! I'll prove it!" And she'd get the photos from me, she'd show her friends, and they'd be so surprised, but very admiring and pleased. It was fun like that, until my kids got to Middle School. Then, they wanted everything to be store bought. Oh, well... Things do change, while we're not looking, right? But now, I have DGS-6, DGS-4-almost, and DGD-2, to crochet for. It's like everything has come full circle again, but this time around, I crochet instead, so it's a new experience to me, but it's still as rewarding.

[BookSaver]

I realized than I hadn't checked this thread for a few weeks because I felt drained of creativity after the Fancy Nancy Tea Party. I'm glad I decided to peek in today because wow you all have been making some lovely things.

Elizabeth ~ DD's Halloween costume is stunning! Yours is very pretty as well, and you both look beautiful together.

Focus: I am starting to plan for the next day camp with the sewing group. It will be March 19-21. I have decided to focus on making bags for the organization that gives them to preschoolers, because they are easy no-brainer items that will use up a bin of fabrics that are colors I'll never use for myself. (I am pushing myself for the next month to get rid of things I'll never use.)

As I've mentioned before, I've learned through experience not to take any complicated projects to the group's "retreats" because there are always too many interruptions. It feels good every time I finish a bunch of the little bags because I know they are needed and appreciated.

I know I have lots of cotton print scraps that are too small to make the side of a bag but too big to throw away. I've been saving them in a box to piece together. I've been told that some of the kids really like crazy combinations with colors I wouldn't usually put together. They like it when their bag is one-of-a-kind. It will be fun to pull them out and decide how to combine the colors and patterns.

[Ramblinrose]

Elizabeth... Your daughter is darling

Love the pictures of the two of you.

You are such a talented women... You can fix a roof, install a faucet and sew up a storm. Impressive

[Sunny]

Elizabeth....I join the others who are appreciating your talent in sewing and crocheting; you do such beautiful work! I think the pictures of you and your dd are delightful. I just love her red hair!

Keep up the good work and keep posting those pictures!

[Nancy]

I frogged out the mistake mittens and have the ones for dgson 3ths done now.

I got buttons for a sweater Fri. When I was over town.

Some more brightly colored yarn a bit different not sure on the name of it red heart I will have ave to look on the skien.

[Elizabeth]

Harriet: DD's skirt is not gored, but box pleated. A technique not used much anymore, because we have elastic. I had to learn it for this project. There are 10 rectangular strips of the gold and green, so the green is an insert. And, yes, I definitely used a stencil! I drew one repeat of the design, made 4 copies and put then together in a line, then used the line on each gold strip. That kept everything even. For the bodice, I drew the design on regular paper, poked holes with a pin, then went over it with chalk dust. That technique is used a lot in the Society of Creative Anachronism. It has the advantage of easy symmetry by just flipping the paper over.

FelineFriend: I am not sure if there is any Scandinavian ancestry in my family. Definitely English and Scottish, probably Polish, but the rest is unknown. The hair color is natural, but I am not sure I count as a natural blonde. In DD's earlier pictures, it is hard to tell where her hair ends and mine begins. The 'blonde' is really red fading to white. I never crocheted DD's baby dresses, she grew too fast! With charity dresses, that is not so much an issue, because there is always another baby coming along who will need it. I did crochet a skull and crossbones sweater for her when she was five (her choice of pattern - I had to scale it down from adult size).

Booksaver: I cannot claim credit for my Elsa costume, I bought it. I had good intentions of making one, but was running out of time, and the purchased ones were not that much more than I would spend on fabric.

[Twins' Mom]

I too am impressed with Elizabeth's talent!

You are such a talented women... You can fix a roof, install a faucet and sew up a storm. Impressive

I was able to have some stamping creative time yesterday. I photographed a few more stamp sets, finished a card that I started last week, and made a simple card to send to dsis that just says "Hello."

Good to have that stress relief yesterday. Dh was out at a meeting most the afternoon so I was uninterrupted.