Belle Isla

I have moved!

2011-04-02T00:19:00.000-07:00

Please check out my posterous instead

lots of love!

33. lego party invitations

2010-08-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

just to prove i have other children (besides isla) (heh), here are the invites for my son t's 6th birthday party

i'm completely biased but i think these turned out adorable!

here they are lined up in a row

the theme was the time worn favorite of boys (and some men, and girls) all over: lego. i love this theme because it was perfect for a bunch of 6 year old boys. (more perfect than i could have imagined...) lego as a party theme is actually quite flexible for party games, decor, and food, too...i will have to do another post about that

so my baby boy is 6! sniff sniff
by the way, these cards fold up as their own envelopes like the valentine cards i made earlier this year

32. soft fabric block for baby

2010-07-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

exactly what the title says! a break from the strawberry postings...i like this green color and i love how it goes with my favourite colour orange

i made this for my friend's baby boy, who just turned one. happy birthday, little guy!

see how the hand stitched part is so visible? does anyone know how to sew this part ..uh...less visibly?

this was 6 squares sewn together and stuffed with soft filling. i also threw a few dry beans into an emptied-of-the-toy kinder surprise "egg" (you know, the plastic thingy that holds the toy! not the chocolate part. i realize that is also an egg...) to make a rattle and pushed that into the middle of the stuffing. i can't think of a simpler toy to make that is so cute! i especially love the fabric with the ducks

here it is all wrapped up for the birthday boy

this project kind of encompasses all my favourite sewing methods: it is sort of patchwork (cute squares of fabric), there is a bit of hand sewing (just enough so it doesn't overwhelm me), it is quick and easy, and the result is super cute. ahh...there is bliss in staring at these pictures! haha, i am so cursedly simple to please

31. strawberry cupcakes

2010-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

as promised, the strawberry mania continues...

these were enjoyed at isla's first birthday party (eee!), which was strawberry shortcake themed. i did not choose to make strawberry shortcake only because i simply could not pass up the opportunity to use my new cupcake stand, which i got at michael's with a coupon. yeay, savings!

i thought i would share my favourite cupcake recipe. it is a vanilla cake recipe from kitchen for kids that i have been baking with my sons for a few years now. it has never failed. and to me, with whom many a recipe has failed, that is onus enough to make it a keeper recipe forever. actually the recipe is for a small cake, but i experimented with changing it into a cupcake recipe (since i have made it before without fail and am now brimming over with uber-confidence) and it worked!

Strawberry Cupcakes

adapted only slightly from Kitchen for Kids by Jennifer Low
makes about 10 cupcakes

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp flour
2 tsp baking powder
sprinkle of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, soft
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk
your favorite frosting
strawberries to decorate

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. put paper muffin cups in muffin baking tray
3. sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl
4. in another bowl, cream sugar and butter, then blend in egg and vanilla
5. whisk in milk, stir in spoonfuls of flour until batter is smooth. i do this completely by hand with the boys (sometimes). it only takes a few minutes and the boys think it is fun! of course, use a machine if you have one. i don't. (still waiting for that kitchen aid, hubby dear)
6. pour into muffin cups about 2/3 full and bake about 30 minutes. cupcakes should be pale golden and skewered clean in middle. they are delicious! edit: strangely, i baked these again and they only took 22 minutes. so...just make sure to watch your oven and set the timer for 22-25 minutes, not 30. my bad
7. decorate with white frosting and halved strawberries for a simple but celebratory effect

now wasn't that a simple recipe? i love simple recipes

even the leftover cupcakes with melty frosting looked yummy...you can bet i finished these off

and guess who showed up at the party courtesy of my rat-packing sister?

ms. strawberry shortcake herself! count as vintage? 20+ yrs old, my old strawberry shortcake figurine still smells faintly sweet like the day i got her. oh, nostalgia

30. strawberry outfit

2010-07-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

this was isla's birthday outfit:

my first shirred top. i also added elastic to the bottom to make it look more like a strawberry. i sort of followed the instructions for the shirred dress in weekend sewing. sort of. it seems i am no good at following sewing instructions. i kind of look at the pictures only and then assume i am an expert...(also can see one of my strawberry goody bags in this picture)

the top was to be paired with green bloomers to get an upside-down strawberry look. it was a bit chillier than expected on her birthday, so i threw a onesie on her, but you get the idea

here is a better shot of the bloomers, made according to the ruby bloomers pattern, also found in weekend sewing. yeay! i am making use of this book at last!

29. strawberry goodie bags/stuffed toy

2010-06-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

there is going to be a lot of strawberry going on here, so get ready. i've been in a very berry kind of mood lately...

don't they look delicious in a bowl?

how about hanging from the vine? (or in this case, from the umbrella on our deck)

how about filled with candy? which is what they really were ... the poor mothers whose kids got them... i did redeem myself by stuffing the bottom halves with polyfil, so when the candy is all gone, the moms can fill up the strawberry with more polyfil, tie the whole thing closed and use it as a stuffed toy. although admittedly, they are rather giant. alternatively, one can also empty the strawberry entirely and use it as a small bag

ok, well the most important question here is: why would anyone make loot bags/goodie bags anyway? to give away at the end of a strawberry themed birthday party, right? so can you guess why i made these?

yep, my baby girl is 1!

happy birthday, sweet darling

knit skirt for baby

2010-05-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

i am bogged down by my knitting projects right now, so sewing is quite impossible. but while i was having computer problems last month, i was looking through some old photos on my macbook, and i came across some projects i've never blogged about before. thought i would share a few in the interim between finishing up some knitting and doing some new sewing.

here is a knit skirt i made last year around this time. it is on my ravelry page. it was knit during my pre-baby knitting blitz

doesn't it look sweet with the cardigan?

isla has worn it a time or two, but it just seems so delicate (made with soft baby yarn and all)...now that she is crawling around, i need "tough" clothing for her. clothes that can stand up to rubbing against the floor at 50 knees-on-the-floor per minute, right?

happy long weekend !!

28. mommy's headscarf

2010-05-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

for my mommy, but modeled by moi. i didn't get to see her on actual mother's day, so it is a belated gift. (i'm sorry, mommy! i will see you soon!)

oops, better go cut that string

i followed the pattern/instructions from heather ross's book weekend sewing . i'm not much of a hair accessory type of person, but this may inspire an addiction. i think i will make one for myself.

the fabric is actually a light purple with pretty flowers, but impossible to tell in the blinding sun with a model who won't stay still, huh?

a very quick and easy project. i would recommend this for anyone looking to make a quick sewn gift.

surprisingly, this was my first project from weekend sewing , even though i've had it for almost a year. i finally took the leap from just drooling at the pretty pictures to actually making something. dunno why it took so long...though, admittedly, i'm not generally good at following instructions from anyone other than myself. my hubby can attest to that...anyway, the instructions in this case were not hard to follow, only a few steps, as opposed to the more (daunting) complicated patterns in the book. luckily, there are many projects of varying complicatedness to be found in said book.

also a note of apology to my dear sweet readers, if i have any left. so sorry to have left off for a month without any blogging, but life would have it that three very compelling reasons for not blogging came crashing together in a big bang simultaneously, culminating in my un-availability to the blog. they were, in no particular order (i like lists):

1. my main home computer that houses our digital photos and is where i upload from my camera suddenly contracted The Virus of Eternal Humiliation that immediately upon opening any web browser took us to sites called porno.com and viagra.com. i am not kidding around! (fyi, those sites aren't real. just in case anyone feels compelled to check them out.) it would be hilarious if it didn't actually happen to me.
my sweet hubby fixed it by installing some anti-viral software, but then the computer couldn't open any website at all, which befuddled my hubby, which meant a phone call to the internet provider/phone company (they are one and the same for us), which meant the dreaded .... TELUS tech support! (scary music here. anyone who has ever called tech support at telus knows what i am talkin' about). turns out it was some proxy server options thingy (i don't even want to know) but it still took an hour. anyway, thankfully, our computer, though probably on its last legs, has survived

and then...

and then my macbook decides it is time to quit charging. the magsafe charger's green light was very dim and the battery just had the "plugged in" symbol, not the "charging" symbol, which is the sideways lightning bolt (i love that lightning bolt!). i freaked out and checked all the mac support and forums. things sounded very grim with most people saying i needed to take it to the apple store because magsafe was dirty/damaged/battery is dead/damaged etc etc. bad, bad news. oh no oh no oh no...but there were a couple of people on those forums who said to let the battery die down a bit and then try again. it apparently worked for them and i'll be darned, when my battery went down to less than 76 per cent, the orange light suddenly went on and the sideways lightning bolt came back. i was so so so so relieved.

2. i have been knitting. i have this theory that when i knit i cannot sew. and when i sew, i cannot knit. it seems to be that my theory is correct so far. i have two projects on hand (maybe i'll show those later...so excited about them, but they're not ready yet! eek! shrill much?), and i really am itching to cast on more, but no, i must resist. i am a really incredibly slow knitter. i try to knit while watching hockey games, but it doesn't work because hockey games make me extremely tense (or maybe the Canucks make me tense...), and also because most of the time when i try to sit down on the couch to relax and knit, reason number 3 happens...

3. and that reason number 3 is my isla girl. she is getting bigger and really really attached to me. plus she is SO demanding. it is really hard to get much done when she is practically surgically attached to my hip at all times. mostly, i cook dinner with one arm and her balanced on my hip in the other arm. she also seems to be a really poor daytime napper. so crafting during the day (or doing much of anything) is pretty much out until i can figure out how to give her a soothing relaxaporium for sleep, free of all brothers and pets and loud sharp noises.
to confuse me further, she seems to nap really well in the din of the local swimming pool (kids screaming included). i would drive her there everyday if i could, but the boys aren't too thrilled about swimming lessons to begin with, and, much more importantly, the heat in there makes me feel like i could actually sweat. i dun like sweatin'!

ok, well, the dramas go on and on, and so can i (ha!), but that in a rather large nutshell is why this blog is v v v v random and inconsistent

27. bean the bunny

2010-04-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

apparently i can't stop making bunnies.

this is bean, my toesy's new favourite stuffie. he's a white bunny

i love bean's expression the most. seriously happy bunny

can you feel the love?

bean used to be a ninja (no, really!) but toes has already lost his black suit. i'll try to post a picture of bean in his full ninja gear one of these days

26. simple+modern hair-clippies

2010-03-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

is this hair not begging for a hair clip?!!

i mean, really, what kind of mother am i? the second best part of having a baby girl (the first part is the clothing!) must be the hair accessories, right? no, wait...there must be something about love and stuff in there...um..hmm. ok, well, i'm still going to make the hair clips.

here ~~they are~~ it is! she lost the first two, so actually the pictures only show the 3rd clip i made.

i made them with ribbon, so they were quick and easy. i thought about embellishing them a bit more with a bow or flower or something, but i kind of like them simple and modern. but still pretty! i love pink polka dot ribbon.

anyway, to make them, i wrapped a ribbon around a hairclip and basically made a sleeping bag for the clip. i sewed it, but one could use glue for extra stay power. i thought about making a small tutorial for people who asked (thanks for the nice comments, people!), but people, i found one here (via googling craftzine) that is almost the same way i made mine! yay for the internet!

my one complaint about making hair clips: i went to my local michael's craft store to look for clips that i could embellish and they didn't have any! the sales girl there told me they don't carry them any more. bummer. i ended up using old clips i already had and giving them "new life"

25. bunny basket

2010-03-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

what is happiness? a fabulous fabric bunny basket for easter! that's what.

the easter bunny is coming and my children remind me (subtly) that they need baskets to keep their chocolate eggs in during our annual family easter egg hunt...enter the bunny basket...

i know it doesn't look quite like a bunny unless you look at it at a certain angle and you narrow your eyes a bit and get someone to hold his ears/handles up and you stop thinking it looks like a bear/dog...but it's a bunny nonetheless.

it's okay to force coerce persuade ask one of my children use something i made even if it's not perfect, right? (eh, probably will be the one who can't offer her 9 month old opinions)

my bunny, too, had some trouble believing he was a rabbit, despite the fact that i tried to give him flopsy ears. so i had to make him a carrot to convince him. it is ever so cute, that carrot, i could just eat it up...i think i may go off on a crafting tangent here and start making felt carrots for ever and ever...

i'm off to make 2 more baskets! maybe if i work out the kinks, the next 2 may look less like bear-dogs??

must buy some goodies to fill up this basket

happy st patty's day (still at 1)

2010-03-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

i'm not irish, but i love green. so here are more pictures of the green quilt

here is the back...can you tell my son likes tennis?...hehe, i was geeky enough to make the "net" with a green checkered fabric so it looks like the "mesh" of the tennis net

i did not do a traditional binding...

the backing fabric is our old duvet cover blogged here

now i am off to find some less bulky, less invasive, generally smaller projects to do. (seriously here, that quilt took up an entire corner of my already cramped sewing room for months and i swear it gave me the evil eye every time i reached past it to work on another project like "hey, lady, whydontcha finish me first?!" yes, i have issues...)

possibly some easter fabric baskets?? does anyone have any suggestions?

back to 1. (remember the green autumn quilt?)

2010-03-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

it's finally done! yeay!!

isla volunteered to model how one might crawl across this here green expanse...yes, it feels soooo expansive...so biiiig

2 more shots

and it only took me 7 or 8 months...ulp! that's almost like the gestational period for one of my children...aiyih! i dunno what to say to myself about that. how do you quilters out there do your quilts so quickly? anyone have any tips?

the light factor here is gloomy at best, so i will try again to take better pictures maybe tomorrow.

to explain, we are under a semi-permanent cloud cover for a while. at school, they call it "westcoast weather", meaning we have to pack a change of clothes and boots for our kids in case. not that i'm complaining, but it really is difficult to get good pictures on non-sunny days, especially when one's son's room is west-facing with only one window.

does anyone have any non-complicated photography tricks they could share for bad weather photo taking? i seem to be dealing with it a lot these days

in the meantime, i need to go take a nap

24. travel pouch

2010-03-03T11:02:00.000-08:00

the idea was to make a small travel pouch for my hubby aka "dada" for when he goes on his many trips for work. i found this great tutorial via the internet. go ahead and check the link. i'll wait. doesn't the pouch look perfect, just like its name?

simple, right?

we-ell...i started thinking that his toothbrush couldn't really fit into the pouch with its original dimensions. and really, what is the point of a travel case if you can't put your toothbrush in it?? maybe what i needed to do was fiddle around with the size...and then that would mean fiddling around with a different zipper length...or maybe if i just make the box flatter, that may give it more length...

i think i've read somewhere that one should never mess with a recipe before one has tried to follow it precisely the first time. i think the same can be said of sewing patterns

you can be the judge of the results of my madness here

my husband does not like my cutesy fabrics for his things, suffice it to say, so i had to choose a plain beige-y cotton twill. i felt like boo, that's boring, but it turned out surprisingly cute with the green zipper and matching inside green fabric.

i added a little sewn tag from isla (well, you know, via me) to the zipper because baby girl really is quite attached to her dada and misses him terribly when he is away (ya hear that, daddy?). so the pouch really is a little reminder of her. plus, i enjoy zipper tags.

and let me just say that two weeks without my dear husband when baby girl is sick feels incredibly close to two months. i love my children, but the two weeks without my husband were barely barely surviveable. thankully, she is much better now

...wha?!

2010-02-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

23. love

2010-02-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

::i love a celebration of love!

::some sewing, some time spent with toesy in "making", some sweet notes to friends...what more could i ask for?

::as promised, these are the cards-and-envelopes-in-one valentines

::front and back view of closed valentine. i really like the sweet heart shape for writing the name of the recipient

::opened up showing the fabric hearts (toes helped in choosing the fabrics for this). i looooove these

::some more

::toes helped helped me cut out hearts to "seal" the letters.

::i couldn't help admiring the potato shaped one near the scissors (heh heh!)

::like the "antique"-y look of this one

::messy table? or table full of love??...spilling over with love?? someone please stop me from going further with this

sneak peek

2010-02-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

::i can't manage a normal post right now, but here's a sneak peek at what i am ~~slaving over~~ working on. straight from my sketchbook

::these are for toesy's kindergarten class. i am debating with myself whether i should do handmade cards for knees' class, as there are like 30 kids! that's a lot of work. they aren't celebrating until monday the 15th because tomorrow is going to be a full day of olympics-themed activities, so i'll have the weekend to decide. whatcha'll think??? you know, i think maybe if i weren't such a crazy, and i just went to the store and bought things, life would be a lot easier.

22. message pillow

2010-02-03T16:07:00.000-08:00

::i realize that it is now february. i really do. but there was one christmas (yes, i said christmas) present that i have somehow neglected to mention on this blog. (and i call this blog a record of my crafty things??? the shame!)

::before christmas every year, my family gets together and we all draw names from a hat for a secret santa gift giving game. the name we draw is the person we act as a secret santa for. i'm sure lots of people do this. anyhoo, we have included the kids in this always, and every year i help the kids buy their gifts. but not this year (errhh...last year, as we are talking about 2009 here. stick with me, i will start to make sense soon) as we are going for handmade gifts.

::so anyway, my 5 year old, toes, picked out his grandma's name. i racked my brain for a couple of weeks before coming up with this gift. i wanted the gift to include some sort of artwork by toes, but not just one piece of artwork. and so he and i eventually collaborated to make this:

a message pillow!

::the pocket in front holds messages. the pillow is to be kept on grandma's favourite chair. personally, if i were a grandmother, i would just love the excuse for another spot to hold some of the awesome artwork that little ones produce. wouldn't you?

::the word there says "grandmother" in chinese (or close to that. this is in a 5 year old's hand, after all). it is pronounced something like "po" or maybe "pohr"

::it was a true collaboration: he drew the picture onto cloth for the pocket and chose the embroidery thread colours, i "helped" him with the embroidering which means he managed a few needle pokes and dictated the rest

::the first message in the pillow was this picture that toes drew for his popo

::as i wrapped it up for christmas, i wished i had had more time to pretty it up. but now, looking back, i think it was just right. a sweet little gift from a little boy who loves to draw pictures and leave messages for his popo.

21. sydney's bean bags

2010-01-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

::my little brother sydney loves to toss things. i could think of nothing better to make for his birthday than some totally toss-able little bean bags.

::knees and toes eagerly (not kidding around; they were practically fighting over this job) helped me fill the bags with beans. after we finished them, i got the boys to test them out. read: they got to play with the bean bags before giving them away. needless to say, they did not complain about this job either

::they are winners! very fun, and economical, too (i used dried black eyed peas and red beans in my pantry to fill them)

::i embroidered the letters of his name on these bags, but for future, i think i might endeavour to make the entire alphabet (ulp!) so isla could play with them

::if i'd known that they would be such a hit, i would have made these ages ago! the boys had lots of fun making up tossing games with the bean bags

::happy birthday, sydney!

20. isla's froggy kimono

2010-01-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

i have been aching to use this froggy fabric since i spied it at fabricana. isn't it delicious? i finally decided on a small project: a kimono for isla! (of course i ruined the surprise ages ago)

i (loosely) followed the instructions from an old martha stewart baby magazine, but did not use their template. which is why it looks different, for those who know which martha stewart baby kimono i am referring to (holla to those who do!). (yes, i still covet and hoard these magazines that are circa 2000 to 2004 or 5. i love them!)

the magazine states that if you go to their website and search "kimono", you will find their template online, which i have not done yet. but as the magazine is so old, i don't know if these instructions still apply.

the fabric used for the bias binding/ties might be recognizable

anyway, you may be wondering how isla actually looks wearing it. here is the only picture of isla modelling that didn't turn into a blurry mess. she is crawling everywhere fast...and a very uncooperative model, i might add.

i also made it reversible. here is the other side

the extra layer of fabric makes it a bit snugglier, and i love how this kimono (even though not traditional) double wraps the front of the child, so they stay extra warm. here is the inside view of the "inner wrap"

hope this inspires some crafty mamas!

19. black apple doll

2010-01-19T00:35:00.000-08:00

continuing the toy-making attempts, i made a dolly a while back from this tutorial for a friend's sweet little girl who was turning 4.

used some more of this fabric

this is mid-construction. doll parts kind of freak me out

not sure if it turned out that great, but i already gave it away, so can't do much about it now! hmm...guess i might have tried to embellish her outfit with a scarf ...or a ruffle on her skirt or maybe some leggings ...or something! sadly, she is looking very plain jane now that i see these pictures. i also should've stuffed her up more, but at the time i felt like she should be rag-doll-ish, so she ought not be too plumpy ...??? i am barely making sense to myself. note to self: should not blog too late at night

18. rattle-y ball

2010-01-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

happy new year!

i'm sorry i've been absent so long, but it's crazy to think that any blogging would happen during holiday season at all! but back to the routine now

isla has this thing about balls. every time one of her brothers rolls a ball on the floor, she laughs uncontrollably. and it doesn't get old with her. she can do it all day. all.day. (it's the rest of us who have to stop after a while, really.)

...so i was thinking of making her some soft toys lately ...now that she is sitting up really well and actively searching for entertainment. (dear god, she is crawling already and i haven't baby-proofed the house yet, have i?!!!)

...enter the stuffed fabric roll-y ball!

it has a "rattle" stuffed way in its depths, so it makes noises as it rolls. fun!

the construction of it was pretty simple. i actually studied a beach ball to come up with this. basically, it is 8 panels of fabric shaped like a really long eye (i'm not sure how else to describe the shape...long leaf shape? narrow oval with pointy ends? fattened up pine needle? ) sewn together. the rattle was 2 bottle caps taped together with 3 dried beans inside.

i have to admit that i really like it, this silly little ball. it is made of fabric scraps that i had, so it cost next to nothing. can't go wrong with that!

if you have a baby to give it to, make one today!

just an aside to explain myself: did i say 52 things this year back in september 2009 (and in the about me side panel there)? i meant in one year, i really did. it's true, i swear. which means i am still sort of on par, i think? ?? math has escaped me

anyway, i have a whole slew of things to blog about that i couldn't before the holidays as they were gifts, so i will bring them up one by one slowly over the next little while

17. candy stars slippers

2009-12-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

i would just like to eat up those baby toes of isla's sometimes. all the time.

but if i have to cover them up (cuz it's brrrr...), then why not with some yummy slippers?

these were knit in an elastic-y yarn (bernat baby stretch), so they have quite a bit of give for growing feet.

i've never knit with yarn like this before. it was interesting...i'm not sure i would recommend it. but i loved the cute color combination and i could never in my life resist new cute yarn

i've also never ever knit baby slippers before, so that was a new learning experience, too. they knit up very quickly, so for my schedule of knit-when-i-have-5-minutes-here-and-there, it took me altogether the span of about a week. details on ravelry on my page. my username is islabelle

the colors remind me of candy stars i just happened to have on hand

...now what to do with the rest of this yarn. skirt? something mini...

things

2009-12-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

i'm loving...

1. piles of pretty fabric. clean, laundered, ironed, folded, piled. but any, really. fabric stores are like candy shops

2. sweet baby knitting books such as these (to die for)

3. cookbooks with happy family stories (you know, like a tale behind each recipe) eg molly wizenberg's a homemade life, which i am devouring right now.

i read tremendously faster than i cook, so only made chapter one's potato salad so far (yummy pic below*), but have read past the 4th chapter's creme a la coeur already...scratch that, i have now read past the pain au chocolat chapter

* i added grape tomatoes and cucumber to the recipe and deleted the ranch dressing because for some reason, i don't like ranch dressing

i also really love this book by ellen leong blonder.

it has beautiful water-color pictures of almost all the recipes, and is a must have for anyone who likes dim sum. a lot of things i've had at dim sum restaurants were such a mystery to me until i read this book. she did such a lot of research and recipe testing to write this book! i just want to give her a huge hug for demystifying a lot of recipes for some favourite dim sum.

(hmm...maybe i ought to get an associate account for amazon since i seem to promoting their books anyway. and sorry for all the annoying look inside images. i'm too lazy to take out my camera to take actual photos)

4. pretty works in progress like this kimono for isla,

or just some new bias binding i made (from this fabric)

5. the fact that i have very little done for the holidays, VERY little, yet the panic has not set in yet.

i decided long ago that this season will be handmade/homemade, vintage, books, or made by artisans (local, if possible) gifts only. i'm trying to reduce the amount of plastic toys and other stuff that we usually buy around this time of year. it's also high time i thought about how much waste we put into this holiday, so i'm going to try very hard to only make or buy handmade gifts from here on. or recycle/upcycle old things into new gifts. except for books, of course, because i can't stop buying books. those are like bits of wonderful knowledge we pass on.

but what i really like is how each handmade gift requires so much thought to be put into it. you always end up really thinking about the person you make the gift for, and i love that about making gifts. the end result, no matter how paltry and unprofessional, is always something sweet. of course, i should have started work on such lovely gifts back in july, so as to be sure every gift is a thoughtfully made and on-time one. lol

if i do run out of time, there may be some "cookie dough in a jar" types of gifts. which i would love, btw, if anyone needs a hint. or maybe caramel corn . anyway, just tooting my own horn !!!

16. little mr pjs

2009-12-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

some cute little men pajamas for my little man himself. i found this flannelette (?) print at a local-ish fabric store. kobetoes loves mr happy (how could anyone not love a little guy with such a sunny disposition?), and he needs new pjs, so this is what i came up with

wide-legged pants made the same way as isla's jammie bottoms * with a t-shirt featuring a little mr

...bump! (as if i would cut out this sweet smile)

close up of mr bump (i just think the yellow mr happy didn't work with the yellow shirt), who was cut from the original fabric and zigzag stitched on

we both love these new jammies. yeay!

*referring to the way i made isla's pants: instead of cutting 4 separate pieces for the pants, i found that if i fold the fabric in half and line up the fold with where the outside edge of the pant leg is, i can cut 2 pieces and then i only need to sew and serge the inside pant legs and crotch areas. this probably only makes sense to me in the garbled way i wrote this, but probably everyone else already knows this anyway!

15. pillowcase princess

2009-12-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

i like alliteration. can you tell? happy monday!

i found a pillowcase a while back with cute fabric at ...the dollar store. it was destined to become a cute shirt for me. so here it is

i sewed a thin bit of elastic into the sleeve so that it looks gathered part way down and then "fluted"* out. i think the sleeves remind me of princess gowns i loved when i was a little girl! (like this sort of thing)

i also elasticised the neckline, which made it really sweet. i would have done more, but that was the extent of the pillowcase's fabric. i had 2 tiny triangles of fabric left. i thought maybe i might do something about the bustline as it is a little shapeless right now, but then i found it really loose and is probably easy to breastfeed in (which seems to be a priority with me!), so perhaps no more fussying around ???

i was going to wear it to my husband's work christmas dinner friday night with the brown skirt in the photos, but i chickened out last minute. i don't know...does it look really terribly like i made it out of a pillowcase?

sorry about the muddy pics. i got desperate and gave my 5 year old the camera. i know i'm a terrible model, too! sorry!

*no idea if these are correct sewing terms or not

can we take a moment...?

2009-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

to appreciate this wonderful book i recently discovered, debbie bliss' simply baby?

seeing as it was published in 2006, i am sure most people in the crafting world are already familiar with it, but i am slow so i just found it. indulge me a bit. ugh, i love the pictures in this so much! it is simply beautiful. here, if you haven't already, take a gander:

look at this cute frock this baby is wearing under that adorable bolero/shrug! eek!

and how about these skirts and those two-toned socks? i might have to make those socks

aren't the babies' knit things gorgeous? and look at the room they're in! white floor boards and cloth-covered cushions in the most delightful fabrics! sooo pretty. i think this is close to dream room for me, complete with sweet baby crawling around in it. i want i want i want!

i fully realize there were a lot of exclamation marks in this post. that is seriously how ecstatic i am with this book. i want to make everything in it. unfortunately, i think some of the projects are made on debbie bliss cashmerino fingering weight yarn with like 3.25 mm needles. ouch.

and just in time to help with the holiday sewing, guess what decided to show up?

again, i realize i am a little slower than the rest of the crafting world, but hey, i think it's my first sewing book ever (that i own), so i am fairly excited!

14. blue teaflower pajama pants

2009-11-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

a new pair of fall pajama pants for baby girl!

even though i'd love to dress isla in skirts and dresses forever, as the temperature here continues to plummet, i thought i would sort of face reality and start making her a fall/winter wardrobe. so my first project i thought should be a simple pair of pants with an elastic waist. a pair of jammie bottoms meant to be worn at home so nothing that requires any impressive skills.

this was a trial pair to kind of test things out since i've never made pants before (not counting a pair of shorts i made in high school home ec class, which i have not even vague memories of the process). i didn't want to use the most expensive fabric for this since the likelihood of messing up was high. so i used this fabric, which my mom gave me. it's probably vintage, but at least it cost me nothing. it's a soft flannel-like fabric which i think is perfect for pajamas.

so, the details of how to make them, if anyone is interested (ha! me giving out sewing instructions; that's a hoot! but i tried it out and it worked, so maybe it'll work for someone else who's on the newbie-sew-er trail like me. care to join in, anyone?):

1. pick a pair of pants you like or that fits baby well to use as a template, and cut around it, leaving space for seam allowance. i like baby pants sort of wide-legged, so i cut the fabric quite wide (extra 1 inch). make sure to also leave extra 1-2 inches or more lengthwise for elastic casing, bottom hemming, and if you want pants extra long, etc

2. cut another 3 pieces same as above. one key thing for baby pants, i think, is making the bum area extra big to allow for diapers (i think there is a difference between front and back pieces for normal pants, but i think baby pants are rather forgiving in that nobody notices things like this. so...)

3. serge together all 4 pieces, using your existing pants as a guide. make casing for elastic (measure baby's waist/tummy for this), insert elastic, close up casing. also, hem up bottom of legs and that's it!

if those instructions make no sense at all, then please let me know. i don't try to pretend i know what i'm talking about when it comes to sewing.

13. cotton candy and chocolate bark legwarmies

2009-11-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

i finally finished this pair of legwarmies for baby isla! i know the images only show one, and not a pair, but i couldn't wait to post about this and isla is already asleep. also, it's late and i can't get good lighting at night for pictures, so i'm using pictures i took when the first legwarmie was done ...(at which time i was apparently so excited to try it on isla i didn't even care that she had a stripey pair of pants on that totally clashed with the stripes on the legwarmie). and sorry for the blurry photos. i couldn't get her to stay still at all for this photo shoot.

now, on to more serious matters...don't the colours remind you of yummy sweets? i have this idea that if i give all of my handmade projects names that sound really yummy, i would be motivated to finish more of them just so i could post up the title. i think it might also give me an excuse to find said yummy things to incorporate into the photo shoot. i can't seem to find cotton candy at this time of year, but dark chocolate bark sure sounds like christmas fare to me! i'll have to re-do this photo shoot one of these days (when feeling less lazy and when the interminable RAIN stops!)

i used this awesome cute pattern which can be found for free (yay!) on ravelry (sorry if ravelry link doesn't work). i didn't change it much from the original pattern except to switch the main and contrast colours for the stripes. that's it!

and i say i finally finished because this took me 24 days. 24 days! i think it is supposed to fall under the "quick and easy" projects file but it took me forever because i frogged the first yarn i used (which was a bernat baby self striping one -- ahem, i was thinking to try the easy way to stripe, you know?) because i just couldn't get the gauge right. and then i've only been able to knit very very rarely these days. i can't seem to find those little pockets of time i used to find anymore, like when waiting in the car to pick up the boys from classes and such. wonder where those minutes a day have gone...hmm...

and here is isla with me knitting on the kitchen floor (dish towel fallen from sink and all) on a blanket. we're pretending we're at the beach

all about food

2009-11-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

random pictures of food i made (because the weather has been nothing but rain and that means it is hard to get good lighting for craft pictures for someone like me with minimal photography skills)

leek and potato soup...yum! i think i just love soups in general, but this is delicious. as usual, i threw in some extra veggies such as carrots because who doesn't love a bit of orange color? and it's a great sneakable-extra-veggies kind of soup because you blend it
chinese salted prawns with five spices, i think. i only remember it being super finger-licking yummy. i even skipped 2 of the 5 spices called for in the recipe because i didn't have them, and it was still sublime. and look, there's someone waiting to eat!
homemade (as in baked in oven) tortilla chips and guacamole. i love avocado and will use any excuse to eat it. i hope it's not bad for me (please say it's not)
aromatic steamed tilapia with green onion and ginger. ate with some rice and other small dishes. oh gosh, thinking about the smell of this makes me salivate. the boys always fight over the squishy eyes (too much info?) even though there are two of them!

i really ought to just make some table runners or place mats or something for the dining table just so i have an excuse to post up more pictures of food...hmm...thinkable

just finishing up some crafting, so those will be coming soon! i've been knitting a bit, on fingering weight yarn, too, of all things, so the going is soooo slow. but i can't wait to finish up a super cute little knitting project. yeay!

12. for my mama

2009-11-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

aka green project 4

an oven mitt i made (a bit over) a month ago for my mom's birthday. eep! am i that far behind with posting? no, wait...i did not want to post this because that would have ruined the surprise for her. yes, that's right...

i quilted a layer of batting in between the front and back fabrics, twice, and then sewed the two quilted pieces together. that was basically it. i skipped embellishing with binding and adding a little loop to hang it because i got impatient with it
if you look closely, you can read "i love ma" in the quilting. i couldn't fit "mama"

for the inside, i used the green fabric from here

overall, i would say that this project was not well executed. i traced an oven i had and over-sized it a bit for seam allowance and because i think the bigger the better, when dealing with hot pots. however, i forgot that i should have left a bit more space between the thumb part and the hand part. ??? you can tell that the sewing looks a little uncomfortably gathered there.

i also gimped up the overall shape of the mitt a little, but it's hard to tell from the pictures. i probably should have thought it through and followed a pattern or something, but as usual i just went ahead and did it on a whim, so i could make it harder for myself and glean a lesson from it. yeah, that's just how i roll...

in retrospect, i could've followed a tutorial like the one at skip to my lou

ahh! hers looks so much better than mine! hope my mom doesn't see that. i'll have to go and make something better for my mommy to make up for this. luckily i never said everything posted on this blog would be a success. i think it might be important to document the failures as well sometimes... in case we need to refer back to them for notes? (i'm gonna keep telling myself that)

11. bib-bity bobbity boo!

2009-11-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

bibbity...apron bibs! whipped up 2 new bibs for my incessantly drooling baby girl. this is the front view...upside downish...

the back view:

straps are crossed (and sewn in) because i hate bibs that tie/button/velcro/close in any way around the neck. i'm just picky like that. i call these apron bibs because they look like tiny aprons, don't they? here is isla modelling

boo! ...happy (belated) halloween! the red and gold gryffindor scarves i alluded to earlier were the finishing touches to these harry potter costumes

knees and toes are demonstrating their skills with the wand here

i loved that they were sort of a necessary accessory to the costume, but that they also did a great job of keeping my boys' necks warm. nothing like a practical costume! although the skies were clear this halloween night, we have learned to bundle up because it is bitingly cold around this time of year most evenings here in the pacific northwest. i made the robes roomy enough to accommodate a few layers of hoodies underneath, too. it worked out really well.

(edited to say: there is no bobbity, i forgot to say)

10. sunshine daisy tawashi

2009-10-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

...(or maybe it's a sunflower? or a black-eyed susan?)

...i love crochet! i've forgotten how fast it is. i made this tawashi (minus interruptions) in about 20 minutes. and i love it! note the exclamation marks. i'm really gushing over little zakka-esque projects like this that are useful, practical, fun and easy to make, and, most of all, soooo cute. it's hard to believe i will be immersing this into a sink full of dirty dishes soon.

...i actually made 2, thinking i would stitch them together for a thicker scrubbie, but when i held them together, it almost felt too thick...

...i was hemming and hawing about this when isla grabbed it out of my hand and decided for me

...it will be her new teething toy for a while until i can wrangle it out of her little fingers...(oh, well...the dishes can wait)

...craftzine has a cute tawashi tutorial, too

...a few more details on yarns used etc on my ravelry

edit: apparently my ravelry link doesn't work and blogger won't let me fix it. sorry!

9. simple drawstring bag, green project 3

2009-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

just a cute little patchwork drawstring pouch to keep an extra set of clothes at school for my kindergartner, kobe toes. i made this a couple of weeks ago, but never got around to posting it. unfortunately with life as crazy as it is, i will always be playing catch up like this.

i did not use any new fabric for this. it is made almost entirely out of strips of fabric trimmed off from the green quilt project. and of course, the green duvet cover was used as well, hence the name of this post. it was a great way to use up scraps in my ever-growing "stash of scraps" for something that will be well-utilized

8. work-in-progress

2009-10-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

:::there's something undescribeable about the chilly fall air that always makes me want to cast on for some knitting. something calming about those needles, working some fibres back and forth, loop-de-loop, back and forth...the steady melody of those needles that, all the while, are magically transforming the yarn into something to keep a loved one warm. how lovely is that?

:::this season, knitting will be even lovelier because my wonderful mom brought me a bunch of her vintage (as in kept forever!) yarns and needles and crochet hooks (she knows i'm looking for ways to satisfy my nesting urges these days)

:::i loove love these wooden needles that she made (so many years ago now) by sharpening the ends of chopsticks. i actually remember watching her do this! the chopstick needles are super chubby so they knit things up fast, and they're also non-slip, which is a huge bonus for clumsy knitters like me who tend to accidentally drop stitches when using slippery metal needles

:::any guesses as to what this might be? 5 points for your house if you get it right

:::halloween is a comin', so i need to get these babies knit up fast! i have to do 2, one for each "boy who lived". will post finished product along with other costume tidbits closer to hallow's eve, or whenever i get them finished

6. and 7. more baby girl dresses

2009-10-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

:::after the success of project number 5, i couldn't stop myself from making more of these cute ruffled sleeve dresses

::this one is for a friend's one month old baby. a bit hard to see, but it's actually blue gingham. i loved how this really lightweight fabric turned out, and now i'm itching to make another one for isla in this fabric

:::this is another pink one for isla

5. a little bit of pink

2009-10-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

:::made a sweet little dress for isla. i am sooo in love with it! it was not hard to make, and there's nothing i like more than a simple tutorial that yields awesome results!

:::i used elastic around the chest and on the straps, so hopefully she can wear this next summer as a shirt. right now, it is getting a bit too chilly for strappy dresses, so i put a white onesie on her underneath the dress, and that works great, too!

:::i followed this great tutorial, decreasing the measurements to fit isla, who, as a 3 month old, is significantly smaller than a 5 year old (which is the sizing of the original tutorial). i did keep the length somewhat long to allow for a dress that will become a shirt later (frugal thinking)

3. and 4. more back to school stuff

2009-09-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

:::i have been a machine with the back to school crafting. i have completed this fabric reusable snack pouch

:::and this sandwich wrap using betz white's sewing green book

:::i repurposed an old nylon lunch bag that was unused (just taking up room in my kitchen) to line the inside of both. Sewing Green actually says to use PUL, but i read somewhere that it isn't foodsafe, plus i don't have any lying around. so...lunchbag nylon has got to be foodsafe, right?

:::boring notes again:

1. the snack pouch was a simple rectangle folded in half and closed with velcro. this was so fun and easy, i might make more...as soon as i find some more foodsafe nylon to repurpose.

2. i changed the orientation of the velcro on the sandwich wrapper from vertical to horizontal so that the wrapper can accommodate slightly bigger sandwiches

2. kidlet aka Green Project 2

2009-09-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

:::a few days ago i made this kidlet, with instructions from jcasa handmade

:::i am trying to craft mostly back to school stuff this month (before getting ready for halloween), so why this kidlet? ahhhh...it counts as back-to-school crafting because i am planning to use it to store all those notices we get from school. permission slips and little notes can go in the cute patchwork front pocket, and i think i will print out a school year calendar to throw in there, so we can jot down important dates way in advance (our large family wall calendar only has two months viewability at a time, and that is not helpful for planning things for christmas time when it is only september ...and yes, we do need to plan ahead like that sometimes). now i'm just wondering if i should make more of these. they are so cute!

:::thank goodness for the internet! what would i do without tutorials from fellow crafters who possess a lot more know-how than i?

:::some boring notes about the construction of this kidlet that would only appeal to me:

1. i used the green ikea fabric to line the inside as well as make the handle, but for the handle i accidentally flipped the fabric the wrong side out when sewing. serendipity! i thought it looked kind of nice, so i left it. in fact, i think i might do that once in a while with further green projects

2. i made a handle instead of following instructions to use the nylon knit stuff (or whatever that stuff is called), and i also made the handle a bit longer. not sure if that was a good idea yet

3. originally, i thought i would put a clipboard with the calendar and a sheet for important phone numbers in the kidlet, but then i read the instructions and realized with a finished height of 9", it wouldn't be quite tall enough for the clipboard, so that's a bummer. i think i could change the height in future, but this brain of mine is too tired right now

4. i made the patchwork pocket too wide, but i couldn't bear to cut it up!

5. i did not topstitch the "lip" of the bag when i was done flipping the bag the right way out because i just love how the inner green lining material kind of "poofs" out (i'm not much for proper sewing terms, am i?)

progress report

2009-09-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

::: i am almost finished the green quilt. i know i've been saying that for a while already, but i am really so so close right now. i just need to make the binding and then sew it on. heather bailey has a nice tutorial on binding a quilt, which i really ought to read. i a m s o l a z y

:::the quilt is so huge, it overwhelms my tiny sewing machine. it looks so funny mid-sewing, like it's trapped in a green avalanche of fabric :::poor thing. until i get a long-armed quilting machine, i will work that little sewing machine that could

Green Project 1

2009-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

:::i have been cutting up an old duvet/comforter/quilt cover (whatever do you call these things?) for the backing of the green quilt. hello, i think everyone either has or has seen this ikea green quiltcover!

:::it has become like the most ubiquitous bed covering ever. and i don't really like it. i don't know why we bought it to begin with. anyway, i was tired of washing the duvet cover and re-covering the duvet (i seriously hate that job of all laundry jobs -- does anyone like this job? i am accepting applicants), and that was the reason i thought i should make a quilt to begin with. what better usage of a soon-to-be-useless duvet cover than for it to become the backing of the quilt, right?

:::so, i was thinking, since there is a ton of material left still, that i could use it for other sewing projects, and i could keep track of all the things i make out of that one duvet cover as a sort of portfolio. let's see how many ways i can stretch that little bit of ikea goodness. i will name it "the green project", and it is green, in more ways than one! ha! that was not so clever or original, but at least it is true.

:::obviously, (the backing of) this green quilt here is Green Project number 1! more to come

some cleek powder to tie us over

2009-09-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

:::i was planning on making leek and potato soup on tuesday, but ended up adding clams, and then some yellow squash, ...and then some zucchini. and carrots. i ended up with this

:::a sort of clam-leek and potato chowder...cleek powder...(yes, i threw in some fusilli pasta last minute, too -- at that point i thought i might as well make a 4-food-groups-one-pot kind of meal)

:::anyway, just some food porn to buy some time because i still have not finished the green quilt! i can't believe i'm so slow and stuck on project number 1!

:::okay, progress report time:

:::this is a picture of the backing, or part of it. can you guess what it is? this was taken a few days ago. i haven't taken photos of further progress yet (yes, there is a little further progress)

:::well, off to bed i go (still without a new quilt...boo hoo)

1. green autumn quilt

2009-09-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

:::my attempt to complete 52 projects in one year begins...

:::first up is actually a large "queen" sized quilt for my son reece aka knees (the sizing may be a bit off as i am repurposing an old blanket as batting). this was originally started as a birthday gift in the summer, but i used up all of my energy planning and preparing for (and throwing) two birthday bashes...in addition to having our new baby girl, so...well, now it seems appropriate as a gift for a cooler season. so far, it looks like this

:::it's a very simple quilt made with 9 inch squares. the backing is what is taking me so very long!! (you'll see why soon)

:::ps, don't know why i can't seem to take pictures of quilts without my daughter's feet!