Sweet heart

My apron for tie one on:




The pink chambray is vintage - I've had it for over twenty-five years. The pocket fabric I found last year - pink and red polka dots placed in a circular pattern (reminds me of an atomic era print). I like polka dot prints but must confess that many of them make me dizzy - particularly black and white or navy and white.

Apron is trimmed with baby and jumbo ric rac. Here is close-up of pocket:




I had originally planned a much more elaborate applique apron with various polka dot fabrics from my stash, but time constraints dictated I go with something simple. Even so, I was scrambling to get it done on time.

More beading on sticks

Chatterbelle really likes threading beads on sticks (chenille stems). While she was busy making beaded wreaths, I played around with a doll shape - which brought back memories of making piper cleaner dolls back in the 1960's when I was a wee girl.




When Chatterbelle saw the brown haired doll I had made, she declared that it needed a friend and I helped her make the golden haired doll. The two little dolls then played together (with Chatterbelle's help of course).

Later I made this father Christmas doll.




The three have since been squirreled away into a lost corner of Chatterbelle's room. If memory serves me correctly, they are about three or four inches tall at most.

White Christmas

We had a white Christmas... at grandpa's house (not quite an hour and a half away). Snow for Christmas is rare here in the Puget Sound region. But in Chatterbelle's four year old mind, snow and Christmas go together...

We've had a busy month. We made little ornaments for everyone in Chatterbelle's playgroup...




This is a self-portrait of Chatterbelle that I scanned and printed onto cardstock then stitched onto scrapbook paper. The one in the center shows the back side. About halfway through these I switched to my teflon foot - it resulted in more even stitching. And I made extra ones for family members. Here is a close-up...




Each ornament was attached to a small bag of no-bake cookies made from good quality chocolate, coconut, pecans, and crispy rice cereal. We also made our gift tags...




It is a Christmas tree that Chatterbelle made from paper, glue, and buttons. I scanned, reduced, and printed it on cardstock.

During craft time at playgroup she discovered that she enjoyed stringing beads on pipecleaners. So we went to the store, picked out a bag of brightly colored pony beads and made these festive pipecleaner wreaths at home...




We had a winter storm earlier in the month. A few days later, Chatterbelle gathered up some fallen branches from the hemlock tree...




She brought them in the house and proceeded to remove all the needles. I gave her a large cup to store them in. It looked like we would have enough for a project. I found some cardboard and drew a design in glue. She sprinkled her needles on them...




I drew the designs on the bottom two, and she drew the two on top. These may get framed at some point.

I also did some sewing this month. Chatterbelle requested a Christmas dress for Esmeralda...




Esmeralda is a Disney doll from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie . We found her earlier this month at the thrift store. As is often the case with thrift store dolls, she was without her clothes. Since she is a gypsy girl I made her a peasant blouse and a Christmas print skirt per Chatterbelle's request.

And Christmas wouldn't be complete without Mr. and Mrs. Gnome made from Wee Wonderfuls pattern...

eyeglasses case

Glasses case
Originally uploaded by pout on a whim

I recently asked Chatterbelle what she would like to give grandma for her birthday. Her enthusiastic response was, "eyeglasses"! Since eyeglasses are a difficult item to gift, I suggested we make grandma something to store the pair she already owns in. Chatterbelle drew the design and I embroidered it on felted wool. The color didn't photograph well, it is actually wine red, not brown. The case is interfaced and lined with cotton flannel. Embroidery is done with a chain stitch using orange, yellow, and green threads. The orange trim is wool felt.

I will do another post on our collaborative projects at another time.

raining cats and dogs apron

raining cats and dogs apron
Originally uploaded by pout on a whim

The current theme for tie one on is Local Pride. It took me awhile to decide which way I wanted to go with this one, but in the end I chose a simple route and let the fabric be the focus. I'm calling my apron "raining cats and dogs in Seattle". We all know how much it rains here in Seattle.

This fabric was purchased at the thrift store last year. Compelled to buy it as it had so many of Chatterbelle's favorite things depicted on it - cats, dogs, and umbrellas! She looks forward to rainy days just so she can walk around outside under her umbrella and jump in puddles. And we have pets she helps take care of - two dogs and several cats. The contrasting yellow and white polka dot fabric was purchased on sale (end of bolt sale) sometime last year. I'm inclined to pick up small yellow prints when they are on sale since it is Chatterbelle's favorite color - always looking to add to my stash.

I used Simplicity pattern #3949. But I changed the pocket. I made a pocket in the shape of an umbrella and appliqued the handle with a satin stitch.




Thanks to Fluff for assisting me in the photo shoot. I prefer to photograph outside, but (no surprise) it's raining today. In fact it's raining cats and dogs...

Angel mini-bag

Angel mini-bag
Originally uploaded by pout on a whim

The current theme for the Purse project is to make an amulet bag.

I'm not really into good luck charms, so I chose to make a small bag that would serve as a reminder of some of the character qualities I hope to instill in my daughter. Using the scripture passage 1 Corinthians 13 as an inspiration, I made a small angel with three large pockets in her skirt. One pocket for faith, one pocket for hope, one pocket for love. Angel is made from wool felt and stitched with embroidery floss. I used a black fabricmate dye pen to draw face, shoes and dress details. Because the pockets are open on top, there should be no hindrance to sharing the faith, hope, and love stored therein.

But pockets being pockets, they needed something placed in them. I chose tokens that symbolized the character quality of each pocket. The faith pocket has some tiny mustard seeds. The hope pocket has a small cross that belonged to my mother when she was a girl. The love pocket has a heart-shaped bead.




Angel measures 3 and 5/8 inches tall and has a gold ribbon to tie around neck. The angel design is from a vintage ornament pattern (which I have since mislaid) that I modified a bit.

But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

Nature

IMG_2443a
Originally uploaded by pout on a whim

Yesterday while in the garden, Chatterbelle had an opportunity to witness nature in action. Spots (the cat) chased after, then caught, and finally ate a grasshopper. Crunch, crunch, munch, munch. No more Mr. Grasshopper.