Chatty little bird

This was for the small daughter of friends who had us over for dinner last night:


Largely BitterSweet's pattern again, with just a few modifications. Be warned: making these is addictive.

Anniversary socks begin

Another Friday, another birthday party

It's Offspring the Younger's turn to be off to a slumber party. We made the entire gift this time. It consists of a totebag:


This is made from two florals from Erin McMorris' Urban Garden line for Free Spirit and a tonal paisley from the Tiddley Winks line by Arrin Turnmire for Moda. Offspring the Younger chose these from the offerings at Bolt. All three were great fabrics to work with and this was a fun project. I intend to try it again with some modifications.

We also made this fun little guy:


He's based on the wonderfully clear free pattern at BitterSweet. We will be making many more of these, I'm sure!

Spring cleaning

Offspring the Elder spent Friday trying to pull together a gift for a friend's birthday. The present was looking a little, well, thin...and we were running short on resources. But lordy, have we got a house full o' crap. Enter this idea:



In the seventies, my dad was quite the dresser. Frye boots, velvet sport coats, Swiss ski sweaters, and leather trenches were his sort of thing. He also had a couple of cashmere turtlenecks. When he handed a yellowish one off to me and gave me carte blanche, I threw it in a big pot of water with several packets of drink mix. Thus was the softest mottled spring green felt in the world born. I love it.

Back to the story at hand: we needed to beef up a birthday gift, as well as wrap it. This seemed a reasonable solution. The pocket, which I made by using the entire turtleneck collar, has two compartments. More fun that way, I think. (And the cashmere. Oh. We just wanted to keep stroking it. Ooh, what about using this bag as a hot water bottle cover?)

Problem solved...and I have a bit more room in my sewing nook. Cool!