
























We got some rainy, cold, wet, blustery, dark weather this past weekend. Finally, our winter arrived. As did yet another cold for me. I have been sick about three times so far this winter. More than I can ever remember. Oh well. Lots of cloudy, cold afternoons and knitting for mama. Not too bad. :)
Thank you very, very much for all of the Maggie orders!!! Stacey has been shipping every day and we are all caught up now, so that's always a good feeling. A few of the colors have sold out but many are still left. The most common question I get asked about my animals is whether they are suitable for beginners to make. And my answer to that is always pretty much the same — they are not specifically designed for beginners, but everything you need, including illustrated stitching instructions and step-by-step process photos are included in the pattern. I have received several emails over the years from people who have never made anything before who have successfully made Maggie Rabbit and her cousins. Isn't that amazing? I think that's amazing and so cool. My advice — about everything crafty — is always this: Pick the project you love, and the best materials you can afford. Don't worry about whether it's too "hard" for you; if you love it, you will be motivated to learn it, and a little practice and patience goes a long, long way. Let yourself enjoy the process and don't get hung up on whether it is "right" or "perfect." Let it reflect where you are right now, and let that be enough. Working with beautiful, high-quality materials can be so pleasurable in itself. They can often motivate you to try a bit harder, and stick with it a bit longer, and I'm fairly certain you'll always be glad for it.
Andy's been hanging out with Amelia in the mornings and I've been able to do some serious power sewing while we wait for the rest of the fabric and floss comes in to make all the new kits. My girlie needed some pretty spring dresses and I must oblige! These new dresses hanging up are all made from vintage patterns. And, shoot, speaking of things not right or perfect, my zipper installation is just tragic. Always uneven. I must work on this because I think I can do better. Vintage patterns often call for zippers. I don't think they get used as much in contemporary patterns, but maybe I'm wrong. The zippers themselves are disgusting. Why do they make them out of the stiffest, grossest material? Am I missing the place where they keep the nice, comfortable cotton zippers or something? Are those the invisible zippers (no pun even intended, seriously)? Help. Zippers make getting a toddler dressed very easy, but I want them to be less uncomfortable, especially when paired with nice, soft, floaty fabrics.
The Liberty dress with the pockets (with the flowers in them) is from Simplicity 8940, circa 1970. Skirt is not very full. This one is a size 3 and its a little bit big on her. The fabric is Liberty Tana Lawn in Katie and Millie (D). I love this shape on her.
The dusty pink pinafore is, again, from Butterick 9315, circa 1960 (and the under-dress I showed and talked about here). I made the pinafore out of really pretty cotton lawn dotted Swiss from Mill End Store. The skirt is so full, which I love. And you need that 3" hem for everything to just hang right. In fact, all of the little dresses I've been making have a 3" hem, and I absolutely love those wide hems. They really make a difference. I wish I hadn't top-stitched the bodice because it really shows. Ah, well. I might take that out, and slip-stitch the lining. That would have been the right way to do it. I was just being lazy.
The green dress is made from Simplicity pattern 6066, circa 1965. Ohhhh, I love this dress. It has darts. Darts! And again, just the fullest skirt ever. The fabric is Amy Butler's Windflower in Zest from the Glow Voile collection. I got it at Fabric Depot. Note tragically uneven zipper. Wah. She wore this dress yesterday and seemed to really like it!
(The light blue dress she's wearing I talked about here; her groovy green and blue smock she is wearing here but I don't seem to be able to find an original post for it from when I made it.)
My hexagons: Sheesh. Fingers destroyed. But pillow cushion cover DONE. I'll tell you more about this when I take its "finished" picture. Before I even finished I proclaimed that no one besides me is allowed to even touch this pillow. I never feel this way about stuff but seriously, if I see this pillow tossed casually on the floor instead of placed in its heralded position on the chaise lounge I will immediately begin shrieking like a banshee. Do you know how to make hexagons? I can't figure out if I ever talked about these particular hexagons, pictured, which I started sometime last year. But I did make some once before here. I will not be doing them again for quite some time. But I LOVE MY PILLOW COVER. I've been very indulgent, making things for myself lately.
We had a little St. Patrick's Day party last week and Andy made corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. I love him. He's the most Irish person I know who's not actually Irish. I also made a broccoli quiche last week using the Enchanted Broccoli Forest formula. I've been making this since college and it's always so nice. I use a Pillsbury refrigerator crust. Easy, fast dinner.
***Susie made an Irish apple cake with custard sauce and it was incredible!!!