Making a Dress for Me

I havent forgotten about you, my dear blog.

You are always on my mind.

We have been super busy and even snuck in a vacation!!

But Im back and have so so so much to share.

But to start slow, 

I wanted to show you this dress i have been working on.

It will be perfect for summer, if it ever decides to show! 

I post a fashion pic once its all finished and i can wear it in the garden!!

Idle no More

The girls and I have been talking lots about native history and the Idle No More movement lately.
They have strong native roots and as such I try very hard to keep them grounded in their heritage.
We happened upon a protest/gathering  the other day and the girls questioned me as to why we weren't there.

I said I wasn't too sure why we weren't and parked the car.
We heard wonderful speeches and some not so wonderful stories about the struggles and life of many people in Canada.
We watched dancing and drumming.
And I think the peace pipe ceremony was the neatest thing to partake in.

There was so much love and dedication.
 I felt happy to be able to show my support.
(Although I have so many things to say on this subject, I choose to not go into details as I want to leave this blog simple and light.)

The girls were also very intrigued with the beautiful button blankets they saw.
We have decided to take on making one for each of them.
That will be a wonderful project to do together.

Freezer Paper Stencil Tshirts

The girls found and traced images they like online.
Cutting them out was a bit difficult, so I helped but the process itself is easy for any kid.

Iron on the stencils.

Then spray with mildly diluted bleach solution.

I let them dry overnight, dripping into the laundry room sink to save any bleach mess.

The kids loved peeling the stencil off to reveal their creation.
I can see this being a repeated craft.

Foot Wear

 I've been wondering where all my photos have been going.
I realized that I have been using my iPhone so much that my Nikon gets left in the dust except for the rare big occasion.
I spent sometime today going through all my phone photos, most of which I use for instagram, and figured I better blog a few to catch up.

 Then I noticed a bit of a pattern.
My footwear.
Now anyone who has known me for any amount of time knows my love of shoes.
This shows me that I still have that passion, and I have to say I  think I passed it onto my girls.

Cheater Scarf

I can't knit.
I've tried and it's just not my thing, probably because it takes forever to get anything done.
I like projects that are quick and productive.
Being a task orientated type of gal this scarf is a perfect blend of easy and quick I look for, so I can get to the next thing I want to do.

I took some yarn that the kids picked out and cut it t=into strips.
I laid the strips out side by side and ran the sewing machine over it, back and forth.
The look is an effective one but next time I will do some twists and add some beads I think, for a little pizazz!

Any-who, the kids love it and I got to us some fancy fun yarn for a change.

Spring Skirt

I love that I have so much fabric on hand, (that's only because I have a heavy fabric habit and can't leave the fabric store without something to add to the stock.)
E asked for a new spring skirt and picked out this beautifully bright fabric, perfect spring colour I thought.

I love even more that I can sew these skirts in under 10 minutes.

Happy Spring Sewing!!

Bleaching T-Shirts

 I brought this crafty idea to brownies and, with 17 girls, we made bleach resist shirts.
We put on stickers and freezer paper stencils, then sprayed bleach on.
Within 10 minutes the girls could pull off the stickers and then "colour" in with fabric paint pens.

I can see us doing this quite often, for ourselves or for gifts.
I had the clorox bleach pens too but they were forgotten so I am eager to try those out.

Wish I Could Knit

I am pretty good at most things I out my mind to but knitting is not one of them.
I am so in love with this sweater, yet I cannot even imagine where to begin.
I have looked online etc. but to no avail.
So I thought I would just put this out in the blog-o-sphere to share.

Winter Wear

I just had to tell you about these.

Ironically it hasn't even been that cold or snowed yet but I am all ready for when it does.

Is it bad that I wanted this so bad I just went out and got them?

Air-blaster Ninja suit Or as my hubby likes to refer to them as....the death of his sex life. 

He says it might as well have a big fat NO written right across the front...Hahaha!!!

He asked if they came in chantilly lace possibly??

It is quite possibly the single most comfortable piece of clothing I have ever owned.

I live for comfort especially when I am sleeping!!!

These boots have been so amazing, even if I haven't had to use them in snow yet!!
I have been in love with Merell since they first started making shoes, slip ons actually and I always trust the fit and the durability.

Hat off to Ya!

 E thought that decorating a hat was the best thing ever.
It turned out to be a real creative avenue for her.
We will probably have to dry it for a week with all the paint she put on it.
This will be worn with pride.

Re-Cycling Bike Tubes.... to Make Purses!!

I am so excited to show you this.

I saw someones messenger bag... made from bike tubes.
                                         I freaked at the potentials!!

Lucky for me old friend of mine owns a bike store.
He willingly gave me a huge box of blown tubes destined for the trash.

I see a whole lot of rubber projects in my future!!

First I cut them open and cut out the valve stem.

I washed and rinsed a few to get the white smelly powder off, 

Then hung them on the line to dry off.

(The smell is almost all gone.)

                       I took a tube and cut it into 3 pieces and just started sewing.

I had no real plan but knew that something would take shape once I started sewing.
After a couple broken needles testing out how thick I could go, I got a good grasp on it.

                                               I decided I would sew a simple clutch first.
                     Something I could use right away and a project to showcase the potentials!!

                                             I am so happy and bursting with ideas!! 
                                       This is the start of a long love affair with re-using rubber.

 This clutch has a simple pocket inside for little extras that I always seem to tote around.

                                    This proves that recycling can definitely be feminine too!!

Finger Knitted Toque

When I showed the neighbor boys how to finger knit, the first thing they asked was what they can make with it.

Off the top of my head I came up with a few suggestions although I had never actually made any of them before.

So to my surprise 3 days later one of them came over with 25 feet of knitted yarn and asked me to help him make it into a hat.

OK so I had to ask like I knew what I was doing and this is what I did.

First I measured the size on his head by wrapping it around.

Then I grabbed a huge needle and threaded some of the yarn and started sewing away, loop and loop.

And half an hour and a few fittings later.....

A very happy little man and his cool new toque.

Now he is going to start a scarf to match.

Pretty neat for a 13 year old boy.

I think I know what I am going to do with some yarn I just bought the other day.

I admit I was surprised but it is actually quite simple and well sewn, will last for a long time.

He says he is going to make these for gifts for his family.

I am proud.

Ah Ha!! Another Grand Day

Still finding new tasty ways to use up this years apples.
A quick free form apple tart with,... get this.......chunks of those little caramels thrown in.
OMG...yes a definite winner.

Another round of a not so new use for apples but a staple non the less, dehydrated.

Today we had a great time making some tit dyes shirts.
Our neighbour wants to be a hippie for Halloween and had a vision for a certain shirt.
After some 25 minutes we managed to have 2 pretty groovy shirts.
Really it is quite a simple task when well organized.
Great results for a great costume.


And one for his mom as well.

Sew Busy...Thanks to this Weather

Sweet peas are so intoxicatingly sweet smelling and perfect to look at.
My nightstand is complete with this humble bouquet.

My heart is so full today as K brought home from school a pendant and necklace she made for me, "because I know you love diamonds and you deserve them."
Wow she is thoughtful.... and resourceful.
The worlds most perfect diamond, don't you agree?


Onto the sewing frenzy that occurred today. Some days are just lucky that way.

Transforming something into a cute dress or skirt is so fun and simple, I cannot resist doing it.

I love to find a pretty fabric and make it into something fun for both my girls.

Sometimes I think I need 100 girls as the drawers around here are getting quite full.

But doesn't every girl deserve lots of pretty clothes?

This cashmere sweater is definitely pretty but for some reason I could never wear it.

So I made a pair of leg warmers for K to cozy into to.......

And a pillow for E to cuddle with. Nice and soft.

This skirt, in E's favorite color, was a fun fabric I knew would make a great dress.

And it did.

Too bad they were both in bed when I finished them.

It'll be a nice surprise for the morning.

K loves bright bold fabrics and this one was her pick. What a great choice.

And now it's a great dress.

Boy I wish my mother would have sewn for me.

Then there is this retro dress in a fabric I cannot identify.

E now has a fabulous new dress.

She was not into posing at all, so this was the best I could get from her.

K got a terrific twirly skirt.

Yet another skirt, this one is for an up coming photo shoot.

But K put dibs on it for afterwards.

I have been wanting to try this totally cute and basic pattern for a ribbon belt I saw online somewhere. And today was the day.

So fun to be able to use any ribbon. E picked out this dotty pattern.

So yes today was a fruitful day sewing wise and the wardrobe got a needed face lift. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?