Back to the Gym!

A few weeks ago Bridget and Jenny decided to make a back-pack in one of my classes at The Grove. Although the pattern was called "Gym Junk" from Vanilla House, they decided to use their packs for lots of other things and create something that was uniquely theirs!

The pattern was supper easy, including the grommet setting technique used to run the shoulder cords through. Jenny chose a great fabric combination from Robert Kaufman called Mingle Espresso and Mingle Cocoa (don't you just love these names?). Very contemporary styling!

While Bridget used one of my newest fabrics celebrating the "Day of the Dead" (very timely), with fabric from Alexander Henry called Calaveras and a pocket of pretty pink leaves from Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection called Lindy Leaf.

Congrats!
on a job well done
in
barely a blink of the eye!

Dresses and Flowers in Bloom

Well it's just around the corner and every store window has an array bunnies, fanciful eggs, colorful flowers and Easter baskets. Unless of course you go to the Mall and there you'll see the latest in Spring apparel in pastels or brights!

Since my daughter and grand daughter are way beyond the age for "Easter Dresses", I took my size 5, little girl's dress form and dressed "her" instead. You can take the "little girls" out of the picture, but this Mama still has the urge to sew an Easter Dress!

I challenged myself to see how many fabrics I could work into the dress and it look intentional. Some mix of prints, just looks like anything goes and I tried to avoid that! I used a cute pattern by Portabellopixie called "Claire". It's by pattern and fabric designer Sandi Henderson - who does an excellent job of explaining how to put the dress together. Her pattern guide sheets are little booklets in full color with beautifully clear illustrations. One of the best guide sheets I've seen!

The bodice is made from a Robert Kaufman fabric "Summer Chirp". Can't seem to get away from that cute fabric. Much to my surprise....it was featured in California Apparel News this week as part of the new " Animal Planet Prints" being used by designers for next season! It was accompanied by prints of peacock feathers, lady bugs, butterflys, dolphins and of course leopard and lizard textures! According to CAN the look is "wild at heart"!

Hope you like the dress!

Another colorful mix of different colors continues to pop out in my front yard....


Enjoy my comical snail on guard for bunny rabbits and all things furry!