Spring Sewing and a Ruffle Pants GIVEAWAY!

I have been having a hard time trying to find time to sew, as the warmish weather has been beckoning me to join the birds and the violets outside. Having two little kids home everyday and three most days, also contributes to the lack of sewing. It is very important for them to get out and enjoy the great outdoors --they are happier, and Mom is happier, and that makes EVERYONE happier!

The thought had occurred to me to take my sewing machine outside to try and enjoy the day and sew at the same time. But since I am currently {tickled pink} to be borrowing this sewing machine.....


....a Bernina 440 QE, I had better not take it outside! You see, {my Beast} is in the shop for a tune-up and the lovely lady Emily let me take home one of their shop machines to use while mine was being fixed. Emily is the owner of {Becky's Fabrics in Lewiston, ID}. Isn't that wonderful? I equate it to taking a new car for a spin (which I have NEVER done and am not really interested in doing, btw) -- so, BETTER than taking a new car for a spin. I think Emily knew I had been drooling over this machine. She is a good saleswoman, that one.


But sadly, there is no $$$$ in the budget for a new machine -- at least at this point. (Mr. Obama, sir ..... would you mind lower taxes on us poor, small business owners? Then maybe I could help out this poor economy by buying a new sewing machine.... just saying.) I'm not sure if this is the exact machine I would purchase, but it is pretty nice to sew on. So, anyway.....that's what happening in my sewing world. Now for the fun part!


Remember this set? Funny thing..... we ended up winning back this ruffle pants set at the auction that I donated them to. No, we didn't bid on them. But evidently, someone wrote our name, or wrote scribbley enough that it appeared to be our name, so we won the ruffle pants set! I don't mind. But, since my little Nona can only wear so many ruffle pants in one week, I decided to pass them on to some lucky winner! They are sized 12-18 months-- the top is a onsie.

So if you have a little girl or know a little girl that would look absolutely adorable in this set, here's what you have to do to enter the Ruffle pants giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post -- anything you feel like saying -- about spring, about sewing projects, about the economy, whatever!
2. In your comment make sure there is some way I can contact you if you are the winner
3. To enter twice -- become a follower, and leave another comment telling me you are now following this blog.
4. The giveaway will end on March 31st at 9PM PST.

Good luck and have a great week!

Slipcovered Wingback

I wanted to be a part of the slip-cover party over at the {Pink Polka Dot}, so here are a few pictures of a slip-cover I made right before my little Winona was born.

The willing subject: a wing back chair and ottoman that I did for a client over a year ago. (Sorry for the rather bad photography.) Underneath this slip cover is a beautiful late -Victorian wing-back. Just gorgeous. I told the owner of this chair that if she accidentally forgot to pick up her chair, I wouldn't be heart broken. For some reason, she didn't forget!

I added some ties in the back to take up the slack of the extra yardage needed for getting the slip-cover over the chair. I also took the time to serge all of the raw edges underneath to keep strings at bay.

This chair was rather a challenge for me, but fun none-the-less. All of the curves certainly make life interesting....

The pleated ruffle was just long enough to cover the upholstery underneath, but short enough to flirt with the curvy front legs on the chair.

{Here is another chair that I slipcovered that is currently in my little girl's room if you care to have a look-see.}

Thanks for stopping by!

For a Good Cause

If you are a local sort of person (Whitman County) -- you might be interested to know that this little outfit will be for auction this Saturday at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds to help out a local man -- Kelvin Riebold. The benefit dinner and auction is being held to help with his recent medical expenses. The outfit is sized 18 months. The benefit starts at 5 PM.

If you really want, really, REALLY want --
I might make another set (or similar) for a GIVEAWAY next week.
What say ye?

Blue's Blanket and Pillow

My oldest child, Reid, has gotten very attached to his lizard "Blue". In my humble opinion, this is the best kind of lizard to have. He has been begging and begging for some fish, and shamefully I have been dragging my tail. (However, I am hoping to get him some tadpoles from a scientific supply so they can watch the tadpoles grow. But don't tell him, it is a secret.) Anyway, back to Blue. Blue has been to show-and-tell twice, and regularly sleeps right next to my Reid. Blue gets carried around in the "{boy bag}" that I made Reid awhile back. He is a posh pet.

Blue had a birthday last month. A real, sure enough birthday. I have no idea how old he is, but he is one year older. About a week before the scheduled birthday, my son came to me and whispered in my ear (so Blue could not hear of course!) what Blue wanted for his birthday. And what did Blue want? Why a blanket and pillow of his very own. Imagine that?

Lucky Blue, he got his wish. I hope he liked his pillow and blanket. His blanket is even reversible! Reid was happy. And Blue got to go to show-and-tell AGAIN and show off his new accoutrements.