Top 12 of 2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Cherie

Can you believe it’s the last day of 2012? This has been an incredible year for me, blog-wise. It was the first full year of the blog and full of so many projects, incredible experiences, new friendships and lots learned. Following suit of many of my favorite bloggers, I’ve decided to go through some of my favorite projects of 2012 (click on the photos or text links to go to the original posts).

1. January started with a bang, as it was the first season of Project Run & Play to have a sew-along component for people to participate at home. I churned out a bunch of projects for that season, some of which are still my favorites. One of those, is my “signature look.”

2. The Color Blocked Wiksten Tank was the first article of clothing I made for myself! And what do you know – it was even selected as a “Top of the Tops” during Rae’s Spring Top Sew-along! Sewing clothes for adults can be scary, but after my first few projects, I was able to build up a bit of confidence and now I enjoy sewing for myself!

3. I have to say, the Vintage All-Star track suit that I made during the Project Run & Play Season 4 Sew-along may be one of my favorite creations. ever.

4. Painted Purple was another outfit created for a Project Run & Play sew-along challenge and when this post got Freshly Pressed, it resulted in my busiest day on the blog to date! It was my first experience painting fabric and dyeing fabric, and now I love to do both.

5. The Summer Breezes Top was a tutorial that I created as a guest post for the Project Run & Play blog (I’m starting to realize what a motivating force PR&P has been for me this past year)!

6. The Sunburst Picnic Blanket was a tutorial I made for Delia and KOJO’s Color Your Summer Series and it is one of the most well used things I’ve made. Gotta love when style and practicality meet!

7. Here’s another practical project – the Crayon Booklets that I made as party favors for Yuki’s 2nd birthday party. Super simple and handy to have around!

8. In September, I got to be a guest in what is my faaavorite new series of 2012. Film Petit is hosted by Kristin and Jessica and each month they choose a movie they love (and a guest they love ;)) and sew children’s clothing inspired by that movie. It is genius! We chose Wes Anderson’s, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and I made Yuki this (non-literal) Mrs. Fox tunic.

9. For my birthday, in October, I made myself a Darling Ranges dress. Like I mentioned before, sewing for myself is really intimidating, so making a dress was quite an accomplishment! And I wear this dress. all. the. time!

10. Halloween costumes are one of my favorite things to sew and this year I made my kid TWO costumes (because she refused to wear the first one). I finally convinced her to put this one on and I think it suits her perfectly! My sneaky little fox.

11. This Quilted Jacket tutorial is a Mini Boden knock off that I made for Heidi‘s Knock It Off series. It’s perfect for winter weather!

12. And last, but not least, is the recently posted Faux Leather Accent Foldover Clutch. These were the perfect Christmas gifts for friends this year, but really, they are perfect accessories for anytime!

And besides these 12 projects, I participated in 11 Project Run & Play Sew-along Challenges . . .

2 Kids Clothing Week Challenges resulting in 10 pieces of finished clothing . . . (I love stripes!)

Did a tour of Yuki’s Woodland Nursery . . .

And did 15 guest posts and over 20 new tutorials!!Phew! What a fun year! And it really wouldn’t have been the same without you, the readers! Thank you for all of your support and inspiration this past year – it has meant the world to me. 2012 was a fantastic year and I look forward to an unforgettable 2013 as well!

Here’s to a beautiful new year!

Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Cherie

Just wanted to wish you the most wonderful Christmas . . .

. . . from our family to yours.

love and peace,
cherie

Personal Thoughts

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Cherie

*My sincere apologies for my earlier typo with the name of the school. My oversight is embarrassing, but my message remains the same.*

I’m assuming you’ve all heard about the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that took place last Friday morning. I am still struggling to process all of my emotions around the incident and really don’t have the adequate words to express my thoughts. As a mother and an educator, this tragedy hits very close to home and I feel like anything I say is an understatement: I am heart broken. I am confused. I am afraid. I am angry. I can’t even imagine the pain and hurt the families of the victims are experiencing. Multiplied by a million. I feel like we haven’t been hit by something this hard in a very very long time.

I’m sure you’ve read a hundred reports about and reactions to the incident, much more eloquent than mine, so I’m not going to say much more than this: As we send our most loving and uplifting thoughts to all of the people of the Newtown community who are suffering the loss of loved ones, I truly truly hope that we, as a nation, can move forward from here – not just move past this – but forward, in a positive direction. I’m sure we all agree that we can’t let this sort of thing continue to happen – something needs to change. We may all have different ideas for how to make these changes, but as long as we are talking about it and not ignoring it, and making sure our government hears us, I think we can start to move forward, towards some real change at an institutional level. So during this healing time, as we come together as a country to mourn those lost and uplift a community in need, I hope we can spark some brave conversations about what we can do to create a healthier and safer world for everyone.

Thank you for allowing me to release some personal thoughts that have been swirling around in my head and my heart for the last few days. I felt like I couldn’t go on blogging as usual without acknowledging both this tragedy and my struggle with it in some small way. So besides remembering to appreciate life every single day, even in all of it’s messiness, I plan to resume regular blogging this week in the spirit of moving forward. It’s important for us to continue living life and enjoying the little things and as a sewist and blogger who celebrates children and parenting regularly here on the blog, I hope that I can continue sharing small things to brighten your day. My friend, Kristin, said it so well that “what follows on this blog will be posted in an attempt to raise spirits, share joy, bring smiles, and give peace. as always.”

With love . . .

Easy Thanksgiving Projects

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Cherie

So I don’t talk about my day job much, but I’m the director of an after-school program for an elementary/middle school (transitional kindergarten though 8th grade). As the director, I oversee the program and all of the students in it, but I spend a lot of my time with the younger kids (TK-2nd grade) and, as you can imagine, we do looooots of arts and crafts and cooking projects. I’m not sure why I don’t share more of that here, (I tend to keep different parts of my life separate I guess) but since this week has been fuuull of Thanksgiving projects and you might be looking for some fun easy things to do with your kiddos, I thought it was time for a little show and tell. These are reeeeally simple projects and most of the stuff you need, you probably already have at home.

Our first turkey project was inspired by a photo that Dana posted on Instagram of a project her son’s class did. Their project was slightly different, but with our kids, we helped them cut out a large feather shape from construction paper and let them decorate it however they liked. Then we helped them write one thing they are thankful for and their name. We assembled all of the feathers together and added a body and voila! A giant thankful turkey!

The next project we did was a cooking project that is sooooo easy, very yummy, and absolutely perfect for kids. It’s called Pumpkin Pie in Cup and one of my awesome after-school teachers, Laura, found it here. The recipe calls for instant pumpkin pudding, but since we didn’t have any of that, we used instant vanilla pudding, pumpkin puree and some spices. The kids get to crush graham crackers, mix the pudding, dollop cool whip and then devour it all without waiting for it to bake. Could it be more perfect?

The last project was another fun internet find, the Paper Plate Turkey. Another simple craft, all you need is a paper plate, some tissue and/or construction paper, scissors and glue. Add googly eyes if you got ’em.

Gobble gobble.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving crafts?

New dress and new shoes

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Cherie

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday (31!) and I decided to make a Darling Ranges Dress as a present to myself. I also got myself some new shoes 🙂

The pattern is pricey, but it is so cute that I couldn’t resist! It is really pretty simple in terms of construction. It’s got a v-neck and full button closure down the front, long sleeves and deep pockets in a gathered skirt. I used black and white chambray (though it totally looks blue) that I got using my winnings from the PR&P sew-along 2 seasons ago (yay for free fabric)!

I made the dress in size large and it fits well. The main adjustment I had to make was the bust darts. The original pattern was waaaaay off for me. Of course, everyone’s body is very different, so you can’t expect it to fit you perfectly, but I was hopeful since my bust measurement is the same as what they listed on the pattern and my cup size is the same as the one they use to make the pattern (according to Megan Nielsen’s blog). So I did not make a muslin and went ahead and cut and sewed the pattern only to realize that it was way off. I had to make it work because I didn’t have any extra fabric. And since I don’t know anything about bust adjustments, I just fudged my way through it. Though it looks OK, it certainly is not great. The bust darts are super long and still a little off. Moral of the story? MUSLIN. Make one. Don’t ever skip this step. I gave the same advice when I made the Washi in Blue, but of course, didn’t bother following it! 😦

(Ok, stop staring at my boobs)

Besides that adjustment, I used bias on the sleeve cuffs instead of elastic and also added pintucks to the bottom hem.

I also decided to use a different fabric for the inside of the button placket/bias for the neckline, just for fun. You don’t see it when it’s being worn, so it’s really just for me.

The pattern is high quality – well written, great diagrams, easy to follow. The only thing I thought was strange was that one of the directions said to sew up to the marks on the pattern but I could not find the marks anywhere! Maybe they were left off? Maybe I’m totally blind/crazy?

And these are my new fall/birthday shoes! I love them. They are by Madden Girl and called Dontee. I think they’d be cute with some skinny pants folded at the ankle, but I don’t know if I can pull that look off 🙂

Sewing for myself is getting to be pretty fun, though I obviously still have a lot to learn. I’ve been dying to make myself a Washi tunic FOREVER, but it keeps getting pushed back on my to do list. I’m starting to look at women’s clothes and think, “I can make that” the same way I used to look at children’s clothes. Justine over at Sew Country Chick is hosting a pattern making draft-along for women’s clothing in November. So if you’re interested in learning more about sewing for women, you should check that out!

In other news, fall is in full swing and some days are starting to feel an awful lot like winter. Where does the time go??

Little Hawaiian Dress

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Cherie

So here’s one from July when we went to Kauai. Oh wait, did I tell you we went to Kauai back in July?? Well we did! For a week. And it was the best vacation EVER. We hung out at the beach and ate fresh fruit ALL. DAY. LONG. I mean, I don’t think it can get any better than that. It was our first time going to Kauai and it was soooooo beautiful. Truly truly gorgeous.

Anyways, my mom had brought me some fabric from Hawaii from one of her previous trips (her family is partially from Hawaii so she goes every year) and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to use some of it. I wanted to make her a little dress to wear on the beach so we could pretend she was a little Hawaiian girl (like a little Hawaiian girl would be wearing a dress like this, while her weirdo mom snapped a bunch of photos of her on the beach – yeah . . . not a tourist at all).

I liked this simple yellow fabric with leis on it – not too gaudy or over the top.

The construction of this dress is a little funky. I made it right after I made my Washi in Blue and I was super pumped about my mad shirring skills, so I was determined to use them here for the bodice. But then I decided I wanted to add a ruffle around the top too and that’s where it all got crazy. If I had planned on doing the ruffle from the beginning, I probably would have just done a simple elastic casing, but since I didn’t really think it through, I tried to shir a bunch of ruffled layers together and let me tell you, it doesn’t work. So that’s why the top of the dress is a bit wavy, but overall I got the little sundress I imagined.

Besides the shirred ruffled top of the dress, the body is a simple rectangle, with ties for straps.

This girl was in paradise. I swear she could live on the beach and never leave.

And you know, I wasn’t complaining much either . . . 🙂

In more current news, I’m starting to nail down my to do list for KCWC. I’m pretty excited about it, but I haven’t even gotten my fabric or done any prepping or cutting yet. I am psyched to hit the thrift store and fabric store today for some material. You getting ready?

October is here!

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Cherie

So I’ve had a ridiculously crazy past month – with all the back to school craziness (I work at a school, so the beginning of the year is HECTIC), plus 3 birthday parties (Yuki, Hideko and my sister), and a horrible streak of bad luck (dropped my camera and broke the lens, slipped in the shower and smashed my back on the edge of the tub, AND someone used 3 of my photos without my permission to advertise their own product on Etsy and eBay – UGH!!), I feel like I’ve been drowning a little bit.

There certainly were some great moments in there, like 3 successful parties, getting to see some old friends, the blog turning one and working on last week’s film petit! Thanks so much for all of your wonderful comments and feedback on those last 2 things, by the way. You really do make this blogging thing SO much fun 🙂

But September is gone and most of the bad things are far behind me (except I still need a new camera lens) and October is here! I’m determined to have a better month and it shouldn’t be too hard. I love the fall and my birthday is coming up and that’s a fun way to start off the month.

Another great thing that’s coming up next week is Kids Clothing Week Challenge, hosted by Meg of elsie marley! Basically, the challenge is to sew children’s clothing for at least one hour a day for one week. I’m sure I sew more than 7 hours a week on a pretty regular basis, but this is so fun because you’re doing it with hundreds of other people. It’s so motivating knowing that a ton of other people are working their tails off too, and you get to share all of your work in the flickr pool and there is SO much inspiration and encouragement. I participated for the first time last spring (you can see a recap of my week’s work here) and I was not only super productive, but had a lot of fun.

This time around, Meg has created a KCWC board on pinterest and it is TEEMING with gorgeous kids clothing inspiration. It makes me wish I could sew all day every day and I feel like that would still not be enough time to make all the things I’d want to. I’m currently trying to decide what I want to work on next week. Fall staples? Adorable dresses? Patterns that I’ve bought and not yet used? I can’t decide . . .

Are you going to sew along for KCWC? If so, go leave a comment on this post to let Meg know that you’re participating! She’s trying to get more participants than last time and there were 700 people! So join in the fun! At the end of the week, you may be a little sleep deprived and your house may be a bit of a mess, but your kid (or someone’s kid) will have something new to wear and you will be beaming with pride 🙂

So what’s on your to do list?

One

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Cherie

As of yesterday, this blog is one year old! Hurray! It’s definitely just like a baby – you can’t believe it’s already been a year, and yet it feels like you’ve had it forever. Know what I mean?

It’s fun to think back about where I was a year ago, in terms of my plans and goals and my sewing level and interests. A lot of things have changed, all for the better, and the one thing that I never knew when I started this little blog is just how many awesome people I’d get to know through the blogging/sewing/crafting community!

Anyways, thanks to all of you supporters, those who have been around since the beginning and those who are new around here. You make this sewing adventure SO. MUCH. FUN!

So . . . have I reached the point where I can no longer call myself a “new” blogger? Because I really liked calling myself that, but somehow I feel like one year is the cut off. What do you think?

(Love you guys)

Crayon Booklet Party Favors

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Cherie

So before I go back in time to share some of my summer (and pre-summer – eek!) projects, here’s one that I just finished last week. My daughter recently turned two and we threw a casual little park get-together for some of her kiddo friends and their parents. Around the same time that I was planning her party, I stumbled upon small + friendly’s new-sew crayon wrap tutorial. I thought it was genius! What a simple project to make and perfect for parents of toddlers to whip out at restaurants or whenever they need to distract their little one. I decided I wanted to make them as part of the party favor for Yuki’s birthday party!

But could I keep it simple? Could I keep it no-sew? Nooooooooo . . . obviously not. I had to go and make it all difficult for myself. Hah! Well actually, though did make a few changes and add a few steps, it was still a super simple project and I was able to whip up 17 of these crayon booklets pretty quickly. AND I had all the materials I needed already in my stash (except for the crayons), so that was a big plus!

So here’s how I used Carla’s tutorial and made my own lil version. You’ll need:

Felt (I used a wool felt for the outside and acrylic for the inside because that is what I had on hand)
Velcro
Exacto knife
Crayons & paper
Sewing essentials

First, Carla mentions in her tutorial that if you want to thicken your felt to wash it in hot water, put it in the dryer until almost dry and then iron. My yellow felt was wool, so I decided to give it a try. But something went terribly wrong! After washing it, I noticed that the felt was totally coming off in clumps. It was pilling and crazy-uneven-fuzzy all over and definitely not any thicker. I threw it in the dryer anyways, but it looked the same when it came out. I didn’t really take a picture of what it looked like right out of the dryer and after ironing, but here’s what it looked like after I picked off a lot of the loose felt (that ball of fuzz is all the stuff I picked off by hand).

Wool felt isn’t cheap, so I wasn’t about to abandon it. I just picked off as much as I could and smoothed the rest down with my hands and in the end, I don’t think you can tell at all on the finished product. It definitely wasn’t any thicker though and I have no clue what I did wrong. Any ideas? Has this happened to you?

Ok anyways, I wanted the booklets to fit into these little metal buckets I had bought from the dollar bin at Target, so I had to size mine down. The size of my unfolded booklet was 5.25 x 7.5 inches. I added a little tab to my template for the velcro closure. The original tutorial/pattern has more info about the size and spacing of the slits. Mine had four pairs of slits for the crayons on the left side and two 2.75 inch slits for the paper on the right. So here’s what my template looked like:

Using your blade, cut through the lines on your paper template. Cut a 5.25 x 7.5 inch rectangle from your inner felt. Lay the template on top and mark the lines using chalk or a disappearing ink pen. Cut those with your blade. Using your template as a guide, cut another rectangle WITH the closure tab from your outer felt.

On your outer felt, feel free to add an applique or any other decorations. Sew one side of the velcro to the tab and the other to the opposite side of the cover about a 1/4 inch away from the edge.

Pin the two layers of felt together with wrong sides together. Make sure that when you open up the booklet the crayons slits are on the left and the paper slits are on the upper right.

Sew around the edge in a rectangle.

Your booklet is done! Now to add the goodies . . .

Cut your paper into fourths along the long edge of the paper. Each strip should be 2.75 inches wide. Stack the 4 strips and fold them in half.

Slide your crayons in on the left and your paper through the top slit and back out the bottom slit on the right. The most fun I had was picking out the color combos for the 4 crayons 🙂

And you’re done! Pretty simple, right?

Now go make 16 more 😉

Thanks to Carla for the fabulous inspiration and tutorial! I’ve stashed one of these in our diaper bag and I imagine I’ll be whipping it out quite often.

What kinds of “distractions” do you keep on hand to keep your child entertained? My sister-in-law was the one who taught me to ALWAYS have paper and writing utensils on hand (for any age kid). And you know what she carries in her purse and has entertained children for loooong periods of time? A balloon! Deflated, of course. Serious (long lasting) fun can be had with a simple balloon. Genius.

Happy sewing and have a great weekend!!

Summer Journal #1

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Cherie

Summer is in full swing and things are busier than ever – except this busy, is the GOOD kind of busy. So while I wish I could do it all – spend time with my family and sew and blog – my priorities are exactly in that order, so sewing has slowed down and blogging has almost stopped.

Meg at elsiemarley.com decided to start a summer journal through her blog and instagram and invited others to join in. During the summer months when kids are home from school, I guess projects and blogging takes a back seat for a lot of people. So she’s doing simple photo centered posts about what she and her family are up to – as she says, “a little window into our summer days.” I thought it’d be fun to share some fun family photos of mine, since I don’t have time to blog, but I’m addicted to Instagram.

So here are some pics from the last couple of weeks. I won’t explain each one, but the short version is – camping, a solo trip to LA to meet baby Logan and hang out with my dad, escaping the San Francisco fog, lots of family time and lots of fun!

Oh, and I wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who responded to my This Summer post with suggestions for traveling with a toddler. I really really appreciate all the great ideas and encouraging words and I know that your advice will be invaluable when we travel. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes!!

Hope you are doing well! Enjoy the photos!