hot stuff!

Hopefully you remember my chef attire I made a few years back.  They get lots of use, even played the role of a last minute Halloween costume.  Well, they normally get used in the real kitchen, but the kiddoes also have a play kitchen, and I felt they could use a pair of these:

They're extremely simple to make, other than how bulky they are.  Making a tiny little thumb out of material that thick was annoying.  I lined it in a white towel I bought at Walmart, which was super cheap, and then sewed a diagonal checked pattern before stitching it together.

However, they are dearly loved (Bugaboo hovered over me the entire time I was taking the photos, waiting for them back).  Plus the fabric is adorable!  I may or may not have bought enough for me to make an apron for myself out of it.  Photos to follow if that ever happens.

The technique needs a bit of perfecting, but they do the job.  Now my little chefs' fingers will be safe from imaginary burns.

PS - I have just noticed that I have not actually said what those are.  They're an oven mitt and a little potholder, just in case it's not obvious.

bow-tie lepidoptery

These are what I've been sewing up for fun lately.

Cute eh?  Little shadowboxes full of bow-ties. Or just bows, I guess; the 'tie' is optional.  And since I had my very fist fancy schmancy business fair to trot them off to (very small scale, but still lovely), I got to try my hand at a little lepidoptery. 

Now, I had meant to get a nice photo or two of the display I had set up, but to be honest, I was a little frazzled that day, and it just didn't happen.  Hopefully I will remedy this next time I get to go out among people and show off my wares.

Bugaboo is the kind of kid who wears ties, often of his own volition, sometime for no reason at all.  He's really big on costumes and accessories.  He wore his tie the whole morning (of the business-fair thing).  He even snatched a cape from my display to pair with it (he's cuter than my mannequin anyways).  He looked a bit like a tiny magician; perhaps I need to look into top hats.

Bow Ties!  A whole happy pile of 'em.  Now, however, I do have some actual work to do (took the week off for visitors, now it's time to play catch-up).

Oh, one final note from the business fair; my 'Wandering Seamstress' Geocache is hidden in my display.  It was spotted by one cacher, whether or not it gets logged...  I'll give a heads up next time she's out and about, ready to be found, until then you can check her out at the geocaching website, with TB46K8T for a reference code.

Toodles!

oh so fancy

I'm extremely excited to be sporting my new logo!  Isn't it marvelous?  Many many thanks to Vanessa of Sea Salt Design!

bluebells and bucket hats

While this past Mother's Day weekend it rained (Happy Mother's Day!), for the last week or so it has been simply glorious around here.  We're talking summer weather in May!  So we have been outside as much as we can stand it.  Now, I burn to a crisp in no time at all, but the kids seem to take more after their Daddy and have more resistance.  Either way though, we're rocking the sunscreen, cover-ups, shade tents and most importantly, hats.  I have to say I'm fortunate that both my kidlets are good hat wearers.  Bugaboo is big into fedoras right now (he calls them his 'orra-fedoras', no clue why).  My little bean still lets me choose what she wears, so she's been sporting this little number.

I love it; it puts me in mind of a little bluebell.

It's simple enough, so I've started making a few of my own.

I'm tempted to add a little green stem on top, but I haven't given it a try yet.

I've had a friend mention she really likes the style and if I could find a way to tone down the girly-ness, she's love to see some for boys, but while I'm still working on that, I've stuck to good old fashioned bucket hats for the little lads.

Fun stuff!  If I do get some good results out of my schemes and alterations, I'll be sure to update!

super-duper

Now this has been a fun little thing I've been working with of late.  Appliques!  Well, probably not by-the-book ones, but I'm loving throwing a little character or image on a project.  It started with flags.

 

  I wanted to make something for Bugaboo's snow-forts we built this winter (and because flags are fun).  While I was at it, I made a few extras.  They weren't perfect, but I really loved how they turned out (considering I really had no clue what I was doing).

This one for my little Bean,

and this one for Bugaboo.

Well, then I had a birthday gift to make for one of Bugaboo's friends.  I figured something 'super-hero' would be good.  I had wanted to try finger puppets, but I didn't have any felt on hand and they weren't starting out the way a wanted, so they evolved into bean-bags.

I loved making them, and giving them too!  Bean bags are a lot of fun.

And then I had another birthday boy, so I tried it again.  It was a little harder to pick something for this little guy (he's only 2, so not as obvious what he likes).  I was thinking cars or trucks or some-such, but I wasn't really feeling it.  They seemed a little boring.  I'm not much of a car person, but I do have one love in the automobile world; Super cars.  Bright, colourful, fast, fancy, oh yeah.  So I picked my five favorites, (a shiny penny to anyone who can tell what they are):

 

That would be a Caterham, a Shelby Cobra, a Koenigsegg, a Veyron and a Zonda (do I owe anyone?).  I've also been working on some animals, but a unique selection isn't so easy to come up with.  Any suggestions?

My method is simple.  I draw what I want.  Then I stick heat-bond onto the different colours of material I'll be using.  I transfer my drawing over to the material (or just re-draw it), and cut out all the fiddly bits.  I iron it onto my main fabric, and then I just have to sew along all the seams.  Actually, the sewing is the hard part.  Especially with anything that has a nice even curve to it (like wheels), or teensy-tiny bits.  However, I'm getting better at that, and I'm loving the outcome!

Tadaa!

daydream adventure gear

Tadaa!

Introducing 'Daydream Adventure Gear' (like my logo?).  I've decided to start selling some of the things I sew, and here's the official launch!  Although, consider this more of a soft opening, with a grand opening to follow (once I get  sorted; I'm new at this).  So, while I have seventeen and a hundred plans and designs floating around my head, I don't have a precise inventory so to speak.  However, within the next week or so, I hope to be a bit more streamlined.  However, I get ahead of myself.

What is Daydream Adventure Gear?

Well, it's a collection of uniquely designed hand crafted children's items.  The key element behind all of the pieces, whether they be clothes, toys or accessories, is that it must be something simple, that can lend itself to a child's imagination rather than taking over and limiting their creativity (um, although, the clothes are really just clothes, but they're clothes that I designed!). My fancy-schmancy mission statement is: "To create high quality hand crafted children’s products that appeal to both children and adults because of their simplicity and uniqueness of design, which inspire, not confine creativity, to make imaginative play limitless."  Basically, we're talking about the opposite of video games and electronic toys that govern the play.  Something a little more old-school.

I already have some lovely new items all sewn up, ready to be photographed, so off I go.  New news soon!

a rainbow in my knitting bag

Just a quick post this week, so much to do.  This upcoming week is sure to be a big one, but more on that next time.

Sewing has taken up most of my crafty time lately, but I have been chipping away at my largest knitting project yet in my down time.

It`s certainly a colourful one, isn`t it.  I`m attempting the hue shift afghan from knitpicks, and I must say, as a person who has sworn to never again knit a baby blanket, I`m really enjoying it!  You see, it`s divided into little squares (what with it being an afghan and all), but it seems so much less tedious for it.  Instead of working away for an evening and having no real difference to show for it, you have one more happy little square.  I also love how you pick up the stitches at the beginning of each square, so I`m knitting right onto the main thing, not ending up with a hundred tiny squares to sew together (tying in the ends is another matter, but I`m no where near that yet).

So right now, this is my happy-for-me project, feel free to check it out on my ravelry.