penny carnival

01.20.09

Happy Inauguration Day, everyone! I'm too emotional to make any sense with my own words right now, so I just wanted to highlight an excerpt from the poem read today by Elizabeth Alexander that I found particularly moving. 

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by "first do no harm," or "take no more than you need."

What if the mightiest word is love? Love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

And if you haven't already, download your set of ObamaBats here.

And icon yourself here. 

Of local interest

Hey, Spokanites--

The Top Stitch is moving to a bigger space in the Garland District. Read about it on my other blog. For the grand opening (March 1), they're putting lots of great fabric on sale (Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey, Joel Dewberry ...).

Baby bean

First, a confession.

On a few occasions here, I have waxed poetic (er, babbled on) about my concerns with the whole princess movement for young girls. J and I have only allowed a couple of princess products into the house, resulting in several friends and family members telling us we are ridiculous. 

Ridiculous or not, we don't like a lot of things about the (especially Disney) princesses. Over commercialization. Teaching young girls that they're going to grow up and be rescued by a man. The emphasis on an extravagant lifestyle.

Blah, blah, blah. I'm boring myself here. 

Anyhow, I just wanted to admit to everyone that I finally let Bo watch a princess movie. It was Aladdin. She loved it. In fact, she peed her pants twice during the movie because she was so enthralled she refused to get herself off the couch to go to the bathroom.

It was cute watching her watch it, I admit it. And I like that Jasmine got to choose whatever husband she wanted. 

OK, with that off my chest ... Just had to share a link to this darling children's clothing company I stumbled upon called Baby Bean Vintage Daywear.

Everything is handmade by the owner, Christine Visneau, and a few stay-at-home moms. Here's a bit from her site:

Each collection is crafted from and inspired by vintage fabrics. Each garment is handmade and truly one-of-a-kind. Our silhouettes are simple and modern, and the rich vintage textiles give each garment a timeless and classic feel.

Very sweet. Here are some of the goods:

So if you're looking for a gift or a bit of inspiration, check it out.

Found via Bloesem Kids.

Portrait sale

Look, look! Susannah at Sitting Pretty Studio is having a sale.

I highly recommend her artistic services.

Snowbound survival guide

I started writing this post a week ago, so it's a little dated for me now but maybe it will be of use to someone in the midwest (didn't I read that you guys are getting hit pretty hard right now?). 

The snow started falling here on Dec. 17 and hardly took a break until last week. We ended up with almost 80 inches falling in a short amount of time, leaving a lot of Spokanites--us included--snowbound for days. We'd get a break when the plows would finally make it to our neighborhood, but then it would snow again, trapping us once more.

It was beautiful and charming and fun ... for a few days. I have to admit that I did start to go a little bonkers toward the end there. J and I are long overdue for a night out.

So here are my top 12 tips for surviving a winter blast with small children. Surviving it gracefully? Somebody else can write that list.

12. Carve a seating area out of the snow and host a tea party, complete with "snow biscuits" for snacking. I wish I had a photo. This one turned out pretty cool.

11. Bake cookies. Lots of cookies.

10. Make notepads for to-do lists by trimming a small stack of scratch paper so all the sheets are the same size, stapling them together at the top, then gluing a pieces of ribbon around the top to hide the staples (and, let's face it, make it cuter than just a stack of stapled-together paper). 

9. Embroider your child's doodles on fabric (idea via Amanda Soule).

8. Make stick puppets and clothespin dolls. Make a stick horse out of an old sock, felt scraps, googly eyes and a leftover wrapping paper tube. Make. Make. Make.

7. Hold a parade down your hallway, complete with homemade cardboard-box floats, a toy fire truck, a bandana-wearing dog, and drums made from oatmeal canisters.

6. Eat your way through the canned food collection that's been wasting space in back of your pantry because you can't get to the store. Wash the cans, then cover them with fabric using Mod Podge. Fill cans with pencils, pens, licorice sticks, whatever.

5. Sew belated Christmas gifts, like these pencil rolls for two little friends in Oregon.

4. Order craft books online and check the mailbox anxiously until they arrive (on days when mailman actually makes it to your neighborhood). Clear away snow in front of mailbox when you realize mailman is refusing to deliver your mail because he can't reach the box. 

(My choices were Stitched in Time by Alicia Paulson and Complete Embellishing by Kayte Terry. Both are fantastic.)

Read these wintery books to your kids while you wait: The Biggest, Best Snowman Ever by Margery Cuyler and One Snowy Night by M. Christina Butler.

 

3. Two words: salt dough. Mix two parts flour to 1 part salt. Add water until you achieve a doughy consistency. Give to child to form into animals, people, trees, etc. Bake at 250 for an hour. Cool. Paint. (Laugh to yourself when your 3 year old tries tasting the dough every five minutes, hoping in vain that maybe this time it will be yummy.)

That's a bird, by the way.

2. Make handmade thank-you cards and send them in a timely manner this year. I recommend the ideas in the book Handmade Hellos by Eunice and Sabrina Moyle. I'm still working on this one.

1. Send your husband out to buy a truck (did you know car salespeople are willing to come and get you, no matter what the weather?). Count to 10 when your patience wears thin. Scan the real estate and job ads for other (warmer) cities. Turn on Caillou and The Wonder Pets--again--and forgive yourself for doing so.  

Did I miss anything?

My fabric fairy and a mini tutorial on headbands

My e-mail inbox has been pretty jam-packed lately, but I definitely perked up when a message from Klay came in last week. The subject line was "calling all fabric hoarders." Yep. That's me.

Klay is 30 weeks preggers and is converting her sewing room into a nursery/sewing room so--to my delight--she was purging half her fabric stash. I dropped by yesterday and left with a big box full of fabric fun, plus some back issues of Blueprint magazine (and we all know I can't refuse free magazines). 

Here's a glimpse of just some of what she gave me:

The jersey knit below is made from organic cotton and I'm pretty sure it's the same fabric used to make some hand-me-down dresses Carolyn gave me recently. Don't you think, Carolyn?

Many of the pieces are small and I'm having so much fun trying to come up with ways to use them. One easy idea for some of the smallest pieces is to make pockets for the fronts of dresses for the girls. 

I just had to make something when I got home last night, so I whipped a headband with the ribbon in that last photo and a piece of tan linen. Here's the finished product:

I didn't take enough photos or write down measurements to give you a full-blown tutorial, but this is basically what I did:

1) Cut three strips of the same fabric. (The third strip can be a different fabric if you want the headband to be reversible.) The strips should be as wide as you want the headband to be, plus 1/2 inch to allow for 1/4-inch fold over on each side. The strips should be long enough to nearly reach around your head, plus an inch or so.

You will also need fusible webbing, a piece of ribbon that's almost as long as the fabric strips and four or so inches of 1-inch elastic. 

2) Fuse two of the fabric strips together, wrong sides facing, according to the fusible webbing directions.

3) Sew the ribbon to the top of one side of the fused fabric pieces. Instead of ribbon, you could also embroider or do other embellishing.

4) Fold over 1/4 inch of fabric on the long sides of the fused strip and the third strip of fabric and press. Sew the fused strip to the third strip with the folded edges facing each other, stopping about 1/2 inch from the ends. Hopefully this photo explains it better than my words do:

5) When you get to the ends, fold the fabric in toward itself again and insert one end of the elastic in one side and the other in the other side and sew over the top, backstitching at least once to make sure the elastic won't break free. It's really best to do one end, then put the headband on your head and mark with your finger or a pin how far in the other end of the elastic should be inserted.

And there you have it. I like to make my headbands a little big so they don't cut off circulation to my brain when I wear them. Plus, I have a really big noodle. 

Thanks so much, Klay, for the box of inspiration. I'm clearing a special space on my shelves for the Klay Collection. 

Links to links of free tutorials

One post I've been meaning to write for a long time is a list of links to my favorite free craft tutorials floating around the Web. I might still get to it, but really, truly, The Princess & The Monkey has the most thorough list I've seen.

I'm so grateful for being included on her roundup months ago for my tissue-paper carnation tutorial and appreciate all the hits that have come my way since then.

Here are a few of my favorites from her list:

Laptop sleeve by Nicole Mallalieu

Drawstring backpack by Martha Stewart

Fitted crib sheet by Michael Miller Fabrics

Jam Jar cover by LucyKate (am I the only one that buys that brand of jam just to keep the jars?)

 

Ric Rac Dahlias by Made with Love

And this Fabric Dollhouse by UK Lass in the U.S.

Some of my favorite tutorials that I don't think are on the list (but I might have just overlooked them. It's late. My contacts are itchy):

Carol from Kidding Around's barrettes

Alicia Paulson's dishtowels

Jennifer Casa's wall pockets

and

Sew Mama Sew's fabric Easter eggs

UPDATE: Klay just e-mailed me this link to the "100 best tutorials of 2008." I'm pretty sure I'll never need to buy another sewing pattern or craft book again (I won't need to, but I know I will). Thanks, Klay!

Gathering Apron by The Cottage at Frog Creek. 

Any free tutorials on your to-do list? I'd love to add some of your links to the list.

Carolyn's crafts

Writing this blog has introduced me to so many amazing crafters around the world, but it also has connected me with creative folks in my own neck of the woods.

Carolyn is one of them. Our paths crossed before Penny Carnival was born, but it's fun to catch up with each other here. We're both journalists. We're both mothers of young girl(s). And we're both fans of the "moms who drink and swear" group on Facebook (tee hee hee). 

So I always love to see what Carolyn and her daughter Joey are up to. A few months back, I posted a photo of a skirt Carolyn sewed for Joey following Oliver + S's free tutorial.

Lately, they've been working on these darling projects:

A puppet theater that hangs in a doorway in her house--

A non-felt pencil roll. So cute and such a great way to finish up smallish bits of leftover fabric. She put layers of flannel inside to give it some heft.

And these charming puppets--

I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but from left to right, that's Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Pooh, and Joey. 

I recognize the artist's work from a masterpiece she drew on my chalkboard wall last time she came over to play.

Thanks, Carolyn, for sharing your beautiful work. Let's rendezvous at a fabric store sometime soon.

Speaking of young artists' handiwork, Bo's drawing style has been evolving over the last few months. She started by drawing faces--a circle head with two round eyes and a straight line across for a mouth. Now she adds an oval underneath for the body with two stick arms, two stick legs and an enormous bellybutton in the middle. I love it.

When she was just doing heads, I followed an Amanda Soule idea and embroidered one of her drawings for J as a Christmas gift. He uses it as a book marker now.